122 type pnictide superconductors are of particular interest for high-field applications because of their large upper critical fields H c2 (> 100 T) and low anisotropy γ (<2). Successful magnet applications require fabrication of polycrystalline superconducting wires that exhibit large critical current density J c , which is limited by poor grain coupling and weak-link behavior at grain boundaries.Here we report our recent achievement in the developing Sr 0.6 K 0.4 Fe 2 As 2 tapes with transport J c up to 0.1 MA/cm 2 at 10 T and 4.2 K. This value is by far the highest ever recorded for iron based superconducting wires and has surpassed the threshold for practical application. The synergy effects of enhanced grain connectivity, alleviation of the weak-link behavior at grain boundaries, and the strong intrinsic pinning characteristics led to the superior J c performance exhibited in our samples. This advanced J c result opens up the possibility for iron-pnictide superconducting wires to win the race in high-field magnet applications.

Electric field modulation of magnetism and electric properties inLa-Ca-MnO3/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 magnetoelectric laminate J. Appl. Phys. 113, 17C712 (2013); 10.1063/1.4795871 Stress-controlled Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thick films by thermal expansion mismatch between substrate and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 filmHydrothermally synthesized piezoelectric Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 fibers were used as a mechano-catalyzer to degrade acid orange 7 dye wastewater via the mechano-catalytic effect, which was achieved as a product of the piezoelectric effect and the electro-catalytic effect. When subjected to mechanical vibration, the Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 fibers bend, which in turn induces electric charges on the surfaces of the fibers via the piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectrically induced electric charges induce chemical degradation reactions in the dye wastewater through the electro-catalytic effect. A high mechano-catalytic degradation ratio of $80% was achieved for the acid orange 7 solutions ($30 lmol/l). The piezoelectrically induced mechano-catalytic effect thus provides a highly efficient and reusable technology for dye wastewater degradation applications. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

High-performance Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 (Sr-122) tapes have been successfully fabricated using hot pressing (HP) process. The effect of HP temperatures (850–925°C) on the c-axis texture, resistivity, Vickers micro-hardness, microstructure and critical current properties has been systematically studied. Taking advantage of high degree of c-axis texture, well grain connectivity and large concentration of strong-pinning defects, we are able to obtain an excellent Jc of 1.2 × 105 A/cm2 at 4.2 K and 10 T for Sr-122 tapes. More importantly, the field dependence of Jc turns out to be very weak, such that in 14 T the Jc still remains ~ 1.0 × 105 A/cm2. These Jc values are the highest ever reported so far for iron-pnictide wires and tapes, achieving the level desired for practical applications. Our results clearly strengthen the position of iron-pnictide conductors as a competitor to the conventional and MgB2 superconductors for high field applications.

Banish the villains to their own realm: biomass has gained widespread attention as a renewable energy source. However, commercial catalysts used in power plants (co-)fuelled by biomass are deactivated by the alkali-rich flue gas. In contrast, one of two types of active sites in a promising alkali-resistant hollandite catalyst traps alkali-metal ions to free up the catalytically active sites for the reduction of NO by NH(3).

Improving transport current has been the primary topic for practical application of superconducting wires and tapes. However, the porous nature of powder-in-tube (PIT) processed iron-based tapes is one of the important reasons for low critical current density (Jc) values. In this work, the superconducting core density of ex-situ Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 + Sn tapes, prepared from optimized precursors, was significantly improved by employing a simple hot pressing as an alternative route for final sintering. The resulting samples exhibited optimal critical temperature (Tc), sharp resistive transition, small resistivity and high Vickers hardness (Hv) value. Consequently, the transport Jc reached excellent values of 5.1 × 104 A/cm2 in 10 T and 4.3 × 104 A/cm2 in 14 T at 4.2 K, respectively. Our tapes also exhibited high upper critical field Hc2 and almost field-independent Jc. These results clearly demonstrate that PIT pnictide wire conductors are very promising for high-field magnet applications.

The local structure of the AgPbmSbTem+2 series of thermoelectric materials has been studied using the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) method. Three candidate-models were attempted for the structure of this class of materials using either a one-phase or a two-phase modeling procedure. Combining modeling the PDF with HRTEM data we show that AgPbmSbTem+2 contains nanoscale inclusions with composition close to AgPb3SbTe5 randomly embedded in a PbTe matrix.

A series of YAG:Ce,Mn transparent ceramics were prepared via a solid-state reaction-vacuum sintering method. The effects of various Mn 2+-Si 4+ pair doping levels on the structure, transmittance, and luminescence properties were systematically investigated. These transparent ceramics have average grain sizes of 10-16 μm, clean grain boundaries, and excellent transmittance up to 83.4% at 800 nm. Under the excitation of 460 nm, three obvious emission peaks appear at 533, 590, and 745 nm, which can be assigned to the transition 5d→4f of Ce 3+ and 4 T 1 → 6 A 1 of Mn 2+. Thus, the Mn 2+-Si 4+ pairs can effectively modulate the emission spectrum by compensating broad orange-red and red spectrum component to yield high quality warm white light. After the optimized YAG:Ce,Mn transparent ceramic packaged with blue light-emitting diode (LED) chips, correlated color temperature (CCT) as low as 3723 K and luminous efficiency (LE) as high as 96.54 lm/W were achieved, implying a very promising candidate for application in white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) industry.

Seven-core Ag/Fe sheathed Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 (Sr-122) superconducting wires were produced by the ex situ powder-in-tube method. The relationship between the cold-work deformation process and the superconducting properties of the wires was systematically studied. It was found that flat rolling can efficiently increase the mass density of the superconducting core, thus, significantly improving the transport critical current density (Jc) of the as-drawn wires. The transport Jc of the best sample achieved 21.1 kA/cm2 at 4.2 K in self field, and showed very weak magnetic field dependence at high fields. Our result suggested a promising future of multifilamentary iron-based superconductors in practical applications.