A-Novel-CdS-Nanorod with Stacking Fault Structures: Preparation and Properties of Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Water Splitting

AbstractIn the present study, CdS nanorod particles with the stacking fault structures were hydrothermally synthesized through a dissolution-recrystallization approach in concentrated ammonia solvent, for the first time. It was clear that concentrated ammonia solution contained a large number of hydroxyl ions and large numbers of ammonia. Comprehensive characteristics were performed to investigate the influence of stacking fault structures on the photocatalytic activity and stability of CdS nanorod particles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the CdS catalyst included many nanorods with stacking fault structures. Stacking fault structures were obviously observed within CdS nanorods with the length ranging from 70 to 200nm and diameter ranging from 20 to 65nm, respectively. It revealed that the formation of CdS nanorod particles with stacking faults was contributed to the dissolution-recrystallization process. There were many structural units for cubic phase changing to hexagonal phase in the CdS crystals in the process of hydrothermal resulting in forming a large number of stacking fault structures. Photo-generated electrons and holes migrating directionally along the nanorods direction and the stacking fault structures in some nanorods could promote the separation of photo-generated electrons and holes, which enhanced the activity of visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production. Through the photocatalytic hydrogen production experiments, CdS nanorod particles with the stacking fault structures showed much higher photocatalytic activity than CdS patticles prepared by the conventional hydrothermal method using the water as the hydrothermal solvent

A NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF POOL BOILING USING CAS MODEL

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new numerical model, called the CAS model, for boiling heat transfer. The CAS model is based on the cellular automata technique that is integrated into the popular-SIMPLER algorithm for CFD problems. In the model, the cellular automata technique deals with the microscopic nonlinear dynamic interactions of bubbles while the traditional CFD algorithm is used to determine macroscopic system parameters such as pressure and temperature. The popular SIMPLER algorithm is employed for the CFD treatment. The model is then employed to simulate a pool boiling process. The computational results show that the CAS model can reproduce most of the basic features of boiling and capture the fundamental characteristics of boiling phenomena. The heat transfer coefficient predicted by the CAS model is in excellent agreement with the experimental data and existing empirical correlations

Structural and Photoelectrochemical Properties of Cu-Doped CdS Thin Films Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis

Cu-doped CdS thin films of variable doping levels have been deposited on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate by simple and cost-effective ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The influences of doping concentration and annealing treatment on the structure and photoelectrochemical properties of the films were investigated. The deposited films were characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-Vis spectra. Moreover, the films were investigated by electrochemical and photoelectrochemical measurements with regard to splitting water for solar energy conversion. The results showed that the Cu impurity can cause a structural change and red shift of absorption edge. It was found that the photocurrent can be improved by the Cu-doping process for the unannealed films under the weak illumination. The unannealed 5 at.% Cu-doped sample obtained the maximum IPCE, which achieved about 45% at 0.3 V versus SCE potential under 420 nm wavelength photoirradiation. In addition, the p-type CdS was formed with a doping of 4 at.%~10 at.% Cu after 450°C 2 h annealed in vacuum

Effect of Heating Method on Hydrogen Production by Biomass Gasification in Supercritical Water

The glucose as a test sample of biomass is gasified in supercritical water with different heating methods driven by renewable solar energy. The performance comparisons of hydrogen production of glucose gasification are investigated. The relations between temperature raising speed of reactant fluid, variation of volume fraction, combustion enthalpy, and chemical exergy of H2 of the product gases with reactant solution concentration are presented, respectively. The results show that the energy quality of product gases with preheating process is higher than that with no preheating unit for hydrogen production. Hydrogen production quantity and gasification rate of glucose decrease obviously with the increase of concentration of material in no preheating system

Effect of Heating Method on Hydrogen Production by Biomass Gasification in Supercritical Water

The glucose as a test sample of biomass is gasified in supercritical water with different heating methods driven by renewable solar energy. The performance comparisons of hydrogen production of glucose gasification are investigated. The relations between temperature raising speed of reactant fluid, variation of volume fraction, combustion enthalpy, and chemical exergy of H 2 of the product gases with reactant solution concentration are presented, respectively. The results show that the energy quality of product gases with preheating process is higher than that with no preheating unit for hydrogen production. Hydrogen production quantity and gasification rate of glucose decrease obviously with the increase of concentration of material in no preheating system

Solar light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over ZnIn2S4 loaded with transition-metal sulfides

A series of Pt-loaded MS/ZnIn2S4 (MS = transition-metal sulfide: Ag2S, SnS, CoS, CuS, NiS, and MnS) photocatalysts was investigated to show various photocatalytic activities depending on different transition-metal sulfides. Thereinto, CoS, NiS, or MnS-loading lowered down the photocatalytic activity of ZnIn2S4, while Ag2S, SnS, or CuS loading enhanced the photocatalytic activity. After loading 1.0 wt.% CuS together with 1.0 wt.% Pt on ZnIn2S4, the activity for H2 evolution was increased by up to 1.6 times, compared to the ZnIn2S4 only loaded with 1.0 wt.% Pt. Here, transition-metal sulfides such as CuS, together with Pt, acted as the dual co-catalysts for the improved photocatalytic performance. This study indicated that the application of transition-metal sulfides as effective co-catalysts opened up a new way to design and prepare high-efficiency and low-cost photocatalysts for solar-hydrogen conversion

Hydrogen Production by Supercritical Water Gasification of Biomass with Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalyst

Biomass gasification in supercritical water is a clean and efficient way to convert biomass to hydrogen-rich gaseous products. Appropriate catalyst can lower the reaction temperature to guarantee the technological and economic feasibility. This paper selects Ca(OH)2, Na2CO3, K2CO3, NaOH, KOH, LiOH, and ZnCl2 as typical homogeneous catalysts and three kinds of Raney-Ni, dolomite, and olivine as typical heterogeneous catalysts. The catalyst effects are investigated in the process of biomass gasification in supercritical water with the temperature of 400°C, pressure of 22∼24 MPa, and residence time of 20 min. The experimental results show that Raney-Ni has the best hydrogen selectivity and hydrogen yield. The mixture of NaOH with Raney-Ni was investigated in order to research the synergistic effect of different catalysts. The experimental results show that Raney-Ni and NaOH have a synergistic effect in the biomass gasification in supercritical water

Dynamic characteristics and mitigations of hydrogen starvations in proton exchange membrane fuel cells during start-ups

Hydrogen starvation during a start-up process in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells could result in drastic local current density variations, reverse cell voltage and irreversible cell damages. In this work, variations of local current densities and temperatures are measured in situ under both potentiostatic and galvanostatic modes. Experimental results show that when the cell starts up under potentiostatic mode with hydrogen starvation, current density undershoots occur in the downstream; while under the galvanostatic mode, local current density in the downstream almost drops to zero, but the current density near the outlet remains almost constant. The phenomenon of near constant current density near the outlet leads to a novel approach to alleviate hydrogen starvations - a hydrogen reservoir is added at the anode outlet. Experimental results show that the exit hydrogen reservoir can significantly reduce the zero current region and alleviate hydrogen starvations. A non-dimensional current-density variation coefficient is proposed to measure the magnitude of local current density changes during starvations. Experimental results show that the exit hydrogen reservoir can significantly reduce the current-density variations coefficient over the entire flow channel, indicating that adding an exit reservoir is an effective approach in mitigating hydrogen starvations. •Current density near cell exit maintains non-zero during hydrogen starvation.•An exit hydrogen reservoir is effective in alleviating hydrogen starvation.•CVC increases sharply along the channel under potentiostatic hydrogen starvation.•CVC decreases along the channel under galvanostatic hydrogen starvation

experimentalinvestigationofparticlevelocitydistributionsinwindblownsandmovement

With the PDPA (Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer) measurement technology, the probability distributions of particle impact and lift-off velocities on bed surface and the particle velocity distributions at different heights are detected in a wind tunnel. The results show that the probability distribution of impact and lift-off velocities of sand grains can be expressed by a log-normal function, and that of impact and lift-off angles complies with an exponential function. The mean impact angle is between 28 degrees and 39 degrees, and the mean lift-off angle ranges from 30 degrees to 44 degrees. The mean lift-off velocity is 0.81-0.9 times the mean impact velocity. The proportion of backward-impacting particles is 0.05-0.11, and that of backward-entrained particles ranges from 0.04 to 0.13. The probability distribution of particle horizontal velocity at 4 mm height is positive skew, the horizontal velocity of particles at 20 mm height varies widely, and the variation of the particle horizontal velocity at 80 mm height is less than that at 20 mm height. The probability distribution of particle vertical velocity at different heights can be described as a normal function