Digital Commons Network^™

Properties Of Domestic Natural Graphite Used For Li-Ion Batteries, Cui-Wei Du, Yu-Juan Zhao, Gang Zhang, Yin-Shun Wu, Qing-Guo Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The structure, physical characteristics and electrochemical properties of the natural graphite produced in Shandong province have been studied. The result of X-ray diffraction showed that the graphite consisted of hexagonal structure and rhombic structure (30% rhombic structure). It was fine crystal graphite. Used as a negative material of Lithium ion battery, the natural graphite showed excellent voltage and high energy capacity, but poor compatibility with electrolyte solution containing propylene carbonate (PC) for its own structure limitation.

Effect Of Dissolved Oxygen On The Corrosion Behavior Of Coalesced Copper And Stainless Steel-206 In Acetic Solutions, Rong-Zong Hu, Xiong-Cao Zhao, Yu-Hua Weng, Chang-Jian Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

Linear sweeping technique and dissolving oxygen sensor were used to study the effect of dissolved oxygen and relating factors on the corrosion behavior of coalesced copper and stainless steel-206 in acetic solutions. It was found: 1. The existing of dissolved oxygen is one of the important factors, which strongly influenced the corrosion behavior of coalesced copper and stainless steel-206 in acetic solution. 2. The existing of dissolved oxygen is benefitial to the preventing stainless steel-206 from corrosion in acetic solutions, but damage to the preventing coalesced copper from corrosion. 3. At the high temperature since the dissolved oxygen was escaping …

Improvement Of The Low Temperature Electrochemical Performance Of Ab5-Type Hydrogen Storage Alloy, Hui Ye, Zhu Wu, Zhi-Lin Li, Hong Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Optimizing the rare earth composition and doping with boron have been used to improve the low temperature performance of AB₅ hydrogen storage alloy. The results show that Ce-rich alloy with a proper amount of boron is suitable for Ni/MH battery with the lower-limit temperature down to 238 K under smaller current density (≤120 mA/g). The improvement of low temperature performance of hydrogen storage alloy is well consistent with its microstructure, thermodynamic and kinetic properties.

Electrochemical Preparation And Reaction Mechanism Of Nanocrystalline Nio, Jia-Shan Gu, Ai-Jie Han, Xing-Fu Zhou, Dao-Bao Chu, Chang-Jian Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

Metallic nickel was electrochemically dissolved in absolute ethanol and acetylacetone mixed solutions and in the presence of Bu₄NBr (as an electron-conductive additive). The electrolyte solution containing the precursor was then directly hydrolyzed to obtain nanocrystalline NiO. The precursor was characterized by FTIR, HNMR, Raman spectra and the nano-powder was characterized by XRD and TEM. The results showed that the NiO powder after calcined at 450 ℃ had formed the cubic NaCl structure and the nanocrystalline NiO prepared by this method had narrow size distribution of 10～15 nm. Moreover, the product yield could be improved by controlling temperature below …

Steady State Simulation Of Ysz Intermediate-Temperature Fuel Cell, Zi-Jing Lin, Ye Gu, Xiao-Hua Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

With a coupled 2D electrochemical and thermal modeling software, the characteristics of the steady state operation of the intermediate-temperature fuel cell with thin yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ) electrolyte was analyzed. The parameters of I-V equation were obtained from fitting the experiment results and the choice of grid points was determined by balancing the accuracy requirement and computational efficiency. The temperature fields at different operation circumstances such as flow designs, material choices for interconnect, were examined. The dependences of the output power and cell efficiency on the operating voltage at different temperatures were studied. Based upon the analysis of the temperature profile, it …

Mechanistic Study Of Oxidation Of Hypophosphite On Pt Electrodes By Sniftirs, Tai-Xiang Jiang, Hui-Huang Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation of hypophosphite on a polycrystalline platinum electrode was studied by SNIFTIRS and cyclic voltammetry, the in-situ IR spectra were analyzed as a function of Pt electrode potentials in the solution of 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄+0.1 mol/L NaH₂PO₂. It was found that the dissociative adsorption of hypophosphite ions occurs on Pt surface, and the oxidation product is H₃PO₄, rather than H₂PO₃^- which was considered to produce on Ni electrodes, thereby a new insight into mechanism of hypophosphite oxidation on Pt in acidic media was …

Studies On The Inhibition Of Yki-05 Corrosion Inhibitor To 907a Steel In Different Immersed Environments, Hui Yu, Jian-Hua Wu, Hong-Ren Wang, Jian-Hua Qian, Guang-Zhang Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The inhibition of YKI-05 Corrosion inhibitor in different conditions was studied using potentiodynamic polarization technique. The resuled shown that (i) the inhibitor film layer was formed stably on the surface of 907A steel electrode when it was persistently immersed in static seawater and the inhibition efficiency reached 90% or so. The inhibition mechanism is negative catalytic effect. (ii) the inhibitior film layer was not stable when the electrode was periodically immersed in seawater and was destroyed more significantly with the increase of electrode exposing time. The film was only a covered layer on the surface of electrode and it retarded …

Preparation And Performance Of Lifeo2 Coated Nickel Oxide Cathode For Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells, Chun-Ming Wang, Fei Li, Ke-Ao Hu

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel cathode for molten carbonate fuel cells was prepared by coating LiFeO₂ over the surface of porous NiO cathode by a simple combustion process. The analytical results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the LiFeO₂ coating on the surface of NiO particles consisted of nonometer-sized LiFeO₂ grains and sintered tightly with the NiO particles. The LiFeO₂ coating dramatically reduced the contacting area of NiO with the carbonate melts, thus the solubility of NiO in the carbonate melts was decreased. Meanwhile, …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Formic Acid On Molybdate-Modified Platinum Electrode, Jun-Hua Du, Xue-Hui Xu, Hong Li, Hong-Yu Cheng, Wei-Shan Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical behavior of molybdates on a platinum electrode in H₂SO₄ solutions with different H₂SO₄ concentrations was studied by cyclic voltammetry and double chronoamperometry. Molybdates were reduced to adsorb hydrogen molybdenum bronzes on the platinum electrode in H₂SO₄ solutions during cathodically potential sweep. The hydrogen molybdenum bronzes were oxidized to different forms of hydrogen molybdenum bronzes with less hydrogen, depending on the H₂SO₄ concentration. Platinum electrode was modified by these hydrogen molybdenum bronzes. However, this modified electrode was not stable in H₂SO₄ solutions. The modified …

Manufacture Of 1 Kw Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Stack, Sheng Sui, Xin-Jian Zhu, Zheng-Yu Fan, Guang-Yi Cao

Journal of Electrochemistry

A molten carbonate fuel cell stack with an active area of 240 mm×140 mm consisted of 30 cells. The gas feed system works via interior manifolds, and the stack placed in a couple of self-chest, coupled with a heater at the bottom and other fours surrounded,to keep uniformity of temperature.Under ambient pressure and 650 ℃, fed with hydrogen and air as anode and cathode gases respectively, the stack gave a current density of 150 mA/cm² at an average cell voltage of 0.7 V. The peak output of the stack was 1.06 kW during its performance of 300 h.

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 8/16/02- 11/15/02, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the AAA Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part of the overall systems model, which is the software package AMUSE. AMUSE analyzes the UREX process and other related solvent extraction processes and defines many of the process streams that are integral …

Calcium Binding To Calmodulin Mutants Monitored By Domain-Specific Intrinsic Phenylalanine And Tyrosine Fluorescence, W. S. Vanscyoc, B. R. Sorensen, E. Rusinova, William Laws, J. B. A. Ross, M. A. Shea

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Cooperative calcium binding to the two homologous domains of calmodulin (CaM) induces conformational changes that regulate its association with and activation of numerous cellular target proteins. Calcium binding to the pair of high-affinity sites (III and IV in the C-domain) can be monitored by observing calcium-dependent changes in intrinsic tyrosine fluorescence intensity (lambda(ex)/lambda(em) of 277/320 nm). However, calcium binding to the low-affinity sites (I and II in the N-domain) is more difficult to measure with optical spectroscopy because that domain of CaM does not contain tryptophan or tyrosine. We recently demonstrated that calcium-dependent changes in intrinsic phenylalanine fluorescence (lambdaex/lambdaem of …

Corrosion Of Steel By Lead Bismuth Eutectic: Quarterly Report August September October 2002, John Farley

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

We continued with sputter depth profiling of 316 and 316L steel samples that have been exposed to LBE. We also calibrated the sputter depth profiling using a sample of SiO₂ on Si, and the SEM. This is a valuable independent determination of the thickness of oxide layers.

In the laboratory, progress continues using the XPS machine. Experiments have been performed on steel samples using Argon ions to mill away the surface of the sample, thereby making measurements as a function of depth. This "ion beam milling" proceeds slowly through the oxide layer that covers the steel sample. We are …

Distributions Of Nobel Metal Pd And Pt In Mesoporous Silica, J. Arbiol, A. Cabot, J. R. Morante, Fanglin Chen, Meilin Liu

Faculty Publications

Mesoporous silicananostructures have been synthesized and loaded with Pd and Pt catalytic noble metals. It is found that Pd forms small nanoclusters (3–5 nm) on the surface of the mesoporous structure whereas Pt impregnation results in the inclusion of Pt nanostructures within the silica hexagonal pores (from nanoclusters to nanowires). It is observed that these materials have high catalyticproperties for CO–CH₄CO–CH₄CO–CH₄ combustion, even in a thick film form. In particular, results indicate that the Pt and Pd dispersed in mesoporous silica are catalytically active as a selective filter for gas sensors.

University Of Nevada, Las Vegas Advanced Accelerator Applications University Participation Program: Quarterly Report, Third Quarter Year 2 (Sept. 2002 To Nov. 2002), Anthony Hechanova

Transmutation Research Program Reports (TRP)

This Quarterly Report is a primary deliverable from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) University Participation Program (UPP) Director to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as described in the UNLV AAA proposal and Statement of Work for the Fourth Quarter.

The UNLV AAA UPP Director implements the program’s administration using staff from the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies (HRC) to ensure that work conducted under the UNLV AAA UPP meets program objectives. The UNLV AAA program consists of three components: Program Support, Research Infrastructure Augmentation, and Student Research.

Deliquescence Behavior Of Organic/Ammonium Sulfate Aerosol, Sarah D. Brooks, Matthew E. Wise, Melinda Cushing, Margaret A. Tolbert

CUP Faculty Research

Recent studies have shown that tropospheric aerosols composed of internal mixtures of organics with sulfates are quite common with the organic composing up to 50% of the particle mass. The influences of the organics on the chemical and physical properties of the aerosol are not known. In this paper, we report the solubility of a series of dicarboxylic acids in saturated ammonium sulfate solution as a function of temperature. We also report the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of the pure dicarboxylic acids and of mixtures of dicarboxylic acids with ammonium sulfate. For the systems studied, we find that the presence …

Chromium Tolerant Microbial Communities From The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Kristine L. Lowe, Ruth E. Fliflet, Tony Ly, Brenda J. Little, Joanne Jones-Meehan

Virginia Journal of Science

Chromium tolerant bacteria were enumerated from portions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and examined for their potential to reduce Cr(VI). Water and sediment samples were collected from various locations in Baltimore Harbor and Bear Creek, as well as Sandy Point State Park in Maryland and the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. Samples were spread onto agar plates with CrO₄^2- (5 ppm) as the sole terminal electron acceptor. Plates were incubated anaerobically and colony forming units (CFU) enumerated. CFU arising on minimal-CrO₄^2- medium ranged from 10³-10⁴ mL^-1 or g^-1 and community estimates …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The AAA program is developing technology for the transmutation of nuclear waste to address many of the long-term disposal issues. An integral part of this program is the proposed chemical separations scheme. This process, as envisioned by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) researchers, will be outlined later in this report.

Nearly all issues related to risks to future generations arising from long-term disposal of such spent nuclear fuel is attributable to ~1% of its content. This 1% is made up primarily of plutonium, neptunium, americium, and curium (the transuranic elements) and long-lived isotopes of iodine and technetium created as products from …

Crown Ether-Modified Clays And Their Polystyrene Nanocomposites, Hongyang Jao, Jin Zhu, Alexander B. Morgan, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Crown ether-modified clays were obtained by the combination of sodium and potassium clays with crown ethers and cryptands. Polystyrene nanocomposites were prepared by bulk polymerization in the presence of these clays. The structures of nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Their thermal stability and flame retardancy were measured by thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimetry, respectively. Nanocomposites can be formed only from the potassium clays; apparently the sodium clays are not sufficiently organophilic to enable nanocomposite formation. The onset temperature of the degradation is higher for the nanocomposites compared to virgin polystyrene, and the peak heat release …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Hydroxyapatite-Collagen Biocomposite Materials, Vuk Uskoković, Nenad Ignjatović, Nadejda Petranović

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Hydroxyapatite-collagen composite is a prosperous biomaterial in reconstructive surgery for the reparation of defects within human hard tissue. Within this research, three-dimensional blocks of HAp/collagen composite biomaterial were synthesized by homogenizing the HAp/collagen mixture by cold and hot (T=60oC) pressing (P=49 MPa). The changes in the system were followed by using thermal analysis (DSC & TGA), FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The identification and kinetic analysis of appearing phase transition were done. FT-IR spectrum of the biocomposite shows that neither cold nor hot pressing had significant influence on the individual components of the composite. SEM of the fracture …

A Microfabricated Microconcentrator For Sensors And Chromatography, Minhee Kim

Dissertations

The detection and quantitative measurement of trace components is a challenging task. The key component in such an instrument is the concentration step where the analytes are accumulated before the analysis. In this research, simple and inexpensive processes for the microfabrication of microconcentrator that can be used with sensors and as an injector in GC were developed. Analytes are selectively concentrated in the microconcentrator. Rapid electrical heating of the microconcentrator releases the adsorbed species as a 66 concentration pulse", which serves as an injection for the detection system. The relatively small size of the microconcentrator allows it to be heated …

Catalytic Reduction Of Nitric Oxide By Solid Carbonaceous Material Under Lean Condition, Shan Xiao

Dissertations

The reactions of O₂, NO_x and soot from Diesel exhaust over Cu containing catalysts can significantly reduce soot and NO_x emissions while producing N₂ and CO₂. The author has evaluated the performance of Cu ion exchanged ZSM-5 and Cu adsorbed on Granulated Activated Carbon (Cu-GAC) using GAC as a surrogate for soot in a packed bed reactor. CO, formed primarily by the oxidation of GAC with O₂, appears to be a stable intermediate in the reduction of NO. With experimental parameters chosen to simulate Diesel exhaust conditions, Cu-GAC is much more …

Hydrogen-Induced Embrittlement Of Candidate Target Materials For Applications In Spallation-Neutron-Target Systems: Quarterly Progress Report (June 01 – August 31, 2002), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The primary objective of this task is to evaluate the effect of hydrogen on environment-assisted cracking of candidate target materials for applications in spallation-neutron-target (SNT) systems such as accelerator production of tritium (APT) and accelerator transmutation of waste (ATW). The materials selected for evaluation and characterization are martensitic stainless steels including Alloy HT-9, Alloy EP 823 and Type 422 stainless steel. The susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of these materials are being evaluated in environments of interest using tensile specimens under constant load and slow-strain-rate (SSR) conditions. Further, the localized corrosion behavior of these alloys …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Final Report -Phase I 09/01/2001-08/30/2002, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the AAA proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Optimum Of Catalyst Layers For Direct Methanol Fuel Cells, Jun Zhang, Lei Li, Li Xu, Yu-Xin Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The performances of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs)with various Pt loading were compared. The amount of Nafion in a catalytic layer was optimized, and the effect of Nafion loading on the resistance of MEAs was investigated with ac impedance spectroscopy. For a MEA with both Pt 4 mg/cm² in the anode and the cathode, suitable Nafion loading was 21.4 wt% in the anode. With 21.4 wt% Nafion loading in the cathode, the Direct Methanol Fuel Cells(DMFC) showed the highest performance at high current density. While, the DMFC performances came down, as Nafion loading increasing,for ohm and concentration polarization.

Electrochemical Properties Of Nitrate Immobilized On Gold Electrodes With 2-Aminoethanethiol Sams, Ya-Ru Song, Hong Wu, Hui-Bo Shao

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nitrate reductase (NR) and phospholipids were immobilized on gold electrodes with 2-aminoethanethio(AET) SAMs. After Au/AET/NR and Au/AET/NR/lipid were soaked in pH 7 phosphate buffers for days, a pair of pre-reversible peak appeared at around 0.202 V and 0.149 V respsctively, irregularly grew with soaking time in blank buffer.The cathodic peak current (i_pcl) of Au/AET/NR system had linear relationship with scan rate between 0.02 and 0.5 V⋅s^-1 ,while i_pcl was proportional to V^1/2 in Au/AET/NR/lipid system. The direct electron transfer of enzyme electrodes was strongly affected by pH. Compared with Au/AET, NR exhibited a higher electrochemical …

Study On Modification Of Spinel Limn2O4 By Overcoating, Ren-Gang Zhang, Shi-Xi Zhao, Jung-Lei Xia, Han-Xing Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The surface of spinel LiMn₂O₄ was modified by the sol-gel process with LiCoO₂-coated LiMn₂O₄ and studied by XRD, SEM and EPMA. The results have shown that the surface of the coated grains heated at 700 ℃ for 10h, which is cubic spinel, were Co-rich. The amount of Co³⁺ in the grains changed owing to different place of the grain and decreased from surface to inner parts. Using the coated as the cathode of Li-ion cells, the initial capacity deceased slightly, but the amount of Mn²⁺ solving in electrolyte decreased, Jahn-Teller …

Facilitated K+ Ion Transfer By Db18c6 Across The Micro Liquid/Liquid Interface, Dong-Ping Zhan, Bing-Liang Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel microcavity Ag|AgCl electrode was fabricated to construct the micro-interface of two immiscible electrolyte solutions(ITIES). The transfer reactions of K⁺ ion facilitated by DB18C6 across the water/1,2-DCE interface was investigated with the three-electrodes system. The corresponding reaction parameters were derived from the voltammetric data. The results showed that the microcavity electrode would be a useful and efficient tool to investigate the charge transfer reactions at ITIES.

Diffusion Of Hydrogen At Iron Apply For Electrochemical Oscillating Permeation, Li Zhang, Ren-He Yin, Zhan-Mei Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The diffusion of hydrogen in iron was measured using electrochemical oscillating permeation. Through the samples in the different frequencies, it was found that diffusion of hydrogen at iron is of linear relation with boundary condition, which is the key to Fick's diffusion equation amplitude in the liquor. We can exploit this line relation getting the diffusion of hydrogen at iron.

Xrd Study On Highly Preferred Orientation Cu Electrodeposit, Min Gu, Fang-Zu Yang, Ling Huang, Shi-Bing Yao, Shao-Min Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

Copper electrodeposit was obtained in CuSO₄+H₂SO₄ electrolyte solution by electrodeposition and its structure was studied by XRD. The results showed that copper electoddeposits with the highly preferred orientations of (220) and (111) could be obtained at current density 4.0 A/dm² and 15.0 A/dm², respectively. The texture coefficient (TC) values were increased by thickness of Cu deposits. The thickness would be, to obtain Cu electrodeposit with (111) highly preferred orientation, about 7 times of that of (220) highly preferred orientation, which indicated that(220) face was easier to be remained than (111) face and …