A hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize Ag–Pt nanoparticles with controlled surface composition where formaldehyde (HCHO) was utilized as a directing agent. Transmission electron microscopy and powder x-ray diffraction characterizations showed no change in bulk composition and phases as well as the size and morphology of as-made bimetallic nanocrystals. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study revealed, however, the enrichment of Pt on the surface as the amount of HCHO used increased. This chemically driven change in surface composition represents a nontraditional approach in the control of synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts. A close relationship between catalytic performance and surface composition of these Ag–Pt nanocrystals was observed for electrochemical oxidation of formic acid.

The BiOBr/Ag3PO4 composites were fabricated by a facile in situ deposition of Ag3PO4 nanoparticles on the BiOBr microsheets and analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectra, Fourier transform infrared, Raman, photoluminescence (PL), and photoelectrochemical techniques. The photocatalytic performances of as-prepared samples were investigated and compared through degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution. The results suggested that 30 wt% amount of BiOBr in the composites possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The remarkably improved photocatalytic performances of BiOBr/Ag3PO4 composites could be ascribed to the efficient separation of electron–hole pairs, due to suitable energy band potentials between BiOBr and Ag3PO4. Furthermore, the photoelectrochemical and PL tests verified the separation and transfer efficiency of charges was promoted.

The research and development of novel photovoltaic technologies is going through a golden era, thanks to the demonstration of remarkable efficiencies across a broad range of semiconductor classes and device architectures. In parallel with these developments, the opportunities for characterizing the structure of a semiconductor film in situ of a processing step have also increased, to the extent that in situ and in operando experiments are becoming readily accessible to researchers. These combined advances represent the subject matter of this article, wherein studies that improve our understanding of structure formation and evolution in perovskite and organic semiconductor films for innovative solar cells are reviewed. Although focus is placed on the dynamics of semiconductor film formation, the review also highlights recent research on environmental testing, a key component in the development of materials with high intrinsic stability.

We discuss relationships between transparent supercapacitor performance and the morphology of its ZnO nanostructured electrodes. The electrodes with different morphologies were prepared by magnetron sputtering and postdeposition annealing. They were decorated with MnO2 nanostructures and tested in symmetric transparent supercapacitors. The capacitances for discharging at 10 µA/cm2 were in the range of 20–53 µF/cm2, meaning that an increase of 250% in capacitance can be obtained by optimizing the electrode morphology. Optimal morphologies were hierarchical with a large range of pore sizes available. The worst performing had the smallest range of pore sizes. Best devices exhibited transparencies above 90%.

Hill’48 yield function has been widely used to describe the anisotropic behaviors of material in FE simulation of tube and sheet metal forming process. To obtain the material behaviors of small-sized H96 brass extrusion double-ridged rectangular tube (DRRT) in bending process, an inverse method combining response surface method and three-point bending was proposed to identify the parameters of Hill’48 yield function. It was found that comparing with Hill’48 yield function only considering the normal anisotropy and Mises yield function, Hill’48 yield function with the identified parameters performs the best in reproducing the material behavior of H96 brass DRRT in three-point bending process. And then Hill’48 yield function with the identified parameters was also adopted in the FE simulations of rotary draw bending of DRRT. It was observed that the prediction accuracy of cross sectional deformation of DRRT in rotary bending process was improved effectively by using Hill’48 yield function with the identified parameters. This proves that the proposed inverse method is suitable to the real forming process.

A TiAlN coating was deposited on a YT14 cemented carbide cutting tool using a cathodic arc ion plating, the surface-interface morphologies, chemical elements, phases, and microhardness of the obtained TiAlN coating were analyzed with a field emission scanning electronic microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, and microhardness tester, respectively, and the coating surface roughness and grain scale were characterized with a atomic force microscope. The bonding strength of the coating was measured with a scratch tester, and the friction–wear properties were investigated with a reciprocation type fiction–wear tester. The results show that the bonding strength of the coating is 54.9 N, and the coating microhardness reaches 2724 HV. The average coefficient of friction of the coating is 0.59, the wear mechanism is abrasive wear and slight brittle fracture.

With the rapid development of electronic information and technology, especially the explosive advance of novel electronic devices, ultra-wideband radar detector and satellite communication, the elimination of adverse electromagnetic waves (EWs) effectively is very necessary both for electronic safety and national defense security. As one of the important material basis for controlling adverse EW pollution, compatibility, shielding, and stealth capability of weaponry, microwave absorbing materials has long been an area of intense research activity. Graphene-based materials have attracted great interests for microwave absorption in recent years due to the unique structure and physicochemical properties of graphene, such as high specific surface area, ultrathin thickness, large interface, optical transmittance, and tunable conductive properties, etc. In this paper, the properties and absorption behavior of different kinds of microwave absorbing materials based on graphene were reviewed and discussed in detail. In addition, the perspective of the current challenges and key issues for achieving better microwave absorption performance of the graphene-based materials are provided.

Recent years have seen an increased application of small-scale uniaxial testing—microcompression—to the study of plasticity in macroscopically brittle materials. By suppressing fast fracture, new insights into deformation mechanisms of more complex crystals have become available, which had previously been out of reach of experiments. Structurally complex intermetallics, metallic compounds, or oxides are commonly brittle, but in some cases extraordinary, though currently mostly unpredictable, mechanical properties are found. This paper aims to give a survey of current advances, outstanding challenges, and practical considerations in testing such hard, brittle, and anisotropic crystals.