Tailoring Cu/Al2O3 catalysts for the catalytic pyrolysis of tomato waste

In this study, pyrolysis of tomato waste has been performed in fixed bed tubular reactor at 500 °C, both in absence and presence of Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The influences of heating rate, catalyst preparation method and catalyst loading on bio-oil yields and properties were examined. According to pyrolysis experiments, the highest bio-oil yield was obtained as 30.31% with a heating rate of 100 °C/min, 5% Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst loading ratio and co-precipitation method. Results showed that the catalysts have strong positive effect on bio-oil yields. Bio-oil quality obtained from fast catalytic pyrolysis was more favorable than that obtained from non-catalytic and slow catalytic pyrolysis.     

Barium cobaltite nanoparticles: Sol-gel synthesis and characterization and their electrochemical hydrogen storage properties

The study of the effect of different chelating agents in the Pechini method on the morphology has been a promising strategy that can be used for practical tuning of the nanoparticle's morphology and hence the electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity. In the current study, the conventional Pechini sol-gel approach was used to prepare the Ba₂Co₉O₁₄ nanoparticles as a novel hydrogen storage material. The X-ray diffraction investigation approved the formation of Ba₂Co₉O₁₄ with a Hexagonal crystal structure for all of the synthesized samples. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed when citric acid was used as a chelating agent, nanoparticles with finer and more uniform morphology were obtained rather than other chelating sources. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed in the presence of citric acid; the size of the synthesized nanoparticles was between 14 and 24 nm. According to the Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) analysis, the calculated bandgap of synthesized nanoparticles was approximately 3.2 eV, which indicates that synthesized nanoparticles were semiconductors in essence. The electrochemical hydrogen adsorption/desorption results showed that the sample synthesized by the citric acid has an enhancement in electrochemical hydrogen storage of approximately 800 mAh/g after 15 cycles.     

The effect of Cr doped in amorphous carbon films on electrical conductivity: Characterization and mechanism

Metallic bipolar plates (BPPs) are prospective candidates for BPPs in PEMFCs due to their lower cost and higher power density than traditional graphite. Coatings are used to enhance the electrical conductivity and anti-corrsive quality of BPPs, and amorphous carbon (a-C) films have attracted broad attentions from both industry and academia. In this study chromium was incorporated into a-C to further enhance conductivity. A series of Cr-doped a-C films (a-C:Cr) with different doping contents were prepared by CFUBMSIP. Moreover, Microstructure analyses and composition characterizations were performed to explore the mechanism. The results show that Cr decreases the interfacial resistance with satisfying the anti-corrosive behavior. XRD patterns indicate that Cr will form chromium carbide phase and pure metal phase. Moreover, TEM results also show that Cr atoms bond with C atoms. SEM photographs show that Cr atoms refine the grain size and compact the film all the same. C 1s spectrum of XPS shows that C-sp²/C-sp³ increases first and then decreases, reaching the maximum level of 1.708 at Cr_0.205, indicating the resistance drops first and then increases. In addition, Cr doping will also bring changes in nano-hardness and surface roughness.     

Study of the impact of reactants utilization on the performance of PEMFC commercial stacks by impedance spectroscopy

Reactants utilization is a key stake for a PEMFC system: a too low utilization leads to a waste of reactant but a too high utilization may result in a detrimental starvation. To study these impacts, two commercial stacks were characterised by impedance spectroscopy under different hydrogen and oxygen utilizations (from nominal conditions to quasi-starvation). One was fresh while the other was operated on-field during 10,000 h. This study shows that the two capacitive loops in the lowest frequency range (1 Hz and below) correspond respectively to oxygen and hydrogen mass transfer limitations: the limiting reactant can be clearly identified from the impacted frequencies. The size of these loops was increased by up to 30% when the cell operated at high reactant utilizations. These results could therefore pave the way to the development of algorithms able to estimate the degree of starvation of some cells.     

Isolation,purification, and antioxidant activities of polysaccharides from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao

In the present study, crude polysaccharides from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao were isolated and purified using DEAE cellulose-52 and Sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography; four fractions were collected, namely GZMP-1, GZMP-2, GZMP-3, and GZMP-4. The molecular weights of these four fractions were measured to be 111.2, 95.1, 84.2, and 571.4 kDa, respectively, using high-performance gel permeation chromatography. Gas chromatography analysis of the monosaccharide composition confirmed that GZMP-1 was composed of rhamnose, arabinose, glucose, and galactose. Rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose were the main components present in GZMP-2 and GZMP-3, whereas GZMP-4 was composed of only rhamnose and arabinose. Scanning electron microscopy showed relatively smooth surfaces for GZMP-1 and GZMP-4, whereas GZMP-2 and GZMP-3 had more folds on their surfaces. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses indicated that GZMP-1 and ZMP mainly had α-type glycosidic linkages. The in vitro antioxidant activities of the polysaccharides revealed that jujube polysaccharides exhibit remarkable antioxidant activity, and can scavenge DPPH radical and OH radical in a concentration-dependent manner. The results of this work suggest that polysaccharides from Z. Jujuba cv. Muzao have potential to be used as functional food and in the development of natural antioxidant drug carriers.     

Beneficial role of carbon black on the properties of TiC ceramics

This investigation aimed to study the influence of carbon black on the qualifications of TiC-based materials. For this objective, two samples, namely monolithic TiC and TiC-5 wt% carbon black were sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS) method at 1900 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the as-sintered samples. Introducing carbon black enhanced the relative density of TiC significantly, reaching a near fully dense substance. Phase analysis and microstructural studies manifested the formation of non-stoichiometric TiC_x in both ceramics. Although the introduction of carbonaceous additive considerably increased the thermal conductivity and flexural strength of TiC, standing at 25.1 W/mK and 658 MPa, respectively, its influence on the Vickers hardness was trivial (both ~ 3200 HV_0.1 kg). Finally, the composite specimen presented a lower coefficient of friction (~ 0.31) on average compared to the undoped TiC (~ 0.34).     

Complementary characterization methods for Lithium-ion Polymer secondary battery modeling

This paper deals with the electrical modeling of Lithium-ion Polymer battery, from complementary characterization tests. The first aim of this work is to understand the electrical behavior of this battery through experimentations in the same environmental conditions as the final application’s ones. The second goal of this work is to identify battery models with different precision levels and to implement them in specific models of the considered aircraft electrical network. In this paper, two equivalent electrical circuit models are presented: a quasi-static model, which is functional and sufficient for the electrical energy management in the aircraft; a dynamic model, which is behavioral and necessary for the analysis of the embedded network quality. The identification of their parameters is carried out with adapted characterization tests, such as chronopotentiometry at constant current and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy at different temperatures. The complementarity of these tests is particularly underlined in this paper because it is useful for the parameter identification. The results from model simulation and from experimentation are compared through a mission profile and are analyzed. Eventually, this paper presents complete experimental data for a commercial 4.8 Ah Lithium-ion Polymer battery including the temperature influence.     

低温溶液缩聚法制备聚间苯二甲酰对苯二胺

采用低温溶液缩聚法制备了聚间苯二甲酰对苯二胺(PPIA),讨论了单体浓度、单体物质的量配比、反应温度等因素对聚合反应的影响,并用红外光谱(IR)、热重分析(TG)、X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)对实验产物进行了测定。红外检测出的特征峰符合PPIA的结构特征,热重测得热分解速率最大温度在520℃左右,X射线衍射表明聚合物有明显结晶现象,并且扫描电镜显示下的聚合物结构聚集状态良好。     

SO3 decomposition over β–SiC and SiO2 supported CuFe2O4: A stability and kinetic study

CuFe₂O₄/β–SiC and CuFe₂O₄/SiO₂ catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method, following the high temperature solid state route and their catalytic performance is evaluated in the SO₃ decomposition reaction of the Sulfur–Iodine (S–I) cycle for hydrogen production. The synthesized catalysts are characterized by XRD, FT–IR, TGA, XPS, N₂–BET, TEM, HR–TEM, FESEM–EDS and elemental mapping. CuFe₂O₄/β–SiC catalyst shows higher activity and stability while sintering is observed in the spent CuFe₂O₄/SiO₂ whose activity decreased during the reaction time on stream. Kinetic studies were performed over CuFe₂O₄/β-SiC in the temperature range of 800–900 °C using wide range of space time, 6.54–44.40 kg h kmol⁻¹. A heterogeneous kinetic model was developed based on the product distribution and the reaction rates determined by the model fitted well with the experimental rates at different temperatures.     

Cu-SiC磨具制备及其性能表征

笔者描述了铜-碳化硅磨具的制备过程,采用热压成形法制备了Cu-SiC磨具。该磨具主要由铜粉、酚醛环氧树脂和碳化硅磨料组成。研究了树脂、碳化硅与辅助磨料的种类、组成对磨具性能的影响。结果表明:当加入适量铜粉,复合材料磨损率会下降、耐磨性能会提高,被磨削表面不易出现凹痕、孔洞;但是铜粉添加过量时,磨具磨损率会增加。较佳配方组成为:35wt%树脂、45wt%碳化硅、15.56wt%铜粉、4.44wt%白刚玉。