Sorption and permeation of solutions of chloride salts, water and methanol in a Nafion membrane

The sorption of water–methanol mixtures containing a dissolved chloride salt in a Nafion 117 membrane, and their transport through the membrane under the driving force of a pressure gradient, have been studied. Both type of experiments was performed by using five different salts: lithium chloride, sodium chloride, cesium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride. It was observed that both the permeation flow through the membrane and the membrane swelling increase significantly with the methanol content of the solutions. These facts are attributed to the increase in wet membrane porosity, which brings about the increase of the mobility of solvents in the membrane, besides the increase of the mobility of the polymer pendant chains. In contrast, the influence of the type of electrolyte on the membrane porosity and permeability is not very important, with the exception of the CsCl solutions, which is probably due to the small hydration ability of the Cs⁺ ion.     

VRLA畜电池电解液的保持体

在说明VRLA蓄电池与普通铅酸蓄电池主要判别的基础上,阐述实现VRLA蓄电池内部氧循环的两种方法,电解液的保持体超细玻璃纤维棉（AGM）和触变性凝胶（Gel）构成的VRLA蓄电池的特点与差异。     

胶体蓄电池电解质及其灌装性能的研究

本文介绍了胶体蓄电池的制作,探讨了当硫酸浓度一定时,硅酸钠浓度与胶凝时间的关系,当硅酸钠浓度一定时,硫酸浓度与胶凝时间的关系。通过反复实验筛选出了性能较好的缓凝剂,使灌装的蓄电池有更好的性能。     

Crystal formation involving 1-methylbenzimidazole in iodide/triiodide electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Nitrogen heterocyclic compounds, such as N-methylbenzimidazole (MBI), are commonly used as additives to electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), but the chemical transformation of additives in electrolyte solutions remains poorly understood. Solid crystalline compound (MBI)₆(MBI-H⁺)₂(I⁻)(I₃⁻) (1) was isolated from different electrolytes for DSCs containing MBI as additive. The crystal structure of 1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In the crystal structure, 1 contains neutral and protonated MBI fragments; iodide and triiodide anions form infinite chains along the crystallographic a-axis. The role of the solvent and additives in the crystallization process in electrolytes is discussed.     

Fabrication of bilayered YSZ/SDC electrolyte film by electrophoretic deposition for reduced-temperature operating anode-supported SOFC

Bilayered Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ)/Sm₂O₃-doped CeO₂ (SDC) electrolyte films were successfully fabricated on porous NiO–YSZ composite substrates by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) based on electrophoretic filtration followed by co-firing with the substrates. In EPD, positively charged YSZ and SDC powders were deposited directly on the substrates, layer by layer from ethanol-based suspensions. Delamination between YSZ and SDC films was avoided by reducing the SDC films’ thickness to ca. 1 μm. A single cell was constructed on the bilayered electrolyte films composed of ca. 4 μm-thick YSZ and ca. 1 μm-thick SDC films. As a cathode in the cell, La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3−x (LSCF) was used. Maximum output power densities greater than 0.6 W cm⁻² were obtained at 700 °C for the bilayered YSZ/SDC electrolyte cells thus constructed.     

Fabrication,microstructure and properties of a YSZ electrolyte for SOFCs

Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has widely been used as an electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks. The microstructure and properties of YSZ related to the fabrication process are discussed in this paper. For the named two-step sintering process, uniform and hexagonal grains with a size of 1–4 μm were obtained from the adobe following tape calendaring (TCL). Elliptical and hexagonal grains with a size of 0.4–3 μm were obtained from the adobe of tape casting (TCS) using the three-step process. The electrical conductivities of YSZ with different grain sizes were measured via the four-probe DC technique and grain conductivities and grain boundary conductivities of YSZ were investigated by impedance spectroscopy. YSZ electrolytes with a grain size of 0.1–0.4 μm had the highest electrical conductivity in the range of 500–1000 °C, especially at medium and low temperatures 550–800 °C. As the YSZ grain size becomes small, the thickness of the intergranular region decreased greatly. The YSZ electrolytes with sub-micrometer grain sizes, high ion conductivity and low sintering temperatures are important to the electrode-supported SOFC, on which the dense YSZ electrolyte films are optimized at 10 μm.     

Influence of alkylpyridine additives in electrolyte solution on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell

The influence of alkylpyridines additive to an I⁻/I₃⁻ redox electrolyte in acetonitrile on the performance of a bis(tetrabutylammonium)cis-bis(thiocyanato)bis(2,2′-bipyridine-4-carboxylic acid, 4′-carboxylate)ruthenium(II) dye-sensitized TiO₂ solar cell was studied. I–V measurements were performed using more than 30 different alkylpyridines. The alkylpyridine additives showed a significant influence on the performance of the cell. All the additives decreased the short-circuit photocurrent (J_sc), but most of the alkylpyridines increased the open-circuit photovoltage (V_oc) and fill factor (ff) of the solar cell. The results of the molecular orbital calculations suggest that the dipole moment of the alkylpyridine molecules correlate with the J_sc of the cell. These results also suggest that both the size and ionization energy of pyridines correlate with the V_oc of the cell. Under AM 1.5 (100 mW/cm²), the highest solar energy conversion efficiency (η) of 7.6% was achieved by using 2-propylpyridine as an additive, which was more effective than the previously reported additive, 4-t-butylpyridine.     

Performance Comparison Between Internal Olefin Sulfonates and Alpha Olefin Sulfonates

Comparison of surface and interfacial properties of internal olefin sulfonates (IOS) and alpha olefin sulfonates (AOS) shows that hydrocarbon chain branching has a significant influence on interfacial properties at the air–water, pentadecane–water and parafilm–water interfaces. The isomeric branched IOS shows a higher critical micelle concentration and are more effective in reducing the surface tension at the air–water interface by occupying a larger area per molecule. IOS exhibits better dynamic air–water interfacial properties due to a lower meso-equilibrium surface tension. The equilibrium interfacial tensions for AOS and IOS have no remarkable difference at the pentadecane–water interface. The water wettability and electrolyte tolerance are enhanced with branched hydrocarbon chain olefin sulfonates.     

Effect of Sr and Al or Fe co-doping on the sinterability and conductivity of lanthanum silicate oxyapatite electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells

The effect of co-doping of Sr and Al or Fe on the microstructure, sinterability and oxide-ion conductivity of lanthanum silicate oxyapatites is investigated in detail at 300–800 °C by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The oxide-ion conductivity is 1.46 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ for La_9.5Sr_0.5Si_5.5Fe_0.5O_26.5 (LSSFO) and 1.34 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ at 800 °C for La_9.5Sr_0.5Si_5.5Al_0.5O_26.5 (LSSAO), respectively, which is one order of magnitude higher than 6.16 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ measured on La_9.67Si₆O_26.5 (LSO) oxyapatite under the identical test conditions. The grain bulk and grain boundary resistances of co-doped oxyapatite are significantly smaller than that of LSO oxyapatite, and decrease significantly with the increase of the sintering temperature. LSSFO and LSSAO also show significantly higher density as compared to that of LSO. The results indicate that co-doping of Sr and Al or Fe significantly improves the densification, sinterability and oxide-ion conductivity of lanthanum silicate oxyapatites.