Proton conduction in indium hydrogensulfate and hydrous zirconia composites

Solid composite proton electrolytes based on indium hydrogensulfate and hydrous zirconia are studied. A composite effect is observed in these systems: their proton conductivity is higher than in the starting components. Maximal conductivities are achieved at a comparatively low concentration of hydrous zirconia (10% wt %) in composites heat-treated at 373 K. The increasing surface basicity of hydrous zirconia as a result changing its deposition pH noticeably improves the low-temperature conductivity of the composites. Irreversible processes that decrease the conductivity occur in composites even during treatment at temperatures above 373 K. A third component (neutral indium sulfate) only decreases the conductivity.     

Proton mobility in hydrates of inorganic acids and acid salts

Published data on the mechanisms of hydrogen ion transport in solids and aqueous solutions are described systematically, including defect formation, rotational mobility of proton-containing groups, proton hopping along a hydrogen bond, proton translational mobility, and proton conduction. Resorting to the authors" theoretical results and published data, the main criteria for the selection of systems possessing high proton mobility are formulated.     

Thermodynamic characteristics of polyheteroarylene blends

The influence of the polybenzimidazole-to-polybismaleimide ratios and the chemical nature of sorbates on the thermodynamic characteristics of thermally structured blends of the polymers is studied. The optimum component ratio for the production of blends with good mechanical properties is found. The proton conductivity of the blends doped with phosphoric acid and acid zirconium phosphate is investigated.     

Electrochemical properties of cathodes made of (La,Sr)(Fe,Co)O3 containing admixtures of nanoparticles of cupric oxide and intended for fuel cells with a solid electrolyte based on ceric oxide

The electric and electrochemical characteristics of cathodes made of La_0.6Sr_0.4Fe_0.8Co_0.2O_3?δ (LSFC) and intended for fuel cells with electrolytes based on ceric oxide are studied. Adding cupric oxide into the LSFC cathode is shown to exert a favorable effect of the properties of the LSFC-CuO/SDC electrode system, where SDC stands for the CeO₂-Sm₂O₃ electrolyte. The effect produced by cupric oxide when added in the form of nanopowder is perceptibly greater than in the case of micropowdered CuO. Adding a mere 0.5 wt % of nanopowdered CuO reduces the LSFC cathode resistance nearly tenfold. The cathode’s adhesion to the electrolyte substantially improves as well, which makes it possible to lower the cathode’s firing temperature by 100°C. The maximum of electrochemical activity is intrinsic to cathodes containing 2 wt % CuO, with the caking temperature of 1000°C. According to a 2011-h life test of the LSFC-SDC composite cathodes containing nanopowdered CuO, temporal stability of their electrochemical characteristics improves with the SDC content. The time dependences of the polarization resistance of cathodes containing 40–50 wt % SDC look like decaying exponential curves. The steady-state polarization resistance, calculated on the basis of this, is equal to 0.1–0.2 ohm cm². At an overvoltage of less than 100 mV, the cathodes may provide for a current density of 0.5–1.0 A cm^?2.     

Effect of Optical Excitation on the Band Structure and X-Ray Absorption Spectra of BaBiO3-Based High-Temperature Superconductors: Ab Initio Calculation

JETP Letters - The band structure, densities of states, and O K-edge X-ray absorption spectra have been calculated by the density functional theory method for BaBiO3-based perovskite...     

Mechanochemical treatment of maricite-type NaFePO4 for achieving high electrochemical performance

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In order to satisfy a growing demand for energy storage devices and to create safer and less expensive batteries with high capacity, materials based on...     

Operating safety of a hot-shot wind tunnel with combined test gas heating in stabilization mode

In the present paper, we analyze emergency situations typical of short-duration wind tunnels with electric-arc or combined test-gas heating in the presence of stabilization and diaphragm-rupturing systems, which occur in the case of no discharge initiation in the settling chamber, with the capacitor battery having remained charged during the start of wind-tunnel systems. For avoiding such emergency situations, some additional changes based on using feedback elements are introduced into the wind-tunnel design: the piston of the fast-response valve is made hollow for increasing the volume of the shutoff cavity and for making the release of pressure from this cavity unnecessary; the high-pressure channel, which connects the piston and the piston rod with the settling-chamber cavity, is filled with a liquid and is closed from the side of the settling chamber with a piston; the device for controlled diaphragm breakdown is provided with an external electric circuit intended to control the diaphragm-rupturing process. Those modifications allow subsequent functioning of the wind-tunnel systems only in the presence of heat-supply-induced pressure growth in the settling chamber of the wind tunnel.     

Effect of Bi0.75Y0.25O1.5 electrolyte additive in collector layer to properties of bilayer composite cathodes of solid oxide fuel cells based on La(Sr)MnO3 and La(Sr)Fe(Co)O3 compounds

The sintering features, electroconductivity, and electrochemical characteristics of bilayer electrodes with functional composite layers based on La(Sr)MnO₃ (LSM) and La(Sr)Fe(Co)O₃ with LSM collector layer and Bi(Y)O_1.5 (YDB) electrolyte additive in contact with Ce (Sm)O₂(SDC), La(Sr)Ga(Mg)O₃, and Zr(Sc)O₂ electrolytes were studied. YDB additive to the electrode collector layer was shown to produce a positive effect to the properties of the studied electrode systems. The maximum electrochemical activity and electroconductivity was observed for the electrodes with 5 wt % of YDB electrolyte additive in the collector layer. Thus, electroconductivity of electrodes is almost doubled and 100 mV cathode overvoltage current density is increased by 30% at the temperatures of 800 to 900°C and up to 10-fold at 650 to 700°C. The collector layer sintering temperature of bilayer electrodes can be reduced from 1150 to 1000°C without loss of electrochemical activity. The service life tests (about 1200 h) of composite electrodes with LSM2-SDC functional layer and 90% LSM2 + 10% YDB collector layer in contact with SDC electrolyte showed the time dependences of polarization resistance tending to saturation and described with damped exponent. Original Russian Text ? N.M. Bogdanovich, D.I. Bronin, G.K. Vdovin, I.Yu. Yaroslavtsev, B.L. Kuzin, 2009, published in Elektrokhimiya, 2009, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 486–494.     

Diffusion mobility of alkali metals in perfluorinated sulfocationic and carboxylic membranes as probed by <Superscript>1</Superscript>H, <Superscript>7</Superscript>Li, <Superscript>23</Superscript>Na,and <Superscript>133</Superscript>Cs NMR spectroscopy

Water self-diffusion and ion mobilities in various ionic forms (H⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺, and Ba²⁺) of perfluorinated sulfocationic membranes MF-4SK were studied by NMR and impedance spectroscopy. When degrees of hydration are low, the self-diffusion coefficients of water and ionic conductivities are considerably affected by the water content of the membrane. The self-diffusion coefficients decrease in the order H⁺ > Ba²⁺ > Cs⁺ > Rb⁺ > Na⁺ > Li⁺, whereas the ion mobility decreases in the order H⁺ > Li⁺ > Na⁺ > Cs⁺ > Ba²⁺.