A theoretical and experimental study of phosphate ester inhibitors for AISI 1018 in carbon dioxide-saturated 3.5 wt% NaCl solution

Phosphate ester was investigated as a corrosion inhibitor for AISI 1018 carbon steel in carbon dioxide-saturated chloride solutions at different temperatures and pressures. The corrosion tests were realized by electrochemical techniques, weight loss measurements, bubble tests, and a high-pressure/high-temperature autoclave system. The corrosion tests demonstrated that the investigated molecule is an excellent corrosion inhibitor. The inhibiting effect is even bigger at high pressure and temperature than at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The thermodynamic parameters were calculated and determined to obey the Langmuir isotherm. Polarization studies revealed that the evaluated inhibitor is a mixed type.     

Potential influence of microorganisms on the corrosion of carbon steel in the French high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste disposal context

In the context of the high-level radioactive waste disposal CIGEO, the corrosion rate due to microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) has to be evaluated. In France, it is envisaged to dispose of high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste at a depth of 500 m in a deep geological disposal, drilled in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone (Cox) formation. To do so, a carbon steel casing will be inserted inside disposal cells, which are horizontal tunnels drilled in the Cox. A specific cement grout will be injected between the carbon steel casing and the claystone. A study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of MIC on carbon steel in the foreseeable high radioactive waste disposal. The corrosiveness of various environments was investigated at 50°C and 80°C with or without microorganisms enriched from samples of Andra's underground research laboratory. The monitoring of corrosion during the experiments was ensured using gravimetric method and real-time corrosion monitoring using sensors based on the measurements of the electrical resistance. The corrosion data were completed with microbiological analyses including cultural and molecular characterizations.     

Iron-based sulfur and nitrogen dual doped porous carbon as durable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

The widespread use of fuel cell technology is hampered by the use of expensive and scarce platinum metal in electrodes which is required to facilitate the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, a viable synthetic approach was developed to prepare iron-based sulfur and nitrogen dual doped porous carbon (Fe@SNDC) for use in ORR. Benzimidazole, a commercially available monomer, was used as a precursor for N doped carbon and calcined with potassium thiocyanate at different temperatures to tune the pore size, nitrogen content and different types of nitrogen functionality such as pyridinic, pyrrolic and graphitic. The Fe@SNDC–950 with high surface area, optimum N content of about 5 at% and high amount of pyridinic and graphitic N displayed an onset potential and half-wave potential of 0.98 and 0.83 V vs RHE, respectively, in 0.1 M KOH solution. The catalyst also exhibits similar oxygen reduction reaction performance compared to Pt/C (20 wt%) in acidic media. Furthermore, when compared to commercially available Pt/C (20 wt%), Fe@SNDC–950 showed enhanced durability over 6 h and poison tolerance in case of methanol crossover with the concentration up to 3.0 M in oxygen saturated alkaline electrolyte. Our study demonstrates that the presence of N and S along with Fe-N moieties synergistically served as ORR active sites while the high surface area with accessible pores allowed for efficient mass transfer and interaction of oxygen molecules to the active sites contributing to the ORR activity of the catalyst.     

Capacitive characteristics and electrosorption of hydrogen in microporous aсtivated carbon fibers

The possibility of hydrogen electrosorption in microporous activated carbons for acidic and alkaline electrolytes is shown. The electrochemical behavior of activated carbon fiber CH-900-20 has been investigated to find out the main factors, which influence the charging processes of microporous electrodes. The following methods were used: cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, chronoamperometry, and chronopotentiometry. A comparative analysis of the influence of the electrolyte type and electrode structure on the capacitance performances of carbon has been carried out. It is assumed that there is a potential barrier at the interface between micropores and macropores. The features of the process of hydrogen electrosorption in carbon micropores have been analyzed in detail. A possible mechanism of electrosorption in micropores that decreases the capacitance of the electric double layer with a corresponding drop of the electronic conductance of activated carbons in acidic electrolytes has been suggested. The influence of temperature on the kinetics of hydrogen electrosorption has been shown and the activation energy of this process has been estimated. An assumption has been made about the influence of the semiconductor conductivity of activated carbons on the capacitive and resistive characteristics of the electrodes.     

碳中和背景下配电网差异化节能降耗潜力评估分

为了提高配电网差异化节能降耗效果，解决现有潜力评估方法存在的应用性能差的问题，提出碳中和背景下配电网差异化节能降耗潜力优化评估方法。根据配电网的空间结构，构建相应的等值电路模型。在该模型下，从设备损耗和运行附加损耗2个方面计算配电网的损耗量。根据损耗量计算结果，确定配电网差异化碳中和节能降耗方式。从静态和动态2个角度设置潜力评估指标，通过指标数据处理、指标权重求解等步骤，得出配电网差异化节能降耗潜力的综合量化评估结果。将设计潜力评估方法应用到配电网的差异化节能降耗改造工作中，能够有效降低配电网的实际线损量、降低区域损耗费用，并具有较高的应用价值。     

基于蜻蜓翅脉结构的连续碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料仿生设计与增材制造

以具有轻质高强优异性能的蜻蜓翅脉结构为设计灵感，在分析翅脉网格结构抗冲击原理的基础上，设计了传统和仿生两类对比结构。采用熔融挤出3D打印机成功制备了具有不同结构的连续碳纤维增强聚乳酸复合材料试样，并对不同结构复合材料试样的拉伸性能和抗冲击性能进行了测试和对比分析。研究分析结果表明：由于拉伸力方向上的连续碳纤维含量相对较少，限制了仿生结构复合材料抗拉强度的提高，但仿生结构的平均抗拉强度为传统结构的1.18倍；当仿生结构复合材料试样受到冲击力时，其内部六边形结构的连接角度会发生变化，从而极大消耗冲击能量，同时具有六边形网格结构的连续碳纤维可以有效阻碍裂纹的扩展，因此仿生结构的平均冲击韧性可以达到传统结构的2.46倍；仿生蜻蜓翅脉结构可以显著提高增材制造复合材料的综合力学性能，且对于抗冲击性能的提高具体突出效果。连续碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料的有效可行的仿生蜻蜓翅脉结构设计和增材制造，可极大扩展其在高冲击载荷领域中的相应应用。     

K–I co-doped crystalline carbon nitride with outstanding visible light photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution

Heteroatomic doping is an effective way to optimize the electronic structure of carbon nitride to boost photocatalytic performance. However, the extra introduced defects could result in the decrease of its crystallinity. In this work, crystalline K–I co-doped carbon nitride (K–I–CCN) was simply synthesized from molten salt ionthermal post-calcination in nitrogen atmosphere. Structure characterization results indicate that compared to K–CCN synthesized from conventional molten salt heat treatment in air, nitrogen heating atmosphere is more conductive for the formation of homogeneous pore structure of the catalyst, which has larger surface area and pore volume, while could repairing some defects and resulting in better polymerization crystallization. In addition, except the implanting of K, I doping is still retained after nitrogen heat treatment, thus forming K–I co-doping structure. Due to the positive charge effect of K–I co-doping, K–I–CCN has a narrower band gap, higher surface charge density and stronger charge transport, so it performs significantly enhanced photocatalytic H₂ evolution activity from water splitting.     

Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon obtained via single step method for high performance supercapacitors

In the present work, nitrogen doped hierarchically activated porous carbon (APC) samples have been synthesized via single step scalable method using ethylene di-amine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) as precursor and KOH as activating agent. Activated porous carbons with different pore sizes have been developed by varying the activation temperature. SEM, TEM and SAXS analysis suggest that with variation of activation temperature, a hierarchical porous structure with interconnected meso-pore and micro pores has been achieved. The sufficiently high surface area of the synthesized materials provides active sites to enhance the diffusion of ions between the electrolyte and the carbon electrodes. The electrode prepared at 800 °C activated sample exhibited highest specific capacitance of 274 Fg^-1 in two electrode setup, at a current density of 0.1 Ag^-1 in 1 M aqueous H₂SO₄. Along with this, it showed maximum energy density of 9.5 Whkg^?1 at a power density of 64.5 Wkg^-1. The remarkable electrochemical performance reveals that the synthesized nitrogen doped activated carbon electrodes derived from EDTA can be tuned to have optimum pore structure and pore size distribution for better electrochemical performance, so it can be considered as a potential electrode material for applications in electrochemical energy storage.     

Some studies on reducing carbon dioxide emission from a CRDI engine with hydrogen and a carbon capture system

The increased use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector has led to an exponential rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) is the major cause of global warming resulting in climate change and extreme weather conditions. This study explores the ways of reducing the CO₂ emission from the exhaust of a common rail engine. The reduction in CO₂ emissions were achieved by a combination of methods. It includes the use of low carbon biofuels (cedarwood oil (CWO), and wintergreen oil (WGO)), induction of zero-carbon, hydrogen in the intake manifold and a zeolite-based after-treatment system. In diesel, CWO and WGO were blended 20% by volume and experiments were conducted at different load conditions. The results shows that 20% blending of winter green oil resulted in maximum CO₂ reduction of 20% as compared to diesel. The emission was further reduced with the induction of hydrogen along with the after-treatment system. It is seen that a maximum of 54% reduction in CO₂ emission could be achieved with the combination for WGO in comparison to diesel without much affecting the other emissions and performance parameters.     

Revealing the role of Ni2+ ions in inducing the synthesis of porous carbon balls: A novel substrate to enhance the Pt catalytic activity towards methanol-oxidation

Carbon-based materials have been often employed as electrocatalytic substrates because of their large surface area/highly porous structure. Similar to carbon substrates, the non-carbon related materials such as transition metals also play an important role in improving catalytic performance. However, the simultaneous synthesis and metallic functionalization of carbon substrates is a highly challenging issue. Herein, a hydrothermal method has been used for the preparation of Ni-functionalized porous carbon balls. The significant role of Ni²⁺ ions in the synthesis of porous carbon balls has been confirmed. The results of transmission electron microscopy indicate that, the as-prepared porous carbon balls were suitable for the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles with small particle size (less than 4 nm). In addition to providing the OH_ads species, the Ni can also modify the surface electronic structure of Pt. Electrochemical measurements results reveal that, under the strong interactions between Ni and Pt, the as-prepared porous carbon balls supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt/Ni-CB) catalyst possesses excellent electrocatalytic activity, stability and CO anti-poisoning capability towards methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR). This work opens a novel idea for the construction of the metal functionalization of carbon substrates and their subsequent applications in other electrocatalytic reactions.