Chemical conversion treatment by rare earth metal salt solution was considered as an alternative to chromium chemical conversion treatment to improve the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys. In this study, cerium conversion coatings formed on AZ31 magnesium alloy were characterized and the formation mechanism was discussed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that cerium conversion coating consisted of cerium hydroxides/oxides, in which both tetravalent cerium Ce(Ⅳ) and trivalent cerium Ce(Ⅲ) species co-existed. Cerium conversion coating was a two-layer structure. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images revealed that the morphology of the inside layer was different from that of the outside one, which was responsible for the inherent adhesive weakness of the coating. Corrosion potential (Ecorr) measurements indicated that poor adhesion limited the improvement of the corrosion resistance of the coating. During the treating process, the increased pH value of the cerium salt solution led to the precipitation of cerium hydroxides/oxides. The formation kinetics of the coating followed a parabolic curve.
The Bi3+ doped molybdate-based red-emitting phosphors, LiEu1-xBix(MoO4)2, were successfully synthesized with a sol-gel method. The prepared LiEu1-xBix(MoO4)2 phosphors exhibited pure and intense red emission at 613 nm under the excitation of near-UV 394 nm. It was discussed in detail that the influence of the synthesis conditions such as the doping concentration of Bi3, the dose of citric acid, pH of the precursor solution and the sintering temperature on the emission intensity of the phosphors. According to the results, the optimal condition was obtained: the doping concentration of Bi3+ was 15 mol.%, molar ratio of citric acid to metal ions was 1.5:1, pH of the precursor solution was 1.0 and the sintering temperature was 800 ℃. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the LiEuo.85Bi0.15(MoO4)2 phosphor prepared under the optimal condition indicated that the phosphor was single phase with tetragonal scheelite structure. The Commission Intemationale de I'E- clairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates of LiEuo.85Bio.15(MoO4)2 were (x=0.655, y=0.345), which were closer to the national television stan- dard committee (NTSC) standard values (x=0.670, y=0.330) than that of a commercial red phosphor of Y202S:Eu3+(x=0.630, y=0.350). This LiEuo.85Bi0As(MoO4)2 red phosphor is a promising candidate for the fabrication of white light-emitting diode (W-LED) with near-UV chips.