Finite element optimization of sample geometry for measuring the torsional shear strength of glass/metal joints

Assessment of mechanical properties of glass/metal joints is a challenging process, especially when the application relevant conditions of the joints have to be considered in the test design. In this study, a finite element method (FEM) is implemented to analyze a torsional shear strength test designed for glass-ceramic/steel joints aiming towards solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells application. Deviations from axial symmetry of the square flanges (ends) of respective hourglass-shaped specimens and also supporting and loading sockets of the test set-up are included in the model to simulate conditions close to reality. Undesirable tensile stress and also shear stress concentration appear at the outer edge of glass-ceramic layers, which are less for the hollow-full specimen. The simulation results show that for a specimen with either 9 mm thick square- or 6 mm thick triangular-flanges, locally enhanced tensile stresses almost disappear, resulting in a symmetric shear stress distribution. The difference between the analytically derived nominal shear strength and the real critical shear stress derived via simulation reduces with decreasing the fracture torque.     

高性能碳基储能材料的设计、合成与应用

电化学储能器件的性能很大程度上决定于其电极材料。碳材料具有来源广泛、化学稳定性好、易于调控、环境友好等优点，被广泛应用于各类能量存储系统，但仍存在能量密度低、倍率性能差等问题。本文从碳材料孔结构调控、杂原子掺杂、与金属氧化物复合三个角度，综述了构建高性能碳基储能材料的设计合成策略，介绍了其在锂/钠离子二次电池、超级电容器等领域的研究进展，对几种方法策略的优缺点进行了总结，并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。本文对高性能碳基储能电极材料的设计开发具有积极意义。     

High-performance NdSrCo2O5+δ–Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ composite cathodes for electrolyte-supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells

NdSrCo₂O_5+δ (NSCO) is a perovskite with an electrical conductivity of 1551.3 S cm⁻¹ at 500 °C and 921.7 S cm⁻¹ at 800 °C and has a metal-like temperature dependence. This perovskite is used as the cathode material for Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_2-δ (GDC)-supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (MT-SOFCs). The MT-SOFCs fabricated in this study consist of a bilayer anode, comprising a NiO–GDC composite layer and a NiO layer, and a NSCO–GDC composite cathode. Three cell designs with different outer tube diameters, GDC thicknesses, and NSCO/GDC ratios are designed. The MT-SOFC with an outer tube diameter of 1.86 mm, an electrolyte thickness of 180 μm, and a 5NSCO–5GDC composite cathode presents the best performance. The flexural strength of the aforementioned cell is 177 MPa, which is sufficient to confer mechanical integrity to the cell. Moreover, the ohmic and polarization resistance values of the cell are 0.22 and 0.09 Ω cm² at 700 °C, respectively, and 0.15 and 0.03 Ω cm² at 800 °C, respectively. These results indicate that the NSCO-GDC composite exhibits high electrochemical activity. The maximum power densities of the cell at 700 and 800 °C are 0.46 and 0.67 W cm⁻², respectively, exceeding those of existing electrolyte-supported MT-SOFCs with similar electrolyte thicknesses.     

Developmental and Reproductive Effects of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles in Arabidopsis thaliana

Increasing use of iron oxide nanoparticles in medicine and environmental remediation has led to concerns regarding exposure of these nanoparticles to the public. However, limited studies are available to evaluate their effects on the environment, in particular on plants and food crops. Here, we investigated the effects of positive (PC) and negative (NC) charged iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles (IONPs) on the physiology and reproductive capacity of Arabidopsis thaliana at concentrations of 3 and 25 mg/L. The 3 mg/L treated plants did not show evident effects on seeding and root length. However, the 25 mg/L treatment resulted in reduced seedling (positive-20% and negative-3.6%) and root (positive-48% and negative-negligible) length. Interestingly, treatment with polyethylenimine (PEI; IONP-PC coating) also resulted in reduced root length (39%) but no change was observed with polyacrylic acid (PAA; IONP-NC coating) treatment alone. However, treatment with IONPs at 3 mg/L did lead to an almost 5% increase in aborted pollen, a 2%–6% reduction in pollen viability and up to an 11% reduction in seed yield depending on the number of treatments. Interestingly, the treated plants did not show any observable phenotypic changes in overall size or general plant structure, indicating that environmental nanoparticle contamination could go dangerously unnoticed.     

MOF assisted synthesis of a Ho2O3/CNT nanocomposite photocatalyst for organic pollutants degradation

In this work, a holmium oxide (Ho₂O₃/CNT) photocatalysts were successfully synthesized through a MOF assisted route for the first time. The effects of the morphology and purity on the photocatalytic behavior of the products, were investigated by determining various physicochemical properties. The Ho₂O₃/CNT nanocomposite was systematically analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy studies. The Ho₂O₃ derived from a MOF assisted synthetic route using Ho(NO₃)₃·5H₂O and terephthalic acid with a 1:1 M ratio at a temperature of 750 °C for 3 h prove the most advantageous, 98% degradation of 20 mg/L aqueous tetracycline pollutant was observed within 60 min. The elevated photocatalytic activity was mainly attributable to the unique synthetic route, improved crystallinity, wide UV-light absorption rate and excellent adsorption capabilities of CNT, as well as enhanced oxygen deficiency. The photocatalytic results confirm that the Ho₂O₃/CNT nanocomposite is an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of toxic tetracycline pollutant and is thus suitable for use in environmental remediation.     

Electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide on carbon brush as bioanode for microbial fuel cell operated with real wastewater

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising technology for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy harvesting. The properties of the anode material play a critical role in the performance of the MFC. In this study, graphene oxide was prepared by a modified hummer's method. A thin layer of graphene oxide was incorporated on the carbon brush using an electrophoretic technique. The deoxygenated graphene oxide formed on the surface of the carbon brush (RGO-CB) was investigated as a bio-anode in MFC operated with real wastewater. The performance of the MFC using the RGO-CB was compared with that using plain carbon brush anode (PCB). Results showed that electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide on the surface of carbon brush significantly enhanced the performance of the MFC, where the power density increased more than 10 times (from 33 mWm^?2 to 381 mWm^?2). Although the COD removal was nearly similar for the two MFCs, i.e., with PCB and RGO-CB; the columbic efficiency significantly increased in the case of RGO-CB anode. The improved performance in the case of the modified electrode was related to the role of the graphene in improving the electron transfer from the microorganism to the anode surface, as confirmed from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements.     

Spray dryer processed graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide for high-performance supercapacitor

This study deals with the utility of mini spray dryer process to improve the dispersibility, of graphene oxide(GO) and its application for high-performance supercapacitor. Initially, the neutral solution of GO was obtained using the modified Hummer's method. After this, the prepared GO solution was processed by mini spray dryer to obtain a more purified, lighter, and dispersed form of GO which is named as spray dryer processed GO (SPGO). The SPGO thus obtained showed excellent dispersibility behavior with various solvents, which is not found in case of conventional oven drying. Furthermore, utility of SPGO and its reduced form (r-SPGO) for supercapacitor applications have been investigated. Results obtained from the cyclic voltammetry(CV) analysis, impedance, and charge-discharge behavior of supercapacitor fabricated using r-SPGO shows enhanced features. Therefore, the simple spray dried GO and its reduced form, that is, r-SPGO can be utilized as a potential candidate for the supercapacitor application. Herein, as synthesized SPGO exhibited the specific capacitance of 12.07 and 37.6 F/g with PVA-H₃PO₄ and 1 mol/L H₃PO₄, respectively, at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. On the other hand, reduced form of SPGO, that is, r-SPGO showed the specific capacitance of 27.16 and 230 F/g with PVA-H₃PO₄ and 1 mol/L H₃PO₄, respectively.     

Graphite Oxide and Aromatic Amines: Size Matters

Experimental and theoretical studies are performed in order to illuminate, for first time, the intercalation mechanism of polycyclic aromatic molecules into graphite oxide. Two representative molecules of this family, aniline and naphthalene amine are investigated. After intercalation, aniline molecules prefer to covalently connect to the graphene oxide matrix via chemical grafting, while napthalene amine molecules bind with the graphene oxide surface through π–π interactions. The presence of intercalated aromatic molecules between the graphene oxide layers is demonstrated by X‐ray diffraction, while the type of interaction between graphene oxide and polycyclic organic molecules is elucidated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical calculations describe the intercalation mechanism and the aniline grafting, rationalizing the experimental data. The present work opens new perspectives for the interaction of various aromatic molecules with graphite oxide and the so‐called “intercalation chemistry”.     

Mutagenic Effects of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles on Biological Cells

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the design and use of iron oxide materials with nanoscale dimensions for magnetic, catalytic, biomedical, and electronic applications. The increased manufacture and use of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) in consumer products as well as industrial processes is expected to lead to the unintentional release of IONPs into the environment. The impact of IONPs on the environment and on biological species is not well understood but remains a concern due to the increased chemical reactivity of nanoparticles relative to their bulk counterparts. This review article describes the impact of IONPs on cellular genetic components. The mutagenic impact of IONPs may damage an organism’s ability to develop or reproduce. To date, there has been experimental evidence of IONPs having mutagenic interactions on human cell lines including lymphoblastoids, fibroblasts, microvascular endothelial cells, bone marrow cells, lung epithelial cells, alveolar type II like epithelial cells, bronchial fibroblasts, skin epithelial cells, hepatocytes, cerebral endothelial cells, fibrosarcoma cells, breast carcinoma cells, lung carcinoma cells, and cervix carcinoma cells. Other cell lines including the Chinese hamster ovary cells, mouse fibroblast cells, murine fibroblast cells, Mytilus galloprovincialis sperm cells, mice lung cells, murine alveolar macrophages, mice hepatic and renal tissue cells, and vero cells have also shown mutagenic effects upon exposure to IONPs. We further show the influence of IONPs on microorganisms in the presence and absence of dissolved organic carbon. The results shed light on the transformations IONPs undergo in the environment and the nature of the potential mutagenic impact on biological cells.     

Synthesis and characterization of Manganese doped Tungsten oxide by Microwave irradiation method

The aim of this article is to synthesis tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanoparticle along with Manganese (3 wt% and 10 wt%) by Microwave irradiation method. The physical properties of the synthesized Manganese doped Tungsten oxide materials were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), UV-Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, SEM-EDAX and Photoluminescence studies. The predominant peaks obtained in X-ray diffraction pattern reveal the crystalline nature of the nanoparticles and the structure belongs to Monoclinic for pure and Mn doped WO₃. FTIR analysis shows the presence of Tungsten and oxygen in the synthesis material and verified with EDAX. TEM analysis shows both pristine and Mn doped WO₃ nanopaticles. They are having spherical shaped morphology with average particle size from 35 to 40 nm. UV-DRS revealed that the bandgap energy for pure and Manganese doped WO₃ are discussed in this article. The Scanning Electron Microscope analysis shows the plate like morphology for pure WO₃ and the morphology were decreased by doping Manganese. The defects and oxygen deficiencies were analysed by photoluminescence spectroscopy.