Synthesis,characterization and investigation of the electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of CuO–CeO2 nanocomposites synthesized by green method

Pure CuO–CeO₂ nanocomposites were synthesized by simple thermal decomposition method in presence of various Cu salts as a copper source and fructose as a green capping agent. In this study, the effect of various parameters such as the type of copper sources, temperature and time of reaction on the morphology and the particles size were studied. The products were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption (BET), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and infrared spectrum (FT-IR). The optical property of the nanocomposite was examined via UV–vis (DRS) spectroscopy and the band gap was calculated to 3 eV. Also, the hydrogen storage capacity of CuO–CeO₂ nanocomposites and CeO₂ nanoparticles were investigated via chronopotentiometry method for the first time. The discharge capacity of CeO₂ nanoparticles and CuO–CeO₂ nanocomposites in 1 mA current and 20 cycles obtained 2150 and 2450 mAh/g, respectively.     

Reservoir volume optimization and performance evaluation of rooftop catchment systems in arid regions: A case study of Birjand,Iran

This study evaluated the performance of rooftop catchment systems in securing non-potable water supply in Birjand, located in an arid area in southeastern Iran. The rooftop catchment systems at seven study sites of different residential buildings were simulated for dry, normal, and wet water years, using 31-year rainfall records. The trial and error approach and mass diagram method were employed to optimize the volume of reservoirs in five different operation scenarios. Results showed that, during the dry water year from 2000 to 2001, for reservoirs with volumes of 200–20000 L, the proportion of days that could be secured for non-portable water supply was on average computed to be 16.4%–32.6% across all study sites. During the normal water year from 2009 to 2010 and the wet water year from 1995 to 1996, for reservoirs with volumes of 200–20000 L, the proportions were 20.8%–69.6% and 26.8%–80.3%, respectively. Therefore, a rooftop catchment system showed a high potential to meet a significant portion of non-potable water demand in the Birjand climatic region. Reservoir volume optimization using the mass diagram method produced results consistent with those obtained with the trial and error approach, except at sites #1, #2, and #5. At these sites, the trial and error approach performed better than the mass diagram method due to relatively high water consumption. It is concluded that the rooftop catchment system is applicable under the same climatic conditions as the study area, and it can be used as a drought mitigation strategy as well.     

Thermo-mechanical vibration analysis of rotating nonlocal nanoplates applying generalized differential quadrature method

In this study, thermal and small-scale effects on the flapwise bending vibrations of a rotating nanoplate, which can be the basis of nano-turbine design, have been analyzed. The nano-turbine is made of an orthotropic nanoplate with a setting angle that is modeled based on the classical plate theory (CPT) with cantilever boundary conditions. The axial forces are also included in the model as the true spatial variation due to the rotation and temperature change. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived according to Hamilton's principle and the governing equations are solved with the aid of the generalized differential quadrature method. The effects of small-scale parameter, nondimensional angular velocity, temperature change, and setting angles in the first four nondimensional frequencies are discussed. Due to the consideration of the rotating effects, results of this study are applicable in nano-machines, such as nano-motors, nano-rotor, and other rotating nano-structures. Also, by considering the effect of thermal loading on rotation of a nanoplate, the results are useful in the design of nano-turbines.     

Mechanism of Martensitic to Equiaxed Microstructure Evolution during Hot Deformation of a Near-Alpha Ti Alloy

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - In this study, mechanisms of microstructural evolution during hot deformation of Ti-1100 were investigated by EBSD analysis. Misorientation angle...     

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.     

A novel low voltage very low power CMOS class AB current output stage with ultra high output current drive capability

In this paper a novel low voltage (LV) very low power (VLP) class AB current output stage (COS) with extremely high linearity and high output impedance is presented. A novel current splitting method is used to minimize the transistors gate–source voltages providing LV operation and ultra high current drive capability. High linearity and very high output impedance are achieved employing a novel resistor based current mirror avoiding conventional cascode structures to be used. The operation of the proposed COS has been verified through HSPICE simulations based on TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology parameters. Under supply voltage of ±0.7 V and bias current of 5 μA, it can deliver output currents as high as 14 mA with THD better than ?53 dB and extremely high output impedance of 320 MΩ while consuming only 29 μW. This makes the proposed COS to have ultra large current drive ratio (I_outmax/I_bias or the ratio of peak output current to the bias current of output branch transistors) of 2800. By increasing supply voltage to ±0.9 V, it can deliver extremely large output current of ±24 mA corresponding to 3200 current drive ratio while consuming only 42.9 μW and exhibiting high output impedance of 350 MΩ. Interestingly, the proposed COS is the first yet reported one with such extremely high output current and a THD even less than ?45 dB. Such ultra high current drive capability, high linearity and high output impedance make the proposed COS an outstanding choice for LV, VLP and high drive current mode circuits. The superiority of the proposed COS gets more significance by showing in this work that conventional COS can deliver only ±3.29 mA in equal condition. The proposed COS also exhibits high positive and negative power supply rejection ratio (PSRR+/PSRR?) of 125 dB and 130 dB, respectively. That makes it very suitable for LV, VLP mixed mode applications. The Monte Carlo simulation results are provided, which prove the outstanding robust performance of the proposed block versus process tolerances. Favorably the proposed COS resolves the major limitation of current output stages that so far has prevented designing high drive current mode circuits under low supply voltages. In brief, the deliberate combination of so many effective novel methods presents a wonderful phenomenal COS block to the world of science and engineering.     

Studying the electronic and phononic structure of penta-graphane

In this paper, we theoretically consider a two dimensional nanomaterial which is a form of hydrogenated penta-graphene; we call it penta-graphane. This structure is obtained by adding hydrogen atoms to the sp² bonded carbon atoms of penta-graphene. We investigate the thermodynamic and mechanical stability of penta-graphane. We also study the electronic and phononic structure of penta-graphane. Firstly, we use density functional theory with the revised Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof approximation to compute the band structure. Then one–shot GW (G₀W₀) approach for estimating accurate band gap is applied. The indirect band gap of penta-graphane is 5.78 eV, which is close to the band gap of diamond. Therefore, this new structure is a good electrical insulator. We also investigate the structural stability of penta-graphane by computing the phonon structure. Finally, we calculate its specific heat capacity from the phonon density of states. Penta-graphane has a high specific heat capacity, and can potentially be used for storing and transferring energy.     

High temperature water gas shift reaction over Fe-Cr-Cu nanocatalyst fabricated by a novel method

Fe-Cr-Cu nanocatalyst was synthesized through an inorganic-precursor thermolysis approach and exploited for high temperature water gas shift reaction. The results demonstrated that the method used for the nanocatalyst fabrication led to smaller crystallite size (32.9 nm) and higher BET surface area (127.3 m²/g) compared to those of a reference sample (65.5 nm, 78.6 m²/g) prepared by co-precipitation conventional method. Furthermore, the obtained data for catalytic activity showed that the catalyst prepared via inorganic precursor has better activity than the reference sample in all studied temperatures (350-500 °C) and also exhibited higher catalytic activity than a commercial Fe-Cr-Cu catalyst in higher temperatures (more than 450 °C).     

Correlation of polymerization conditions with drag reduction efficiency of poly(1-hexene) in oil pipelines

High molecular weight with long linear side branches are frequently used in oil pipelines as one of the main classes of drag reducer agents (DRAs). We studied the effects of polymerization conditions, including reaction temperature, monomer concentration and cocatalyst concentration ratio (Al/Ti), on the polymerization yield and molecular weight of the resultant poly(1-hexene) made by Ziegler–Natta catalyst and their consequent effects on the drag reduction efficiency in a loop test. The experimental results verified that the catalyst activity increased from 115 to 220 kgPH/molTi.atm, while the molecular weight of poly(1-hexene) dropped from 2100 to 1030 kDa, as the reaction temperature was increased from 0 to 50 °C. The loop test results also revealed that the highest pressure drop was achieved using the polymer synthesized at 0 °C and by subsequent increase in reaction temperature the pressure drop decreased. Furthermore, the catalyst activity increased from 143 to 262 kgPH/molTi.atm by increasing Al/Ti ratio, while the molecular weight increased up to a maximum level of 1500 kDa at Al/Ti = 143 and decreased at higher cocatalyst contents. Similarly, the results showed the maximum pressure drop of 20 % at Al/Ti = 143. Finally, by increasing monomer concentration, the catalyst activity and polymer molecular weight increased from 75 to 262 kgPH/molTi.atm for the former, and from 700 to 1800 kDa for the latter which resulted in maximum pressure drop by 25 %. Moreover, the pressure drop for each utilized poly(1-hexene) was increased proportionately with DRA’s concentration, and interestingly enough, DRAs were further effective at more turbulent flows with higher Reynolds numbers.     

Physical and Morphological Properties of Combined Treated Wood Polymer Composites by Maleic Anhydride and Methyl Methacrylate

Wood polymer composites were prepared by consecutive impregnation with maleic anhydride (MAN) and methyl methacrylate (MMA). Samples impregnated with MAN alone, were heated at 120°C and 150°C for 4 and 8 h. Based on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis and soaking-drying test results, treatment with MAN at 150°C for 4 h resulted in formation of stable crosslinks. In the second stage, MMA was used for in situ polymerization within MAN-treated wood. Field emission scanning electron microscopy observation and FT-IR analysis indicated that MMA copolymerized with MAN, and the resultant polymer filled up the lumen and is also grafted on to the cell wall. Improvement of water repellency and dimensional stability were observed in the treated samples, particularly in combined treated samples. The MAN/MMA treatment improved interaction between polymer and wood.