Separation of Aluminum from More Noble Elements in an Electrolysis Cell with Side-by-Side Geometry

Currently, recycled metal is diluted with primary metal to keep the concentration of alloying elements within specification. This will be more difficult in the future, when a larger proportion of the metal is made from scrap. Particularly, there is a need for a process that can remove elements more noble than aluminum from the scrap metal. While electrolytic refining in a three-layer cell (the Hoopes process) is a possibility; the present paper presents a simpler and more flexible electrolysis cell where the anode metal (alloy) and the cathode metal (purified metal) are placed side-by-side. The principle was demonstrated in a laboratory cell. The current efficiency was above 80 pct and the specific energy consumption was about 7 kWh/kg Al. The refining effect was very good, e.g., the copper content in the 7xxx alloy used was reduced from 2.1 wt pct to less than 20 ppm. An industrial version of the cell used in the present work is suggested. The principles and design are generic and can be used for other purposes than recycling aluminum.

Corrosion Risk of Reinforced Concrete Structure Arising from Internal and External Chloride

The corrosion risk of internal chloride and external chloride from three different exposure conditions was evaluated. The initiation of corrosion was detected by monitoring the galvanic current between cathode metal and embedded steel. The chloride threshold was determined by measuring the corrosion rate of steel by the polarization technique for internal chloride and the chloride profiling test for external chloride. As the result, the initiation of corrosion was accelerated with a cyclic wet/dry condition, compared to the totally wet condition. In addition, it was found that an increase of the drying ratio in the exposure condition resulted in an increase of corrosion rate after initiation. The threshold level of external chloride ranged from 0.2 to 0.3% weight by cement and internal chloride shows higher range, equated to 1.59–3.10%. Based on these data, the chloride penetration with exposure condition was predicted to determine the service life of reinforced concrete structure.

The evaluation of corrosion properties of coated materials by utilization of EIS

The paper presents results of research aimed at determining the corrosive properties of steel with cathode metal coating in selected corrosive environments. The corrosion properties of the tin coated steel were evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic tests. For realised measurements, distilled water, 0.5 mol dm−3 NaCl solution, 0.1 mol dm−3 NaCl solution and SARS, which simulates acid rain were used as corrosive solutions. Both corrosion methods are suitable for diagnosing corrosion properties of steel with metal coatings.

Applications of ytterbium in inverted organic photovoltaic cells as high-performance and stable electron transport layers

The electron transport layer (ETL) increases the power conversion efficiency (PCE) in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) by promoting the formation of ohmic contact between the active layer and the cathode metal.

Effect of Cathode Metal Evaporation Rate on the Deep Trapped Hole Formation in Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

ABSTRACTIn bulk heterojunction organic solar cells, open-circuit voltage (Voc) is mainly dependent on the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and the highest occupied molecular orbital of the donor/acceptor polymer pair in the active layer. However, there are other factors that contribute to considerable reduction in the Voc. The active layer/cathode interface is one of these factors. Previous studies show that e-beam evaporation of the cathode metal contact forms deep interface trap holes in the active layer which increases the Voc of the solar cells. Although these studies show the effect of deeply trapped holes on the Voc, several attempts to elucidate the mechanism behind this effect revealed their subtle and elusive nature. In this work, the effect of cathode contact annealing rate on the overall efficiency is studied. Three different sets of devices were fabricated with varying cathode evaporation rates of 0.1Å/s, 1Å/s and 5Å/s. The results show that at low evaporation rates, atoms in the cathode materials lack adequate energy to form deeply trapped holes. Additionally, above a certain value, the evaporation rate does not have a significant effect on the formation of deeply trapped holes. We also demonstrate that power conversion efficiencies of the devices can be maximized by maintaining the evaporation rate within a specific range.

Water Plasma Modes and Nuclear Transmutations on the Metallic Cathode of a Plasma Discharge Electrolytic Cell

In the conceptual framework of Quantum ElectroDynamics (QED) it has been proventhat liquid water is made up of two phases : 1) a coherent phase where the electron cloud of watermolecules oscillates in phase with a trapped electromagnetic field within extended regions, calledCoherence Domains (CD); 2) a non coherent phase formed by a gas-like ensemble of molecules fillingthe interstices among the CD's. The constituentmolecules of the coherent phase oscillate between theirindividual ground state and an excited state where one electron is so loosely bound to be consideredquasi-free. Therefore the coherent phase contains a plasma of quasi-free electrons. In the bulk water,as in the case of superfluid liquid Helium, each molecule crosses over continuously between the twophases. On the contrary, close to the surface of a metallic cathode in a chemical cell , the attractionbetween molecules and wall stabilizes the coherent phases so that the layer of interfacial water ismainly coherent and capable of holding a negative electronic charge. When the chemical cell voltageexceeds a threshold, an i! nterfacial water- cathode metal surface plasma mode is developed. Fromthe collective energies continuously pumped into the plasma, the weak interaction e + p+ → n + νemay be induced which produces neutrons and neutrinos from Hydrogen atoms. The neutrons may thenultimately induce other nuclear transmutations on the cathode metal surface.