Revealing the high sensitivity in the metal toinsulator transition properties of the pulsed laser deposited VO2 thin films

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is known as a typical 3d-orbital transition metal oxide exhibiting the metal-to-insulator-transition (MIT) property near room temperature. However, their electronic applications have been challenged by the quality and uniformity of VO₂ thin films. In this work, we demonstrate the high sensitivity in the valence charge of vanadium and the MIT properties of the VO₂ thin films to the deposition temperature. This observation indicates the necessity to eliminate the inhomogeneity in the temperature distribution of substrate during the vacuum-deposition process of VO₂. In addition, a high thermoelectric power factor (PF, e.g., exceeding 1 μWcm⁻¹K⁻²) was achieved in the metallic phase of the VO₂ thin films and this value is comparable to typical organic or oxide thermoelectric materials. We believe this high PF enriches the potential functionality in thermoelectric energy conversions beyond the existing electronic applications of the current vacuum-grown VO₂ thin films.     

Nitrogen-doped cobalt sulfide as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline and acidic media

The enhancement in intrinsic catalytic activity and material conductivity of an electrocatalyst can leads to promoting HER activity. Herein, a successful nitrogenation of CoS₂ (N–CoS₂) catalyst has been investigated through the facile hydrothermal process followed by N₂ annealing treatment. An optimized N–CoS₂ catalyst reveals an outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in alkaline as well as acidic electrolyte media, exhibiting an infinitesimal overpotential of ?0.137 and ?0.097 V at a current density of ?10 mA/cm² (?0.309 and ?0.275 V at ?300 mA/cm²), corresponding respectively, with a modest Tafel slope of 117 and 101 mV/dec. Moreover, a static voltage response was observed at low and high current rates (?10 to ?100 mA/cm²) along with an excellent endurance up to 50 h even at ?100 mA/cm². The excellent catalytic HER performance is ascribed to improved electronic conductivity and enhanced electrochemically active sites, which is aroused from the synergy and mutual interaction between heteroatoms that might have varied the surface chemistry of an active catalyst.     

Hydrogen production via ammonia decomposition catalyzed by Ni/M–Mo–N (M = Ni,Co) bimetallic nitrides

This study demonstrates the significant improvement in NH₃ decomposition using Ni-decorated M–Mo–N-based catalysts (M = Co and Ni) compared with conventional catalysts. Catalysts are prepared using a mixture of the corresponding metal salts and hexamethylenetetramine, and the impregnation method is used to decorate the Ni-particles on the catalysts. Among all the samples, 10 wt% Ni-decorated Co₃Mo₃N exhibits the highest NH₃ conversion rate (71%) at 500 °C, and the performance remains stable for 30 h of long-term testing. According to the gas chromatography measurements, the H₂/N₂ ratio is approximately 3 in all cases, which is consistent with the theoretical value. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that Co₃Mo₃N possesses the highest NH₃ conversion efficiency because of the weaker binding energy of Mo–N. Furthermore, Co₃Mo₃N exhibits a stronger Lewis acidity and higher NH₃ decomposition, which is attributed to the easy breaking of the N–H bond on the Co₃Mo₃N surface.     

Effect of heat loss on the syngas production by fuel-rich combustion in a divergent two-layer burner

The effect of heat loss on the syngas production from partial combustion of fuel-rich in a divergent two-layer burner is numerically studied using two-dimensional model with detailed kinetics GRI-Mech 1.2. Both the radiation and wall heat losses to the surrounding are considered in the computations. It is shown that two types heat losses have different effects on the syngas production. The radiation heat loss has significant effect on the syngas temperature and the syngas temperature is dropped as radiation heat loss is increased, but it has neglected effect on the reforming efficiency and methane conversion efficiency. The wall heat loss has a comprehensive effect on the syngas production. The wall heat loss not only reduces the conversion efficiency, but also significantly decreases the syngas temperature. The effect of wall heat loss becomes weak as the equivalence is increased. The reforming efficiency drops from 0.440 to 0.424 for equivalence ratio of 2 and mixture velocity of 0.17 m/s for the predictions between adiabatic wall and non-adiabatic conditions.     

Manufacturing catalyst-coated membranes by ultrasonic spray deposition for PEMFC: Identification of key parameters and their impact on PEMFC performance

This study deals with the manufacturing of catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for newcomers in the field of coating. Although there are many studies on electrode ink composition for improving the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), there are few papers dealing with electrode coating itself. Usually, it is a know-how that often remains secret and constitutes the added value of scientific teams or the business of industrialists. In this paper, we identify and clarify the role of key parameters to improve coating quality and also to correlate coating quality with fuel cell performance via polarization curves and electrochemical active surface area measurements. We found that the coating configurations can affect the performance of lab-made CCMs in PEMFCs. After the repeatability of the performance obtained by our coating method has been proved, we show that: (i) edge effects, due to mask shadowing - cannot be neglected when the active surface area is low, (ii) a heterogeneous thickness electrode produces performance lower than a homogeneous thickness electrode, and (iii) the origin and storage of platinum on carbon powders are a very important source of variability in the obtained results.     

Metal chlorides-promoted ammonia absorption of deep eutectic solvent

Ammonia is considered as a promising hydrogen or energy carrier. Ammonia absorption or adsorption is an important aspect for both ammonia removal, storage and separation applications. To these ends, a wide range of solid and liquid sorbents have been investigated. Among these, the deep eutectic solvent (DES) is emerging as a promising class of ammonia absorbers. Herein, we report a novel type of DES, i.e., metal-containing DESs for ammonia absorption. Specifically, the NH₃ absorption capacity is enhanced by ca. 18.1–36.9% when a small amount of metal chlorides, such as MgCl₂, MnCl₂ etc., are added into a DES composed of resorcinol (Res) and ethylene glycol (EG). To our knowledge, the MgCl₂/Res/EG (0.1:1:2) DES outperforms most of the reported DESs. The excellent NH₃ absorption performances of metal–containing DESs have been attributed to the synergy of Lewis acid–base and hydrogen bonding interactions. Additionally, good reversibility and high NH₃/CO₂ selectivity are achieved over the MgCl₂/Res/EG (0.1:1:2) DES, which enables it to be a potential NH₃ absorber for further investigations.     

Total Site Hydrogen Integration with fresh hydrogen of multiple quality and waste hydrogen recovery in refineries

This paper proposes a novel method combining Pinch Methodology and waste hydrogen recovery, aiming to minimise fresh hydrogen consumption and waste hydrogen discharge. The method of multiple-level resource Pinch Analysis is extended to the level of Total Site Hydrogen Integration by considering fresh hydrogen sources with various quality. Waste hydrogen after Total Site Integration is further regenerated. The technical feasibility and economy of the various purification approaches are considered, demonstrated with a case study of a refinery hydrogen network in a petrochemical industrial park. The results showed that fresh hydrogen usage and waste hydrogen discharge could be reduced by 21.3% and 67.6%. The hydrogen recovery ratio is 95.2%. It has significant economic benefits and a short payback period for Total Site Hydrogen Integration with waste hydrogen purification. The proposed method facilitates the reuse of waste hydrogen before the purification process that incurs an additional environmental footprint. In line with the Circular Economy principles, hydrogen resource is retained in the system as long as possible before discharge.     

Progressive NO2 Sensors with Rapid Alarm and Persistent Memory-Type Responses for Wide-Range Sensing Using Antimony Triselenide Nanoflakes

Antimony triselenide (Sb₂Se₃) nanoflake-based nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sensors exhibit a progressive bifunctional gas-sensing performance, with a rapid alarm for hazardous highly concentrated gases, and an advanced memory-type function for low-concentration (<1 ppm) monitoring repeated under potentially fatal exposure. Rectangular and cuboid shaped Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes, comprising van der Waals planes with large surface areas and covalent bond planes with small areas, can rapidly detect a wide range of NO₂ gas concentrations from 0.1 to 100 ppm. These Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes are found to be suitable for physisorption-based gas sensing owing to their anisotropic quasi-2D crystal structure with extremely enlarged van der Waals planes, where they are humidity-insensitive and consequently exhibit an extremely stable baseline current. The Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor exhibits a room-temperature/low-voltage operation, which is noticeable owing to its low energy consumption and rapid response even under a NO₂ gas flow of only 1 ppm. As a result, the Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor is suitable for the development of a rapid alarm system. Furthermore, the persistent gas-sensing conductivity of the sensor with a slow decaying current can enable the development of a progressive memory-type sensor that retains the previous signal under irregular gas injection at low concentrations.     

Influence of CO2 inleakage on the slight-alkalization of generator internal cooling water

The slight-alkalization of generator internal cooling water (GICW) is widely used to inhibit the corrosion of hollow copper conductor and thereby ensure the safe operation of the generator. CO₂ inleakage is increasingly identified as a potential security risk for GICW system. In this paper, the influence of CO₂ inleakage on the slight-alkalization of GICW was theoretically discussed. Based on the equilibriums of the CO₂-NaOH-H₂O system, CO₂ inleakage saturation was derived to quantify the amount of the dissolved CO₂ in GICW. This parameter can be directly calculated with the measured conductivity and the [Na⁺] of GICW. The influence of CO₂ inleakage on the slight-alkalization conditioning of GICW and the measurement of its water quality parameters were then analyzed. The more severe the inleakage, the narrower the water quality operation ranges of GICW, resulting in the more difficult the slight-alkalization conditioning of GICW. The temperature calibrations of the conductivity and the pH value of GICW show non-linear correlations with the amount of CO₂ inleakage and the NaOH dosage. This study provides insights into the influence of CO₂ inleakage on the slight-alkalization of GICW, which can serve as the theoretical basis for the actual slight-alkalization when CO₂ inleakage occurs.