Achieving Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction over a Ni5P4 Catalyst Incorporating Single-Atomic Ru Sites

Developing efficient electrocatalysts for alkaline water electrolysis is central to substantial progress of alkaline hydrogen production. Herein, a Ni₅P₄ electrocatalyst incorporating single-atom Ru (Ni₅P₄-Ru) is synthesized through the filling of Ru³⁺ species into the metal vacancies of nickel hydroxides and subsequent phosphorization treatment. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray-based measurements, and electron microscopy observations confirm the strong interaction between the nickel-vacancy defect and Ru cation, resulting in more than 3.83 wt% single-atom Ru incorporation in the obtained Ni₅P₄-Ru. The Ni₅P₄-Ru as an alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst achieves low onset potential of 17 mV and an overpotential of 54 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 together with a small Tafel slope of 52.0 mV decade^-1 and long-term stability. Further spectroscopy analyses combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that the doped Ru sites can cause localized structure polarization, which brings the low energy barrier for water dissociation on Ru site and the optimized hydrogen adsorption free energy on the interstitial site, well rationalizing the experimental reactivity.     

A neural network based technique for vibration characterization using Gaussian laser beams

This paper presents a neural network technique combined with an optical measurement system for the characterization of mechanical vibrations in industrial machinery. In the proposed system, the Gaussian beam of a laser source illuminates on an array of photodetectors. If either the laser source or the photodetector array is coupled with a vibrating system, then the optical powers detected by the photodetectors will vary accordingly, and are expected to reflect the magnitude and frequency of the X–Y planar vibrations of the monitored system. The time-varying optical powers are input to an artificial neural network-based vibration monitoring system which maps the power distributions to the X–Y position of the laser beam center. An experimental setup of the system is built and used for training and testing purposes. The obtained experimental results demonstrate the adequacy of combining optical techniques with neural networks to estimate the vibration frequency and magnitude. Estimated frequencies were within 1% of the actual ones, and the estimated magnitudes were within 29% of the actual magnitudes when using a chirp signal in the training phase. The magnitude estimation percentage error was further reduced below 12% when the neural network was trained with a decaying chirp signal.     

Perovskite SrFe1-xTixO3-δ (x < = 0.1) cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell

Stable and compatible cathode materials are a key factor for realizing the low-temperature (LT, ≤600?°C) operation and practical implementations of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this study, perovskite oxides SrFe_1-xTi_xO_3-δ (x?< = 0.1), with various ratios of Ti doping, are prepared by a sol-gel method for cathode material for LT-SOFCs. The structure, morphology and thermo-gravimetric characteristics of the resultant SFT powders are investigated. It is found that the Ti is successfully doped into SrFeO_3-δ to form a single phase cubic perovskite structure and crystal structure of SFT shows better stability than SrFeO_3-δ. The dc electrical conductivity and electrochemical properties of SFT are measured and analysed by four-probe and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) measurements, respectively. The obtained SFT exhibits a very low polarization resistance (R_p), .01 Ωcm² at 600?C. The SFT powders using as cathode in fuel cell devices, exhibit maximum power density of 551?mW?cm^?2 with open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.15?V at 600?C. The good performance of the SFT cathode indicates a high rate of oxygen diffusion through the material at cathode. By enabling operation at low temperatures, SFT cathodes may result in a practical implementation of SOFCs.     

Observation of oxygen pyramid tilting induced polarization rotation in strained BiFeO3 thin film

Oxygen octahedral tilting has been recognized to strongly interact with spin, charge, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom in perovskite oxides. Here, we observe a strain-driven stripe-like morphology of two supertetragonal (monoclinic Cc and Cm ) phases in the strained BiFeO₃/LaAlO₃ thin films. The two supertetragonal phases have a similar giant axial ratio but differences in oxygen pyramid tilting mode. Especially, the competition between polar instability and oxygen pyramid tilting is identified using atomically resolved scanning transmission electron microscopy, leading to the polarization rotation across the phase boundary. In addition, microtwins are observed in the Cc phase. Our findings provide new insights of the coupling between ferroelectric polarization and oxygen pyramid tilting in oxide thin films and will help to design novel phase morphology with desirable ferroelectric polarization and properties for new applications in perovskite oxides.     

新型Na/CFx可充电池催化剂的制备与性能

类似于锂/氟化碳（Li/CF_x）电池，钠/氟化碳（Na/CF_x）电池具有低廉的价格和较高的能量密度，是未来锂离子电池的理想替代选项。但是Na/CF_x电池目前还存在着极化大和循环性能差等问题。为解决以上问题，在CF_x阴极中加入催化剂成为改善电池电化学性能的一个重要途径。分别采用水热法和溶胶-凝胶法制备了催化剂材料Co₃O₄-TiO₂和ZrO₂，并对其进行了表征。分别将TiO₂、Co₃O₄、Co₃O₄-TiO₂以及ZrO₂ 4种催化剂材料按10%（质量比，下同）加入CF_x正极中并组装成电池，然后对电池进行了恒流充放电、交流阻抗以及循环伏安等电化学性能测试。实验结果表明，加入4种催化剂后，Na/CF_x电池的放电比容量得到明显提升。其中，ZrO₂催化剂表现出最佳的催化性能。经过100次后循环后，含有ZrO₂的Na/CF_x电池的放电比容量为167.3 mAh·g^-1，极大地改善了钠/氟化碳电池的循环性能。     

Role of morphology,crystal orientation and stoichiometry in the electrical response of perovskite EuTiO3 ceramics

To identify the generation of various contributions in the electrical response of EuTiO₃, a series of pure and doped, morphologically different and crystallographically oriented thin films prepared through RF magnetron sputtering and polycrystalline samples prepared through solid state reaction method have been investigated. Effect of stoichiometry, morphology and crystallographic orientation on the electrical response have been traced. Interestingly, in case of thin films, synthesis in more reducing atmosphere led to an in-plane crystallographic re-orientation from [110] to [100], accompanied by the observation of a prominent intrinsic antiferrodistortive phase transition. At temperatures above the antiferrodistorive phase transition, potential barriers to conduction at grain boundary are found to be directly proportional to the oxygen vacancy concentration, and inversely proportional to the average grain size. The relaxation times obtained from the frequency dependent dielectric response show an anomalous non-monotonic variation with temperature, which arises due to the variation of octahedral tilt angle.     

剥离的碳化钛（d-Ti3C2Tx）纳米片吸波性能

目的研究剥离的碳化钛(d-Ti3C2Tx)纳米片的吸波性能。方法利用HCl/LiF刻蚀,通过高速离心的方法得到d-Ti3C2Tx纳米片。利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)分析d-Ti3C2Tx的物相组成。用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)对d-Ti3C2Tx进行形貌分析。利用原子力显微镜(AFM)测量了d-Ti3C2Tx纳米片的厚度。利用矢量网络分析仪(VNA)测试了d-Ti3C2Tx纳米片与石蜡复合材料X波段的电磁参数。利用Cole-Cole图分析了复合材料的损耗来源,并通过电磁参数计算分析了d-Ti3C2Tx的吸波性能。结果d-Ti3C2Tx纳米片与石蜡复合材料的介电实部/虚部随着d-Ti3C2Tx浓度的增加而增大,极化的增强和电导网络的扩大是导致复合材料介电实部/虚部增加的主要原因。Cole-Cole图分析表明,复合材料中存在多种类型的极化,这分别是由缺陷、官能团和界面等引起的多重弛豫极化。吸波性能分析表明,通过改变d-Ti3C2Tx浓度,可以调控复合材料的吸波性能。当填充量达到15%时,吸波性能最佳。其在厚度为4 mm下最小反射损耗为−20.1 dB,相应的微波吸收带宽(<‒10 dB)为1.9 GHz。结论d-Ti3C2Tx/石蜡复合材料表现了优异的微波吸收性能,且通过改变d-Ti3C2Tx浓度,可以调控d-Ti3C2Tx复合材料的微波吸收性能。     

Electrochemical reduction of CO2: Two- or three-electrode configuration

Electrocatalytical conversion of CO₂ into various chemicals like hydrocarbons and CO is regarded as a promising approach to mitigate carbon emission and, meanwhile, to provide sustainable energy and value-added chemicals. Two different reactors are used in this work. One is based upon the two-electrode configuration powered by a DC power supply or Si solar cell, which is suitable for practical applications. Another is three-electrode one powered by a potentiostat, which is feasible to study the electrode performance. Polycrystalline Cu electrode is used as the cathode, and hematite is the anode. Performance of CO₂ reduction using the two- and three-electrode configurations is studied by measuring electrode potential, cell voltage, current density, Faradaic efficiency, and reduction selectivity of CO₂. Cu cathode used here exhibits a low overpotential for CO₂ reduction, specifically for the cell with two-electrode configuration. No obvious difference can be observed between the two types of configurations at a low bias like −0.3 and −0.4 V; while the reactor with two-electrode configuration exhibits better performance at a high bias like −0.8 V than the one with three-electrode configuration. Thus, the reactors with two-electrode configuration are desirable for practical applications, specifically considering solar cells can be used as the power source to provide green and sustainable energy.     

溶解氧变化对阴极极化下10Ni5CrMo钢氢脆敏感性的影响

摘要：为研究溶解氧质量浓度对10Ni5CrMo钢在阴极极化条件下氢脆敏感性影响规律，对10Ni5CrMo钢进行了阴极极化下的电化学交流阻抗谱测试﹑并采用慢应变速率拉伸实验和断口分析方法研究了海水中溶解氧质量浓度变化和不同阴极极化下10Ni5CrMo钢的氢脆敏感性。结果表明：溶解氧质量浓度变化对10Ni5CrMo钢强度几乎没有影响；同一溶解氧质量浓度下，随极化电位负移，断裂时间、伸长率、断面收缩率明显降低，氢脆系数增加，氢脆敏感性显著提高，极化电位达到-1000mV时，氢脆系数已超过安全区允许的最高值25%，进入危险区；同一极化电位下，随着海水中溶解氧质量浓度减少，材料塑性变差，断裂时间、伸长率和断面收缩率不断降低，氢脆系数增加，氢脆敏感性提高。     

Activation of LSCF–YSZ interface by cobalt migration during electrolysis operation in solid oxide electrolysis cells

High-temperature water electrolysis through solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) will play a key role in building a hydrogen economy in the future. However, the delamination between the air electrode and the electrolyte remains a critical issue to be addressed. Previously, it was hypothesized that Co migration may improve the catalytic activity of the SrZrO₃ second phase at the LSCF-YSZ interface, eventually leading to the delamination. In this work, the LSCF-YSZ interfaces sintered at different temperatures were examined in detail. The activation behaviors of the LSCF electrodes upon application with electrolysis current were characterized under different conditions. Further, samples containing purposely added SrZrO₃ interlayer with and without cobalt were fabricated and compared. The activation process is less significant for the sample with cobalt-added SrZrO₃ interlayer than the sample with pure SrZrO₃ layer, supporting the hypothesis that Co migration may lead to the activation behavior.