Effects of cationic polymer on start‐up and granulation in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors

The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) has been used successfully to treat a variety of industrial wastewaters. It offers a high degree of organics removal, low sludge production and low energy consumption, along with energy production in the form of biogas. However, two major drawbacks are its long start‐up period and deficiency of active biogranules for proper functioning of the process. In this study, the influence of a coagulant polymer on start‐up, sludge granulation and the associated reactor performance was evaluated in four laboratory‐scale UASB reactors. A control reactor (R1) was operated without added polymer, while the other three reactors, designated R2, R3 and R4, were operated with polymer concentrations of 5 mg dm^?3, 10 mg dm^?3 and 20 mg dm^?3, respectively. Adding the polymer at a concentration of 20 mg dm^?3 markedly reduced the start‐up time. The time required to reach stable treatment at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.8 g COD dm^?3 d^?1 was reduced by more than 36% (R4) as compared with both R1 and R3, and by 46% as compared with R2. R4 was able to handle an OLR of 16 g COD dm^?3 d^?1 after 93 days of operation, while R1, R2 and R3 achieved the same loading rate only after 116, 116 and 109 days respectively. Compared with the control reactor, the start‐up time of R4 was shortened by about 20% at this OLR. Granule characterization indicated that the granules developed in R4 with 20 mg dm^?3 polymer exhibited the best settleability and methanogenic activity at all OLRs. The organic loading capacities of the reactors were also increased by the addition of polymer. The maximum organic loading of the control reactor (R1) without added polymer was 19.2 g COD dm^?3 d^?1, while the three polymer‐assisted reactors attained a marked increase in organic loading of 25.6 g COD dm^?3 d^?1. Adding the cationic polymer could result in shortening of start‐up time and enhancement of granulation, which may in turn lead to improvement in the efficiency of organics removal and loading capacity of the UASB system. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Solubility of potassium ferrate in 12 M alkaline solutions between 20°C and 60°C

The solubility of potassium ferrate (K₂FeO₄) was measured in aqueous solutions of NaOH and KOH of total concentration 12 M containing various molar ratios of KOH:NaOH in the range 12:0 to 3:9. Several analytical methods were tested for the determination of ferrate concentration. The final method chosen consisted of potentiometric titration of the ferrate sample with an alkaline solution of As₂O₃. The assumption was made that ferrate dissociates in concentrated KOH solutions predominantly to KFeO₄⁻. The solubility constant, S, defined as the product of the molar concentration of the potassium ion, K⁺, and the ferrate anion, KFeO₄⁻, was found to be 0·044 ± 0·006 mol² dm⁻⁶ for 20°C, 0·093 ± 0·004 mol² dm⁻⁶ for 40°C and 0·15 ± 0·09 mol² dm⁻⁶ for 60°C. From these results the heat of dissolution of K₂FeO₄ was calculated as −14·3 kJ mol⁻¹. At 60°C the enhanced decomposition of the ferrate at the higher temperature led to a greater deviation in solubility values compared with data for either 20°C or 40°C.     

Mechanism of persulfate decomposition in aqueous solution at 50°C in the presence of vinyl acetate and nitrogen

The rate of the thermal decomposition of potassium persulfate has been studied in an unbuffered aqueous solution at 50°C in nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of vinyl acetate (VA) monomer (M). It has been found that the initial rate of persulfate decomposition may be written as in the concentration range of persulfate (1.85 × 10^?2–1.85 × 10^?3 m/dm³) and VA (0.054–0.27 m/dm³). The pH of the aqueous solution of persulfate was found to decrease continuously at 50°C, but there was no measurable change of pH of the aqueous solution containing persulfate and VA at 50°C in the presence of nitrogen at the early stages of the reaction. VA, methyl acetate, and ethyl acetate have been found to undergo very slow hydrolysis in aqueous solution at 50°C. The partition coefficient (β) of the monomer between the polymer phase and the aqueous phase was found to be 21 ± 2 in the presence and absence of electrolytes (K₂SO₄, 10^?4–10^?3 m/dm³) by the bromometric estimation of the monomer present in the aqueous phase containing known amounts of monomer [1.80–2.20%, w/v] and freshly prepared polymer (0.3–0.5 g/100 mL). Above 10^?2 (m/dm³) persulfate, the polymer obtained was found to be insoluble in common solvents, viz., acetone, benzene, etc. Highly purified sodium dodecyl sulfate (0.5–5.0 × 10^?3 m/dm³) had no measurable effect on the rate of persulfate decomposition.     

Lecithin‐enhanced biotransformation of cholesterol to androsta‐1,4‐diene‐3,17‐dione and androsta‐4‐ene‐3,17‐dione

A biotransformation process using Mycobacterium sp was studied for androsta‐1, 4‐diene‐3,17‐dione (ADD) and androsta‐4‐ene‐3,17‐dione (AD) production from cholesterol. Cholesterol has a poor solubility in water (～1.8 mg dm^?3 at 25 °C), which makes it difficult to use as the substrate for biotransformation. Lecithin is a mixture of phospholipids of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), which behave like surfactants and can form planar bi‐layer structures in an aqueous medium. Therefore, a small amount of lecithin (<1 g dm^?3) can be used to form stable colloids with cholesterol at a relatively high concentration (20 g dm^?3) in water. In this work, an energy density of 1000 J cm^?3 from sonication was provided to overcome the self‐association of cholesterol and to generate a stable lecithin–cholesterol suspension that could be used for enhanced biotransformation. The lecithin–cholesterol suspension was stable and could withstand typical autoclaving conditions (121 °C, 15 psig, 20 min). In contrast to conventional surfactants, such as Tween 80, that are commonly used to help solubilize cholesterol, lecithin did not change the surface tension of the aqueous solution nor cause any significant foaming problem. Lecithin was also biocompatible and showed no adverse effect on cell growth. Compared with the medium with Tween 80 as the cholesterol‐solubilizing agent, lecithin greatly improved the biotransformation process in regard to its final product yield (～59% w/w), productivity (0.127–0.346 g dm^?3 day^?1), ADD/AD ratio (6.7–8), as well as the long‐term process stability. Cells can be reused in repeated batch fermentations for up to seven consecutive batches, but then lose their bioactivity due to aging problems, possibly caused by product inhibition and nutrient depletion. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Temperature‐Stable Relative Permittivity from −70°C to 500°C in (Ba0.8Ca0.2)TiO3–Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3–NaNbO3 Ceramics

Temperature‐stable relaxor dielectrics have been developed in the solid solution system: 0.45Ba_0.8Ca_0.2TiO₃–(0.55 ? x)Bi(Mg_0.5Ti_0.5)O₃–xNaNbO₃. Ceramics of composition x = 0 have a relative permittivity ?_r = 950 ± 15% over a wide temperature range from +70°C to 600°C. Modification with NaNbO₃ at x = 0.2 decreases the lower limiting temperature to ?70°C, but also decreases relative permittivity such that ?_r ~ 600 ± 15% over the temperature range ?70°C to 500°C. For composition x = 0.3, the low‐temperature dispersion in loss tangent, tan δ, (at 1 kHz) shifts to lower temperature, giving tan δ values ≤0.02 across the temperature range ?60°C to 300°C in combination with ?_r ~ 550 ± 15%. Values of dc resistivity for all samples are of the order of 10¹⁰ Ω m at 250°C and 10⁷ Ω m at 400°C.     

Effect of Low Temperatures on the Performance of an Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR)

The effect of a decrease in operating temperature on the performance of two 10 dm³ anaerobic baffled reactors (ABR) was examined in terms of steady state chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. To minimise variations, and have a totally biodegradable feed, a synthetic carbohydrate (sucrose)–protein (meat extract) substrate was used. The reactors were operated at 20 h hydraulic retention time (HRT), 4 g dm⁻³ COD, and 35°C as a base-line condition. Because of their different histories, the reactors responded differently to a decrease in operating temperature to 25°C. Reactor 1 remained stable at 97% COD removal, whereas Reactor 2 decreased to 93% removal, but rose to 97% after adding an effluent recycle of 0·25. At 15°C, the efficiency of Reactor 1 dropped to 75%, while the removal of Reactor 2 declined to 83%, and no improvement in efficiency occurred with an effluent recycle at 0·25. At 25°C, the decreased rate of catabolism of the slow-growing syntrophs and methanogens resulted in a shift of the volatile fatty acids (VFA) peak to the second compartment. However, the biomass present in the reactor prevented VFAs breaking through in the effluent. Nevertheless, at 15°C VFAs were present in the effluent, perhaps due to the lower rates of metabolism and an increase in the K_s for VFAs. Finally, at 15°C part of the increase in the effluent COD was due to the enhanced production of soluble microbial products (SMP), or a decrease in their metabolism, with these compounds constituting some 10% of the inlet COD. © 1997 SCI.     

Structure and Thermal Expansion of YSZ and La2Zr2O7 Above 1500°C from Neutron Diffraction on Levitated Samples

High‐temperature time‐of‐flight neutron diffraction experiments were performed on cubic yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ, 10 mol% YO_1.5) and lanthanum zirconate (LZ) prepared by laser melting. Three spheroids of each composition were aerodynamically levitated and rotated in argon flow and heated with a CO₂ laser. Unit cell, positional and atomic displacement parameters were obtained by Rietveld analysis. Below ~1650°C the mean thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) for YSZ is higher than for LZ (13 ± 1 vs. 10.3 ± 0.6) × 10^?6/K. From ~1650°C to the onset of melting of LZ at ~2250°C, TEC for YSZ and LZ are similar and within (7 ± 2) × 10^?6/K. LZ retains the pyrochlore structure up to the melting temperature with Zr coordination becoming closer to perfectly octahedral. Congruently melting LZ is La deficient. The occurrence of thermal disordering of oxygen sublattice (Bredig transition) in defect fluorite structure was deduced from the rise in YSZ TEC to ~25 × 10^?6/K at 2350°C–2550°C with oxygen displacement parameters (U_iso) reaching 0.1 Å², similar to behavior observed in UO₂. Acquisition of powder‐like high‐temperature neutron diffraction data from solid‐levitated samples is feasible and possible improvements are outlined. This methodology should be applicable to a wide range of materials for high‐temperature applications.     

Two‐phase anaerobic treatment system for fat‐containing wastewater

This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of a two‐phase anaerobic treatment system for fat‐containing wastewater. The two‐phase system was composed of a continuously stirred tank reactor for acidogenesis and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for methanogenesis. Its performance was compared with a conventional single‐phase system of a UASB reactor treating synthetic wastewater containing major long‐chain fatty acids (LCFAs). LCFAs did not cause any significant problem up to the LCFA mixture loading rate of 1.21 kg LCFA‐COD m^?3 day^?1 (3500 mg LCFA‐COD dm^?3) in both systems. However, the efficiency of the single‐phase system deteriorated at loading rates above 1.38 kg LCFA‐COD m^?3 day^?1 (4000 mg LCFA‐COD dm^?3), while that of the two‐phase system was still satisfactory. More than 19.2% of LCFAs were degraded and 11.5% of unsaturated LCFAs were saturated in the acidogenesis of the two‐phase system, which led to the enhanced specific methane production rate and the reduced scum layer of the subsequent UASB reactor. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Production of fructooligosaccharides by β‐fructofuranosidase from Aspergillus sp 27H

β‐fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26) from Aspergillus sp 27H isolated from soil was investigated for production of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) using whole cells. It possesses hydrolytic and transfructosylating activities that can be altered by modifying the reaction conditions. The optimal conditions for the transfructosylating activity occur in the pH range 5.5–6.0 and at 60 °C, while hydrolytic activity was highest at pH 4.0 and 55 °C. At low sucrose concentration (10 g dm^?3) there was rapid conversion of sucrose to glucose and fructose and very low concentrations of FOS were obtained. However, at sucrose concentrations higher than 216 g dm^?3 the concentrations of hydrolysis products were reduced. Under the following conditions: pH 5.5, temperature 40 °C, sucrose concentration 615 g dm^?3 and enzyme concentration 20β‐fructofuranosidase units g^?1 of sucrose, the FOS concentration reached a maximum value of 376 g dm^?3 (234 g dm^?3 1‐kestose and 142 g dm^?3 nystose) and the proportion of FOS in the solids in the reaction mixture was 600–620 g kg^?1 at 6 h. These results suggest that β‐fructofuranosidase from Aspergillus sp 27H could be an appropriate enzyme for the commercial production of FOS. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Treatment of the refinery wastewater in a gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop bioreactor

Aerobic treatment of refinery wastewater was carried out in a 200 dm³ gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop bioreactor, in which a biological membrane replaced the activated sludge. The influences of temperature, pH, gas–liquid ratio and hydraulic residence time on the reductions in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH₄‐N were investigated and discussed. The optimum operation conditions were obtained as temperature of 25–35 °C, pH value of 7.0–8.0, gas–liquid ratio of 50 and hydraulic residence time of 4 h. The radial and axial positions had little influence on the local profiles of COD and NH₄‐N. Under the optimum operating conditions, the effluent COD and NH₄‐N were less than 100 mg dm^?3 and 15 mg dm^?3 respectively for more than 40 days, satisfying the national primary discharge standard of China (GB 8978‐1996). Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Novel imidazole‐grafted hybrid anion exchange membranes based on poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) for fuel cell applications

Novel organic–inorganic hybrid membranes, based on poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide), have been prepared through 1,2‐dimethylimidazole functional groups and double crosslinking agents including 3‐glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and tetraethyl orthosilicate by sol–gel process for the purpose of improving the conductivity and alkaline resistance. The structure of membranes was characterized using Fourier‐transform infrared spectra, ¹H NMR, and X‐ray diffraction. The physico‐chemical properties of all membranes were shown in ion exchange capacity, water uptake, stability, and conductivity. Membranes with OH^– conductivity up to 0.022 at 25 °C and 0.036 S cm^?1 at 80 °C. Promisingly, the chemical stability of the resulting membranes remains unchanged after storage in 2 mol dm^?3 KOH at 25 °C over at least 10 days. The tensile strength can be higher than 30 MPa, and the elongation at break (Eb) is in the range 6.68–10.84%. Hence, this hybrid membrane can be potentially applied in alkaline fuel cells. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46034.     

The influence of influent distribution and blood content of slaughterhouse wastewater on the performance of an anaerobic fixed‐film reactor

This paper evaluates the performance of a laboratory‐scale anaerobic fixed‐film reactor (AFFR) with arranged media treating slaughterhouse wastewater. The reactor was operated at 20 °C, its organic loading rate was increased from 1.8 to 9.2 kg COD m^?3 d^?1, and it had a short hydraulic residence time (5–9 h). The influence of wastewater concentrations on its performance was studied by artificially increasing the blood content of the wastewater. The efficiency of the removal of organic matter decreased from 70% to 54% as the superficial velocity increased from 0.12 to 0.97 m h^?1, due mainly to distribution defects, as had been confirmed experimentally by tracer tests. The kinetics of the anaerobic processes was limited by substrate availability, even at high COD concentrations (between 700 and 1100 mg dm^?3) due to a high content of slowly biodegradable and inert compounds present in the wastewater from the slaughterhouse. It was observed that a large amount of the organic matter had accumulated inside the reactor instead of being removed by methanogenic digestion. Furthermore, the fraction of organic matter held inside the reactor varied significantly in relation to the blood content of the wastewater. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Transitions of polytetrafluoroethylene at about 90 and 130°C. studied by x-ray diffraction and infrared spectra

By means of x-ray diffraction, the lattice spacing of the (100) plane for molded polytetrafluoroethylene was measured at different temperatures from 25 to 190°C. In the crystalline region, the linear expansion coefficient, in the direction perpendicular to the molecular chain axis, was obtained as 1.1 × 10^?4°C.^?1 below 60°C., as 1.2 × 10^?4°C.^?1 above 90°C., and as a minimum value of some 0.2 × 10^?4°C.^?1 at about 80°C. As the linear expansion coefficient of the crystalline region in bulk was observed as some 0.6 × 10^?4°C.^?1, the expansion coefficient in the direction of molecular chain axis must be negative except in the transition region near 80°C. The variation of molecular chain axis separation with temperature showed an irregularity at about 80°C. but none near 130°C. in the crystalline region. Infrared absorbance of film samples of PTFE was measured at different temperatures of 25 to 150°C. range for 518, 627, and 639 cm.^?1 bands. On absorbance–temperature curves for those b?ands, irregularities were observed near 30, 50, 90, and 130°C. Particularly with 518 cm.^?1 band, a more crystalline sample gave more distinct irregularities near 50 and 90°C. than a less crystalline sample. The change at about 90°C. in infrared spectra may correspond to that obtained by x-ray measurements near 80°C., which was thought to occur in the crystalline region. The results obtained by x-ray and infrared measurements support the previous results by thermal, rheological, and dielectric methods: there exist first-order transitions in the crystalline region at about 90°C. and second-order transitions in the amorphous region at about 130°C.     

Oxidation kinetics in olive oil triacylglycerols under accelerated shelf‐life testing (25–75 °C)

A kinetic study of the autoxidation reaction in olive oil triacylglycerols stored in darkness at different temperatures (25, 40, 50, 60 and 75 °C), in absence of pro‐ and antioxidant compounds to avoid confounding effects, is described. After the induction period (IP) the decrease in the oxidizing substrate and the formation of primary oxidation products followed a pseudo‐zero‐order kinetic, and the calculated E_a from the Arrhenius equation for the formation of hydroperoxides was 32.1 kJ·mol^?1. The formation of secondary oxidation products followed a pseudo‐first‐order kinetic whose rate reaction constant also increased exponentially with temperature. The first oxidation index to exceed the upper limit in the EU regulations was PV, followed by K₂₃₂ and K₂₇₀. The time required reaching these limits and the rancidity threshold showed a potential dependence on temperature, and therefore with accelerated storage at 75 °C, POO shelf‐life in ambient conditions (25 °C) can be predicted. Finally, there was a good linear relationship between the time required to reach the rancidity threshold and the IP of the formation of the 2,4‐decadienal, and hence this instrumental determination could be useful to measure sensory recognition of the rancid defect in POO.     

Process kinetics of UASB reactors treating non‐inhibitory substrate

The degradation of a non‐inhibitory substrate (sucrose) in upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactors with different superficial flow velocites (u_s) was performed to generate experimental data. Additionally, a kinetic model accounting for the mass fraction of methanogens (f) and granule size distribution in UASB reactors is also proposed. At the volumetric loadings of 2.65–21.16 g COD dm^?3 day^?1, both the COD removal efficiency and granule size of the UASB reactors increase with increasing u_s. The f values determined experimentally increase from 0.13–0.24 to 0.27–0.43 if the volumetric loading is increased from 2.65 to 5.29 g COD dm^?3 day^?1. With a further increase in volumetric loading, the f values decline because of the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The predicted residual concentrations of VFAs and COD are in fairly good agreement with the experimental data. From the calculated effectiveness‐factor values, the influence of mass transfer resistance of the substrate sucrose on the overall substrate removal rate should not be neglected. From parametric sensitivity analyses together with the simulated concentration profiles, methanogenesis is the rate‐limiting step. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of polyacrylamide‐co‐acrylic acid on cellulose production by Acetobacter xylinum

Polyacrylamide‐co‐acrylic acid (PA) added to shake flask cultures of Acetobacter xylinum at concentrations up to 3 g dm^?3 resulted in increased production of bacterial cellulose. For PA concentrations of 0–3 g dm^?3, 7‐day cellulose production rose monotonically from 2.7 ± 0.8 to 6.5 ± 0.5 g dm^?3 at a shaker speed of 175 rpm, and from 1.7 ± 0.01 to 3.7 ± 0.5 g dm^?3 at shaker speed of 375 rpm. Addition of PA also changed the morphology of the biomass from amorphous/stringy forms to spheroidal particles with diameters ≤2 mm. Similarly, bioreactor cultures grown in the absence of PA formed long fibrous masses which deposited on the internals, while those grown in the presence of 1–2 g dm^?3 PA formed small discrete particles with diameters ≤0.1 mm. Tests performed with 1 and 2 g dm^?3 PA, and stirrer speeds from 500 to 900 rpm, appeared to give the highest cellulose concentration of 5.3 ± 0.7 g dm^?3 in 64–68.5 h in the presence of 2 g dm^?3 PA at 700 rpm, although this value was statistically indistinguishable from that obtained at 1 g dm^?3 PA and 900 rpm. A qualitative model is proposed to describe the mechanisms by which PA affects biomass morphology, resulting in its advantageous formation as small, dispersed, spheroidal pellets. Quantitative analysis of the results gave inverse correlations between both the fraction of fructose carbon going to cellulose synthesis and the specific fructose consumption rate, and the maximum cellulose concentration and the fraction of fructose carbon going to by‐product formation. Since cellulose yield was almost universally improved by higher polyacrylamide concentration, it appears likely that increased viscosity reduces fructose uptake rate by limiting mass transfer. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Creep of Nextel™ 610 Fiber at 1100°C in Air and in Steam

Creep of Nextel^?610 fibers was investigated at 1100°C and 100–500 MPa in air and in steam. The effect of loading rate on fiber tensile strength was also explored. The presence of steam accelerated creep and reduced fiber lifetimes. Loading rate had a considerable effect on tensile strength in steam, but not in air. A linear elastic crack growth model was used to predict the creep lifetimes from the constant loading rate data. The dependence of tensile strength on loading rate and the predictability of creep lifetimes suggest that the failure mechanism in steam was environmentally assisted subcritical crack growth. The creep‐rupture data were analyzed in terms of a Monkman‐Grant (MG) relationship. Monkman‐Grant parameters for creep‐rupture data were the same in steam and air, and predicted creep‐rupture at 1100°C in both environments. A grain‐size increase of about 25% was observed by TEM after 100 h at 1100°C in steam, which was about two times that observed in air.     

Determination of potential methane production capacity of a granular sludge from a pilot‐scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor using a specific methanogenic activity test

A 450 dm³ pilot‐scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was used for the treatment of a fermentation‐based pharmaceutical wastewater. The UASB reactor performed well up to an organic loading rate (OLR) of 10.7 kg COD m^?3 d^?1 at which point 94% COD removal efficiency was achieved. This high treatment efficiency did not continue, however and the UASB reactor was then operated at lower OLRs for the remainder of the study. Specific methanogenic activity (SMA) tests were, therefore, carried out to determine the potential loading capacity of the UASB reactor. For this purpose, the SMA tests were carried out at four different initial acetate concentrations, namely 500 mg dm^?3, 1000 mg dm^?3, 1500 mg dm^?3 and 2000 mg dm^?3 so that substrate limitation could not occur. The results showed that the sludge sample taken from the UASB reactor (OLR of 6.1 kg COD m^?3 d^?1) had a potential acetoclastic methane production (PMP) rate of 72 cm³ CH₄ g^?1 VSS d^?1. When the PMP rate was compared with the actual methane production rate (AMP) of 67 cm³ CH₄ g^?1 VSS d^?1 obtained from the UASB reactor, the AMP/PMP ratio was found to be 0.94 which ensured that the UASB reactor was operated using its maximum potential acetoclastic methanogenic capacity. In order to achieve higher OLRs with desired COD removal efficiencies it was recommended that the UASB reactor should be loaded with suitable OLRs pre‐determined by SMA tests. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Direct Applicability of La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 – δ Thin Film Cathode to Yttria Stabilised Zirconia Electrolytes at T ≤ 650 °C

For investigating the direct applicability of highly active cobalt containing cathodes on YSZ electrolytes at a lower processing and operating temperature range (T ≤ 650 °C), we fabricated a thin film lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide (LSC) cathode on an yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ)‐based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) via pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Its electrochemical performance (5.9 mW cm^–2 at 0.7 V, 650 °C) was significantly inferior to that (595 mW cm^–2 at 0.7 V, 650 °C) of an SOFC with a thin (t ∼ 200 nm) gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) buffer layer in between the LSC thin film cathode and the YSZ electrolyte. It implies that even though the cathode processing and cell operating temperatures were strictly controlled not to exceed 650 °C, the direct application of LSC on YSZ should be avoided. The origin of the cell performance deterioration is thoroughly studied by glancing angle X‐ray diffraction (GAXRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the decomposition of the cathode and diffusion of La and Sr into YSZ were observed when LSC directly contacted YSZ.     

Conductance of aerosol-ot in n-propanol at 25°C

Molar conductances have been determined for solutions of Aerosol-OT in n-propanol at 25°C. Analysis of these results with the Fuoss—Hsia conductance equation using a distance parameter d = 13.70 × 10^?10 m yields a limiting molar conductance Λ_∞ = 17.5 ± 0.5 Ω^?1 and an association constant K_A = (27 ± 3) × 10² dm³ mol^?1. The latter is substantially larger than that calculated with the Bjerrum equation.