13 research outputs found
Enhanced performance of a PtCo recombination catalyst for reducing the H 2 concentration in the O 2 stream of a PEM electrolysis cell in the presence of a thin membrane and a high differential pressure
High electrochemical efficiency at elevated current densities and low H 2 concentration in
O 2 can be achieved in PEM electrolysis using thin membrane and integrated
recombination catalyst. An enhanced PtCo alloy recombination catalyst was synthesized
and used at the anode of a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA). This allowed reducing
the H 2 concentration in the oxygen stream during electrolysis operation with a thin 50 Âľm
perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) Aquivion
ÂŽ
membrane. Both dual-layer and composite anode
configurations (PtCo/IrRuOx) were investigated. The electrochemical performance of the
MEAs containing the recombination catalyst was better than a bare MEA while producing a
decrease of the H 2 content at the anode. This allowed extending the partial load operation
down to 5% at 55°C under a differential pressure of 20 bar. The effects of the cathodic
pressure and cell temperature (including evaluation of intermediate temperature operation
at 140 °C) on both electrochemical performance and H 2 concentration in the anode stream
were investigated. An excellent performance of 4 A cm
-2
at 1.75 V, at 140 °C, 20 bar
cathode pressure, 5.5 bar anode pressure, with 0.6 mg cm
-2
overall precious metal
catalysts content was recorded. At 140 °C, the MEA also showed a moderate H 2
concentration in O 2 of about 2.3 %, almost constant through most of the current density
range
High-Entropy Spinel Oxides Produced via Sol-Gel and Electrospinning and Their Evaluation as Anodes in Li-Ion Batteries
In the last few years, high-entropy oxides (HEOs), a new class of single-phase solid solution materials, have attracted growing interest in both academic research and industry for their great potential in a broad range of applications. This work investigates the possibility of producing pure single-phase HEOs with spinel structure (HESOs) under milder conditions (shorter heat treatments at lower temperatures) than standard solid-state techniques, thus reducing the environmental impact. For this purpose, a large set of HESOs was prepared via sol-gel and electrospinning (by using two different polymers). Ten different equimolar combinations of five metals were considered, and the influence of the synthesis method and conditions on the microstructure, morphology and crystalline phase purity of the produced HESOs was investigated by a combination of characterization techniques. On the other hand, the presence of specific metals, such as copper, lead to the formation of minority secondary phase(s). Finally, two representative pure single-phase HESOs were preliminarily evaluated as active anode materials in lithium-ion batteries and possible strategies to enhance their rate capability and cyclability were proposed and successfully implemented. The approaches introduced here can be extensively applied for the optimization of HEO properties targeting different applications.Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR)Peer Reviewe
Comparative life cycle assessment of Fe2O3-based fibers as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries
AbstractSodium-ion batteries (SIBs) potentially represent a more sustainable, less expensive and environmentally friendly alternative to lithium-ion batteries. The development of new low-cost, non-toxic, highly performing electrode materials is the key point for the SIB technology advances. This study develops a basic life cycle assessment (LCA) model for the evaluation of the production by electrospinning of iron (III) oxide-based fibers to be used as anode materials in SIBs. Indeed, it has been recently demonstrated that electrospun silicon-doped iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) fibers exhibit outstanding electrochemical properties and gravimetric capacities never achieved before for pure Fe2O3-based anodes. The LCA methodology is utilized in order to analyze the environmental burdens (from raw material extraction to manufacturing process) of these electrode materials. The simplified comparative LCA studies, conducted to assess the environmental impacts associated with the electrospun Fe2O3 and Fe2O3:Si fibers at the same cell performance, demonstrate that the Si-doped anode material, which exhibits better electrochemical performance with respect to the undoped one, has also lower impact for each category of damage, namely human health, ecosystem quality and resources
Bacterial-cellulose-derived carbonaceous electrode materials for water desalination via capacitive method: The crucial role of defect sites
Electrosorptive desalination is a very simple and appealing approach to satisfy the increasing demand for drinking water. The large-scale application of this technology calls for the development of easy-to-produce, cheap and highly performing electrode materials and for the identification and tailoring of their most influential properties, as well. Here, biosynthesised bacterial cellulose is used as a carbon precursor for the production of three-dimensional nanostructures endowed with hierarchically porous architecture and different density and type of intrinsic and hetero-atom induced lattice defects. The produced materials exhibit unprecedented desalination capacities for carbon-based electrodes. At an initial concentration of 585 mg Lâ1 (10 mmol Lâ1), they are able to remove from 55 to 79 mg gâ1 of salt; as the initial concentration rises to 11.7 g Lâ1 (200 mmol Lâ1), their salt adsorption capacity reaches values ranging between 1.03 and 1.35 g gâ1. The results of the thorough material characterisation by complementary techniques evidence that the relative amount of oxygenated surface functional species enhancing the electrode wettability play a crucial role at lower NaCl concentrations, whereas the availability of active non-sp2 defect sites for adsorption is mainly influential at higher salt concentrations.L.U., M.A.C. and A.E. gratefully thank GIU18/216 - UPV/EHU Research Group for the financial support to their work
Electro-spun graphene-enriched carbon fibres with high nitrogen-contents for electrochemical water desalination
Electro-spun carbon fibres doped with very high nitrogen concentrations (19â21 wt%) are obtained operating carbonisation at low temperature (500 °C). The as-synthesised fibres are evaluated as electrode materials for the electrochemical desalination of water. The effect of the enrichment of the nitrogen doped carbon fibres with thermally reduced graphene oxide is also investigated. The fibrous electrodes are able to remove amazing amounts of NaCl (17.0â27.6 mg/g) from a salty solution with an initial concentration of 585 mg/L. The nitrogen doping, which dramatically improves the wettability, plays a crucial role in determining the outstanding electro-sorption capacities of the fibres. It allows fully profiting of the more favourable pore size distribution in the graphene-enriched fibres, endowed with higher conductivity and capacitance, for the obtainment of unprecedented electro-sorption capacities via an extremely simple synthesis process, with no need of activation treatments
Evaluation of the electrochemical performance of electrospun transition metal oxide-based electrode nanomaterials for water CDI applications
Composite fibrous materials based on (graphene-enriched) nitrogen-doped carbon/transition metal oxides were produced by electrospinning and their physicochemical properties were thoroughly investigated by a combination of characterisation techniques. The electrochemical behaviour of the electrodes prepared with them was evaluated in view of their use in the capacitive deionisation of saline water. The morphology of the materials reminded of usnea florida lichens, wheat ears, sea sponges and noodles and depended on the transition metal (Mn, Fe, Ti or Zn). The morphology and the relative amount (14.1â22.2âŻwt%) of the surface nitrogen and carbon-bonded oxygen functional species, beneficial to wettability and involving pseudocapacitive processes, had strong impact on the specific capacitance (43.7â67.4âŻFâŻgâ1, at 5âŻm V sâ1 scan rate), whereas also the specific micropore volume (0.4â5.6âŻmm3âŻgâ1) affected the effective areal capacitance of the electrodes (1.2â6.0âŻFâŻmâ2, at 5âŻmVâŻsâ1). Ion storage in the composite materials occurred via a mixed capacitive/pseudocapacitive process. Hence, increasing the content of the oxide (from 24.6 to 56.7âŻwt%), thanks to the fast-reversible redox reactions at or near surface it involves, partly compensated for the growing hindrance to diffusion encountered by the ions (hampered electrostatic adsorption) as the scan rate increased from 5 to 100âŻmVâŻsâ1
Analysis of performance degradation during steady-state and load-thermal cycles of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells
A membrane-electrode assembly based on a 90 Îź m short-side-chain Aquivion ÂŽ proton exchange membrane and
containing low catalyst loadings, 0.4 mg IrRuOx cm 2 and 0.1 mg Pt cm 2 at anode and cathode, respectively, is investigated for combined thermal and load cycling at high current density (3 A cm 2) in water electrolysis cell. Durability tests under steady-state and load-thermal cycles are compared to evaluate the efficiency losses under specific operating conditions. Ac-impedance spectra and post-operation analyses are carried out to investigate
the degradation mechanism. Catalyst degradation occurs more rapidly under cycled operation whereas mass
transfer issues are relevant especially under steady-state mode. Membrane thinning appears to be affected by the uptime hours at high current density. The overall cell voltage increase is slightly larger for the cycled operation compared to the steady-state mode. However, this is essentially related to a compensation effect associated to a larger decrease of series resistance during the steady-state durability test. The dynamic electrolysis mode at high current density does not exacerbate significantly the degradation issues of low catalyst loading MEAs compared to a steady-state operation. This confirms the proper dynamic characteristics of the polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser
Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye by Electrospun Binary and Ternary Zinc and Titanium Oxide Nanofibers
Synthetic dyes, dispersed in water, have harmful effects on human health and the environment. In this work, Ti and/or Zn oxide nanofibers (NFs) with engineered architecture and surface were produced via electrospinning followed by calcination. Calcination and subsequent cooling were operated at fast rates to generate porous NFs with capture centers to reduce the recombination rate of the photogenerated charges. After morphological and microstructural characterisation, the NFs were comparatively evaluated as photocatalysts for the removal of methylene blue from water under UV irradiation. The higher band gap and lower crystallinity were responsible for the lower photocatalytic activity of the ternary oxides (ZnTiO3 and Zn2TiO4) towards the degradation of the dye. The optimal loads of the highly performing binary oxides were determined. By using 0.66 mg mLâ1 wurtzite ZnO for the discoloration of an aqueous solution with a dye concentration of 15 ÂľM, a higher rate constant (7.94 Ă 10â2 minâ1) than previously reported was obtained. The optimal load for anatase TiO2 was lower (0.33 mg mLâ1). The corresponding rate constant (1.12 Ă 10â1 minâ1) exceeds the values reported for the commonly used P25âTiO2 benchmark. The catalyst can be reused twice without any regeneration treatment, with 5.2% and 18.7% activity decrease after the second and third use, respectively