Sharif Digital Repository

For improving competitiveness of SOEC/SOFC-technology it is desirable to reduce the temperature of operation down towards 500 oC - 600 oC. This requires improvement of the oxygen electrode such that this does not limit performance. Here, we report results on modifying various back-bone type oxygen electrodes via infiltration of materials targeting a surface decoration with Pr-oxide or Pr,Ni,Cu-oxides. Different composite back-bone electrodes (based on micron-sized particles) were investigated; La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3/Ce0.9Gd0.1O2, (LSCF/CGO), La0.6Sr0.4FeO3 (LSF), and LaNi0.6Fe0.4O3/Ce0.9Gd0.1O2 (LNF/CGO). Marked performance improvements could be achieved with the infiltration, including a... 

In recent years, thin silver nanowires (Ag NWs) with diameters smaller than 150 nm have been synthesized by implementation of NaCl or FeCl3 as reaction promoters and high molecular weight polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the capping agent. However, the yield of Ag NWs still remains low, mostly due to the insufficient aspect ratio (AR) of the synthesized nanostructures and the production of Ag nanoparticles, which is an undesirable by product. This study proposes a modified technique to alleviate the problem by using a mixture of FeCl3/CuCl2 as the reaction promoter and two different types of PVP with molecular weight of 360 k and 40 k as the capping agents. The appropriate mixtures of... 

In this research, cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) magnetic nanoparticles as well as MIL-53(Fe) structure were synthesized by the hydrothermal and solvothermal methods, respectively. Moreover, magnetic composites of MIL-53(Fe)/CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with different cobalt ferrite loadings (i.e.; 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 g) were prepared via the solvothermal method. The main novelty of the present research was to synthesize a magnetic composite of MIL-53(Fe)/CoFe2O4 nanoparticles in order to perform rapid photodegradation of Direct Red 23 (DR23) dye under the LED visible light irradiation. Good magnetic properties of the fabricated composite led to easy separation and rapid retrieval of the catalyst from the... 

Typical copper ferrite nanoparticles (CuFe2O4) were used as a catalyst for one-pot synthesis of β-ketophosphonates via the reaction of alkenes with H-phosphonates under conventional heating conditions. The catalyst was prepared by using the coprecipitation method and was analyzed by physiochemical techniques. By using this catalyst system, several types of useful and new β-ketophosphonate products were obtained in very good to excellent yields under optimized reaction conditions in a novel way. Furthermore, the catalyst is recyclable and reusable from the reaction. © 2020 Elsevier B.V  

The present study dealt with the mechanism of competitive adsorption of Sb(III) and Fe(II) ions from a copper-containing aqueous solution on Purolite S957, a commercially available cationic ion-exchange adsorbent. Experiments were conducted using aqueous copper sulfate solutions containing either single or conjoint ions, using both sedentary and batch adsorption techniques to ascertain the sensitivity of the adsorption process to variation in pH, mass of resin, contact time, and temperature as well as establishing the optimal range of variables for maximum ion removal. The data from single ion adsorption tests were fitted by non-linear regression techniques to Henry, Langmuir, Freundlich,... 

Insufficient electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction/evolution in lanthanum strontium ferrite (LSF) perovskites at temperatures below 700 °C, limits the utilization of these Co-free oxides as oxygen electrodes for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells (SOFC/SOEC). Marked performance improvement is here reported by decorating the surface with Pr2Ni1-xCuxO4 catalyst particles. Infiltrating porous LSF electrodes with aqueous nitrates solutions containing Pr, Ni and Cu, targeting the compositions Pr2Ni0.7Cu0.3O4 and Pr2Ni0.6Cu0.4O4, significantly reduces the polarization resistance at 650 °C from 0.98 Ω cm2 to 0.16 Ω cm2 and 0.13 Ω cm2 respectively. Electrical... 

In this article, the synthesis, characterization, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements are reported for ferrocene-terminated oligophenyleneimine (OPI_Fc) and ferrocene-terminated conjugation-broken oligophenyleneimine (CB-OPI_Fc) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in two different electrolytes, namely, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-bis (trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) imide (EMITFSI) ionic liquid and tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (Bu4NPF6) in acetonitrile (0.1 M solution). The SAMs were synthesized on Au surfaces by the sequential imine condensation reactions. CV was used to investigate the kinetics of electron transfer (ET) to the ferrocene, and it was observed that the standard ET rate... 

A film composed of carbon nanoparticles and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) or CNP-PDDAC is formed in a layer-by-layer deposition process at tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) substrates. Excess positive binding sites within this film in aqueous phosphate buffer at pH 9.5 are quantified by adsorption of iron(III)phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate and indigo carmine. Both anionic redox systems bind with Langmuirian characteristics (K ≈ 105 mol-1 dm3) and show electrochemical reactivity throughout the film at different thicknesses. Therefore, the electrical conductivity in CNP-PDDAC films is good and the positive binding sites are approximately 140 pmol cm-2 per layer. Structural instability of... 

The size and morphology of secondary phase and intermetallic compounds in gas atomized Al- 20Si-5Fe-2X (X=Cu, Ni, Cr) powders were studied. It was shown that the microstructure compromised of fine particle-like primary Si, aciculate δ-Al9FeSi3 intermetallic compound containing small amount of dissolved alloying elements, and fine Al-Si eutectic matrix. Decreasing the powder particle size yields finer primary silicon but its morphology is not affected. Also, significant refinement in the size of δ-Al9FeSi3 intermetallic was observed as the particles become finer. This particle size effect on the microstructure of Al-20Si-5Fe alloy was found to be influenced by the presence of chromium. Here,... 

An environmentally friendly heterogeneous ternary carbon dots (CDs)/MIL-88B (Fe)/Bi2S3 nanocomposite was synthesized by a multistep method. In this study, we have studied low-temperature calcination with relatively inexpensive reactants. The sufficient CD arrays were generated by loading the glucose molecules into the pores of an as-obtained metal-organic framework (MOF), i.e. MIL-88B (Fe)), by heating to 200 °C. Fabricated nanocomposite structures were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, EIS, SEM, TEM, BET, and TGA techniques, demonstrating the decoration of the Bi2S3 on the CDs/MIL-88B (Fe) nanocomposite surface. MOF templating has been chosen as a systemic method for limited size CD formation... 

The construction of binary and ternary heterojunctions has gathered attention in water remediation applications. Herein, g-C3N4, MIL-101(Fe), and MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 binary composite were synthesized by in-situ growth of MIL-101(Fe) crystals along with the nanosheets of g-C3N4. The materials have been characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS, DRS, PL, and BET/BJH. The highest degradation efficiency achieved using MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 nanocomposite was 99.3% while the pristine g-C3N4 degraded only 40% of the pollutants by photocatalyst dosage = 0.005 g, pH = 4.8, and irradiation time = 90 min condition. This enhanced photocatalytic performance might be attributed to improved optical properties and... 

Rare earth oxides with a trivalent nature play a pivotal role in reinforcing the magneto-optical attributes of spinel ferrite nanoparticles by replacing Fe3+ ions. In this study, rare earth Gd oxide doped with CoFe2O4 NPs with a composition of Co1+xGdxFe2-2xO4 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15) were synthesized using sol-gel auto-combustion. The outcome of Gd cations on the physical, magneto-optical and electrical characteristics of the cobalt ferrite NPs were reported. X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) investigations confirmed the single-phase cubic crystalline nature and metal ion stretching in the cobalt ferrite synthesized samples. Decreasing drift in the average... 

The self-supported CuxNi0.6-xMn0.4Fe2O4 oxygen carrier (x = 0.1–0.5) is synthesized to be applied in the chemical looping steam methane reforming (CL-SMR) process through the synthesized co-precipitation method. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box–Behnken model is adopted to evaluate the effects of independent variables on the functionality of responses as well as predicting the best response volume. In this method, the variables consisting of reaction temperature (550–700°C), oxygen carrier (OC) loading percentage (0.1–0.5), steam-to-CH4 ratio (S/C), (1.5–3.5), and redox cycles’ count (10–24) and the responses consisting of hydrogen (H2) production yield, CH4 conversion... 

A magnetic vanadium oxide nanoparticles supported on spinel copper ferrite (CuFe2O4–VOx) are prepared, characterized, and examined for the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to degrade Rhodamine B (RhB) in water solution. Interestingly, the results show that despite the inability of mixture of copper ferrite and vanadium oxides nanoparticles to the effective RhB decomposition, the prepared catalyst exhibits an excellent catalytic ability toward RhB oxidation. The influence of vital parameters, such as temperature, PMS concentration, catalyst loading, and initial pH are discussed comprehensively. The kinetic studies demonstrate that the pseudo-first-order model is well fitted for RhB... 

In this study, an attempt has been made using different concentrations of rare-earth (RE) elements Yb, Gd in Ni–Zn spinel ferrite to examine the magneto-optical and electrical conductivity analysis of the prepared samples. RE doped Ni–Zn ferrite with composition Ni0.5Zn0.5YbxGdxFe2-xO4 (where, x = 0.00, 0.20, 0.40, 0. 60, 0.80 and 1.00) were prepared by one step sol-gel self-ignition approach. XRD and FESEM were used to examine the formation of a single-phase and variations in the grain size with the increasing contents of RE elements in Ni–Zn ferrite NPs. FTIR confirmed the vibrational studies of the RE doped spinel ferrite. The saturation magnetization, remanence, and coercivity elucidated... 

Pr and Co co-doped BiFeO3 multiferroics of the following composition BiCoxPrxFe1-2xO3, where (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) were prepared via sol-gel route. XRD, FTIR, SEM, VSM and VNA were used to evaluate the structural, phase, morphological and electromagnetic properties of Pr and Co co-doped multiferroics. All the undoped and Pr–Co co-doped multiferroics were of single rhombohedral phased whereas at higher concentration the orthorhombic structure was present. FTIR analysis exhibited the presence of orthorhombic phase. SEM images revealed that the grains of Pr and Co doped multiferroics are circular and elliptical in shape. Dielectric and electromagnetic properties were... 

In this study, an attempt has been made using different concentrations of rare-earth (RE) elements Yb, Gd in Ni–Zn spinel ferrite to examine the magneto-optical and electrical conductivity analysis of the prepared samples. RE doped Ni–Zn ferrite with composition Ni0.5Zn0.5YbxGdxFe2-xO4 (where, x = 0.00, 0.20, 0.40, 0. 60, 0.80 and 1.00) were prepared by one step sol-gel self-ignition approach. XRD and FESEM were used to examine the formation of a single-phase and variations in the grain size with the increasing contents of RE elements in Ni–Zn ferrite NPs. FTIR confirmed the vibrational studies of the RE doped spinel ferrite. The saturation magnetization, remanence, and coercivity elucidated... 

Pr and Co co-doped BiFeO3 multiferroics of the following composition BiCoxPrxFe1-2xO3, where (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) were prepared via sol-gel route. XRD, FTIR, SEM, VSM and VNA were used to evaluate the structural, phase, morphological and electromagnetic properties of Pr and Co co-doped multiferroics. All the undoped and Pr–Co co-doped multiferroics were of single rhombohedral phased whereas at higher concentration the orthorhombic structure was present. FTIR analysis exhibited the presence of orthorhombic phase. SEM images revealed that the grains of Pr and Co doped multiferroics are circular and elliptical in shape. Dielectric and electromagnetic properties were... 

Nonprecious and effective electrocatalyst development is an essential requirement for boosting water-splitting efficiency to obtain clean and sustainable fuels for future renewable energy demands. Herein, we reported an ultrafast and feasible strategy for constructing an S-doped bimetallic iron/nickel oxy(hydroxide) (S-(Fe/Ni)OOH) as a superior electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). It is prepared by consequent electroplating of nickel nanocone arrays (NiNCAs) on carbon cloth (CC) and stainless-steel mesh (SSM) and then formation of S-(Fe/Ni)OOH layers on them by ultrafast one-step oxidation solution-phase method in the solution of Fe3+ and sodium thiosulfate at room... 

Recently, composite materials with outstanding absorption properties, like extraordinary absorbing capability, light weight, and thin in size, are required to solve the challenges of electromagnetic pollution. In addition, most of the work is based on the optimization of absorber material structure, and microstructure. In the current work, we improved the reflection loss feature of Bi0.5Nd0.5FeO3 nanopowders via decoration with polyindole polymer by tuning the filler loading of the nanocomposite in the matrix. XRD, UV–Vis, XPS, and FESEM were used to determine the physicochemical features of the as-prepared nanocomposite. The minimum RL was lowered further with the increasing filler loading...