Zhanglian Xu

Xi'an Jiaotong University | XJTU · Department of Nuclear Engineering

Elucidating the interactions between halide ions and bimetallic oxides can help understand their influences on the physicochemical properties of bimetallic oxides and ultimately lead to better performance, but this has not yet been explored. We report here the first study of the interaction of halide ions with two phase-pure bimetallic Ag-Cu oxides...

The effective adsorption of radioactive iodine from nuclear waste using porous carbons remains significantly challenging, which currently appears to have an upper limit for their uptake capacity. Here, to overcome this upper limit, we explore the potential of oxygen-rich microporous carbons derived from cellulose diacetate via a general hydrotherma...

The first results on the activation process and mechanisms of novel quinary alloy Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Nb non-evaporable getter (NEG) film coatings with copper substrates were presented. About 1.075 µm of Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Nb NEG film coating was deposited on the copper substrates by using the DC sputtering method. The NEG activation at 100, 150, and 180 °C, respec...

Oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of carbon materials can promote the adsorption capacity of radioactive thorium ions (Th(IV)), but their effect on the adsorption of Th(IV) has not been systematically revealed. Herein, to elucidate the nature of oxygen-containing group-mediated Th(IV) adsorption, a series of graphene oxide nanoflak...

It is a great challenge to design absorbent materials with high adsorption capacity and selectivity for immobilizing radioactive anions from wastewater. Herein, pristine β-Bi2O3 microflowers are fabricated via a facile urea-assisted alcoholysis of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate. The material exhibits highly efficient adsorption ability of both seleni...

Heteroatom-doped activated carbons are ideal materials for energy storage devices. In this work, a series of nitrogen/oxygen codoped activated carbons with an inverse opal-like structure derived from cellulose diacetate are successfully synthesized through hydrothermal reaction and subsequent chemical activation during which the fluxing effect of K...

The extraction of radionuclides from high-level vitrified wastes (HLVWs) is of importance for eventual harmlessization of nuclear wastes by nuclear transmutation, but remains great challenges. Here, we showed an efficient elution method of various radionuclides from the simulated HLVWs with chemical durability using the mixed H2O2/HNO3 solutions un...

The ultra-selective extraction of thorium ions (Th(IV)) from lanthanides is of significance to both solve the radioactive pollution issue in rare earth (RE) production and sustainably provide thorium fuel for the liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR). However, it remains a great challenge. Here, we reported an oxygen-rich microporous carbon for u...

Secondary electron emission (SEE) of the oxygen-free high-conductivity copper (OFHC) target surface in neutron generators limits the stability and improvement of the neutron yield. A novel-type target of titanium–palladium films coated on laser-treated OFHC target substrate was proposed and explored in this work to obtain low secondary electron yie...

A cost-effective peptide–carbon hybrid membrane was developed to selectively extract uranium (U( vi )) and thorium (Th( iv )) from rare earth elements (REEs) through rapid pressure-driven filtration.

Oxygen-containing functional groups tend to induce a strong interaction between solid adsorbents and iodine molecules, yet have not been systematically investigated. Herein, on the basis of a series of nitric acid-treated graphene oxide (GO) with different contents of oxygen functional groups for iodine adsorption, it was found that the iodine upta...

Due to the inevitable harmful effects of radiation when conducting reactor repair, the robots made of rigid materials have been developed to replace human engineers. Anti-irradiation reinforcement of electronic components is a key issue for robots operating in a radioactive environment. A pneumatic-actuator soft robot was initially proposed for use...

Recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs: Pd, Ru, Rh), Cs, Se, and Te from molten borosilicate glass containing simulated high level radwaste through the combination of liquid metal extraction and phase separation method under reductive heat-treatment was studied. In this process, the PGMs were extracted in recovered liquid metal phase, where Sb and...

Secondary electron emission (SEE) inhibition and vacuum instability are two important issues in accelerators that may induce multiple effects in accelerators, such as power loss and beam lifetime reduction. In order to mitigate SEE and maintain high vacuum simultaneously, open-cell copper metal foam (OCMF) substrates with Ti-Zr-V-Hf non-evaporable...

Photocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds by solar light is a promising strategy for environmentally benign conversion processes. Herein, we first report an urchin-like Pd/(NH4)xWO3/WO3 with three-dimensional hierarchical microstructure prepared through a thiourea-assisted solvothermal method followed by calcination under the reductive atmosphe...

Pd-WO3 microtubes with mesoporous-walled structure were prepared through a template-free urea assisted solvethermal method followed by reductivecalcination, which demonstrated multifunctional photocatalytic performances depending on the pollutant targets, (e.g. complete oxidation...

Simultaneous extraction of metallic Pd, Rh, Ru, Ag, Zn and nonmetallic Cs using liquid tin metal as the collecting metal from the highly simulated borosilicate glass containing high level radioactive waste was examined under reductive and oxidative heat treatment. High Sn recovery efficiency was obtained under reductive atmosphere compared to that...

Laser ablation technique is a novel method for obtaining a surface with a low secondary electron yield (SEY) that can mitigate electron cloud in high-energy accelerators. Before the installation of laser processed aluminum alloy, surface cleaning is of the essence to reduce the contaminations of ultra-high vacuum systems for providing appropriate p...

For improving the vacuum and mitigating the electron clouds in ultra-high vacuum chamber systems of high-energy accelerators, the deposition of Ti-V-Hf-Zr getter film on a laser-treated aluminum alloy substrate was proposed and exploited for the first time in this study. The laser-treated aluminum surface exhibits a low secondary electron yield (SE...

The laser processing method has proven to produce surfaces while ensuring a low secondary electron yield of oxygen-free high-conductivity copper (OFHC) samples, making it attractive for electron cloud mitigation in next-generation particle accelerators and neutron tubes. In this work, the laser processing method is proposed to OFHC targets for the...

Molybdenum, cesium and selenium along with potassium-rich materials were phase-separated onto the surface from the borosilicate glass containing simulated high level radioactive wastes by heat treatment under a CO2-containing atmosphere. The phase separation behaviors of potassium, molybdenum, cesium and selenium were characterized by FE-SEM, EDS,...

Laser treated surface method is a novel way to mitigate electron cloud in high-energy and high-intensity particle accelerators. Aluminum alloy is a common and important material used in vacuum system construction of particle accelerators. The influences of laser parameters, such as scanning speed and average laser power on the secondary electron yi...

A phase separation technique was applied to a simulated high-level vitrified waste, which consisted of nonradioactive elements, to determine the efficient extraction of cesium from the vitrified material. Experimentally, the simulated vitrified material was melted at 900–1000 °C and subsequently annealed at 700 °C under the reductive atmosphere. Th...

In recent years, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) fabrics has been widely used in many fields, such as industrial field and clothes, based on the excellent mechanical characteristics and chemical resistance. On the other hand, to introduce the new functions, the modification of these fibers and textiles by radiation induced graft polymerization has...

In this work, a simple binary oxygen-deficient Bi2O4-x oxide was prepared, and its crystal structure, optical property, band structure and electronic structure were systematically investigated. Plane-wave-based density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also carried out to determine that Bi2O4-x is a typical indirect-gap semiconductor with t...

During reductive heat-treatment of bismuth borosilicate glass with palladium and selenium, palladium is extracted along with bismuth as a liquid metal phase. Selenium may then be extracted from the oxide phase in a subsequent water-leaching step. However, selenium extraction can be hindered by partial transfer of the selenium to the metal. To suppr...

We propose a method of reduction-melting at 1000 °C, using a sodium-based flux, to recover lead from cathode-ray tube funnel glass. To recover the added sodium from the treated glass, we combined a reduction-melting process with a subsequent annealing step at 700 °C, generating water-soluble sodium compounds in the molten glass. Using this combined...

Highly mesoporous WO3/TiO2 nanofibers were fabricated through the combination of an advanced electrospinning strategy in the presence of porogenic agent and the subsequent heat treatment. It was found that the introduced porogenic agent of diisopropyl azodiformate (DIAD) within the precursor solution plays a crucial role on the formation of highly...

Reductive heat-treatment and leaching process were applied to a simulated lead or bismuth soda-potash-borosilicate glass with palladium, cesium, and selenium to separate these elements. In the reductive heat treatment, palladium is extracted in liquid heavy metal phase generated by the reduction of the heavy metal oxides, whereas cesium and seleniu...

A phase-separation technique for removing sodium from glass using a heat-treatment method under a reducing atmosphere was previously developed for sodium recovery from waste glass. In this study, this technique was applied to cesium-containing lead borosilicate glass to concentrate the cesium in phase-separated sodium-rich materials for efficient c...

We report a fabric coating method inspired the superhydrophobic properties of lotus leaves and the strong adhesion of the adhesive proteins in mussels. Dopamine, which mimics the single units of the adhesive mussel proteins, was polymerized in an alkaline aqueous solution to coat the surface of fabrics. The versatile reactivity of polydopamine allo...

A thoroughly mesoporous long TiO2 nanotube with intact morphology was firstly prepared using a foaming agent-assisted electrospun template method in which an electrospun water-soluble PVA nanofiber was used as the template. The large volumes of vapors released from the introduced foaming agents are attributed to the production of mesopores with uni...

Inspired by the strong adhesion of mussel proteins and the rough hierarchical structure of the lotus leaf, a dopamine-induced biomimic method is developed to prepare a robust superhydrophobic melamine foam with a high absorption ability and good recyclability for oil/water separation.

Novel air-water interface photocatalysts are prepared by deposition of multiple layers and hydrophobic surface modification on TiO2 nanoparticles. Without any support, the photocatalysts float at the air-water interface where they self-assemble to form a catalyst layer for photocatalytic decomposition. This unique catalyst design exhibits high phot...

Pt/Bi2O3 nanoflakes were designed as efficient visible light-driven photocatalyst which could be attributed to the synergy of its UV-induced nanostructure, surface phase and Pt-induced multielectron O2 reduction.

A free-standing 3D microjagged Bi2O3 was firstly prepared through a nontraditional template method and its visible light responsive photoactivity is highly related to its surface phase under H2O2 treatment.

Multistructural tungsten oxide samples were prepared using the hydrothermal method in the presence of different sulfates. In this paper, we present WO3 nanorods, WO3 toothpicks and cubic WO3 samples prepared in the presence of Na2SO4, Li2SO4 and FeSO4, respectively. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS and UV–vis DR. It is found...

TiO2 nanorods (TiO2-NRs) with high specific surface area and excellent photoactivity were prepared by a hydrothermo-calcination method with TiO2 (P25) precursor. The effects of calcination temperature on the morphology, crystallization, specific surface area, and photocatalytic activity of TiO2-NRs were investigated. The TiO2-NRs sample calcined at...

In this paper, an unavoidable thermodynamic behavior of nanomaterials is prevented by using a simple chemical morphology freezing method. Titanate nanotubes (no photoactivity) are filled with LaMer-model carbon and then coated with a silica sheath. This chemical filling and coating process ‘isolates’ micro-thermal deformation from the system, and c...