Study on power generation and Congo red decolorization of 3D conductive PPy-CNT hydrogel in bioelectrochemical system

In this paper, a polypyrrole-carbon nanotube hydrogel (PPy-CNT) with 3D macroporous structure was prepared by secondary growth method. This self-supporting material with good conductivity and biocompatibility can be directly used as anode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The prepared material had a uniform structure with rich 3D porosity and showed good water retention performance. The effect of the mass ratio of PPy and CNT in the hydrogel were also investigated to evaluate the electrical performance of MFC. The MFC with 10:1 PPy-CNT hydrogel anode could reached the maximum power density of 3660.25 mW/m3 and the minimal electrochemical reaction impedance of anode was 5.06 Ω. The effects of Congo red concentration, external resistance and suspended activated sludge on decolorazation and electricity generation were also investigated in the MFC with the best performance hydrogel. When the Congo red concentration was 50 mg/L and the external resistance was 200 Ω, the dye decolorization rate and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate could reach 94.35% and 42.31% at 48h while the output voltage of MFC was 480 mV. When activated sludge was present, the decolorization rate and COD removal rate could be increased to 99.55% and 48.08% at 48 h. The above results showed that the porous hydrogel anode had broad application prospects in synchronous wastewater treatment and electricity production of MFC.     

A novel design for humidifying an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell using anode purge

The low performance of open-cathode proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (OCPEMFCs) is attributed to the low-humidity ambient air supplied to the cathode using electric fans. To improve the OCPEMFC performance, this paper proposes a novel humidification method by collecting water purged from the anode and supplying it to the open cathode. The OCPEMFC performance is evaluated at various humidifier distances from the cathode inlet, and it is compared with that where no humidifier is used when the OCPEMFC operates under three different current levels of 1, 5, and 8 A. The results show that the novel design improves the stack power, and optimal performance is achieved at a humidifier distance of 2 cm. The energy efficiency achieves an improvement between 1.4% and 1.8% when a humidifier is used.     

Exsolution in Ni-doped lanthanum strontium titanate: a perovskite-based material for anode application in ammonia-fed Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Hydrogen represents the most conventional fuel to feed Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for green energy production. However, hydrogen has some drawbacks which prevent the large-scale implementation. Research identified ammonia as promising hydrogen vector. Hereby, highly dispersed Ni nanoparticle are deposited on La-doped strontium titanate by exsolution, greatly affecting the electrochemical performance. The exsolved Ni-doped lanthanum strontium titanate (La_0·45Sr_0·45Ti_0·90Ni_0.10-δO₃ – LSTNOH) was largely characterized. XRD analysis detected 10 mol% of Ni doping has been successfully incorporated in to the perovskite structure and then released when exposed in reducing environment. SEM images show Ni nanoparticles highly dispersed on the surface. XPS confirms the presence of Ni on the surface after the exsolution and allows to exclude other detrimental diffusion towards the bulk. A LSTNOH derived composite based anode has been investigated through impedance spectroscopy using ammonia and hydrogen as fuel. It demonstrates best performances compared to the one obtained by Ni infiltration on LSTO (La_0·45Sr_0·45TiO₃) composite scaffold. Polarization resistance, running on ammonia, decreases raising the temperature and the performances approach those in hydrogen.     

A review of thin film electrolytes fabricated by physical vapor deposition for solid oxide fuel cells

The ohmic resistance in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) mainly comes from the electrolyte, which can be reduced by developing novel electrolyte materials with higher ionic conductivity and/or fabricating thin-film electrolytes. Among various kinds of thin-film fabrication technology, the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method can reduce the electrolyte thickness to a few micrometers and mitigate the issues associated with high-temperature sintering, which is necessary for wet ceramic methods. This review summarizes recent development progress in thin-film electrolytes fabricated by the PVD method, especially pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and magnetron sputtering. At first, the importance of the substrate surface morphology for the quality of the film is emphasized. After that, the fabrication of thin-film doped-zirconia and doped-ceria electrolytes is presented, then we provide a brief summary of the works on other types of electrolytes prepared by PVD. Finally, we have come to the summary and made perspectives.     

Sea urchin-like LiAlO2@NiCoO2 hybrid composites with core-shell structure as high-performance Li storage materials

Sea urchin-like LiAlO₂@NiCoO₂ hybrid composites with core-shell structure assembled with nanoneedles have been successfully fabricated through a facile hydrothermal route followed by a calcination procedure in N₂ for the first time. The sea urchin-like architecture with large accessible surface can offer numerous active sites for redox reaction. The synergy of two advantages has dramatically improved the electrochemical behavior in terms of specific capacity, cycle performance and rate capability, especially at high current densities. The LiAlO₂(5.0 wt%)@NiCoO₂ displays charge capacities are 1309.0 and 933.6 mAh g^?1 at 0.5 and 1A g^?1, respectively, after 400 cycles. However, the charge capacities of bare NiCoO₂ are only 562.9 and 476.7 mAh g^?1 at corresponding rates. Especially, LiAlO₂(5.0 wt%)@NiCoO₂ preserves 358.1 mAh g^?1 after 500 cycles at 2A g^?1 with a capacity retention of 74%. The superior electrochemical property is related to the sea urchin-like nature and the ingenious composition design. In addition, the DFT calculation result shows that the formed stable, well-coordinated, and metallic interface between LiAlO₂ and NiCoO₂ are very helpful for reducing the interfacial impedance and beneficial for the improved rate capability of the materials. Therefore, such LiAlO₂@NiCoO₂ composites with unique morphology demonstrate a huge potential as electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.     

Hydrothermal synthesis of α-SnWO4: Application to lithium-ion battery and photocatalytic activity

The high capacity anode material is required to replace the most commonly used anode - graphite to keep up the global demand to achieve the goal. Multi-metal oxide has gained keen attention for its higher theoretical capacity and relatively stable than a single metal oxide. α-SnWO₄ has a theoretical capacity of 850 mAh g^?1 which is greater than graphite (372 mAh g^?1). α-SnWO₄ has been synthesized through low-temperature hydrothermal method using tin chloride and sodium tungstate as a precursor in acidic medium (succinic acid) at 200 °C for 12 h. The obtained product has been characterized using various analytical tools such as XRD, FT-IR, UV-DRS, BET, PL, SEM, and HR-TEM. XRD analysis shows the orthorhombic phase with a crystallite size of ~25 nm α-SnWO₄has been examined as an electrode material for Li-ion battery (LIB) and displays an initial discharge capacity of 985 mAh g^?1. Columbic efficiency close to 100% has been observed for 100 cycles. The stability of the electrode material was studied at different C-rates. Band-gap calculated using UV-DRS (Eg = 1.9 eV) shows that α-SnWO₄ is a good candidate for photocatalytic degradation. Results of the photocatalytic experiment using methylene blue (MB) as a model pollutant in an aqueous medium shows good results. The above applications show that α-SnWO₄ is multifunctional materials for diverse applications.     

A review study on titanium niobium oxide-based composite anodes for Li-ion batteries: Synthesis,structure, and performance

The growing demands for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) in the electrification revolution, require the development of advanced electrode materials. Recently, intercalating titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anode materials with the general formula of TiNb_xO_2+2.5x have received lots of attention as an alternative to graphite and Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ commercial anodes. The desirability of this family of compounds stems from their high theoretical capacities (377–402 mAh/g), high safety, high working voltage, excellent cycling stability, and significant pseudocapacitive behavior. However, the rate performance of TNO-based anodes is poor owing to their low electronic and ionic conductivities. TNO-based composites generally are prepared with two aims of enhancing the conductivity of TNO and achieving a synergic effect between the TNO and the other component of the composite. Compositing with carbon matrices, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the most studied strategy for improving the conductivity of TNO and optimizing its high-rate performance. Also, for obtaining anode materials with high capacity and high long-term stability, the composites of TNO with transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) materials were proposed in previous literature. In this work, a comprehensive review of the TNO-based composites as the anodes for LIBs is presented which summarizes in detail the main recent literature from their synthesis procedure, optimum synthesis parameters, and the obtained morphology/structure to their electrochemical performance as the LIBs anode. Finally, the research gaps and the future perspective are proposed.     

Facile high yield synthesis of MgCo2O4 and investigation of its role as anode material for lithium ion batteries

In this article, we have reported a one-step scalable synthesis of MgCo₂O₄ nanostructures as efficient anode material for Li-ion batteries and investigated the role of post-synthesis calcination temperature (400, 600 and 800 °C) on its physiochemical properties and electrochemical performances. The XRD pattern of the calcinated sample at 400 °C (MC 400) indicates a pure phase of MgCo₂O₄. However, on increasing the calcination temperature to 600 °C (MC 600), an additional phase corresponding to MgO was detected and the corresponding XRD peak intensity further increased on increasing the calcination temperature to 800 °C (MC 800 °C). This was accompanied by a morphological transformation from flake and rod-like nanostructures, to an agglomerated dense flake-like morphology. Electrochemical studies revealed that the calcination temperature plays an important role in determining the electrochemical performance of the MgCo₂O₄ as anode material. In a half cell, the MC 600 showed the best electrochemical performance with high discharge capacity of 980 mA h g⁻¹ (2nd discharge at 60 mA g⁻¹) and a reversible discharge capacity of 886 mA h g⁻¹ at the end of 50 cycles with high coulombic efficiency of 98%. Long term stability was carried out at 0.5C which showed a capacity retention of 358 mA h g⁻¹ at the end of 500 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance of the MC600 can be attributed to the presence of the small amount of MgO, which is believed to provide the anode materials better structural stability during cycling. The claim was further supported by ex-situ TEM analysis of the anode material of a cycled cell (50 cycles).     

Preparation of manganese monoxide@reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites with superior electrochemical performances for lithium-ion batteries

Manganese monoxide (MnO) nanowire@reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites are synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method combined with a calcination process. The structural and morphological characterization of the composites indicates that the MnO nanowires homogeneously anchor on both sides of the cross-linked rGO. The nanocomposites exhibit a high surface area of 126.5?m² g^?1. When employed as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the nanocomposites exhibit a reversible capacity of 1195 mAh g^?1 at a current density of 0.1?A?g^?1, with a high charge-discharge efficiency of 99.2% after 150 cycles. The three-dimensional architecture of the present materials exhibits high porosity and electron conductivity, significantly shortening the diffusion path of lithium ions and accelerating their reaction with the electrolyte, which greatly improves the lithium-ion storage properties. These excellent electrochemical performances make the composite a promising electrode material for lithium-ion batteries.     

Influence of anode current density on carbon parasitic reactions during electrolysis

In the electro-deoxidation process, carbon parasitic reaction (CO₃^2- + 4e^-=C + 3O^2-) usually occurs when using carbon materials as the anode, which leads to increase of the carbon content in the final metal and decrease of the current efficiency of the process. The aim of this work is to reduce the negative effect of carbon parasitic reaction on the electrolysis process by adjusting anode current density. The results indicate that lower graphite anode area can achieve higher current density, which is helpful to increase the nucleation site of CO₂ bubbles. Most of CO₂ would be released from the anode instead of dissolution in the molten CaCl₂ and reacting with O^2- to form CO₃^2-, thus decreasing the carbon parasitic reaction of the process. Furthermore, the results of the compared experiments show that when the anode area decreases from 172.78 to 4.99 cm², CO₂ concentration in the released gases increases significantly, the carbon mass content in the final metal product decreased from 1.09% to 0.13%, and the current efficiency increased from 6.65% to 36.50%. This study determined a suitable anode current density range for reducing carbon parasitic reaction and provides a valuable reference for the selection of the anode in the electrolysis process.