Fabrication of high surface area ribbon electrodes for use in redox flow batteries via coaxial electrospinning

A method for the preparation of electrospun with fibers possessing a ribbon-like cross-sectional shape was developed. These materials could prove beneficial as flow-through electrodes, since ribbons provide a higher surface-to-volume ratio compared to fibers, thereby providing higher reactive surface area at a given porosity. Fabrication of these materials was accomplished by electrospinning a coaxial fiber with a polystyrene core and polyacrylonitrile shell, followed by leaching of the core material leading to the collapse of the shell into a flat ribbon. The surviving shell was then carbonized to make an electrically conductive and electrochemically reactive fibrous structure. Analysis by x-ray computed tomography showed that ribbons of approximately 400 nm × 800 nm were produced, and experimental characterization revealed that they did indeed offer higher volumetric surface area than previously reported electrospun cylindrical fiber electrodes. The electrodes were characterized for various physical and transport properties and compared to commercial Freudenberg H23 carbon paper in terms of performance in a vanadium redox flow battery. The ribbon-based electrode had better performance and higher power density than commercial Freudenberg H23 electrode in the activation region, though suffered early onset of mass transfer limitations

Spectroscopic methods for the identification of sesquiterpene lactones

The most widely used spectroscopic methods for the identification ofsesquiterpene lactones are discussed. The most distinctive and characteristic signals in the UV, IR, MS, 1H-MNR and 13C-NMR spectra are discussed. In addition, some examples of the application of these techniques for the structure elucidation of some representative sesquiterpene lactones with different skeletal types are presented.Fil: Sülsen, Valeria Patricia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Donadel, Osvaldo Juan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Catalan, Cesar Atilio Nazareno. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Química del Noroeste. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Química del Noroeste; Argentin