Plastic and low-cost axial zero thermal expansion alloy by a natural dual-phase composite.

Zero thermal expansion (ZTE) alloys possess unique dimensional stability, high thermal and electrical conductivities. Their practical application under heat and stress is however limited by their inherent brittleness because ZTE and plasticity are generally exclusive in a single-phase material. Besides, the performance of ZTE alloys is highly sensitive to change of compositions, so conventional synthesis methods such as alloying or the design of multiphase to improve its thermal and mechanical properties are usually inapplicable. In this study, by adopting a one-step eutectic reaction method, we overcome this challenge. A natural dual-phase composite with ZTE and plasticity was synthesized by melting 4 atom% holmium with pure iron. The dual-phase alloy shows moderate plasticity and strength, axial zero thermal expansion, and stable thermal cycling performance as well as low cost. By using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, in-situ neutron diffraction and microscopy, the critical mechanism of dual-phase synergy on both thermal expansion regulation and mechanical property enhancement is revealed. These results demonstrate that eutectic reaction is likely to be a universal and effective method for the design of high-performance intermetallic-compound-based ZTE alloys.

An Air-Stable Na3 SbS4 Superionic Conductor Prepared by a Rapid and Economic Synthetic Procedure.

All-solid-state sodium batteries, using solid electrolyte and abundant sodium resources, show great promise for safe, low-cost, and large-scale energy storage applications. The exploration of novel solid electrolytes is critical for the room temperature operation of all-solid-state Na batteries. An ideal solid electrolyte must have high ionic conductivity, hold outstanding chemical and electrochemical stability, and employ low-cost synthetic methods. Achieving the combination of these properties is a grand challenge for the synthesis of sulfide-based solid electrolytes. Design of the solid electrolyte Na3 SbS4 is described, realizing excellent air stability and an economic synthesis based on hard and soft acid and base (HSAB) theory. This new solid electrolyte also exhibits a remarkably high ionic conductivity of 1 mS cm(-1) at 25 °C and ideal compatibility with a metallic sodium anode.

A vector system for efficient and economical switching of a ura4(+) module to three commonly used antibiotic marker cassettes in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

We describe here the development of a set of plasmid vectors that allow simple, efficient and economical switching of a ura4(+) module in existing Schizosaccharomyces pombe strains to any of the three routinely used antibiotic marker cassettes, kanMX6, hphMX6 and natMX6. In principle, the applications of this system can also be extended to switching ura4(+) for additional MX6 module-based cassettes, such as bleMX6, as long as the antibiotic marker has been cloned into an ura4(+) module-switching vector. We illustrate the application of this set of vectors in exchange of the ura4(+) marker in existing strains with three antibiotic marker cassettes with high efficiency.