Carbon nanohorns (CNHs) have become the focus of intense research due to their special physical and chemical properties. The preparation, structure, formation mechanism, property and applications of CNHs were presented in this review. As processes of cost-effective, high-purity, high-yield (industrial scale) and catalyst-free, CNHs can be produced by arc discharge and CO₂ laser ablation. CNHs are spherical aggregates, consisting of thousands of individual nanohorns with 2~5 nm in diameter and 20° cone angle. The tips of individual CNH have massive topological defects, for example, pentagon- and heptagon-shaped ones. The core part is made up of disordered graphene, hence such a compound structure leads to distinct physical and chemical properties compared with other nano-carbons. In addition, the diameter of CNHs can be adjusted within the range of 50~400 nm by adjusting the experimental procedures and parameters, correspondingly, their morphology changes form "dahlia-like"- to "bud-like"-type. The high purity and thermal stability, excellent electrical conductivity, combined with microporosity and mesoporosity, high surface area after post treatments make CNHs a promising candidate in many applications, such as super capacitor, catalyst support or catalyst, drug carrier systems, etc. Finally there still exist more unknown physical and chemical properties and application potential for this novel carbon nanohorns, which should be further studied.

Since the discovery of MgB₂ superconductor in 2001, it has been highly concerned by scientists and engineers due to its peculiar characteristics. As a result, a number of different methods and approaches had been developed for the synthesis of MgB₂ superconductor, whilst its performance in superconductivity varies significantly depending on the synthesis method. Among many synthesis methods, the diffusion method is the mostly effective way to synthesize MgB₂ of superior superconductivity, while such process requires simple equipment and is easy to operate. This article systematically introduced various diffusion methods, including infiltration growth method, infiltration capsule method, liquid phase Mg diffusion method and vapor phase diffusion method, and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods were also compared. At the same time, the main application fields of liquid phase Mg diffusion method, such as superconducting cable, electromagnetic shielding and magnetic levitation, were introduced. Based on the comparison of various synthetic methods and their related applications, the development trend of diffusion synthesis was ulteriorly prospected.

Carboxylic acid grafted starch adsorption resin (CSR) was synthesized by using natural starch (RS) as matrix, acrylic acid (AA) and vinyl acetate (VAc) as raw materials in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) and sodium bisulfite (SHS). The resulted CSR product was characterized by SEM, IR, XRD, ¹³C-NMR and GPC. The results show that when the initiator concentration was 0.03 mol/L, the monomer mass ratio n (AA): n (VAc) was 3:1 and the monomer concentration was 0.8 mol/l, the prepared CSR product presents the carboxyl group content of 19.26% with adsorption capacity of 17.35mg/g for malachite green, in other words, the water resistance and chemical stability and the tolerance to acid, alkali and enzyme of CSR resin were enhanced in comparison to those of the natural starch. After alkali treatment the adsorption capacity of the resin can be further improved. Linear molecules in CSR resin gradually transformed into branched type, resulting in complex network structure of macromolecules. The molecular mass of the main chain of CSR decreased with the increase of monomer dosage and AA / VAc ratio. The adsorption capacity of CSR for basic fuchsin (BF), methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) is better than that of 001×7 strong acid ion exchange resin, D151 weak acid ion exchange resin, carboxymethyl cellulose CMC and carboxymethyl starch CMS and other synthetic and natural polymer adsorbents. The CSR has broad-spectrum of adsorption closed to that of active carbon. The zerocharge point pH_pzc of CSR was 3.83, which was much lower than that of natural starch resin (pH_pzc=7.38), that may be an important reason for the increase of adsorption capacity of cationic dyes. The CSR has good dye adsorption performance in a wide range of pH values, and the adsorption capacity reaches the maximum value when pH=8.5. The decolorization rate of CSR for mixed dye waste water was 87.42%. Finally the CSR had strong regeneration ability. Even after eight regeneration cycles, its decolorization rate was not lower than 88.6% of the initial adsorption ability.

The effect of inclined angle and embedment depth on the pull-out behavior of single fiber within ultra-high-performance concrete subjected to 0~1500 freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles were investigated by pull-out test and nano-indentation meter. The results show that the peak values of pull-out load of steel fiber with different inclination angle and embedment depth decrease with the increasing freeze-thaw cycles, and reach the maximum value at 50° inclination angle. The micropores in the interface transition zone (ITZ) of steel fiber-cement paste gradually increase and converge, correspondingly, the thickness of ITZ increases from 20 μm to 65 μm. The mechanical properties of the local area composed of steel fiber and its surrounding component phases in ITZ decrease little. The macro effective elastic modulus of ITZ decreases with the increasing freeze-thaw cycles, and the decrease range is greater after 600 F-T cycles. The degradation of microstructure and macro mechanical properties of ITZ is the main reason for the decrease of bonding properties of the steel fiber.

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) with length-to-diameter ratio of about 800 were prepared by alcohol reduction method, next a network-like structure of AgNWs was constructed via dispersion method. Then PVDF film is prepared by solution casting method, and different mass fraction of polyurethane (TPU) is added to improve the flexibility of the film to form a PVDF/TPU composite film. The AgNWs mesh is fixed on both sides of the PVDF/TPU flexible film to form a capacitive electrode plate, and the AgNWs were used to form a variable-pitch flexible film capacitive sensor. The structure of AgNWs was characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and XRD; the performance of the flexible thin film capacitive sensor was tested by electronic tensile tester, square resistance meter, three-electrode test system, LCR digital bridge, etc. The results show that: the square resistance of the single-sided polar plate of the capacitor formed by network-like AgNWs is 15.635 mΩ/sq; when the mass ratio of TPU to PVDF is 2:8 the elongation at break of the film is 91.2%, the toughness is the best, The specific capacitance was 375 μF/g; as the bending angle of the sensor increased, the output capacitance also continued to increase. The bending angle and the output capacitance value showed a linear relationship within a certain range. When the bending angle reached 180° the maximum capacitance is 436 μF.

The halloysite based coating was fabricated on the surface of flexible polyurethane foam (PUF) using layer-by-layer self-assembled method, which then was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometers, thermogravimetric analysis and cone test. The effect of the prepared coating on the performance of the coated PUF, such as thermal stability, flame retardancy and smoke suppression were investigated. The results show that the coating is composed of halloysite, sodium alginate and polyethyleneimine. The halloysite particles were uniformly dispersed in the coating on PUF. Due to the presence of halloysite based coating, the decomposition of the coated PUF could be retarded to certain extent at high temperature, hence the char residues were significantly increased while decomposed. In comparison to the bare PUF, the peak heat release rate, peak smoke production rate and total smoke production were reduced 57.3%, 58.9% and 80.7% respectively for the PUF with halloysite based coating. This indicated that the coating (namely PU-3) could enhance the thermal stability and fire safety.

Two modified silicone paints were prepared by physical mixing method with nano-Al₂O₃ and -TiO₂ as the main filler. The corresponding paints are sprayed on the surface of tinplate and 304 stainless steel and dried at room temperature to obtain two type of coated samples. The conventional mechanical properties of the two coatings were tested, and the effect of the coating on the oxidation resistance of 304 stainless steel in the air at 600℃ was studied. The results show that both coatings have good adhesion, flexibility and impact resistance. Both coatings can effectively slow down the oxidation of 304 stainless steel at 600℃. When the ratio of nano-Al₂O₃ to TiO₂ is 4:1, the nano-modified organic silicon coating has a better protective effect on 304 stainless steel.

Carbon fibers were coated with thin film of TiC and Ni respectively of about 0.8 μm in thickness by means of magnetron sputtering technique. Then the Cu-based composites reinforced with 2.5 %(volume fraction) coated carbon fibers were prepared by traditional powder metallurgy technology. The results show that the mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-based composites were improved through the reinforcements. The carbon fibers were homogeneously distributed in the matrix without obvious segregation. The hardness and electrical properties of the composite with reinforcer of TiC film coated carbon fibers were 40.8HV and 91.0%IACS, respectively, and those of Ni film coated carbon fibers were 38.8HV and 79.7%IACS, respectively. It follows that interaction of couples Ti/C and Ni/Cu respectively at interfaces of coated thin film/carbon fiber/Cu-matrix could be confirmed, which is beneficial to the interfacial bonding strength.

The graphene reinforced Mg-based composite material was prepared by in-situ method, and then the in-situ generated graphene and the prepared composite were characterized by means of Raman, XPS, XRD, SEM, TEM and electronic universal tensile testing machine. The results show that graphene-reinforced Mg-based composites can be prepared via in-situ reaction. As the reaction temperature increases the quality of the in-situ generated graphene increases, and the performance of the resulted composites is better. When the reaction temperature is 780℃ the mechanical properties of the composite material reach the maximum, namely, its yield strength, tensile strength and elongation are 245 MPa, 340 MPa and 6.7%, respectively. The yield strength, tensile strength and elongation increased by 40%, 21.4% and 48.8%, respectively, compared with the plain Mg-alloy.