Progress in Materials Science最新文献

Radiative cooling with eco-friendly and zero-energy advantages is considered one of the most viable solutions to address the conflict between traditional energy-intensive cooling systems and global decarbonization. Despite significant advances, the development of radiative cooling still faces many challenges, such as fine-engineering of materials and structures to enhance solar reflection and mid-infrared emission, solar absorption caused by coloring for colorful radiative cooling, and spectral modulation for environmental-adaptative dynamic radiative cooling. Over millions of years of natural selection, utilizing a limited set of biomaterial palettes, optimized strategies, and micro-nano structural design, natural organisms have demonstrated fine control over light-matter interactions at different wavelength scales. Including broadband reflection of the sunlight to prevent solar heating, narrowband reflection of visible light to display brilliant colors, strong emission of mid-infrared wave to complete its cooling, and environmental-adaptative spectral modulation to achieve camouflage or thermal regulation. These biological structures and strategies provide extremely valuable inspiration for the development of advanced radiative cooling techniques. In this review, we systematically summarized the research progress of bioinspired radiative cooling technologies. Emphatically introducing the mechanism of key biological structures to achieve several optical functions, and discussing the various bioinspired radiative coolers and their application potential in different fields. Finally, we present the remaining challenges and outlook on the possible research directions in the future. It is hoped that this review will contribute to further research on bioinspired radiative cooling technology and make exciting progress.

Fatigue performance in both traditional and additively manufactured materials is severely affected by the presence of defects, which deserve special attention to ensure the in-service reliability and the structural integrity of complex engineering components. The traditional empirical or semi-probabilistic approaches, provided in standards and codes, only account for defects statistically; such design methodologies cannot fully exploit the material mechanical properties. Design strategies aim to explicitly account for defects features constitute a promising solution to achieve both required safety performance and material mechanical property exploitation. With the development of non-destructive techniques, such design methodologies have become applicable. However, there is still a tardiness in adopting new design strategies especially when it comes to industrial applications, e.g. emerging additive manufacturing (AM). In this review, a systematic overview is provided on the recent developments regarding fatigue behavior and failure mechanisms affected by defects, together with the methodologies for defects features characterization and probabilistic assessment. Moreover, the defects criticality and design approaches of AM parts are introduced and compared with traditional counterparts. Finally, the status of AM standardization is presented.

This comprehensive review explores the potential of tailored carbon materials (TCM) for efficient photocatalytic degradation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are persistent and toxic organic pollutants posing significant environmental challenges. The unique structure and properties of TCM including graphene and carbon nanotubes to activated carbon and carbon dots, have projected them as next-generation technological materials for innovation. A careful and critical discussion of state-of-the-art research sheds light on their effectiveness in catalyzing the breakdown of PAHs, which projects TCM suitable for managing other environmental pollutants-of-concerns like polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pharmaceuticals, micro/nano-plastics, textile waste, industrial effluents, etc. Beyond this viewpoint, this article expands the scope of TCM for 1) biomedical and healthcare, 2) energy storage and conversion, and 3) advanced electronics. The challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives related to the role of TCM for environmental applications, inspiring further research, and innovation in photo-induced degradation techniques are also carefully discussed in this article. This focused article serves as a valuable resource for researchers and industrialists interested in harnessing the capabilities of carbon-based materials for efficient and sustainable photocatalytic degradation of PAHs and other environmental pollutants. It addresses the pressing need for effective environmental remediation and pollution control strategies.

Stretchable conductive fibers (SCFs) are emerging materials that combine the advantages of both fibers and stretchable electronics, with broad applications in various electronic devices. Owing to their excellent stretchability, compliance, conductivity, and integratability, SCFs have drawn considerable attention from both academia and industry. Despite the emerging research enthusiasm in this field, the intrinsic correlation between the design and application of SCFs has not been explicitly stated, which severely hinders their further development. In this review, we establish an internal connection between the design and application for the first time by elaborately analyzing the key properties of the SCFs, aiming to provide comprehensive guidance for the application-oriented design. First, the design of structures, conductive materials, and preparation methods, which determine the mechanical and electrical properties of the SCFs, is summarized in detail. Then, the key properties of SCFs as well as their relationship with design and applications are analyzed. Next, several representative applications of SCFs that possess high dependency on the key properties are described. Finally, a brief discussion is presented on the current challenges and the vision for future development directions of SCFs. We believe this review will broadly benefit scientists, engineers, and postgraduates in the areas of functional fibrous materials research.

The discovery of graphene sparked significant interest in 2D materials, which present an ultra-thin layered structure with high anisotropy and adjustable energy-band structure. Interestingly, it opens the door for the development of the 2D materials family, which includes different classes of 2D materials. Among them, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and transition metal carbide MXenes (TMCs) have emerged. TMDs have unique layered structures, low cost, and are composed of earth abundant elements, but their poor electronic conductivity, poor cyclic stability, their structural and morphological changes during electrochemical measurements hinder their practical use. Recently, TMC MXenes have garnered attention in the 2D material world, but the issue of restacking and aggregation limits their direct use in large-scale energy conversion and storage. To address these challenges, hetero structures based on conductive TMCs MXenes and electrochemically active TMDs have emerged as a promising solution. However, understanding the solid/solid interface in heterostructured materials remains a challenge. To tackle this, 2D single component crystals with high capacity, low diffusion barrier, and good electronic conductivity are highly sought. The emergence of transition metal carbo-chalcogenides (TMCCs) has provided a potential solution, as these 2D nanosheets consist of TM₂X₂C, where TM represents transition metal, X is either S or Se, and C atom. This new class of 2D materials serves as a remedy by avoiding the challenges related to solid/solid interfaces often encountered in heterostructures. This review focuses on the latest developments in TMCCs, including their synthetic strategies, surface/interface engineering, and potential application in batteries, water splitting, and other electro-catalytic processes. The challenges and future perspectives of the design of TMCCs for electrochemical energy conversion and storage are also discussed.

Polymer materials have been extensively utilized in diverse separation fields, especially in membrane-based nanotechnologies for gas and liquid separations. The membrane separation has proven to be highly promising to address energy, resource, and environmental challenges. However, progress in polymer separation membranes has been constrained by its inherent limitation that is the trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity. Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), as promising building materials have received substantial attention for membranes separation over the last decade. Different from conventional polymers, PIMs are a new class of microporous polymer materials that possess favorable solubility, well-defined pore architectures, and steerable post-modification due to the designability of synthesis monomer at a molecular level. In this review, we first discuss the state of the art of PIMs-based separation membranes and highlight their critical merits for membrane design. We then describe rational strategies towards fabricating PIM-based membranes and their applications, with a focus on the recent advances in gas separation, pervaporation (PV), nanofiltration (NF) and organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). Furthermore, the physical aging issue of PIMs and its advanced strategies are also discussed and summarized. Finally, a concise conclusion, current challenges, and future opportunities on the development of PIM-based membranes are additionally discussed.

Supercapacitors face limitations in capacitance and energy density, which are essential for addressing energy challenges and environmental concerns. The remarkable chemical and thermal stability, high mechanical strength, and tailorable bandgap of Boron Carbon Nitride (BCN) nanoscale materials have attracted increasing attention throughout the last decade. Enhancing supercapacitor performance is achievable through nano engineered BCN electrodes. This examination delves into recent progress in the utilization of BCN substances for supercapacitors, emphasizing advancements in designing structures, engineering porosity/defects, and constructing hybrid nanostructures. Finally, new avenues for investigation into innovative energy storage materials are suggested in this comprehensive review.

Metallic glasses (MGs) are out-of-equilibrium metallic systems known for their unique structural and functional properties arising from structural long-range disorder. Despite their attractive properties, practical applications of MGs fabricated by traditional casting strategy face challenges due to size constraints (limited glass-forming ability) and shape complexity issues. Over the decades since the discovery of MGs in the 1960 s, significant progress has been made in overcoming these limitations by the manufacture strategy, enabling the fabrication of engineering components with desired sizes, tailored shapes, and intricate geometries. This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the state-of-art for manufacturing techniques of large MG and MG parts. The advancements in subtractive, formative, and additive manufacturing of MGs, as well as their joining and welding processes, are reviewed. By consolidating the existing knowledge, this review aims to suggest the practical and promising approach to overcome the limited glass-forming ability and size restrictions in cast MGs through the manufacture strategy, offer insights for further advancements in MG manufacturing, address evolving nature of the field and promote a better understanding of the key scientific aspects of structures and properties in processed MG components.

This paper discusses crucial aspects related to crucibles and coatings in the scope of silicon crystallization and melting. The paper thoroughly examines different types of crucibles, highlighting both their principal challenges and advantages. Additionally, it investigates  coatings in-depth, examining their roles, stability, and wetting behaviour. Crucible selection criteria, including thermal properties, melt contamination, cost, reusability, and design considerations, are also addressed. Furthermore, the paper discusses the thermodynamics of the Si-C-N-O system in the context of silicon operations at high temperatures. This review provides valuable insights for researchers and specialists in the field of silicon production and crystallization, aiding in the selection and utilization of crucibles and coatings for improved process performance.

The ingeniously complex architectures of biological materials evolved in Nature are a source of inspiration for the design of man-made materials. This has led to a major research field over the past two decades to characterize and model the properties and mechanisms induced by such hierarchical biological structures. However, the inability to manufacture synthetic structural materials incorporating these natural designs in the form of bioinspired materials has been a major “road block”. Here we examine recent processes that can serve to overcome this issue, specifically by infiltrating a metal melt into porous scaffolds of reinforcement. Indeed, the melt infiltration technique offers an effective means for constructing bioinspired architectures in metallic materials, thereby affording the creation of high-performance bioinspired metal composites. The bioinspired architectures, wherein the constituents are mutually interpenetrated in 3D space often in line with specific configurations, have been proven to be effective for combining the property advantages of constituents, retarding the evolution of damage, and playing a toughening role by resisting crack propagation; as such, these effects confer a great potential towards achieving outstanding properties. This review elucidates the prerequisite conditions for melt infiltration processing, and introduces the technical routes for fabricating bioinspired metal composites via melt infiltration by highlighting the different approaches for constructing porous scaffolds of reinforcement. The formation, structure, and mechanical and functional properties of these composites are elaborated in conjunction with the state-of-the-art progress to provide a special focus on the effects of bioinspired architectures. On this basis, the existing challenges and future prospects for bioinspired metal composites are discussed and outlooked. The implementation of bioinspired designs in metallic materials by melt infiltration may afford breakthroughs in material performance with a promising potential towards engineering applications.