Electrochemical noise analysis of pitting corrosion of J55 steel in NaCl + NaHCO3 electrolytes

Electrochemical noise (EN) was used to study the pitting corrosion of J55 steel in NaCl/NaHCO₃ electrolytes. Below critical ratio for Cl^? to HCO^?, the corrosion rate increased with added NaCl, and conversely, decreased above that level. Also, the critical ratio was between 1 and 1.66. The PSD for potential and current noise were linear and rather gently sloped. J55 casing steel was quite sensitive to NaCl/NaHCO₃ electrolytes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental correlation between metallographic evaluation and electrochemical noise in intergranular corrosion tests of aluminium alloys

In the present work, the correlation between the metallographic evaluation and electrochemical noise (EN) in intergranular corrosion (IGC) tests of aluminium alloy 2024‐T3 has been analysed. For this purpose, the influence of temperature and hydrogen peroxide concentration on the IGC attack has been studied. Similar IGC was observed between 20 and 40 °C, showing a low dependence with temperature (at least in this range). Hydrogen peroxide was seen to have a strong effect, leading to IGC activation when raising its concentration. The results of the detailed metallographic evaluation of the samples after the tests were analysed together with the EN measured during the tests. The averaged noise resistance was inversely proportional to the depths of the attacks, whereas the average of the parameter so‐called ‘Statistical Noise Power’ was directly related to the IGC degree. The metallographic evaluation and the EN showed a reasonable experimental correlation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

干湿循环下混凝土中钢筋腐蚀的电化学检测

应用电化学噪声技术,结合电化学阻抗谱研究了干湿循环条件下3种不同pH值的3.5%NaCl溶液中混凝土钢筋的腐蚀过程.结果表明,钢筋的腐蚀分为3个阶段:钝化膜的溶解期、腐蚀活化期和腐蚀产物的累积期.在pH1的溶液中经过30个干湿循环后主要以均匀腐蚀为主,而对pH3和pH7溶液,则主要以点蚀为主,散粒噪声分析证实了混凝土中钢筋在强酸性溶液中更容易发生腐蚀.电化学阻抗谱分析也进一步说明了混凝土中钢筋的腐蚀经历了3个阶段:第1阶段Nyquist谱图中出现两个时间常数,高频区为混凝土层的容抗性质,低频区为钢筋与混凝土界面的电荷转移电阻;第2阶段,中频区增加一个时间常数,这与腐蚀产物的累积有关;第3阶段,随着腐蚀产物向混凝土中的扩散,中频区容抗弧有所减小,特别是pH1体系,中频弧几乎消失.SEM形貌表征观察到随着溶液酸度的增加钢筋表面的锈层明显增多.     

碱性溶液中分子氧在多晶银上的多步还原

 Oxygen reduction on a polycrystalline silver electrode was studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The reaction occurred by a two-electron pathway. The steps in the mechanism were observed in the cyclic voltammograms recorded with different scan rates. The intermediates formed in the steps were detected by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.     

污染物甲胺为电子给体可见光下Pt/ZnIn2S4光催化制氢

用水热法制备了ZnIn2S4固溶体,并通过XRD和UV-vis漫反射光谱进行了表征.研究了一甲胺、二甲胺和三甲胺为给电子体,在Pt/ZnIn2S4上的可见光光催化制氢及自身的降解反应.3种甲胺都能显著提高光催化分解水制氢活性,同时自身得到很好的降解.电子给体的放氢活性顺序为:TMADMAMMA.通过红外衰减全反射(ATR-IR)法检测电子给体在ZnIn2S4表面的吸附行为,吸附强度大小依次为MMADMATMA.光催化活性与分子结构和在催化剂表面的吸附行为有关.3种污染物浓度对放氢活性的影响都符合Langmuir-Hinshelwood动力学模型.讨论了可能的化学反应机理.     

Electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction and hydrogen oxidation in platinum dispersed on tungsten carbide in acid medium

Tungsten carbide dispersed on a high surface area carbon (W₂C/C) prepared by a sonochemical method was used as the support of a Pt-based electrocatalyst (Pt-W₂C/C). The resulting materials were tested for two important reactions with practical interest in fuel cells, that is, the oxygen reduction and hydrogen oxidation reactions, in acid medium. The electrochemical techniques considered were cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and steady-state polarization curves, obtained utilizing an ultrathin catalyst layer in a rotating ring–disk electrode. The results showed that the Pt-W₂C/C catalyst led to a remarkable enhancement of the oxygen reduction in acid medium, when compared to the standard Pt/C, both following a four-electron mechanism. The hydrogen oxidation reaction showed similar kinetics on Pt-W₂C/C and Pt/C following the direct discharge mechanism on both catalysts. The W₂C/C support presented remarkable activity for the hydrogen oxidation reaction, most probably after the Heyrovsky–Volmer mechanism at low overpotential and the direct discharge irreversible mechanism at high overpotentials. This paper is dedicated to Prof. Francisco Nart, in memoriam.     

Ni-P-C复合材料的制备及其电催化产氢性能研究

通过化学镀技术制备了亚微米级的Ni-P镀层石墨粉复合粉体新材料(即Ni-PC).采用扫描电子显微镜、X-射线能谱仪、X-射线粉末衍射仪对Ni-P-C复合粉体分别进行表面形貌分析、表面成分分析和物相分析.通过对Ni-P-C材料电极进行电解水析氢、循环伏安和Tafel极化等电化学测试,研究对比了Ni-P-C(石墨)材料与试剂石墨粉体以及纯Ni电极的电化学催化产氢性能.结果表明:利用化学镀技术成功地在石墨粉体表面镀上了一层亚微米级且均匀、致密的非晶态Ni-P合金.Ni-P-C(石墨)复合电极材料析氢能力强,具有良好的电化学活性.     

Cobalt and nitrogen codoped porous carbon as superior bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium

Metal (cobalt)/nitrogen codoped carbon was first fabricated by pyrolysis of coordinated “noncarbonizable” polymer as bifunctional catalyst for ORR and HER, which showed better electrocatalytic performances than most bifunctional doped carbon catalysts in alkaline electrolyte.     

氮掺杂碳包埋钴纳米粒子电催化合成过氧化氢

电催化还原氧是一种新兴的可持续生产过氧化氢(H2O2)的合成技术,寻找低成本、高活性和高选择性的电催化剂是该技术实际应用的关键.钴氮掺杂的碳材料因含有钴氮(Co-Nx)催化活性位,成为一类新兴的可促进H2O2电化学合成的材料.本文采用低能耗干式球磨外加控制热解的方法来制备包含许多Co-Nx结构的钴氮掺杂碳材料.该方法使用材料廉价,即将醋酸钴、2-甲基咪唑和Ketjenblack EC-600JD高纯度且导电的碳黑分别作为金属、氮和碳的前体.在酸性介质中的电化学测试结果表明,该材料的氧还原反应电流密度明显增加,同时起始电位向正方向移动.该催化剂在较大电位范围内对H2O2的选择性约为90％.H2O2整体电解实验表明,H2O2产率达到100mmol gcat?1 h?1,H2O2法拉第效率达到85％(0.3Vvs.RHE条件下2h).耐久性测试(在0.3Vvs.RHE条件下6h)表明,催化剂表现出相对稳定的性能,且在整个测试循环中,法拉第效率达到约85％,表明催化剂在实际应用中具有良好的耐久性.催化剂表现出较高的电催化合成H2O2活性和选择性可能是由于形成了Co-Nx活性位,以及酸性环境和应用电位等其它因素的影响.     

氧化铈负载钌催化剂中钌表面密度对氨合成活性和氢中毒的影响

氨是关系国计民生的大宗化学品,也是氢能源的重要载体.目前,世界合成氨工业每年消耗约2％的世界总能源,并排放超过1％的CO2,节能降耗需求十分迫切,其中的关键在于高性能氨合成催化剂的开发.传统观点认为,B5活性位是钌催化剂上氮解离和氨合成的活性位,当钌粒子尺寸在1.8～2.5 nm时催化剂的B5活性位数量最多,而钌尺寸较小(0.7～0.8 nm)的催化剂几乎没有氨合成活性.本文通过改变钌负载量调变了氧化铈负载钌催化剂的钌表面浓度,证实钌粒子尺寸低于2.0nm时,氧化铈负载钌催化剂也具有较高的氨合成活性.XPS等表征结果证实:钌表面密度低于0.68 Ru nm-2时,钌主要以层状形式存在于氧化铈表面,层状钌与氧化铈紧密接触,电子从氧化铈的缺陷位传递给钌物种,在这种情况下,Ru 3d5/2的结合能有所下降,氮解离能力增强,这有利于提高催化剂的氨合成活性;当钌表面密度约为0.68 Ru nm-2时,钌金属传递电子给氧化铈,此时Ru 3d5/2结合能有所增加;当钌表面密度高于1.4 Ru nm-2后,钌物种优先在层状钌表面聚集成大尺寸钌纳米粒子,此时催化剂中同时存在钌团簇和钌纳米粒子,氧化铈载体对钌粒子电子性质的影响减弱,因此大尺寸钌金属颗粒Ru 3d5/2结合能又有所下降.另一方面,氢分子会在氧化铈表面形成均裂产物(两个OH基团)或异裂产物(Ce-H和OH).同时氢分子还会在0价钌金属表面解离形成氢原子,并进一步溢流到氧化铈表面与氧原子作用形成羟基.钌活性位上的氢物种比氧化铈中的氢更容易脱附,因此氧化铈中钌的存在不仅可以增强其氢吸附量,还降低了氢物种的吸附强度.当钌表面密度低时,氧化铈与钌的相互作用较强,催化剂中的氢物种容易溢流到氧化铈中形成羟基基团,此时催化剂的氢吸附能力增强,氢中毒问题较显著.当钌表面密度较高时,氢原子在大尺寸钌颗粒上移动、反应和脱附,因此催化剂的氢中毒问题也得到显著缓解.总之,对于氧化铈负载钌催化剂,氧化铈与钌金属之间的电子相互作用以及其吸附性质都会影响催化剂的氨合成活性,因此钌表面密度低于0.31 Ru nm-2以及约为2.1 Ru nm-2时,催化剂都展现出了较高的氨合成活性.本文将为设计制备高性能钌基氨合成催化剂提供理论指导.     

Effect of Contact Area and Shape of Anode Current Collectors on Bacterial Community Structure in Microbial Fuel Cells

Low electrical conductivity of carbon materials is a source of potential loss for large carbonaceous electrode surfaces of MFCs due to the long distance traveled by electrons to the collector. In this paper, different configurations of titanium current collectors were used to connect large surfaces of carbon cloth anodes. The current collectors had different distances and contact areas to the anode. For the same anode surface (490 cm²), increasing the contact area from 28 cm² to 70 cm² enhanced power output from 58 mW·m⁻² to 107 mW·m⁻². For the same contact area (28 cm²), decreasing the maximal distance of current collectors to anodes from 16.5 cm to 7.75 cm slightly increased power output from 50 mW·m⁻² to 58 mW·m⁻². Molecular biology characterization (qPCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) of anodic bacterial communities indicated that the Geobacter number was not correlated with power. Moreover, Geobacter and Desulfuromonas abundance increased with the drop in potential on the anode and with the presence of fermentative microorganisms. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that biofilm resistance decreased with the abundance of electroactive bacteria. All these results showed that the electrical gradient arising from collectors shapes microbial communities. Consequently, current collectors influence the performance of carbon-based anodes for full-scale MFC applications.     

Impedance of the copper electrode in isopotential solutions containing complexes of Cu(II) and glycolic acid

In the frequency interval from 0.01 Hz to 50 kHz, the impedance of copper electrodes is investigated in a series of isopotential solutions, which contain various amounts of ligands and of complexes of Cu(II) and glycolic acid, but a constant concentration of Cu²⁺ ions. An equivalent electrode scheme is analyzed, in which two successive one-electron steps and the diffusive flows of both the charged particles and the intermediate are taken into account, and the presence of a homogeneous chemical reaction is also considered. It is established that the exchange current density for the first electron in a series of solutions, which contain 5.3 mM Cu²⁺, is essentially independent of the concentration of free ligand and is equal to 0.1 mA/cm². This indicates that the electrically active particles are aqua complexes of Cu²⁺. It is proposed that the chemical step, which is suggested by the impedance data, is the dissociation of glycolic acid, which releases the active form of the ligand.     

Fabrication of Pt/polypyrrole hybrid hollow microspheres and their application in electrochemical biosensing towards hydrogen peroxide

Pt/polypyrrole (PPy) hybrid hollow microspheres were successfully prepared by wet chemical method via Fe₃O₄ template and evaluated as electrocatalysts for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. The as-synthesized products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductive coupled plasma emission spectrum (ICP) and Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR) measurements. The results exhibited that ultra-high-density Pt nanoparticles (NPs) were well deposited on the PPy shell with the mean diameters of around 4.1 nm. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) results demonstrated that Pt/PPy hybrid hollow microspheres, as enzyme-less catalysts, exhibited good electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of hydrogen peroxide in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.0). The composite had a fast response of less than 2 s with linear range of 1.0-8.0 mM and a relatively low detection limit of 1.2 μM (S/N = 3). The sensitivity of the sensor for H₂O₂ was 80.4 mA M⁻¹ cm⁻².     

过氧化氢生产与利用的新进展

过氧化氢既可用作环境友好的绿色氧化剂,也可用作燃料电池中的太阳能燃料,因而受到越来越多的关注.本文综述了太阳能驱动分子氧氧化水制备过氧化氢及其作为绿色氧化剂和燃料的研究进展.利用太阳能将水的2e-和4e-氧化与分子氧的2e-还原相结合,使光催化生产过氧化氢成为可能;本文讨论了与2e-和4e-水氧化选择性及2e-和4e-...     

Silver nanoparticle assemblies supported on glassy-carbon electrodes for the electro-analytical detection of hydrogen peroxide

Electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide using an edge-plane pyrolytic-graphite electrode (EPPG), a glassy carbon (GC) electrode, and a silver nanoparticle-modified GC electrode is reported. It is shown, in phosphate buffer (0.05 mol L^–1, pH 7.4), that hydrogen peroxide cannot be detected directly on either the EPPG or GC electrodes. However, reduction can be facilitated by modification of the glassy-carbon surface with nanosized silver assemblies. The optimum conditions for modification of the GC electrode with silver nanoparticles were found to be deposition for 1 min at –0.5 V vs. Ag from 5 mmol L^–1 AgNO₃/0.1 mol L^–1 TBAP/MeCN, followed by stripping for 2 min at +0.5 V vs. Ag in the same solution. A wave, due to the reduction of hydrogen peroxide on the silver nanoparticles is observed at –0.68 V vs. SCE. The limit of detection for this modified nanosilver electrode was 2.0×10^–6 mol L^–1 for hydrogen peroxide in phosphate buffer (0.05 mol L^–1, pH 7.4) with a sensitivity which is five times higher than that observed at a silver macro-electrode. Also observed is a shoulder on the voltammetric wave corresponding to the reduction of oxygen, which is produced by silver-catalysed chemical decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen then oxygen reduction at the surface of the glassy-carbon electrode.     

Investigation of the influence of nickel content on the correlation between the hydrogen equilibrium pressure for hydrogen absorbing alloys and the capacity of MH electrodes in open and closed cells

Two series of overstoichiometric AB_2.4 alloys [(Zr_0.35Ti_0.65)(V_1.33Cr_0.4Fe_0.27)_{2– x} Ni_{0.4+ x} and (Zr_0.5Ti_0.5)(V_0.8Mn_0.8Cr_0.4)_{2– x} Ni_{0.4+ x} ], differing in the Zr to Ti ratios in group A and the presence of Mn or Fe in group B, were examined to consider the influence of various amounts of nickel on the structural parameters following the sorption of hydrogen. To predict the electrochemical behaviour of the prepared alloys as negative electrodes for Ni-MH cells, the pressure-composition isotherms (PCT) determined for the gas/solid phase system were correlated with the electrochemical pressure-composition (EPC) isotherms estimated from the rest potential of the alloy electrode. For preliminary assessment of the practical usefulness of the prepared samples, the electrodes made of all the alloys were subjected to charge/discharge measurements in a half-cell in 6 M KOH solution and the discharge capacities were estimated. Of the alloys with Fe and Mn components, the samples (Zr_0.35Ti_0.65)(V_0.93Cr_0.28Fe_0.19Ni_1.0) and (Zr_0.5Ti_0.5)(V_0.68Mn_0.68Cr_0.34Ni_0.7) provided the highest capacities. These alloys were chosen for testing the charge/discharge cycleability in closed Ni-MH cells. The reversibility of the cell with the former sample decreased significantly around the 25th cycle, whereas the discharge capacity of the cell with the latter sample remained almost unchanged during 100 cycles of testing. Electronic Publication     

Fragment chemistry of the hydrogen thioperoxide molecule; energy, chemical potential and hardness

In this paper we present a complete theoretical study of the hydrogen thioperoxide molecule (HSOH). We characterize the internal rotation by studying the evolution of the energy, chemical potential and hardness along the torsional angle. We have found that hydrogen thioperoxide in its electronic singlet state is a gauche molecule. Barrier heights, activation chemical potential and activation hardness have been obtained, and it has been found that the trans barrier is lower than the cis one. Good agreement of rotation barriers is obtained on the basis of comparisons with the available literature experimental data for the HOOH and HSSH parent molecules. Another important result is that the maximum hardness principle is verified for the torsional motion. On the other hand, we characterize the thermochemistry of chemical reactions leading to formation of HSOH from the electronic properties associated with the free constituent fragments. The procedure, which involves the use of Sanderson's rule to estimate chemical potentials and hardnesses, is shown to be promising and opens the possibility of rationalizing the behavior of other series of reactions.     

Influence of the Nature and Structure of Polyelectrolyte Cryogels on the Polymerization of (3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene) and Spectroscopic Characterization of the Composites

Conductive hydrogels are polymeric materials that are promising for bioelectronic applications. In the present study, a complex based on sulfonic cryogels and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was investigated as an example of a conductive hydrogel. Preparation of polyacrylate cryogels of various morphologies was carried out by cryotropic gelation of 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate and sulfobetaine methacrylate in the presence of functional comonomers (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate). Polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene in the presence of several of the above cryogels occurred throughout the entire volume of each polyelectrolyte cryogel because of its porous structure. Structural features of cryogel@PEDOT complexes in relation to their electrochemical properties were investigated. It was shown that poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) of a linear conformation was formed in the presence of a cryogel based on sulfobetaine methacrylate, while minimum values of charge-transfer resistance were observed in those complexes, and electrochemical properties of the complexes did not depend on diffusion processes.     

Studies of the hydrogen evolution reaction on smooth Co and electrodeposited Ni–Co ultramicroelectrodes

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied on smooth Co and on electrodeposited Ni–Co ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) in alkaline solutions at several temperatures by steady-state polarisation curves. The real electrochemical area was previously estimated by cyclic voltammetry to account for the large difference in roughness factor of the two surfaces. The values obtained for the Tafel slopes were very close to 2.303RT/βnF while the ‘apparent’ energies of activation were 59 and 41 kJ mol⁻¹ for Co and Ni–Co, respectively. A common Volmer–Heyrovsky mechanism with Heyrovsky as the rate-determining step (RDS) was initially proposed. This was confirmed when the experimental results were mathematically treated by a non-linear fitting procedure using the kinetic equations derived for that mechanism. The calculations revealed that Ni–Co is a more efficient catalyst for the HER then pure Co, with a rate constant value of 0.16×10⁻¹⁰ mol s⁻¹ cm⁻² at 25°C for the slow step. Although this value is more than one order of magnitude smaller than that already reported for deposited Ni, it is considerably larger than the one measured here (0.02×10⁻¹⁰ mol s⁻¹ cm⁻²) for pure Co at 25°C.