Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can effectively harvest mechanical energy from the environment, offering a promising solution for a sustainable power supply in wearable electronics. However, their widespread application is often hindered by expensive raw materials and complex fabrication processes. This study develops a simple and efficient integrated ultrasonic-shear process to exfoliate low-cost flake graphite (FG) into multi-layer flake graphite (MLFG), which is then embedded into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to fabricate a novel composite triboelectric layer. The multi-layered structure of MLFG provides a larger specific surface area and more charge trapping sites, significantly enhancing capacitive behavior. The optimized 2 wt% MLFG-TENG achieved an open-circuit voltage of 90.3 V and a short-circuit current of 4.6 μA, which are 1.2 times and 1.6 times higher than those of the 3 wt% FG-TENG and 3.1 times and 4.2 times higher than those of the pure PDMS-TENG, respectively. This method delivers superior output performance with lower doping levels and maintains stable output after 20 000 cycles, demonstrating exceptional scalability. Furthermore, by integrating a rectifier circuit, the MLFG-TENGs successfully power small electronic devices such as LED arrays and electronic clocks. Concurrently, when integrated with machine learning, the MLFG-TENGs achieve 100% accurate recognition of five distinct hand motion patterns, highlighting their great potential in the fields of self-powered wearable devices and motion sensing.

This study investigates the synergistic effects of the O/S ratio and La–Ce mixed rare earths on the inclusion occurrence state and mechanical properties of U71Mn steel. Thermodynamic calculations based on the Wagner model and Factsage reveal the formation sequence and stability of rare‐earth inclusions, indicating that La exhibits higher activity than Ce and preferentially forms fine and stable (La, Ce) 2 O 2 S inclusions under low O/S conditions. When O/S ≤ 0.75 and the rare earth content ≥ 0.015%, MnS can be completely modified, and the inclusions transform from elongated or composite types into refined and spherical morphologies, significantly improving steel cleanliness. Microstructural observations show that rare earths promote grain refinement and reduce interfacial stress concentration. Mechanical tests demonstrate that rare earth modification increases hardness and reduces its fluctuation, enhances impact toughness by 22%–112%, and improves yield and tensile strengths by 7%–13% and 1%–8%, respectively. The friction coefficient decreases by 10%–40%, indicating improved wear resistance. These results confirm that regulating the O/S ratio and La/Ce proportion enables controlled inclusion evolution and comprehensive improvement of the strength, toughness, and wear performance of U71Mn steel.

CeO2-SiO2hybrid abrasives are fabricated in one shot without any fancy multistep nonsense, and by tweaking the Ce:Si ratio to 1:3 (CeSi3), removal rates climb while surfaces get smoother, especially when you throw in some 4-morpholinoethylsulfonic acid that prevents the CeO2suspension from clumping like bad coffee grounds, as AFM images confirm scratches vanish post-polish since CeSi3's chemical handshake spreads stress evenly during lapping and outperforms lazy physical blends by miles, making this not just lab chatter but a legit blueprint for next-gen CMP slurries.

• A low-cost, eco-friendly functional brick for agricultural applications was developed, utilizing graphene-modified paraffin as the core material, a mixture of cement and fly ash as the wall material, and a coating composed of resin blended with micron-sized carbon spheres. • Surface modification enhances carrier performance: Chemical functionalization of perlite with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) significantly improves the substrate characteristics, achieving enhanced paraffin loading capacity. • Micro-nano structured carbon spheres were synthesized using tea waste biomass as the carbon source, which were then composited with epoxy resin via a sol-gel method to form a high-efficiency photothermal conversion coating. • The semi-industrial validation experiments conducted in high-latitude winter conditions demonstrated the practical feasibility of phase change materials (PCMs) in real-world applications. A carbon sphere modification approach was developed to construct a perlite/paraffin composite phase change material (CS-PCM) with both high photothermal conversion efficiency and stable thermal energy storage capability. The surface of the perlite matrix was modified using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na), increasing the water contact angle from 0° to 67°. Micro/nanoscale carbon spheres (0.1–20 μm) derived from tea waste were embedded into a resin matrix, demonstrating superior performance compared to conventional carbon-based additives. The CS-PCM was incorporated into thermal storage walls through a scalable manufacturing process, with phase change materials comprising 30% of the system. Experimental application in high-latitude greenhouses during winter confirmed that the integrated system maintained an internal crop environment at 13.6 ± 4 °C. This composite material features both low cost and reduced carbon emissions. The results offer a promising solution for thermal management in protected agriculture in cold regions and provide a theoretical and technical reference for the design of multifunctional phase change materials.

ABSTRACT Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as a highly promising energy storage technology, featuring high energy density, low cost, and excellent safety. However, insufficient cycling stability induced by side reactions and dendrite growth on the anode severely hinders their practical applications. Herein, a vacancy‐rich rare earth oxide/carbon composite anode material is synthesized. The porous structure of the conductive carbon framework serves to disperse ion flux and promote uniform Zn deposition, while the unique hydrophobicity of the rare earth oxide effectively suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction. Furthermore, La doping not only introduces defects such as vacancies that act as active sites for Zn deposition to induce uniform nucleation and growth, but also generates oxygen vacancies that reduce the charge transfer resistance at the electrode‐electrolyte interface, enhance the diffusion coefficient of the electrode, and accelerate ion migration within the electrode. Benefiting from these distinctive advantages, the LC‐3|Zn battery exhibits a low voltage hysteresis of 61.2 mV and a low nucleation overpotential of 27.1 mV. The battery designed based on this anode achieves exceptional long cycle stability, maintaining 100% capacity retention after 5500 cycles.