Marine microbial fuel cell : use of stainless steel electrodes as anode and cathode materials

Numerous biocorrosion studies have stated that biofilms formed in aerobic seawater induce an efficient catalysis of the oxygen reduction on stainless steels. This property was implemented here for the first time in a marine microbial fuel cell (MFC). A prototype was designed with a stainless steel anode embedded in marine sediments coupled to a stainless steel cathode in the overlying seawater. Recording current/potential curves during the progress of the experiment confirmed that the cathode progressively acquired effective catalytic properties. The maximal power density produced of 4mWm−2 was lower than those reported previously with marine MFC using graphite electrodes. Decoupling anode and cathode showed that the cathode suffered practical problems related to implementation in the sea, which may found easy technical solutions. A laboratory fuel cell based on the same principle demonstrated that the biofilm-covered stainless steel cathode was able to supply current density up to 140mAm−2 at +0.05V versus Ag/AgCl. The power density of 23mWm−2 was in this case limited by the anode. These first tests presented the biofilm-covered stainless steel cathodes as very promising candidates to be implemented in marine MFC. The suitability of stainless steel as anode has to be further investigated

Intergenerational family constellations in contemporary Europe

Demographic research has drawn attention to the multiple ways in which changes in mortality and childbearing have produced major shifts in intergenerational family structures. The aim of this article is to contribute to this body of research by analysing the data from the Generations and Gender Surveys for nine European countries. In the study, data pertaining to the availability of ascending (parents and grandparents) and descending kin (children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) of the respondent are combined to shed light on the family structures in which indviduals are embedded at various stages of their lives. The findings provide new insights into the ways in which the past and present diversity of demographic regimes comes together into specific patterns of intergenerational family constellations across Europe. This convergence may yield family constellations of very similar “height†in countries with sharply contrasting demographic histories. The results also indicate that certain demographic scenarios may halt or temporarily reverse the trend towards the further vertical extension of family constellations.comparative studies, Europe, intergenerational family constellations, kin networks

Effect of Surface Passivation on CdxNi1-xS Thin Films Embedded with Nickel Nanoparticles

Certain treatments done to binary CdS, such as incorporating Ni onto CdS produces ternary thin films may cause major optical parameters that have a number of applications including for solar cell device fabrication. In this paper, we report on the effect of surface passivation on the band gap and other related optical properties of CdNiS thin films. Thin films for CdxNi1-xS were prepared on glass substrates by chemical solution method. Effects of surface passivation and variation of the volume of nickel ions on the optical properties CdS hence obtaining CdxNi1-xS thin films was investigated. It was observed that the thin films hard an average Transmittance above 68 %, with reflectance below 25 % across UV-VIS-NIR region. A plot of (αhν) 2 versus hν gave energy band gap between 2.55–3.49 eV for as-grown samples and 2.82–3.50 eV for annealed samples. The passivated samples had band gap energy values within the range 2.85–3.12 eV. It was concluded that an increase in concentration of Cd2+ and Ni2+ ions in the reaction led to an increase the band gap while optical conductivity ranged between 3.78x1011–2.40x1012 S-1

Back Matter to Library Trends 25 (4) Spring 1977: Trends in the Scholarly Use of Library Resources

published or submitted for publicatio

Electrically pumped continuous wave quantum dot lasers epitaxially grown on patterned, on-axis (001) Si

High performance III-V lasers at datacom and telecom wavelengths on on-axis (001) Si are needed for scalable datacenter interconnect technologies. We demonstrate electrically injected quantum dot lasers grown on on-axis (001) Si patterned with {111} v-grooves lying in the [110] direction. No additional Ge buffers or substrate miscut was used. The active region consists of five InAs/InGaAs dot-in-a-well layers. We achieve continuous wave lasing with thresholds as low as 36 mA and operation up to 80°C

Self-consistent collective subspaces and diabatic/adiabatic motion in nuclei

We discuss the application of a theory of large-amplitude collective motion to a simple model mimicking the pairing-plus-quadrupole model of nuclear physics.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex using graphicx.sty, 1 postscript figures included. Talk presented at Conference on "Nuclear structure at the extremes" (June 17 - 19, 1998, Lewes, UK

Band Crossing studied by GCM with 3D-CHFB

We solved the constrained Hill-Wheeler Equation, and found several signatures of multi-band crossing in 182 Os.Comment: LaTeX 3 pages, 3 eps figures; Contribution to International Conference, Nuclear Structure at the extreme,Lewes, UK, (1998) Jun.17-1