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Inoculation is an essential part of controlling material properties in grey cast iron. Inoculation practice has for decades been based on the addition to the melt of small amounts of elements with a strong affinity to O (and S) just before casting takes place. This method is proven-both in theory and in practice-to be effective in most cases. But it has the disadvantage that the nucleation effect fades away over time. In particular, in heavy castings (slow cooling) this effect may cause non-uniform and unacceptable material properties in some parts of the casting. Nitrogen is also known to influence grey iron microstructure. Both graphite flake formation and matrix formation are influenced. However, the obtained effects differ considerably between different reported investigations. This investigation deals with the combined effect of nitrogen and boron and how it is possible to utilize this effect to enhance material properties in heavy grey iron castings. It is shown that the controlled additions of nitrogen and boron can be used to control the microstructure of thick section grey iron castings. A plausible theory for the formation of boron nitride nuclei effective for graphite growth is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doped mesoporous carbons comprising nitrogen, boron, and phosphorus (N, B, and P, respectively) were prepared as non-Pt catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an acidic solution. The N-doped carbons were varied to increase their catalytic activity through by additionally doping of B and P. All the mesoporous carbons were synthesized by carbonizing polyaniline at 900 °C for the N species, while the B and P species were inserted into the carbon structure at the carbon growth step. The linear sweep voltammogram recorded in the acidic solution showed that the ORR activity of the N-doped carbon catalysts increased significantly after the addition of B. An approximately 19 % increase in the pyridinic N content at the carbon surface was observed, along with B-N-C moieties with a binding energy of 399.5 eV. The non-precious metal ORR catalysts were prepared via pyrolysis, with the insertion of an additional transition metal (iron, Fe). The deconvoluted X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that the Fe-N peak was generated after the pyrolysis. The peak intensity of the quaternary N also increased compared with the pyridic and pyrrolic N, which indicates that Fe serves to catalyze the modification of N species. The numerical examinations showed that N- and B-doped mesoporous carbon (NBC) 1.5 % Fe had the highest limited current (4.94 mA/cm), with the B-doped carbon still the most active mesoporous carbon catalyst for ORR. As a result, it can be said that Fe positively contributes to the formation of graphitic N, which is known to be an active site for ORR. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that the peak area of the NBC 1.5 % Fe catalyst was larger than that of the N-doped mesoporous carbon (NC) 1.5 % Fe catalyst. It was concluded that B doping enhances the ORR activity and the stability of carbon materials even after 1000 cycles under acidic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]