Materials Chemistry Commons^™

An Overview Of Electrode Materials In Microbial Fuel Cells, Su-Qin Ci, Na Wu, Zhen-Hai Wen, Jing-Hong Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that can directly convert organic chemical energy into electrical energy with microbial as catalysts. MFCs are a promising bio-electrochemical system with the potential to degrade organic sewage and produce electricity. This article supplies a critical and comprehensive review for the electrode materials concerning about anode and cathode in MFCs, including the fabrications, functional modifications and surface constructions of electrode materials, as well as their applications in MFCs. Additionally, the existing problems of electrode materials in current MFCs have been demonstrated in order to provide the guideline for exploring the next-generation electrode materials for MFCs.

Preparation And Electrochemical Performance Of Tin@Mno Fibers By Coaxial Electrospinning, Chao-Qun Shang, Hai-Yan Yang, Xin-Hong Zhou, Zhong-Lei Man, Peng-Xian Han, Jian-Hua Yao, Yu-Long Duan, Guang-Lei Cui

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this study, the titanium nitride (TiN) @manganese oxide (MnO) core-shell structured fibers were prepared by the coaxial electrospinning using tetrabutyl titanate and manganese acetylacetonate as raw materials, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the template. And then the fibers were annealed in ammonia to finally obtain the coaxial TiN@MnO fibers. XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX and physical adsorption instrument were used to characterize the phase structure, morphology, composition and specific surface areas and pore sizes of the samples. It was demonstrated that the as-synthesized TiN@MnO fibers possessed coaxial structure with a surface area of 16 m²·g^-1. As indicated …

Performnces Of Lini0.5Mn0.5O2 Thin Film Electrodes Prepared By Pulsed Laser Deposition, Yun-Hai Wan, Guo-Liang Yuan, Hui Xia

Journal of Electrochemistry

The all-solid-state thin-film Li-ion batteries with high energy density, power density and temperature stability are the ideal power sources for microelectronic devices. Developing new thin-film cathodes with large specific capacity is the key to their practical applications. The LiNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ with a layered structure has a higher reversible capacity and better structural stability compared with traditional LiCoO₂ cathode material. In this work, the LiNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ thin film cathodes were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The effects of substrate material and temperature on the microstructure, surface morphology and composition of the thin …

Active Response Of Polymer Materials From External Stimuli – Solvents And Light; Grafting Reactions On Perovskite Layers, Jianxia Zhang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The active response of a series of polymeric materials was investigated. Both solvent activated and light activated thin films and wire systems show dynamic behaviors when exposed to different stimuli.

Solvent mediated fluxional behavior of polymer thin films involved extensive, rapid curling both on infusion and evaporation of good solvents. These films can be either lab-fabricated ones or commercial ones, and the curling behavior can be as fast as seconds. Conditions including polymer materials, chosen solvents, and film geometry can affect the behavior.

Methods that allowed for the creation and retention of distorted wire structures were also developed; the asymmetric …

Electrochemical Preparation Of Nanostructural Pt-Ni And Pd-Ni Films For Ethanol Electro-Oxidation, Chen-Zhong Yao, Hui-Xuan Ma, Bo-Hui Wei

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pt-Ni and Pd-Ni films were successfully prepared on Ti substrates by electrodeposition method. The porous Pt-Ni nanoflakes appeared to be uniform with the thickness of the slices about 10 ~ 20 nm. The porous Pd-Ni nanoparticles with a flower shape appeared to be uniform with the diameters of 50 ~ 60 nm. The XRD patterns also indicated that the Pd-Ni and Pt-Ni nanostructures have the poor crystallinity. The onset potentials of ethanol oxidation were negatively shifted to –0.74 V on Pt-Ni electrodes and –0.71 V on Pd-Ni electrodes, respectively. Addition of Ni could enhance catalytic activities and antitoxic properties …

Ethanol Electrooxidation On Pt/Mo2/Cnts Catalysts, Yu-Long Cheng, Jie Sun, Ji-Gang Li, Li-Gong Zhang, Tian Zhou, Geng Chang, Zhong-Chao Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The ethanol electrooxidation behaviors on Pt/MO₂/CNTs（M=Sn, Ti, Ce）and Pt/CNTs catalysts in H₂SO₄ solutions were researched by cyclic voltammetry. It has revealed that the catalysts with the addition of metal oxides presented higher electrooxidation activity for ethanol, in particular, the Pt/CeO₂/CNTs catalyst showed the best activity for ethanol electrooxidation intermediate. The Pt/SnO₂/CNTs catalyst demonstrated the best ethanol electrooxidation activity when considering the synthetic effects of such parameters as the onset oxidation potential, peak current densities and total oxidation area.

Catalytic Activities Of Electrochemically Dealloyed Pt(Pd)-Cu Catalysts For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Rui-Zhi Yang, Strasser Peter, Toney Michael

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemically dealloyed Pt(Pd)-Cu catalysts were prepared by electrochemical dealloying of Cu₃Pt(Pd) and their catalytic activities toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were studied in 0.1 mol·L^-1 HClO₄ . solutions. The structural features of the dealloyed Pt(Pd)-Cu were revealed by synchrotron-based anomalous X-ray diffraction (AXRD) and surface X-ray scattering (SXS) at an atomic scale. We established a relationship between the structure and the catalytic activity by comparing the ORR activity and the structure of dealloyed Cu₃Pt nanoparticles with similarly dealloyed Cu₃Pt thin films and Cu₃Pt(111). The enhancement in the activity of …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Ethanol On Ni-P-Tio2 Composite Coating Electrodes, Guang-Hui Hu, Hai-Xia Zeng, Zhi-Gang Wei, Zhan-Chang Pan, Shu-Guang Xie, Yan-Di Zou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-P-TiO₂ composite coating electrodes with different contents of TiO₂ particulates were prepared by electroless plating technique from Ni-P plating bath containing TiO₂ powders on brass. Cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to test the electrochemical performance of Ni-P-TiO₂/Cu electrodes. It was indicated that the Ni-P-TiO₂/Cu electrodes exhibited very strong electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium at ambient temperature. The electrocatalytic activity of ethanol oxidation on the Ni-P-TiO₂ electrodes depended on the amounts of TiO₂ in the coatings. The …

Synthesis Of Lini0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 For Lithium Ion Batteries And The Mechanism Of Capacity Fading At High Temperature, Wen Liu, Miao Wang, Ji-Tao Chen, Xin-Xiang Zhang, Heng-Hui Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-rich cathode materials, LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂, have been synthesized by Co-precipitation and high-temperature solid-phase sintering method. Constant current charge-discharge tests showed high discharge capacity of 179.2 mAh·g^-1 in the 3.0~4.4 V at 0.2C. However, at 55 °C the LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ experienced the dramatic capacity fading after 100 charge-discharge cycles. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Atomic Emission Spectroscopy have been employed to study the capacity fading mechanism of LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ cycled at high temperature in range of high-voltage charge and …

Electrochemical Performances Of Carbon-Coated Na2Ti6O13 Nanotubes, Guo-Ran Li, Shuai Sun, Xue-Ping Gao

Journal of Electrochemistry

With rutile TiO₂ and NaOH as starting materials, the Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ nanotubes were prepared by a hydrothermal reaction. The carbon-coated Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ nanotubes were obtained by treating the Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ nanotubes for 4 h in glucose aqueous solutions containing 0.1 mol·L^-1 NaOH. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microcopy (TEM). The results showed that the dimensions of carbon-coated Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ nanotubes were 14 ~ 19 nm of outer diameter, 2 ~ 5 …

Synthesis And Electrochemical Properties Of Yttrium-Doped Lini0.49Mn1.49Y0.02O4, Xian-Wen Zhang, Zheng-Xi Zhang, Li Yang, Shao-Hua Fang, Long Qu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The LiNi_0.49Mn_1.49Y_0.02O₄ cathode material was synthesized using the citric acid-assisted sol-gel method by partial substitutions of Ni and Mn with Y in the LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ material. The influences of Y doping on the structure and electrochemical properties were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge tests and AC impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the introduction of Y into the LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ greatly improved the cycle performance and rate capability. When the charge and discharge current was 1 C in the potential …

Template-Free Synthesis Of Porous Nio Hierarchical Structure For High Performance Supercapacitors, Yun Huang, Zhong Wu, Xin-Bo Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A facile and template-free hydrothermal method is proposed to successfully synthesize porous NiO hierarchical structure, which is found to be assembled from ultrathin NiO nanosheets. As for electrochemical pseudocapacitor application, the obtained material exhibits not only high specific capacitances of 435 F·g^-1 at 20 mV·s^-1 and 367 F·g^-1 at 10 A·g^-1, but also holds a good electrochemical stability over 1000 cycles at a current rate of 20 mV·s^-1. These results suggest that the hierarchical structured porous NiO is a promising supercapacitor electrode material.

Electrochemical Reduction Of Co2 On Sn/Cu Electrodes, Chen-Chen Zhao, Jian-Wei Guo, Li Wang, Xiang-Ming He, Cheng Wang, Zhi-Xiang Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Sn/Cu electrodes were prepared by electroplating method and their morphologies under different galvanization current densities were determined by SEM. In alkali, the effects of Sn/Cu electrodes on the activities towards hydrogen evolution and electrochemical reduction of CO₂ were investigated in alkaline solutions using a three-electrode system. These results indicated that the Sn/Cu electrodes prepared at 10 mA/cm² and 15 mA/cm² showed good activities, while that prepared at 15 mA/cm² was even better in activities. The synergetic structure of the Sn/Cu electrode to be beneficial to electrochemical reduction of CO₂ has been pointed out.

Electrochemical Properties Of The Keggin-Type Lacunary Heteropolysilicate Anion And Its Eectrocatalysis For H2O2 Reduction, Xi-Long Liu, Chun-Yan Wu, Fang Zhou, Hong-Sheng Liu, Ying-Jie Hua, Chong-Tai Wang, Xiao-Yang Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical properties of the Keggin-type lacunary heteropolysilicate anion SiW₁₁O₃₉^8- (SiW₁₁) and its indirect electrocatalysis for H₂O₂ reduction in the supporting electrolyte containing 0.1 mol·L^-1 NaHSO₄ and Na₂SO₄ solutions were investigated using cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry and alternating current impedance spectroscopy. Experimental results indicated that SiW₁₁ showed two pairs of reversible redox waves on the glassy carbon (GC) electrode in an acidic solution. The electron transfer number corresponding to the two pairs of waves was one, and the proton transfer number involved was two during …

NaXMYFe(Cn)6(M=Fe, Co, Ni): A New Class Of Cathode Materials For Sodium Ion Batteries, Jiang-Feng Qian, Min Zhou, Yu-Liang Cao, Han-Xi Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Three types of Prussian blue compounds, Na_xM_yFe(CN)₆ (M = Fe, Co, Ni), were prepared simply by solution precipitation method and tested as cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries. X-ray diffraction and SEM measurements demonstrated that the prepared materials, namely, NaFeFe(CN)₆, Na₂CoFe(CN)₆, and Na₂NiFe(CN)₆, exhibited a perfect cubic structure with a particle size of several tens nanometers. Cyclic voltammetric and galvanostatic cycling tests revealed very different electrochemical behaviors of these three materials. The specific capacities of NaFeFe(CN)₆ and Na₂CoFe(CN)₆ could reach 113 mAh·g …

Preparation And Electrochemical Performance Of Mo-Doped Li3V2(Po4)3/C Cathode Materials, Zhi-Yuan Tang, Wei Yuan, Ji Yan, Wen-Feng Mao, Li Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

The molybdenum-doped Li₃V_2-xMo_x(PO₄)_3/C (x = 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03) cathode materials were prepared with a sol-gel method by using Li₂CO₃, NH₄H₂PO₄, V₂O₅ and MoO₃ as raw materials, and citric acid as both chelating reagent and carbon source. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that the crystal structure of as-prepared samples is monoclinic with space group P2₁/n. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicated the uniform morphology for Li₃Mo_0.02V_1.98(PO₄) …

Synthesis And Electrochemical Properties Of Lifeso4F/Graphene Composite As Cathode Material For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Wei Guo, Ya-Xia Yin, Li-Jun Wan, Yu-Guo Guo

Journal of Electrochemistry

The LiFeSO₄F was successfully synthesized from the reactions of FeSO₄∙xH₂O (x=1, 4, 7) with LiF in tetraethylene glycol media through a facile low temperature method. The structures and microscopic features of the products were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. TGA result shows the good thermal stability of the as-prepared LiFeSO₄F. No diffraction peaks of the FeSO₄ are observed in the as-prepared products with the starting material of either FeSO₄∙4H₂O or FeSO₄∙7H₂O, which should be ascribed to delaying the release of H_{2 …}

Corrosion Inhibition Of 316l Steel Using Sodium Diethyl Dithiocarbamate Solution In Simulated Crude Oil, Xiao-Guang Ren, Jie Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The corrosion inhibition behaviors of 316L steel using the sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate (SDDTC) compound in the crude simulation solution were studied in the absence and presence of zinc sulfate or sodium chromate with different compositions. Experiment resultss showed that in the environments of highly acidic and high concentrations of chloride ions the SDDTC compound could well inhibit the corrosion of 316L steel. The good synergic effects on the corrosion inhibition of 316L steel by additions of either zinc sulfate or sodium chromate into SDDTC compound were indicated in this study, which is of great significance and importance in practical applications.

Electrocatalytic Study Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Bte-1 Strain, Ping Zhou, En-Ren Zhang, Li Zhou, Guo-Wang Diao, Jun-Le Niu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The aim of the present study is to investigate the electrocatalytic activity of electricity-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa BTE-1 strain under anaerobic conditions. Pseudomonas aeruginosa BTE-1 was inoculated into anaerobic three-electrode electrochemical cells, and the electrocatalytic activity was measured at poised potentials. HPLC and cyclic voltammetry were used to detect potential electron mediators in solutions. Experimental results showed that no detectable pyocyanine was excreted by P. aeruginosa BTE-1 strain in the anaerobic electrochemcial cells, and P. aeruginosa BTE-1 exhibited direct electrocatalytic activity through the formation of biofilm on the electrode surface which was induced by the electron transfer from the cells of …

Preparation And Electrochemical Performance Of Lifepo4/C By Spray Drying Method Assisted With Organic Template, Quan-Bing Liu, Yang-Mei Jiang, Hui-Yu Song, Shi-Jun Liao

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this work, the LiFePO₄/C composites were prepared by the spray drying and carbothermal method, and were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. The effects of the organic assisted templates on the morphologies and electrochemical properties of the LiFePO₄/C composites were investigated. The results showed that the morphology and microstructure of the composites could be tuned by incorporating with the different templates. The morphology of the composite appeared to be solid microspheres if no organic template was added, while porous microspheres, nest-like …

Synthesis And Electrochemical Performance Of Xlifepo4·Yli3V2(Po4)3 Composites, Ping-Ping Ma, Zhi-Jian Liu, Jian-Hua Xia, Yu Chen, Pu Hu, Zhi-Chao Lu, Ding-Guo Xia

Journal of Electrochemistry

A series of xLiFePO₄·yLi₃V₂(PO₄)₃ composites were systematically synthesized through solid state reactions by variations in the proportions of LiFePO₄ and Li₃V₂(PO₄)₃. The properties of the prepared compounds were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical measurements. The capacity of 162.7 mAh/g at 0.2 C rate was obtained with the relatively good cycle stability and good conductivity for 0.95LiFePO₄·0.05Li₃V₂(PO₄)₃ due to more uniformed distributed and smaller particle sizes.

Preparation And Characterization Of Mno/Tin Anode For Lithium Ion Batteries, Gao-Jie Xu, Hai-Yan Yang, Peng-Xian Han, Li-Xue Zhang, Ke-Jun Zhang, Chuan-Jian Zhang, Yu-Hua Fan, Cai-Feng Bi, Guang-Lei Cui

Journal of Electrochemistry

Manganese titanate (MnTiO₃) powder was prepared via a sol-gel method using manganese acetate and tetrabutyl titanate as raw materials, and citric acid as a chelating agent. Through high temperature nitridation of MnTiO₃ powder in ammonia, the MnO/TiN composite was obtained. The phase structure, composition and morphology of the composites were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS. The electrochemical properties of the composite electrodes were studied by performing cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge and discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. The MnO/TiN electrode delivered specific capacities of 394 mAh·g^-1 and 146 mAh·g^-1 at the current density of …

Preparation And Hydrogen Evolution Properties Of Ni/Ag2O/Ruo2-Pt Cathodes, Shu Huang, Xue-Ming Li, Wu-Lin Li, Wen Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni/Ag₂O/RuO₂-Pt composite cathode was prepared by sol-gel method using RuCl₃ and H₂PtCl₆ as raw materials. The effects of heat treatment conditions and AgNO₃ concentrations on hydrogen evolution properties were investigated. The morphology and composition of Ni/Ag₂O/RuO₂-Pt composite cathode have been characterized by XRD, XPS and SEM-EDS. It is demonstrated that the surface structure of Ni/Ag₂O/RuO₂-Pt composite cathode is more compact, with fewer cracks and larger surface roughness than pure nickel. At the conditions of 0.3 A·cm^-2, 90 ^oC, and …

Progress And Perspective Of Fuel Cell Technology, Ming Hou, Bao-Lian Yi

Journal of Electrochemistry

Fuel cell, a clean and high-efficiency electrochemical power source, has being paid much attention worldwide recent years. In this paper, the progress and perspective of fuel cell technology are elucidated in detail. Fuel cells have been applied in some special fields such as spacecraft, shuttle and submarines. However, in the areas of transportation, stationary station and portable power source, fuel cells are still under demonstration due to the durability and cost problems. The reliability and surrounding survivability of fuel cells should be enhanced in the special application. Meanwhile, the durability and cost of fuel cells are the main issues to …

The Electrocatalytic Study Of Licoo2 In Air Electrode For Lithium-Air, Jun Gao, Wei Wu, Yan-Yan Tian, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The LiCoO₂ has been investigated as a new electrocatalyst for air electrodes using homemade lithium-air battery. The electrochemical performance and structural changes of the LiCoO₂ based composite air electrodes have been studied. The results of CV, XRD and charge-discharge tests show that the composite air electrodes composed of LiCoO₂ can greatly improve the discharge performance of lithium-air batteries. In particular when the composite air electrodes are charged to 4.1 V before further discharging, the obvious catalytic effects of LiCoO₂ are attributed to higher valence state of the Co element in LiCoO₂, esp. at charged …

Dissolved Oxygen Seawater Battery With Electrochemical Capacitance, Hai-Bo Xu, Yong-Hong Lu, Wei Zhang, Yan-Ting Yu, Chuan-Wei Yan, Ya-Ping Sun, Lian Zhong, Jian-Guo Liu, Yi Zheng, Bing Han, Yong-Liang Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A new concept of seawater battery with electrochemical capacitance (SWB-EC) has been proposed using carbon fibre brush (CFB) as the cathode material, and three testing prototypes have been made accordingly. The discharge performances of the CFB before- and after-oxidation and Mg alloy sacrifice anode were studied by cyclic voltammetry and constant current discharge tests under steady state conditions. Results show that the oxidized CFB exhibits the pseudo-capacitive characteristic and its activity of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in stirred seawater highly increases, comparing with the non-oxidized CFB. The open circuit potential of Mg alloy sacrifice anode is -1.74 V, having the …

Simultaneous Determinations Of Ascorbic Acid, Dopamine And Uric Acid At Ca/Gc Electrode, Ying Zhang, Wang Ren, Min-Jiao Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The citric acid modified glassy carbon electrode (CA/GC) was constructed by potentiostatic technique and used for simultaneous determinations of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA) by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The CA/GC electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity towards AA, DA and UA. The oxidation peaks are well separated with the potential differences between AA and DA, DA and UA, and AA and UA being 170, 130 and 300 mV, respectively, which is large enough to determine AA, DA and UA simultaneously. The catalytic peak currents obtained were linearly dependent on the concentrations of …

Cycle Lifetime Investigation Of Nickel Electrode Prepared By Electrochemical Impregnation For Applications In Aerospace Nickel Hydrogen Cells, Hai-Chang Zhang, Li-Xin Tan, Cheng Guo, Wen-Cheng Ming, Xue-Ying Ren

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, the effects of overcharge, charge-discharge C rate and pore size on cycle lifetime of 4.5’ electrochemical impregnated nickel electrode were investigated. In the case of the electrode was overcharged to 170% of nominal capacity, the initial capacity of the electrode could be maintained 2.7 Ah up to 150 cycles without deterioration and a discharge capacity of 1.7 Ah (remaining 63% of 2.7 Ah) could be delivered after 300 cycles. Without overcharge, more than 300 charge-discharge cycles could be realized without loss of capacity and a discharge capacity of electrode could be maintained about 76% of initial capacity …

Ag Nanoparticles Self-Assembled Films On Iron Surface And Their Inhibition Properties, Zhe Zhang, Ming-Zi Jia, Le Ruan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ag nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous solutions through a chemical reduction method and transferred from water phase to toluene phase with the protection of 1-dodecanethiol (DDT). The polished iron electrode was immersed in the DDT-protected metal nanoparticles toluene solutions to form DDT/Ag nanoparticles self-assembled mixed films. Electrochemical methods such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and polarization curve measurement were used to study the inhibition properties of the self-assembled films in the 0.5 mol·L^-1 H₂SO₄ solution. The appearance of elements such as S and Ag from the XPS data identified the presences of DDT and Ag nanoparticles.

One-Pot Synthesis In Polyamines For Preparation Of Water-Soluble Magnetite Nanoparticles With Amine Surface Reactivity, Haiou Qu, Hui Ma, Aurélien Riviere, Weilie Zhou, Charles J. O'Connor

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Magnetite nanoparticles with hydrophilic surface coating are prepared in polyamine solvents. The resulting products are highly stable in polar solvent. The surface amine groups are available for secondary reactions.