Dealloyed Ruthenium Film Catalysts for Hydrogen Generation from Chemical Hydrides

Thin-film ruthenium (Ru) and copper (Cu) binary alloys have been prepared on a Teflon™ backing layer by cosputtering of the precious and nonprecious metals, respectively. Alloys were then selectively dealloyed by sulfuric acid as an etchant, and their hydrogen generation catalysts performances were evaluated. Sputtering time and power of Cu atoms have been varied in order to tailor the hydrogen generation performances. Similarly, dealloying time and the sulfuric acid concentration have also been altered to tune the morphologies of the resulted films. A maximum hydrogen generation rate of 35 mL min-1 was achieved when Cu sputtering power and time were 200 W and 60 min and while acid concentration and dealloying time were 18 M and 90 min, respectively. It has also been demonstrated that the Ru content in the alloy after dealloying gradually increased with the increasing the sputtering power of Cu. After 90 min dealloying, the Ru to Cu ratio increased to about 190 times that of bare alloy. This is the key issue for observing higher catalytic activity. Interestingly, we have also presented template-free nanoforest-like structure formation within the context of one-step alloying and dealloying used in this study. Last but not least, the long-time hydrogen generation performances of the catalysts system have also been evaluated along 3600 min. During the first 600 min, the catalytic activity was quite stable, while about 24% of the catalytic activity decayed after 3000 min, which still makes these systems available for the development of robust catalyst systems in the area of hydrogen generation. © 2017 by the authors

University-City Interaction and Perception in Terms of Social Change: The Case of Bülent Ecevit University

The role of universities in the global world is becoming more diverse with the developments in information technology and the acceleration of globalization. Universities undertake new and different roles including local, regional and global dynamics besides their basic functions such as training and scientific activities. At the present time, universities stand out as the main actors of social change by contributing to environmental development, increasing economical capacity and building up cultural and social capital. In this manner, universities serve as social actors that play a key role in the development of their region. As a result of the contributions of the universities, an interaction with city people occurs and an organic bond begins to arise. With the increasing number of universities, the interest in city-university interaction is increasing. Therewithal, the number of studies in this direction is very little in literature. In this sense, the aim of the study is to determine the interaction of a university with city and how economic, social and cultural contributions of Bülent Ecevit University (BEÜ) are perceived by city people. For this purpose, a field study using both qualitative and quantitative data collection method was performed. In quantitative study a questionnaire that consists of 77 questions was conducted on 844 participants. In qualitative study, a face to face interviews with non-governmental organizations operating in the city, media organizations, chambers, city representatives were carried out. The result showed a strong and mutual interaction between BEÜ and city people. Also, it is found that the university is an important actor that contributes to social, economic and cultural development of the city. In this manner, Zonguldak community thinks that university has a positive effect on city

The Role of Family and Teachers on Art Choice of Students- The Example of Fine Arts High School

WOS: 000477865600008In the study, the main factors influencing the artistic orientation of the students (choice of art branch and art school) and how families and teachers influence the orientation of students who pursue a career at the field of art have been analyzed. The quantitative data of the study reveal the main factors influencing students' choice of art branch and art school. The qualitative data obtained from semis-tructured interviews provide an in-depth understanding of how families mobilize their cultural, economic and social capital they possess with different degrees and structures and the functioning of this process. In addition, it highlights the various social factors such as recognition of talent by teachers, supporting and guiding talent to choose art education and the resources used in this process. In this study, family has emerged to be a significant source as the initial accumulation of every kind of useful cultural capital and a place of transmission of diverse capitals across generations in the artistic tendency. Students' familiarity with the art field, embodiment of behavior and attitudes have begun in childhood. The artistic characteristics, interests and occupations of the family members were reproduced by the next generations and this also included their school and subject choices. The cultural capital they acquired through the process of family socialization did not only affect the cultural interests, mental tendencies and preferences of the students who chose art, but also shaped their habitus. It also provided an understanding of the "rules of the game" in advance in the field of art and what they should do. In addition, discovering talent at an early age, belief in talents' ability, supportive and guiding approach of teachers have a decisive influence on the students' choice of art

Printable solar cells

This book provides an overall view of the new and highly promising materials and thin film deposition techniques for printable solar cell applications. The book is organized in four parts. Organic and inorganic hybrid materials and solar cell manufacturing techniques are covered in Part I. Part II is devoted to organic materials and processing technologies like spray coating. This part also demonstrates the key features of the interface engineering for the printable organic solar cells. The main focus of the Part III is the perovskite solar cells, which is a new and promising family of the photovoltaic applications. Finally, inorganic materials and solution based thin film formation methods using these materials for printable solar cell application is discussed in Part IV. © 2017 Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved

Directly Copolymerized Disulfonated Poly (arylene ether sulfone) Membranes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

For the first time with this study, membranes from directly copolymerized disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (BPSH 35) were utilized to replace NafionTM in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). Direct copolymerization provided exact control of the degree of disulfonation on the chemical structure. BPSH 35 showed higher proton conductivity (75 mS cm-1), lower vanadium permeability (1.6x10-13 m2 s-1) and better selectivity (4.7x1013 S m-3 s) than N212. The water uptake values for N212 and BPSH 35 membranes were 28 and 40 % by weight, respectively. Higher proton conductivity and water uptake were observed due to the higher ion exchange capacity (IEC) values of BPSH35. In spite of high water uptake of BPSH35, it showed better resistance to vanadium permeation which was most probably because of the chemically bulky nature of the membrane. Moreover, higher columbic (98.9 %) and energy efficiencies (75.6-90.3 %) at the considered current densities than N212 were achieved. Consequently, BPSH 35 membranes were successfully demonstrated as an inexpensive energy efficient candidate for VRFB

Artistic Transformation of Casual Objects: A Sociological Evaluation on the Process of Transformation of Ordinary Objects into Art

WOS: 000454649600042All products in the art field have a cultural character and reflect the characteristics of the social space in which they are situated. Objects have no meaning in their own rights and all objects, including art objects, acquire its meaning through social construction. In this respect, the meaning of artwork is symbolic and conceptual. The purpose of this work is to reveal how and by what conditions ordinary objects are transformed into artworks by artists. It is aimed to determine which social mechanisms take place in the process of artistic transformation of objects and what the role of social space and artists is in the construction and operation of these mechanisms. For this purpose, the study is composed of two parts. In the first part, how social context of an artwork is being constructed and according to this context how an object and space acquire artistic meaning have been set forth through semiotics approach. In the second part, an approach to the artistic transformation of an ordinary object through the role of artist and construction of social context with the examples selected from the art history have been put forward. In this section, the "bed" was chosen as the ordinary object and a discussion was made about the transformation process of the bed into a work of art through the work of Tracy Emin's "My Bed". As a result of the study, it was understood that ordinary objects have their own unique cultural spaces, and that they have an active role in the social context in which these objects have their meaning. Through the action of the artist towards an artistic goal, it has been specified that at the end of processes such as the removal of an ordinary object from the cultural space and its isolation from its functions, it is possible to change its social context and corresponding meaning. After this process, it has become possible to evaluate the object as an art work with the expansion of its meaning by turning it into an indicator

Hole transporting layers in printable solar cells

The incessant evolution of organic and hybrid solar cells has demonstrated that a multilayer architecture is required for an optimum device functioning. Although more attention has been traditionally focused on the active layer materials, it is the interfacial materials, placed between the electrodes and the active region, which might play some of the most critical roles in the solar cell. In this regard, interfacial layers can modulate the compatibility between the electrodes and the active layers in terms of morphology, surface energy or energy level alignment. Furthermore, interfacial layers modulate the light absorption working as optical spacers, assist in the exciton confinement and preserve the active layer from damage or degrada tion. However, the most important role of interfacial layers concerns the charge transport, defining an energy gradient for the selective migration of free charge carriers from the active layer to the electrodes. This chapter offers a comprehensive description of those materials specifically working as hole transporting layers in organic, dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Conjugated polymers, small molecules, metals, metal oxides, self-assembled monolayers, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials will be discussed along with their influence on different aspects aimed at the optimization of the solar cell performance

Electrical properties and photoconductivity of polyaniline/sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) composite films

Temperature dependent electrical conductivity of the polyaniline-sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) with 35 mol percent sulfonation (PANI-BPS35) composite films were investigated in the temperature range of 80-380 K. These composite films showed semiconductor behavior with the exponential variation of inverse temperature dependence of electrical conductivity. Calculated Mott's parameters showed that variable range hopping mechanism is the dominant transport mechanism for the carriers in low temperature region. Photoconductivity of the PANI-BPS35 composite films having 10, 20, and 40 weight percent conductive filler under various illumination intensities was also studied. Photocurrent of the composite films increased with increasing both polyaniline weight fraction and temperature. Finally, the effect of doping on both electrical conductivity and the photoconductivity of the composite films was investigated