FeNi Alloy Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Carbon Shells Supported on N-Doped Graphene-Like Carbon as Efficient and Stable Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts

The development of cost-effective and durable oxygen electrocatalysts remains highly critical but challenging for energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, a novel FeNi alloy nanoparticle core encapsulated in carbon shells supported on a N-enriched graphene-like carbon matrix (denoted as FeNi@C/NG) was constructed by facile pyrolyzing the mixture of metal salts, glucose, and dicyandiamide. The in situ pyrolysis of dicyandiamide in the presence of glucose plays a significant effect on the fabrication of the porous FeNi@C/NG with a high content of doped N and large specific surface area. The optimized FeNi@C/NG catalyst displays not only a superior catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR, with an onset potential of 1.0 V and half-wave potential of 0.84 V) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER, the potential at 10 mA cm⁻² is 1.66 V) simultaneously in alkaline, but also outstanding long-term cycling durability. The excellent bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalytic performance is ascribed to the synergism of the carbon shell and FeNi alloy core together with the high-content of nitrogen doped on the large specific surface area graphene-like carbon.     

Ultrafine PtRu Dilute Alloy Nanodendrites for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Methanol Oxidation

Dilute alloy nanostructures have been demonstrated to possess distinct catalytic properties. Noble-metal-induced reduction is one effective synthesis strategy to construct dilute alloys and modify the catalytic performance of the host metal. Herein, we report the synthesis of ultrafine PtRu dilute alloy nanodendrites (PtRu NDs, molar ratio Ru/Pt is 1:199) by the reduction of Ru^III ions induced by Pt metal. For the methanol oxidation reaction, PtRu NDs showed the highest forward peak current density (2.66 mA cm⁻², 1.14 A/mg_Pt) and the best stability compared to those of pure-Pt nanodendrites (pure-Pt NDs), commercial PtRu/C and commercial Pt/C catalysts.     

Approximant crystals of icosahedral Mg–(Ga,Al)–Zn alloys

The zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) low-field magnetic moment m of a dense frozen ferrofluid containing Fe₅₅Co₄₅ particles of size 4.6nm in hexane exhibits irreversibility at temperatures T?T _b≈ 30?K. FC in μ ₀ H ≤ 1?T gives rise to shifted minor hysteresis loops below T _b. At T _c≈ 10?K, sharp peaks of m ^ZFC and of the ac susceptibility χ ′, a kink of the thermoremanent magnetic moment m ^TRM, a sizeable reduction of the coercive field H _c, and the appearance of a spontaneous moment m ^SFM indicate a phase transition with near mean-field critical behaviour of both m ^SFM and χ ′ . These features are explained within a core-shell model of nanoparticles, whose strongly disordered shells gradually become blocked below T _b, while their soft ferromagnetic cores couple dipolarly and become superferromagnetic (SFM) below T _c.     

Temperature‐dependent local atomic structures in the traditional Fe65Ni35 Invar alloy by X‐ray fluorescence holography

Fe and Ni Kα X‐ray fluorescence holography measurements were conducted on a single crystal Fe₆₅Ni₃₅ Invar alloy at 100 and 300 K to investigate the temperature dependence of the 3‐dimensional local structures around the Fe and Ni atoms, respectively. Local structural information was obtained by detailed analyses using a L₁‐regularized linear regression for the experimental data. At 100 K, the local atomic arrangements around both the elements show fcc structures. At 300 K, however, only the image around Fe shows a bcc‐like neighboring arrangement. From these X‐ray fluorescence holography data, we propose a model that with increasing temperature, an Fe atom with the low‐spin state enters at the central position of the fcc lattice and is stabilized. And then, large angular positional fluctuations are induced for the atoms at the face‐centered positions around the central Fe atom only.     

Corrosion inhibition of ammonium molybdate for AA6061 alloy in NaCl solution and its synergistic effect with calcium gluconate

The corrosion inhibition of ammonium heltamolybdate (AH) and calcium gluconate (CG) for AA6061 alloy in 3% NaCl solution was investigated by the electrochemical measurements. It indicates that AH inhibits the corrosion of AA6061 alloy and acts as an anodic inhibitor. Maximum inhibition efficiency reaches 74.3% at the concentration of 1 × 10^?4 mol.l^?1 AH. The results of the electrochemical studies reveal AH is physically adsorbed on the AA6061 alloy surface and the adsorption follows Langmuir isotherm. The combination of AH and CG enhances the inhibition efficiency to 95.9%. The enhanced inhibition is attributed to the promotion of AH adsorption by CG. The mixture of AH and CG is a mixed‐type inhibitor and renders the corrosion potential to more positive values. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ir和IrPd催化剂的合成及结构调控对其甲醇氧化性能的影响

以三嵌段共聚物P123(聚环氧乙烷-聚环氧丙烷-聚环氧乙烷,PEO₂₀-PPO₇₀-PEO₂₀)为还原剂和保护剂,比较了水热法和溶剂热法对纯Ir和IrPd合金催化剂合成及其电催化氧化甲醇(MOR)性能的影响。对于纯Ir催化剂,在相同条件下,溶剂热法能更好地促进Ir前驱体的还原。对于IrPd合金催化剂,溶剂热法可制得表面富含Ir但MOR活性较低的核壳结构产物(IrPd-S)。水热反应得到的不同原子比(IrPd、Ir₂Pd、IrPd₂)的产物粒径更小,元素分布更均匀。其中比例为1∶1的IrPd (IrPd-H)催化剂的MOR电催化活性最高。上述结果表明,通过调节溶剂类型以及P123的结构诱导作用,可以有效地调节纯Ir和IrPd合金催化剂的结构、表面组成和电催化活性。     

SMFs-supported Pd nanocatalysts in selective acetylene hydrogenation: Pore structure-dependent deactivation mechanism

In the present study, CNFs, ZnO and Al₂O₃ were deposited on the SMFs panels to investigate the deactivation mechanism of Pd-based catalysts in selective acetylene hydrogenation reaction. The examined supports were characterized by SEM, NH₃-TPD and N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms to indicate their intrinsic characteristics. Furthermore, in order to understand the mechanism of deactivation, the resulted green oil was characterized using FTIR and SIM DIS. FTIR results confirmed the presence of more unsaturated constituents and then, more branched hydrocarbons formed upon the reaction over alumina-supported catalyst in comparison with the ones supported on CNFs and ZnO, which in turn, could block the pores mouths. Besides the limited hydrogen transfer, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms results supported that the lowest pore diameters of Al₂O₃/SMFs close to the surface led to fast deactivation, compared with the other catalysts, especially at higher temperatures.     

The electrocatalytic behavior of electrodeposited Ni–Mo–P alloy films towards ethanol electrooxidation

Ternary Ni–Mo–P thin films have been electrodeposited from citrate‐based electrolyte onto graphite substrates for application as anode catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation. The operating deposition parameters were optimized to produce Ni–Mo–P alloy films of outstanding catalytic activity. The phase structure of the deposits was evaluated employing X‐ray diffraction technique. Morphology and chemical composition of the deposited alloy films were studied using scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis, respectively. The results demonstrated that the rate of Ni–Mo–P deposition increases with increasing the ammonium molybdate concentration in the plating electrolyte up to 10 g l^?1. Also, the amount of Mo in the deposits increases with increasing the ammonium molybdate concentration up to 7.5 g l^?1, and the maximum Mo content in the film was 9.1 at.%. The catalytic activity of Ni–Mo–P/C alloy films has been evaluated towards electrooxidation of ethanol in 1.0 M NaOH solution by using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The catalytic performance of the prepared anodes as a function of the amount of Mo was studied. The results showed an increase in the oxidation peak current density of ethanol with increasing the Mo at.% in the deposited alloy films. Additionally, Ni–Mo–P/C electrodes displayed significantly improved catalytic activity and stability towards electrooxidation of ethanol compared with that of Ni–P/C electrode. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

镁电解槽中制备镁稀土合金的电解工艺及机制研究

在模拟镁电解槽中,采用电解法制备出稀土含量<10%的镁稀土合金;研究了熔盐中RECl3和CaCl2的含量、电解温度和阴极电流密度对合金中RE含量和电流效率的影响。并采用循环伏安实验和还原实验研究电解制备镁稀土合金的机制。研究结果表明,电解制备镁稀土合金最佳的工艺条件为:熔盐中RECl3和CaCl2的含量分别为3%和10%(质量分数),电解温度为948 K,阴极电流密度约为8 A.cm-2。其电解过程机制为:阴极上只电解出金属镁,而后金属镁把稀土元素还原出来,形成镁稀土合金。     

还原温度对双介孔钴基催化剂费-托合成性能的影响

通过等体积浸渍法制备了双介孔钴基催化剂,采用XRD、BET、SEM、H₂-TPR等手段考察了催化剂的性质,并研究了还原温度对催化剂结构及费托合成催化性能的影响。结果表明,随着还原温度的提高,催化剂活性位增加,活性增加,但增加到一定程度后活性降低,而甲烷选择性随着还原温度的提高逐渐增加,这是反应过程中催化剂表面存在的钴氧化物,使得水煤气反应变得活跃,烃产物移向低碳烃。