Production of carbon soot with a high content of C60 and C70 fullerenes by electric arc

The effect of the parameters of the electric arc (helium pressure, current and voltage, clearance between electrodes) and of the peculiarities of the setup design (arrangement of electrodes, distance between the arc and the cooling surface, temperature of the soot condensation surface) on the yield of fullerenes has been studied. Conditions for producing soot with a C₆₀ and C₇₀ content up to 43% (toluene extract) have been found.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 805–809, May, 1994.The authors are grateful to N. G. Spitsyna and A. V. Dubovitskii for the determination of the content of C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes in the extract.The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project 93-03-18705).     

The gas phase reaction between CO2 and lanthanide atoms. A test of a model for the isokinetic effect

Summary Co₃O₄, NiCo₂O₄ and LaCo₂O₄catalysts were synthesizedby the citric acid-ligated method. These catalysts containing Co-oxide active components can largely lower the temperature of soot combustion under tight contact conditions. Under the conditions of loose contact NiCo₂O₄ cannot promote soot combustion, but LaCo₂O₄ can effectively promote soot combustion because the nanometric perovskite-type catalyst LaCoO₃produced in the LaCo₂O₄sample.</o:p>     

柴油机烟碳的微波加热燃烧Ⅲ.铜催化剂的影响

柴油机烟碳的微波加热燃烧Ⅲ．铜催化剂的影响吕晓慧马建新李平朱兵刘士宁（华东理工大学工业催化研究所，上海２００２３７）方明刘毅庭（香港科技大学研究中心）关键词柴油机烟碳，微波加热，催化燃烧，铜催化剂作者在前文［１，２］研究了柴油机烟碳的微波加热燃...     

SOOT combustion. co and k catalysts supported on different supports

The catalytic combustion of particulate material was studied on cobalt catalysts promoted with potassium using different supports for its preparation. Silica, aluminium oxides and hydroxides, zirconium oxide and hydroxide were used as supports. The catalytic activity for combustion depends on the type of support used, the higher activity corresponding to the supported catalyst on zirconium oxide. TPR studies indicate that the interaction metal/support allows to explain the higher activity of the CoK/SiO₂ catalyst with respect to the CoK/Al₂O₃ but the high activity found in CoK/ZrO₂is not explained by this interaction. In all cases the Co and K improved the performance of the catalysts.     

Characterisation of Sugar Cane Combustion Particles in the Araraquara Region, Southeast Brazil

Biomass burning is an important primary and secondary source of aerosol particles. The presence of carbonaceous particles in the respirable size range makes the study of this fraction important in view of possible health and climatic effects. The annual burning of sugar cane plantations causes emission of huge amounts of pyrogenic particles. Aerosol samples were collected in Araraquara city, São Paulo state, Brazil, during the harvest season for fine and coarse particles and bulk; they were analysed by electron-probe microanalysis, including facilities for low-Z element determination (low-Z EPMA) and by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), in order to investigate the elemental composition of individual particles and bulk samples, respectively. Numerical analysis of the EPMA results by hierarchical clustering shows high contributions of carbonaceous particles that can be distinguished mainly in two different types: biogenic and carbon-rich. Additionally, two significant contributions of aluminosilicate particles were identified: as rather pure aluminosilicates or mixed with carbonaceous species. The EDXRF results are compatible with those of aerosol particles in Amazon, which is nowadays one of the main sources of biogenic particles in the world.     

Surface characterization of Co,K/La2O3 catalysts used for the catalytic combustion of diesel soot

Catalysts of Co,K/La₂O₃ have been prepared by wet impregnation. The samples have been calcined at 400°C and 700°C and have been characterized for phase composition using x‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The XPS analysis of the samples has been obtained by examination of the O 1s, K 2p, C 1s and La 3d spectral regions. The XPS data are discussed with respect to the calcination temperatures and the soot combustion performed in the spectrometer reaction chamber. Analysis of the XPS data indicates considerable carbonation of the surfaces of all samples, even after burning the soot. The K/La₂O₃ solid presents the highest content of surface carbonated species, showing the highest catalytic activity for soot combustion. Interaction of the catalysts with CO₂ is studied by temperature‐programmed desorption and microbalance experiments. Kinetic studies and surface characterization of the potassium‐containing samples suggest that an appropriate surface potassium concentration is necessary for a synergetic action between potassium and lanthanum. In the cobalt‐containing catalysts calcined at 700°C, an increase is observed in the concentration of the outer‐layer perovskite species when the potassium content increases, following the same tendency observed in the bulk. Such LaCoO₃ species would limit the reaction of lanthanum with CO₂. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

有机金属化合物降低柴油机炭烟排放及其机理的研究

在直喷式柴油机上按自由加速法进行了柴油机炭烟排放试验，考察了8种有机金属化合物降低炭烟排放的效果，并对其作用机理进行了研究。实验表明，8种有机金属化合物均能有效降低炭烟排放，降烟效果顺序为二壬基萘磺酸钡>二茂铁>环烷酸铁>石油磺酸钡>环烷酸锰>环烷酸铜>环烷酸钡>环烷酸铈。在纯柴油中添加4‰二壬基萘磺酸钡时，降低炭烟排放40.7%；添加1‰二茂铁时，降低炭烟排放35.3%。试验还表明，有机结构影响有机金属化合物的降烟效果，同时影响着它在添加量上的感受性。炭烟的生成，主要与生成的乙炔（C2H2）和多环芳香烃（PAH）有关，而炭烟的氧化则与炭烟周围氧浓度和炭烟颗粒表面积有关。多数有机金属化合物本身携氧，能使燃油迅速分解生成CO，CO的增加使PAH明显减少，从而抑止炭烟的生成。茂型金属有机物能活化CO分子，进而有效抑止炭烟先导物的生成。     

Numerical study on soot removal in partial oxidation of methane to syngas reactors

The serious carbon deposition existing in catalytic partial oxidation of methane (CPOM) to syngas process is one of the key problems that impede its industrialization. In this study, 3-dimensional unsteady numerical simulations of the soot formation and oxidation in oxidation section in a heat coupling reactor were carried out by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach incorporating the Moss-Brookes model for soot formation. The model has been validated and proven to be in good agreement with experiment results. Effects of nozzle type, nozzle convergence angle, channel spacing, number of channels, radius/height ratio, oxygen/carbon ratio, preheat temperature and additional introduction of steam on the soot formation were simulated. Results show that the soot formation in oxidation section of the heat coupling reactor depends on both nozzle structures and operation conditions, and the soot concentration can be greatly reduced by optimization with the maximum mass fraction of soot inside the oxidation reactor from 2.28% to 0.0501%, and so that the soot mass fraction at the exit reduces from 0.74% to 0.03%.     

Impact of post-injection strategy on the physicochemical properties and reactivity of diesel in-cylinder soot

Post injection has significant benefit in the reduction of diesel soot emissions. Therefore, there is a need to understand the effect of post-injection strategy on soot physicochemical properties and reactivity because they play an important role in soot oxidation process that governs the final soot emissions. This work focuses on the impact of post injection on the physicochemical properties and reactivity of diesel in-cylinder soot using a main plus post injection (M*P) and a single injection (M) strategy. The soot was sampled by a developed total cylinder sampling system, and the dividing points of soot formation-dominant and oxidation-dominant phases were used for studying the impacts of post injection on the characteristics of in-cylinder soot. The physicochemical properties of the soot samples, including primary particle size, nanostructure, carbon chemical state and surface functional groups, were characterized. The soot reactivity was evaluated in terms of peak temperature, burnout temperature and apparent activation energy. In the oxidation-dominant phase, the M*P soot initially possesses smaller primary particle size, shorter fringe length, larger tortuosity, lower sp²/sp³ hybridization ratio of carbon atoms and higher content of aliphatic CH groups than the M soot. The beneficial influence of physicochemical properties on soot reactivity when using post injection is validated by the thermogravimetric data, which shows that the M*P soot is more reactive than the M soot at the onset of the oxidation-dominant phase. In the M*P case, the soot generated from the main-injection combustion has lower reactivity than the soot from the post-injection combustion after they experience the soot formation-dominant phase. The results indicate that the use of post injection leads to in-cylinder soot with physicochemical properties that favor reactivity. The enhancement of reactivity means that the soot will be more readily oxidized in the subsequent combustion process, and consequently contributes to a reduction in final soot emissions.     

Vapor deposition of ultrathin hydrophilic polymer coatings enabling candle soot composite for highly sensitive humidity sensors

Candle soot (CS) is a desirable carbon nanomaterial for sensors owing to its highly porous nanostructure and large specific surface area. CS is advantageous in its low-cost and facile preparation compared to graphene and carbon nanotubes, but its pristine nanostructure is susceptible to collapse, hampering its application in electronic devices. This article reports conformal coating of nanoscale crosslinked hydrophilic polymer on CS film using initiated chemical vapor deposition, which well preserved the CS nanostructure and obtained nanoporous CS@polymer composites. Tuning coating thickness enabled composites with different morphologies and specific surface areas. Surprisingly, the humidity sensor made from composite with the lowest filling degree, thus largest specific surface area, showed relatively low sensitivity, which is likely due to its discontinuous structure, thus insufficient conductive channels. Composite sensor with optimum filling degree shows excellent sensing response of more than 10³ with the linearity of R² = 0.9400 within a broad relative humidity range from 11% to 96%. The composite sensor also exhibits outstanding sensing performance compared to literature with low hysteresis (3.00%), a satisfactory response time (28.69 s), and a fast recovery time (0.19 s). The composite sensor is fairly stable and durable even after 24 h soaking in water. Furthermore, embedding a humidity sensor into a face mask realizes real-time monitoring of human breath and cough, suggesting promising applications in respiratory monitoring.