Computerized prediction of phase diagrams of the eutectic binary systems of nontransition-nontransition metals

The relationship between the interaction parameters of liquid alloys and the atomic parameters of constituent elements has been investigated by artificial neural network method. The relationship found can be used for the computerized prediction of phase diagrams of the eutectic binary systems between non-transition elements.     

Highly durable phosphonated graphene oxide doped polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membranes

The polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) drew great attention over time amongst the hydrocarbon polymer membranes because of its high C–F chemical bond strength. In this work is to increase the proton conductivity of the PVDF polymer by doping phosphonated graphene oxide to its structure and investigate the improvement of the membrane. Different amounts of phosphonated graphene oxide additive (0.5%, 1% and 1.5% w/w) were doped to PVDF polymer on the purpose of synthesizing proton exchange composite membranes. Characterization tests, i.e, water uptake, swelling properties, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity of the synthesized membranes were investigated. The electrochemical impedance analysis results of synthesized membranes vary between 0.0224 S cm^-1 for 0.5% graphene oxide doped PVDF (PVDF/0.5PGO) and 0.0867 S cm^-1 for PVDF/1.5GO membrane. The power density values of PVDF/1.5PGO and PVDF/0.5GO are 48 mW cm⁻² and 28 mW cm⁻² at 0.6 V and 100% relative humidity at 80 °C. The experimental results demonstrate the importance of phosphonated graphene oxide doping into the PVDF composite membrane.     

Preparation and electrocatalytic properties of spinel CoxFe3-xO4 nanoparticles

The catalysts are often used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries to speed up electrochemical reactions. In this study, we prepared CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with mainly inverse spinel structure and FeCo₂O₄ nanoparticles with mainly spinel structure as bifunctional catalysts by hydrothermal method. After annealing at 350 °C, pure CoFe₂O₄ and FeCo₂O₄ nanoparticles with uniform size distribution have been obtained. The CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles showed high current density of 5.5 mA/cm² at −0.8 V in the ORR test. It's low Tafel slope of 83.0 mV/dec further confirmed the excellent ORR catalytic properties of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles. Furthermore, the CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles also showed good OER properties with satisfied current density of 35.7 mV/cm² at l.0 V and low OER Tafel slope of 71.0 mV/dec. Both the ORR and OER properties of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles showed good time stability which were compared with FeCo₂O₄ nanoparticles. These results indicated that CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with mainly inverse spinel structure had better electrocatalytic performance than FeCo₂O₄ nanoparticles with mainly spinel structure. The CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with mainly inverse spinel structure show a significant potential application in rechargeable battery.     

A novel alveolate-structured organic-inorganic hybrid with high activity for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Organic-inorganic hybrid nano-material has a significant potential for enhancing the charge separation efficiency of photocatalyst. However, it remains an important issue to controllable synthesis new hybrid system with unique structure and earth-abundant materials for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen revolution. We report a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy to fabricate a novel Titania/β-cyclodextrin (TiO₂/β-CD) organic-inorganic hybrid nano-material with an alveolate structure. In this hybrid system, β-CD not only played a critical role in alveolate structure formation, but also served as a bridge connecting target molecular and active sites on the TiO₂ surface to facilitate the separation and transfer of the photoexcited electrons with prolonged lifetime. As a result, this alveolate TiO₂/β-CD composite exhibited outstanding photocatalytic activity and a H₂ evolution rate of 725 μmol/g·h was achieved over TiO₂/β-CD which was 14 times of bare TiO₂ under simulated sunlight. This work paves a way for controllable synthesis of novel organic-inorganic hybrid nano-material with distinct structure for efficient photocatalysis.     

Multi-shelled CoS2–MoS2 hollow spheres as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

The exploration of highly efficient non-precious electrocatalysts is essential for water splitting devices. Herein, we synthesized CoS₂–MoS₂ multi-shelled hollow spheres (MSHSs) as efficient electrocatalysts both for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) using a Schiff base coordination polymer (CP). Co-CP solid spheres were converted to Co₃O₄ MSHSs by sintering in air. CoS₂–MoS₂ MSHSs were obtained by a solvothermal reaction of Co₃O₄ MSHSs and MoS₄²⁻ anions. CoS₂–MoS₂ MSHSs have a high specific surface area of 73.5 m²g^-1. Due to the synergistic effect between the CoS₂ and MoS₂, the electrode of CoS₂–MoS₂ MSHSs shows low overpotential of 109 mV with Tafel slope of 52.0 mV dec⁻¹ for HER, as well as a low overpotential of 288 mV with Tafel slope of 62.1 mV dec⁻¹ for OER at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in alkaline solution. The corresponding two-electrode system needs a potential of 1.61 V (vs. RHE) to obtain anodic current density of 10 mA cm⁻² for OER and maintains excellent stability for 10 h.     

Construction of hierarchical Prussian Blue Analogue phosphide anchored on Ni2P@MoOx nanosheet spheres for efficient overall water splitting

In response to the energy crisis, molybdenum-based catalyst has been proposed as a high-performance electrocatalytic material due to its low price and excellent HER performance. However, in contrast with its excellent HER performance, its poor OER performance often limits practical application as a high-performance overall water splitting catalyst. In this study, Prussian blue analogue (PBA) is grown in-situ on molybdenum-based nanosheet spheres by a simple and ingenious method and then subjected to phosphorization. The resulting composite catalyst exhibits highly efficient overall water splitting performance, overpotentials at current densities of 10 mA cm⁻² and 100 mA cm⁻² for the HER and OER are −61 mV and 268 mV, respectively. Moreover, an alkaline electrolyzer makes up by the catalyst both as positive and negative can reach a cell voltage 1.494 V at 10 mA cm⁻² for the overall water splitting. This method has provided a new strategy to effective combine PBA and molybdenum-based catalyst.     

Structural,electrochemical and catalytic activity of Prussian blue analogues embedded with functionalized carbon for solid state battery applications

The nanoparticles of Mn_1.5[Cr(CN)₆]∙mH₂O@Ni_1.5[Cr(CN)₆]∙nH₂O core-shell prussian blue analogues (PBA) embedded with carbon additives (PBA-C) were synthesized and characterized as electrode material for solid state battery application. The impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltametry were used to study the electrochemical properties by adding functionalized carbon in 1:1 proportion to improve the electrical performance. The value of room temperature electrical conductivity of core-shell PBA and core-shell nanoparticles mixed with vulcan carbon (PBA-C) are found to be 1.574 × 10⁻³ and 1.92 × 10⁻³ Scm⁻¹_, respectively. Using Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LZZO) electrolyte, single cell was fabricated with PBA-C material, and studied its charging-discharging cycles, which exhibits higher current density with stable performance for 400 cycles for time slots of 400 min. The study reveals that the PBA core-shell nanoparticles mixed with carbon (PBA-C) may be a potential candidate as an electrode material in the form of a single cell using LZZO electrolyte.     

Corrosion of pure and milled Mg17Al12 in “model” seawater solution

The corrosion behavior of pure Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and the effect of ball milling in presence of additives (i.e. graphite (G) and magnesium chloride (MgCl₂)) are evaluated in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution using electrochemical polarization and impedance measurements. Pure Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and milled Mg₁₇Al₁₂ without additives and with MgCl₂ present an open current potential (OCP) of −1.2 V/SCE while Mg₁₇Al₁₂ + G shows a slightly higher OCP (+10% maximum). Mg₁₇Al₁₂ corrodes with low kinetics and an increase of corrosion rate for the milled Mg₁₇Al₁₂ is observed. The corrosion current densities (J_corr) derived from the Tafel plots, exhibit their corrosion reactivity as follow: Mg₁₇Al₁₂ < Mg₁₇Al₁₂ 5h < Mg₁₇Al₁₂ + G 5h < Mg₁₇Al₁₂ + MgCl₂ 5h. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results are in good agreement with the measured J_corr. Randles circuit models are established for all samples to explain their surface behavior in the aqueous NaCl solution. The variation of the fitted parameters is attributed either to the effect of ball milling or to the effect of the additive. Our results are helpful in elucidating the effect of ball milling and the additives.     

Effective PtAu nanowire network catalysts with ultralow Pt content for formic acid oxidation and methanol oxidation

Pt is the ideal anode catalyst in fuel cells. In this paper, in order to increase the utilization of Pt, the PtAu nanowire networks (NWNs) with ultralow content of Pt are fabricated by a simple silicon monoxide (SiO) reduction method without any capping agent. PtAu NWNs supported on carbon black with Pt content of 1 wt% (Pt₀.₀₅Au NWNs) are employed as catalysts for formic acid oxidation (FAO) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), whose mass activities are as high as 4998.9 and 2282.3 mA∙mg_Pt⁻¹, respectively. The network structure facilitates the electron transfer and increases the stability of the catalysts. The PtAu composite experiences compressive lattice strain as confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The Pt₀.₀₅Au NWNs catalyst with low Pt content results in the largest strain variation compared with PtAu composited of other ratios, which may downshift the d-band center of Pt and lead to the higher electrocatalytic activity in oxidation reaction.     

Nano-structured LSM-YSZ refined with PdO/ZrO2 oxygen electrode for intermediate temperature reversible solid oxide cells

To promote the application of traditional (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.95MnO_3-δ-YSZ (LSM-YSZ) oxygen electrodes to both solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) modes at intermediate temperatures, we select PdO as the catalyst and ZrO₂ as the PdO stabilizer to decorate the LSM-YSZ. The high active PdO particles enhance the electrocatalytic activity, and stable ZrO₂ can hinder the growth and agglomeration of the PdO particles. PdO and ZrO₂ are co-impregnated into the LSM-YSZ to form a nano-structured PdO/ZrO₂ -LSM-YSZ composite electrode. At 750 °C, the obtained cell attains a power density peak of 1.114 W cm⁻² in SOFC mode and shows significant improvement of the cell with LSM-YSZ composite oxygen electrode. As a SOEC, when the water content is 90 vol%AH (absolute humidity) at the hydrogen electrode, the cell exhibits an extraordinary current density of 2.322 A cm⁻² under applied voltage of 2.0 V at 750 °C. Moreover, the cell shows notable long-term stability during water electrolysis. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the nano-structured PdO/ZrO₂ -LSM-YSZ based material as a high active and stable oxygen electrode can greatly promote the application of LSM-YSZ electrode in reversible solid oxide electrolysis cell (RSOCs) field.