Microstructural studies on degradation of interface between LSM–YSZ cathode and YSZ electrolyte in SOFCs

The changes in the cathode/electrolyte interface microstructure have been studied on anode-supported technological solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that were subjected to long-term (1500 h) testing at 750 °C under high electrical loading (a current density of 0.75 A/cm²). These cells exhibit different cathode degradation rates depending on, among others, the composition of the cathode gas, being significantly smaller in oxygen than in air. FE-SEM and high resolution analytical TEM were applied for characterization of the interface on a submicron- and nano-scale. The interface degradation has been identified as the loss of LSM coverage and the loss of three-phase-boundary (TPB) length. Firstly, the degradation is caused by the size reduction of the individual LSM/YSZ electrolyte contact points (areas) that are initially of 100–200 nm in diameter. Quantitative microstructure evaluation shows that in the cell tested in air this mechanism contributes to an estimated overall reduction in the LSM coverage and the TPB length by 50 and 30%, respectively. For the cell tested in oxygen the corresponding values are 10 and 4%. Secondly, in the cell tested in air the LSM coverage and the TPB length appear to decrease further due to the more pronounced formation of insulating zirconate phases that are present locally and preferably in LSM/YSZ electrolyte contact areas. The effects of the cathode gas on the interface degradation are discussed considering the change of oxygen activity at the interface, possible changes in the Mn diffusion pattern as well as the LSM/YSZ reactivity. Finally, based on thermodynamic calculations a T–p(O₂) diagram predicting the safe and risky operation conditions in terms of the zirconate formation is presented and compared with the experimental observations.     

Increasing the pump-up rate to polarize He gas using spin-exchange optical pumping method

In recent years, polarized ³He gas has increasingly been used as neutron polarizers and polarization analyzers. Two of the leading methods to polarize the ³He gas are the spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) method and the meta-stable exchange optical pumping (MEOP) method. At present, the SEOP setup is comparatively compact due to the fact that it does not require the sophisticated compressor system used in the MEOP method. The temperature and the laser power available determine the speed, at which the SEOP method polarizes the ³He gas. For the quantity of gas typically used in neutron scattering work, this speed is independent of the quantity of the gas required, whereas the polarizing time using the MEOP method is proportional to the quantity of gas required. Currently, using the SEOP method to polarize several bar-liters of ³He to 70% polarization would require 20−40 h. This is an order of magnitude longer than the MEOP method for the same quantity of gas and polarization. It would therefore be advantageous to speed up the SEOP process. In this article, we analyze the requirements for temperature, laser power, and the type of alkali used in order to shorten the time required to polarize ³He gas using the SEOP method.     

The future of focused electron beam-induced processing

A perspective is sketched for the field of focused electron beam-induced processing (FEBIP). The FEBIP lithography technique is compared to the very successful resist-based electron beam lithography (EBL) technique. The advantages of FEBIP over EBL are identified, the main advantage being its high spatial resolution. This will enable FEBIP to become an important lithography technique for the fabrication of devices with critical dimension in the range between 1 and 20 nm and serve as a complementary technique to EBL. It will be discussed what needs to be done to achieve this and what the potential applications are.     

Quantum interference between the third and fourth exciton states in semiconducting carbon nanotubes using resonance Raman spectroscopy

We exploit an energy level crossover effect [Haroz et al., Phys. Rev. B 77, 125405 (2008)] to probe quantum interference in the resonance Raman response from carbon nanotube samples highly enriched in the single semiconducting chiralities of (8,6), (9,4), and (10,5). UV Raman excitation profiles of G-band spectra reveal unambiguous signatures of interference between the third and fourth excitonic states (E(33) and E(44)). Both constructive and destructive responses are observed and lead to anomalous intensity ratios in the LO and TO modes. Especially large anomalies for the (10,5) structure result from nearly identical energies found for the two E(ii) transitions. The interference patterns demonstrate that the sign of the exciton-phonon coupling matrix elements changes for the LO mode between the two electronic states, and remains the same for the TO mode. Significant non-Condon contributions to the Raman response are also found.     

Reversible gas-phase redox processes catalyzed by Co-exchanged MFU-4l(arge)

Postsynthetic metal ion exchange in a benzotriazolate-based MFU-4l(arge) framework leads to a Co(II)-containing framework with open metal sites showing reversible gas-phase oxidation properties.     

Theory of sheath in a collisional multi-component plasma

The aim of this brief report is to study the behaviour of sheath structure in a multi-component plasma with dust-neutral collisions. The plasma consists of electrons, ions, micron size negatively charged dust particles and neutrals. The sheath-edge potential and sheath width are calculated for collisionally dominated sheath. Comparison of collisionless and collisionally dominated sheath are made.