Study of the production of hydrogen bubbles at low current densities for electroflotation processes

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (10) ◽  
pp. 1368-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Jiménez ◽  
Beatriz Talavera ◽  
Cristina Sáez ◽  
Pablo Cañizares ◽  
Manuel A. Rodrigo
2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 377-384
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Masset ◽  
Armand Gabriel ◽  
Jean-Claude Poignet

LiH was used as inactive material to stimulate the reprocessing of lithium tritiate in molten chlorides. The electrochemical properties (diffusion coefficients, apparent standard potentials) were measured by means of transient electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry). At 425 ºC the diffusion coefficient and the apparent standard potential were 2.5 · 10−5 cm2 s−1 and −1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl, respectively. For the process design the LiH solubility was measured by means of DTA to optimize the LiH concentration in the molten phase. In addition electrolysis tests were carried out at 460 ºC with current densities up to 1 A cm−2 over 24 h. These results show that LiH may be reprocessed in molten chlorides consisting in the production of hydrogen gas at the anode and molten metallic lithium at the cathode.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrine Flarup Jensen ◽  
Welmoed Veurman ◽  
Henning Brandt ◽  
Chan Im ◽  
Jürgen Wilde ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe present work investigates the UV stability of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) by parametrical investigation of the material influence on UV stability. UV illumination has been observed to cause degradation by slow photocatalysis in the DSC. Photooxidized impurities represent an unwanted side reaction with the redox pair of the electrolyte as the released electron will deplete the triiodide concentration. A study on the DSC cell was carried out with intermediate electrical characterization by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to map the influence of UV illumination as a function of the H2O concentration in the electrolyte, the plate distance and the triiodide concentration. The results show that the H2O content has a detrimental influence on the DSC stability during UV illumination. A higher concentration of triiodide can buffer the reaction with impurities, so that a longer-term stability is achieved. A recovery of triiodide in UV aged cells with either no remaining triiodide or with such a low concentration that the cell current has been diffusionlimited, was seen during CV to -0.75 V under illumination. The reappearance of triiodide was accompanied with a production of hydrogen bubbles, which was related to the H2O content in the electrolyte and the exposure to UV. Our approach can be used to test the purity and the UV stability of various electrolytes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franky E. Bedoya-Lora ◽  
Anna Hankin ◽  
Geoff H. Kelsall

Results have been reported previously of a model describing the performance of photoelectrochemical reactors, which utilize semiconductor | liquid junctions. This model was developed and verified using SnIV-doped α-Fe2O3 as photoanodes. Hematite films were fully characterized to obtain parameter inputs to a model predicting photocurrent densities. Thus, measured photocurrents were described and validated by the model in terms of measurable quantities. The complete reactor model, developed in COMSOL Multiphysics, accounted for gas evolution and desorption in the system. Hydrogen fluxes, charge yields and gas collection efficiencies in a photoelectrochemical reactor were estimated, revealing a critical need for geometric optimization to minimize H2-O2 product recombination as well as undesirable spatial distributions of current densities and “overpotentials” across the electrodes. Herein, the model was implemented in a 3D geometry and validated using solid and perforated 0.1 × 0.1 m2 planar photoanodes in an up-scaled photoelectrochemical reactor of 2 dm3. The same model was then applied to a set of simulated electrode geometries and electrode configurations to identify the electrode design that would maximize current densities and H2 fluxes. The electrode geometry was modified by introducing circular perforations of different sizes, relative separations and arrangements into an otherwise solid planar sheet for the purpose of providing ionic shortcuts. We report the simulated effects of electrode thickness and the presence or absence of a membrane to separate oxygen and hydrogen gases. In a reactor incorporating a membrane and a photoanode at 1.51 V vs RHE and pH 13.6, an optimized hydrogen flux was predicted for a perforation geometry with a separation-to-diameter ratio of 4.5 ± 0.5; the optimal perforation diameter was 50 µm. For reactors without a membrane, this ratio was 6.5 and 8.5 for a photoanode in a “wired” (monopolar) and “wireless” (photo-bipolar) design, respectively. The results and methodologies presented here will serve as a framework to optimize composite photoelectrodes (semiconductor | membrane | electrolyte), and photoelectrochemical reactors in general, for the production of hydrogen (and oxygen) from water using solar energy.


Author(s):  
W.R. Bottoms ◽  
G.B. Haydon

There is great interest in improving the brightness of electron sources and therefore the ability of electron optical instrumentation to probe the properties of materials. Extensive work by Dr. Crew and others has provided extremely high brightness sources for certain kinds of analytical problems but which pose serious difficulties in other problems. These sources cannot survive in conventional system vacuums. If one wishes to gather information from the other signal channels activated by electron beam bombardment it is necessary to provide sufficient current to allow an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio. It is possible through careful design to provide a high brightness field emission source which has the capability of providing high currents as well as high current densities to a specimen. In this paper we describe an electrode to provide long-lived stable current in field emission sources.The source geometry was based upon the results of extensive computer modeling. The design attempted to maximize the total current available at a specimen.


Author(s):  
R. Sharma ◽  
B.L. Ramakrishna ◽  
N.N. Thadhani ◽  
D. Hianes ◽  
Z. Iqbal

After materials with superconducting temperatures higher than liquid nitrogen have been prepared, more emphasis has been on increasing the current densities (Jc) of high Tc superconductors than finding new materials with higher transition temperatures. Different processing techniques i.e thin films, shock wave processing, neutron radiation etc. have been applied in order to increase Jc. Microstructural studies of compounds thus prepared have shown either a decrease in gram boundaries that act as weak-links or increase in defect structure that act as flux-pinning centers. We have studied shock wave synthesized Tl-Ba-Cu-O and shock wave processed Y-123 superconductors with somewhat different properties compared to those prepared by solid-state reaction. Here we report the defect structures observed in the shock-processed Y-124 superconductors.


Author(s):  
T. F. Kelly ◽  
P. J. Lee ◽  
E. E. Hellstrom ◽  
D. C. Larbalestier

Recently there has been much excitement over a new class of high Tc (>30 K) ceramic superconductors of the form A1-xBxCuO4-x, where A is a rare earth and B is from Group II. Unfortunately these materials have only been able to support small transport current densities 1-10 A/cm2. It is very desirable to increase these values by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude for useful high field applications. The reason for these small transport currents is as yet unknown. Evidence has, however, been presented for superconducting clusters on a 50-100 nm scale and on a 1-3 μm scale. We therefore planned a detailed TEM and STEM microanalysis study in order to see whether any evidence for the clusters could be seen.A La1.8Sr0.2Cu04 pellet was cut into 1 mm thick slices from which 3 mm discs were cut. The discs were subsequently mechanically ground to 100 μm total thickness and dimpled to 20 μm thickness at the center.


Author(s):  
I-Fei Tsu ◽  
D.L. Kaiser ◽  
S.E. Babcock

A current theme in the study of the critical current density behavior of YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) grain boundaries is that their electromagnetic properties are heterogeneous on various length scales ranging from 10s of microns to ˜ 1 Å. Recently, combined electromagnetic and TEM studies on four flux-grown bicrystals have demonstrated a direct correlation between the length scale of the boundaries’ saw-tooth facet configurations and the apparent length scale of the electrical heterogeneity. In that work, enhanced critical current densities are observed at applied fields where the facet period is commensurate with the spacing of the Abrikosov flux vortices which must be pinned if higher critical current density values are recorded. To understand the microstructural origin of the flux pinning, the grain boundary topography and grain boundary dislocation (GBD) network structure of [001] tilt YBCO bicrystals were studied by TEM and HRTEM.


Author(s):  
M. R. McCartney ◽  
J. K. Weiss ◽  
David J. Smith

It is well-known that electron-beam irradiation within the electron microscope can induce a variety of surface reactions. In the particular case of maximally-valent transition-metal oxides (TMO), which are susceptible to electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) of oxygen, it is apparent that the final reduced product depends, amongst other things, upon the ionicity of the original oxide, the energy and current density of the incident electrons, and the residual microscope vacuum. For example, when TMO are irradiated in a high-resolution electron microscope (HREM) at current densities of 5-50 A/cm2, epitaxial layers of the monoxide phase are found. In contrast, when these oxides are exposed to the extreme current density probe of an EM equipped with a field emission gun (FEG), the irradiated area has been reported to develop either holes or regions almost completely depleted of oxygen. ’ In this paper, we describe the responses of three TMO (WO3, V2O5 and TiO2) when irradiated by the focussed probe of a Philips 400ST FEG TEM, also equipped with a Gatan 666 Parallel Electron Energy Loss Spectrometer (P-EELS). The multi-channel analyzer of the spectrometer was modified to take advantage of the extremely rapid acquisition capabilities of the P-EELS to obtain time-resolved spectra of the oxides during the irradiation period. After irradiation, the specimens were immediately removed to a JEM-4000EX HREM for imaging of the damaged regions.


The Analyst ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanda V. Fernandez ◽  
Rocío T. Tosello ◽  
José L. Fernández

Gas diffusion electrodes based on nanoporous alumina membranes electrocatalyze hydrogen oxidation at high diffusion-limiting current densities with fast response times.


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