Limonene concentration in lemon (Citrus volkameriana) peel oil as a function of ripeness

The dependence of the limonene content of lemon (Citrus volkameriana) peel oil on the degree of ripeness of the fruit has been studied by using steam distillation and cold pressing to extract the oils from lemon fruit peel at different stages of maturation (green, greenish-yellow, and yellow-orange peel coloration). Samples of essential oils were analyzed by high resolution GC and GC-MS, using tetradecane as internal standard for quantitation. Forty components were detected; thirty eight were positively identified by comparison of their mass spectra (El, 70 eV) and Kováts retention indexes (determined using a non-logarithmic scale on capillary columns coated with both polar (DB-Wax) and non-polar (DB-1) stationary phases) with those of standards and with data reported in the literature. The limonene concentration reached a maximum level of 79.4% when the fruit was in the intermediate maturation stage characterized by greenish-yellow coloration.     

Effect of oxidative stabilization on the electrochemical performance of carbon mesophases as electrode materials for lithium batteries

The effect of oxidative stabilization as a mean to modify the carbon texture was essayed in a group of mesophases previous to carbonization at 900 °C with the aim of evaluating the influence on electrochemical performance when used as electrode materials in lithium test cells. X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and chemical analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy have been used to describe the compositional and textural properties of the as-produced parent mesophases, the samples were further treated under air current to stabilize their microstructures and the corresponding carbonized samples at 900 °C. The electrochemical performance was determined by the galvanostatic method and further correlated to the physical–chemical properties and interface resistance of the materials. In all cases, the stabilization process has demonstrated a beneficial effect on the capacity retention in the measured range.     

119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy: a powerful tool to unfold the reaction mechanism in advanced electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Cobalt–tin intermetallic compounds with different particle size have been obtained and characterized by using ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy as a main tool. The electrochemical behavior of the Co–Sn compounds has been evaluated in lithium test cells. The Lamb–Mössbauer factors for CoSn with different crystallite sizes have been calculated. The results f _nano???CoSn(300 K) = 0.19 and f _{coarse???CoSn}(300 K) = 0.55 are obtained. Nano-CoSn exhibits larger capacity to react with lithium than coarse-CoSn.     

Tin oxalate as a precursor of tin dioxide and electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Tin(II) oxalate was studied as a novel precursor for active electrode materials in lithium-ion batteries. The discharge of lithium cells using tin oxalate electrodes takes place by three irreversible steps: tin reduction, forming a lithium oxalate matrix; solvent decomposition to form a passivating layer; and oxalate reduction in a two-electron process. These are followed by reversible alloying of tin with lithium, leading to a maximum discharge of 11 F/mol. Cycling of the cells showed reversible capacities higher than 600 mAh/g during the first five cycles and ca. 200 mAh/g after 50 cycles. Tin oxalate was converted to tin dioxide by thermal decomposition at 450 °C and also by a chemical method by dissolving tin oxalate powder in 33% v/v hydrogen peroxide at room temperature. The ultrafine nature of the tin dioxide powders obtained by this procedure allow their use as electrodes in lithium cells. The best capacity retention during the first five cycles was achieved for a sample heat treated to 250 °C to eliminate surface water. Electronic Publication     

Cuprate-catalyzed Three-Component Couplings of Functionalized Organozinc Reagents

Organozinc reagents FG-(CH₂)_nZnX containing electrophilic centers (FG) upon conversion to their corresponding zincates (FG-(CH₂)_nZnMe₂Li) and in the presence of 5–8 mol % MeCu(CN)Li, undergo 1,4-additions to cyclic conjugated enones. The intermediate zinc enolates can be trapped with aldehydes to afford products of three-component couplings.     

Ultrafine layered LiCoO2 obtained from citrate precursors

A new method for the preparation of ultrafine LiCoO₂ with a layered crystal structure was developed, which consists in thermal pyrolysis of homogeneous lithium-cobalt-citrate precursors. Atomic scale mixing of Li and Co is achieved by citric acid acting as a chelating agent. Electron spectroscopy of concentrated Li-Co-citrate solutions with Li:Co:Cit=1:1:1 and Li:Co:Cit=1:1:2 reveals that the predominant species at pH=7 are [Co(C₆H₅O₇)]⁻ and [Co(C₆H₅O₇)₂]⁴⁻ complexes. Freeze-drying of the two types of solutions leads to the formation of LiCo(C₆H₅O₇).nH₂O and (NH₄)₃LiCo(C₆H₅O₇)₂.nH₂O precursors, where Co²⁺ ions are complexed by one and two triionized citrate ions, respectively, and Li⁺ ions serve as counter ions. Between 400–600 °C, the thermal decomposition of these metal-citrate precursors yields LiCoO₂ with layered and pseudo-spinel structure, the proportion between them being depending on: (i) the Co/citrate ratio; (ii) the concentration of the freeze-dried solution; (iii) the heating rate. At 400 °C, the most defectless layered LiCoO₂, consisting of hexagonal individual particles with dimensions of 120–170 nm, is a product of the bis-citrate decomposition with a slow heating rate. For this sample, heating up to 600 °C does not affect the crystal size dimensions. For ultrafine layered LiCoO₂ and LiCoO₂ obtained by solid state reaction at high-temperatures (850 °C), the deintercalation and intercalation reactions proceed in the 3.95 – 3.99 and 3.86 – 3.88 voltage intervals, respectively. For defect trigonal LiCoO₂, additional oxidation and reduction peaks at 3.7 – 3.8 and 3.4 – 3.5 V were observed. We did not succeed in preparing monophase LiCoO₂ with pseudo-spinel structure. Paper presented at the 3rd Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Teulada, Sardinia, Sept. 14–21, 1996     

Crystallite size and microstrains of Co3O4 derived from CoOOH and Co(OH)2

The variation of crystallite size and microstrains in Co₃O₄ derived from the thermal decomposition of CoOOH and Co(OH)₂ is studied by X-ray diffraction line broadening analysis in several crystallographic directions. The results show that the low-temperature oxide derived from CoOOH produces lower crystallite size and microstrains, due to the development of cracks in the particles instead of a porous system which is characteristic of the sample derived from Co(OH)₂. On the other hand, microstrains decrease and crystallite size increases with temperature for both parent compounds, but the changes are dependent on the crystallographic direction. The shape of crystallites is anisotropic at low temperature but the isotropy increases on heating, specially for the samples obtained from CoOOH.