Narrow Results

This study investigates the impact of initial temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of welded components, using molecular dynamics (MD). The stress–strain curves of the welded components, following various initial temperature treatments, revealed a double yielding phenomenon. Notably, there was a significant strain difference of 19.7% between the two yields. When the strain was loaded to the point of doubling yielding, stacking faults and twins covered the aluminum component part, while no such observations were made in the nickel component part. Additionally, tensile cracking occurred in the aluminum component part. The results indicate that treatment at varying initial temperatures alters the internal structure of the welded components. After the material yielded the first time, a significant number of disordered atoms and Shockley partial dislocations emerge, resulting in a substantial buildup of dislocation tangles and reduced dislocation migration rates. Consequently, the material exhibits a phenomenon of double yielding, with dislocation slip and deformation serving as the primary mechanisms. The optimal mechanical properties of the welded components achieved an initial temperature of 200K. Additionally, the effect of tensile temperature on the mechanical properties of the welded components were analyzed, and similar observations of double yielding were made. The significant number of dislocation tangles served as a barrier to dislocation slip, effectively enhancing the material’s mechanical properties. The simulation results provide theoretical support for the development of aluminum–nickel multilayer film self-propagation welding process.

The chapter deals with some important aspects of the relationship of lithium and nickel with the ecosystem, which consists mainly of soil, water, plants and air. Some aspects of lithium and nickel use in the energy industry are also mentioned. We begin by considering the fact that the metallic elements lithium and nickel, either alone or in the form of their chemical compounds, are currently considered potential energy materials whose applicability is increasing with the transition to the mass use of electricity and batteries for powering motor vehicles. Both lithium and nickel are commonly found in nature. Even in relatively low concentrations, their presence is very dangerous or even toxic to some animals and biological organisms. On the other hand, certain plants and animals are a natural part of ecosystems and are unable to survive with-out their presence because they are vital to them. This contradiction and its implications form the main content of this chapter. The most significant effects of lithium and nickel in the environment, particularly in soil, water and plant systems, are presented. The interconnectedness between soil, water and plants is shown in relation to each other. Some of the analytical methods used for the detection of lithium and nickel are also given. In addition, some specific results are presented, which are not intended to specify particular locations in the field, but rather to highlight the ability of researchers to monitor the presence of lithium and nickel in the environment and to create conditions for their removal and possible reuse.

The catalytic functionalization of C–H, C–OH and C–C bonds belongs to the most important processes in nature and the industry. In nature, this process occurs via involvement of enzymes, effectively and selectively, usually with very high turnover numbers. The pivotal role in enzymatic activity is played by the metal center cofactors, which involve several bioavailable transition metals, such as, iron, copper, manganese and zinc. In the industry, bond functionalization requires the presence of metal catalysts; therefore, a bio-inspired design of metal catalysts is a challenging approach. The recent advances in the catalysis of industrially important reactions, namely the oxidation and hydrocarboxylation of alkanes, the oxidation of alcohols and C–C coupling are reported. Convenient, environmentally friendly methods are presented, and the role and efficacy of the various transition-metal (iron, copper, zinc, manganese, nickel, vanadium, palladium and cobalt) catalysts are explored.

The life of the components operating under various high-temperature environments decreases due to the activation of different failure mechanisms. High-temperature oxidation and erosion are the two prominent mechanisms that lead to the degradation of materials, resulting in the premature failure of the components. This paper has emphasized the failure and performance analysis of nickel-based coatings formulated by using different thermal spraying techniques. Nickel-based coatings like Ni–Cr, Ni₃Al, Alloy-718, NiCrAlY, NiCrBSi and Ni-based composite coatings showed excellent resistance against the high-temperature conditions. This study helps to select specific thermal spray techniques and coating composition against high-temperature erosion and oxidation conditions.

Inkjet printing (IJP) is an efficient, simple, scalable and low-cost additive manufacturing technique for the deposition of functional materials on substrates used in flexible electronic devices, sensors, and light-emitting diodes to name a few. Nanoparticle ink, metal oxide decomposition (particle-free ink), polymer ink, and semiconductor ink are classifications of the inks used in IJP. Effective printing of the material is possible when the ink parameters (viscosity, particle size, surface tension) and its derived dimensionless quantities (Weber number, Reynolds’ number, and Ohnesorge number) fall within a desirable range. The formation of the coffee-ring effect during the post-printing process is one of the major concerns, which affects the morphology and electrical conductivity of the printed pattern. In this review, a summary of recent developments of Ni-based inks in terms of formulation, sintering and properties is presented, along with the effect of combining Ni with other materials such as NiO, Ag, Cu, Zn, Fe, carbon, and rare earth metals on the film properties. The precursors and solvents used for the Ni ink preparation, along with the additives and surfactants, have been presented to understand their impact on the film’s properties and develop a design to choose the ideal precursor–solvent pair. Finally, the challenges in formulating inks and the necessity to develop a model to optimize the choice of solvent/ precursor are presented. The model would improve the selection of additives and precursors and reduce material wastage and enhance performance with fewer defects.

A new family of pyrrole substituted metallophthalocyanine complexes, namely cobalt(II), iron(II), manganese(III), nickel(II) and zinc(II) tetrakis-4-(pyrrol-1-yl)phenoxy phthalocyanines (noted as M(TPhPyrPc), where M is the metallic cation) have been synthesized and fully characterized. In particular, the UV-visible spectra of the iron and nickel complexes showed extensive aggregation even at low concentrations. The cyclic voltammetry of the cobalt, iron and manganese complexes showed three to four redox couples assigned to metal and ring based processes. Spectroelectrochemistry of the manganese derivative confirmed that the synthesized complex is Mn^III(TPhPyrPc^-2) and that the reduction of Mn^II(TPhPyrPc^-2) to be centred on the ring and rather than on the metal, forming the Mn^II(TPhPyrPc^-4) species. Also, the electrochemical polymerization of these newly synthesized pyrrole-substituted phthalocyanines has been demonstrated in the case of the cobalt complex and the electrocatalytic activity of the obtained film has been tested towards the oxidation of L-cysteine.

By using quantum chemical calculation data obtained by the DFT method with the OPBE/TZVP and B3PW91/TZVP levels, the principal possibility of the existence of three heteroligand complexes of nickel, each of which was shown to contain in the inner coordination sphere either porphyrazine or di[benzo]- and tetra[benzo]porphyrazine, oxygen (O${}^{2-})$ and fluorine (F${}^{-})$ ions. The data on the geometric parameters of the molecular structure of these complexes are presented; which shows that NiN₄ chelate nodes, all metal-chelate and non-chelate cycles in each of these complexes, are strictly planar. The bond angles between two donor nitrogen atoms and a nickel atom are equal to 90${}^{\circ }$, while the bond angles between donor atoms N, Ni, and O or F, in most cases, albeit insignificantly, differ from this value. Nevertheless, the bond angles formed by Ni, O and F atoms are exactly 180${}^{\circ }$. NBO analysis data for these complexes are presented; it was noted that the ground state of all these complexes was a spin doublet. It has been shown that a good agreement between the data obtained using the above two versions of the DFT method occurs. Also, standard thermodynamic parameters of formation (standard enthalpy $\mathrm{\Delta }{H}_{f,298}^0$, entropy $S_{f,298}^0$ and Gibbs’s energy $\mathrm{\Delta }{G}_{f,298}^0)$ for the macrocyclic compounds under consideration were calculated.

This work reports on the fundamental properties of nanostructured catalysts active in the main carbon oxides’ conversion processes for sustainable energy supply: methanation and co-methanation of CO₂. Transition metals (e.g. Ni, Pd, Pt, Co, Ru, Rh) are active species in both reactions. Ni has been the most studied because of its cheapness. Monometallic and bi-metallic Ni and Ni₃Fe catalysts supported on Gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) have been synthesized, characterized and tested in the temperature range 200–600${}^{\circ }$C. In the methanation reaction, the monometallic catalyst showed higher performance with respect to the bi-metallic catalyst. At 400${}^{\circ }$C, the CO₂ conversion overcomes 90% with CH₄ selectivity of 100%. In co-methanation, the highest CO₂, CO and H₂ conversion values over monometallic Ni/GDC catalyst were obtained at 300${}^{\circ }$C; at higher temperatures, conversion decreases. The GDC support plays a pivotal role in both reactions, enhancing the basicity of the catalyst and improving the dissociation of carbon oxide species adsorbed on Ni sites.

As a material widely used in aerospace and energy development, the surface quality of nickel and its alloy will need to be improved urgently. Electrochemical polishing, as a surface treatment method, can smoothen the metal surface and improve its corrosion resistance. Strict environmental regulations have given rise to new electrochemical polishing techniques. In this paper, the electrochemical polishing of nickel was carried out using resin particles wetted by deep eutectic solvent (DES) as polishing medium. The surface morphology and roughness of polished nickel were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical profilometer. In addition, electrochemical polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to test the corrosion behavior of polished specimens in 3.5wt.% NaCl solution. The results show that the surface morphology of polished nickel shows grain boundary characteristics. The surface roughness Ra can be reduced from 0.612$\mu$m to 0.0913$\mu$m (under 30V voltage polishing 1h), and the corrosion current density can be reduced from 27.30$\mu$Acm${}^{-2}$ to 12.15$\mu$Acm${}^{-2}$. Pitting potential in the polarization curve indicates that the pits at the grain boundaries are corroded due to the influx of corrosive chloride ions. This polishing method combines the resin with DES which can reduce the production of polishing liquid waste while avoiding the use of harmful acid-base electrolytes and effectively reduce the surface geometry uneven degree, improving the surface corrosion resistance.

Transverse vibration of nickel coated carbon nanotubes is investigated by using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations are carried out for armchair and zig-zag carbon nanotubes with various lengths. Uncoated and nickel coated carbon nanotubes having same lengths are analyzed and their vibrational behaviors are compared. Free transverse vibrations of nickel coated carbon nanotubes are modelled by using a two-phase local–nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam model and solved by finite element method. Nonlocal parameter of the beam model is calibrated based on molecular dynamics simulation results. It is seen that for the same length diameter ratio, the nickel coated carbon nanotubes have similar vibrational characteristics with the uncoated carbon nanotubes but their natural frequencies are smaller than the uncoated ones. Also, it is shown that by using proper nonlocal parameters for each radius length ratio, the two-phase local–nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam model can successfully predict the natural frequencies of both short and long nanotubes. Besides natural frequencies and mode shapes, the clustering of nickel atoms depend on simulation temperature which is discussed during oscillation of nickel coated carbon nanotubes.

The effect of NiO contents on the microstructure of mesoporous NiO-Gd_0.25Ce_0.75O_2-x (NiO-GDC) composite for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC) was investigated. Mesoporous NiO-GDC powders with different NiO contents were synthesized by self-assembly hydrothermal method using tri-block copolymer, Pluronic F127, as a structure directing agent. Grain growth/agglomeration behaviors of NiO particles and changes of mesoporous structure of GDC particles were characterized by microstructural analyses. NiO-GDC powders were composed of GDC nano particles with ordered mesopore inside the particles and octahedral NiO grains with truncated-edges. As the amount of NiO increases, specific area value of mesoporous NiO-GDC was decreased, and the agglomeration/growth behavior of NiO grains was accelerated.

Using density functional theory calculations with van der Waals corrections, we have investigated the stability and electronic properties of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on the Ni(111) surface. We have found that hBN can bind either strongly (chemisorption) or weakly to the substrate with metallic or insulating properties, respectively. While the more stable configuration is the chemisorbed structure, many weakly bound (physisorbed) states can be realized via growth around an hBN nucleus trapped in an off-registry position. This finding provides an explanation for seemingly contradictory sets of reports on the configuration of hBN on Ni(111).

Electroless plating can be used to prepare metal particle/CaCO₃ composite powder, but the use of noble metal as catalytic site would increase the cost. In this work, we adopt the combined 3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane (KH550) modification and NiCl₂ activation to coat CaCO₃ powder by a uniform layer of Ni particles/polymer brush which acts as non-noble metal catalyst, then, a low-cost electroless plating to prepare Cu particle/CaCO₃ composite powder was developed. Results showed hydrolyzed KH550 coated on the CaCO₃ surface in the form of polymer brush. The active group on the polymer brush surface could chemisorb Ni${}^{2+}$ and then Ni particles/polymer brush was attached on its surface. The Ni particle/polymer brush structure acted as catalytic site and could catalyze electroless copper plating on its surface. The $M_{\mathrm{\text{plated particle}}}∕M_{(\mathrm{\text{plated particle}}+{\mathrm{\text{CaCO}}}_3)}$ is 1%, its average diameter is about 100nm. This means that the dependable technology has great potential application in preparing metal inorganic powder at a low cost.

We report here the preparation (in "one-pot") of a tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrin in about 80% yield by using an optimized modification of Lindsey's variant of the Adler–Longo approach. The Zn(II)-, Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-complexes of the symmetrical porphyrin were prepared and characterized spectroscopically. Crystal structures of the fluorescent Zn(II)- and of the non-fluorescent Ni(II)-tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrinates showed the highly substituted porphyrin ligands to be nearly perfectly planar. The Zn(II)-complex of this porphyrin has been used as a thermal precursor of a reactive diene, and — formally — of lateral and diagonal bis-dienes, of a tris-diene and of a tetra-diene, which all underwent [4 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions in situ with a range of dienophiles. Thus, the tetra-β″-sulfoleno-meso-aryl-porphyrin and its metal complexes represent reactive building blocks, "programmed" for the syntheses of symmetrical and highly functionalized porphyrins.

We present the first results concerning the atomic structure and morphology of ultrathin Sb layers deposited on the Ni(111) face in ultrahigh vacuum at the substrate temperature ranging from 150 to 700 K obtained with the use of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and directional elastic peak electron spectroscopy (DEPES). The AES results indicate that the antimony layer on the Ni(111) at T < 200 K grows in the Frank–van der Merwe mode. For temperature around 250 K, the flat two atomic layer islands ("wedding cakes") seem to grow after completion of the first antimony monolayer. At T ≥ 300 K, a Sb–Ni surface alloy is formed. DEPES measurements indicate that the atomic structure of Sb layers deposited at T = 150 K is completely amorphous, while better and better pronounced maxima appear in DEPES profiles when the sample temperature increases from 300 to 450 K. LEED patterns corresponding to p(1 × 1), p(2 × 2) and structures have been observed for 150 K ≤ T ≤ 250 K. A possible model for the last structure is proposed. After annealing the deposited layer at T > 500K, the structure appears.

Ni@onion-like carbon (OLC)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites were synthesized, and their multicomponent microstructure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectra, the thermal gravimetric analysis and magnetic hysteresis loops. The obtained nanocomposite possesses a unique structure, in which core–shell Ni@OLC nanocapsules are decorated on the surface of RGOs. The synergistic effect of the dielectric loss of RGO and OLC and the magnetic loss of Ni nanoparticles can be constructed. The RGO can provide tremendous electric dipoles. Multi-interface among RGO, OLC and Ni nanoparticles can enhance dielectric performance and cause multiple reflections. The combination of these merits makes the nanocomposite a promising candidate material for electromagnetic absorber. The 20wt.% nanocomposite-paraffin composite can possess an optimal reflection loss (RL) of $-47.5$dB at 9.75GHz with a thickness of 3.1mm. When the thickness is 2.0mm, the RL of composite can reach $-32.6$dB at 17.4GHz. The effective frequency is 6.54GHz (11.16–17.7GHz) for 2.4mm thickness layer.

The current demand for more sustainable catalytic processes has seen a clear shift from the classical noble-metal-based catalysts to cheaper and abundant metals. The focus on earth-abundant transition-metal-based catalysts has been marred by synthetic and characterization challenges but is ultimately achieving the desired catalytic results. To extract the catalytic potential of earth-abundant transition-metal-based complexes, great care concerning the design of the supporting ligands is required. Under certain conditions, monoanionic bidentate chelates present a good strategy to tackle those goals. The 2-iminopyrrolyl framework is a good example of that: Its huge electronic and steric tuning potential has paved the way for diverse coordination chemistries of first-row transition metals, from manganese to copper. With such metal complexes in hand, several catalytic applications have been studied, namely polymerization, hydrofunctionalization and click chemistry. This chapter features the main catalytic achievements of complexes of earth-abundant metals bearing 2-iminopyrrolyl ligands and their respective mechanistic insights and structure–reactivity relationships.

The synthesis of metallo derivatives (Ni, Zn) of phthalocyanines (pcs) obtained from 4,5-dicyanobenzomonoazacrown ether substituted with long alkyl chains (5a-d) are described. The new compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H, ¹³C NMR, MS, IR and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques. The aggregation properties and alkali metal interaction of the pcs (6a-d and 7a-d) were investigated.

Human-induced environmental pollution, which has emerged with the increasing population in recent years, has become a global threat. One of the consequences of its rapid and destructive effects is that heavy metals, such as lithium (Li) and nickel (Ni), threaten soil and plant health, and their presence in soil and water poses a risk to both human health and environmental well-being. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the importance of bioremediation in removing Li and Ni from soil and water by investigating various research studies and approaches. Bioremediation is a solution that utilises microorganisms to remove heavy metals by converting them into less toxic forms. Therefore, it is important to carefully select the appropriate microorganisms and optimise the bioremediation conditions to achieve the best results. Moreover, the effectiveness of these techniques depends on various factors, such as the concentration of Li or Ni in the soil, the duration of the remediation process and the environmental conditions.

In this paper, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and a modified analytic embedded-atom method to investigate the edge dislocation movement without imposed strain at 0 K. The obtained results indicate that the straight lines of the partial dislocations always preserve their original shapes and are parallel to each other during the simulation process. According to the energy of each atom, the positions of both partial dislocation cores are determined. Then the velocities in the period of the relaxation process are investigated in detail. The MD simulations reveal that the MD relaxation time dependence of the edge dislocation mobility is divided into two parts. First, during the initial period ranging from 0 to 6 ps, the relative velocity of the dislocation movement lineally increases with the incremental relaxation time. Second, in the latter period from 6 ps to the end of the simulated process the velocity decreases exponentially as the MD simulation time evolves.