The effects of samarium(Sm) on microstructure and corrosion resistance of AZ92 magnesium alloy were characterized and analyzed by scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction, mass loss test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and potentio-dynamic polarization test. The results showed that the added Sm could promote continuous precipitation of β-Mg17Al12 phase in grains, and meanwhile restrain discontinuous precipitation of the same phase along the grain boundaries. Thus, the precipitations distributed more uniformly in the aged AZ92 magnesium alloys. When the content of Sm was 0.5 wt.%, the corrosion resistance of aged AZ92 alloy tended to be the best, which was due to the β-phase distributes more homogeneous reducing the galvanic corrosion. The corrosion product film had more integrality and compactness than AZ92 alloys without Sm. However, it resulted in worse corrosion resistance of AZ92 alloy because of the formation of mass cathodic Al2 Sm phase coming from excess Sm in AZ92 alloy.
This paper reported an efficient and economical method for preparation of anhydrous LaBr3 for scintillation crystal growth. High purity anhydrous LaBr3 powders in large quantities were successfully obtained by stepped dehydration of LaBr3·7H2O using NH4Br as addi-tive. Experiments revealed that adding proper amount of NH4Br could effectively restrain the hydrolysis of LaBr3 during dehydration and thus decreased the yield of deleterious impurity of LaOBr. Optimum preparation conditions, including the amount of NH4Br in use, the dehydra-tion temperature and atmosphere, were investigated by DTA/TG and water/oxygen analysis. The Raman characterization of the as-prepared anhydrous LaBr3 was also presented.
Anhydrous EuI2 is an essential raw material for novel Eu2+-doped halide scintillators such as SrI2:Eu, CsBa2I5:Eu and BaBrI :Eu. An efficient and economic method to produce high purity anhydrous EuI2 is critical for future development and applications of these scintillators. In this paper, the ammonium-iodide route to anhydrous EuI2 was investigated, and anhydrous EuI2 with purity of 99.95 wt.% was successfully prepared. The dehydration mechanisms of europium iodide hydrate and its mixture with NH4I were comparatively investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD), thermal analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The thermal decomposition process of individual europium iodide hydrate was revealed as follows: EuI3·9H2O→EuI 3·8H2O→EuI 3·7H2O→EuI 2·H2O→EuI2, and the hydrolysis mechanism of europium hydrate was comprehensively studied. When europium iodide hydrate was dehydrated with NH4I, NH4Eu2I5 formed as an intermediate product, and the hydrolysis of EuI2 was effectively restrained. The role of NH4I as an iodination agent was also discussed.
