Catalytic removal of nitric oxides from diesel exhaust over supported metal oxides catalysts

Summary A number of supported metal oxide catalysts were prepared and tested for nitrogen oxide removal from diesel engine exhaust. More than 50% of nitrogen oxides were removed using many prepared catalysts in the temperature range of 150^oC-350^oC.     

The effect of crosslinked networks with poly(ethylene glycol) on sulfonated polyimide for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

To investigate the effect of crosslinking by a hydrophilic group on a sulfonated polyimide electrolyte membrane, sulfonated polyimide end‐capped with maleic anhydride was synthesized using 1,4,5,8‐naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride, 4,4′‐diaminobiphenyl, 2,2′‐disulfonic acid, 2‐bis [4‐(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl] hexafluropropane and maleic anhydride. The sulfonated polyimides end‐capped with maleic anhydride were self‐crosslinked or crosslinked with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. A series of the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides having various ratios of sulfonated polyimide and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate were prepared and compared with uncrosslinked and self‐crosslinked sulfonated polyimides. The synthesized sulfonated polyimide films were characterized for FTIR spectrum, thermal stability, ion exchange capacity, water uptake, hydrolytic stability, morphological structure, and proton conductivity. The formation of sulfonated polyimide was confirmed in FTIR spectrum. Thermal stability was good for all the sulfonated polyimides that exhibited a three‐step degradation pattern. Ion exchange capacity was the same for both the uncrosslinked and the self‐crosslinked sulfonated polyimides (1.30 mEq/g). When the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) were compared, the ion exchange capacity was decreased as 1.27 > 1.25 > 1.23 mEq/g and water uptake was increased as 23.8 < 24.0 < 24.3% with the increase in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate content. All the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate were stable for over 200 h at 80 °C in deionized water. Morphological structure and mean intermolecular distance were obtained by WAXD. Proton conductivities were measured at 30, 50, 70, and 90 °C. The proton conductivity of the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate increased with the increase in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate content despite the fact that the ion exchange capacity was decreased. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 1455–1464, 2005     

Highly Active Cobalt‐Based Electrocatalysts with Facile Incorporation of Dopants for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

In situ formation of electroactive cobalt species for the oxygen evolution reaction is simply achieved by applying an anodic bias to a commercially available cobalt precursor and Nafion binder mixture coated on a glassy carbon electrode. This preparation does not require energy‐intensive materials preparation steps or noble metals, yet a low overpotential of 322 mV at 10.2 mA cm^?2 and a high current density of more than 300 mA cm^?2 at 1.7 V_NHE were obtained in 1 m KOH. An operando electrochemical Raman spectroscopy study confirmed the formation of cobalt oxyhydroxide species and the iron stimulated the equilibrium state between Co³⁺ and Co⁴⁺. The iron present in the alkali electrolyte or ink solution effectively activated the cobalt species, and most of the first row transition metals could also enhance the catalytic performance. The concept presented here is one of the simplest strategies for preparing highly active electrocatalysts and is very flexible for the replacement of cobalt by other transition metals.     

Modulation of Foreign Body Reaction against PDMS Implant by Grafting Topographically Different Poly(acrylic acid) Micropatterns

The surface of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is grafted with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) layers via surface‐initiated photopolymerization to suppress the capsular contracture resulting from a foreign body reaction. Owing to the nature of photo‐induced polymerization, various PAA micropatterns can be fabricated using photolithography. Hole and stripe micropatterns ≈100‐µm wide and 3‐µm thick are grafted onto the PDMS surface without delamination. The incorporation of PAA micropatterns provides not only chemical cues by hydrophilic PAA microdomains but also topographical cues by hole or stripe micropatterns. In vitro studies reveal that a PAA‐grafted PDMS surface has a lower proliferation of both macrophages (Raw 264.7) and fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) regardless of the pattern presence. However, PDMS with PAA micropatterns, especially stripe micropatterns, minimizes the aggregation of fibroblasts and their subsequent differentiation into myofibroblasts. An in vivo study also shows that PDMS samples with stripe micropatterns polarized macrophages into anti‐inflammatory M2 macrophages and most effectively inhibits capsular contracture, which is demonstrated by investigation of inflammation score, transforming‐growth‐factor‐β expression, number of macrophages, and myofibroblasts as well as the collagen density and capsule thickness.     

利用凸晶摄谱仪获取Z箍缩等离子体X辐射单色图像

考虑晶体摇摆曲线的影响,用光线追迹方法讨论了凸晶摄谱仪的能谱分辨率、单色图像径向空间分辨本领以及晶体与X射线源之间的距离对它们的影响.根据讨论建立了云母凸晶摄谱仪,在"强光一号"装置上对系统进行了成功地测试,获得铝丝阵负载Z箍缩等离子体X辐射单色图像.时间积分图像表明,Z箍缩Al等离子体K壳层Lya和Heβ线辐射来自等离子体核心直径约2.3 mm的区域.     

Crystallization and dielectric properties of low temperature dielectrics containing Li2O filler

Crystallization and dielectric properties of typical low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) consisting of calcium zinc aluminoborosilicate glass and Al₂O₃ filler were investigated by substituting the Al₂O₃ filler partially with Li₂O at the levels of 2-10 wt%. Depending on the content of Li₂O, densification was found significantly affected by early crystallization that resulted from the formation of unexpected crystalline phases including LiAlSiO₄, Ca₂SiO₄, LiAlO₂, and LiAlSi₃O₈. The effect of hindering sintering via earlier crystallization became enormous regardless of firing temperature when >5 wt% Li₂O substitution occurred. It was observed that the substitution of 2 wt% Li₂O for Al₂O₃ was beneficial in producing promising performance at the low temperature of 750 °C, which can be highlighted with k ∼ 8.7 and tan δ ∼ 0.009 at 1 MHz.     

Key Role of a-Top CO on Terrace Sites of Metallic Pd Clusters for CO Oxidation

Pd-based catalysts are the most widely used for CO oxidation because of their outstanding catalytic activity and thermal stability. However, fundamental understanding of the detailed catalytic processes occurring on Pd-based catalysts under realistic conditions is still lacking. In this study, we investigated CO oxidation on metallic Pd clusters supported on Al₂O₃ and SiO₂. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy revealed the formation of similar-sized Pd clusters on Al₂O₃ and SiO₂. In contrast, CO chemisorption analysis indicated a gradual change in the dispersion of Pd (from 0.79 to 0.2) on Pd/Al₂O₃ and a marginal change in the dispersion (from 0.4 to 0.24) on Pd/SiO₂ as the Pd loading increased from 0.27 to 5.5 wt %; these changes were attributed to differences in the metal-support interactions. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy revealed that fewer a-top CO species were present in Pd supported on Al₂O₃ than those in Pd supported on SiO₂, which is related to the morphological differences in the metallic Pd clusters on these two supports. Despite the different dispersion profiles and surface characteristics of Pd, O₂ titration demonstrated that linearly bound CO (with an infrared signal at 2090 cm⁻¹) reacted first with oxygen in the case of CO-saturated Pd on Al₂O₃ and SiO₂, which suggests that a-top CO on the terrace site plays an important role in CO oxidation. The experimental observations were corroborated by periodic density functional calculations, which confirmed that CO oxidation on the (111) terrace sites is most plausible, both kinetically and thermodynamically, compared to that on the edge or corner sites. This study will deepen the fundamental understanding of the effect of Pd clusters on CO oxidation under reaction conditions.     

Synthesis,characterization, crystal structure,and antimicrobial studies of novel thiourea derivative ligands and their platinum complexes

N,N-Di-R-N′-(4-chlorobenzoyl)thiourea (Di-R: diethyl, di-n-propyl, di-n-butyl and diphenyl) ligands (HL^1–4) and their Pt(II) complexes (cis-[Pt(L^1–4-S,O)₂]) have been synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. HL² ligand and cis-[Pt(L⁴-S,O)₂] metal complex have been also characterized by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. HL², C₁₄H₁₉ClN₂OS, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n (no. 14), with Z = 4, and unit cell parameters, a = 11.1405(16) Å, b = 9.7015(12) Å, c = 14.790(2) Å, β = 106.547(7)°. The cis-[Pt(L⁴-S,O)₂], C₄₀H₂₈Cl₂N₄O₂PtS₂: triclinic, space group P-1 (no. 2), a = 8.9919(3) Å, b = 14.7159(6) Å, c = 15.7954(6) Å, α = 113.9317(18)°, β = 97.4490(18)°, and γ = 105.0492(16)°. Single crystal analysis of complex, cis-[Pt(L^1–4-S,O)₂], revealed that a square planar coordination geometry is formed around the platinum atom by two sulfur and two oxygen atoms of the related ligands, which are in a cis configuration. In addition, the thiourea derivative ligands and their complexes were evaluated for both their in-vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity. The results have been reported, explained, and compared with fluconazole and ampicillin, used as reference drugs.