Characterisation of the adsorption sites of hydrogen on Pt/C fuel cell catalysts

A key component of a hydrogen fuel cell is a catalyst to dissociate dihydrogen to hydrogen atoms. In the present study, the adsorption of hydrogen on Pt/C fuel cell catalysts has been investigated by inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy.

Monitoring a clean Pt(50%)/C catalyst with low energy neutron spectroscopy, after exposure to dihydrogen at 20 K, as it was heated to room temperature, showed three distinct temperature regimes: (i) a decrease in intensity from 10 to 60 K, (ii) a rise to a maximum between 60 and 120 K and then (iii) a slow fall-off towards room temperature. We assign the three regions as: (i) desorption of physisorbed dihydrogen, (ii) dissociation of dihydrogen to give an adsorbed layer and (iii) damping of the response by an increasing Debye–Waller factor.

The vibrational INS spectra of a series of Pt/C catalysts prepared under varying conditions were similar indicating that the same types of site are common to all the catalysts, although the relative proportions of each site are sample dependent. Features at 520, 950 and part of the intensity at 1300 cm⁻¹ are assigned to hydrogen on (1 1 1) faces, in good agreement with single crystal data. The mode at 640 cm⁻¹ is assigned as the doubly degenerate asymmetric stretch of Pt(1 0 0) faces with the symmetric stretch near 550 cm⁻¹.

We assign the bending mode of the on-top site to the feature at 470 cm⁻¹. The Pt–H stretch mode was observed at 2079 cm⁻¹. This is a significant result: this is the first time that hydrogen on the on-top sites has been observed on nanosized platinum particles supported on high surface area carbon black. The width of the INS peak is surprisingly large and may give additional information on the type and relative proportions of the crystallographic faces present on the catalyst particles.     

The electrochemical reduction of VO2 in acidic solution at high overpotentials

An investigation has been carried out to attempt to understand the unusually low apparent symmetry factor observed during the reduction of V(5) at higher overpotentials at carbon electrodes (typically <0.13, or >460 mV decade⁻¹). This reaction is of interest because it occurs in vanadium redox-flow batteries (VRBs) during discharge. Polarisation curves were measured using a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The reaction was not solution mass transport controlled, was pH independent (ca from 0 to 1), and the observed Tafel slope was unaffected by V(5) concentration over a range from 0.031 to 280 mM. Electrode double layer capacitance measurements were also carried out in sulphuric acid with and without vanadium. These tests showed that the presence of V(5) caused a suppression of the normal carbon surface quinone pseudocapacitance, as well as the appearance of two new pseudocapacitance peaks, one around 0.175-0.2 V and the other around 0.675-0.725 V versus SCE. The observed results do not appear consistent with a precipitated film causing diffusion limitations or causing IR drop. A model is developed to try to explain the data, which involves electron transfer through an adsorbed layer of vanadium.     

Thin‐film transistor mobility limits considerations

The mobility limiting scattering mechanisms for amorphous semiconductors and polar polycrystalline semiconductors are studied in the context of developing new high‐performance thin‐film transistor (TFT) channel layer materials for large‐area electronics. A physics‐based model for carrier transport in an amorphous semiconductor is developed to estimate the mobility limits of amorphous semiconductor TFTs. The model involves band tail state trapping of a diffusive mobility. Simulation reveals a strong dependence on the band tail density of states. This consideration makes it difficult to realize a high‐performance p‐type oxide TFT. A polar crystalline semiconductor may offer a higher mobility but is fundamentally limited by polar optical phonon scattering. Any crystalline TFT channel layer for practical large‐area applications will not be a single crystal but polycrystalline, and therefore, grain size and grain boundary‐dependent scattering will further degrade the transport properties.     

Blending science and public policies for remediation of a degraded ecosystem: Jackfish Bay, north shore of Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada

The Jackfish Bay Remedial Action Plan is the first of Lake Superior's Areas of Concern (AOCs) to consider recognition as an Area in Recovery (AiR). As a result of a high degree of complexity and uncertainty, ecosystem recovery in Jackfish Bay has been determined using a combination of regulatory policies and scientific evidence and extensive public and expert-based decision making. As a result, the conceptualization of the AiR status in Jackfish Bay has been developed with the adaptive management and the ecosystem approach, which provide the basic principles of assessing, monitoring, and managing the Area of Concern. To determine the status of beneficial use impairments caused by effluent from the Terrace Bay Pulp Inc., three public advisory committees—an academic panel of experts, a government technical review committee, and the Jackfish Bay Public Area in Recovery Review Committee (PARRC)—reviewed relevant scientific data and documents, including peer-reviewed publications, to assess changes in pollution levels in Jackfish Bay and improvements to aquatic, biotic, and benthic environments of the bay. The public decision-making process concluded with recommendations by the PARRC to develop a systematic monitoring program so that the ecosystem recovery process in the bay could be assessed on a continued basis, leading to its eventual delisting as an AOC. The entire process provides an example of blending science and public policies for remediation of a degraded ecosystem on the Great Lakes.     

Assessing Decentralised Water Solutions: Towards a Framework for Adaptive Learning

This paper reports on the use of qualitative analysis to inform a risk analysis framework for decentralised water systems. To realise the benefits from these technologies, a methodology is applied to learn from previous difficulties in implementing and managing them. A workshop process was used to capture stories from industry professionals on difficulties they have encountered in planning and implementation. Qualitative analysis of story narratives revealed stages where there was some type of development process failure; as well as failure modes and factors influencing the difficulties encountered. The analysis also generated insights: difficulties in one part of the development process tends to propagate to subsequent stages; system difficulties most often occurred in the policy stage of development due to institutional inertia and lack of adaptive governance; and the best indicator of problems with a decentralised system was complaints of poor water quality. Furthermore, this paper also provides a method to learn from past difficulties by identifying what data needs to be collected in order to populate a risk model which can be used for improving risk assessment of the development process for decentralised systems. This can provide a basis for better decision making, policy and guidelines; an important factor in mainstream acceptance.     

From research to practice: the effects of the jointly sponsored dissemination of an arthritis self-care nursing intervention

Various educational programs have been developed and found to be effective in the self-management of arthritis. This study reexamined the effectiveness of one such program, "Bone Up On Arthritis" (BUOA), when the program was delivered by a community-based service organization to a sample of persons (N = 154) who differed widely in disease type and demographic characteristics. Arthritis Foundation staff implemented BUOA at four national sites; data were collected and analyzed by University of Michigan nurse researchers. Investigators found improved scores on all outcome measures (self-care behavior, helplessness, pain, dysfunction, and depression). These findings suggest that "Bone Up" is an effective nursing intervention in multiple organizational and community environments and for diverse patient populations.