Highly Active Bidirectional Electron Transfer by a Self‐Assembled Electroactive Reduced‐Graphene‐Oxide‐Hybridized Biofilm

Low extracellular electron transfer performance is often a bottleneck in developing high‐performance bioelectrochemical systems. Herein, we show that the self‐assembly of graphene oxide and Shewanella oneidensis MR‐1 formed an electroactive, reduced‐graphene‐oxide‐hybridized, three‐dimensional macroporous biofilm, which enabled highly efficient bidirectional electron transfers between Shewanella and electrodes owing to high biomass incorporation and enhanced direct contact‐based extracellular electron transfer. This 3D electroactive biofilm delivered a 25‐fold increase in the outward current (oxidation current, electron flux from bacteria to electrodes) and 74‐fold increase in the inward current (reduction current, electron flux from electrodes to bacteria) over that of the naturally occurring biofilms.     

Metastable Ionic Diodes Derived from an Amine‐Based Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity

A highly rigid amine‐based polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM), prepared by a polymerization reaction involving the formation of Tröger’s base, is demonstrated to act as an ionic diode with electrolyte‐dependent bistable switchable states.     

Mapping Platinum Species in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells by Spatially Resolved XAFS Techniques

There is limited information on the mechanism for platinum oxidation and dissolution in Pt/C cathode catalyst layers of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) under the operating conditions though these issues should be uncovered for the development of next‐generation PEFCs. Pt species in Pt/C cathode catalyst layers are mapped by a XAFS (X‐ray absorption fine structure) method and by a quick‐XAFS(QXAFS) method. Information on the site‐preferential oxidation and leaching of Pt cathode nanoparticles around the cathode boundary and the micro‐crack in degraded PEFCs is provided, which is relevant to the origin and mechanism of PEFC degradation.     

Modelling of a tubular solid oxide fuel cell with different designs of indirect internal reformer

The cell performance and temperature gradient of a tubular solid oxide fuel cell with indirect internal reformer(IIR-SOFC) fuelled by natural gas, containing a typical catalytic packed-bed reformer, a catalytic coated wall reformer, a catalytic annular reformer, and a novel catalytic annular-coated wall reformer were investigated with an aim to determine the most efficient internal reformer system. Among the four reformer designs, IIR-SOFC containing an annular-coated wall reformer exhibited the highest performance in terms of cell power density(0.67 W cm-2)and electrical efficiency(68%) with an acceptable temperature gradient and a moderate pressure drop across the reformer(3.53×10-5kPa).IIR-SOFC with an annular-coated wall reformer was then studied over a range of operating conditions: inlet fuel temperature, operating pressure, steam to carbon(S : C) ratio, gas flow pattern(co-flow and counter-flow pattern), and natural gas compositions. The simulation results showed that the temperature gradient across the reformer could not be decreased using a lower fuel inlet temperature(1223 K–1173 K)and both the power density and electrical efficiency of the cell also decreased by lowering fuel inlet temperature. Operating in higher pressure mode(1-10 bar) improved the temperature gradient and cell performance. Increasing the S : C ratio from 2 : 1 to 4 : 1 could decrease the temperature drop across the reformer but also decrease the cell performance. The average temperature gradient was higher and smoother in IIR-SOFC under a co-flow pattern than that under a counter-flow pattern, leading to lower overpotential and higher cell performance. Natural gas compositions significantly affected the cell performance and temperature gradient. Natural gas containing lower methane content provided smoother temperature gradient in the system but showed lower power density and electrical efficiency.     

Preparation and characterization of Ti0.7Sn0.3O2 as catalyst support for oxygen reduction reaction

Sn-doped TiO_2 nanoparticles with high surface area of 125.7 m~2·g~(-1) are synthesized via a simple one-step hydrothermai method and explored as the cathode catalyst support for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.The synthesized support materials are studied by X-ray diffraction analysis,energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.It is found that the conductivity has been greatly improved by the addition of 30 mol%Sn and Pt nanoparticles are well dispersed on Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2 support with an average size of 2.44 run.Electrochemical studies show that the Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2 nanoparticles have excellent electrochemical stability under a high potential compared to Vulcan XC-72.The as-synthesized Pt/Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2 exhibits high and stable electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction.The Pt/Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2 catalyst reserves most of its electrochemically active surface area(ECA),and its half wave potential difference is 11 mV,which is lower than that of Pt/XC-72(36 mV) under 10 h potential hold at 1.4 V vs.NHE.In addition,the ECA degradation of Pt/Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2is 1.9 times lower than commercial Pt/XC-72 under 500 potential cycles between 0.6 V and 1.2 V vs.NHE.Therefore,the as synthesized Pt/Ti_(0.7)Sn_(0.3)O_2 can be considered as a promising alternative cathode,catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.     

Performance of Co/MgO catalyst for C02 reforming of toluene as a model compound of tar derived from biomass gasification

Catalytic performances of the CO2 reforming of toluene on Co/MgO catalysts with different cobalt loadings were evaluated in a fluidized-bed reactor. The results showed that the conversion of toluene and the stability of Co/MgO increased, but the apparent reaction rate decreased at the initial stage with increasing the amount of metallic Co formed from the reduction of Co/MgO catalysts at 700 ~C. The deactivation of Co/MgO catalysts was mainly resulted from that a part of the metallic Co was oxidized by CO2 and could not be re-reduced by H2 at reaction temperature. Therefore, the excess metallic Co on the higher Co loading catalysts was beneficial to the catalyst stability.     

具有优异甲醇催化氧化性能的Pt/MoO3-WO3/CNTs催化剂

以聚二烯丙基二甲基胺盐酸盐(PDDA)为连接剂,采用原位自组装方式将MoO3和WO3负载到碳纳米管(CNTs)上,然后通过乙二醇还原法负载Pt纳米颗粒,得到Pt纳米颗粒均匀分布的Pt/MoO3-WO3/CNTs催化剂.当氧化物总量控制在10 wt%,MoO3与WO3摩尔比为1:0.5时,Pt/MoO3-WO3/CNTs催化剂催化甲醇氧化活性最高,甲醇氧化峰电流If高达835 A/gPt.WO3和MoO3的加入提高了催化剂的甲醇氧化活性、抗CO中毒能力和稳定性,使得Pt/MoO3-WO3/CNTs催化剂表现出优异的甲醇电催化氧化性能.     

费谢尔判别法鉴别原油/燃料油

以多环芳烃作为变量,建立了原油、燃料油属性鉴别的费谢尔判别法。分别测定了来自不同国家和地区的26个原油样品和25个燃料油样品中8种多环芳烃的含量,并将它们作为判别变量。借助SPSS 16.0进行费谢尔判别分析,建立费谢尔判别函数。将未知样品的判别变量值代入后,可以快速地得知样品的类别。结果表明,以多环芳烃作为判别变量进行原油、燃料油费谢尔判别快速而准确。