Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Electrosynthesis Of Glyoxylic Acid In A Packed Bed Reactor, Jin-Hong Fan, Jun Li, Yu-Zhong Su, Hao-Qi Gao

Journal of Electrochemistry

Glyoxylic acid was produced by electroreduction of oxalic acid in a packed bed reator. The cathodic and anodic electrolytes were super-saturated oxalic and hydrochloric acid aqueous solutions separated by a super-acid ion-exchange membrane. The current efficiency and yield of glyoxylic acid were studied under different structured packed bed reactors and different electrode materials, temperatures and current densities. The results indicated that the current efficiency of synthsis of glyoxylic acid was over 66.2% and the concentration of glyoxylic acid could reach 2.02% after 45min electrolysis with cathode of lead particles and anode of graphite board under conditions of temperature 32 ℃, …

Photoelectrochemistry Of La3+ Doped Semiconductor Porous Films Sensitized By Ru(Bpy)2(Ncs)2 Dye, Li Zhang, Yan-Jie Ren, Sheng-Min Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

The La³⁺-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared with hydrothermal method.The photoelectrochemical properties of La³⁺-doped TiO₂ nanoporous-film electrode sensitized by Ru(bpy)₂(NCS)₂ were studied. The conversion efficiency of light to electricity and the energy conversion efficiencies were ineased with the depth of La³⁺-doped TiO₂ nanoporous-film electrode.

Varying Current Electro-Synthesis Of Glyoxalic Acid In Pairs In The Fixed-Bed Electrolytic Cell, Yin-Sheng Chen, Xin-Sheng Zhang, Ying-Chun Dai, Wei-Kang Yuan

Journal of Electrochemistry

As for the process of the electro oxidation of glyoxal to glyoxalic acid, the electrolytic result of either fixed bed electrolytic cell or varying current electrolysis was better than that of either flat plate electrolytic cell or constant current electrolysis. The average current density of varying current electro synthesis of glyoxalic acid in pairs was 1535 A/m² and the current efficiency were 85.3% and 86.7% and the selectivity were 93.9% and 94.0% for the anodic oxidation and cathodal reduction respectively. The initial composition of anodic electrolyte was 7% glyoxal and 8% hydrochloric acid (W/W) and the cathodal electrolyte consisted …

Electrochemical Synthesis And Characterization Of The Nickel Electropolyurushiol Coordination Polymer, Feng Gao, Guo-Cai Shen, Jie-Yuan Tang, Wen-Gong Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The nickel electropolyurushiol coordination polymer (EPU Ni²⁺) was obtained by the reaction between nickel chloride isopropyl alcohol solution with electropolyurushiol (EPU). The electrochemical polymerization of urushiol and the preparation of nickel electropolyurushiol coordination polymer were investigated. The coordination polymer was characterized by XPS, FT-IR, DMTA and AES methods, and its composition and structure were determined.The content of Ni²⁺ reached up to 7.5%. It was shown that there was certain coordination between Ni²⁺ and electropolyurushiol in the coordination polymer, thus cross-inks were formed. Therefore the glass transition temperature of the coordination polymer increased and heat resistance was …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities – Phase I: Quarterly Progress Report November 20, 2001 - February 20, 2002, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Multipacting is one of the major loss mechanisms in RF superconductivity cavities for accelerators. This loss mechanism limits the maximum amount of energy/power supported by the cavities. Optimal designs have been identified in others’ studies. In practice, these designs are not easily manufactured. Chemical etching processes used to polish the cavity walls result in a nonuniform surface etch. A nonuniform surface etch will leave some unclean areas with contaminants and micron size particles. These significantly affect multipacting. Further, a nonuniform etch will leave areas with damaged grain structure, which is not good for superconducting properties. Typically, the depth of chemical …

Effect Of Ga Content On Defect States In Cuin1-XGaXSe2 Photovoltaic Devices, Jennifer T. Heath, J. David Cohen, William N. Shafarman, Dongxiang Liao, Angus Rockett

Faculty Publications

Defects in the band gap of CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂ have been characterized using transient photocapacitance spectroscopy. The measured spectra clearly show response from a band of defects centered around 0.8 eV from the valence band edge as well as an exponential distribution of band tail states. Despite Ga contents ranging from Ga/(In+Ga)=0.0 to 0.8, the defect bandwidth and its position relative to the valence band remain constant. This defect band may act as an important recombination center, contributing to the decrease in device efficiency with increasing Ga content.

Nitriding Of Titanium By Inductively Coupled Plasma, Abdul Hakim Hashim

Student Works (2000-2009)

A RF planar coil inductively coupled plasma syslem (ICP) is used in this project to nitride a commercially pure titanium substrate. The system is powered by a 600 W, 13.56 MHz, 50 Ω RF generator. The impedance matching is achieved by using an air­-core step-down transformer and a tunable vacuum capacitor. The electrical discharge characteristics of argon and argon-nitrogen admixture plasmas are investigated. Coil current, ion density and RF power transferred in the plasma at different pressure are studied. Nitriding of titanium using the system is found to be able to produce θ-TiN, ε-Ti2N and α-Ti(N) layers, as confirmed by …

Oxidation-Induced Stacking Fault In (100) And (111) Silicon Wafers, Mei Keat Liang

Student Works (2000-2009)

Oxidation-induced stacking fault (OISF) dimension and density change on (100) and (111) wafers, as a result of repeated preferential etching were studied using AFM. optical microscope and angular polishing techniques. Density on (100) and (111) wafers is independent of surface removal up to 3.0µm. This indicates the single layer nature of OISF formed from the sand blasted wafer. Besides having higher density, OISFs from (100) wafer were longer than OISF from (111) wafer. OISF width increases linearly with surface removal however the length does not change significantly with surface removal. ln the OISF normal depth studies using angular polishing technique, …

The Effect Of Weak Acids Hydrolysis On The Sol-Gel Fabrication Of Silica Thin Film, Abdul Hamid

Student Works (2000-2009)

-

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

All technologies for the transmutation of nuclear waste require a large source of neutrons. One of the principal methods of generating these neutrons is by using a particle accelerator to bombard a heavy metal target. One of the more promising designs for particle accelerators for transmutation systems is the Superconducting Radio Frequency (RF) high-current linear accelerator (linac). The power supplies for these systems have three major components: niobium cavities, power couplers, and cryomodules. This research project will develop models to predict the behavior and performance of the niobium cavities, which will then be used to design and optimize the superconducting …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities: Phase Ii Second Quarterly Report, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Niobium cavities are important parts of the integrated NC/SC high-power linacs. Over the years, researchers in several countries have tested various cavity shapes. They concluded that elliptically shaped cells are the most appropriate shape for superconducting cavities. The need for very clean surfaces lead to the use of a buffered chemical polishing produce for surface cleaning to get good performance of the cavities. Up to this point, the second phase has resulted in the design of an experimental setup for the fluid flow experiment. Other experimental activities include the evaluation of a vacuum system are underway. Little reportable progress has …

Atomic Hydrogen Cleaning Of Inp(100): Electron Yield And Surface Morphology Of Negative Electron Affinity Activated Surfaces, M. A. Hafez, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of the InP(100) surface has been investigated using quantitative reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The quantum efficiency of the surface when activated to negative electron affinity was correlated with surface morphology. The electron diffraction patterns showed that hydrogen cleaning is effective in removing surface contaminants, leaving a clean, ordered, and (2×4)-reconstructed surface. After activation to negative electron affinity, a quantum efficiency of ∼6% was produced in response to photoactivation at 632 nm. Secondary electron emission from the hydrogen-cleaned InP(100)-(2×4) surface was measured and correlated to the quantum efficiency. The morphology of the vicinal InP(100) surface was investigated using …

High-Efficiency Solar Cells Based On Cu(Inal)Se[Sub 2] Thin Films, S. Marsillac, P. D. Paulson, M. W. Haimbodi, R. W. Birkmire, W. N. Shafarman

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A Cu(InAl)Se₂solar cell with 16.9% efficiency is demonstrated using a Cu(InAl)Se₂thin film deposited by four-source elemental evaporation and a device structure of glass/Mo/Cu(InAl)Se₂/CdS/ZnO/indium tin oxide/(Ni/Algrid)/MgF₂. A key to high efficiency is improved adhesion between the Cu(InAl)Se₂ and the Mo back contact layer, provided by a 5-nm-thick Ga interlayer, which enabled the Cu(InAl)Se₂ to be deposited at a 530 °C substrate temperature. Film and device properties are compared to Cu(InGa)Se₂ with the same band gap of 1.16 eV. The solar cells have similar behavior, with performance limited by recombination through …

Electrosynthesis Of A New Electroactive Poly(2,2'-Diaminophenyloxydisulfide), Yu-Zhi Su, Yan-Wen Rao, Ye Yang, Mei-Bing Chen, Yin-Ling Qiu, Yong-Hua Zhang, Ke-Cheng Gong

Journal of Electrochemistry

A new electroactive poly (2,2' diaminophenyloxydisulfide) (PDAPD) was successfully synthesized from acetonitrile(AN)/tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions containing the supporting electrolyte (LiClO₄) and the various kinds of acids (HCl, CF₃COOH, CCl₃COOH) on Pt electrode by consecutive cyclic voltammiry. The effects of the concentrations of supporting electrolyte (LiClO₄) and acid (HCl, CF₃COOH, CCl₃COOH) on electrodepositon of PDAPD film were investigated. The best experimental conditions for electrosynthesis of a highly electroactive conducting polymer film are that the concentrations are 0.1 mol/L and between 0.05 mol/L～0.5 mol/L,respectively for LiClO₄ and HCl.

The Investigation Of Prepare Condition For Micropores Membranes From Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride), Xu-Mei Ren, Feng Wu, Ying Bai, Hang-Jun Li, Xue-Jie Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The micropores membranes from Poly (vinylidene fluoride) were prepared by the phase inversion process. The effects of the casting solution composition, exposure time prior to coagulation and temperature of the coagulation bath on properties of prepared membranes were investigated. For all prepared membranes an asymmetric structure, sometimes without a dense skin layer, was observed.

An Investigation Of Structural Properties Of Li-Al-Mixed Doped Spinels Materials Li 1+XAlYMn Z-YO4, Zi-Shan Zheng, Zi-Long Tang, Zhong-Tai Zhang, Wan-Ci Sheng

Journal of Electrochemistry

Al and Li elements were co-doped into host spinel lithium manganese oxide by a simple and economical preparation technology. There was an investigation of the influence of doped Al contents on the initial capacity and cycling performance of the materials. The investigation of the XRD patterns, the analysis of the SEM micrographs and the determination of IR spectroscopy showed that the particles of dopant materials are fine, narrowly distributed and well crystallized, and the bonds Mn-O are stronger than these of undoped materials. The resulted materials have a high initial capacity of 119 mAh/g and good cycling characterization. The capacity …

Studies On The Properties Of The Anodic Films Formed On Lead- Lanthanum And Lead-Samarium Alloys In Sulfuric Acid Solution, Hou-Tian Liu, Chun-Xuao Yang, Hai-Heng Liang, Jiong Yang, Wei-Fang Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

AC voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and cyclic voltammetry were applied to study the anodic corrosion of Pb, Pb-1.0 at% La and Pb-1.0 at% Sm electrodes in 4.5 mol·dm^-3 H₂SO₄ solution (25 ℃). The experiment results show that samarium can inhibit the anodic corrosion of lead and decrease the impedance of anodic Pb(Ⅱ) film. Lanthanum can also decrease the impedance of the anodic Pb(Ⅱ)film, but the effect is smaller.

The Research Of Organic Electrolyte Solutions For Li-Ion Batteries, Quang-Chao Zhuang, Shan Wu, Wen-Yuan Liu, Zhao-Da Lu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The characteristics of organic electrolyte solutions and its influences on the ion conductivity are summarized. The chemistry and electrochemistry of organic electrolyte solutions and characteristics of ordinary organic solvents are introduced. Progresses in studies of organic electrolyte solutions such as electrolyte salts, organic solvents, additives in recent years are reviewed, current situation of the studies of organic electrolyte solutions were also discussed.

Research Progress On Proton Exchange Membranes Of Fuel Cells, Jing-Rong Yu, Dan-Min Xing, Fu-Qiang Liu, Jian-Guo Liu, Bao-Lian Yi

Journal of Electrochemistry

The proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) use proton exchange membranes(PEM) as their electrolytes. The performance of the PEMFC is strongly dependent on the characteristics of the PEM. In this paper, the requirements of the PEM utilized in the PEMFC were analyzed. The per-fluorinated, partially fluorinated and non-fluorinated PEM were introduced respectively. The structures, preparation, properties of the various types of PEM and their applications in the PEMFC were also discussed in detail.

The Influence Of Synthesis Conditions On The Electrochemical Properties Of Spinel Limn2O4, Jun-Feng Xu, Zhi-Yu Jiang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical properties of spine LiMn₂O₄ synthesized via a solid state reaction were investigated. Electrolysis MnO₂(EMD), Li₂CO₃ ,LiOH and LiNO₃ were used as the initial materials. It was found that the electrochemical properties of LiMn₂O₄ were strongly influenced by the synthesis conditions. The LiMn₂O₄ sample sprepared via the reactionof EMD and LiNO₃ showed the best properties for a lithiumion intercalation reaction. The procedure includes two steps:pretreatment at 280 ℃ for 6 hours to initiate the permeation of melting LiNO₃ into the microporesof EMD …

Adsorption And Oxidation Of Methanol On Pt And Sb, S Modified Pt Electrodes Using Cyclic Voltammetry And Eqcm, Guo-Liang Chen, Sheng-Pei Chen, Heng Lin, Xing-Hong Zheng, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The processes of adsorption and oxidation of methanol on Pt, Pt/Sb ad and Pt/S ad electrodes were studied by using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The results demonstrated that the oxidation of methanol depends strongly on oxidation states of electrode surface. Sb adatoms on Pt surface can adsorb oxygen at relatively low potentials, and exhibit catalytic effects for methanol oxidation. In contrast to Pt electrodes, the oxidation peak potential of methanol in this case negatively shifted to about 130 mV. In a contrary, the oxidation of S_ad atoms consumes oxygen species of Pt electrode surface. As …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities – Phase I: Quarterly Progress Report August 20, 2001 - November 20, 2001, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Multipacting is one of the major loss mechanisms in rf superconductivity cavities for accelerators. This loss mechanism limits the maximum amount of energy/power supported by the cavities. Optimal designs have been identified in others’ studies. In practice, these designs are not easily manufactured. Chemical etching processes used to polish the cavity walls result in a nonuniform surface etch. A nonuniform surface etch will leave some unclean areas with contaminants and micron size particles. These significantly affect mutipacting. Further, a nonuniform etch will leave areas with damaged grain structure, which is not good for superconducting properties. Typically, the depth of chemical …

Current Oscillations In The System Of Carbon Steel/Phosphoric Acid/Platinum, Shao-Yuan Shi, Jin-Ping Wu, Jing Liu, An Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

The periodic,aperiodic, chaotic and mixed-mode oscillations can occur in the process of the anodic electrodissolution of carbon steel in the solution of dilute phosphoric acid. More plentiful dynamic behaviors can be found in this system compared with the system of Fe/H₃PO₄/Pt.

Characterization And Electrochemical Investigation Of Boron-Doped Mesocarbon Microbeads Anode Materials For Lithium-Ion Battery, Mao-Hui Chen, Guo-Tao Wu, Guang-Ming Zhu, Jin-Kua You, Zu-Geng Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

The anodic performances of boron doped and undoped mesocarbon microbeads(MCMBs) were comparatively studied and the structures were characterized by XPS, SEM, XRD and electrochemical measurements. It was found that boron doping samples greatly increased the degree of graphitization and the crystallite size, leading to quite different morphology. Electrochemical discharge/charge cycle tests indicate that lithium intercalation occurred at a little higher potential for the boron doped MCMBs, being attended by greater irreversible capacity loss.

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities – Phase I: Quarterly Progress Report May 15, 2001 - August 15, 2001, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Multipacting is one of the major loss mechanisms in rf superconductivity cavities for accelerators. This loss mechanism limits the maximum amount of energy/power supported by the cavities. Optimal designs have been identified in others’ studies. In practice, these designs are not easily manufactured. Chemical etching processes used to polish the cavity walls result in a nonuniform surface etch compromising the optimal geometrical design. Past multipacting studies have not examined the impact of wall perturbations.

It is the purpose of this study to examine the chemical etching process in the design of niobium cavities so to maximize the surface quality of …

Performance Of Proton Exchange Membranefuel Cell With Co/H2 Fuel, Hong-Mei Yu, Zhong-Jun Hou, Bao-Lian Yi, Ke-Wan Bi, Jing-Xin Zhang, Zhi-Yin Lin, Ming Han

Journal of Electrochemistry

Fuel of proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) mostly comes from reformatecontains CO which will poison the fuel cell electrocatalyst. The effect of CO on the performance of PEMFC was studied in this paper. The results of the experiment show that when CO is fed inPEMFC ,the cell voltage will be decreased violently,then it will become steady with some vibration. The poison will become more serious with higher CO content and weaker at higher temperature. The adsorption of CO on the electrocatalyst is reversible. The PtRu electrocatalyst is moresuitable for the electrocatalysis of CO/H₂ than Pt electrocatalyst.

Study Of The Oxidation Dynamics Of Tizro2 Metal-Ceramics, Wen-Chao Li, Li-Dong Teng

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation dynamics of hot-pressed Ti-ZrO₂ metal-ceramics with the compositionof 50 vol.% Ti and 50 vol.% ZrO₂ has been studied.Thermodynamic analysis shows that Ticould react with O₂ but not with N₂ in the oxidizing process of TiZrO₂ composites at 0.1 MPa air. The oxidation dynamic behavior of Ti-ZrO₂ composites is analogous to that of pure Ti. Theactivation energy for the oxygen diffusion in Ti-ZrO₂ composites is higher than that in Ti solutions, for the presence of ZrO₂ restrains the oxygen diffusion in Ti-ZrO₂ composites. At early stagethe oxidation of Ti-ZrO_{2 …}

Preparation And Properties Of Separator For Lithium-Ion Battery, Xu-Mei Ren, Feng Wu, Chuan Wu, Han-Jun Li, Xue-Jie Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Lithium-ion batteries are well adapted to the new multimedia applications. PP/PE based microporous film is commonly used as separator in commercial lithium ion batteries. Herewe report a microporous film which is superior to the commercial available separator. The microporous PVDF polymer separators were prepared by the phase inversion process. The pore size of the separator is Φ 7 μm , and it's porosity is 75 %. The membrane in LiPF₆-EC/DEC showedhigh ionic conductivity (above 10^-3 S/cm at room temperature), and good mechanical properties(10³ kg/cm²). The half-cells consisted of Li/PVDF separator/MCMB showed excellent cyclingcharacteristics and …

Performance Of A Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, Zhao-Bin Wei, Jian-Guo Liu, Ya-Guang Jiao, Wei-Jiang Zhou, Wen-Zhen Li, Li-Kang Chen, Qin Xin, Bao-Lian Yi

Journal of Electrochemistry

A direct methanol fuel cell with 9cm² active area consists of Pt-Ru/C anode ,Pt/Ccathode and Nafion 115 membrane. The effect of operating conditions: methanol solution concentration, oxygen pressure and cell temperature on the cell performances was investigated. The results show that performance of single cell was enhanced by increasing oxygen pressure and celltemperature ,and a maximum power density 75 mW/cm² was obtained in the range of 250-300mA/cm² current density, 0.2 MPa oxygen pressure, 1.0 mol/L methanol concentration and 75 ℃ cell temperature. When cell operating at room temperature, a relatively low, but a stable performance of cell …

The Effect Of Preparation Condition On The Photoelectrochemical Performance Of Both The Pani Film And Tio2-Pani Composite Film On Au, Huai-Guo Huang, Hong-Ping Zhang, Zhi-Xin Zheng, Yan-Yan Xi, Ling-Ling Wu, Zhong-Hua Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

Both the PANI (polyaniline) film and TiO₂-PANI composite film on the PATP(paminothiophenol)/Au substrate were obtained under different preparation condition by electrochemical methods, and their photoelectrochemical performances were alo studied. The resultsshowed that the photoelectrochemical performances of the films depend deeply on the comditionsof preparation. The self-assembling of PATP favors the adhesion of PANl. The partially-oxidizedPANI has a greater photoelectrochemical response than that of the reduced PANI and oxidized PANl. There is an optimum of film thickness for the photoelectrochemical performance of PANI film. Heat treating is in favor of the photoelectrochemical performance of TiO₂, but decreases …