A new anode material for oxygen evolution in molten oxide electrolysis

Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is an electrometallurgical technique that enables the direct production of metal in the liquid state from oxide feedstock and compared with traditional methods of extractive metallurgy offers both a substantial simplification of the process and a significant reduction in energy consumption. MOE is also considered a promising route for mitigation of CO[subscript 2] emissions in steelmaking, production of metals free of carbon, and generation of oxygen for extra-terrestrial exploration. Until now, MOE has been demonstrated using anode materials that are consumable (graphite for use with ferro-alloys and titanium) or unaffordable for terrestrial applications (iridium for use with iron). To enable metal production without process carbon, MOE requires an anode material that resists depletion while sustaining oxygen evolution. The challenges for iron production are threefold. First, the process temperature is in excess of 1,538 degrees Celsius. Second, under anodic polarization most metals inevitably corrode in such conditions. Third, iron oxide undergoes spontaneous reduction on contact with most refractory metals and even carbon. Here we show that anodes comprising chromium-based alloys exhibit limited consumption during iron extraction and oxygen evolution by MOE. The anode stability is due to the formation of an electronically conductive solid solution of chromium(iii) and aluminium oxides in the corundum structure. These findings make practicable larger-scale evaluation of MOE for the production of steel, and potentially provide a key material component enabling mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions while producing metal of superior metallurgical quality.American Iron and Steel Institut

Cure from the cave: volcanic cave actinomycetes and their potential in drug discovery

Volcanic caves have been little studied for their potential as sources of novel microbial species and bioactive compounds with new scaffolds. We present the first study of volcanic cave microbiology from Canada and suggest that this habitat has great potential for the isolation of novel bioactive substances. Sample locations were plot ted on a contour map that was compiled in ArcView 3.2. Over 400 bacterial isolates were obtained from the Helmcken Falls cave in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia. From our preliminary screen, of 400 isolates tested, 1% showed activity against extended spectrum ß-lactamase E. coli, 1.75% against Escherichia coli, 2.25% against Acinetobacter baumannii, and 26.50% against Klebsiella pneumoniae. In addition, 10.25% showed activity against Micrococcus luteus, 2% against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 9.25% against Mycobacterium smegmatis, 6.25% Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 7.5% against Candida albicans. Chemical and physical characteristics of three rock wall samples were studied using scanning electron microscopy and f lame atomic absorption spectrometry. Calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and aluminum (Al) were the most abundant components while magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and barium (Ba) were second most abundant with cadmium (Cd) and potassium (K) were the least abundant in our samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the presence of microscopic life forms in all three rock wall samples. 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 82 isolates revealed that 65 (79.3%) of the strains belong to the Streptomyces genus and 5 (6.1%) were members of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Nocardia and Erwinia genera. Interestingly, twelve (14.6%) of the 16S rRNA sequences showed similarity to unidentified ribosomal RNA sequences in the library databases, the sequences of these isolates need to be further investigated using the EzTaxon-e database (http://eztaxon-e. ezbiocloud.net/) to determine whether or not these are novel species. Nevertheless, this suggests the possibility that they could be unstudied or rare bacteria. The Helmcken Falls cave microbiome possesses a great diversity of microbes with the potential for studies of novel microbial interactions and the isolation of new types of antimicrobial agents

Porous Carbon Anodes for the Supply of Methane during Electrowinning of Aluminium

One of the major downsides of the current aluminium production process is the high amount of CO2 e mission. One alternative is to replace the consumable carbon anodes with inert anodes so that oxygen evolves instead of CO2 and PFC emissions. However, so far a sufficiently inert anode has not been found. Another option is to utilize natural gas through porous anodes. This will decrease CO2 emission remarkably and also eliminate PFC emissions and anode effect. The porous anode could be made of carbon or it can be inert. However, the as-mentioned problem still exists regarding porous inert anodes. Therefore, at the moment porous carbon anodes seem to be the best practical option. In this study, porous anodes made of different grades of graphite were used for electrolysis experiments. Also, off-gas analysis was performed to get an insight of the ongoing reactions. Our results show that for some types of graphite anodes, methane parti ci pates effectively in the anodic reaction

Novel multiphase electrode/electrolyte composites for next generation of flexible polymeric Li-ion cells

An innovative multiphase electrode/electrolyte composite is proposed here, which is obtained by a fast, versatile and easily scalable UV-induced free-radical photo-polymerisation technique. This novel configuration consists of a methacrylic-based polymer electrolyte directly formed in situ at the interface of different electrode films (i.e. commercial graphite and hydrothermally synthesized LiFePO4). Conformal coatings are confirmed by SEM analysis which indicates an intimate interfacial adhesion between the electrode material particles and the polymer electrolyte. Laboratory-scale lithium pouch cells assembled by contacting a lithium metal counter electrode over the as-prepared electrode/electrolyte composites display good ambient temperature charge/discharge characteristics, at the level of the corresponding lithium cells in liquid electrolyte, along with very stable cyclability even at high current rates. In addition, preliminary results of a laboratory-scale Li-ion polymer cell, assembled by contacting the LiFePO4 cathode with the graphite anode, both in situ coated with the polymer electrolyte, are presented. The obtained findings outline the practical relevance of the novel procedure adopted which leads to the preparation of composite films with interesting performance, particularly for the next generation of flexible all-solid-state Li-ion microbatterie