Electrooxidation reactions of methanol and ethanol on Pt–MoO3 for dual fuel cell applications

Pt–MoO₃ was synthesized by microwave-assisted chemical reduction. The physicochemical characterization showed that the electrocatalyst contained nanoparticles of Pt and clusters of MoO₃. The average particle size of the catalytic material was 2.5 nm. The electrochemical results showed that the Pt–MoO₃/C was suitable to carry out the electrooxidation reactions of ethanol and methanol indistinctly, avoiding CO poisoning. It was possible to compare the results with commercial Pt/C. The synthesized material showed a better electrochemical performance. Different simulations were performed using the Nernst equation to evaluate the influence of temperature, internal resistance, and the current density losses as a function of the fuel used. The theoretical results indicated that the electrical power of the mono-cell improves by 21.5% when the energy vector is changed from methanol to ethanol at the maximum power point, obtaining an electrical potential change ΔE = 87.02 mV and a variation of the electric power of Δp = 114.14 mW cm^?2. The use of dual fuels could improve the performance of experimental fuel cells.     

Synthesis of Janus polyaniline–polyelectrolyte complex membrane via in situ confined polymerization

Polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) membranes prepared from poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) were modified by crossflow polymerization of aniline (ANI). The PEC membranes were used as separators in a two-compartment setup where ANI monomer and ammonium persulfate (APS) oxidant diffused through the membranes to form polyaniline (PANI). APS and ANI having different distributions throughout the membranes, the reaction led to the asymmetric polymerization of PANI on one face of each PEC membrane thus producing Janus membranes. Due to the excess PANI content, the membrane displayed distinct asymmetric electrical conductivities on each face. Interestingly, very different ANI polymerizations were obtained when nonstoichiometric PEC membranes having different molar ratio of cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes (P⁺:P^? represents PDADMAC:PSS) were used and transport of APS was fastest through the 2:1 PEC when compared to the 1:2 PEC. In all experiments, the polymerization was most intense on the ANI side of the membranes. Also, the influence of NaCl both during PEC fabrication and during polymerization was studied and found to have some effect on the solute permeability. Results showed that a higher content of PANI was formed on PEC membranes having excess P⁺ and with no NaCl added during PEC fabrication. Although X-ray diffraction confirmed the presence of PANI on both sides of each membrane, scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated that both sides of each membrane had different PANI content deposited. Electrical conductivity measurements using a four-point probe setup also showed that the PEC–PANI exhibits asymmetric electrical property on different sides. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry.     

A 6-DOF humanoid wall-climbing robot with flexible adsorption feet based on negative pressure suction

A wide range of dangerous and special tasks have witnessed the applications of wall-climbing robots, but they still cannot adapt well torough or sloping walls. This paper proposes a 6-DOF (degree of freedom) humanoid wall-climbing robot (HWCR) based on the principle of negative pressure suction. HWCR has the advantages of flexible adsorption feet, strong adaptability, strong anti-subversion performance, and high friction to the wall. We deduce mechanics formulas and carry out a parametric design of the foot structure so that it can meet the requirement of robot wall climbing. We use Fluent to analyze the flow field of the adsorption foot and determine the motor speed that can provide a reliable adsorption force. Using the D-H matrix to plan gait, we also design a compound cycloid-based foot trajectory to reduce the impact between the HWCR and the wall. Experiments on the uneven wall and sloping wall show that the vehicle can walk with an ideal gait, and the resistance value of the servo on each joint is much lower than the critical value, which ensures the smooth movement of the HWCR.     

Scallops as a new source of food protein: high-intensity ultrasonication improved stability of oil-in-water emulsion stabilised by myofibrillar protein

In this study, the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) (200 and 400 W for 0, 5, 10 and 15 min respectively) on conformational changes, physicochemical, rheological and emulsifying properties of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) myofibrillar protein (SMP) was investigated. HIUS-treated SMP had lower α-helix content and higher β-sheet content compared with the native SMP. HIUS treatment induced the unfolding of SMP and increased the surface hydrophobicity. The particle size of SMP decreased and the absolute zeta-potential increased after ultrasonication, which in turn increased the solubility of SMP. The conformational changes and the improvement of physicochemical properties of SMP increased the ability for SMP to lower the interfacial tension at the oil–water interface and increased the percentage of adsorbed protein. As a result, the emulsifying properties, rheological properties of SMP and storage stability of emulsions were also improved. In conclusion, HIUS treatment has future potential for improving the emulsifying properties of SMP.     

Synergistic regulation of hydrogen adsorption/desorption via dual interfaces of Cu/Ni/Ni(OH)2 toward efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Nickel-based catalysts have attracted tremendous attention as alternatives to precious metal-based catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in virtue of their conspicuous advantages such as abundant reserves and high electrochemical activity. Nevertheless, a great challenge for Ni-based electrocatalyst is that nickel sites possess too strong adsorption for key intermediates H1, which severely suppresses the hydrogen-production activities. Herein, we report a hierarchical architecture Cu/Ni/Ni(OH)₂ consisting of dual interfaces as a high-efficient electrocatalyst for HER. The Cu nanowire backbone could provide geometric spaces for loading plenty of Ni sites and the formed Ni/Cu interface could effectively weakened the adsorption intensity of H1 intermediates on the catalyst surface. Moreover, the H1 adsorption could be further controlled to appropriate states by in-situ formed Ni(OH)₂/Ni interface, which simultaneously promotes water adsorption and activation, thus both Heyrovsky and Volmer steps in HER could be obviously accelerated. Experimental and theoretical results confirm that this interface structure can promote water dissociation and optimize H1 adsorption. Consequently, the Cu/Ni/Ni(OH)₂ electrocatalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 20 mV at 10 mA cm^?2 and an ultralow Tafel slope of 30 mV dec^?1 in 1.0 M KOH, surpassing those of reported transition-metal-based electrocatalysts and even the prevailing commercial Pt/C.     

Synthesis of thermoresponsive copolymer/silica-coated magnetite nanoparticle composite and its application for heavy metal ion recovery

To enhance chemical stability and suppress of aggregation of magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs), which are used as a support for thermoresponsive copolymer immobilization, silica coating of the MNPs is applied via the electrooxidation method. Although the resulting silica coated-MNPs also formed aggregates, the size distribution of the aggregate shifted to smaller size range. Because of that, the surface area available for copolymer immobilization increased approximately 6.7 times at maximum as compared with that of the uncoated MNPs. It contributed to the increase of the amount of the immobilized copolymer on the silica-coated MNPs, which is approximately four times larger than that on the uncoated MNPs. Fe₃O₄ dissolution test confirmed enhancement of chemical stability of MNPs. The thermoresponsive copolymer immobilized on the silica-coated MNPs shows the ability to recycle Cu(II) ion from Cu(II) containing solution by changing temperature with significantly shorter time than those in other thermoresponsive adsorbents in gel form.     

Nano fibrillated cellulose-based foam by Pickering emulsion: Preparation,characterizations, and application as dye adsorbent

An ecofriendly and biodegradable porous structure was prepared from drying aqueous foams based on nano fibrillated cellulose (NFC), extracted from softwood pulp by subcritical water/CO₂ treatment (SC-NFC). The primary aim of this work was to use the modified SC-NFC as stabilizer for a water-based Pickering emulsion which upon drying, yielded porous cellulosic materials, a good dye adsorbent. In order to exploit the carboxymethylated SC-NFC (CMSC-NFC, with a degree of substitution of 0.35 and a charge density of 649 μeqv/g) as a stabilizer for water-based Pickering emulsion in subsequent step, an optimized quantity of octyl amine (30 mg/g of SC-NFC) was added to make them partially hydrophobic. A series of dry foam structures were prepared by varying the concentrations of treated CMSC-NFCs and 4 wt% was found to be the optimum concentration to yield foam with high porosity (99%) and low density (0.038 g/cc) along with high compression strength (0.24 MPa), superior to the conventionally extracted NFC. The foams were applied to capture as high as 98% of methylene blue dyes, making them a potential green candidate for treating industrial effluent. In addition, the dye adsorption kinetics and isotherms were found to be well suited with second order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models.     

氯乙烯变温吸附装置的研究

介绍了采用变温吸附技术对氯乙烯进行干燥脱水的工艺流程及运行效果,阐述了变温吸附装置运行过程中出现的问题及相应的解决方法。     

Direct View on the Origin of High Li+ Transfer Impedance in All-Solid-State Battery

Large interfacial resistance plays a dominant role in the performance of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. However, the mechanism of interfacial resistance has been under debate. Here, the Li⁺ transport at the interfacial region is investigated to reveal the origin of the high Li⁺ transfer impedance in a LiCoO₂(LCO)/LiPON/Pt all-solid-state battery. Both an unexpected nanocrystalline layer and a structurally disordered transition layer are discovered to be inherent to the LCO/LiPON interface. Under electrochemical conditions, the nanocrystalline layer with insufficient electrochemical stability leads to the introduction of voids during electrochemical cycles, which is the origin of the high Li⁺ transfer impedance at solid electrolyte-electrode interfaces. In addition, at relatively low temperatures, the oxygen vacancies migration in the transition layer results in the formation of Co₃O₄ nanocrystalline layer with nanovoids, which contributes to the high Li⁺ transfer impedance. This work sheds light on the mechanism for the high interfacial resistance and promotes overcoming the interfacial issues in all-solid-state batteries.