Interactions of supported nickel and nickel oxide catalysts with methane and steam at high temperatures

The catalytic performance of cermets made of 10% nickel or nickel oxide supported on YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) for chemical looping combustion (CLC) and steam reforming (SR) of methane at 700 °C is investigated. Steam reforming of methane over the reduced catalyst resulted in a syngas containing more than 70% hydrogen and about 15% carbon monoxide. Chemical looping combustion of methane with insufficient lattice oxygen could potentially lead to 40–65% hydrogen rich gas products. Prolonged induction period (e.g. 30–80 min) in reduction of nickel oxide by methane has been observed in the presence of steam. The span of induction period increases by increasing steam partial pressure. It is hypothesized that the delayed reduction of nickel oxide is related to the retarding effect of steam on autocatalytic reactions of methane and hydrogen with lattice oxygen of nickel oxide and the subsequent reforming reactions.     

Hydrogen trapped at intermetallic particles in aluminum alloy 6061-T6 exposed to high-pressure hydrogen gas and the reason for high resistance against hydrogen embrittlement

Hydrogen (¹H) trapped at intermetallic particles (IPs) in an aluminum alloy, 6061-T6, was visualized with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) by precisely excluding the false signal which is caused by background hydrogen (H_BG). The interference of the H_BG was avoided by a unique continuous pre-sputtering (pre-digging) by a primary ion beam of SIMS into a sample in combination with silicon sputtering prior to the SIMS measurement of the sample and we succeeded in visualizing the exact signal of ¹H trapped by IPs at subsurface layer of the sample charged in high-pressure hydrogen gas. The thermal desorption analysis clarified that the desorption energy (E_d) of the IPs was 200 kJ/mol or higher, which was extremely higher than E_d for lattice interstice, dislocations, and vacancies. High density hydrogen was concentratedly trapped at IPs in the subsurface layer in contact with the hydrogen gas. This nature causes an extremely low effective hydrogen diffusivity of 6061-T6 of the order of 10^?14 m²/s even at 200 °C and may eventually give a high HE resistance to 6061-T6.     

Transport Measurements of Strongly Correlated Electrons on Helium in a Classical Point-Contact Device

We present transport measurements of electrons on the surface of liquid helium in a microchannel device in which a constriction may be formed by a split-gate electrode. The surface electron current passing through the microchannel first decreases and is then completely suppressed as the split-gate voltage is swept negative. The current decreases in a steplike manner, due to changes in the number of electrons able to pass simultaneously through the constriction. We investigate the dependence of the electron transport on the AC driving voltage and the DC potentials applied to the sample electrodes, in order to understand the electrostatic potential profile of the constriction region. Our results are in good agreement with a finite element modeling analysis of the device. We demonstrate that the threshold of current flow depends not only on the applied potentials but also on the surface electron density. The detailed understanding of the characteristics of such a device is an important step in the development of mesoscopic experiments with surface electrons on liquid helium.     

Outgassing measurement of an LHC collimator and estimation for the NEG performances

The outgassing rate of the collimators in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has an important role for the life-time of the Non-Evaporable Getter (NEG), and an accurate analysis allows the definition of future activities, like NEG vacuum activation. For these reasons, both, total outgassing rate and gas composition of a secondary collimator have been measured in the laboratory. The outgassing rate decreases by about two orders of magnitude by after bake-out and moreover, repeated bake-out further reduced the outgassing rate. The gas transmission through the NEG coated beam pipes and the resulting pressure distributions near the collimator were also measured in a dedicated setup. It is found that the main gas component after just 2 m of NEG coated beam pipe is CH₄ due to the extreme pumping speed of NEG for the other gases. Large amount of outgassing for H₂ and carbon related molecules are released when moving the collimator jaws. It is found that the NEG is very effective even in such case with large gas load.     

Preparation,water absorbency,and enzyme degradability of novel chitin‐ and cellulose/chitin‐based superabsorbent hydrogels

Superabsorbent hydrogels were prepared from chitin dissolved in lithium chloride and N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone by esterification crosslinking with 1,2,3,4‐butanetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTCA). The absorbency of the chitin hydrogel was strongly dependent on the ratio of BTCA feed to chitin. The hydrogel prepared at the feed ratio of 5 showed the highest absorbency (345 g/g‐polymer), and the hydrogel was composed of 0.65 molecules of BTCA per monomer unit of chitin. The hydrogels exhibited good biodegradability by chitinase with a maximum degradation of 91% within 7 days. This method for obtaining the chitin hydrogel was also applicable to cellulose and chitin mixtures, and 1 : 1 cellulose/chitin hybrid hydrogels could be obtained by the esterification crosslinking of a mixture with a 1 : 1 molar ratio of cellulose and chitin. The optimal BTCA feed ratio of 5 resulted in the cellulose/chitin hydrogel with the highest water absorbency (329 g/g‐polymer), and the hydrogel contained 0.65 molecules of BTCA per polysaccharide monomer unit. In addition, the hybrid hydrogels were degraded by cellulase as well as chitinase. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

High‐Ampacity Power Cables of Tightly‐Packed and Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

The current‐carrying capacity (CCC), or ampacity, of highly‐conductive, light, and strong carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers is characterized by measuring their failure current density (FCD) and continuous current rating (CCR) values. It is shown, both experimentally and theoretically, that the CCC of these fibers is determined by the balance between current‐induced Joule heating and heat exchange with the surroundings. The measured FCD values of the fibers range from 10⁷ to 10⁹ A m^?2 and are generally higher than the previously reported values for aligned buckypapers, carbon fibers, and CNT fibers. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time the CCR for a CNT fiber has been reported. The specific CCC value (i.e., normalized by the linear mass density) of these CNT fibers are demonstrated to be higher than those of copper.     

Fast cycling of Li/LiCoO2 cell with low-viscosity ionic liquids based on bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide [FSI]

A charge–discharge cycling test of a Li/LiCoO₂ cell containing ionic liquids based on bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide ([FSI]⁻) as the electrolyte media, revealed significantly better rate properties compared to those of cells using conventional ionic liquids. The use of an 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMI⁺) salt permitted the retention of 70% of the discharge capacity at a 4 C current rate. In contrast, similar performance of cells containing N-methyl-N-propylpyrrolidinium (Py₁₃⁺) and N-methyl-N-propylpiperidinium (PP₁₃⁺) salts of [FSI]⁻ was limited to operation at 2 and 1 C current rates, respectively. However, the charge/discharge cycling stability of the cell with Py₁₃[FSI] was much better than that of the cell using EMI[FSI].     

Phase diagram calculations of ZrO2-based ceramics with an emphasis on the reduction/oxidation equilibria of cerium ions in the ZrO2-YO1.5-CeO2-CeO1.5 system

Phase diagram calculations that were made previously for the ZrO₂-MO _m/2 (m = 2, 3, 4) systems and for the ZrO₂-YO_1.5-MO _m/2 (M = transition metals) systems have been extended to the ZrO₂-YO_1.5-CeO₂(-CeO_1.5) system to make an attempt to explain (1) thermogravimetric (TG) results as a function of oxygen potential, (2) electronic conductivity as a function of oxygen potential, and (3) a miscibility gap observed in air. The interaction parameters for the CeO₂-CeO_1.5-YO_1.5 system were obtained from the reported oxygen nonstoichiometry in CeO_2−x and rate earth doped ceria, (Ce,RE)O_2−δ . The interaction parameters for the ZrO₂-CeO₂ subsystem were obtained so as to reproduce the observed miscibility gap at 1273 K. Those thermodynamic properties can reproduce consistently the experimental behaviors of the electronic conductivity and the TG results in the (Zr_1−x Ce _x )_0.8Y_0.2O_1.9 solid solutions; these indicate the enhancement of reduction of CeO₂.