Chemistry Commons^™

Research Progress In Carbon Coating On Lifepo4 Cathode Materials For Lithium Ion Batteries, Ning Zhang, Yong-Chang Liu, Cheng-Cheng Chen, Zhi-Qiang Zhu, Zhan-Liang Tao, Jun Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Olivine-structured LiFePO₄ has been received much attention because of its flat voltage profile, low cost, abundant material supply and better environmental compatibility. However, the poor electronic and ionic conductivities have limited its application in industry. One of the best methods to improve the electrochemical performance is carbon coating. In this review, we summarize the recent developments of LiFePO₄/C cathode. Moreover, the different effects caused by coating methods and carbon sources, as well as the mechanism of carbon coating on the properties of LiFePO₄/C are reviewed.

Enhancing Stability Of Pem Fuel Cell Catalysts Via Support Changing, Xiao-Hong Xie, Zi-Dong Wei

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pt/C catalyst with highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles supported on carbon has been widely used as the state-of the-art catalyst in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), while the durability of Pt/C is one of the major barriers for large-scale applications of PEMFCs. Thus, enhancing the stability of Pt/C has been a hot issue in this field. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in enhancing the catalyst stability in the view of support material. The future prospects of the PEMFCs catalyst should focus on adopting more stable supports or strengthening the interactions between Pt and supports.

Pt/C Modified Proton Exchange Membrane For Improved Fuel Cell Performance, Zhi Cui, Chao Wang, Shui-Yun Shen, Feng-Jing Jiang, Jun-Liang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The property of proton exchange membrane greatly affects the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). During the operation of a PEMFC, the water produced at the cathode, the water vapor from the humidified feed gas and the water migrated by electro-dragging will reach a balance in the membrane and determine the resistance of PEMFC, and thus affect the performance of PEMFC. Normally, the PEMFC performance strongly depends on the relative humidity of the feed gas, and the performance decreases at lower humidity as a result of lower proton conductivity of the membrane. In this paper, we proposed to …

Electrolytes For Lithium And Lithium-Ion Batteries, Zong-Rang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

This is an up-to-date book published by Springer last year and focuses on the field of the electrolytes for lithium and lithium-ion batteries. A brief introduction and review of this book are given in this paper. The main contents of this book are introduced briefly in the order of ten different chapters along with a short review of recent progress in those fields.

Lithium Air Batteries: Non-Aqueous And Hybrid Systems, Sheng-Fu Tong, Ping He, Xue-Ping Zhang, Shi-Yong Zhao, Hao-Shen Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

Developing energy storage devices and new materials, which match the requirements in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), is an effective way to balance the contradiction between the social development and the shortage of fossil energy and environment pollution. Rechargeable lithium-air (Li-air) batteries consisting of Li and oxygen as the anodic and cathodic reactants, respectively, have attracted much attention during the past decade due to their high theoretical specific energy. According to work conditions, the most studied types of Li-air batteries are non-aqueous, hybrid, and solid state electrolyte Li-air batteries. Challenges still exist in cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and …

Effect Of Surfactant Architecture On Conformational Transitions Of Conjugated Polyelectrolytes, Greg A. Braggin

Master's Theses

Water soluble conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs), which fall under the category of conductive polymers, possess numerous advantages over other conductive materials for the fabrication of electronic devices. Namely, the processing of water soluble conjugated polyelectrolytes into thin film electronic devices is much less costly as compared to the processing of inorganic materials. Moreover, the handling of conjugated polyelectrolytes can be performed in a much more environmentally friendly manner than in the processing of other conjugated polymers because conjugated polyelectrolytes are water soluble, whereas other polymers will only dissolve in toxic organic solvents. The processing of electronic devices containing inorganic constituents such …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Inertial Force-Driven Synthesis Of Near-Infrared Plasmonic Nanosphere Composites: Physicochemical Characterizations, Joseph Noel Batta-Mpouma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Near-infrared (NIR) responsive nanoparticles (NPs) like gold nanorods (GNRs) are important in biomedical fields because of their transparency for biological tissues. Although GNRs are sought after as contrast agents for theranostics in cancer studies, capping ligands like cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for the GNR synthesis are toxic for biological tissues. The need for an alternative to toxic GNRs is of interest to alleviate the problem.

This work aimed to optimize the synthesis of NIR responsive nanosphere composites (NSCs) by inertial force (g-force) using colloidal gold NPs as model, elucidate the mechanism for the NSC formation, and study their detailed physicochemical characteristics. …

Effect Of Crimping, Multilayering, And Twisting On Polymer Fibers For Acl Replacement, Mariana Ocampo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the most common knee injury in the United States; roughly 150,000 ACL surgeries are performed annually. The ACL lacks self-healing properties due to its location inside the knee’s intra – articular environment (IA). Treatments for ACL ruptures involve the use of autogenous grafts or allografts. More suitable treatments can be found in new bio engineered tissue scaffolds, composed of natural and synthetic polymers. The polymers provide stronger mechanical properties and the ability to promote cell adhesion. It is believed that mimicking the crimping pattern of human ligaments will enhance polymer properties. Four polymers were …

Tio 2 Fibers: Tunable Polymorphic Phase Transformation And Electrochemical Properties, Edna Garcia, Qiang Li, Xing Sun, Karen Lozano, Yuanbing Mao

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

A series of one-dimensional (1D) nanoparticle-assembled TiO2 fibers with tunable polymorphs were prepared via a novel and large scale ForceSpinning® process of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) precursor fibers followed with a thermal treatment at various calcinations temperatures. The thermal and structural transformations were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The influence of polymorphic phase of the TiO2 fibers on the electrochemical performance in neutral aqueous 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte was investigated. The polymorphic amorphous/anatase/rutile TiO2 fibers prepared at 450 °C achieved a highest capacitance of 21.2 F g−1 (6.61 mF cm−2) at a current …

Researches On In-Situ And Ex-Situ Characterization Techniques In Lithium Batteries, Wen-Jun Li, Jie-Yun Zheng, Lin Gu, Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical performance of Lithium batteries is directly linked to interfacial transports, reactions and storing behaviors of electrons and ions at bulk-surface interfaces. It is extremely important to conduct evolution studies from atomic level to macro level in electron structures, crystal structures, microstructures and morphologies, chemical compositions and physical properties of battery materials at equilibrium and nonequilibrium in order to understand various structure-performance relations in lithium ion batteries. Advanced in-situ and ex-situ characterization techniques have been used widely to clarify scientific and technological problems in lithium batteries. This paper summarizes our efforts on battery researches using various experimental techniques, including in …

Recent Research Progress For Non-Pt-Based Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts In Fuel Cell, Ping Song, Ming-Bo Ruan, Jing Liu, Guang-Jun Ran, Wei-Lin Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The expensive Pt-based catalyst suffers from its susceptibility to time-dependent drift, methanol crossover, and carbon monoxide (CO) deactivation, which will block the large-scale commercial application of fuel cells. It is, therefore, necessary to develop efficient, low-cost, highly stable non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with high catalytic performance. Here, we will pay attention to the research progress of non-precious metal and heteroatom-doped (N, B, P, S, F) metal-free ORR catalysts. Importantly, we mainly focus on the work developed by Xu’s group with the Fe-based non-precious metal and F/NF-doped metal-free ORR catalysts. The purpose of these works is to improve …

Research Progress Of Mn-Based Lithium-Rich Cathode Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Luo-Zeng Zhou, Qun-Jie Xu, Wei-Ping Tang, Xue Jin, Xiao-Lei Yuan

Journal of Electrochemistry

With rapid development of new energy industry like electric vehicles and energy storage station, these fields highly demand the next generation of high performance Li-ion battery systems with stronger energy density, higher power density, and longer cycling life. Lithium-rich Mn-based cathode materials, xLi₂MnO₃·(1-x)LiMO₂(M=Mn, Co, Ni...), have become the hot topic and drawn attentions of scholars worldwide because of their high reversible capacity exceeding 240 mAh·g^-1, excellent electrochemical properties, and low cost, which makes them most promising cathode material candidates for next Li-ion battery system. The cathode material Li[Li_0.2Mn_0.54Ni …

Preparation And Properties Of Binary Oxides CoXCr1-XO3/2 Electrocatalysts For Oxygen Evolution Reaction, Tai-Lai Yang, Wen-Yan Dong, Hui-Min Yang, Li Zhang, Zhen-Hai Liang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Binary metal mixed oxides of Co and Cr with nominal compositional formulas, Co_xCr_1-xO_3/2 (x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0), were obtained by thermal decomposition method. The morphologies, crystal forms and valence states of the catalyst powders were analyzed by SEM, XRD and XPS, respectively. And the electrochemical properties, overpotentials and stabilities of Co_xCr_1-xO_3/2 electrodes for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline solution were evaluated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), staircase voltammetry and chronoamperometry, respectively. The results indicated that the mixtures of Co₃O₄ and eskolaite-Cr_{2 …}

Synthesis And Electrochemical Properties Of Cnts/V2O5 Hollow Microspheres, Liang Hao, Lai-Fa Shen, Jie Wang, Jia-Jia Zhu, Xiao-Chen Zhao, Xiao-Gang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The carbon nanotubes/vanadium oxides (CNTs/V₂O₅) hollow microspheres (VOC) were prepared via solvothermal process. The effects of the ratio for CNTs to V₂O₅ on the morphologies, structures and electrochemical performances were systemically investigated. The results indicate that CNTs dramatically enhanced the rate performances of VOC composite electrodes. When the ratio of CNTs is 7.1%, the VOC composite electrode exhibited the best electrochemical performance, which delivered a specific capacitance of 346 F·g^-1 at 0.5 A·g^-1 and maintained 75% at 8 A·g^-1 in 5 mol L^-1 LiNO₃. A hybrid capacitor …

A Platinum-Hydrogen Reference Micro-Electrode For All Vanadium Redox Flow Battery, Zhi-Bin Lin, Yan-Qing Dong, Ming-Sen Zheng, Quan-Feng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

A platinum-hydrogen reference micro-electrode was made with electroplating Pd on the surface of Pt wire and then coating anion membrane material. This reference electrode was built-in the porous electrode of the all vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), and monitored the charging /discharging and self-discharging of the VRFB. The results indicated that the capacity fading of VRFB occurred due to the graduate reduction of V(IV) active species in the electrolyte and the accumulation of V(V) in the positive electrode, leading to nonequilibrium of active species between the positive and negative electrodes.

Electrochemical Performance Of Coal2O4-Coated Lini1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, Ji-Jun Cai, Wang-Jun Cui, Bing Li, Yang-Yang Yu, Jin-Bao Zhao

Journal of Electrochemistry

A method to improve the electrochemical performance of LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ for high voltage lithium-ion battery by CoAl₂O₄ coating was present in this work. The effects of CoAl₂O₄ coatings on the structure and electrochemical properties of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 were investigated in detail. The results show that CoAl₂O₄ forms a thin layer of 8 nm on the surface of LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ without destroying the structure of the core material. The CoAl₂O₄-coated LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O …

Porous Co3O4 Hollow Nanospheres Cathode Catalyst For High-Capacity And Long-Cycle Li-Air Batteries, Tong Liu, Na Li, Qing-Chao Liu, Xin-Bo Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, a high specific surface area of porous Co3O4 hollow nanospheres was successfully synthesized via hydrothermal carbonization at 140 °C, followed by calcination using cobalt nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)2·6H2O), hexamethylenetetramine (HMT), sucrose, and sodium citrate (Na3C6H5O7). The porous Co3O4 hollow nanospheres consisted of nanoparticles with high specific surface area of mesoporous structure, and could provide active reaction sites for OER and ORR. When used as lithium-air battery cathode catalyst, the Co3O4/Super P (SP) electrode exhibited excellent cycle performance, resulting in high capacity and long life of lithium-air batteries.

Electrodeposition Of Al-Mg Alloys From Acidic Alcl3-Emic-Mgcl2 Room Temperature Ionic Liquids, Rostomali M., P. Abbott Andrew, S. Ryder Karl

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrodeposition of aluminium-magnesium alloys have been carried out onto platinum and copper cathodes from Lewis acidic aluminium(III) chloride-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid containing magnesium(II) chloride by constant current and constant potential methods at room temperature. Magnesium content in the deposited alloy increases with increasing MgCl₂ concentration in the ionic liquid and with increasing cathodic current density. The influences of various experimental conditions on electrodeposition and the morphology of the electrodeposited layers have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). On increasing the deposition current densities the dense, bright, adherent …

Syntheses And Electrochemical Performances Of Li4Ti5O12 Anode Materials For Lithium Ion Battery, Yong-Long Zhang, Xue-Bu Hu, Yao-Qiong Wang, Dong-Hai Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Series of spinel lithium titanate (Li₄Ti₅O₁₂) materials were synthesized by one-step solid-state reaction using lithium acetate and TiO₂ as raw materials under different temperatures (750/800/850 °C) and atmospheres (N₂/air). The as-prepared Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ materials were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammotry and charge-discharge test to analyze their crystal structures, microstructures and electrochemical performances. The results show that the Li₄Ti₅O₁₂（L-800N）material obtained at 800 °C under nitrogen atmosphere exhibited better electrochemical performance and smaller particle size. The initial …

Electrochemical Conversion Reactions And Their Applications For Rechargeable Batteries, Ting Li, Han-Xi Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical conversion reactions have received considerable interest as a new redox mechanism for constructing high capacity electrodes of rechargeable batteries. Without strict restrictions on the crystalline structure of the host lattice and the size of the associated ions, conversion reactions can take place in a variety of different metal compounds with different metal cations and deliver much higher reversible capacities through full utilization of all the oxidation states of the transition-metal compounds, opening up a new avenue for developing high capacity materials of rechargeable batteries. This paper briefly reviews the state of the art and challenges of conversion electrodes and …

Investigations Of Synthetic Fuels: S8 And Sasol Ipk To Determine The Possibility Of Alternate Fuels In The Aerospace Industry, Scott M. Dyke

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Investigations of Synthetic Fuels: S8 and Sasol IPK to Determine the Possibility of Operation as Alternate Fuels in the Aerospace Industry

Name: Scott Dyke

Co-Authors: Martin Muinos, Julia Heimberger, Dr. Valentin Soloiu,

An ever-growing society that becomes more and more dependent on a finite energy source will eventually exceed its supply. Fossil fuel quantities are continuously decreasing and new solutions are needed. According to the United States Department of Transportation, over 10 billion gallons of airline fuels have been consumed in each of the past 15 years with some years over 13 billion gallons. In the meantime, fuel costs have …

Flavour Chemicals In Electronic Cigarette Fluids, Peyton A. Tierney, Clarissa D. Karpinski, Jessica E. Brown, Wentai Luo, James F. Pankow

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Most e-cigarette liquids contain flavour chemicals. Flavour chemicals certified as safe for ingestion by the Flavor Extracts Manufacturers Association may not be safe for use in e-cigarettes. This study identified and measured flavour chemicals in 30 e-cigarette fluids.

Methods: Two brands of single-use e-cigarettes were selected and their fluids in multiple flavour types analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. For the same flavour types, and for selected confectionary flavours (eg, bubble gum and cotton candy), also analysed were convenience samples of e-cigarette fluids in refill bottles from local ‘vape’ shops and online retailers.

Results: In many liquids, total flavour chemicals …

On The Influence Of Ionic Strength On Radium And Strontium Sorption To Sandy Loam Soils, Brian A. Powell, Todd Miller, Daniel I. Kaplan

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Models which can estimate environmental transport of radioactive contaminants in natural and engineered systems are required to 1) deploy effective remediation strategies for contaminated sites, 2) design waste repositories for future waste streams, and 3) ensure protection of human and environmental health in all cases. These models require accurate transport parameters in order to correctly predict how these contaminants will move in the subsurface. This work aimed to determine more accurately the distribution coefficients for radium and strontium sorption to Savannah River Site (SRS) soils. Radium and strontium sorption to the soils was found to be highly dependent upon ionic …

Effect Of Maleic Acid On The Selectivity Of Glucose And Fructose Dehydration And Degradation, Ximing Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

5-Hydroxymethyfurfural (HMF), a platform chemical can upgrade to a variety of fuels and polymers, can be manufactured from lignocellulose. This study focuses on the Lewis and Brønsted acid effect on hexose dehydration for HMF production. We report the positive effect of maleic acid, a dicarboxylic acid used as Brønsted acid, on the selectivity of hexose dehydration to 5-hydroxymethyfurfural (HMF), and subsequent hydrolysis to levulinic and formic acids. We also describe the kinetic analysis of a Lewis acid (AlCl ₃) alone and in combination with HCl or maleic acid to catalyze the isomerization of glucose to fructose, dehydration of fructose …

In Vivo Near Ir Fluorescent Imaging Of Hollow Polymeric Nanocapsules, Venkata Suresh Patthipati

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Medical Imaging has been an integral component in medical diagnosis and therapeutics. It is frequently used in conjunction with other treatment modalities and has been used for developing applications that range from cancer management to clinical practice. Nanotechnology and its applications are foreseen to have a profound impact on life sciences. Nanomaterial based imaging has a significant potential in addressing medical challenges such as tumor localization, targeted delivery of drugs and real time diagnosis and management of circulation pathology. In particular, polymer based nanoparticles are increasingly being developed as they can be customized according to the diagnostic and/or therapeutic requirements. …

Aerosol Optical Hygroscopicity Measurements During The 2010 Cares Campaign, Dean B. Atkinson, James Gregory Radney, Janel Lum, Katheryn R. Kolesar, Daniel J. Cziczo, Mikhail Pekour, Qi Zhang, Ari Setyan, Alla Zelenyuk, Christopher D. Cappa

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Measurements of the effect of water uptake on particulate light extinction or scattering made at two locations during the 2010 CARES study around Sacramento, CA are reported. The observed influence of water uptake, characterized through the dimensionless optical hygroscopicity parameter γ, is compared with calculations constrained by observed particle size distributions and size-dependent particle composition. A closure assessment has been carried out that allowed for determination of the average hygroscopic growth factors (GF) at 85% relative humidity and the dimensionless hygroscopicity parameter κ for oxygenated organic aerosol (OA) and for supermicron particles, yielding κ = 0.1–0.15 and 0.9–1.0, respectively. The …

Investigation Of The Potential For Algaenan To Produce Hydrocarbon Based Fuels From Algae By Hydrous Pyrolysis, Wassim Adel Obeid

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

The use of algae as a feedstock for hydrous pyrolysis has a high potential for producing biofuels. The non-food nature of algae in addition to the various advantages associated with the hydrous pyrolysis process makes this combination for the production of biofuels of high interest. However, current results from algae processing have alluded to some challenges: byproducts arising from the thermal transformation of carbohydrates and proteins, which become incorporated in the oil fraction, result in high oxygen and nitrogen contents of the oil. Accordingly, this produces an oil of low quality for refineries. This dissertation investigates use of a pretreatment …

Structural Patterns At All Scales In A Nonmetallic Chiral Au_133(Sr)_52 Nanoparticle, Chenjie Zeng, Yuxiang Chen, Kristin Kirschbaum, Kannatassen Appavoo, Matthew Y. Sfeir, Rongchao Jin

Publications and Research

Structural ordering is widely present in molecules and materials. However, the organization of molecules on the curved surface of nanoparticles is still the least understood owing to the major limitations of the current surface characterization tools. By the merits of x-ray crystallography, we reveal the structural ordering at all scales in a super robust 133–gold atom nanoparticle protected by 52 thiolate ligands, which is manifested in self-assembled hierarchical patterns starting from the metal core to the interfacial –S–Au–S– ladder-like helical “stripes” and further to the “swirls” of carbon tails. These complex surface patterns have not been observed in the smaller …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.