Electrodeposition of Nickel from Perchlorate Based Electrolytes

Nickel is usually electrodeposited from the Watts bath. Other baths like sulphamate and fluoborate are also of industrial importance but are used less commonly. Perchlorate solutions, though examined to some extent in the case of cadmium and lead deposition, have not been experimented upon for deposition of nickel. In this paper certain operational data on Perchlorate nickel deposition are presented. As a consequence, the following bath composition is recommended: Nickel 29.2 g/l, perchloric acid 201.0 g/l, ammonium chloride 60–120 g/l, pH 5.5-6.8. The useful current density is 1–5 A/dm² and optimum temperature 50°C.     

Europium (Eu3+) - doped ZnO nanostructures: Synthesis,characterization, and photocatalytic,chemical sensing and preliminary assessment of magnetic properties

We have successfully synthesized single-phase wurtzite hexagonal ZnO:Eu³⁺ (1, 5 and 10 mol %) nanoparticles via facile co-precipitation method. The samples have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV–visible spectroscopy. Change in optical band gap is explained by invoking the existence 4f electronic states of Eu³⁺ in the band gap of ZnO. Photocatalytic performance of these samples for degradation of methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (Rh B) and picric acid (PA) under UV illumination is found to be 3–3.5 times higher than pure ZnO. However, 5 mol% doping exhibited the highest catalytic efficiency. This sample was also highly sensitive and selective for PA, and the limit of detection was: 1.790 μM, 1.140 μM and 1.751 μM for 1, 5 and 10 mol% Eu³⁺ doped ZnO samples respectively. Finally, all samples behave weak ferromagnetically at room temperature, but a systematic increase in the ferromagnetic-like response is noticed with Eu³⁺ concentration, despite finding no evidence of secondary magnetic phases; EuO and Eu₂O₃ from XRD measurements. Conceivably, the observed ferromagnetic order is attributed to defect induced f⁷– ferromagnetism. Indeed, low concentration of Eu³⁺ dopant is found to be more significant, as reported by different groups.     

Enhanced optoelectronic properties of Ti-doped ZnO nanorods for photodetector applications

We report the effect of Ti-doping on structural, morphological, photoluminescence, optical and photoconductive properties of ZnO thin films. Pure and Ti(1, 3 and 5%)-doped ZnO thin films are deposited by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the single-phase hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structure of all the films. Scanning electron microscope images suggest the formation of rod shaped particles in Ti-doped ZnO thin films. Photoluminescence spectra of all the films show emission peaks centered at 398 nm, 413 nm, 438 nm, 477 nm and 522 nm wavelengths. Optical properties support the semiconducting nature of all the films. The optical bandgap values are estimated to be 3.29 eV, 3.26 eV, 3.19 eV and 3.23 eV for ZnO, ZnO:Ti(1%), ZnO:Ti(3%) and ZnO:Ti(5%) thin films, respectively. Photoconductivity study indicates that ZnO:Ti(3%) thin film exhibits high responsivity, external quantum efficiency and detectivity of 0.30 AW^-1, 97% and 5.49 × 10¹⁰ Jones, respectively, among all the films. The enhanced photoconductivity of Ti-doped ZnO thin films make them useful for optoelectronic applications.     

Efficient strategy to boost the electrochemical performance of yttrium stabilized zirconia electrolyte solid oxide fuel cell for low-temperature applications

Yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) used as the state-of-the-art electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) requires high temperature (over 800 °C) to realize sufficient oxygen ion conductivity. Thus, the high operational temperature is the main restriction for the commercial process of YSZ-based SOFCs. To obtain decent ionic conductivity at intermediate-low temperatures, Sr-free cathode LaNiO₃ is introduced into YSZ to construct a novel LaNiO₃-YSZ composite electrolyte, which is sandwiched by two Ni_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05LiO_2-δ (NCAL) electrodes to assemble systematical fuel cells. This device presents an excellent peak output of 1045 mW cm^-2 at 600 °C and even 399 mW cm^-2 at 450 °C. A series of characterizations indicates that the oxygen ion conductivity of the LaNiO₃-YSZ composite is significantly promoted in comparison with that of pure YSZ, and the LaNiO₃ component has certain proton conductivity after hydrogenation. Both of the two factors contributes to the superior performance of such devices at intermediate-low temperatures. Furthermore, the sharp decrease in electronic conductivity for LaNiO₃ in hydrogen atmosphere combined with Schottky junction at the anode-electrolyte interface eliminates the short-circuiting problem. Our work demonstrates that incorporating Sr-free cathode LaNiO₃ into the YSZ electrolyte is an efficient strategy to boost the performance and reduce the operational temperature of YSZ-based SOFCs.     

Reactions of organic disulfides and gold(i) complexes

Gold-thiolate/disulfide exchange reactions of (p-SC(6)H(4)Cl)(2) with Ph(3)PAu(SC(6)H(4)CH(3)), dppm(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2), and dppe(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3)) (2) were investigated. The rate of reactivity of the gold-thiolate complexes with (p-SC(6)H(4)Cl)(2) is: dppm(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2)> dppe(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2)>Ph(2)PAu (SC(6)H(4)CH(3)). This order correlates with conductivity measurements and two ionic mechanisms have been evaluated. (1)H NMR experiments demonstrate that in the reaction of dppm(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2) with (p-SC(6)H(4)Cl)(2), the mixed disulfide, ClC(6)H(4)SSC(6)H(4)CH(3), forms first, followed by the formation of (p-SC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2). The rate law is first order in (pp-SC(6)H (4)Cl)(2) and partial order in dppm(AuSC(6)H(4)CH(3))(2). Results from electrochemical and chemical reactivity studies suggest that free thiolate is not involved in the gold-thiolate/disulfide exchange reaction. A more likely source of ions is the dissociation of a proton from the methylene backbone of the dppm ligand which has been shown to exchange with D(2)O. The implications of this are discussed in terms of a possible mechanism for the gold-thiolate/disulfide exchange reaction.     

Design and optimization of concurrent tolerance in mechanical assemblies using bat algorithm

Concurrent designing of tolerance has become a vital concern in product and process development due to the relationship between quality, functionality and product cost. It is one of the well explored areas in combinatorial optimization. In this paper, a recently developed optimization algorithm, called Bat algorithm (BA), is used for optimizing the tolerance based on concurrent objectives to minimize the manufacturing cost, present worth of expected quality loss and quality loss. The mechanical assemblies such as Bevel gear assembly (A), Gear box assembly (B) and Suction union assembly (C) are considered to demonstrate the proposed algorithm. It is found that the BA has produced better results than other methods in initial generations for concurrent tolerance problems.