Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Optimization Of Membrane Electrode Assembly In Air-Breathing Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, Liang Ma, Wei-Wei Cai, Jing Zhang, Liang Liang, Jian-Hui Liao, Chang-Peng Liu, Wei Xing

Journal of Electrochemistry

The structure and performance of MEA were optimized by tailoring the catalyst layer,cathodic microporous layer (MPL) ,anodic MPL and membrane,with the considerations of unique characteristics of airbreathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) such as methanol crossover and cathode flooding. It was found that high catalyst loading could suppress the methanol crossover effectively,but too high catalyst loading can lead to high mass transport resistance. Hydrophobic anodic MPL with 30% (by mass) PTFE could facilitate the CO₂ bubble detachment,which decreased the methanol concentration gradient and suppressed the methanol crossover accordingly. When Nafion 115 was used as membrane,methanol crossover was severe,while Nafion …

A High Performance Sulfur/Carbon Xerogel Composite In Lithium Sulfur Battery Application, Chong Wang, Jia-Jia Chen, Qiu-Jie She, Qian Zhang, Yi-Ning Shi, Ming-Sen Zheng, Quan-Feng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Sulfur/carbon composite was synthesized by the thermal method with the carbon xerogel as the conductive framework. The property of composite was characterd by XRD and SEM. It shown that the composite with the particle size below 10 μm had the same morphology as the carbon xerogel and the sulfur was absorbed in the pores in non-crystalline. The discharge capacity of the composites were 1311 mAh/g and 1107. 1 mAh/g at 0. 1C and 0. 2 C rates,respetively. And a retention capacity was about 800 mAh/g after 30 cylcyes.

Nano/Micro-Structured Electrode Materials For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Yu-Guo Guo, Zhong-Li Wang, Xing-Long Wu, Wei-Ming Zhang, Li-Jun Wan

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nanostructured materials are currently of interest as high performance anodes and cathodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries because of their novel nano-size effects and significantly enhanced kinetics. This review paper describes some recent developments in this field,addressing the size effects,morphology effects,as well as the functions of carbon coating layers toward lithium storage. Several"kinetically stabilized"nano/microstructured electrode materials and high-rate electrode materials with mixed-conducting networks based on the work of the authors are highlighted for illustration.

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Hcooh At Au(Core)-Pd(Shell)-Pt(Cluster) Nanocubes, Qing-Ning Jiang, Huan Li, Ning Yang, Ping-Ping Fang, Feng-Ru Fan, Zhong-Qun Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

Gold nanocubes were synthesized by a two-step seed-mediated growth method. The Aucore-Pdshell and Au_core-Pd_shell-Pt_cluster nanocubes with controllable shell thickness of Pd and cluster coverage of Pt were synthesized by simply changing the amount ratio of H₂PdCl₄ or H₂PtCl₆. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) , transmission electron microscopc (TEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). CV was then used to make a systematic study on the dependence of the electrocatalytic properties on the shell thickness of Au_core-Pd_shell and Pt coverage of Au_core-Pd …

High-Rate Cyclic Properties Of Hollow Carbon Hemisphere As Anode Materials For Lithium Ion Batteries, Guang-Hui Zhang, Zao-Xue Yan, Hong-Li Zou, Pei-Kang Shen

Journal of Electrochemistry

High surface area hollow carbon hemispheres (HCHs) covered with hard carbon layers have been synthesized by using polystyrene spheres (PSs) as templates under hydrothermal method combined with the intermittent microwave heating (IMH) method. The morphologies of the materials are characterized by SEM and TEM. The electrochemical properties of the HCHs are tested. Comparing with graphite and mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) ,the HCHs show higher capacity and excellent cyclic life performance.

Synthesis Of Cosalen Composite In Apo-5 And Its Electrocatalytic Behaviour For Reaction Of Dioxygen Reduction, Rong Zhang, Li-Hua Tang, Bin-Bin Fan, Jing-Hong Ma, Rui-Feng Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

CoAPO-5 molecular sieve was hydrothermally synthesized. The Cobalt ions in CoAPO-5 were coordinated with the SALEN ligend diffusing into the channels of the molecular sieve to form CoSALEN complexes. The electrochemical behaviors and electrocatalysis for dioxygen reduction of the CoSALEN complex immobilized in APO-5 modified glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) in differrent pH aqueous solutions. The results showed that the PS/CoSALEN/APO-5 /GC modified electrode is of the high electrocatalytic activity towards dioxygen reduction in pH 6. 86 buffer solution with a reduced overpotential of 447 mV lower than bare GC electrode. …

Influence Of Ions Dimension On The Electric Field Activation Of Micro-Crystallite Carbon, Gang-Wei Sun, Wen-Hua Song, Guo Cheng, Wen-Ming Qiao, Li-Cheng Ling

Journal of Electrochemistry

Micro-crystallite carbon (CC) was synthesized by KOH activation of carbonized petroleum coke precursors. The porous properties structure and crystallite structure were characterized by N₂ adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The capacitive behavior of CC was investigated in the electrolyte of Et₄NBF₄/PC, Et₄NBF₄/AN, Bu₄NBF₄/PC and Bu₄NBF₄/AN, respectively. Results showed that the lower potential of electric field activation (EFA) was obtained in the solvent of AN than in PC, which was ascribed to the fact that smaller solvated ions dimension in AN facilitating the intercalation …

Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Activtity Of Ni-Ru-Ir Oxide Cathode Coating, Yin-Hui Fu, Xue-Ming Li, Wu-Lin Li, Jun Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-Ru-Ir electrode coating was fabricated by thermal decomposition and oxidation. Electrochemical properties of Ni-Ru-Ir electrode coating and pure nickel cathode in the 30% NaOH solutions at 90 ℃(conditions of the industrial electrolysis) ,have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry,Tafel curves and chronoamperometry. The results show that the Ni-Ru-Ir oxide electrode coating exhibited high catalytic activity. At the current density of 0. 3 A·cm^-2,the lowest hydrogen evolution overpotential of Ni-Ru-Ir oxide electrode coating was about 300 mV lower than Ni. The roughness and excharge current density of Ni-Ru-Ir electrode coating were 32 and 4 times,respectively,larger than those of pure …

Prerapation And Supercapacitor Property Of Mesoporous Carbon Nanofibers, Yong-Wen Wang, Ming-Bo Zheng, Jian Cao, Jie-Ming Cao, Guang-Bin Ji, Jie Tao

Journal of Electrochemistry

Two different mesoporous carbon nanofibers with large mesopore or core-shell structure were prepared by using the resol/F127 mixture to fill the AAO template. The morphology and structural parameters of the samples were characterized by SEM,TEM,and N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis. The supercapacitive behaviors of the electrodes were tested by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge. The results show that the specific capacitances of mesoporous carbon nanofibers increased obviously and the fine supercapacitive performances were achieved at high scan rate or large current density.

Nano-Sized Au On Nickel Foam As Cathode Of Alkaline Al-H2O2 Semi Fuel Cell, Shu-Li Chen, Bang-An Lu, Yao Liu, Gui-Ling Wang, Dian-Xue Cao

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nano-sized Au particles were deposited on a nickel foam substrate by a fast spontaneous deposition method using AuCl₃ as the source of Au. The effects of AuCl₃ concentration and deposition time on the size and distribution of Au particles,and the performance of the obtained Au/Ni electrode as the cathode of Al-H₂O₂ semi fuel cell were investigated. It was found that after the nickel foam was immersed in a 2 mmol·L^-1 AuCl₃ solution for 60 s,Au particles with diameters smaller than 100 nm were deposited on its surfaces and cover the surface completely. The …

Biodegradable Polymer Blends And Composites From Proteins Produced By Animal Co-Product Industry, Bernice Nzioki

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Development of new green materials from by-products of animal rendering industries would provide a substantial economic return to animal rendering processors. Meat and bone meal (MBM), one of the products of the rendering industry, has potential for numerous bio-based applications. This research focuses on fabrication of plastics blends made of MBM (Meat and bone meal) and UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene). We investigated thermal, morphological, water absorption and mechanical properties of the plastics. The plastics were compression molded and their properties were examined.
DSC thermographs of the blends indicated that the thermal properties of UHMWPE did not change …

Microstructural Evolution Of Nickel During Spark Plasma Sintering, Matthew Thomas Luke

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is reported to produce materials with properties superior to those that result from conventional processing techniques. Spark plasma sintering is also reported to process materials at lower temperatures and in a shorter time than other processes, which may facilitate the synthesis of materials that are traditionally difficult to process. While the properties of materials that result from SPS processing have been studied, there is not a thorough understanding of the evolution of the microstructure in response to SPS process parameters. A comparison of the microstructure of nickel produced by SPS at varying ramp rate, temperature, dwell …

In-Pile Thermal Conductivity Measurement Methods For Nuclear Fuels, Brandon S. Fox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Measuring nuclear fuel thermal conductivity in-pile can provide much needed data for understanding fuel performance during irradiation and yield thermophysical property data needed for simulation codes and fuel databases. The objective of this research is to develop and compare two in-pile thermal conductivity methods in a laboratory setting using surrogate fuel materials.

A steady-state radial heat flow method was investigated to understand its viability as an in-pile steady-state thermal conductivity technique. By using Joule heating to simulate volumetric heat generation within a surrogate fuel rod, thermal conductivity was measured with two thermocouples at different radial positions within the rod. Examinations …

Performance Of Nevada’S Aggregates In Alkali-Aggregate Reactivity Of Portland Cement Concrete, Mohammad Shahidul Islam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) is a form of distress that occurs in concrete and results in serviceability problems, cracks, spalling, and other deterioration mechanisms. There are two categories of AAR, namely, alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and alkali-carbonate reaction (ACR). Alkali-silica reaction is one of the most recognized deleterious phenomena in concrete, and has been a major concern since its discovery in the 1940s. The reaction which occurs between reactive silica or silicates present in some aggregates and alkalis of Portland cement produces an alkali-silica gel that expands in the presence of moisture resulting in concrete cracks. ACR is also a chemical reaction …

Production Of Multiwall Carbon Nanotuse For Alcohol Sensor Application., Ebtehal Saleh Alshaqaq

Student Works (2010-2019)

Multiwall carbon nanotube/polyethylene oxide (PEO), multiwall carbon nanoube/polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) and multiwall carbon nanotube/ polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)/zinc oxide(ZnO) have been tested as chemical sensors and detailed study on the effect of different gas concentration and material properties on gas sensitivity is presented. Initial composites were prepared by a simple solution casting and characterized by x-ray diffraction for ZnO, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to demonstrate crystallite size of ZnO, the morphology and surface area respectively. On the other hand, MWCNT/PEO , MWCNT/PVA , MWCNT/PVA/ZnO were prepared with different loading MWCNT and ZnO. The chemical sensing properties of …

Kinetic And Finite Element Modeling For Firing Brick, Daniel Mckinney

All Theses

Kinetic modeling and simulation were used to optimize the firing cycle for brick. This was done to develop a tool for the brick industry to reduce fuel consumption and emissions during firing. A kinetic model was built using shrinkage data from dilatometer measurements and mass loss data from thermogravimetry measurements in order to predict the density as a function of temperature and time. The density of brick was related to the absorption coefficient (C/B), an ASTM standard which is related to the durability of the brick. The kinetic model was used to optimize the firing curve using a rate controlled …

Characterization And Modification Of Helmet Padding System To Improve Shockwave Dissipation, Katelyn Howay

All Theses

Currently soldiers are being exposed a much higher number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the resulting shockwaves. These shockwaves can cause traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) even without the occurrence of ballistic impact. The focus of this research was to reduce the amount of shockwaves soldiers are exposed to by inserting fibers and woven fabrics into a foam padding system. These fibers and fabrics facilitate the dissipation of the shockwave energy before it is able to penetrate the padding and cause TBIs.
The sound velocity of high-performance fibers, commodity fibers and woven fabric was measured using a Dynamic Modulus Tester. …

Fabrication Of Transparent Ceramic Laser Media For High Energy Laser Applications, Karn Serivalsatit

All Dissertations

Sesquioxides of yttrium, scandium, and lutetium, i.e., Y₂O₃, Sc₂O₃, and Lu₂O₃, have received a great deal of recent attention as potential high power solid state laser hosts. These oxides are receptive to lanthanide doping, including trivalent Er, Ho and Tm which have well known emissions at eye-safe wavelengths that can be excited using commercial diode lasers. These sesquioxides are considered superior to the more conventional yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) due to their higher thermal conductivity, which is critical for high power laser system. Unfortunately, these oxides possess high …

Standardization Of A Volumetric Displacement Measurement For Two-Body Abrasion Scratch Test Data Analysis, Ryan L. Kobrick, David M. Klaus, Kenneth W. Street Jr.

Publications

A limitation has been identified in the existing test standards used for making controlled, two-body abrasion scratch measurements based solely on the width of the resultant score on the surface of the material. A new, more robust method is proposed for analyzing a surface scratch that takes into account the full three-dimensional profile of the displaced material. To accomplish this, a set of four volume displacement metrics are systematically defined by normalizing the overall surface profile to statistically denote the area of relevance, termed the “Zone of Interaction” (ZOI). From this baseline, depth of the trough and height of the …

Layer-By-Layer Assembly Of {Nanoclay-(Sol-Gel Oxide)}N And {Nanoclay-(Oxide Nanoparticle)}N Multilayers: Synthesis And Growth Mechanisms, Hao Chen

All Dissertations

Two new classes of all-inorganic nanostructured multilayers, {MMTx-(sol-gel oxide)}n and {MMTx-(oxide nanoparticle)}n, have been successfully synthesized for the first time. They were made by adapting a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly method initially developed to synthesize polyelectrolyte-based multilayers. In most previous studies, this electrostatic-assisted LbL assembly method used polyelectrolytes/polymers as the 'structural glue' to prepare multilayers. The synthesis of {MMTx-(sol-gel ZrO2)}n multilayers demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of making sol-gel oxide 'glued' all-inorganic multilayers, thereby introducing an innovative nanoscale fabrication concept. The synthesis of {MMTx-(oxide nanoparticle)}n multilayers further illustrates the versatility of LbL assembly technique by achieving a second new …