Controlled Synthesis of Cr‐Co0.85Se Nanoarrays for Water Splitting at an Ultralow Cell Voltage of 1.43 V

Water splitting has attracted more and more attention as a promising strategy for the production of clean hydrogen fuel. In this work, a new synthesis strategy was proposed, and Co_0.85Se was synthesized on nickel foam as the main matrix. The doping of appropriate Cr amount into the target of Co_0.85Se and the Cr‐Co_0.85Se resulted in an excellent electrochemical performance. The doping of Cr introduces Cr³⁺ ions which substitute Co²⁺ and Co³⁺ ions in Co_0.85Se, so that the lattice parameters of the main matrix were changed. It is worth noting that the Cr0.15‐Co_0.85Se/NF material exhibits an excellent performance in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) test. When the current density reaches 50 mA cm^?2 for OER, the overpotential is only 240 mV. For the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) tests, the overpotential is only 117 mV to drive 10 mA cm^?2 of current density. Moreover, when the Cr0.15‐Co_0.85Se/NF material is used as a two‐electrode device for whole water splitting, the required cell voltage is only 1.43 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^?2, which is among the lowest values of the published catalysts up to now. In addition, the Cr0.15‐Co_0.85Se/NF catalyst also exhibits excellent stability during a long period of water splitting. The experimental result demonstrates that the change of the lattice structure has an obvious influence on the electrocatalytic activity of the material. When an external electric field is applied, it facilitates the rapid electron transfer rate and enhances the electrocatalytic performance and stability of the material.     

Surface Interaction of Ionic Liquids: Stabilization of Polyethylene Terephthalate-Degrading Enzymes in Solution

The effect of aqueous solutions of selected ionic liquids solutions on Ideonella sakaiensis PETase with bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) substrate were studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations in order to identify the possible effect of ionic liquids on the structure and dynamics of enzymatic Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hydrolysis. The use of specific ionic liquids can potentially enhance the enzymatic hydrolyses of PET where these ionic liquids are known to partially dissolve PET. The aqueous solution of cholinium phosphate were found to have the smallest effect of the structure of PETase, and its interaction with (BHET) as substrate was comparable to that with the pure water. Thus, the cholinium phosphate was identified as possible candidate as ionic liquid co-solvent to study the enzymatic hydrolyses of PET.     

非均匀多孔介质有效热导率分析

本文采用控制容积法,界面调和平均导热系数值以及图形处理方法对典型非均匀多孔介质硬质聚氨酯泡沫材料的导热过程进行了分析与模拟计算。结果表明:多孔介质的内部结构是影响温度分布和热量传递的主要的因素,其影响程度与骨架和孔隙的导热系数,孔隙的大小和分布有关;计算得到的有效热导率值与文献中实验测量结果吻合较好。本文的研究结果可以推广到更为复杂的非均匀多孔介质的场合,从而可以进一步认识非均匀多孔介质中的导热规律,为工程计算提供更精确的计算方法。     

The Impact of Foaming Effect on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Foam Glasses with Molecular-Level Insights

Foaming effect strongly impacts the physical and mechanical properties of foam glass materials, but an understanding of its mechanism especially at the molecular level is still limited. In this study, the foaming effects of dextrin, a mixture of dextrin and carbon, and different carbon allotropes are investigated with respect to surface morphology as well as physical and mechanical properties, in which 1 wt.% carbon black is identified as an optimal choice for a well-balanced material property. More importantly, the different foaming effects are elucidated by all-atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with molecular-level insights into the structure–property relationships. The results show that smaller pores and more uniform pore structure benefit the mechanical properties of the foam glass samples. The foam glass samples show excellent chemical and thermal stability with 1 wt.% carbon as the foaming agent. Furthermore, the foaming effects of CaSO₄ and Na₂HPO₄ are investigated, which both create more uniform pore structures. This work may inspire more systematic approaches to control foaming effect for customized engineering needs by establishing molecular-level structure–property–process relationships, thereby, leading to efficient production of foam glass materials with desired foaming effects.     

泡沫镍载碳化钨催化剂上的析氢反应

结合直接化学还原法和交替微波法制备了泡沫Ni载Ni-WC催化剂,用X射线衍射、扫描电镜和透射电镜对催化剂进行了表征,研究了其析氢电催化性能.结果表明,在相同条件下,泡沫Ni载Ni-WC催化剂的析氢起始电位与泡沫Ni相比降低了60 mV左右.电解质浓度和温度对泡沫Ni载Ni-WC催化剂的析氢电催化活性有很大影响.     

镓铟锡液滴撞击泡沫金属表面的运动学特性研究

常温下为液态的镓铟锡合金以其优异的导热性能在具有特殊要求的传热领域有着重要的应用价值,与传统流动介质相比较大的表面张力使得其产生的流动现象必有所区别.本文研究镓铟锡所形成的液滴撞击泡沫金属表面后所产生的铺展、回缩及回弹现象.采用高速相机拍摄液滴投影轮廓随液滴运动的变化过程,并通过图像处理获得不同撞击速度、底板表面孔径下的液滴铺展系数、中心位置轮廓高度以及液滴回弹后在空中的振动特性.研究结果表明:具有较高表面张力的镓铟锡液滴的铺展系数随无量纲时间的变化在铺展初始阶段仍满足常规流体的1/2次幂关系,只在铺展后期与底板的无量纲孔径有关系;液滴的最大铺展系数在较小无量纲孔径底板大于在光滑镍板,且随底板无量纲孔径增大而逐渐减小;在回弹过程,由于底板孔隙结构的存在使得液滴回弹后在空中的振动呈现3种形态:规则的横向和纵向振动、带旋转的横向和纵向振动以及旋转振动;最后,通过对振动频率的拟合和分析,进一步拓展了传统振动频率理论公式在非规则振动过程预测中的应用.      

泡沫铝防护钢筋混凝土板的抗爆性能

为研究多孔吸能材料泡沫铝板对工程结构的抗爆防护作用,开展室外爆炸破坏实验,分别对设置不同泡沫铝防护层的钢筋混凝土(reinforced concrete,RC)板在爆炸荷载下的动态响应及破坏模式进行了研究,并运用LS-DYNA软件建立了有限元模型。通过与实验对照,验证了模型的可行性,对比分析了有、无泡沫铝防护层钢筋混凝土板的损伤破坏规律,并讨论了泡沫铝密度梯度分布和纵筋配筋率的影响。结果表明:有限元模型能够有效分析含泡沫铝防护层RC板的动态响应及其破坏形态;泡沫铝防护层能够有效减小钢筋混凝土板的挠度变形,降低试件的破坏程度;泡沫铝密度由下到上递增情况对RC板的减爆效果最好;增大配筋率可以提升泡沫铝防护RC板整体抗爆性能。     

Studying the Suitability of Nineteen Lignins as Partial Polyol Replacement in Rigid Polyurethane/Polyisocyanurate Foam

In this study, nineteen unmodified lignins from various sources (hardwood, softwood, wheat straw, and corn stover) and isolation processes (kraft, soda, organosolv, sulfite, and enzymatic hydrolysis) were used to replace 30 wt.% of petroleum-based polyol in rigid polyurethane/polyisocyanurate (PUR/PIR) foam formulations. Lignin samples were characterized by measuring their ash content, hydroxyl content (Phosphorus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy), impurities (Inductively Coupled Plasma), and pH. After foam formulation, properties of lignin-based foams were evaluated and compared with a control foam (with no lignin) via cell morphology, closed-cell content, compression strength, apparent density, thermal conductivity, and color analysis. Lignin-based foams passed all measured standard specifications required by ASTM International C1029-15 for type 1 rigid insulation foams, except for three foams. These three foams had poor compressive strengths, significantly larger cell sizes, darker color, lower closed-cell contents, and slower foaming times. The foam made with corn stover enzymatic hydrolysis lignin showed no significant difference from the control foam in terms of compressive strength and outperformed all other lignin-based foams due to its higher aliphatic and p-hydroxyphenyl hydroxyl contents. Lignin-based foams that passed all required performance testing were made with lignins having higher pH, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and aliphatic/p-hydroxyphenyl hydroxyl group contents than those that failed.     

Nickel foam-based composite electrodes for electrooxidation of methanol

Nickel foam and five nickel foam-based composite electrodes were prepared for being used as anode materials for the electrooxidation of methanol in KOH solution containing 0.1 and 1.0 M of methanol. The layered electrodes composed of nickel foam, platinum nanoparticles, polyaniline (PANI) and/or porous carbon (C) prepared in various assemblies. As shown by SEM analysis, depending on the preparation conditions, the electrodes of different morphologies were obtained. Using the cyclic voltammetry method, the oxidation of methanol on nickel foam electrode was observed in the potential range 0.4 V ↔ 0.7 V, where the Ni(OH)₂/NiOOH transformation occurred. The presence of Pt particles in electrode gave rise to the increase in electrocatalytic activity in this potential range. For electrodes containing dispersed platinum catalyst (Ni/Pt, Ni/PANI/Pt and Ni/C/Pt), the oxidation of methanol was noted also in the potential range −0.5 V ↔ 0.1 V. The electrocatalytic activities of the examined electrodes toward methanol oxidation at low potentials were in order Ni/Pt > Ni/C/Pt > Ni/PANI/Pt, whereas at high potentials in order Ni/PANI/Pt > Ni/Pt> Ni/C/Pt > Ni. Among the examined electrodes, the most resistant to cyclic poisoning appeared to be the Ni/C/Pt electrode. Presented at the 4Th Baltic Conference on Electrochemistry, Greifswald, March 13–16, 2005     

Affinity foam fractionation of Trichoderma cellulase

Cellulase could not be selectively collected from fermentation broth by simple foam fractionation, because of the presence of other more surface-active compounds. A new approach of affinity foam fractionation was investigated for improvement. A hardwood hydrolysate (containing cellulose oligomers, substrates to cellulase) and two substrate analogs, i.e., carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and xylan hydrolysate, were added before the foaming process. The substrates and substrate analogs were indeed found to bind the cellulase selectively and form more hydrophobic complexes that partition more readily onto bubble surfaces. In this study, the effects of the type and concentration of substrate/analog as well as the presence of cells at different growth stages were examined. The foam fractionation properties evaluated included foaming speed, foam stability, foamate volume, and enrichment of filter paper unit (FPU) and individual cellulase components (i.e., endoglucanases, exoglucanases, and β-glucosidases). Depending on the broth and substrate/analog employed, the foamate FPU could be more than fourfold higher than the starting broth FPU. Addition of substrate/analog also deterred the enrichment of other extracellular proteins, resulting in the desired cellulase purification in the foamate. The value of E/P (enzyme activity-FPU/g/L of proteins) in the foamate reached as high as 18, from a lactose-based fermentation broth with original E/P of 5.6. Among cellulase components, exoglucanases were enriched the most and β-glucosidases the least. The study with CMC of different molecular weights (MW) and degrees of substitution (DS) indicated that the CMC with low DS and high MW performed better in cellulase foam fractionation.