Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Oxidation-Resistant, Solution-Processed Plasmonic Ni Nanochain-SioX (X < 2) Selective Solar Thermal Absorbers, Xiaobai Yu, Xiaoxin Wang, Qinglin Zhang, Juchuan Li, Jifeng Liu

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Metal oxidation at high temperatures has long been a challenge in cermet solar thermal absorbers, which impedes the development of atmospherically stable, high-temperature, high-performance concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. In this work, we demonstrate solution-processed Ni nanochain-SiO_x (x < 2) and Ni nanochain-SiO₂ selective solar thermal absorbers that exhibit a strong anti-oxidation behavior up to 600 °C in air. The thermal stability is far superior to previously reported Ni nanoparticle-Al₂O₃ selective solar thermal absorbers, which readily oxidize at 450 °C. The SiO_x (x < 2) and SiO₂ matrices are derived from hydrogen silsesquioxane and tetraethyl orthosilicate precursors, respectively, which comprise Si-O cage-like …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Microporous And Mesoporous Catalysts For Shale Gas Upgrading, Danesh Contractor, Ravi Joshi, Rajamani Gounder

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The petroleum industry is gradually shifting from using naphtha to ethane as its feedstock and new ethane steam crackers are being built. Using ethane as a feedstock produces more ethene and less co-products such as propene, aromatics and C4 alkenes. Thus, the shift in feedstock will reduce the availability of these co-products. Developing methods for the interconversion of alkenes, and specifically using ethene as a reactant, can solve this problem.

This project focuses on synthesis and characterization of zeolites with the BEA framework topology, and their nickel exchanged versions as potential ethene dimerization catalysts. In future work, these materials will …

Pulse Ch 4/D 2o Reaction On A Ni/Ysz Anode In Sofc, Zhiqiang Yu, Steven Chuang

Steven S.C. Chuang

The activity and coking characteristics of a nickel/yttrium stabilized zirconia (Ni/YSZ) anode in a YSZ electrolyte/LSM cathode fuel cell have been investigated by steady state H2 as well as pulse CH4 and D2O/CH4 reactions. Pulse CH4 reaction produced H2, CO and carbon deposits (i.e., coke); pulse D2O/CH4 reaction led to the formation of H2, HD, D2 and CO under the open circuit condition where O2− was not able to diffuse across the YSZ membrane. Closing the circuit allowed O2− to diffuse across the YSZ membrane from the lanthanum strontium manganate (LSM) cathode to the Ni/YSZ anode, leading to oxidation of …

Chemoorganotrophic Bioleaching Of Olivine For Nickel Recovery, Yi Wai Chiang, Rafael M. Santos, Aldo Van Audenaerde, Annick Monballiu, Tom Van Gerven, Boudewijn Meesschaert

Faculty Publications and Scholarship

Bioleaching of olivine, a natural nickel-containing magnesium-iron-silicate, was conducted by applying chemoorganotrophic bacteria and fungi. The tested fungus, Aspergillus niger, leached substantially more nickel from olivine than the tested bacterium, Paenibacillus mucilaginosus. Aspergillus niger also outperformed two other fungal species: Humicola grisae and Penicillium chrysogenum. Contrary to traditional acid leaching, the microorganisms leached nickel preferentially over magnesium and iron. An average selectivity factor of 2.2 was achieved for nickel compared to iron. The impact of ultrasonic conditioning on bioleaching was also tested, and it was found to substantially increase nickel extraction by A. niger. This is credited to an enhancement …