Sr_99%RE_1%TiO₃ crystals were prepared by Verneuil method and their dielectric properties were studied. The simultaneous substitution of Sr²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ may be able to obtain superior dielectric properties compared to the substitution of Sr²⁺ only.

LuAG:Ce (Lu₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce) is one of the most important color converters in white lighting industry. Especially, LuAG:Ce film attracts more attention due to the outstanding advantages, such as the efficient heat dissipation, the saving of rare earth, and so on. Here, LuAG:Ce film on sapphire was successfully prepared by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis process. The phase, microstructure and photoluminescence of LuAG:Ce films were investigated. LuAG:Ce films had a thickness of around 5 μm, which were well crystallized at 1000 °C in air atmosphere to form the typical garnet structure. Under the protection of CO atmosphere, increasing the annealing temperature greatly enhanced the photoluminescence performance. After annealing at 1500 °C for 5 h in CO atmosphere, 3.0 mol.% Ce³⁺ doped LuAG:Ce film exhibited the highest emission and excitation intensity. The emission intensity of 3.0 mol.% Ce³⁺ doped LuAG:Ce film annealed at 1500 °C in CO atmosphere increased up to five times, when compared with the best LuAG:Ce film annealed at 1000 °C in air atmosphere. The effects of Ce³⁺ doping concentration on the photoluminescence were also examined. As the Ce³⁺ doping concentration increased from 0.2 mol.% to 7.0 mol.%, the color of LuAG:Ce films changed from yellowish green to greenish yellow. When coupling the 3.0 mol.% Ce³⁺ doped LuAG:Ce film with a 0.5 W 450 nm blue laser, the formed device successfully emitted white light.

Ceria-modified Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst has been commonly prepared by the impregnation of platinum on ceria-modified alumina and widely applied in the chemical industry and automotive industry. The in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transformed spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis techniques were employed to investigate the typical mechanisms of the bis(ethanolammonium)hexahydroxyplatinate(IV) and cerium nitrate decomposition catalyzed by Pt^δ+ species for the facile synthesis of CeO₂-Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst. It was found that Pt⁴⁺-catalyzed decomposition of cerium nitrate leads to the higher dispersity of ceria and forming more active oxygen species, on the basis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and H₂ temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) results. The in situ activity measurements were also performed to investigate the reaction mechanisms and the specific activities for the catalytic CO, NO, C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ co-oxidation. The results indicate that undesirable N₂O by-product is formed by the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by C₃H₆ below 350 °C. The cerium addition effectively improves the activity of catalytic oxidation, but exhibits an increased N₂O yield, due to the increased reducibility.

Ag/Y₂O₃ has excellent potential to replace Ag/CdO as the environmentally friendly electrical contact material. Using spherical Y₂O₃ as the starting material, Ag/Y₂O₃ contacts with a quasi-continuous network structure were successfully fabricated by a low-energy ball milling treatment. The mean size of Y₂O₃ used ranged from 243 to 980 nm. Due to the differences in the size of Y₂O₃, Ag/Y₂O₃ contacts had different primitive microstructures, thereby exhibiting distinctive anti-arc-erosion capabilities. Ag/Y₂O₃ contact prepared using 243 nm Y₂O₃ showed the best anti-arc-erosion capability and the most outstanding electrical performance measures, such as low contact resistance, less mass transfer, and no failure up to 10⁵ cycle times. The quasi-continuous network structure formed in the micro-scale was responsible for the excellent electrical performance. The short distance between Y₂O₃ particles in the network promoted the cathode arc motion, and thus alleviated the localized erosion. The results obtained herein may inspire further attempts to design electrical contacts rationally.