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Ferro-coke, as a new burden of blast furnace (BF), can not only greatly reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emission, but also promote the resource utilization by using the low-quality iron ore and low-grade coal. However, the strength of ferro-coke decreased with the increasing amount of iron ore powder. In order to maintain the strength of ferro-coke while increasing the amount of iron ore powder, it is necessary to add binder during the coking process to enhance the strength of ferro-coke. In this paper, phenolic resin, silicon metal powder, corn starch, and coal tar pitch were used as binder for the fabrication of ferro-coke. I-type drum machine (I 600), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were applied to test the crushing strength, morphology, and microcrystalline structure of the ferro-coke. The results showed that the increasing amount of iron ore powder resulted in lower crushing strength, higher porosity, and the worse macroscopic morphology of ferro-coke. When the amount of iron ore powder reached 40%, obvious cracks appeared on the surface of ferro-coke. When the amount of iron ore was 30%, the crushing strength of ferro-coke dropped to 18.15%. Among the four binders, coal tar pitch could significantly enhance the cold crushing strength of ferro-coke through decreasing the porosity of ferro-coke and improving the bonding effect between carbon matrix particles. In the case of the 10% coal tar pitch addition, the cold crushing strength of ferro-coke was increased from 18.15% to 76.41%; meanwhile, its hot compression strength during gasification improved by 100N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, novel approach is proposed for the preparation of plasma-exfoliated graphene (PEGN) by reducing graphene oxide (GO) through a dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment in a H2 atmosphere. The surface chemistry, microstructures, and crystallinity of the prepared samples were characterized via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectrometry to determine the formation mechanism of the PEGN. The results demonstrated that the prepared PEGN had only a few layers in its structure and that most of the functional groups containing oxygen on the GO surface were removed. The PEGN exhibited a considerably higher capacity, better cycling stability, and favorable electron transfer rate for use as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. This proposed approach is fast, convenient, and inexpensive, constituting a novel means of producing graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]