The effects of the addition of 0.29 wt% Ce on the high-temperature mechanical properties of an Al–Cu–Li alloy were investigated. Ce addition contributes to T1 (Al₂CuLi) phase coarsening inhibition and Ce-containing intermetallic refinement which greatly improved the thermal stability and high-temperature deformation uniformity of this alloy. On the one hand, small Ce in solid solution and segregation at phase interface can effectively prevent the diffusion and convergence of the main element Cu on T1 phase during thermal exposure. Therefore, the thermal stability of Ce-containing alloy substantiality improves during thermal exposure at the medium-high-temperature stage (170 °C to 270 °C). On the other hand, the increment of the tensile elongation in Ce-containing alloy is much greater than that in Ce-free alloy at high temperatures tensile test, because the refined Al₈Cu₄Ce intermetallic phase with high-temperature stability are mainly located in the fracture area with plastic fracture characteristics. This work provides a new method for enhancing high-temperature mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Li alloy which could be used as a construction material for high-temperature structural components.

The effects of the addition of 0.29 wt % Ce on the recrystallization behavior of an Al–Cu–Li–0.13Zr (wt %) alloy during isothermal annealing were investigated. Ce addition greatly improved inhibition of recrystallization in this alloy compared with that in the Ce-free alloy. The texture of the Ce-containing alloy contained a large amount of β-fibers and fibrous unrecrystallized grain microstructures distributed along the rolling direction in the overall annealing process. The improved recrystallization resistance endowed by Ce addition can be attributed to the large number of small Al₈Cu₄Ce species formed on the grain boundary. These fine particles with high-temperature stability can exert a Zener pressure on the Al₃Zr dispersoid-free grain boundary. The yield strength of the Ce-containing alloy increased significantly, to 38 MPa, and the fracture toughness improved by 56.28% compared with those of the Ce-free alloy. This work provides a convenient and economical method for enhancing the overall performance of an Al–Cu–Li–Zr alloy via recrystallization inhibition by Ce addition.

Ultrasonic morphology modification of silver (Ag) nanowires and their applications in transparent film heaters for defogging in electric vehicles and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detectors have been studied. With 10 min ultrasonic treatment of Ag nanowires, the electro-thermal conversion capability of Ag nanowire based transparent film heaters is efficiently improved (about 50% increase in temperature rise), which can be mainly attributed to the cross-section area reduction and the serious agglomerations of the ultrasonic modified Ag nanowire films. Furthermore, the bending or fracture caused by deformation of Ag nanowires after ultrasonic treatment provides more hot spots for SERS, and therefore lead to a significant SERS signal enhancement. This work not only greatly improves the performance of Ag nanowire based transparent film heaters and SERS detectors, but provides a new way for the functional modification of Ag nanowires.

The Lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery has a great potential to replace lithium-ion batteries due to its high-energy density. However, the “shuttle effect” of polysulfide intermediates (Li₂S₈, Li₂S₆, Li₂S₄, etc.) from the cathode can lead to rapid capacity decay and low coulombic efficiency, thus limiting its further development. Anchoring polysulfide and inhibiting polysulfide migration in electrolytes is one of the focuses in Li-S battery. It is well known that polar metal oxides-manganese oxides (MnO₂) are normally used as an effective inhibitor for its polysulfide inhibiting properties. Considering the natural 1D tunnel structure, MnO₂ with three kinds of typical tunnel-type were screened to study the effects of the tunnel size on the adsorption capacity of polysulfide. We found that MnO₂ with larger tunnel sizes has stronger chemisorption capacity of polysulfide. It promotes the conversion of polysulfide, and corresponding cathode exhibits better cycle reliability and rate performance in the cell comparison tests. This work should point out a new strategy for the cathode design of advanced Li-S battery by controlling the tunnel size.

The corrosion resistance (exfoliation corrosion and inter-granular corrosion) and mechanical properties (strength and hardness) of a high-alloying Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy were improved by the synergistic effect of Ce addition and aging treatment. Ce addition promotes the morphology change of grain boundary precipitates from continuous form to discontinuous form at T6 temper. But the Cu content in grain boundary precipitates became much lower than that in Ce-free alloy, owing to a large amount of Cu being trapped in AlCuCe phase. Hence retrogression and re-aging (RRA) treatment were then adopted. The Cu content in grain boundary precipitates was improved, which can be attributed to the removal of Cu from solid solution during high temperature aging and its subsequent incorporation into grain boundary precipitates. In addition, the size and the distribution discontinuity of the grain boundary precipitates can be further increased and the main intra-grain phases of RRA alloy are still fine η′ phase similar to T6 temper. Therefore, the alloy at RRA temper obtains the optimal corrosion resistance without loss of high strength.