J. Appl. Cryst.の発刊に際して

Over the past 30 years, significant commercial and academic progress has been made on Li-based battery technologies. From the early Li-metal anode iterations to the current commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the story of the Li-based battery is full of breakthroughs and back tracing steps. This review will discuss the main roles of material science in the development of LIBs. As LIB research progresses and the materials of interest change, different emphases on the different subdisciplines of material science are placed. Early works on LIBs focus more on solid state physics whereas near the end of the 20th century, researchers began to focus more on the morphological aspects (surface coating, porosity, size, and shape) of electrode materials. While it is easy to point out which specific cathode and anode materials are currently good candidates for the next-generation of batteries, it is difficult to explain exactly why those are chosen. In this review, for the reader a complete developmental story of LIB should be clearly drawn, along with an explanation of the reasons responsible for the various technological shifts. The review will end with a statement of caution for the current modern battery research along with a brief discussion on beyond lithium-ion battery chemistries.

30 Years of Lithium-Ion Batteries.

This article presents an overview of the developments in stainless steels made since the 1990s. Some of the new applications that involve the use of stainless steel are also introduced. A brief introduction to the various classes of stainless steels, their precipitate phases and the status quo of their production around the globe is given first. The advances in a variety of subject areas that have been made recently will then be presented. These recent advances include (1) new findings on the various precipitate phases (the new J phase, new orientation relationships, new phase diagram for the Fe–Cr system, etc.); (2) new suggestions for the prevention/mitigation of the different problems and new methods for their detection/measurement and (3) new techniques for surface/bulk property enhancement (such as laser shot peening, grain boundary engineering and grain refinement). Recent developments in topics like phase prediction, stacking fault energy, superplasticity, metadynamic recrystallisation and the calculation of mechanical properties are introduced, too. In the end of this article, several new applications that involve the use of stainless steels are presented. Some of these are the use of austenitic stainless steels for signature authentication (magnetic recording), the utilisation of the cryogenic magnetic transition of the sigma phase for hot spot detection (the Sigmaplugs), the new Pt-enhanced radiopaque stainless steel (PERSS) coronary stents and stainless steel stents that may be used for magnetic drug targeting. Besides recent developments in conventional stainless steels, those in the high-nitrogen, low-Ni (or Ni-free) varieties are also introduced. These recent developments include new methods for attaining very high nitrogen contents, new guidelines for alloy design, the merits/demerits associated with high nitrogen contents, etc.

Recent developments in stainless steels

High-performance gas sensors prepared using p-type oxide semiconductors such as NiO, CuO, Cr2O3, Co3O4, and Mn3O4 were reviewed. The ionized adsorption of oxygen on p-type oxide semiconductors leads to the formation of hole-accumulation layers (HALs), and conduction occurs mainly along the near-surface HAL. Thus, the chemoresistive variations of undoped p-type oxide semiconductors are lower than those induced at the electron-depletion layers of n-type oxide semiconductors. However, highly sensitive and selective p-type oxide-semiconductor-based gas sensors can be designed either by controlling the carrier concentration through aliovalent doping or by promoting the sensing reaction of a specific gas through doping/loading the sensor material with oxide or noble metal catalysts. The junction between p- and n-type oxide semiconductors fabricated with different contact configurations can provide new strategies for designing gas sensors. p-Type oxide semiconductors with distinctive surface reactivity and oxygen adsorption are also advantageous for enhancing gas selectivity, decreasing the humidity dependence of sensor signals to negligible levels, and improving recovery speed. Accordingly, p-type oxide semiconductors are excellent materials not only for fabricating highly sensitive and selective gas sensors but also valuable additives that provide new functionality in gas sensors, which will enable the development of high-performance gas sensors.

Highly sensitive and selective gas sensors using p-type oxide semiconductors: Overview

For more than 20 years, most of the technological achievements for the realization of positive electrodes for practical rechargeable Li battery systems have been devoted to transition metal oxides such as LixMO2 (M = Co, Ni, Mn), LixMn2O4, LixV2O5, or LixV3O8. The first two classes of materials built on close-packed oxygen stacking adopt bidimensional and tridimensional crystal structures, respectively (Figure 1), from which lithium ions may be easily intercalated or extracted in a reversible manner. These oxides are reasonably good ionic and electronic conductors, and lithium insertion/extraction proceeds while operating on the M4+/M3+ redox couple, located between 4 and 5 V versus Li+/Li...

Polyanionic (phosphates, silicates, sulfates) frameworks as electrode materials for rechargeable Li (or Na) batteries.

A novel solvothermal approach combined with high-temperature calcinations was developed to synthesize on a large scale LiFePO(4) microspheres consisting of nanoplates or nanoparticles with an open three-dimensional (3D) porous microstructure. These micro/nanostructured LiFePO(4) microspheres have a high tap density and, as electrodes, show excellent rate capability and cycle stability.

Monodisperse porous LiFePO4 microspheres for a high power Li-ion battery cathode.

An ultra-fine-grained AISI 301LN austenitic stainless steel has been achieved by heavy cold rolling, to induce the formation of martensite, and subsequent annealing at 800 °C, 900 °C, and 1000 °C, from 1 to 100 seconds. The microstructural evolution was analyzed using transmission electron microscopy and the yield strength determined by tension testing. Ultra-fine austenite grains, as small as ∼0.54 μm, were obtained in samples annealed at 800 °C for 1 second. For these samples, tensile tests revealed a very high yield strength of ∼700 MPa, which is twice the typical yield strength of conventional fully annealed AISI 301LN stainless steels. An analysis of the relationship between yield strength and grain size in these submicron-grained stainless steels indicates a classical Hall–Petch behavior. Furthermore, when the yield dependence on annealing temperature is considered, the results show that the Hall–Petch relation is due to an interplay between fine-grained austenite, solid solution strengthening, precipitate hardening, and strain hardening.

Hall–Petch Behavior in Ultra-Fine-Grained AISI 301LN Stainless Steel

To improve performance at higher rates, we developed a hydrothermal method to prepare carbon-coated monoclinic lithium vanadium phosphate (Li3V2(PO4)3) powder to be used as a cathode material for Li-ion batteries. The structural, morphological and electrochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), and galvanostatic charge–discharge cycling. A superior cycle and rate behavior are demonstrated for Li3V1.85Sc0.15(PO4)3/C and Li2.96Ca0.02V2(PO4)3/C electrodes at charge–discharge current rates above 5C.

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties of Li3V2(PO4)(3)/C-Based Composites for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Facile synthesis of monodisperse porous Co3O4 microspheres with superior ethanol sensing properties.

The phase and microstructure evolution of a heavily cold-rolled AISI 301LN stainless steel (SS), before and after annealing is discussed. AISI 301LN SS has been cold-rolled to 63% rolling reduction and subsequently annealed from 600 to 1000 °C for short annealing durations (1–100 s). Phase analysis indicates that the cold-rolled sheet comprises almost 100% martensite, while transmission electron microscopy examination reveals its morphology to be of dislocation cell- and heavily deformed lath-type martensite. The martensite → austenite reversion upon annealing at 600 °C for 1 and 10 s is negligible, but nanoscale austenite grains are formed in the martensitic matrix. Partial reversion to nano/submicron austenite grains is observed for samples annealed at 600 °C for 100 s, and 700 °C for 1 s. Samples annealed at higher temperatures exhibit a complete reversion to submicron/nano-austenite grains with a large grain size variation, as well as secondary phase chromium nitride precipitates.

S. Rajasekhara

Papers

Monodisperse porous LiFePO4 microspheres for a high power Li-ion battery cathode.

Hall–Petch Behavior in Ultra-Fine-Grained AISI 301LN Stainless Steel

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties of Li3V2(PO4)(3)/C-Based Composites for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Facile synthesis of monodisperse porous Co3O4 microspheres with superior ethanol sensing properties.

Microstructure evolution in nano/submicron grained AISI 301LN stainless steel