Hot dipping Zn-Al-Mg coatings were prepared by rapid induction heating combined with gas protection. The influence of oxide scale on the structure and surface quality of a hot-dip Zn-6Al-3Mg alloy coating was studied in this paper. The results showed that the reaction of Fe-Al was suppressed by the scale on the surface of the steel plate. When the thickness of scale was 10 μm and the steel entry temperature was 900 °C, the surface quality of the coating was good. The Zn-Al-Mg coatings mainly consisted of the ternary eutectic structure of Zn/Al/MgZn₂ and Fe₄Al₁₃ at the interface. When the scale thickness was 2–3 μm with the same steel entry temperature, the surface quality of the coating was poor, and serious stripe-like protrusion defects were formed on the surface of the coating, which was mainly caused by the Fe₄Al₁₃ phase separating from the substrate / coating interface into the overlay.

Fabrication of a nanocrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO)/nitrogen-doped graphene (NDG) composite using a novel and facile in situ sol-gel technique is demonstrated in this study. A two-dimensional nanostructured morphology with uniform ZnO nanoparticles (average diameter of 10 ± 4 nm) anchored on NDG nanosheets was observed via electron microscopy. The polar heteroatoms on the graphene sheets provided abundant sites for polysulfide absorption. More importantly, the strong chemical interaction between ZnO and polysulfides efficiently hindered the transport of polysulfides. Consequently, the lithium/sulfur (Li/S) battery with the ZnO/NDG composite-coated separator exhibited enhanced performance in terms of discharge capacity and cycling stability compared to the cell with a conventional separator. With the modified separator, the Li/S battery achieved a discharge capacity of 942 mAh·g⁻¹ after the first cycle and exhibited a capacity retention of 90.02% after the 200th charge/discharge test at 0.1 C. These results indicate that suppression of the shuttling of polysulfides efficiently improves the performance of the Li/S battery.

Pack aluminizing of spheroidal graphite cast iron with different aluminizing temperature and time was studied. Results showed that the thickness of aluminized layer increased with the increasing temperature and time. The optimized process parameters are as follow: the aluminizing packed temperature is 830 °C and the time is 3 h. The aluminized layer consisted of the inner FeAl and the outer Fe₂Al₅. Some graphite nodules were observed in the aluminide layer after aluminizing. The mass gain of the aluminized cast iron was 0.405 mg/cm², being 1/12 of the untreated substrate after oxidation. The high temperature oxidation resistance can be improved effectively by pack aluminizing, even though there were graphite nodules in the aluminide layer.

In this paper, we describe how an aluminum alloy-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite (SiCCMC) with excellent damping capacity and storage modulus was fabricated by infiltration. The effects of silicon (Si) on the microstructure and damping capacity of the composite were studied. The interface bonding and damping mechanism involved were also discussed. The results show that composites with high damping capacity can be obtained by infiltrating SiC ceramics with aluminum alloy. The residual Si in the SiC ceramic had little effect on the damping capacity, and it provided the passage of aluminum alloy into the interior of the SiC ceramic. The aluminum atoms penetrate the SiC particles by diffusion. Optimal composite damping capacity was obtained when the Si content in the aluminum alloy was 15 wt. %, because the AlSi/SiC interface friction dissipated most of thermal energy. Ti₃SiC₂ formed on the surface had little effect on the damping capacity. Additionally, by changing the Si content in the aluminum alloy, the strength and damping capacity of the composites can be controlled.