Chemistry Commons^™

Design And Development Of Highly Active, Nanoengineered, Platinum Based Core-Shell Electrodes For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Seth Louis Knupp

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Highly active nanoengineered core-shell electrocatalyst have a great potential to be used as fuel cell electrodes. They can alleviate problems related with commercial carbon supported platinum by simultaneously lowering cost while enhancing reaction kinetics and overall performance. More recently, use of nanoengineered core-shell electrode structures have showed their ability to enhance the stability and overall lifetime of the catalyst without sacrificing the electrode's performance. We studied the potential of using highly active core-shell nanoparticles supported on carbon nanomaterials as fuel cell electrodes.

A New Green Chemistry Method Based On Plant Extracts To Synthesize Gold Nanoparticles, Milka Odemariz Montes Castillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Extraordinary chemical and physical properties exhibited by nanomaterials, as compared to their bulk counterparts, have made the area of nanotechnology a growing realm in the past three decades. It is the nanoscale size (from 1 to 100 nm) and the morphologies of nanomaterials that provide several properties and applications not possible for the same material in the bulk. Magnetic and optical properties, as well as surface reactivity are highly dependent on the size and morphology of the nanomaterial. Diverse nanomaterials are being widely used in molecular diagnostics as well as in medicine, electronic and optical devices. Among the most studied …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Silicon Oxide And Silicon Carbide Nanostructures., Majid Salim Mohammed Al-Ruqieshi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Silicon oxide nanostructures have attracted extensive interests in recent years due to their physical and optical properties. SiOx nanostructures are synthesized by catalytic and non-catalytic approaches. With catalytic approach, long and uniform amorphous silicon oxide nanowires, nanofibers (comet and tree like), nanocakes and nanocages were synthesized on Si substrate by carbothermal evaporation reactions of TiO2 at high temperature. The SiOx nanowires were about 13 nm to 243 nm in diameters and 194 nm to several microns in length and the nanofibres with diameter between 8 nm to 30 nm and around 50 nm to 2.5μm in length. The diameter and …

Progresses In Electrocatalysis Of Nanomaterials—Tuning The Surface Structure And Property Of Electrocatalysts, Yan-Xia Jiang, Na Tian, Zhi-You Zhou, Sheng-Pei Chen, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The property of an electrocatalyst depends strongly on its surface structure.The study of surface structure-catalytic functionality is the base of design and preparation of electrocatalysts of high activity,high stability and high selectivity at microstructure level.In this paper,based mainly on our results concering hydrogen and oxygen adsorption-desorption,ethylene glycol oxidation and CO₂ reduction,the research progresses in tuning the surface structure and property of electrocatalysts are summarized.This paper overviews firstly the cyclic voltammetric characteristics,electrocatalytic properties of platinum single crystal planes lying on different crystallographic zones of the unit stereographic triangle of face-centered cubic(fcc) metals.Next,the innovation of electrochemical methods to control the surface …

Synthesis And Electrocatalytic Properties Of Ni-Pd/C Catalysts With Pd-Enriched Surface, Yu-Mei Chen, Zhi-Xiu Liang, Sheng-Li Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-Pd alloy catalysts with Pd-enriched surface were synthesized through a modified polyol process.The synthesized materials were investigated by XRD and electrochemical methods,and tested as electrocatalysts for CH₃OH-tolerant oxygen reduction.The results indicated that the synthesized Ni-Pd nanoparticles possess multiple phases containing Pd-Ni alloy and pure Ni.Comparing with Pd/C,the prepared Ni-Pd/C nanoparticles exhibited better resolved voltammetric peaks between the hydrogen absorption and adsorption,and positively shifted current peaks for the reduction of Pd oxide.The prepared Ni-Pd alloys with Pd-enriched surface have significantly enhanced ORR activity and improved CH₃OH tolerance as comparing with Pd/C catalysts.

Preparation Of Pt Nanoflower/Zno Composites Arrays And Their Electrocatalysis For Methanol Oxidation, Li Gao, Yi-Feng E, Lou-Zhen Fan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pt nanoflower/ZnO(PtNF/ZnO) nanorod composites arrays were electrochemically prepared by controlling the hydrophobicity and the hydrophilicity of ZnO nanorods arrays.The Pt nanoflowers grew on the tip of ZnO nanorods,which maintain the vertical array of Zno nanorods with a high degree of size uniformity and high surface area.Compared with Pt nanoparticle covered ZnO nanorod arrays,which were prepared by controlling the hydrophilicities of ZnO nanorods and Pt nanoparticles,the PtNF/ZnO displayed highest electrocatalytic activities for the oxidation of methanol.

Complex Reduction Preparation Of Carbon Supported Pd Nanoparticle Catalyst And Its Electrocatalysis For Formic Acid Oxidation, Wei He, Yong-Yin Kang, Chong Du, Zhi-Qing Zou, Xiao-Gang Zhang, Hui Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A simple procedure involved the complexing of PdCl₂ with sodium citrate followed by ethylene glycol reduction has been employed for the preparation of carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles(Pd/C).The XRD and TEM characterizations indicate that Pd nanoparticles with a small particle size were well-dispersed on carbon support.The mean particle sizes of the Pd/C catalysts were found to be increased from 2.7 to 5.8 nm with heat-treatments at different temperature.The mass activity of the Pd/C catalyst for formic acid electrooxidation increased with the decrease in Pd particle size.However,the specific activity increased with Pd particle size.Furthermore,the Pd/C catalyst with a particle size of ca.3.6 …

Cyclic Voltammetric And In-Situ Ftir Spectroscopic Studies Of Adsorption And Reduction Of No On Electrode Of Pt Nanoparticles, Qian Cheng, Yan-Xia Jiang, Dong-Mei Zeng, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Adsorption and reduction of NO on electrode of Pt nanoparticles in acid solutions were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry(CV) and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy.The results indicated that the reduction of NO is a complicated process including the adsorption of NO on electrode surface.Two types of surface-bonded NO were determined on Pt nanoparticles.The weakly adsorbed NO was reduced between 0.6 V and-0.05 V,which yielded nitrous oxide(N₂O) and ammonium(NH₄⁺) as products;while the strongly bonded NO was reduced at more negative potentials between-0.05V and-0.15V,producing only NH₄⁺ species.

Enhanced Visible Light Photoelectrochemical Performances With Nitrogen Doped Tio2 Nanowire Arrays, Xiao-Jun Lv, Yue-Ming Li, Hao Zhang, Da Chen, Jennifer Hensel, Jin Z Zhang, Jing-Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Self-organized anodic anatase TiO₂ nanowire arrays doped with nitrogen have been successfully fabri-cated and their photoelectrochemical(PEC) properties have been characterized and found to be substantially im-proved compared to undoped nanowires or commercial P25 nanoparticles.Photocurrent measured with monochro-matic incident light showed that the incident photon-to-current efficiency(IPCE,%) values of nanowire arrayelectrodes with or without N-doping were obviously higher than that of commercial P25 nanoparticle electrodes,and nitrogen-doped TiO₂ nanowire arrays(NTNA) had noticeable absorption in the visible region.The NTNAelectrodes showed the highest photocurrent density and power conversion efficiency under 100 mW/cm² visiblelight illumination.A maximumolphotoconversion efficiency of 0.52% was achieved for the …

Solvent Dependent Morphologies In Thiol-Ene Photopolymerization: A Facile Route To Synthesis Of Resorcinarene Nanocapsules, Zaharoula Marie Kalaitzis

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Synthesis of morphologically distinct polymeric nanostructures is vital for their wide ranging applications from nanomedicine to material science. Among various polymeric nanostructures, nanocapsules in particular have attracted a lot of attention as nanoreactors and drug delivery vehicles in nanomedicine. Often, synthesis of nanocapsules is achieved by template-based approaches. A direct, template-free method for the fabrication of nanocapsules and a variety of other morphologically distinct polymeric architectures was developed. The photopolymerization of a resorcinarene thiol-ene surfactant in various solvents lead to the formation of nanocapsules, nanoparticles, fibers, distorted honeycomb-like lattices, and sheets. The progress of the polymerization reaction and the morphology …

Redox State Of Polyaniline Nanodot And Its Coulomb Staircase Effect, Jian-Zhang Zhou, Shao-Huang Weng, Zhong-Hua Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

Polyaniline nanodot array had been fabricated in AAO template with potentiostatic method and the I~V characteristics of nanodots with different redox states were measured by conducting atomic force microscope (C-AFM) in atmosphere at room temperature. We found that only nanodots in partial oxidation state exhibit coulomb staircase in the I~V curves,while those in the full oxidation state and reduced state do not. The above phenomena were discussed preliminarily.

Crystallization And Electrochemical Corrosion Behaviors Of Amorphous And Nanocrystalline Fe-Based Alloys, Xiang Li, Biao Yan, Peng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this study,amorphous Fe₇₈Si₁₃B₉ and Fe_73.5Si_13.5B₉Nb₃Cu₁ ribbons were prepared by the chill block melt-spinning process and nanocrystalline Fe_73.5Si_13.5B₉Nb₃Cu₁ ribbons were obtained by annealing. The amorphous ribbons and their crystallization processes were identified by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A comparative study of the electrochemical corrosion behaviors of  Fe₇₈Si₁₃B₉ and Fe_73.5Si_13.5B₉Nb₃Cu₁ amorphous and nanocrystallized alloys was performed by linear polarization method …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Sulfur-Carbonnanotubes As Cathode Of Lithium/Sulfur Rechargeable Battery, Rui Du, Zhong-Zhi Yuan

Journal of Electrochemistry

A carbon-containing composite was synthesized by heating element sulfur and carbon nanotubes. The sulfur-carbonnanotube composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. The electrochemical property was characterized by cyclic voltammetry,constant current charge and discharge. It was revealed that the sulfur-carbonnanotube cathode 2016-type coin cells exhibited a good electrochemical property with the initial dicharge specific capacity up to 680 mAh/g and a stable capacity approximately 500 mAh/g after 30 cycle numbers.

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Glucose On Cnt/Nanocrystlline Tio2-Pt Complex Film Electrode In Ionic Liquids, Dao-Bao Chu, Long-Wu Zha, Shu-Xi Wang, Jian Wang, Ying Xiao, Yuan-Yuan Hou, Jian-Guo He, Xue-Jiao Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Using ionic liquid [EMI]BF₄ as the electrolyte,the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose on carbon nanotubes/nanocrystlline TiO₂ film loaded on Pt (CNT/nanoTiO₂-Pt) complex film electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The results found that the CNT/nanoTiO₂-Pt complex electrode had high catalytic activity to the electrochemical oxidation of glucose in ionic liquids and the oxidation potential was -0.46 V. The best effect of glucose oxidation was obtained with the volume ratio of ionic liquid to water being 3:1. The process of electrodic reaction process was concentration polarization controlled.

Influence Of Nano-Al2O3 Particles In Nickel Electro-Crystallization Process, Cheng-Yu Tan, Wei Hu, Hang Cui, Yu Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The influence of nano-Al₂O₃ particles in nickel electro-deposition on copper matrix from acid sulphate solution was studied under various potentials by using cyclic voltammetry(CV) and chronoamperometry(CA).The results show that the beginning potential of electro-deposition was about-740 mV(vs.SCE) for Ni-Al₂O₃ solution system.With the step-potential moving to the negative direction,the nucleation time of electro-deposition for Ni-Al₂O₃ solution system was shortened gradually.Compared with that of pure Ni deposition system,the nucleation time tm,corresponding to the peak current of Ni-Al₂O₃ deposition system was apparently shortened under the lower step-potential:-740~-830 mV,which indicates that Al …

The Effect Of Sintering Time On The Performance Of Spherical And Nano-Sized Lifepo4 Cathode Material, Zhong-Qiang Shan, Guo-Zeng Wang, Di Tian, Jian-Hua Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

The spherical LiFePO₄ with nano-size is expected as an important direction for LiFePO₄ cathode materia1.With the method of liquid co-deposited-carbonthermal reduction,we prepared spherical LiFePO₄ cathode material with nano-size and we put our emphasis on the effect of sintering time on the material.By XRD,SEM,TEM and charge & discharge analysis,we found the sample sintered at 550 ℃ for 10 hours showed the best electrochemical properties and good degree of sphericity,with the size of 40～100 nm.

Electrochemical Properties Of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes And Their Applications In Analysis Of 6-Mercaptopurine, Bao-Yi Lu, Yan-Yan Lai, Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical behaviors and adsorption properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes such as SWNT,SWNT-COOH,and SWNT-OH and multi-walled carbon nanotubes including MWNT,MWNT-COOH,and MWNT-OH modified at a graphite electrode have been investigated by using [Fe(CN)₆]^3-anion and [Co(phen)₃]³⁺ cation.It was shown that shows good redox reversibility of [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/4-reactions on the existed carbon nanotubes(CNT) modified electrode.Based on the strong adsorptive property of [Co(phen)₃]³⁺ on the CNT surface,the [Co(phen)₃]³⁺/CNT modified graphite electrode can be obtained by progressive potential sweeping and developed to monitor quantitatively 6-mercaptopurine(6-MP).The adsorption capacity of …

Silicon Nanowires As Anode Materials For Lithium Ion Batteries, Yan-Peng Fu, Hui-Xin Chen, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The SiNWs electrodes were fabricated by coating and direct growth methods,respectively.The structure,morphology and electrochemical performance of such materials were characterized by XRD,SEM and charge-discharge tests.The results show that the electrodes prepared by direct growth method had higher capacity,better battery life and also displayed and excellent cyclability at higher currents.During the process of lithiation,the initial crystalline Si transformed to amorphous LixSi,and the average diameter of the SiNWs increased.Despite the large volume changed,the SiNWs remained intact and did not break into smaller particles.

Nano-Sn/Hard Carbon Composite As Anode Material For Lithium Ion Batteries, Bing-Kun Guo, Jie Shu, Kun Tang, Ying Bai, Zhao-Xiang Wang, Li-Quan Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The tin(Sn) nano particles were embedded into the mesopores of hard carbon spherules(HCS) to form a composite anode material for lithium ion batteries.The structure of the obtained composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) while its electrochemical performances were evaluated with galvanostatic cycling.It is found that the embedding Sn nanoparticles into porous HCS not only result in a composite material with high lithium storage capacity and capacity retention,but also increase the initial coulombic efficiency of the composite.Based on the infrared spectroscopic analysis,the enhanced initial coulombic efficiency is attributed to the inductive decomposition of the ROCO₂Li species in the solid …

Photoelectrochemical Properties Of Tio2 Nanoparticles, Jie Qu, Ying Li, Qi-Wei Jiang, Xue-Ping Gao

Journal of Electrochemistry

The protonated titanate nanoparticles were obtained at room temperature and subsequently calcined at different temperatures(300 ℃,400 ℃,500 ℃,600 ℃ and 700 ℃) in air.The obtained products were characterized by XRD,TEM and UV-Vis.It is found that the grain sizes of TiO₂ nanoparticles calcined at 300 ℃ were about 20 nm,and increased gradually with the temperature rise.Photoelectric performance was measured with I～V curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS).The TiO₂ nanoparticles obtained at 500 ℃ showed the best photoelectrochemical properties with a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.39%,which is much higher than those at other temperatures.In addition,it is also demonstrated that the charge …

Synthesis,Characteristics And Electrochemical Performance Of Nano-Sized Snco/Graphite Composites As Anode For Lithium Ion Batteries, Jin-Shu Cai, Ling Huang, Fu-Sheng Ke, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The nano-structural Sn-Co/graphite composites were prepared by chemical reduction of the alloy electroless deposition solution in graphite suspensions, and the composites were annealed at 500 ℃. The phase structure and surface morphology of the composites were measured by XRD, SEM and Raman. The results indicate that there were high dispersions and high loadings of Sn-Co nanoparticles on graphite by thermal treatment. Electrochemical lithium storage performance was studied preliminarily on the obtained samples. The graphite modified with the Sn-Co nanoparticles possessed a higher electrochemical reversible capacity than that of graphite during the charge and discharge process. The appetency between the Sn-Co …

High Utilization Aupt Nanoparticles Supported On Mwcnts For Methanol Electro-Oxidation In Alkaline Medium, Xun Guo, Dao-Jun Guo, Xin-Ping Qiu, Li-Quan Chen, Wen-Tao Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

We synthesized gold-platinum electrocatalysts supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) with high utilization by a simple one-step method.A high Pt loading series of bimetallic AuPt/MWCNTs catalysts were prepared by the improved ethylene glycol reduction method,and then were compared in terms of the electrocatalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation using cyclic voltammetry(CV) and chronoamperometry in alkaline solutions.The structure of AuPt/MWCNTs was characterized by the transmission electron microscopy(TEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS).The results showed that the AuPt/MWCNTs catalysts had high Pt utilization,uniform AuPt nanoparticles size and good electrocatalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation.The effect of Au/Pt mass ratio on electrocatalytic activity was also investigated.The …

One-Pot Synthesis Of Anionic (Nitrogen) And Cationic (Sulfur) Codoped High-Temperature Stable, Visible Light Active, Anatase Photocatalysts, Suresh Pillai, Declan Mccormack, Steven Hinder, Pradeepan Periyat

Articles

No abstract provided.

Nanocomposite Thin Films Of Au Nanoparticles Embedded In Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia For Plasmonic-Based Harsh Environment Gas Detection, Phillip Henry Rogers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Increased health concerns due to the emission of gases linked to the production of tropospheric ozone by petroleum based fuel burning engines has resulted in the codification of more stringent emissions regulations domestically. Emissions regulations on commercial jetliners are one of the areas to be met with stricter standards. Currently there is not a sensing technology that can detect the emissions gases in the exhaust stream of a jet turbine engine with lower detection limits that meet these standards.

Substituent Effect On The Electronic And Assembling Properties Of Asymmetric Phenazine Derivatives, Bin Cao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Currently, one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures have drawn much interest because of their potential applications for nanoscale optoelectronic devices. Self-assembly (SA) based on π-conjugated systems through various intermolecular interactions has been widely used to produce 1-D nanostructure. Morphology of the assembled structures can be modified by incorporating substituents, which provide additional secondary interactions. Meanwhile, those substituents also influence the electronic properties of the molecules. Previous studies have made little effort to systematically study subsistent effects on both electronic and SA properties.

The primary objective of this research is to generate controllable 1-D structures through SA, and to provide a fundamental understanding of …

One-Pot Synthesis Of Anionic (Nitrogen) And Cationic (Sulfur) Codoped High-Temperature Stable, Visible Light Active, Anatase Photocatalysts, Suresh Pillai, Declan Mccormack, Steven Hinder, Pradeepan Periyat

Articles

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Magnesium Nitrate On The Corrosion Performance Of Sol-Gel Coated Aa2024-T3 Aluminium Alloy, Rajath Varma, Brendan Duffy, John Cassidy

Articles

Traditional anti-corrosion technology has relied heavily on using reducible metal species, predominantly hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), for protecting reactive metal alloys such as aluminium which is extensively used in the aerospace sector. However, the impending changes in the use of Cr(VI) in Europe and the United States have forced aerospace manufacturers to examine alternative materials for protecting aluminium. One of the most promising alternatives being investigated are organosilane based sol-gels containing anticorrosion additives. In this work the anti-corrosion properties of magnesium (II) nitrate (Mg(NO3)2) as a inhibitor was investigated at different concentrations (0.1% - 1.0 wt %) in a methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS) …

Spectroscopic Investigation Of Palladium-Copper Bimetallic Systems For Pem Fuel Cell Catalysts, Timo Hofmann

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the main barriers to commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells systems is cost, which is largely due to the need of platinum (Pt)-containing catalysts. In this thesis we investigate bimetallic systems consisting of a base metal (copper) and a noble metal (palladium) that, as an alloy on the nanoscale, mimic the electronic properties that make Pt desirable as a catalyst.

We present a detailed investigation of the electronic structure of carbon-supported Pd/Cu nanoparticle catalysts, model bilayer thin film systems, alloys, and various metal reference samples. We have investigated the valence band structure of the catalysts using a …

The Hydrothemal Synthesis Of Nanoscale Lifepo4 And Its Electrochemical Performance, Si-Min Wang, Ming-Sen Zheng, Quan-Feng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cathode materials of LiFePO₄ were prepared via a hydrothermal reduction method using FeCl₃ as Fe source and iron as a reducing agent.The results showed that ferric salt could be reduced to ferrous salt completely under the hydrothermal condition and pure-phase LiFePO₄ was obtained based on the test results of XRD and FTIR. Carbon-coated LiFePO₄ was synthesized by pyrolysisng glucose at high temperature. The morphologies of pure LiFePO₄ displayed cluster-like while the LiFePO₄/C displayed sphere-like particles. The electrochemical test showed that the LiFePO₄/C had good rate performance,while LiFePO₄ delivered much …

Studies Of Surface Diffusion In Pemfc Electrodes, Jiang-Shui Luo, Jian Chen, Bao-Lian Yi, Chuan-Sin Cha, Hua-Min Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A PEMFC electrode consisting of dual-layer catalyst layer(CL) was fabricated in this work. The outer CL was Nafion-free,while the inner CL was Nafion-bonded. The effects of Pt/C catalyst in the outer CL that did not contact with Nafion on the current generation in PEMFC electrodes were investigated. Cyclic voltammetric studies indicated that the Pt/C catalyst in the outer CL without direct contact with Nafion was still electrochemically active in taking part in the adsorption/desorption of hydrogen and the electrochemical oxidation/reduction of the oxygen-containing species occurring at the interface of "Pt/Nafion" in the inner CL. The polarization curves showed that the …