Advances in rapid and effective break-in/conditioning/recovery of automotive PEMFC stacks

Automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks need to meet manufacturer specified rated beginning-of-life (BOL) performance before being assembled into vehicles and shipped off to customers. The process of “breaking-in” of a freshly assembled stack is often referred to as “conditioning.” It has become an intensely researched area especially in automotive companies, where imminent commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) demands a short, energy- and cost-efficient, and practical conditioning protocol. Significant advances in reducing the conditioning time from 1 to 2 days to as low as 4h or less, in some cases without the use of additional inert gases such as nitrogen, and with minimal use of hydrogen, and specialized test stations will be discussed.     

Cobalt promoted Ni/MgAl2O4 catalyst in lean methane catalytic oxidation

In the present research, magnesium aluminate spinel was prepared as catalyst support using a novel, facile, and efficient mechanochemical method. The Co-promoted catalysts with 20 wt.% of Ni were fabricated using an impregnation route and the samples were analyzed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption/desorption (BET), temperature-programmed reduction and desorption (H₂-TPR and O₂-TPD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) tests. The results confirmed that all samples have a mesoporous structure with a high specific surface area and the presence of cobalt caused complete CH₄ oxidation at low temperatures, and no side reactions were observed. The results indicated that the 3%Co-20%Ni/MgAl₂O₄ catalyst was the optimal sample among the prepared catalysts, owing to the improvement of reduction features and oxygen mobility. The 50 and 90% of methane conversion was obtained at 530 and 600 °C, respectively. Also, the influence of calcination temperature, GHSV, and feed ratio was determined on the catalytic activity. The obtained outcomes revealed that the calcination temperature has a significant effect on the textural properties and catalytic efficiency. The sample calcined at 700 °C showed the weakest performance, which was related to the sintering of particles at high temperatures. The catalytic stability showed that the 3%Co-20%Ni/MgAl₂O₄ has acceptable stability during 600 min time of reaction.

Graphical abstract

     

The Role of Radical Bridges in Polynuclear Single-Molecule Magnets

Employing radical bridges between anisotropic metal ions has been a viable route to achieve high-performance single-molecule magnets (SMMs). While the bridges have been mainly considered for their ability to promote exchange interactions, the crystal-field effect arising from them has not been taken into account explicitly. This lack of consideration may distort the understanding and limit the development of the entire family. To shed light on this aspect, herein we report a theoretical investigation of a series of N -radical-bridged diterbium complexes. It is found that while promoting strong exchange coupling between the terbium ions, the N -radical induces a crystal field that interferes destructively with that of the outer ligands, and thus reduces the overall SMM behavior. Based on the theoretical results, we conclude that the SMM behavior in this series could be further maximized if the crystal field of the outer ligands is designed to be collinear with that of the radical bridge. This conclusion can be generalized to all exchange-coupled SMMs.     

A Novel Magnetic Polyethylene Glycol Nanocomposite based on Graphite Reinforcement Carbon Paste Electrode for Voltammetric Determination of Perindopril L-arginine

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - The present study reports the development of a magnetic polyethylene glycol nanocomposite based on graphite reinforcement carbon paste electrode for the sensitive...     

Rice husk silica as a sustainable filler in the tire industry

In this paper, we studied commercially available precipitated rice husk silica (RHS) with conventional precipitated silica, which has nearly the same surface area, and replaced part of the carbon black with RHS and conventional silica in a basic tread formulation. All formulations were mixed with the same amount of filler during the study. Silica was used at 15, 30 and 50 phr loading, and part of the carbon black was replaced by silica. Compound curing characteristics, physical properties, rebound resilience, heat generation, abrasion loss, dynamic properties and morphology were analyzed. The results indicated that RHS demonstrated compound properties comparable to those of conventional silica. As part of the carbon black was replaced with conventional silica, a slower cure rate, higher rebound resilience, lower heat generation, lower abrasion loss, and lower tan delta were observed with no significant change in physical properties, but some changes in physical properties were observed using one way ANOVA analysis. We found the same trend when replacing part of the carbon black with RHS, such as a slower cure rate, higher rebound resilience, lower heat generation, lower abrasion loss, and lower tan delta with no significant change in physical properties, but some changes in physical properties were observed using one way ANOVA. This sustainable material could be used to replace conventional silica in tire compounding, as well as to replace a portion of carbon black with RHS for improved heat build-up, rolling resistance, and abrasion loss.     

Compact ellipse shaped patch with ground slotted broadband monopole patch antenna for head imaging applications

This paper represents an ellipse-shaped patch with a ground slotted broadband patch antenna for microwave head imaging systems. The proposed antenna constructs with a simple ellipse shaped square patch and modified slotted plane. The proposed design is very simple to fabricate and is enclosed in a microwave imaging system. The slotted patch, and the partial ground plane improves the antenna's efficiency, operating frequency range, and gain. The size of the proposed antenna is 70 × 60 × 1.5 mm³ with the electrical dimension being 0.277λ × 0.238λ × 0.006λ at a lower frequency of 1.19 GHz and connected to a 50Ω microstrip feeding line. This antenna is printed onto a low-cost FR-4 substrate whose relative permittivity is 4.4, and whose thickness is 1.5 mm. CST and HFSS software have been used for simulation and thereafter successful completion of the measurements and the fabrication. The comprehensive simulation exhibits that this design provides a bandwidth of 2.37 GHz (1.19 – 3.56 GHz) and 100% of the fractional bandwidths (% BW) with the reflection coefficient of <-10 dB. This antenna on FR-4 can produce an average gain of around 3.63 dBi with 5.95 dBi peak gain at whole operation frequencies. The prototype has a peak radiation efficiency of approximately 97% across the active frequency spectrum with 93% of average. The antenna does have an improved fidelity-factor (> 90 %) with a shorter group-delay. Several design modifications have been performed to get perfect, effective, and suitable results for microwave imaging applications. A 3D-realist Hugo head model is fitted with a single antenna and a 9-antenna array component to verify the performance of both the single antenna, and the configured array antenna. The antenna penetrates the brain human tissues satisfactorily. Across the operational range, the specific absorption rate (SAR) attains a limit of <1 W/kg. The analysis of both numeric and experimental evidence clearly indicates that the suggested antenna is ideal for microwave head-imaging implementations.