Simple and cost-effective fabrication of highly flexible, transparent superhydrophobic films with hierarchical surface design.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tae-Hyun; Ha, Sung-Hun; Jang, Nam-Su; Kim, Jeonghyo; Kim, Ji Hoon; Park, Jong-Kweon; Lee, Deug-Woo; Lee, Jaebeom; Kim, Soo-Hyung; Kim, Jong-Man

2015-03-11

Optical transparency and mechanical flexibility are both of great importance for significantly expanding the applicability of superhydrophobic surfaces. Such features make it possible for functional surfaces to be applied to various glass-based products with different curvatures. In this work, we report on the simple and potentially cost-effective fabrication of highly flexible and transparent superhydrophobic films based on hierarchical surface design. The hierarchical surface morphology was easily fabricated by the simple transfer of a porous alumina membrane to the top surface of UV-imprinted polymeric micropillar arrays and subsequent chemical treatments. Through optimization of the hierarchical surface design, the resultant superhydrophobic films showed superior surface wetting properties (with a static contact angle of >170° and contact angle hysteresis of 82% at 550 nm wavelength). The superhydrophobic films were also experimentally found to be robust without significant degradation in the superhydrophobicity, even under repetitive bending and pressing for up to 2000 cycles. Finally, the practical usability of the proposed superhydorphobic films was clearly demonstrated by examining the antiwetting performance in real time while pouring water on the film and submerging the film in water.

Formic Acid Oxidation over Hierarchical Porous Carbon Containing PtPd Catalysts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Pastor

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The use of high surface monolithic carbon as support for catalysts offers important advantage, such as elimination of the ohmic drop originated in the interparticle contact and improved mass transport by ad-hoc pore design. Moreover, the approach discussed here has the advantage that it allows the synthesis of materials having a multimodal porous size distribution, with each pore size contributing to the desired properties. On the other hand, the monolithic nature of the porous support also imposes new challenges for metal loading. In this work, the use of Hierarchical Porous Carbon (HPC as support for PtPd nanoparticles was explored. Three hierarchical porous carbon samples (denoted as HPC-300, HPC-400 and HPC-500 with main pore size around 300, 400 and 500 nm respectively, are used as porous support. PtPd nanoparticles were loaded by impregnation and subsequent chemical reduction with NaBH4. The resulting material was characterized by EDX, XRD and conventional electrochemical techniques. The catalytic activity toward formic acid and methanol electrooxidation was evaluated by electrochemical methods, and the results compared with commercial carbon supported PtPd. The Hierarchical Porous Carbon support discussed here seems to be promising for use in DFAFC anodes.

Facile preparation of hierarchically porous polymer microspheres for superhydrophobic coating

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jiefeng; Wong, Julia Shuk-Ping; Hu, Mingjun; Li, Wan; Li, Robert. K. Y.

2013-12-01

A facile method, i.e., nonsolvent assisted electrospraying, is proposed to fabricate hierarchically porous microspheres. The pore size on the microsphere surface ranges from a few tens to several hundred nanometers. Thermally and nonsolvent induced phase separation as well as breath figure is responsible for the formation of the hierarchical structures with different nano-sized pores. The nonsolvent could not only induce phase separation, but also stabilize the interface between the droplet and air, which can prevent the droplet from strong deformation, and is therefore beneficial to the formation of regular and uniform microspheres. On the other hand, solvent evaporation, polymer diffusion and Coulomb fission during electrospraying influence the morphology of finally obtained products. In this paper, the influence of polymer concentration, the weight ratio between nonsolvent and polymer and the flowing rate on the morphology of the porous microsphere is carefully studied. The hierarchically porous microsphere significantly increases the surface roughness and thus the hydrophobicity, and the contact angle can reach as high as 152.2 +/- 1.2°. This nonsolvent assisted electrospraying opens a new way to fabricate superhydrophobic coating materials.A facile method, i.e., nonsolvent assisted electrospraying, is proposed to fabricate hierarchically porous microspheres. The pore size on the microsphere surface ranges from a few tens to several hundred nanometers. Thermally and nonsolvent induced phase separation as well as breath figure is responsible for the formation of the hierarchical structures with different nano-sized pores. The nonsolvent could not only induce phase separation, but also stabilize the interface between the droplet and air, which can prevent the droplet from strong deformation, and is therefore beneficial to the formation of regular and uniform microspheres. On the other hand, solvent evaporation, polymer diffusion and Coulomb fission during

Self-assembled hierarchical nanostructures for high-efficiency porous photonic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Passoni, Luca; Criante, Luigino; Fumagalli, Francesco; Scotognella, Francesco; Lanzani, Guglielmo; Di Fonzo, Fabio

2014-12-23

The nanoscale modulation of material properties such as porosity and morphology is used in the natural world to mold the flow of light and to obtain structural colors. The ability to mimic these strategies while adding technological functionality has the potential to open up a broad array of applications. Porous photonic crystals are one such technological candidate, but have typically underachieved in terms of available materials, structural and optical quality, compatibility with different substrates (e.g., silicon, flexible organics), and scalability. We report here an alternative fabrication method based on the bottom-up self-assembly of elementary building blocks from the gas phase into high surface area photonic hierarchical nanostructures at room temperature. Periodic refractive index modulation is achieved by stacking layers with different nanoarchitectures. High-efficiency porous Bragg reflectors are successfully fabricated with sub-micrometer thick films on glass, silicon, and flexible substrates. High diffraction efficiency broadband mirrors (R≈1), opto-fluidic switches, and arrays of photonic crystal pixels with size<10 μm are demonstrated. Possible applications in filtering, sensing, electro-optical modulation, solar cells, and photocatalysis are envisioned.

Large-scale model of flow in heterogeneous and hierarchical porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Chabanon, Morgan; Valdés-Parada, Francisco J.; Ochoa-Tapia, J. Alberto; Goyeau, Benoît

2017-11-01

Heterogeneous porous structures are very often encountered in natural environments, bioremediation processes among many others. Reliable models for momentum transport are crucial whenever mass transport or convective heat occurs in these systems. In this work, we derive a large-scale average model for incompressible single-phase flow in heterogeneous and hierarchical soil porous media composed of two distinct porous regions embedding a solid impermeable structure. The model, based on the local mechanical equilibrium assumption between the porous regions, results in a unique momentum transport equation where the global effective permeability naturally depends on the permeabilities at the intermediate mesoscopic scales and therefore includes the complex hierarchical structure of the soil. The associated closure problem is numerically solved for various configurations and properties of the heterogeneous medium. The results clearly show that the effective permeability increases with the volume fraction of the most permeable porous region. It is also shown that the effective permeability is sensitive to the dimensionality spatial arrangement of the porous regions and in particular depends on the contact between the impermeable solid and the two porous regions.

One-pot pseudomorphic crystallization of mesoporous porous silica to hierarchical porous zeolites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xing, Jun-Ling; Jiang, Shu-Hua; Pang, Jun-Ling; Yuan, En-Hui; Ma, Xiao-Jing [Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, No. 3663 Zhongshan North Road, 200062 Shanghai (China); Lam, Koon-Fung [Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London (United Kingdom); Xue, Qing-Song, E-mail: qsxue@chem.ecnu.edu.cn [Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, No. 3663 Zhongshan North Road, 200062 Shanghai (China); Zhang, Kun, E-mail: kzhang@chem.ecnu.edu.cn [Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, No. 3663 Zhongshan North Road, 200062 Shanghai (China)

2015-09-15

Hierarchically porous silica with mesopore and zeolitic micropore was synthesized via pseudomorphic crystallization under high-temperature hydrothermal treatment in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate and tetrapropylammonium ions. A combined characterization using small-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and elemental analysis showed that dual templates, CTA{sup +} and TPA{sup +} molecules, can work in a cooperative manner to synthesize mesoporous zeolite in a one-pot system by precisely tuning the reaction conditions, such as reaction time and temperature, and type and amount of heterometal atoms. It is found that the presence of Ti precursor is critical to the successful synthesis of such nanostructure. It not only retards the nucleation and growth of crystalline MFI domains, but also acts as nano-binder or nano-glue to favor the assembly of zeolite nanoblocks. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • A facile method to synthesize mesoporous zeolites with hierarchical porosity was presented. • It gives a new insight into keeping the balance between mesoscopic and molecular ordering in hierarchical porous materials. • A new understanding on the solid–solid transformation mechanism for the synthesis of titanosilicate zeolites was proposed.

Facile preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon with high performance in supercapacitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Kun; Kong, Ling-Bin; Shen, Kui-Wen; Dai, Yan-Hua; Shi, Ming; Hu, Bing; Luo, Yong-Chun; Kang, Long

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: Preparing and activating process of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC). - Highlights: • The well-defined PAN-b-PMMA copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization with narrow molecular weight distribution. • Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure (NHPC) was prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of PAN-b-PMMA precursor. • NHPC possessed hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m"2 g"−"1 and DFT mesopore size of 14.61 nm. • Effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied. - Abstract: The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) material was successfully prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of well-defined diblock copolymer precursor containing nitrogen-enriched carbon source, i.e., polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and asacrificial block, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). PAN-b-PMMA diblock copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymeriation (ATRP) with narrow molecular weight distribution. The as-obtained NHPC possessed nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m"2 g"−"1 and Nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT) mesopore size of 14.61 nm. Surface activated nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (A-NHPC) materials were obtained by subsequent surface activation with HNO_3 solution. The effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied, a maximum specific capacitance of 314 F g"−"1 at a current density of 0.5 A g"−"1 was achieved in 2 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Simultaneously, it exhibited excellent rate capability of 67.8% capacitance retention as the current density increased from 0.5 to 20 A g"−"1 and superior cycling performance of 90% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at the current density of 2 A g"−"1.

Facile preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon with high performance in supercapacitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Kun [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Kong, Ling-Bin, E-mail: konglb@lut.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Shen, Kui-Wen; Dai, Yan-Hua; Shi, Ming; Hu, Bing [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Luo, Yong-Chun; Kang, Long [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China)

2016-02-28

Graphical abstract: Preparing and activating process of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC). - Highlights: • The well-defined PAN-b-PMMA copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization with narrow molecular weight distribution. • Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure (NHPC) was prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of PAN-b-PMMA precursor. • NHPC possessed hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and DFT mesopore size of 14.61 nm. • Effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied. - Abstract: The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) material was successfully prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of well-defined diblock copolymer precursor containing nitrogen-enriched carbon source, i.e., polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and asacrificial block, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). PAN-b-PMMA diblock copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymeriation (ATRP) with narrow molecular weight distribution. The as-obtained NHPC possessed nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and Nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT) mesopore size of 14.61 nm. Surface activated nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (A-NHPC) materials were obtained by subsequent surface activation with HNO{sub 3} solution. The effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied, a maximum specific capacitance of 314 F g{sup −1} at a current density of 0.5 A g{sup −1} was achieved in 2 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Simultaneously, it exhibited excellent rate capability of 67.8% capacitance retention as the current density increased from 0.5 to 20 A g{sup −1} and superior cycling performance of 90% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at the current density of 2 A g{sup −1}.

Applications of hierarchically structured porous materials from energy storage and conversion, catalysis, photocatalysis, adsorption, separation, and sensing to biomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ming-Hui; Huang, Shao-Zhuan; Chen, Li-Hua; Li, Yu; Yang, Xiao-Yu; Yuan, Zhong-Yong; Su, Bao-Lian

2016-06-13

Over the last decade, significant effort has been devoted to the applications of hierarchically structured porous materials owing to their outstanding properties such as high surface area, excellent accessibility to active sites, and enhanced mass transport and diffusion. The hierarchy of porosity, structural, morphological and component levels in these materials is key for their high performance in all kinds of applications. The introduction of hierarchical porosity into materials has led to a significant improvement in the performance of materials. Herein, recent progress in the applications of hierarchically structured porous materials from energy conversion and storage, catalysis, photocatalysis, adsorption, separation, and sensing to biomedicine is reviewed. Their potential future applications are also highlighted. We particularly dwell on the relationship between hierarchically porous structures and properties, with examples of each type of hierarchically structured porous material according to its chemical composition and physical characteristics. The present review aims to open up a new avenue to guide the readers to quickly obtain in-depth knowledge of applications of hierarchically porous materials and to have a good idea about selecting and designing suitable hierarchically porous materials for a specific application. In addition to focusing on the applications of hierarchically porous materials, this comprehensive review could stimulate researchers to synthesize new advanced hierarchically porous solids.

Synthesis of hierarchical porous materials with ZSM-5 structures via template-free sol–gel method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Han et al

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Interests are focused on preparation of hierarchical porous materials with zeolite structures by using soft or rigid templates in order to solve diffusion and mass transfer limitations resulting from the small pore sizes of zeolites. Here we develop a convenient template-free sol–gel method to synthesize hierarchical porous materials with ZSM-5 structures. This method involves hydrothermal recrystallization of the xerogel converted from uniform ZSM-5 sol by a vacuum drying process. By utilizing this method we can manipulate the size of zeolite nanocrystals as building units of porous structures based on controlling temperature of recrystallization, consequently obtain hierarchical porous materials with different intercrystalline pore sizes and ZSM-5 structures.

Applying macromolecular crowding to 3D bioprinting: fabrication of 3D hierarchical porous collagen-based hydrogel constructs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Wei Long; Goh, Min Hao; Yeong, Wai Yee; Naing, May Win

2018-02-27

Native tissues and/or organs possess complex hierarchical porous structures that confer highly-specific cellular functions. Despite advances in fabrication processes, it is still very challenging to emulate the hierarchical porous collagen architecture found in most native tissues. Hence, the ability to recreate such hierarchical porous structures would result in biomimetic tissue-engineered constructs. Here, a single-step drop-on-demand (DOD) bioprinting strategy is proposed to fabricate hierarchical porous collagen-based hydrogels. Printable macromolecule-based bio-inks (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) have been developed and printed in a DOD manner to manipulate the porosity within the multi-layered collagen-based hydrogels by altering the collagen fibrillogenesis process. The experimental results have indicated that hierarchical porous collagen structures could be achieved by controlling the number of macromolecule-based bio-ink droplets printed on each printed collagen layer. This facile single-step bioprinting process could be useful for the structural design of collagen-based hydrogels for various tissue engineering applications.

CTAB-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of WO3 Hierarchical Porous Structures and Investigation of Their Sensing Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Meng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available WO3 hierarchical porous structures were successfully synthesized via cetyltrimethylammonium bromide- (CTAB- assisted hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology were investigated using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis. The result demonstrated that WO3 hierarchical porous structures with an orthorhombic structure were constructed by a number of nanoparticles about 50–100 nm in diameters. The H2 gas sensing measurements showed that well-defined WO3 hierarchical porous structures with a large specific surface area exhibited the higher sensitivity compared with products without CTAB at all operating temperatures. Moreover, the reversible and fast response to H2 gas and good selectivity were obtained. The results indicated that the WO3 hierarchical porous structures are promising materials for gas sensors.

High-performance supercapacitors based on hierarchically porous graphite particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Zheng; Wen, Jing; Yan, Chunzhu; Rice, Lynn; Sohn, Hiesang; Lu, Yunfeng [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Shen, Meiqing [School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 (China); Cai, Mei [General Motor R and D Center, Warren, MI 48090 (United States); Dunn, Bruce [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)

2011-07-15

Hierarchically porous graphite particles are synthesized using a continuous, scalable aerosol approach. The unique porous graphite architecture provides the particles with high surface area, fast ion transportation, and good electronic conductivity, which endows the resulting supercapacitors with high energy and power densities. This work provides a new material platform for high-performance supercapacitors with high packing density, and is adaptable to battery electrodes, fuel-cell catalyst supports, and other applications. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Preparing electrochemical active hierarchically porous carbons for detecting nitrite in drinkable water

KAUST Repository

Ding, Baojun

2016-01-13

A class of hierarchically porous carbons were prepared by a facile dual-templating approach. The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Brunaner-Emmett-Teller measurement and electrochemical work station, respectively. The porous carbons could possess large specific surface area, interconnected pore structures, high conductivity and graphitizing degree. The resulting materials were used to prepare integrated modified electrodes. Based on the experimental results, the as-prepared hierarchically porous graphite (HPG) modified electrode showed the best electroactive performances toward the detection of nitrite with a detection limit of 8.1 × 10-3 mM. This HPG electrode was also repeatable and stable for 6 weeks. Moreover, this electrode was used for the determination of nitrite in drinkable water, and had acceptable recoveries. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016.

Hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped partial graphitized carbon monoliths for supercapacitor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Yifeng; Du, Juan; Liu, Lei; Wang, Guoxu; Zhang, Hongliang; Chen, Aibing, E-mail: chen-ab@163.com [Hebei University of Science and Technology, College of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering (China)

2017-03-15

Porous carbon monoliths have attracted great interest in many fields due to their easy availability, large specific surface area, desirable electronic conductivity, and tunable pore structure. In this work, hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped partial graphitized carbon monoliths (N–MC–Fe) with ordered mesoporous have been successfully synthesized by using resorcinol-formaldehyde as precursors, iron salts as catalyst, and mixed triblock copolymers as templates via a one-step hydrothermal method. In the reactant system, hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) is used as nitrogen source and one of the carbon precursors under hydrothermal conditions instead of using toxic formaldehyde. The N–MC–Fe show hierarchically porous structures, with interconnected macroporous and ordered hexagonally arranged mesoporous. Nitrogen element is in situ doped into carbon through decomposition of HMT. Iron catalyst is helpful to improve the graphitization degree and pore volume of N–MC–Fe. The synthesis strategy is user-friendly, cost-effective, and can be easily scaled up for production. As supercapacitors, the N–MC–Fe show good capacity with high specific capacitance and good electrochemical stability.

Mechanochemistry-assisted synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons applied as supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Leistenschneider, Desirée; Jäckel, Nicolas; Hippauf, Felix; Presser, Volker

2017-01-01

A solvent-free synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons is conducted by a facile and fast mechanochemical reaction in a ball mill. By means of a mechanochemical ball-milling approach, we obtained titanium(IV) citrate-based polymers, which have been processed via high temperature chlorine treatment to hierarchical porous carbons with a high specific surface area of up to 1814 m2 g−1 and well-defined pore structures. The carbons are applied as electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors showing high specific capacitances with 98 F g−1 in organic and 138 F g−1 in an ionic liquid electrolyte as well as good rate capabilities, maintaining 87% of the initial capacitance with 1 M TEA-BF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) and 81% at 10 A g−1 in EMIM-BF4. PMID:28781699

Improved electrochemical performance of hierarchical porous carbon/polyaniline composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Juan; Wang Huanlei; Huang Xiao

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Polyaniline-coated hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) composites have been synthesized by in situ polymerization. ► The HPC/polyaniline composite has significantly better electrochemical capacitance performance than pure HPC and polyaniline. ► The amount of polyaniline loading has a significant effect on the composites’ electrochemical performances. - Abstract: Polyaniline (PANI)-coated hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) composites (HPC/PANI) for use as supercapacitor electrodes were prepared by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization at 273 K of an aniline solution containing well-dispersed HPC particles. After polymerization, a thin layer of PANI was coated on the surface of the HPC particles, which was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared to pure PANI and HPC, the electrochemical capacitance performance of the composites was significantly improved. The highest specific capacitance of the composites obtained is 478 F g −1 at 1 mV s −1 , which is more than twice as that of pure PANI and three times as that of pure HPC. Because of the influence from the hierarchical pore structure of the carbon material, the calculated specific capacitance of PANI in the composite (pseudocapacitance contribution from PANI) is almost one magnitude higher than that of pure PANI.

Mechanochemistry-assisted synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons applied as supercapacitors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desirée Leistenschneider

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A solvent-free synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons is conducted by a facile and fast mechanochemical reaction in a ball mill. By means of a mechanochemical ball-milling approach, we obtained titanium(IV citrate-based polymers, which have been processed via high temperature chlorine treatment to hierarchical porous carbons with a high specific surface area of up to 1814 m2 g−1 and well-defined pore structures. The carbons are applied as electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors showing high specific capacitances with 98 F g−1 in organic and 138 F g−1 in an ionic liquid electrolyte as well as good rate capabilities, maintaining 87% of the initial capacitance with 1 M TEA-BF4 in acetonitrile (ACN and 81% at 10 A g−1 in EMIM-BF4.

Multi-template synthesis of hierarchically porous carbon spheres with potential application in supercapacitors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhou, Weizheng; Lin, Zhixing; Tong, Gangsheng; Stoyanov, Simeon D.; Yan, Deyue; Mai, Yiyong; Zhu, Xinyuan

2016-01-01

A new and simple multi-template approach towards hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) materials was reported. HPC spheres were prepared by using hierarchical silica capsules (HSCs) as the hard template and triblock copolymer Pluronic P123 as the soft template. Three types of pores were tunably

Hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite prepared from the pomelo peel bio-template for catalytic oxidation of NO

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shaojun; Wang, Li; Wang, Ying; Li, Xing

2018-05-01

In this paper, pomelo peel was used as biological template to obtain hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite for the catalytic oxidation of NO to NO2. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption analyses, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), NO temperature-programmed desorption (NO-TPD), oxygen temperature-programmed desorption (O2-TPD) and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) were used to investigate the micro-structure and the redox properties of the hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite prepared from pomelo peel biological template and the LaFeO3 perovskite without the biological template. The results indicated that the hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite successfully replicated the porous structure of pomelo peel with high specific surface area. Compared to the LaFeO3 perovskite prepared without the pomelo peel template, the hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite showed better catalytic oxidization of NO to NO2 under the same conditions. The maximum NO conversions for LaFeO3 prepared with and without template were 90% at 305 °C and 76% at 313 °C, respectively. This is mainly attributed to the higher ratio of Fe4+/Fe3+, the hierarchically porous structure with more adsorbed oxygen species and higher surface area for the hierarchically porous LaFeO3 perovskite compared with the sample prepared without the pomelo peel template.

Conductive Polymer Porous Film with Tunable Wettability and Adhesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuqi Teng

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A conductive polymer porous film with tunable wettability and adhesion was fabricated by the chloroform solution of poly(3-hexylthiophene (P3HT and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacid-methyl-ester (PCBM via the freeze drying method. The porous film could be obtained from the solution of 0.8 wt%, whose pore diameters ranged from 50 nm to 500 nm. The hydrophobic porous surface with a water contact angle (CA of 144.7° could be transferred into a hydrophilic surface with CA of 25° by applying a voltage. The water adhesive force on the porous film increased with the increase of the external voltage. The electro-controllable wettability and adhesion of the porous film have potential application in manipulating liquid collection and transportation.

Two-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon composites derived from corn stalks for electrode materials with high performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Haitao; Zhang, Huijuan; Ouyang, Ya; Liu, Li; Wang, Yu

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Novel 2D porous carbon sheets from cornstalks are obtained for the first time. • The hierarchical porous carbon nansheets are gained by chemical activation. • The porous structure facilitates ion transfer and Li-ion absorption. • The strategy are applied to both cathode and anode electrode materials. • The porous nanocomposites exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. - Abstract: Herein, we propose a novel and green strategy to convert crop stalks waste into hierarchical porous carbon composites for electrode materials of lithium-ion batteries. In the method, the sustainable crop stalks, an abundant agricultural byproduct, is recycled and treated by a simple and clean chemical activation process. Afterwards, the obtained porous template is adopted for large-scale production of high-performance anode and cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Due to the large surface area, hierarchical porous structures and subsize of the functional particles, the electrode materials manifest excellent electrochemical performance. In particular, the prepared TiO 2 /C composite presents a reversible specific capacity of 203 mAh g −1 after 200 cycles. Our results demonstrate that the sheetlike composites show remarkable cycling stability, high specific capacity and excellent rate ability, and thus hold promise for commercializing the high-performance electrode materials as the advanced lithium-ion batteries.

Hierarchical porous carbon aerogel derived from bagasse for high performance supercapacitor electrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Pin; Zhao, Zhenhuan; Tian, Jian; Li, Haidong; Sang, Yuanhua; Yu, Guangwei; Cai, Huaqiang; Liu, Hong; Wong, C P; Umar, Ahmad

2014-10-21

Renewable, cost-effective and eco-friendly electrode materials have attracted much attention in the energy conversion and storage fields. Bagasse, the waste product from sugarcane that mainly contains cellulose derivatives, can be a promising candidate to manufacture supercapacitor electrode materials. This study demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of highly porous carbon aerogels by using bagasse as a raw material. Macro and mesoporous carbon was first prepared by carbonizing the freeze-dried bagasse aerogel; consequently, microporous structure was created on the walls of the mesoporous carbon by chemical activation. Interestingly, it was observed that the specific surface area, the pore size and distribution of the hierarchical porous carbon were affected by the activation temperature. In order to evaluate the ability of the hierarchical porous carbon towards the supercapacitor electrode performance, solid state symmetric supercapacitors were assembled, and a comparable high specific capacitance of 142.1 F g(-1) at a discharge current density of 0.5 A g(-1) was demonstrated. The fabricated solid state supercapacitor displayed excellent capacitance retention of 93.9% over 5000 cycles. The high energy storage ability of the hierarchical porous carbon was attributed to the specially designed pore structures, i.e., co-existence of the micropores and mesopores. This research has demonstrated that utilization of sustainable biopolymers as the raw materials for high performance supercapacitor electrode materials is an effective way to fabricate low-cost energy storage devices.

Iron films deposited on porous alumina substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamada, Yasuhiro, E-mail: yyasu@rs.kagu.tus.ac.jp; Tanabe, Kenichi; Nishida, Naoki [Tokyo University of Science (Japan); Kobayashi, Yoshio [The University of Electro-Communications (Japan)

2016-12-15

Iron films were deposited on porous alumina substrates using an arc plasma gun. The pore sizes (120 – 250 nm) of the substrates were controlled by changing the temperature during the anodic oxidation of aluminum plates. Iron atoms penetrated into pores with diameters of less than 160 nm, and were stabilized by forming γ-Fe, whereas α-Fe was produced as a flat plane covering the pores. For porous alumina substrates with pore sizes larger than 200 nm, the deposited iron films contained many defects and the resulting α-Fe had smaller hyperfine magnetic fields. In addition, only a very small amount of γ-Fe was obtained. It was demonstrated that the composition and structure of an iron film can be affected by the surface morphology of the porous alumina substrate on which the film is grown.

Hierarchically porous MgCo2O4 nanochain networks: template-free synthesis and catalytic application

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Xiangfeng; Yu, Yunlong; Li, Xiaoyan; Chen, Dagui; Luo, Peihui; Zhang, Yu; Guo, Shanxin

2018-01-01

In this work, hierarchically porous MgCo2O4 nanochain networks were successfully synthesized by a novel template-free method realized via a facile solvothermal synthesis followed by a heat treatment. The morphologies of MgCo2O4 precursor could be adjusted from nanosheets to nanobelts and finally to interwoven nanowires, depending on the volume ratio of diethylene glycol to deionized water in the solution. After calcination, the interwoven precursor nanowires were transformed to hierarchical MgCo2O4 nanochain networks with marco-/meso-porosity, which are composed of 10-20 nm nanoparticles connected one by one. Moreover, the relative formation mechanism of the MgCo2O4 nanochain networks was discussed. More importantly, when evaluated as catalytic additive for AP thermal decomposition, the MgCo2O4 nanochain networks show excellent accelerating effect. It is benefited from the unique hierarchically porous network structure and multicomponent effect, which effectively accelerates ammonia oxidation and {{{{ClO}}}4}- species dissociation. This approach opens the way to design other hierarchically porous multicomponent metal oxides.

Super-hierarchical porous carbons derived from mixed biomass wastes by a stepwise removal strategy for high-performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Lin; Liang, Yeru; Dong, Hanwu; Hu, Hang; Zhao, Xiao; Cai, Yijing; Xiao, Yong; Liu, Yingliang; Zheng, Mingtao

2018-02-01

The synthesis and energy storage application of hierarchical porous carbons with size ranging from nano-to micrometres has attracted considerable attention all over the world. Exploring eco-friendly and reliable synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons for supercapacitors with high energy density and high power is still of ongoing challenge. In this work, we report the design and synthesis of super-hierarchical porous carbons with highly developed porosity by a stepwise removal strategy for high-rate supercapacitors. The mixed biomass wastes of coconut shell and sewage sludge are employed as raw material. The as-prepared super-hierarchical porous carbons present high surface areas (3003 m2 g-1), large pore volume (2.04 cm3 g-1), appropriate porosity, and outstanding electrochemical performance. The dependence of electrochemical performance on structural, textural, and functional properties of carbons engineered by various synthesis strategies is investigated in detail. Moreover, the as-assembled symmetrical supercapacitor exhibits high energy density of 25.4 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 225 W kg-1 and retains 20.7 Wh kg-1 even at a very high power of 9000 W kg-1. This work provides an environmentally benign strategy and new insights to efficiently regulate the porosity of hierarchical porous carbons derived from biomass wastes for energy storage applications.

Film condensation on a porous vertical surface in a porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebinuma, C.D.; Liu, C.Y.; Ismail, K.A.R.

1983-01-01

The problem of dry saturated steam film condensation by natural convection on a porous surface in a porous medium is presented. Through the classical Darcy law for flow in porous medium and the approximations considered in the Boundary layer theory, it is shown that the analytical solution exists only when the normal velocity to the porous wall is inversly proportional to the square root of the distance along the plate. (E.G.) [pt

Porous Gold Films Fabricated by Wet-Chemistry Processes

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Aymeric Pastre

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Porous gold films presented in this paper are formed by combining gold electroless deposition and polystyrene beads templating methods. This original approach allows the formation of conductive films (2 × 106 (Ω·cm−1 with tailored and interconnected porosity. The porous gold film was deposited up to 1.2 μm on the silicon substrate without delamination. An original zirconia gel matrix containing gold nanoparticles deposited on the substrate acts both as an adhesion layer through the creation of covalent bonds and as a seed layer for the metallic gold film growth. Dip-coating parameters and gold electroless deposition kinetics have been optimized in order to create a three-dimensional network of 20 nm wide pores separated by 20 nm thick continuous gold layers. The resulting porous gold films were characterized by GIXRD, SEM, krypton adsorption-desorption, and 4-point probes method. The process is adaptable to different pore sizes and based on wet-chemistry. Consequently, the porous gold films presented in this paper can be used in a wide range of applications such as sensing, catalysis, optics, or electronics.

Hierarchical Co-based Porous Layered Double Hydroxide Arrays Derived via Alkali Etching for High-performance Supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Abushrenta, Nasser; Wu, Xiaochao; Wang, Junnan; Liu, Junfeng; Sun, Xiaoming

2015-08-01

Hierarchical nanoarchitecture and porous structure can both provide advantages for improving the electrochemical performance in energy storage electrodes. Here we report a novel strategy to synthesize new electrode materials, hierarchical Co-based porous layered double hydroxide (PLDH) arrays derived via alkali etching from Co(OH)2@CoAl LDH nanoarrays. This structure not only has the benefits of hierarchical nanoarrays including short ion diffusion path and good charge transport, but also possesses a large contact surface area owing to its porous structure which lead to a high specific capacitance (23.75 F cm-2 or 1734 F g-1 at 5 mA cm-2) and excellent cycling performance (over 85% after 5000 cycles). The enhanced electrode material is a promising candidate for supercapacitors in future application.

Facile Fabrication of 3D Hierarchically Porous Carbon Foam as Supercapacitor Electrode Material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunfang Gao

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A hierarchically porous 3D starch-derived carbon foam (SCF with a high specific surface area (up to 1693 m2·g−1 was first prepared by a facile solvothermal treatment, in which Na2CO3 is used as both the template and activating agent. The hierarchically porous structure and high specific area endow the SCF with favorable electrochemical properties such as a high specific capacitance of 179.6 F·g−1 at 0.5 A·g−1 and a great rate capability and cycling stability, which suggest that the material can be a promising candidate for energy storage applications.

Preparation and Lithium-Storage Performance of a Novel Hierarchical Porous Carbon from Sucrose Using Mg-Al Layered Double Hydroxides as Template

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Liluo; Chen, Yaxin; Song, Huaihe; Li, Ang; Chen, Xiaohong; Zhou, Jisheng; Ma, Zhaokun

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A new hierarchical porous carbon containing slit-shaped mesopores and 3D carbon nanosheets were prepared using Mg-Al layered double hydroxides as template. • The hierarchical porous carbon electrode showed a high capacity and excellent cycle stability when used in lithium-ion battery. • The excellent performance is ascribed to its hierarchical porous structure, especially the mesoporous struture. - Abstract: Novel hierarchical porous carbons (NHPCs) containing 3D carbon nanosheets and slit-mesopores are prepared in this work, using MgAl-layered double hydroxides as template and sucrose as carbon source, and their electrochemical performances as anodes of lithium-ion batteries are also investigated. Owing to the existence of abundant carbon nanosheets and slit-mesopores, the NHPCs electrode exhibits the specific reversible capacity of 1151.9 mA h/g at the current density of 50 mA/g, which is significantly higher than other hierarchical porous carbons reported in previous literatures. The contributions of carbon nanosheets and mesopores to the electrochemical performance are further clarified by nitrogen adsorption-desorption test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammograms and galvanostatic charge/discharge test. This work not only provides an easy and effective method to prepare hierarchical porous carbon materials, but also is beneficial for the design of high-performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries.

Porous-ZnO-Nanobelt Film as Recyclable Photocatalysts with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

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Wang Min

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this article, the porous-ZnO-nanobelt film was synthesized by oxidizing the ZnSe-nanobelt film in air. The experiment results show that the porous-ZnO-nanobelt film possesses enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with the ZnO-nanobelt film, and can be used as recyclable photocatalysts. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the porous-ZnO-nanobelt film is attributed to the increased surface area. Therefore, turning the 1D-nanostructure film into porous one may be a feasible approach to meet the demand of photocatalyst application.

Single layer porous gold films grown at different temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Renyun; Hummelgard, Magnus; Olin, Hakan

2010-01-01

Large area porous gold films can be used in several areas including electrochemical electrodes, as an essential component in sensors, or as a conducting material in electronics. Here, we report on evaporation induced crystal growth of large area porous gold films at 20, 40 and 60 deg. C. The gold films were grown on liquid surface at 20 deg. C, while the films were grown on the wall of beakers when temperature increased to 40 and 60 deg. C. The porous gold films consisted of a dense network of gold nanowires as characterized by TEM and SEM. TEM diffraction results indicated that higher temperature formed larger crystallites of gold wires. An in situ TEM imaging of the coalescence of gold nanoparticles mimicked the process of the growth of these porous films, and a plotting of the coalescence time and the neck radius showed a diffusion process. The densities of these gold films were also characterized by transmittance, and the results showed film grown at 20 deg. C had the highest density, while the film grown at 60 deg. C had the lowest consistent with SEM and TEM characterization. Electrical measurements of these gold films showed that the most conductive films were the ones grown at 40 deg. C. The conductivities of the gold films were related to the amount of contamination, density and the diameter of the gold nanowires in the films. In addition, a gold film/gold nanoparticle hybrid was made, which showed a 10% decrease in transmittance during hybridization, pointing to applications as chemical and biological sensors.

Hierarchically porous composites fabricated by hydrogel templating and viscous trapping techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thompson, Benjamin R.; Horozov, Tommy S.; Stoyanov, Simeon D.; Paunov, Vesselin N.

2018-01-01

Two methods for the preparation of hierarchically porous composites have been developed and explored. The first involved templating mixed slurries of hydrogel beads with two different average bead size distributions with gypsum slurry which allows for precise control over the porosity, pore size

Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon derived from artemia cyst shells with superior electrochemical performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yufeng; Ran, Wei; He, Jing; Song, Yanfang; Zhang, Chunming; Xiong, Ding-Bang; Gao, Faming; Wu, Jinsong; Xia, Yongyao

2015-01-21

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous carbon with abundant functional groups is produced through a very simple low-cost carbonization of Artemia cyst shells. The unique hierarchical porous structure of this material, combining large numbers of micropores and macropores, as well as reasonable amount of mesopores, is proven favorable to capacitive behavior. The abundant oxygen functional groups from the natural carbon precursor contribute stable pseudocapacitance. As-prepared sample exhibits high specific capacitance (369 F g(-1) in 1 M H2SO4 and 349 F g(-1) in 6 M KOH), excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 100% over 10 000 cycles, and promising rate performance. This work not only describes a simple way to produce high-performance carbon electrode materials for practical application, but also inspires an idea for future structure design of porous carbon.

Porous Alumina Films with Width-Controllable Alumina Stripes

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Huang Shi-Ming

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Porous alumina films had been fabricated by anodizing from aluminum films after an electropolishing procedure. Alumina stripes without pores can be distinguished on the surface of the porous alumina films. The width of the alumina stripes increases proportionally with the anodizing voltage. And the pores tend to be initiated close to the alumina stripes. These phenomena can be ascribed to the electric field distribution in the alumina barrier layer caused by the geometric structure of the aluminum surface.

Porous Alumina Films with Width-Controllable Alumina Stripes

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Porous alumina films had been fabricated by anodizing from aluminum films after an electropolishing procedure. Alumina stripes without pores can be distinguished on the surface of the porous alumina films. The width of the alumina stripes increases proportionally with the anodizing voltage. And the pores tend to be initiated close to the alumina stripes. These phenomena can be ascribed to the electric field distribution in the alumina barrier layer caused by the geometric structure of the aluminum surface. PMID:21170406

Irreversible membrane fouling abatement through pre-deposited layer of hierarchical porous carbons

KAUST Repository

Hamad, Juma; Dua, Rubal; Kurniasari, Novita; Kennedy, Maria Dolores; Wang, Peng; Amy, Gary L.

2014-01-01

In this work, dual-templated hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs), produced from a coupled ice-hard templating approach, are shown to be a highly effective solution to the commonly occurring problem of irreversible fouling of low-pressure membranes

SEM and Raman studies of CNT films on porous Si

Science.gov (United States)

Belka, R.; Keczkowska, J.; Suchańska, M.; Firek, P.; Wronka, H.; Kozłowski, M.; Radomska, J.; Czerwosz, E.; Craciunoiu, F.

2017-08-01

Carbon nanotube (CNT) films deposited on different porous silica substrates were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman Spectroscopy (RS). The films samples were prepared by a two-step method consisting of PVD and CVD processes. In the first step the nanocomposite Ni-C film was obtained by evaporation in dynamic vacuum from two separated sources of fullerenes and nickel acetate. Those films were deposited on porous silica and DLC/porous silica substrates. Analysis of SEM imaging showed that the obtained film are composed of carbon nanotubes, the distribution, size and quality of which depend on the type of substrate. The CNT films were studied by RS method to determine the influence of the substrate type on disordering of carbonaceous structure and quality of CNT in deposited films.

Fabrication of hierarchical porous N-doping carbon membrane by using ;confined nanospace deposition; method for supercapacitor

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Guoxu; Liu, Meng; Du, Juan; Liu, Lei; Yu, Yifeng; Sha, Jitong; Chen, Aibing

2018-03-01

The membrane carbon materials with hierarchical porous architecture are attractive because they can provide more channels for ion transport and shorten the ions transport path. Herein, we develop a facile way based on "confined nanospace deposition" to fabricate N-dopi-ng three dimensional hierarchical porous membrane carbon material (N-THPMC) via coating the nickel nitrate, silicate oligomers and triblock copolymer P123 on the branches of commercial polyamide membrane (PAM). During high temperature treatment, the mesoporous silica layer and Ni species serve as a "confined nanospace" and catalyst respectively, which are indispensable elements for formation of carbon framework, and the gas-phase carbon precursors which derive from the decomposition of PAM are deposited into the "confined nanospace" forming carbon framework. The N-THPMC with hierarchical macro/meso/microporous structure, N-doping (2.9%) and large specific surface area (994m2 g-1) well inherits the membrane morphology and hierarchical porous structure of PAM. The N-THPMC as electrode without binder exhibits a specific capacitance of 252 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte and excellent cycling stability of 92.7% even after 5000 cycles.

Photocatalytic properties of porous TiO2/Ag thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.-C.; Chen, J.-Y.; Hsu, T.-L.; Lin, C.-K.; Chan, C.-C.

2008-01-01

In this study, nanocrystalline TiO 2 /Ag composite thin films were prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating technique. By introducing polystyrene (PS) spheres into the precursor solution, porous TiO 2 /Ag thin films were prepared after calcination at a temperature of 500 deg. C for 4 h. Three different sizes (50, 200, and 400 nm) of PS spheres were used to prepare porous TiO 2 films. The as-prepared TiO 2 and TiO 2 /Ag thin films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and by scanning electron microscopy to reveal structural and morphological differences. In addition, the photocatalytic properties of these films were investigated by degrading methylene blue under UV irradiation. When PS spheres of different sizes were introduced after calcination, the as-prepared TiO 2 films exhibited different porous structures. XRD results showed that all TiO 2 /Ag films exhibited a major anatase phase. The photodegradation of porous TiO 2 thin films prepared with 200 nm PS spheres and doped with 1 mol% Ag exhibited the best photocatalytic efficiency where ∼ 100% methylene blue was decomposed within 8 h under UV exposure

Novel nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon materials as host matrixes for lithium–sulfur batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jing; Wang, Shuyuan; Ma, Zhipeng; Du, Zhiling; Li, Chunying; Song, Jianjun; Wang, Guiling; Shao, Guangjie

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon/sulfur composites were prepared • Nitrogen atoms were introduced to improve electrochemical properties • The intriguing structural features benefited discharge capacity and cycling stability - Abstract: Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon/sulfur composites (N-HPCC/S) served as attractive cathode materials for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries were fabricated for the first time. The nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon (N-HPCC) with an appropriate nitrogen content (1.29 wt%) was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach, combined with subsequent carbonization–activation. The N-HPCC/S composites prepared by a simple melt–diffusion method displayed an excellent electrochemical performance. With a high sulfur content (58 wt%) in the total electrode weight, the N-HPCC/S cathode delivered a high initial discharge capacity of 1626.8 mA h g −1 and remained high up to 1086.3 mA h g −1 after 50 cycles at 100 mA g −1 , which is about 1.86 times as that of activated carbon. Particularly, the reversible discharge capacity still maintained 607.2 mA h g −1 after 200 cycles even at a higher rate of 800 mA g −1 . The enhanced electrochemical performance was attributed to the synergetic effect between the intriguing hierarchically porous coralloid structure and appropriate nitrogen doping, which could effectively trap polysulfides, alleviate the volume expansion, enhance the electronic conductivity and improve the surface interaction between the carbon matrix and polysulfides

Hierarchical three-dimensional porous SnS{sub 2}/carbon cloth anode for high-performance lithium ion batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chao, Junfeng, E-mail: chchjjff@163.com [College of Electronic Information and Electric Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang 455000 (China); Zhang, Xiutai [College of Electronic Information and Electric Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang 455000 (China); Xing, Shumin [College of Mathematics and Physics, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang 455000 (China); Fan, Qiufeng; Yang, Junping; Zhao, Luhua; Li, Xiang [College of Electronic Information and Electric Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang 455000 (China)

2016-08-15

Graphical abstract: Hierarchical 3D porous SnS{sub 2}/carbon cloth, good electrochemical performance. - Highlights: • Hierarchical 3D porous SnS{sub 2}/carbon cloth has been firstly synthesized. • The SnS{sub 2}/carbon clothes were good candidates for excellent lithium ion batteries. • The SnS{sub 2}/carbon cloth exhibits improved capacity compared to pure SnS{sub 2}. - Abstract: Hierarchical three-dimension (3D) porous SnS{sub 2}/carbon clothes were synthesized via a facile polyol refluxing process. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrometer (UV–vis DRS). The 3D porous SnS{sub 2}/carbon clothes-based lithium ion batteries exhibited high reversible capacity and good rate capability as anode materials. The good electrochemical performance for lithium ion storage could be attributed to the special nanostructure, leading to high-rate transportation of electrolyte ion and electrons throughout the electrode matrix.

The Hydrolytic Stability and Degradation Mechanism of a Hierarchically Porous Metal Alkylphosphonate Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Lv

2018-03-01

Full Text Available To aid the design of a hierarchically porous unconventional metal-phosphonate framework (HP-UMPF for practical radioanalytical separation, a systematic investigation of the hydrolytic stability of bulk phase against acidic corrosion has been carried out for an archetypical HP-UMPF. Bulk dissolution results suggest that aqueous acidity has a more paramount effect on incongruent leaching than the temperature, and the kinetic stability reaches equilibrium by way of an accumulation of a partial leached species on the corrosion conduits. A variation of particle morphology, hierarchical porosity and backbone composition upon corrosion reveals that they are hydrolytically resilient without suffering any great degradation of porous texture, although large aggregates crack into sporadic fractures while the nucleophilic attack of inorganic layers cause the leaching of tin and phosphorus. The remaining selectivity of these HP-UMPFs is dictated by a balance between the elimination of free phosphonate and the exposure of confined phosphonates, thus allowing a real-time tailor of radionuclide sequestration. Moreover, a plausible degradation mechanism has been proposed for the triple progressive dissolution of three-level hierarchical porous structures to elucidate resultant reactivity. These HP-UMPFs are compared with benchmark metal-organic frameworks (MOFs to obtain a rough grading of hydrolytic stability and two feasible approaches are suggested for enhancing their hydrolytic stability that are intended for real-life separation protocols.

Preparation of hierarchical porous Zn-salt particles and their superhydrophobic performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Dahai; Jia, Mengqiu, E-mail: jiamq@mail.buct.edu.cn

2015-12-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Hierarchical particles with high roughness were prepared by modified hydrothermal route. • The high roughness is provided by extremely low thickness of sheet crystals. • FEVE polymer derivative was used for surface treatment of hierarchical surface. • The novel particles via surface treatment were firstly used as superhydrophobic materials. • The product properties were compared with multi-scale ZnO particles via conventional route. - Abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces arranged by hierarchical porous particles were prepared using modified hydrothermal routes under the effect of sodium citrate. Two particle samples were generated in the medium of hexamethylenetetramine (P1) and urea (P2), respectively. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscope were adopted for the investigation, and results revealed that the P1 and P2 particles are porous microspheres with crosslinked extremely thin (10–30 nm) sheet crystals composed of Zn{sub 5}(OH){sub 8}Ac{sub 2}·2H{sub 2}O and Zn{sub 5}(CO{sub 3}){sub 2}(OH){sub 6}, respectively. The prepared particles were treated with a fluoroethylene vinyl ether derivative and studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Results showed that the hierarchical surfaces of these particles were combined with low-wettable fluorocarbon layers. Moreover, the fabricated surface composed of the prepared hierarchical particles displayed considerably high contact angles, indicating great superhydrophobicity for the products. The wetting behavior of the particles was analyzed with a theoretical wetting model in comparison with that of chestnut-like ZnO products obtained through a conventional hydrothermal route. Correspondingly, this study provided evidence that high roughness surface plays a great role in superhydrophobic behavior.

Silver Films with Hierarchical Chirality.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Liguo; Cao, Yuanyuan; Duan, Yingying; Han, Lu; Che, Shunai

2017-07-17

Physical fabrication of chiral metallic films usually results in singular or large-sized chirality, restricting the optical asymmetric responses to long electromagnetic wavelengths. The chiral molecule-induced formation of silver films prepared chemically on a copper substrate through a redox reaction is presented. Three levels of chirality were identified: primary twisted nanoflakes with atomic crystal lattices, secondary helical stacking of these nanoflakes to form nanoplates, and tertiary micrometer-sized circinates consisting of chiral arranged nanoplates. The chiral Ag films exhibited multiple plasmonic absorption- and scattering-based optical activities at UV/Vis wavelengths based on their hierarchical chirality. The Ag films showed chiral selectivity for amino acids in catalytic electrochemical reactions, which originated from their primary atomic crystal lattices. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Kinetically Controlled Synthesis of Pt-Based One-Dimensional Hierarchically Porous Nanostructures with Large Mesopores as Highly Efficient ORR Catalysts.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Shaofang; Zhu, Chengzhou; Song, Junhua; Engelhard, Mark H; Xia, Haibing; Du, Dan; Lin, Yuehe

2016-12-28

Rational design and construction of Pt-based porous nanostructures with large mesopores have triggered significant considerations because of their high surface area and more efficient mass transport. Hydrochloric acid-induced kinetically controlled reduction of metal precursors in the presence of soft template F-127 and hard template tellurium nanowires has been successfully demonstrated to construct one-dimensional hierarchical porous PtCu alloy nanostructures with large mesopores. Moreover, the electrochemical experiments demonstrated that the PtCu hierarchically porous nanostructures synthesized under optimized conditions exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction in acid media.

Kinetically Controlled Synthesis of Pt-Based One-Dimensional Hierarchically Porous Nanostructures with Large Mesopores as Highly Efficient ORR Catalysts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fu, Shaofang; Zhu, Chengzhou; Song, Junhua; Engelhard, Mark H.; Xia, Haibing; Du, Dan; Lin, Yuehe

2016-12-28

Rational design and construction of Pt-based porous nanostructures with large mesopores have triggered significant considerations because of their high surface area and more efficient mass transport. Hydrochloric acid-induced kinetic reduction of metal precursors in the presence of soft template F-127 and hard template tellurium nanowires has been successfully demonstrated to construct one-dimensional hierarchical porous PtCu alloy nanostructures with large mesopores. Moreover, the electrochemical experiments demonstrated that the resultant PtCu hierarchically porous nanostructures with optimized composition exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction.

Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials prepared from meta-aminophenol formaldehyde resin for supercapacitor with high rate performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Jin; Zhang, Zhongshen; Xing, Wei; Yu, Jing; Han, Guoxing; Si, Weijiang; Zhuo, Shuping

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: N-doped hierarchical porous carbons with high rate capacitive performance are prepared by a combination method of nano-SiO 2 template/KOH activation. - Highlights: • A mass produced nano-SiO 2 is used to prepared hierarchical porous carbon. • N-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials are easily prepared. • The NHPCs materials exhibit a very high capacitance of up to 260.5 F g −1 . • The NHPC-800 sample shows very high rate capability. • Hierarchical porosity and N-doping synergistically enhances the whole capacitance. - Abstract: In this work, nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials (NHPCs) are prepared by a two-step method combined of a hard template process and KOH-activation treatment. Low cost and large-scale commercial nano-SiO 2 are used as a hard template. The hierarchical porosity, structure and nitrogen-doped surface chemical properties are proved by a varies of means, such as scanning electron microscopy, transition electron microscopy, N 2 sorption, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. When the prepared NHPCs materials are used as the electrode materials for supercapacitors in KOH electrolyte, they exhibit very high specific capacitance, good power capability and excellent cyclic stability. NHPC-800 carbon shows a high capacitance of 114.0 F g −1 at the current density of 40 A g −1 , responding to a high energy and power densities of 4.0 Wh kg −1 and 10 000 W kg −1 , and a very short drain time of 1.4 s. The excellent capacitive performance may be due to the synergistic effect of the hierarchical porosity, high effective surface area and heteroatom doping, resulting in both electrochemical double layer and Faradaic capacitance contributions

Free-standing and porous hierarchical nanoarchitectures constructed with cobalt cobaltite nanowalls for supercapacitors with high specific capacitances

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Yuanhua; Zhang, Aiqin; Liu, Shaojun; Zhao, Jihong; Fang, Shaoming; Jia, Dianzeng; Li, Feng

2012-12-01

Free-standing and porous hierarchical nanoarchitectures constructed with cobalt cobaltite (Co3O4) nanowalls have been successfully synthesized in large scale by calcining three dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructures consisting of single crystalline cobalt carbonate hydroxide hydrate - Co(CO3)0.5(OH)·0.11H2O nanowalls prepared with a solvothermal method. The step-by-step decomposition of the precursor can generate porous Co3O4 nanowalls with BET surface area of 88.34 m2 g-1. The as-prepared Co3O4 nanoarchitectures show superior specific capacitance to the most Co3O4 supercapacitor electrode materials to date. After continuously cycled for 1000 times of charge-discharge at 4 A g-1, the supercapacitors can retain ca 92.3% of their original specific capacitances. The excellent performances of the devices can be attributed to the porous and hierarchical 3D nanostructure of the materials.

Novel hierarchically porous carbon materials obtained from natural biopolymer as host matrixes for lithium-sulfur battery applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Bin; Xiao, Min; Wang, Shuanjin; Han, Dongmei; Song, Shuqin; Chen, Guohua; Meng, Yuezhong

2014-08-13

Novel hierarchically porous carbon materials with very high surface areas, large pore volumes and high electron conductivities were prepared from silk cocoon by carbonization with KOH activation. The prepared novel porous carbon-encapsulated sulfur composites were fabricated by a simple melting process and used as cathodes for lithium sulfur batteries. Because of the large surface area and hierarchically porous structure of the carbon material, soluble polysulfide intermediates can be trapped within the cathode and the volume expansion can be alleviated effectively. Moreover, the electron transport properties of the carbon materials can provide an electron conductive network and promote the utilization rate of sulfur in cathode. The prepared carbon-sulfur composite exhibited a high specific capacity and excellent cycle stability. The results show a high initial discharge capacity of 1443 mAh g(-1) and retain 804 mAh g(-1) after 80 discharge/charge cycles at a rate of 0.5 C. A Coulombic efficiency retained up to 92% after 80 cycles. The prepared hierarchically porous carbon materials were proven to be an effective host matrix for sulfur encapsulation to improve the sulfur utilization rate and restrain the dissolution of polysulfides into lithium-sulfur battery electrolytes.

Significant room-temperature ferromagnetism in porous ZnO films: The role of oxygen vacancies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Xue; Liu, Huiyuan [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Sun, Huiyuan, E-mail: huiyuansun@126.com [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Liu, Lihu; Jia, Xiaoxuan [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China)

2015-10-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Porous ZnO films were deposited on porous anodic alumina substrates. • Significant ferromagnetism (FM) has been observed in porous ZnO films (110 emu/cm{sup 3}). • The strong magnetic anisotropy was observed in the porous ZnO films. • The origin of FM is attributed to the oxygen vacancy with a local magnetic moment. - Abstract: Pure porous ZnO films were prepared by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering on porous anodic alumina substrates. Remarkably large room-temperature ferromagnetism was observed in the films. The highest saturation moment along the out-of-plane direction was about 110 emu/cm{sup 3}. Experimental and theoretical results suggested that the oxygen vacancies and the unique porous structure of the films are responsible for the large ferromagnetism. There are two modes of coupling between oxygen vacancies in the porous ZnO films: (i) exchange interactions directly between the oxygen vacancies and (ii) with the mediation of conduction electrons. In addition, it was found that the magnetic moment of ZnO films can be changed by tuning the concentration of oxygen vacancies. These observations may be useful in the development of ZnO-based spintronics devices.

Enhanced in vitro biocompatibility of ultrafine-grained titanium with hierarchical porous surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, C.Y.; Nie, F.L.; Zheng, Y.F.; Cheng, Y.; Wei, S.C.; Valiev, R.Z.

2011-01-01

Bulk ultrafine-grained Ti (UFG Ti) was successfully fabricated by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) technique in the present study, and to further improve its surface biocompatibility, surface modification techniques including sandblasting, acid etching and alkali treatment were employed to produce a hierarchical porous surface. The effect of the above surface treatments on the surface roughness, wettability, electrochemical corrosion behavior, apatite forming ability and cellular behavior of UFG Ti were systematically investigated with the coarse-grained Ti as control. Results show that UFG-Ti with surface modification had no pitting corrosion and presented low corrosion rate in simulated body fluids (SBF). The hierarchical porous surface yielded by surface modification enhanced the ability of UFG Ti to form a complete apatite layer when soaked in SBF and promoted osteoblast-like cells attachment and proliferation in vitro, which promises to have a significant impact on increasing bone-bonding ability and reducing healing time when implanted due to faster tissue integration.

Facile preparation of hierarchically porous carbon using diatomite as both template and catalyst and methylene blue adsorption of carbon products.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dong; Yuan, Peng; Tan, Daoyong; Liu, Hongmei; Wang, Tong; Fan, Mingde; Zhu, Jianxi; He, Hongping

2012-12-15

Hierarchically porous carbons were prepared using a facile preparation method in which diatomite was utilized as both template and catalyst. The porous structures of the carbon products and their formation mechanisms were investigated. The macroporosity and microporosity of the diatomite-templated carbons were derived from replication of diatom shell and structure-reconfiguration of the carbon film, respectively. The macroporosity of carbons was strongly dependent on the original morphology of the diatomite template. The macroporous structure composed of carbon plates connected by the pillar- and tube-like macropores resulted from the replication of the central and edge pores of the diatom shells with disk-shaped morphology, respectively. And another macroporous carbon tubes were also replicated from canoe-shaped diatom shells. The acidity of diatomite dramatically affected the porosity of the carbons, more acid sites of diatomite template resulted in higher surface area and pore volume of the carbon products. The diatomite-templated carbons exhibited higher adsorption capacity for methylene blue than the commercial activated carbon (CAC), although the specific surface area was much smaller than that of CAC, due to the hierarchical porosity of diatomite-templated carbons. And the carbons were readily reclaimed and regenerated. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel hierarchical ZnO disordered/ordered bilayer nanostructured film for dye sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Yamin, E-mail: yaminfengccnuphy@outlook.com; Wu, Fei; Jiang, Jian; Zhu, Jianhui; Fodjouong, Ghislain Joel; Meng, Gaoxiang; Xing, Yanmin; Wang, Wenwu; Huang, Xintang, E-mail: xthuang@phy.ccnu.edu.cn

2013-12-25

Graphical abstract: A novel hierarchical disordered/ordered bilayer ZnO nanostructured film in the length of 18 μm have been successfully synthesized on the FTO substrate; the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film electrodes applied in DSSCs exhibit photoelectric conversion efficiency as high as 5.16%. Highlights: •A novel hierarchical ZnO structure film was fabricated on a FTO substrate. •Hierarchical ZnO film is applied as the electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells. •The film possess high specific surface area and fast electron transport effect. •The light-scattering effect of the hierarchical film is pronounced. •The energy conversion efficiency of hierarchical ZnO electrode reaches to 5.16%. -- Abstract: A novel hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is synthesized via a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method followed by a treatment of thermal decomposition onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. This hierarchical film is composed of disordered ZnO nanorods (NRs) (top layer) and ordered ZnO nanowires (NWs) (bottom layer). The products possess the following features such as high specific surface area, fast electron transport, and pronounced light-scattering effect, which are quite suitable for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications. A light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.16% is achieved when the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is used as the photoanode under 100 mW cm{sup −2} illumination. This efficiency is found to be much higher than that of the DSSCs with pure ordered ZnO NWs (1.45%) and disordered ZnO NRs (3.31%) photoanodes.

A novel hierarchical ZnO disordered/ordered bilayer nanostructured film for dye sensitized solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Yamin; Wu, Fei; Jiang, Jian; Zhu, Jianhui; Fodjouong, Ghislain Joel; Meng, Gaoxiang; Xing, Yanmin; Wang, Wenwu; Huang, Xintang

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: A novel hierarchical disordered/ordered bilayer ZnO nanostructured film in the length of 18 μm have been successfully synthesized on the FTO substrate; the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film electrodes applied in DSSCs exhibit photoelectric conversion efficiency as high as 5.16%. Highlights: •A novel hierarchical ZnO structure film was fabricated on a FTO substrate. •Hierarchical ZnO film is applied as the electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells. •The film possess high specific surface area and fast electron transport effect. •The light-scattering effect of the hierarchical film is pronounced. •The energy conversion efficiency of hierarchical ZnO electrode reaches to 5.16%. -- Abstract: A novel hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is synthesized via a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method followed by a treatment of thermal decomposition onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. This hierarchical film is composed of disordered ZnO nanorods (NRs) (top layer) and ordered ZnO nanowires (NWs) (bottom layer). The products possess the following features such as high specific surface area, fast electron transport, and pronounced light-scattering effect, which are quite suitable for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications. A light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.16% is achieved when the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is used as the photoanode under 100 mW cm −2 illumination. This efficiency is found to be much higher than that of the DSSCs with pure ordered ZnO NWs (1.45%) and disordered ZnO NRs (3.31%) photoanodes

Scalable 2D Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets for Flexible Supercapacitors with Ultrahigh Energy Density.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Lei; Wu, Qin; Zhang, Peixin; Zhang, Junmin; Wang, Dongrui; Li, Yongliang; Ren, Xiangzhong; Mi, Hongwei; Deng, Libo; Zheng, Zijian

2018-03-01

2D carbon nanomaterials such as graphene and its derivatives, have gained tremendous research interests in energy storage because of their high capacitance and chemical stability. However, scalable synthesis of ultrathin carbon nanosheets with well-defined pore architectures remains a great challenge. Herein, the first synthesis of 2D hierarchical porous carbon nanosheets (2D-HPCs) with rich nitrogen dopants is reported, which is prepared with high scalability through a rapid polymerization of a nitrogen-containing thermoset and a subsequent one-step pyrolysis and activation into 2D porous nanosheets. 2D-HPCs, which are typically 1.5 nm thick and 1-3 µm wide, show a high surface area (2406 m 2 g -1 ) and with hierarchical micro-, meso-, and macropores. This 2D and hierarchical porous structure leads to robust flexibility and good energy-storage capability, being 139 Wh kg -1 for a symmetric supercapacitor. Flexible supercapacitor devices fabricated by these 2D-HPCs also present an ultrahigh volumetric energy density of 8.4 mWh cm -3 at a power density of 24.9 mW cm -3 , which is retained at 80% even when the power density is increased by 20-fold. The devices show very high electrochemical life (96% retention after 10000 charge/discharge cycles) and excellent mechanical flexibility. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Functional Biomass Carbons with Hierarchical Porous Structure for Supercapacitor Electrode Materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Hao; Liu, Duo; Shen, Zhehong; Bao, Binfu; Zhao, Shuyan; Wu, Limin

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We successfully prepared bamboo-derived porous carbon with B and N co-doping. • This novel carbon exhibits significantly enhanced specific capacitance and energy density. • The highest specific capacitance exceeds those of most similar carbon materials. • Asymmetric supercapacitor based on this carbon shows satisfactory capacitive performance. - Abstract: This paper presents nitrogen and boron co-doped KOH-activated bamboo-derived carbon as a porous biomass carbon with utility as a supercapacitor electrode material. Owing to the high electrochemical activity promoted by the hierarchical porous structure and further endowed by boron and nitrogen co-doping, electrodes based on the as-obtained material exhibit significantly enhanced specific capacitance and energy density relative to those based on most similar materials. An asymmetric supercapacitor based on this novel carbon material demonstrated satisfactory energy density and electrochemical cycling stability.

Digested sludge-derived three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitor electrode

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jia-Jia; Fan, Hao-Xiang; Dai, Xiao-Hu; Yuan, Shi-Jie

2018-04-01

Digested sludge, as the main by-product of the sewage sludge anaerobic digestion process, still contains considerable organic compounds. In this protocol, we report a facile method for preparing digested sludge-derived self-doped porous carbon material for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes via a sustainable pyrolysis/activation process. The obtained digested sludge-derived carbon material (HPDSC) exhibits versatile O-, N-doped hierarchical porous framework, high specific surface area (2103.6 m2 g-1) and partial graphitization phase, which can facilitate ion transport, provide more storage sites for electrolyte ions and enhance the conductivity of active electrode materials. The HPDSC-based supercapacitor electrodes show favourable energy storage performance, with a specific capacitance of 245 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1 in 0.5 M Na2SO4; outstanding cycling stability, with 98.4% capacitance retention after 2000 cycles; and good rate performance (211 F g-1 at 11 A g-1). This work provides a unique self-doped three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon material with a favourable charge storage capacity and at the same time finds a high value-added and environment-friendly strategy for disposal and recycling of digested sludge.

Methanesulfonic acid-assisted synthesis of N/S co-doped hierarchically porous carbon for high performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Huo, Silu; Liu, Mingquan; Wu, Linlin; Liu, Mingjie; Xu, Min; Ni, Wei; Yan, Yi-Ming

2018-05-01

Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbons are considered as electrode materials for high performance supercapacitors, while their further development is still limited by complicated synthesis procedure, unsatisfied structure and low energy density. Developing a simple synthetic strategy to obtain rationally structured carbon materials and high supercapacitor performance is remaining a grand challenge. Herein, we describe the synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbons as high performance supercapacitors electrode by a methanesulfonic acid-assisted one-step carbonization and activation of the freeze-dried precursors mixture. The as-prepared carbon material not only exhibits ideally hierarchical pores, but also realizes uniform nitrogen and sulfur co-doping. In 6.0 M KOH electrolyte, the material can achieve a high specific capacitance of 272 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1 and a promising rate performance retaining 172 F g-1 even at 100 A g-1. Moreover, a fabricated symmetric supercapacitor based on as-prepared nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbon delivers high energy densities of 12.4 W h kg-1 and 8.0 W h kg-1 in 6.0 M KOH liquid and KOH/PVA solid-state electrolytes, respectively. This work presents a simple and effective methanesulfonic acid-assisted approach for mass production of heteroatomic doping hierarchical porous carbons for future energy storage applications.

Effects of inherent/enhanced solid acidity and morphology of diatomite templates on the synthesis and porosity of hierarchically porous carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dong; Yuan, Peng; Tan, Daoyong; Liu, Hongmei; Fan, Mingde; Yuan, Aihua; Zhu, Jianxi; He, Hongping

2010-12-21

The inherent or enhanced solid acidity of raw or activated diatomite is found to have significant effects on the synthesis of hierarchically porous diatomite-templated carbon with high surface area and special porous structure. The solid acidity makes raw/activated diatomite a catalyst for the generation of porous carbon, and the porous parameters of the carbon products are strongly dependent on the solid acidity of diatomite templates. The morphology of diatomite also dramatically affects the textural structure of porous carbon. Two types of macroporous structures in the carbon product, the partially solid pillars and the ordered hollow tubes, derive from the replication of the central and the edge pores of diatom shell, respectively. The hierarchically porous carbon shows good capability for the adsorption of solvent naphtha and H(2), enabling potential applications in adsorption and gas storage.

Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets and their gas sensing properties to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng, Fanli, E-mail: flmeng@iim.ac.cn [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Hou, Nannan [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China); Ge, Sheng [Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000 (China); Sun, Bai [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Jin, Zhen, E-mail: zjin@iim.ac.cn [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Shen, Wei; Kong, Lingtao; Guo, Zheng [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Sun, Yufeng, E-mail: sunyufeng118@126.com [Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000 (China); Wu, Hao; Wang, Chen [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Li, Minqiang [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China)

2015-03-25

Highlights: • Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets were synthesized. • The flower-like hierarchical structured ZnO exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. • The sensing mechanism of the flower-like hierarchical has been systematically analyzed. - Abstract: Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (FHPSCZNs) were synthesized by a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment, which combined the advantages between flower-like hierarchical structure and porous single-crystalline structure. XRD, SEM and HRTEM were used to characterize the synthesized FHPSCZN samples. The sensing properties of the FHPSCZN sensor were also investigated by comparing with ZnO powder sensor, which exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. The sensing mechanism of the FHPSCZN sensor has been further analyzed from the aspects of electronic transport and gas diffusion.

Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets and their gas sensing properties to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Fanli; Hou, Nannan; Ge, Sheng; Sun, Bai; Jin, Zhen; Shen, Wei; Kong, Lingtao; Guo, Zheng; Sun, Yufeng; Wu, Hao; Wang, Chen; Li, Minqiang

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets were synthesized. • The flower-like hierarchical structured ZnO exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. • The sensing mechanism of the flower-like hierarchical has been systematically analyzed. - Abstract: Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (FHPSCZNs) were synthesized by a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment, which combined the advantages between flower-like hierarchical structure and porous single-crystalline structure. XRD, SEM and HRTEM were used to characterize the synthesized FHPSCZN samples. The sensing properties of the FHPSCZN sensor were also investigated by comparing with ZnO powder sensor, which exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. The sensing mechanism of the FHPSCZN sensor has been further analyzed from the aspects of electronic transport and gas diffusion

Universal Method for Creating Hierarchical Wrinkles on Thin-Film Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Woo-Bin; Cho, Kyeong Min; Lee, Won-Kyu; Odom, Teri W; Jung, Hee-Tae

2018-01-10

One of the most interesting topics in physical science and materials science is the creation of complex wrinkled structures on thin-film surfaces because of their several advantages of high surface area, localized strain, and stress tolerance. In this study, a significant step was taken toward solving limitations imposed by the fabrication of previous artificial wrinkles. A universal method for preparing hierarchical three-dimensional wrinkle structures of thin films on a multiple scale (e.g., nanometers to micrometers) by sequential wrinkling with different skin layers was developed. Notably, this method was not limited to specific materials, and it was applicable to fabricating hierarchical wrinkles on all of the thin-film surfaces tested thus far, including those of metals, two-dimensional and one-dimensional materials, and polymers. The hierarchical wrinkles with multiscale structures were prepared by sequential wrinkling, in which a sacrificial layer was used as the additional skin layer between sequences. For example, a hierarchical MoS 2 wrinkle exhibited highly enhanced catalytic behavior because of the superaerophobicity and effective surface area, which are related to topological effects. As the developed method can be adopted to a majority of thin films, it is thought to be a universal method for enhancing the physical properties of various materials.

Free-standing Hierarchical Porous Assemblies of Commercial TiO_2 Nanocrystals and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes as High-performance Anode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xiong; Xu, Guobao; Xiao, Huaping; Wei, Xiaolin; Yang, Liwen

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Utilization of commercial nanomaterials to freestanding sodium electrode is demonstrated. • Free-standing electrodes composed of TiO_2 and MWCNTs are hierarchically porous. • Hierarchical porous architecture benefits charge transport and interfacial Na"+ adsorption. • Free-standing hierarchical porous electrodes exhibit superior Na storage performance. - Abstract: Freestanding hierarchical porous assemblies of commercial TiO_2 nanocrystals and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as electrode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) are prepared via modified vacuum filtration, free-drying and annealing. Microstructure characterizations reveal that TiO_2 nanocrystals are confined in hierarchically porous, highly electrically conductive and mechanically robust MWCNTs networks with cross-linking of thermally-treated bovine serum albumin. The hierarchical porous architecture not only enables rapid charge transportation and sufficient interaction between electrode and electrolyte, but also guarantees abundant interfacial sites for Na"+ adsorption, which benefits substantial contribution from pseudocapacitive Na storage. When it is used directly as an anode for sodium-ion batteries, the prepared electrode delivers high specific capacity of 100 mA h g"−"1 at a current density of 3000 mA g"−"1, and 150 mA h g"−"1 after 500 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g"−"1. The low-cost TiO_2-based freestanding anode has large potential application in high-performance SIBs for portable, flexible and wearable electronics.

Probing properties, stability, and performances of hierarchical meso-porous materials with nano-scale interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldinozzi, Gianguido; Gosset, Dominique; Simeone, David; Muller, Guillaume; Laberty-Robert, Christel; Sanchez, Clement

2012-01-01

Nano-crystals growth mechanism embedded into meso-porous thin films has been determined directly from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction data. We have shown, for the first time, that surface capillary forces control the growth mechanism of nano-crystals into these nano-architectures. Moreover, these data allow an estimation of the surface tension of the nano-crystals organized into a 3-D nano-architecture. The analysis of the variations in the strain field of these nano-crystals gives information on the evolution of the microstructure of these meso-porous films, that is, the contacts among nano-crystals. This work represents the first application of grazing incidence X-ray for understanding stability and performances of meso-porous thin films. This approach can be used to understand the structural stability of these nano-architectures at high temperature. (authors)

Digested sludge-derived three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitor electrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jia-Jia; Fan, Hao-Xiang; Dai, Xiao-Hu; Yuan, Shi-Jie

2018-04-01

Digested sludge, as the main by-product of the sewage sludge anaerobic digestion process, still contains considerable organic compounds. In this protocol, we report a facile method for preparing digested sludge-derived self-doped porous carbon material for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes via a sustainable pyrolysis/activation process. The obtained digested sludge-derived carbon material (HPDSC) exhibits versatile O-, N-doped hierarchical porous framework, high specific surface area (2103.6 m 2  g -1 ) and partial graphitization phase, which can facilitate ion transport, provide more storage sites for electrolyte ions and enhance the conductivity of active electrode materials. The HPDSC-based supercapacitor electrodes show favourable energy storage performance, with a specific capacitance of 245 F g -1 at 1.0 A g -1 in 0.5 M Na 2 SO 4 ; outstanding cycling stability, with 98.4% capacitance retention after 2000 cycles; and good rate performance (211 F g -1 at 11 A g -1 ). This work provides a unique self-doped three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon material with a favourable charge storage capacity and at the same time finds a high value-added and environment-friendly strategy for disposal and recycling of digested sludge.

Fabrication of hierarchical porous ZnO-Al2O3 microspheres with enhanced adsorption performance

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Chunsheng; Pi, Meng; Xu, Difa; Jiang, Chuanjia; Cheng, Bei

2017-12-01

Hierarchical porous ZnO-Al2O3 microspheres were fabricated through a simple hydrothermal route. The as-prepared hierarchical porous ZnO-Al2O3 composites were utilized as adsorbents to remove organic dye Congo red (CR) from water. The ZnO-Al2O3 composites had morphology of microspheres with diameters in the range of 12-16 μm, which were assembled by nanosheets with thicknesses of approximately 60 nm. The adsorption kinetics of CR onto the ZnO-Al2O3 composites was properly fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium adsorption data were perfectly described by the Langmuir isotherm and had a maximum adsorption capacity that reached 397 mg/g, which was significantly higher than the value of the pure alumina (Al2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) samples. The superior CR removal efficiency of the ZnO-Al2O3 composites was attributed to its well-developed hierarchical porous structures and larger specific surface area (201 m2/g), which were conducive to the diffusion and adsorption of CR molecules. Moreover, the regeneration study reveals that the ZnO-Al2O3 composites have suitable stability and reusability. The results also indicate that the as-prepared sample can act as a highly effective adsorbent in anionic dye removal from wastewater.

Hierarchical structure graphitic-like/MoS2 film as superlubricity material

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Zhenbin; Jia, Xiaolong; Ma, Wei; Zhang, Bin; Zhang, Junyan

2017-08-01

Friction and wear result in a great amount of energy loss and the invalidation of mechanical parts, thus it is necessary to minimize friction in practical application. In this study, the graphitic-like/MoS2 films with hierarchical structure were synthesized by the combination of pulse current plasma chemical-vapor deposition and medium frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering in preheated environment. This hierarchical structure composite with multilayer nano sheets endows the films excellent tribological performance, which easily achieves macro superlubricity (friction coefficient ∼0.004) under humid air. Furthermore, it is expected that hierarchical structure of graphitic-like/MoS2 films could match the requirements of large scale, high bear-capacity and wear-resistance of actual working conditions, which could be widely used in the industrial production as a promising superlubricity material.

Artificial 3D hierarchical and isotropic porous polymeric materials

KAUST Repository

Chisca, Stefan; Musteata, Valentina-Elena; Sougrat, Rachid; Behzad, Ali Reza; Nunes, Suzana Pereira

2018-01-01

Hierarchical porous materials that replicate complex living structures are attractive for a wide variety of applications, ranging from storage and catalysis to biological and artificial systems. However, the preparation of structures with a high level of complexity and long-range order at the mesoscale and microscale is challenging. We report a simple, nonextractive, and nonreactive method used to prepare three-dimensional porous materials that mimic biological systems such as marine skeletons and honeycombs. This method exploits the concurrent occurrence of the self-assembly of block copolymers in solution and macrophase separation by nucleation and growth. We obtained a long-range order of micrometer-sized compartments. These compartments are interconnected by ordered cylindrical nanochannels. The new approach is demonstrated using polystyrene-b-poly(t-butyl acrylate), which can be further explored for a broad range of applications, such as air purification filters for viruses and pollution particle removal or growth of bioinspired materials for bone regeneration.

Artificial 3D hierarchical and isotropic porous polymeric materials

KAUST Repository

Chisca, Stefan

2018-05-11

Hierarchical porous materials that replicate complex living structures are attractive for a wide variety of applications, ranging from storage and catalysis to biological and artificial systems. However, the preparation of structures with a high level of complexity and long-range order at the mesoscale and microscale is challenging. We report a simple, nonextractive, and nonreactive method used to prepare three-dimensional porous materials that mimic biological systems such as marine skeletons and honeycombs. This method exploits the concurrent occurrence of the self-assembly of block copolymers in solution and macrophase separation by nucleation and growth. We obtained a long-range order of micrometer-sized compartments. These compartments are interconnected by ordered cylindrical nanochannels. The new approach is demonstrated using polystyrene-b-poly(t-butyl acrylate), which can be further explored for a broad range of applications, such as air purification filters for viruses and pollution particle removal or growth of bioinspired materials for bone regeneration.

Artificial 3D hierarchical and isotropic porous polymeric materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Chisca, Stefan; Musteata, Valentina-Elena; Sougrat, Rachid; Behzad, Ali Reza; Nunes, Suzana P

2018-05-01

Hierarchical porous materials that replicate complex living structures are attractive for a wide variety of applications, ranging from storage and catalysis to biological and artificial systems. However, the preparation of structures with a high level of complexity and long-range order at the mesoscale and microscale is challenging. We report a simple, nonextractive, and nonreactive method used to prepare three-dimensional porous materials that mimic biological systems such as marine skeletons and honeycombs. This method exploits the concurrent occurrence of the self-assembly of block copolymers in solution and macrophase separation by nucleation and growth. We obtained a long-range order of micrometer-sized compartments. These compartments are interconnected by ordered cylindrical nanochannels. The new approach is demonstrated using polystyrene- b -poly( t -butyl acrylate), which can be further explored for a broad range of applications, such as air purification filters for viruses and pollution particle removal or growth of bioinspired materials for bone regeneration.

Unexpected large room-temperature ferromagnetism in porous Cu{sub 2}O thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Xue [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Sun, Huiyuan, E-mail: huiyuansun@126.com [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Liu, Lihu; Jia, Xiaoxuan; Liu, Huiyuan [College of Physics Science & Information Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China); Key Laboratory of Advanced Films of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050024 (China)

2015-05-15

Porous Cu{sub 2}O films have been fabricated on porous anodic alumina substrates using DC-reactive magnetron sputtering with pure Cu targets, and unexpectedly large room temperature ferromagnetism has been observed in the films. The maximum saturation magnetic moment along the out-of-plane direction was as high as 94 emu/cm{sup 3}. Photoluminescence spectra show that the ferromagnetism originates with oxygen vacancies. The ferromagnetism could be adjusted by changing the concentration of oxygen vacancies through annealing in an oxygen atmosphere. These observations suggest that the origin of the ferromagnetism is due to coupling between oxygen vacancies with local magnetic moments in the porous Cu{sub 2}O films, which can occur either directly through exchange interactions between oxygen vacancies, or through the mediation of conduction electrons. Such a ferromagnet without the presence of any ferromagnetic dopant may find applications in spintronic devices. - Highlights: • Porous Cu{sub 2}O films were deposited on porous anodic alumina (PAA) substrates. • Significant room-temperature ferromagnetism has been observed in porous Cu{sub 2}O films. • Ferromagnetism of Cu{sub 2}O films exhibited different magnetic signals with the field. • The saturation magnetization is 94 emu/cm{sup 3} with an out-of-plane.

Static friction of porous bioceramic beta-TCP on intestinal mucus films.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin-Yu; Han, Ying-Chao; Jiang, Xin; Dai, Hong-Lian; Li, Shi-Pu

2006-09-01

The static friction behavior between a porous bioceramic material and an intestinal mucus film was investigated in order to develop a new intestine robotic endoscope. Here, the friction couple is porous beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) and an artificial intestine mucus film. The effect of pore size of the beta-TCP material on the friction behavior is investigated. The results illustrated that in this friction system there is a relatively small normal force upon the intestinal mucus film of the intestine wall during locomotion. The maximum static friction force in this friction couple varies with the pore size of the porous beta-TCP material.

Static friction of porous bioceramic β-TCP on intestinal mucus films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xinyu; Han Yingchao; Jiang Xin; Dai Honglian; Li Shipu

2006-01-01

The static friction behavior between a porous bioceramic material and an intestinal mucus film was investigated in order to develop a new intestine robotic endoscope. Here, the friction couple is porous β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and an artificial intestine mucus film. The effect of pore size of the β-TCP material on the friction behavior is investigated. The results illustrated that in this friction system there is a relatively small normal force upon the intestinal mucus film of the intestine wall during locomotion. The maximum static friction force in this friction couple varies with the pore size of the porous β-TCP material

Ordered hierarchically porous carbon codoped with iron and nitrogen as electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Chengwei; Zhong, Hexiang; Yao, Lan; Liu, Sisi; Xu, Zhuang; Zhang, Huamin

2014-12-01

N-doped carbon catalysts have attracted great attention as potential alternatives to expensive Pt-based catalysts used in fuel cells. Herein, an ordered hierarchically porous carbon codoped with N and Fe (Fe-NOHPC) is prepared by an evaporation-induced self-assembly process followed by carbonization under ammonia. The soft template and Fe species promote the formation of the porous structure and facilitate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).The catalyst possesses an ordered hierarchically porous structure with a large surface area (1172.5 m(2) g(-1) ) and pore volume of 1.03 cm(3) g(-1) . Compared to commercial 20% Pt/C, it exhibits better ORR catalytic activity and higher stability as well as higher methanol tolerance in an alkaline electrolyte, which demonstrates its potential use in fuel cells as a nonprecious cathode catalyst. The N configuration, Fe species, and pore structure of the catalysts are believed to correlate with its high catalytic activity. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hierarchical porous photoanode based on acid boric catalyzed sol for dye sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maleki, Khatereh [School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 14395-553, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Abdizadeh, Hossein [School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 14395-553, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Center of Excellence for High Performance Materials, University of Tehran, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Golobostanfard, Mohammad Reza, E-mail: Mohammadreza.Golbostanfard@gmail.com [School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 14395-553, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Adelfar, Razieh [School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 14395-553, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-02-01

Highlights: • Acid boric can thoroughly leads to the hierarchical porous titania structure. • Boron is introduced into titania lattice which causes slight blueshift of bandgap. • The optimized sol parameters are H{sub 3}BO{sub 3}/TTiP = 0.45, DI/TTiP = 4.5, and 0.17 M. • Optimized paste parameters is not changed compared to conventional pastes. • The DSSC based on H{sub 3}BO{sub 3} catalyzed sol shows promising efficiency of 2.91%. - Abstract: The hierarchical porous photoanode of the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is synthesized through non-aqueous sol-gel method based on H{sub 3}BO{sub 3} as an acid catalyst and the efficiencies of the fabricated DSSC based on these photoanodes are compared. The sol parameters of 0.17 M, water mole ratio of 4.5, acid mole ratio of 0.45, and solvent type of ethanol are introduced as optimum parameters for photoanode formation without any detectable cracks. The optimized hierarchical photoanode mainly contains anatase phase with slight shift toward higher angles, confirming the doping of boron into titania structure. Moreover, the porous structure involves two ranges of average pore sizes of 20 and 635 nm. The diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) shows the proper scattering and blueshift in band gap. The paste parameters of solid:liquid, TiO{sub 2}:ethyl cellulose, and terpineol:ethanol equal to 11:89, 3.5:7.5, and 25:64, respectively, are assigned as optimized parameters for this novel paste. The photovoltaic properties of short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, fill factor, and efficiency of 5.89 mA/cm{sup 2}, 703 mV, 0.7, and 2.91% are obtained for the optimized sample, respectively. The relatively higher short circuit current of the main sample compared to other samples is mainly due to higher dye adsorption in this sample corresponding to its higher surface area and presumably higher charge transfer confirmed by low R{sub S} and R{sub ct} in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data. Boric acid as

Conciliating surface superhydrophobicities and mechanical strength of porous silicon films

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fuguo; Zhao, Kun; Cheng, Jinchun; Zhang, Junyan

2011-01-01

Hydrophobic surfaces on Mechanical stable macroporous silicon films were prepared by electrochemical etching with subsequent octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) modification. The surface morphologies were controlled by current densities and the mechanical properties were adjusted by their corresponding porosities. Contrast with the smooth macroporous silicon films with lower porosities (34.1%) and microporous silicon with higher porosities (97%), the macroporous film with a rough three-dimension (3D) surface and a moderate pore to cross-section area ratio (37.8%, PSi2‧) exhibited both good mechanical strength (Yong' modulus, shear modulus and collapse strength are 64.2, 24.1 and 0.32 GPa, respectively) and surface superhydrophobicity (water contact angle is 158.4 ± 2° and sliding angle is 2.7 ± 1°). This result revealed that the surface hydrophobicities (or the surface roughness) and mechanical strength of porous films could be conciliated by pore to cross-section area ratios control and 3D structures construction. Thus, the superhydrophobic surfaces on mechanical stable porous films could be obtained by 3D structures fabrication on porous film with proper pore to cross-section area ratios.

Microstructures and photocatalytic properties of porous ZnO films synthesized by chemical bath deposition method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Huihu; Dong, Shijie; Chang Ying; Zhou Xiaoping; Hu Xinbin

2012-01-01

Different porous ZnO film structures on the surface of alumina substrates were prepared through a simple chemical bath deposition method in the methanolic zinc acetate solution. The surface morphology and phase structure of porous ZnO film were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Both initial zinc acetate concentration and sintering temperature have great impact on the final film structures. With the increase of initial zinc acetate concentration, the porous structures can be finely tuned from circular nest like assemblies composed film into successive nest like film, and finally to globular aggregates composed film. By increasing the sintering temperature, the porous structure of successive nest like film can be further controlled. Furthermore, the crystallinity of photocatalysts also can be greatly improved. The photodegradation results of Methyl Orange revealed that porous ZnO film with successive nest like structure sintered at 500 °C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity under UV illumination.

Three-dimensional hierarchical porous tubular carbon as a host matrix for long-term lithium-selenium batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Min; Lu, Shiyu; Chen, Yuming; Liu, Ting; Han, Jin; Shen, Bolei; Wu, Xiaoshuai; Bao, Shu-Juan; Jiang, Jian; Xu, Maowen

2017-11-01

Lithium-selenium (Li-Se) batteries are of great interest as a representative family of electrochemical energy storage systems because of their high theoretical volumetric capacity and considerable electronic conductivity. However, the main drawback of Se electrodes is the rapid capacity fading caused by the dissolution of polyselenides upon cycling. Here, we report a simple, economical, and effective method for the synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous carbon with a hollow tubular structure as a host matrix for loading Se and trapping polyselenides. The as-obtained porous tubular carbon shows a superior specific surface area of 1786 m2 g-1, a high pore volume of 0.79 cm3 g-1, and many nanostructured pores. Benefiting from the unique structural characteristics, the resulting hierarchical porous carbon/Se composite exhibits a high capacity of 515 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C. More importantly, a remarkable cycling stability over 900 cycles at 2 C with a capacity fading rate of merely 0.02% per cycle can be achieved. The 3D hollow porous tubular carbon can be also used for other high-performance electrodes of electrochemical energy storage.

Nanostructured porous ZnO film with enhanced photocatalytic activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lina; Zheng Yingying; Li Xiaoyun; Dong Wenjun; Tang Weihua; Chen Benyong; Li Chaorong; Li Xiao; Zhang Tierui

2011-01-01

Well-defined ZnO nanostructured films have been fabricated directly on Zn foil via hydrothermal synthesis. During the fabrication of the ZnO nanostructured films, the Zn foil serves as the Zn source and also the substrate. Porous nanosheet-based, nanotube-based and nanoflower-based ZnO films can all be easily prepared by adjusting the alkali type, reaction time and reaction temperature. The composition, morphology and structure of ZnO films are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. The porous ZnO nanosheet-based film exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Rhodamine B under UV light irradiation. This can be attributed to the high surface area of the ZnO nanosheet and the large percentage of the exposed [001] facet. Moreover, the self-supporting, recyclable and stable ZnO photocatalytic film can be readily recovered and potentially applied for pollution disposal.

Porous nanostructured ZnO films deposited by picosecond laser ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sima, Cornelia; Grigoriu, Constantin; Besleaga, Cristina; Mitran, Tudor; Ion, Lucian; Antohe, Stefan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We deposite porous nanostructured ZnO films by picoseconds laser ablation (PLA). ► We examine changes of the films structure on the experimental parameter deposition. ► We demonstrate PLA capability to produce ZnO nanostructured films free of particulates. - Abstract: Porous nanostructured polycrystalline ZnO films, free of large particulates, were deposited by picosecond laser ablation. Using a Zn target, zinc oxide films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates using a picosecond Nd:YVO 4 laser (8 ps, 50 kHz, 532 nm, 0.17 J/cm 2 ) in an oxygen atmosphere at room temperature (RT). The morpho-structural characteristics of ZnO films deposited at different oxygen pressures (150–900 mTorr) and gas flow rates (0.25 and 10 sccm) were studied. The post-deposition influence of annealing (250–550 °C) in oxygen on the film characteristics was also investigated. At RT, a mixture of Zn and ZnO formed. At substrate temperatures above 350 °C, the films were completely oxidized, containing a ZnO wurtzite phase with crystallite sizes of 12.2–40.1 nm. At pressures of up to 450 mTorr, the porous films consisted of well-distinguished primary nanoparticles with average sizes of 45–58 nm, while at higher pressures, larger clusters (3.1–14.7 μm) were dominant, leading to thicker films; higher flow rates favored clustering.

Catalytically active and hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite synthesized in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yan; Qu, Wei; Chang, Weiwei; Pan, Shuxiang; Tian, Zhijian; Meng, Xiangju; Rigutto, Marcello; Made, Alexander van der; Zhao, Lan; Zheng, Xiaoming; Xiao, Feng Shou

2014-01-01

Hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite (H-SAPO-11) is rationally synthesized from a starting silicoaluminophosphate gel in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine as a mesoscale template. The sample is well characterized by XRD, N2 sorption

Processing and structural characterization of porous reforming catalytic films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Xianghui; Williams, Jey; Choy, Kwang-Leong

2006-01-01

Nickel-based catalysts are often used to reform methanol into hydrogen. The preparation and installation of these catalysts are costly and laborious. As an alternative, directly applying catalytic films onto the separator components can improve the manufacturing efficiency. This paper reports the successful deposition of adherent porous NiO-Al 2 O 3 -based catalytic films with well-controlled stoichiometry, using a single-step Aerosol Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (AACVD) method. The microstructure, composition and crystalline phase of the as-deposited catalytic films are characterized using a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer. The results have demonstrated the capability of AACVD to produce porous NiO-Al 2 O 3 -based catalytic films

Extrusion-Based 3D Printing of Hierarchically Porous Advanced Battery Electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Steven D; Kirsch, Dylan J; Li, Yiju; Morgenstern, Joseph T; Zarket, Brady C; Yao, Yonggang; Dai, Jiaqi; Garcia, Laurence Q; Liu, Boyang; Gao, Tingting; Xu, Shaomao; Raghavan, Srinivasa R; Connell, John W; Lin, Yi; Hu, Liangbing

2018-03-01

A highly porous 2D nanomaterial, holey graphene oxide (hGO), is synthesized directly from holey graphene powder and employed to create an aqueous 3D printable ink without the use of additives or binders. Stable dispersions of hydrophilic hGO sheets in water (≈100 mg mL -1 ) can be readily achieved. The shear-thinning behavior of the aqueous hGO ink enables extrusion-based printing of fine filaments into complex 3D architectures, such as stacked mesh structures, on arbitrary substrates. The freestanding 3D printed hGO meshes exhibit trimodal porosity: nanoscale (4-25 nm through-holes on hGO sheets), microscale (tens of micrometer-sized pores introduced by lyophilization), and macroscale (benefit of (nano)porosity and structurally conscious designs, the additive-free architectures are demonstrated as the first 3D printed lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) cathodes and characterized alongside 3D printed GO-based materials without nanoporosity as well as nanoporous 2D vacuum filtrated films. The results indicate the synergistic effect between 2D nanomaterials, hierarchical porosity, and overall structural design, as well as the promise of a freeform generation of high-energy-density battery systems. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Optical and magnetic properties of porous graphene films produced by electrospraying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jun; Yang, Shan-Shan; Chen, Li-Qing; Zhang, Zhao-Chun; Zheng, Hou-Li

2013-01-01

Graphene films have been produced by electrospraying on SiO 2 -coated silicon substrate and subsequent heat treatment, offering a simple and typical method to produce porous graphene films and exhibiting a good adhesion to silicon substrate. The microstructures of as-prepared graphene films were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy further confirmed the formation of porous graphene films. Moreover, the reflection spectrum of as-prepared graphene films was studied by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, revealing that light absorption played dominant roles at 375 and 635 nm, respectively. Finally, the resistance and magnetoresistance were measured, and some preliminary theoretical explanations were proposed. - Highlights: ► Porous graphene films were produced by electrospraying. ► Light absorption plays dominant roles at 375 and 635 nm. ► A negative magnetoresistance is emerged at low temperature. ► A 2D weak localization effect arises from random stacking of graphene

Deposition and consolidation of porous ceramic films for membrane separation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmøe, Tobias Dokkedal; Tricoli, Antonio; Johannessen, Tue

The deposition of porous ceramic films for membrane separation can be done by several processes such as thermophoresis [1], dip-coating [2] and spray pyrolysis [3]. Here we present a high-speed method, in which ceramic nano-particles form a porous film by filtration on top of a porous ceramic...... substrate [4]. Ceramic nano-particles are generated in a flame, using either a premixed (gas) flame, in which a metal-oxide precursor is evaporated in an N2 stream, which is combusted with methane and air, or using a flame spray pyrolysis, in which a liquid metal-oxide precursor is sprayed through a nozzle...

Construction of hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks through linker labilization

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Shuai; Zou, Lanfang; Qin, Jun-Sheng; Li, Jialuo; Huang, Lan; Feng, Liang; Wang, Xuan; Bosch, Mathieu; Alsalme, Ali; Cagin, Tahir; Zhou, Hong-Cai

2017-05-01

A major goal of metal-organic framework (MOF) research is the expansion of pore size and volume. Although many approaches have been attempted to increase the pore size of MOF materials, it is still a challenge to construct MOFs with precisely customized pore apertures for specific applications. Herein, we present a new method, namely linker labilization, to increase the MOF porosity and pore size, giving rise to hierarchical-pore architectures. Microporous MOFs with robust metal nodes and pro-labile linkers were initially synthesized. The mesopores were subsequently created as crystal defects through the splitting of a pro-labile-linker and the removal of the linker fragments by acid treatment. We demonstrate that linker labilization method can create controllable hierarchical porous structures in stable MOFs, which facilitates the diffusion and adsorption process of guest molecules to improve the performances of MOFs in adsorption and catalysis.

Hierarchical porous NiCo2O4 nanowires for high-rate supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Hao; Ma, Jan; Li, Chunzhong

2012-05-11

We demonstrate a simple and scalable strategy for synthesizing hierarchical porous NiCo(2)O(4) nanowires which exhibit a high specific capacitance of 743 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) with excellent rate performance (78.6% capacity retention at 40 A g(-1)) and cycling stability (only 6.2% loss after 3000 cycles). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

A General Synthesis Strategy for Hierarchical Porous Metal Oxide Hollow Spheres

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Huadong Fu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The hierarchical porous TiO2 hollow spheres were successfully prepared by using the hydrothermally synthesized colloidal carbon spheres as templates and tetrabutyl titanate as inorganic precursors. The diameter and wall thickness of hollow TiO2 spheres were determined by the hard templates and concentration of tetrabutyl titanate. The particle size, dispersity, homogeneity, and surface state of the carbon spheres can be easily controlled by adjusting the hydrothermal conditions and adding certain amount of the surfactants. The prepared hollow spheres possessed the perfect spherical shape, monodispersity, and hierarchically pore structures, and the further experiment verified that the present approach can be used to prepare other metal oxide hollow spheres, which could be used as catalysis, fuel cells, lithium-air battery, gas sensor, and so on.

Hierarchically porous Li3VO4/C nanocomposite as an advanced anode material for high-performance lithium-ion capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xuena; Niu, Feier; Zhang, Dapeng; Chu, Chenxiao; Wang, Chunsheng; Yang, Jian; Qian, Yitai

2018-04-01

Lithium-ion capacitors, as a hybrid electrochemical energy storage device, realize high specific energy and power density within one device, thus attracting extensive attention. Here, hierarchically porous Li3VO4/C nanocomposite is prepared by a solvo-thermal reaction, followed with a post-annealing process. This composite has macropores at the center and mesopores in the wall, thus effectively promoting electrolyte penetration and structure stability upon cycling simultaneously. Compared to mesoporous Li3VO4, the enhanced rate capability and specific capacity of hierarchically porous Li3VO4/C indicate the synergistic effect of mesopores and macropores. Inspired by these results, this composite is coupled with mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) for lithium-ion capacitors, generating a specific energy density of 105 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 188 W kg-1. Even if the power density increases to 9.3 kW kg-1, the energy density still remains 62 Wh kg-1. All these results demonstrate the promising potential of hierarchically porous Li3VO4 in lithium ion capacitors.

Preparation of hierarchical porous carbon from waste printed circuit boards for high performance electric double-layer capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Xuan; Wang, Li; Zhao, Wei; Wang, Yi; Qi, Tao; Li, Chang Ming

2016-08-01

Renewable clean energy and resources recycling have become inevitable choices to solve worldwide energy shortages and environmental pollution problems. It is a great challenge to recycle tons of waste printed circuit boards (PCB) produced every year for clean environment while creating values. In this work, low cost, high quality activated carbons (ACs) were synthesized from non-metallic fractions (NMF) of waste PCB to offer a great potential for applications of electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). After recovering metal from waste PCB, hierarchical porous carbons were produced from NMF by carbonization and activation processes. The experimental results exhibit that some pores were formed after carbonization due to the escape of impurity atoms introduced by additives in NMF. Then the pore structure was further tailored by adjusting the activation parameters. Roles of micropores and non-micropores in charge storage were investigated when the hierarchical porous carbons were applied as electrode of EDLCs. The highest specific capacitance of 210 F g-1 (at 50 mA g-1) and excellent rate capability were achieved when the ACs possessing a proper micropores/non-micropores ratio. This work not only provides a promising method to recycle PCB, but also investigates the structure tailoring arts for a rational hierarchical porous structure in energy storage/conversion.

A solvent evaporation route towards fabrication of hierarchically porous ZSM-11 with highly accessible mesopores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Song, Wen; Liu, Zhiting; Liu, Liping

2015-01-01

A route to generate hierarchically porous zeolite ZSM-11 has been paved via solvent evaporation induced self-assembly assisted by hexadecyltrimethoxysilane to produce a preformed dry gel, followed by its subsequent transformation into zeolite via steam-assisted-crystallization. The crystallization...

Immobilization of Bacillus subtilis lipase on a Cu-BTC based hierarchically porous metal-organic framework material: a biocatalyst for esterification.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yu; Wu, Zhuofu; Wang, Tao; Xiao, Yu; Huo, Qisheng; Liu, Yunling

2016-04-28

Bacillus subtilis lipase (BSL2) has been successfully immobilized into a Cu-BTC based hierarchically porous metal-organic framework material for the first time. The Cu-BTC hierarchically porous MOF material with large mesopore apertures is prepared conveniently by using a template-free strategy under mild conditions. The immobilized BSL2 presents high enzymatic activity and perfect reusability during the esterification reaction. After 10 cycles, the immobilized BSL2 still exhibits 90.7% of its initial enzymatic activity and 99.6% of its initial conversion.

Hierarchical porous microspheres of the Co3O4@graphene with enhanced electrocatalytic performance for electrochemical biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, MinHo; Jeong, Jae-Min; Lee, Kyoung G; Kim, Do Hyun; Lee, Seok Jae; Choi, Bong Gill

2017-03-15

The integration of organic and inorganic building blocks into hierarchical porous architectures makes potentially desirable electrocatalytic materials in many electrochemical applications due to their combination of attractive qualities of dissimilar components and well-constructed charge transfer pathways. Herein, we demonstrate the preparation of the hierarchical porous Co 3 O 4 @graphene (Co 3 O 4 @G) microspheres by one-step hydrothermal method to achieve high electrocatalytic performance for enzyme-free biosensor applications. The obtained Co 3 O 4 @G microspheres are consisted of the interconnected networks of Co 3 O 4 and graphene sheets, and thus provide large accessible active sites through porous structure, while graphene sheets offer continuous electron pathways for efficient electrocatalytic reaction of Co 3 O 4 . These structural merits with synergy effect of Co 3 O 4 and graphene lead to a high performance of enzyme-free detection for glucose: high sensitivity, good selectivity, and remarkable stability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation and characterization of porous carbon–titania nanocomposite films as solar selective absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, B.; Wang, K.K.; Wang, K.P.; Li, M.; Jiang, W.; Cong, B.J.; Song, C.L.; Jia, S.H.; Han, G.R.; Liu, Y.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The nanocomposites porous C/TiO 2 film were fabricated via PIPS method. • The HRTEM reveals the size of carbon nanoparticles is about 1.1 nm. • The PVP advantages residual carbon content but suppresses its crystallization. • The film exhibits high α (0.928–0.959) with low ε (0.074–0.105) for single layer. - Abstract: Newly proposed selective solar absorbers of porous carbon–titania nanocomposite films with a well-defined interconnected macropores structure were prepared via a polymer-assisted photopolymerization-induced phase-separation method. The microstructure and optical properties of as-deposited nanocomposite films were characterized and discussed in detail. The results show that non-ionic water-soluble polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone works as a sol modifier advantaging the mean size of the interconnected macropores, residual carbon content, and films thickness, but suppresses the order degree of the carbon remained in the films. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that a small amount of graphite particles with size of around 1.1 nm embedded in the cavity of the porous while the wall of the porous consists of amorphous carbon and titania composites. The single layer of as-prepared porous C/TiO 2 nanocomposite films exhibits high solar absorptance (α = 0.928–0.959) with low thermal emittance (ε = 0.074–0.105), yielding an optimized photothermal conversion efficiency η = α − ε of 0.864 corresponding to a film thickness of around 338 nm, indication of such film is fair enough to serve as an excellent solar absorber

Electrophoretic deposition of PTFE particles on porous anodic aluminum oxide film and its tribological properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Dongya; Dong, Guangneng; Chen, Yinjuan; Zeng, Qunfeng

2014-01-01

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite film was successfully fabricated by depositing PTFE particles into porous anodic aluminum oxide film using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process. Firstly, porous anodic aluminum oxide film was synthesized by anodic oxidation process in sulphuric acid electrolyte. Then, PTFE particles in suspension were directionally deposited into the porous substrate. Finally, a heat treatment at 300 °C for 1 h was utilized to enhance PTFE particles adhesion to the substrate. The influence of anodic oxidation parameters on the morphology and micro-hardness of the porous anodic aluminum oxide film was studied and the PTFE particles deposited into the pores were authenticated using energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Tribological properties of the PTFE composite film were investigated under dry sliding. The experimental results showed that the composite film exhibit remarkable low friction. The composite film had friction coefficient of 0.20 which deposited in 15% PTFE emulsion at temperature of 15 °C and current density of 3 A/dm 2 for 35 min. In addition, a control specimen of porous anodic aluminum oxide film and the PTFE composite film were carried out under the same test condition, friction coefficient of the PTFE composite film was reduced by 60% comparing with the control specimen at 380 MPa and 100 mm/s. The lubricating mechanism was that PTFE particles embedded in porous anodic aluminum oxide film smeared a transfer film on the sliding path and the micro-pores could support the supplement of solid lubricant during the sliding, which prolonged the lubrication life of the aluminum alloys.

Molecular simulation of adsorption and transport in hierarchical porous materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Coasne, Benoit; Galarneau, Anne; Gerardin, Corine; Fajula, François; Villemot, François

2013-06-25

Adsorption and transport in hierarchical porous solids with micro- (~1 nm) and mesoporosities (>2 nm) are investigated by molecular simulation. Two models of hierarchical solids are considered: microporous materials in which mesopores are carved out (model A) and mesoporous materials in which microporous nanoparticles are inserted (model B). Adsorption isotherms for model A can be described as a linear combination of the adsorption isotherms for pure mesoporous and microporous solids. In contrast, adsorption in model B departs from adsorption in pure microporous and mesoporous solids; the inserted microporous particles act as defects, which help nucleate the liquid phase within the mesopore and shift capillary condensation toward lower pressures. As far as transport under a pressure gradient is concerned, the flux in hierarchical materials consisting of microporous solids in which mesopores are carved out obeys the Navier-Stokes equation so that Darcy's law is verified within the mesopore. Moreover, the flow in such materials is larger than in a single mesopore, due to the transfer between micropores and mesopores. This nonzero velocity at the mesopore surface implies that transport in such hierarchical materials involves slippage at the mesopore surface, although the adsorbate has a strong affinity for the surface. In contrast to model A, flux in model B is smaller than in a single mesopore, as the nanoparticles act as constrictions that hinder transport. By a subtle effect arising from fast transport in the mesopores, the presence of mesopores increases the number of molecules in the microporosity in hierarchical materials and, hence, decreases the flow in the micropores (due to mass conservation). As a result, we do not observe faster diffusion in the micropores of hierarchical materials upon flow but slower diffusion, which increases the contact time between the adsorbate and the surface of the microporosity.

Infrared reflectance studies of hillock-like porous zinc oxide thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ching, C.G.; Lee, S.C.; Ng, S.S.; Hassan, Z.; Abu Hassan, H.

2013-01-01

We investigated the infrared (IR) reflectance characteristics of hillock-like porous zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films on silicon substrates. The IR reflectance spectra of the porous samples exhibited an extra resonance hump in the reststrahlen region of ZnO compared with the as-grown sample. Oscillation fringes with different behaviors were also observed in the non-reststrahlen region of ZnO. Standard multilayer optic technique was used with the effective medium theory to analyze the observations. Results showed that the porous ZnO layer consisted of several sublayers with different porosities and thicknesses. These findings were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy measurements. - Highlights: • Multilayer porous assumption qualitatively increased the overall spectra fitting. • IR reflectance is a sensitive method to probe the multilayer porous structure. • Hillock-like porous ZnO thin films fabricated using electrochemical etching method. • The thickness and porosity of the samples were determined. • Formation of extra resonance hump was due to splitting of reststrahlen band

Convenient and large-scale synthesis of nitrogen-rich hierarchical porous carbon spheres for supercapacitors and CO_2 capture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Binbin; Zhang, Shouren; Yin, Hang; Yang, Baocheng

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Convenient and large-scale synthesis route for N-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere. • The resultant own spherical morphology, tunable hierarchical porosity, high surface area. • The optimal material exhibits a high CO_2 capture capacity of 4.23 mmol g"−"1. • It shows a large voltage window of 1.8 V for symmetric cell in 0.5 M Na_2SO_4. - Abstract: Herein, considering the great potential of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons in energy storage and CO_2 capture, we designed a convenient and easily large-scale production strategy for preparing nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere (NHPCS) materials. In this synthesis route, spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resins were selected as carbon precursor, and then the ZnCl_2-impregnated RF resin spheres were carbonized in a NH_3 atmosphere at a temperature range of 600–800 °C. During the one-step heat-treatment process, nitrogen atom could be efficiently incorporated into the carbon skeleton, and the interconnected and hierarchical pore structure with different micro/mesopore proportion could be generated and tuned by adjusting the activating agent ZnCl_2 dosage and carbonization temperature. The resultant nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere materials exhibited a satisfactory charge storage capacity, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-2-8 with a high mesopore proportion obtained at 800 °C with a ZnCl_2/RF mass ratio of 2:1 presented a specific capacitance of 273.8 F g"−"1 at a current density of 0.5 A g"−"1. More importantly, the assembled NHPCS-2-8-based symmetric capacitor displayed a high energy density of 17.2 Wh kg"−"1 at a power density of 178.9 W kg"−"1 within a voltage window of 0 ∼ 1.8 V in 0.5 M Na_2SO_4 aqueous electrolyte. In addition, the CO_2 capture application of these NHPCS materials was also explored, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-0-8 with a large micropore proportion prepared at 800 °C exhibited an exceptional CO_2 uptake

Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Methane on Pt/TiO2 Nanosheet Porous Film

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Qiu-ye

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Anatase TiO2 nanosheet porous films were prepared by calcination of the orthorhombic titanic acid films at 400°C. They showed an excellent photocatalytic activity for CO2 photoreduction to methane, which should be related to their special porous structure and large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET surface area. In order to further improve the photocatalytic activity, Pt nanoparticles were loaded uniformly with the average size of 3-4 nm on TiO2 porous films by the photoreduction method. It was found that the loading of Pt expanded the light absorption ability of the porous film and improved the transformation efficiency of CO2 to methane. The conversion yield of CO2 to methane on Pt/TiO2 film reached 20.51 ppm/h·cm2. The Pt/TiO2 nanosheet porous film was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, transmission electron microscope (TEM, and ultraviolet-visible light diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS. Moreover, the transient photocurrent-time curves showed that the Pt/TiO2 nanosheet porous film exhibited higher photocurrent, indicating that the higher separation efficiency of the photogenerated charge carriers was achieved.

Cellulose/poly-(m-phenylene isophthalamide) porous film as a tissue-engineered skin bioconstruct

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jae Woong; Han, Sung Soo; Zo, Sum Mi; Choi, Soon Mo

2018-06-01

Regarding the porous structure, coagulated cellulose may not provide sufficient voids for cell proliferation, resulting in tissue growth. For this reason, it was blended with poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA), which could produce a porous structure in the resulting construct. The aim of this study was to confirm the potential of a novel cellulose/PMIA porous film as a tissue-engineered bioconstruct for impaired skin. The films were fabricated by a coagulation process added with a peel-off method, and the structural, mechanical properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and capillary flow porometry. CRL-2310 human keratinocytes were used to determine the biocompatibility of the prepared films. The attachment and proliferation of cells were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, DAPI staining, and a cell viability assay. The results show that cellulose/PMIA porous films have potential use as wound matrices for skin tissue genesis.

Micro-configuration Observation of Porous Bioceramic for Sliding on Intestinal Mucus Film

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2005-01-01

The microstructure of the prepared porous bioceramic material, including surface porosity and apparent contact area with the artificial mucus film are computed and analyzed. The surface micro-configurations of the porous material before and after sliding on the mucus ftlm are observed in 2D and 3 D by digital microscopy. We describe how much mucus enters and stays within different pores, and how the porous material with rough/porous surface contacts with the mucus film ( elastic surface/gel). The presented results illustrate that the material with different porous structure can lead to different mucus suction, surface scraping and changes of contact area and condition during sliding, which will be active for high friction of robotic endoscope with the intestinal wall for intestinal locomotion.

Biomass-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbons with tailored hierarchical porosity and high specific surface area for high energy and power density supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Junting; Niu, Jin; Liu, Mengyue; Ji, Jing; Dou, Meiling; Wang, Feng

2018-01-01

Porous carbon materials with hierarchical structures attract intense interest for the development of high-performance supercapacitors. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and efficient strategy to synthesize nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbons with tailored porous structure combined with high specific surface area (SSA), which involves a pre-carbonization and a subsequent carbonization combined with KOH activation of silkworm cocoon precursors. Through adjusting the mass ratio of the activator (KOH) to pre-carbonized precursor in the activation process, the hierarchically porous carbon prepared at the mass ratio of 2 (referred to as NHPC-2) possesses a high defect density and a high SSA of 3386 m2 g-1 as well as the relatively high volumetric proportion of mesopores and macropores (45.5%). As a result, the energy density and power density of the symmetric supercapacitor based on NHPC-2 electrode are as high as 34.41 Wh kg-1 and 31.25 kW kg-1 in organic-solvent electrolyte, and are further improved to 112.1 Wh kg-1 and 23.91 kW kg-1 in ionic-liquid electrolyte.

Hierarchical porous carbons prepared by an easy one-step carbonization and activation of phenol-formaldehyde resins with high performance for supercapacitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng, Zhoujun [State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Graduate School, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); Gao, Qiuming [State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Graduate School, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191 (China)

2011-02-01

Hierarchical porous carbons are prepared by an easy one-step process of carbonization and activation derived from phenol-formaldehyde resins, in which potassium hydroxide acts as both the catalyst of polymerization and the activation reagent. The simple one-step preparation saves the cost of carbons and leads to high yield. The porous carbons have high surface areas with abundant pore structures. The plenty of micropores and small mesopores increase the capacitance and make the electrolyte ions diffuse fast into the pores. These hierarchical porous carbons show high performance for supercapacitors possessing of the optimized capacitance of 234 F g{sup -1} in aqueous electrolyte and 137 F g{sup -1} in organic electrolyte with high capacitive retention. (author)

Pseudocapacitive and hierarchically ordered porous electrode materials supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Saruhan, B.; Gönüllü, Y.; Arndt, B.

2013-05-01

Commercially available double layer capacitors store energy in an electrostatic field. This forms in the form of a double layer by charged particles arranged on two electrodes consisting mostly of active carbon. Such double layer capacitors exhibit a low energy density, so that components with large capacity according to large electrode areas are required. Our research focuses on the development of new electrode materials to realize the production of electrical energy storage systems with high energy density and high power density. Metal oxide based electrodes increase the energy density and the capacitance by addition of pseudo capacitance to the static capacitance present by the double layer super-capacitor electrodes. The so-called hybrid asymmetric cell capacitors combine both types of energy storage in a single component. In this work, the production routes followed in our laboratories for synthesis of nano-porous and aligned metal oxide electrodes using the electrochemical and sputter deposition as well as anodization methods will be described. Our characterisation studies concentrate on electrodes having redox metal-oxides (e.g. MnOx and WOx) and hierarchically aligned nano-porous Li-doped TiO2-NTs. The material specific and electrochemical properties achieved with these electrodes will be presented.

Porous squeeze-film flow

KAUST Repository

Knox, D. J.

2013-11-14

© 2013 © The authors 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved. The squeeze-film flow of a thin layer of Newtonian fluid filling the gap between a flat impermeable surface moving under a prescribed constant load and a flat thin porous bed coating a stationary flat impermeable surface is considered. Unlike in the classical case of an impermeable bed, in which an infinite time is required for the two surfaces to touch, for a porous bed contact occurs in a finite contact time. Using a lubrication approximation, an implicit expression for the fluid layer thickness and an explicit expression for the contact time are obtained and analysed. In addition, the fluid particle paths are calculated, and the penetration depths of fluid particles into the porous bed are determined. In particular, the behaviour in the asymptotic limit of small permeability, in which the contact time is large but finite, is investigated. Finally, the results are interpreted in the context of lubrication in the human knee joint, and some conclusions are drawn about the contact time of the cartilage-coated femoral condyles and tibial plateau and the penetration of nutrients into the cartilage.

Hierarchically Porous N-doped Carbon Derived from ZIF-8 Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Min; Cao, Xueping; Zhu, Dandan; Duan, Yongxin; Zhang, Jianming

2016-01-01

A core-shell structure composite, zeolitic imidazolate framework @ cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (ZIF-8@CTAB) was synthesized by CTAB micelle controlling the growth of ZIF-8 in aqueous systems. Direct carbonization of ZIF-8@CTAB at a high temperature produced the nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon (named as PC1000@C). In comparison with the carbonization product of pure ZIF-8 (named as PC1000), PC1000@C possesses the higher specific surface area and two-times larger total pore volume. The results from elemental analysis shows the higher N content in PC1000 sample, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy curve-fitting shows the higher quaternary-N content in PC1000@C sample. The hierarchical microporous/mesoporous structure, high surface area and favorable N species in PC1000@C play an active role in catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The specific capacitance of porous carbon was calculated from the galvanostatic-discharge curve. PC1000@C exhibits a large specific capacitance of 225 F g"−"1 at a current density of 0.5 A g"−"1 and still retains 92% of initial capacitance after 1000 galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles.

Formation of Defect-Free Latex Films on Porous Fiber Supports

KAUST Repository

Lively, Ryan P.; Mysona, Joshua A.; Chance, Ronald R.; Koros, William J.

2011-01-01

a defect-free lumen-side barrier layer can be created. Film experiments examined the effect of drying rate, latex age, substrate porosity (porous vs nonporous), and substrate hydrophobicity/ hydrophilicity. Film studies show that in ideal conditions

Micro-length anodic porous niobium oxide for lithium-ion thin film battery applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Jeong Eun; Park, Jiyoung; Cha, Gihoon; Choi, Jinsub

2013-01-01

The anodization of niobium in an aqueous mixture of H 3 PO 4 and HF in the potential range from 2.5 to 30 V for 2 h at 5 °C was performed, demonstrating that anodic porous niobium oxide film with a thickness of up to 2000 nm, including a surface dissolution layer, can be obtained by controlling the applied potential and composition of the electrolytes. Specifically, surface dissolution-free porous niobium oxide film with a thickness of 800 nm can be prepared in a low electrolyte concentration. The surface dissolution is observed when the concentration ratio of HF (wt.%):H 3 PO 4 (M) was more than 2:1. The discontinuous layers in the niobium oxide film were observed when the thickness was higher than 500 nm, which was ascribed to the large volume expansion of the niobium oxide grown from the niobium metal. The anodic porous niobium oxide film was used as the cathode for lithium-ion batteries in the potential range from 1.2 to 3.0 V at a current density of 7.28 × 10 − 6 A cm −2 . The first discharge capacity of ca. 53 μA h cm − 2 was obtained in 800 nm thick niobium oxide without a surface dissolution layer. - Highlights: ► Anodic porous niobium oxide film with a thickness of 2000 nm was obtained. ► Surface dissolution-free porous niobium oxide film was prepared. ► The niobium oxide film was used as the cathode for lithium-ion batteries

Pt supported self-assembled nest-like-porous WO3 hierarchical microspheres as electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jun; Tu, Jiang-ping; Du, Gao-hui; Dong, Zi-min; Su, Qing-mei; Xie, Dong; Wang, Xiu-li

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Nest-like-porous (NLP) WO 3 microspheres are assembled by a hydrothermal method. ► The NLP-WO 3 microspheres have a hexagonal structure and high porous surface. ► Great enhancement of electrochemical property is achieved for Pt/NLP-WO 3 microspheres. -- Abstract: Hexagonal tungsten trioxide (hex-WO 3 ) hierarchical microspheres with nest-like pores are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The nest-like-porous (NLP) WO 3 hierarchical microspheres with 5–6 μm in diameters are self-assembled of single-crystal nanowires. The nanowires have lengths of several hundred nanometers and diameters of 5–30 nm; the long axis of nanowire is oriented toward 〈0 0 1〉 direction. The specific surface area of hex-WO 3 microspheres is 62 m 2 g −1 . 20 wt.% Pt nanoparticles with ∼7 nm are loaded onto the WO 3 microspheres using a conventional microwave-assisted ethylene glycol (EG) method. The electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation of Pt/NLP-WO 3 microspheres is investigated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Due to the large tunnels of hexagonal structure and high porous surface morphology, great enhancement of electrochemical performance is achieved. The Pt/NLP-WO 3 microspheres are demonstrated to be a promising anode material for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC)

Electrochromic Devices Based on Porous Tungsten Oxide Thin Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Djaoued

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in the synthesis of transition metal oxides in the form of porous thin films have opened up opportunities in the construction of electrochromic devices with enhanced properties. In this paper, synthesis, characterization and electrochromic applications of porous WO3 thin films with different nanocrystalline phases, such as hexagonal, monoclinic, and orthorhombic, are presented. Asymmetric electrochromic devices have been constructed based on these porous WO3 thin films. XRD measurements of the intercalation/deintercalation of Li+ into/from the WO3 layer of the device as a function of applied coloration/bleaching voltages show systematic changes in the lattice parameters associated with structural phase transitions in LixWO3. Micro-Raman studies show systematic crystalline phase changes in the spectra of WO3 layers during Li+ ion intercalation and deintercalation, which agree with the XRD data. These devices exhibit interesting optical modulation (up to ~70% due to intercalation/deintercalation of Li ions into/from the WO3 layer of the devices as a function of applied coloration/bleaching voltages. The obtained optical modulation of the electrochromic devices indicates that, they are suitable for applications in electrochromic smart windows.

Potassium vapor assisted preparation of highly graphitized hierarchical porous carbon for high rate performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zheng; Zeng, Ying; Tang, Qunli; Hu, Aiping; Xiao, Kuikui; Zhang, Shiying; Deng, Weina; Fan, Binbin; Zhu, Yanfei; Chen, Xiaohua

2017-09-01

Ultrahigh graphitized carbon microspheres with rich hierarchical pores (AGHPCM-1) have been successfully synthesized through the one-step activation-carbonization strategy (OACS) with porous sulfonated poly-divinylbenzene as the carbon precursor, iron as the hard template and catalyst, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) as activation agent. Through the XRD, TEM, Raman and BET analysis, AGHPCM-1 shows very high graphitization degree and rich micro-, meso- and macro-pores. More importantly, the mechanism for KOH to improve the graphitization degree of carbon materials in OACS has been illustrated by the thermodynamical theory. The tremendous heat releasing from the reaction between the catalyst precursor of Fe2O3 and potassium vapor plays a key role in the formation of graphitized carbon. It may provide a general direction to prepare highly graphitized porous carbon at a moderate temperature. Integrating the advantages of high graphitization degree and rich hierarchical porous structure, the AGHPCM-1 exhibits an excellent rate performance with a response to up to the high current density of 150 A g-1 and high scan rate of 2000 mV s-1. No obvious capacitance decay can be observed after 10000 charge/discharge cycles even at the high current density of 20 A g-1.

NaCl as a solid solvent to assist the mechanochemical synthesis and post-synthesis of hierarchical porous MOFs with high I2 vapour uptake.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Junyi; Feng, Xiao; Lu, Guangnong; Li, Yulin; Mao, Chaochao; Wen, Zhongliang; Yuan, Wenbing

2018-04-03

The use of salts as grinding media to assist the mechanosynthesis, and the following one-pot mechanochemical post-synthesis, of hierarchically porous MOFs was carried out efficiently by ball milling. NaCl or KCl were used as a solid solvent to initially pre-grind with 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H3BTC) and copper acetate monhydrate, respectively, for 1 minute, then both mixtures were combined together for a further 20 minutes of grinding, and the resultant mixture was finally washed with ethanol and water to obtain the hierarchically micro-, meso- and macroporous HKUST-1 with a high yield. Moreover, the post-synthesis of these as-obtained hierarchically porous HKUST-1 was easily performed via grinding triethylenediamine (TED) with the above unwashed crude-products for 20 minutes. By adjusting the amount of NaCl and TED added, we simply fabricated the pore- and function-adjustable hierarchically porous HKUST-1. Furthermore, these as-obtained HKUST-1 products showed high performance in the capture of volatile iodine.

Organosilane with gemini-type structure as the mesoporogen for synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Haibo

2016-02-08

A new kind of organosilane (1,6-bis (diethyl(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)ammonium) hexane bromide) with a gemini-type structure was prepared and used as a mesoporogen for the synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite. There are two quaternary ammonium centers along with double hydrolysable -RSi(OMe)3 fragments in the organosilane, which results in a strong interaction between this mesoporogen and silica-alumina gel. The organosilane can be easily incorporated into ZSM-5 zeolite structure during the crystallization process, and it was finally removed by calcination leading to secondary pores in ZSM-5. The synthesized ZSM-5 has been systematically studied by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, SEM, TEM, TG and solid-state one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR, which reveals information on its detailed structure. It has a hierarchical porosity system, which combines the intrinsic micropores coming from the crystalline structure and irregular mesopores created by the organosilane template. Moreover, the mesoposity including pore size and volume within ZSM-5 can be systematically tuned by changing the organosilane/TEOS ratios, which confirms this organosilane has high flexibility of using as template for the synthesis of hierarchical porous zeolite.

Organosilane with gemini-type structure as the mesoporogen for synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Haibo; Abou-Hamad, Edy; Chen, Yin; Saih, Youssef; Liu, Weibing; Basset, Jean-Marie; Samal, Akshaya Kumar

2016-01-01

A new kind of organosilane (1,6-bis (diethyl(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)ammonium) hexane bromide) with a gemini-type structure was prepared and used as a mesoporogen for the synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite. There are two quaternary ammonium centers along with double hydrolysable -RSi(OMe)3 fragments in the organosilane, which results in a strong interaction between this mesoporogen and silica-alumina gel. The organosilane can be easily incorporated into ZSM-5 zeolite structure during the crystallization process, and it was finally removed by calcination leading to secondary pores in ZSM-5. The synthesized ZSM-5 has been systematically studied by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, SEM, TEM, TG and solid-state one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR, which reveals information on its detailed structure. It has a hierarchical porosity system, which combines the intrinsic micropores coming from the crystalline structure and irregular mesopores created by the organosilane template. Moreover, the mesoposity including pore size and volume within ZSM-5 can be systematically tuned by changing the organosilane/TEOS ratios, which confirms this organosilane has high flexibility of using as template for the synthesis of hierarchical porous zeolite.

Facile Fabrication of Multi-hierarchical Porous Polyaniline Composite as Pressure Sensor and Gas Sensor with Adjustable Sensitivity

OpenAIRE

He, Xiao-Xiao; Li, Jin-Tao; Jia, Xian-Sheng; Tong, Lu; Wang, Xiao-Xiong; Zhang, Jun; Zheng, Jie; Ning, Xin; Long, Yun-Ze

2017-01-01

A multi-hierarchical porous polyaniline (PANI) composite which could be used in good performance pressure sensor and adjustable sensitivity gas sensor has been fabricated by a facile in situ polymerization. Commercial grade sponge was utilized as a template scaffold to deposit PANI via in situ polymerization. With abundant interconnected pores throughout the whole structure, the sponge provided sufficient surface for the growth of PANI nanobranches. The flexible porous structure helped the co...

A hypercrosslinking-induced self-assembly strategy for preparation of advanced hierarchical porous polymers with customizable functional components.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hongji; Wu, Jinlun; Zheng, Bingna; Mai, Weicong; Xu, Fei; Chen, Luyi; Liu, Hao; Fu, Ruowen; Wu, Dingcai; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof

2017-05-09

The fabrication of advanced hierarchical porous polymers with a unique 3D nanonetwork structure composed of functional core-microporous shell nanoparticles was reported based on the development of a simple and efficient hypercrosslinking-induced self-assembly strategy.

Effect of ageing in the electrolyte and water on porous anodic films on zirconium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muratore, F.; Hashimoto, T.; Skeldon, P., E-mail: peter.skeldon@manchester.ac.uk; Thompson, G.E.

2011-06-15

Highlights: Porous anodic films are formed on zirconium consisting of nanotubes embedded in a fluoride-rich matrix. {yields}Ageing in the formation electrolyte transforms the films from porous to nanotubular. Ageing causes losses of zirconium and fluorine, due to dissolution of the matrix. Ageing in water has negligible influence on the film composition and the film morphology. - Abstract: The present study demonstrates the significant influence of ageing in the formation electrolyte on the morphology and composition of anodic films grown on zirconium in 0.35 M ammonium fluoride in glycerol. Ageing after anodizing, by immersion in the electrolyte for 1 h, is shown to promote a transition from a porous to a nanotubular morphology, due to the dissolution of the fluoride-rich intratubular material in which the nanotubes are embedded. The morphological change is accompanied by a significant loss of zirconium and fluorine from the film. In contrast, ageing in deionized water has little influence on the films.

Hierarchically porous Ni monolith@branch-structured NiCo2O4 for high energy density supercapacitors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengjie Xu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A variety of NiCo2O4 nanostrucutures ranging from nanowire to nanoplate and branched structures were successfully prepared via a simple hydrothermal process. The experimental results show that NiCo2O4 with branched structures possesses the best overall electrochemical performance. The improvement of energy density was explored in terms of hierarchically three-dimensional (3D metal substrates and a high specific area capacitance, and area energy density is obtained with hierarchically porous Ni monolith synthesized through a controlled combustion procedure.

Synthesis of Hierarchically Porous Sandwich-Like Carbon Materials for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yiju; Chen, Chaoji; Gao, Tingting; Zhang, Dongming; Huang, Xiaomei; Pan, Yue; Ye, Ke; Cheng, Kui; Cao, Dianxue; Wang, Guiling

2016-11-14

For the first time, hierarchically porous carbon materials with a sandwich-like structure are synthesized through a facile and efficient tri-template approach. The hierarchically porous microstructures consist of abundant macropores and numerous micropores embedded into the crosslinked mesoporous walls. As a result, the obtained carbon material with a unique sandwich-like structure has a relatively high specific surface (1235 m 2  g -1 ), large pore volume (1.30 cm 3  g -1 ), and appropriate pore size distribution. These merits lead to a comparably high specific capacitance of 274.8 F g -1 at 0.2 A g -1 and satisfying rate performance (87.7 % retention from 1 to 20 A g -1 ). More importantly, the symmetric supercapacitor with two identical as-prepared carbon samples shows a superior energy density of 18.47 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 179.9 W kg -1 . The asymmetric supercapacitor based on as-obtained carbon sample and its composite with manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) can reach up to an energy density of 25.93 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 199.9 W kg -1 . Therefore, these unique carbon material open a promising prospect for future development and utilization in the field of energy storage. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Chemical synthesis of porous web-structured CdS thin films for photosensor applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gosavi, S.R., E-mail: srgosavi.taloda@gmail.com [C. H. C. Arts, S. G. P. Commerce, and B. B. J. P. Science College, Taloda, Dist., Nandurbar 425413, M. S. (India); Nikam, C.P. [B.S.S.P.M.S. Arts, Commerce and Science College, Songir, Dist., Dhule 424309, M. S. (India); Shelke, A.R.; Patil, A.M. [Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, M.S. (India); Ryu, S.-W. [Department of Physics, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757 (Korea, Republic of); Bhat, J.S. [Department of Physics, Karnatak University, Dharwad 580003 (India); Deshpande, N.G., E-mail: nicedeshpande@yahoo.co.in [Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, M.S. (India)

2015-06-15

The photo-activity of chemically deposited cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin film has been studied. The simple chemical route nucleates the CdS films with size up to the mean free path of the electron. Growth Kinematics of crystalline hexagonal CdS phase in the thin film form was monitored using X-ray diffraction. The time limitation set for the formation of the amorphous/nano-crystalline material is 40 and 60 min. Thereafter enhancement of the crystalline orientation along the desired plane was identified. Web-like porous structured surface morphology of CdS thin film over the entire area is observed. With decrease in synthesis time, increase of band gap energy i.e., a blue spectral shift was seen. The activation energy of CdS thin film at low and high temperature region was examined. It is considered that this activation energy corresponds to the donor levels associated with shallow traps or surface states of CdS thin film. The photo-electrochemical performance of CdS thin films in polysulphide electrolyte showed diode-like characteristics. Exposure of light on the CdS electrode increases the photocurrent. This suggests the possibility of production of free carriers via excited ions and also the light harvesting mechanism due to porous web-structured morphology. These studies hint that the obtained CdS films can work as a photosensor. - Highlights: • Photoactivity of chemically synthesized cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films was studied. • Web-like porous structured surface morphology of CdS thin film over the entire area was observed. • Blue spectral shift with lowering of the synthesis time suggests films can act as a window layer over the absorber layer. • Porous web-structured CdS thin films can be useful in light harvesting.

Chemical synthesis of porous web-structured CdS thin films for photosensor applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gosavi, S.R.; Nikam, C.P.; Shelke, A.R.; Patil, A.M.; Ryu, S.-W.; Bhat, J.S.; Deshpande, N.G.

2015-01-01

The photo-activity of chemically deposited cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin film has been studied. The simple chemical route nucleates the CdS films with size up to the mean free path of the electron. Growth Kinematics of crystalline hexagonal CdS phase in the thin film form was monitored using X-ray diffraction. The time limitation set for the formation of the amorphous/nano-crystalline material is 40 and 60 min. Thereafter enhancement of the crystalline orientation along the desired plane was identified. Web-like porous structured surface morphology of CdS thin film over the entire area is observed. With decrease in synthesis time, increase of band gap energy i.e., a blue spectral shift was seen. The activation energy of CdS thin film at low and high temperature region was examined. It is considered that this activation energy corresponds to the donor levels associated with shallow traps or surface states of CdS thin film. The photo-electrochemical performance of CdS thin films in polysulphide electrolyte showed diode-like characteristics. Exposure of light on the CdS electrode increases the photocurrent. This suggests the possibility of production of free carriers via excited ions and also the light harvesting mechanism due to porous web-structured morphology. These studies hint that the obtained CdS films can work as a photosensor. - Highlights: • Photoactivity of chemically synthesized cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films was studied. • Web-like porous structured surface morphology of CdS thin film over the entire area was observed. • Blue spectral shift with lowering of the synthesis time suggests films can act as a window layer over the absorber layer. • Porous web-structured CdS thin films can be useful in light harvesting

One-step synthesis of highly efficient nanocatalysts on the supports with hierarchical pores using porous ionic liquid-water gel.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Xinchen; Zhang, Jianling; Shang, Wenting; Wu, Tianbin; Zhang, Peng; Han, Buxing; Wu, Zhonghua; Mo, Guang; Xing, Xueqing

2014-03-12

Stable porous ionic liquid-water gel induced by inorganic salts was created for the first time. The porous gel was used to develop a one-step method to synthesize supported metal nanocatalysts. Au/SiO2, Ru/SiO2, Pd/Cu(2-pymo)2 metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF), and Au/polyacrylamide (PAM) were synthesized, in which the supports had hierarchical meso- and macropores, the size of the metal nanocatalysts could be very small (esterification of benzyl alcohol to methyl benzoate, benzene hydrogenation to cyclohexane, and oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde because they combined the advantages of the nanocatalysts of small size and hierarchical porosity of the supports. In addition, this method is very simple.

Luminescence evolution of porous GaN thin films prepared via UV-assisted electrochemical etching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheah, S.F.; Lee, S.C.; Ng, S.S.; Yam, F.K.; Abu Hassan, H.; Hassan, Z.

2015-01-01

Porous gallium nitride (GaN) thin films with different surface morphologies and free carriers properties were fabricated from Si-doped GaN thin films using ultra-violet assisted electrochemical etching approach under various etching voltages. Fluctuation of luminescence signals was observed in the photoluminescence spectra of porous GaN thin films. Taking advantage of the spectral sensitivity of infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy on semiconductor materials, roles of free carriers and porous structure in controlling luminescence properties of GaN were investigated thoroughly. The results revealed that enhancement in luminescence signal is not always attained upon porosification. Although porosification is correlated to the luminescence enhancement, however, free carrier is the primary factor to enhance luminescence intensity. Due to unavoidable significant reduction of free carriers from Si-doped GaN in the porosification process, control of etching depth (i.e., thickness of porous layer formed from the Si-doped layer) is critical in fabricating porous GaN thin film with enhanced luminescence response. - Highlights: • Various pore morphologies with free carrier properties are produced by Si-doped GaN. • Free carriers are important to control the luminescence signal of porous GaN. • Enhancement of luminescence signal relies on the pore depth of Si-doped layer

Dewetting behavior of Au films on porous substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xiaowei; Lee, Ung-Ju; Lee, Kun-Hong

2010-01-01

Understanding the stability of thin films and their spontaneous pattern formation upon dewetting is essential to a host of physical phenomena. In this paper, we study the dewetting phenomena of Au thin films deposited on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes to analyze the stability of the metal film on porous substrates. AAO membranes, as-sputtered and dewetted Au films are all characterized by scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction. We found that both the roughness of AAO surface and modification of AAO pores exhibit remarkable influences on the dewetting behavior of Au films. The observed dewetting phenomena are explained from an energetic point of view since dewetting is a process of minimization of the system free energy.

Hierarchical porous carbon/MnO2 hybrids as supercapacitor electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min Eui; Yun, Young Soo; Jin, Hyoung-Joon

2014-12-01

Hybrid electrodes of hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) and manganese oxide (MnO2) were synthesized using a fast surface redox reaction of potassium permanganate under facile immersion methods. The HPC/MnO2 hybrids had a number of micropores and macropores and the MnO2 nanoparticles acted as a pseudocapacitive material. The synergistic effects of electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC)-induced capacitance and pseudocapacitance brought about a better electrochemical performance of the HPC/MnO2 hybrid electrodes compared to that obtained with a single component. The hybrids showed a specific capacitance of 228 F g(-1) and good cycle stability over 1000 cycles.

Removal of Pertechnetate-Related Oxyanions from Solution Using Functionalized Hierarchical Porous Frameworks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Banerjee, Debasis [Physical and Computational Science Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99352 USA; Elsaidi, Sameh K. [Physical and Computational Science Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99352 USA; Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia Alexandria 21321 Egypt; Aguila, Briana [Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, USA; Li, Baiyan [Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, USA; Kim, Dongsang [Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99354 USA; Schweiger, Michael J. [Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99354 USA; Kruger, Albert A. [US Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, Richland WA 99352 USA; Doonan, Christian J. [Department of Chemistry, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide South Australia 5005 Australia; Ma, Shengqian [Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, USA; Thallapally, Praveen K. [Physical and Computational Science Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99352 USA

2016-10-20

Efficient and cost-effective removal of radioactive pertechnetate anions from nuclear waste is a key challenge to mitigate long-term nuclear waste storage issues. Traditional materials such as resins and layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were evaluated for their pertechnetate or perrhenate (the non-radioactive surrogate) removal capacity, but there is room for improvement in terms of capacity, selectivity and kinetics. A series of functionalized hierarchical porous frameworks were evaluated for their perrhenate removal capacity in the presence of other competing anions.

Layer-by-layer assembled porous CdSe films incorporated with plasmonic gold and improved photoelectrochemical behaviors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Aiping; Ren, Qinghua; Yuan, Ming; Xu, Tao; Tan, Manlin; Zhao, Tingyu; Dong, Wenjun; Tang, Weihua

2013-01-01

Highlights: • A 3D porous CdSe film with plasmonic gold was fabricated by electrodeposition. • A prominent light absorption enhancement of CdSe films was attained by gold plasmon. • The photoelectrochemical response of CdSe was tunable by Au–CdSe bilayer number. • The porous Au–CdSe films had a potential application in energy conversion devices. -- Abstract: A simple method for creating three-dimensional porous wurtzite CdSe films incorporated with plasmonic gold by the electrochemical layer-by-layer assembly was proposed. A prominent enhancement in light absorption of CdSe films was attained by the efficient light scattering of gold plasmons as sub-wavelength antennas and concentrators and the near-field coupling of gold plasmons with the neighboring porous CdSe films. The broadband photocurrent enhancement of Au–CdSe composite systems in the visible light range and the local current maximum between 600 and 700 nm suggested the cooperative action of antenna effects and electromagnetic field enhancement resulting from localized surface plasmon excitation of gold. Furthermore, the photoelectrochemical response of porous Au–CdSe composite films was highly tunable with respect to the number of Au–CdSe bilayer. The optimal short-circuit current and open-circuit potential were obtained in a four-layer Au–CdSe system because the thicker absorber layer with less porous structure might limit the electrolyte diffusion into the hybrid electrode and impose a barrier for electron tunneling and transferring. The highly versatile and tunable properties of assembled porous Au–CdSe composite films demonstrated their potential application in energy conversion devices

Enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of F-containing TiO2 sphere thin film induced by its novel hierarchical structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Xiang; Tao Jie; Li Yingying; Zhu Hong

2009-01-01

The novel nanostructured F-containing TiO 2 (F-TiO 2 ) sphere was directly synthesized on the surface of Ti foil in the solution of NH 4 F and HCl by one-step hydrothermal approach under low-temperature condition. The samples were characterized respectively by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the F-TiO 2 sphere was hierarchical structure, which composed of porous octahedron crystals with one truncated cone, leading to a football-like morphology. XPS results indicated that F - anions were just physically adsorbed on the surface of TiO 2 microspheres. The studies on the optical properties of the F-TiO 2 were carried out by UV-vis light absorption spectrum. The surface fluorination of the spheres, the unique nanostructure induced accessible macropores or mesopores, and the increased light-harvesting abilities were crucial for the high photoelectrochemical activity of the synthesized F-TiO 2 sphere for water-splitting. The photocurrent density of the F-TiO 2 sphere thin film was more than two times than that of the P25 thin film. Meanwhile, a formation mechanism was briefly proposed. This approach could provide a facile method to synthesize F-TiO 2 microsphere with a special morphology and hierarchical structure in large scale.

Removal of Cr{sup 6+} from wastewater via adsorption with high-specific-surface-area nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon derived from silkworm cocoon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Junting; Zhang, Zhengping; Ji, Jing; Dou, Meiling, E-mail: douml@mail.buct.edu.cn; Wang, Feng, E-mail: wangf@mail.buct.edu.cn

2017-05-31

Highlights: • The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon was prepared from silkworm cocoon. • The NHPC possesses a unique porous structure and a high specific surface area. • The NHPC presents superior adsorption performance for Cr (VI). • The NHPC exhibits an excellent recyclability for the removal of Cr (VI). - Abstract: The development of highly efficient adsorbents is an effective way to remove Cr{sup 6+} from wastewater for environment protection. Herein, a high-specific-surface-area nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) derived from silkworm cocoon was synthesized and applied as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of Cr{sup 6+} from wastewater. The resultant NHPC possesses a specific surface area as high as 3134 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and a unique hierarchical porous structure with a large number of small mesopores (2–4 nm) and micropores (0.8–2 nm) embedded in the sidewall of bowl-like macropores (200–300 nm), in which sufficient exposure of adsorption sites and high-flow transfer of Cr{sup 6+} ions can be achieved. As a result, the NHPC exhibits a remarkable adsorption performance with a larger adsorption capacity (366.3 mg g{sup −1}), a higher adsorption rate (4 × 10{sup −2} g mg{sup −1} min{sup −1}) and a superior recyclability in comparison with the commercial adsorbent (Norit CGP). Thermodynamic and kinetic analyses indicate that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic, which fits well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. This biomass-based porous carbon with well-defined hierarchical porous structure can be applied as a promising adsorbent for the removal of Cr{sup 6+} from wastewater.

Fabricating hierarchically porous carbon with well-defined open pores via polymer dehalogenation for high-performance supercapacitor

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Mei; Li, Yu; Du, Kewen; Qiu, Chaochao; Dou, Gang; Zhang, Guoxin

2018-05-01

Improving specific energy of supercapacitors (SCs) at high power has been intensively investigated as a hot and challengeable topic. In this work, hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) materials with well-defined meso-/macro-pores are reported via the dehalogenation reaction of polyvinyl fluoride (PVDF) by NaNH2. The pore hierarchy is achievable mainly because of the coupled effects of NaNH2 activation and the template/bubbling effects of byproducts of NaF and NH3. Electron microscopy studies and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements confirm that the structures of HPC samples contain multiple-scale pores assembled in a hierarchical pattern, and most of their volumes are contributed by mesopores. Aqueous symmetric supercapacitors (ASSCs) were fabricated using HPC-M7 materials, achieving an ultrahigh specific energy of 18.8 Wh kg-1 at specific power of 986.8 W kg-1. Remarkably, at the ultrahigh power of 14.3 kW kg-1, the HPC-ASSCs still output a very high specific energy of 16.7 Wh kg-1, which means the ASSCs can be charged or discharged within 4 s. The outstanding rate capacitive performance is mainly benefited from the hierarchical porous structure that allows highly efficient ion diffusion.

Freestanding hierarchically porous carbon framework decorated by polyaniline as binder-free electrodes for high performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Fujun; Shao, Changlu; Li, Xinghua; Wang, Kexin; Lu, Na; Liu, Yichun

2016-10-01

Freestanding hierarchically porous carbon electrode materials with favorable features of large surface areas, hierarchical porosity and continuous conducting pathways are very attractive for practical applications in electrochemical devices. Herein, three-dimensional freestanding hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) materials have been fabricated successfully mainly by the facile phase separation method. In order to further improve the energy storage ability, polyaniline (PANI) with high pseudocapacitance has been decorated on HPC through in situ chemical polymerization of aniline monomers. Benefiting from the synergistic effects between HPC and PANI, the resulting HPC/PANI composites as electrode materials present dramatic electrochemical performance with high specific capacitance up to 290 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 and good rate capability with ∼86% (248 F g-1) capacitance retention at 64 A g-1 of initial capacitance in three-electrode configuration. Moreover, the as-assembled symmetric supercapacitor based on HPC/PANI composites also demonstrates good capacitive properties with high energy density of 9.6 Wh kg-1 at 223 W kg-1 and long-term cycling stability with 78% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles. Therefore, this work provides a new approach for designing high-performance electrodes with exceptional electrochemical performance, which are very promising for practical application in the energy storage field.

The hierarchical cobalt oxide-porous carbons composites and their high performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries enhanced by the excellent synergistic effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Shuping; Liu, Wei; Liu, Shuang; Zhang, Yuan; Wang, Huanlei; Chen, Shougang

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The CoO/PBCs composites with unique hierarchical architecture by utilizing porous biocarbons derived from kapok fibers (KFs) have been successfully synthesized. • The unique structure is aggregated by CoO rods anchored on the surface or inside the porous carbons. • The CoO/PBCs composites exhibit excellent electrochemical performances. - Abstract: The designed metal oxide-carbon composites are always considered as a potential candidate for high-performance electrode materials. In this work, we fabricated the CoO rods-porous carbon composites with a unique hierarchical architecture by utilizing porous biocarbons derived from kapok fibers (KFs). As the composites of CoO nanocrystals with the mean size of 10 nm and graphene-like carbon sheets, the CoO rods are homogeneously anchored on or inside the porous carbons, thus achieving a 3D hierarchical porous structure. When tested as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the as-obtained composites exhibit the high lithium storage of 1057 mAh g"−"1. More importantly, the CoO rods/porous biocarbons composites display a superior long-term stable reversible capacity of about 550 mAh g"−"1 at the high current density of 5 A g"−"1 after 600 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance of the obtained composites has been attributed to the synergistic effect between CoO nanoparticles and porous biocarbons, which makes the composites favorable for fast electronic and ionic transfer, and superior stable structure. Therefore, we believe that the designed preparation of metal oxide architectures in low-cost and renewable porous biocarbons will be a valuable direction for exploring advanced electrode materials.

Hierarchical Porous Carbon Spheres for High-Performance Na-O2 Batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Bing; Kretschmer, Katja; Xie, Xiuqiang; Munroe, Paul; Peng, Zhangquan; Wang, Guoxiu

2017-12-01

As a new family member of room-temperature aprotic metal-O 2 batteries, Na-O 2 batteries, are attracting growing attention because of their relatively high theoretical specific energy and particularly their uncompromised round-trip efficiency. Here, a hierarchical porous carbon sphere (PCS) electrode that has outstanding properties to realize Na-O 2 batteries with excellent electrochemical performances is reported. The controlled porosity of the PCS electrode, with macropores formed between PCSs and nanopores inside each PCS, enables effective formation/decomposition of NaO 2 by facilitating the electrolyte impregnation and oxygen diffusion to the inner part of the oxygen electrode. In addition, the discharge product of NaO 2 is deposited on the surface of individual PCSs with an unusual conformal film-like morphology, which can be more easily decomposed than the commonly observed microsized NaO 2 cubes in Na-O 2 batteries. A combination of coulometry, X-ray diffraction, and in situ differential electrochemical mass spectrometry provides compelling evidence that the operation of the PCS-based Na-O 2 battery is underpinned by the formation and decomposition of NaO 2 . This work demonstrates that employing nanostructured carbon materials to control the porosity, pore-size distribution of the oxygen electrodes, and the morphology of the discharged NaO 2 is a promising strategy to develop high-performance Na-O 2 batteries. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Study on structural properties of epitaxial silicon films on annealed double layer porous silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue Zhihao; Shen Honglie; Cai Hong; Lv Hongjie; Liu Bin

2012-01-01

In this paper, epitaxial silicon films were grown on annealed double layer porous silicon by LPCVD. The evolvement of the double layer porous silicon before and after thermal annealing was investigated by scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the structural properties of the epitaxial silicon thin films grown at different temperature and different pressure. The results show that the surface of the low-porosity layer becomes smooth and there are just few silicon-bridges connecting the porous layer and the substrate wafer. The qualities of the epitaxial silicon thin films become better along with increasing deposition temperature. All of the Raman peaks of silicon films with different deposition pressure are situated at 521 cm -1 under the deposition temperature of 1100 °C, and the Raman intensity of the silicon film deposited at 100 Pa is much closer to that of the monocrystalline silicon wafer. The epitaxial silicon films are all (4 0 0)-oriented and (4 0 0) peak of silicon film deposited at 100 Pa is more symmetric.

Convenient and large-scale synthesis of nitrogen-rich hierarchical porous carbon spheres for supercapacitors and CO{sub 2} capture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Binbin, E-mail: binbinchang@infm.hhstu.edu.cn [Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China); Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Nano-composite and Application, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China); Zhang, Shouren; Yin, Hang [Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China); Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Nano-composite and Application, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China); Yang, Baocheng, E-mail: baochengyang@yahoo.com [Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China); Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Nano-composite and Application, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006 (China)

2017-08-01

Highlights: • Convenient and large-scale synthesis route for N-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere. • The resultant own spherical morphology, tunable hierarchical porosity, high surface area. • The optimal material exhibits a high CO{sub 2} capture capacity of 4.23 mmol g{sup −1}. • It shows a large voltage window of 1.8 V for symmetric cell in 0.5 M Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}. - Abstract: Herein, considering the great potential of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons in energy storage and CO{sub 2} capture, we designed a convenient and easily large-scale production strategy for preparing nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere (NHPCS) materials. In this synthesis route, spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resins were selected as carbon precursor, and then the ZnCl{sub 2}-impregnated RF resin spheres were carbonized in a NH{sub 3} atmosphere at a temperature range of 600–800 °C. During the one-step heat-treatment process, nitrogen atom could be efficiently incorporated into the carbon skeleton, and the interconnected and hierarchical pore structure with different micro/mesopore proportion could be generated and tuned by adjusting the activating agent ZnCl{sub 2} dosage and carbonization temperature. The resultant nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere materials exhibited a satisfactory charge storage capacity, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-2-8 with a high mesopore proportion obtained at 800 °C with a ZnCl{sub 2}/RF mass ratio of 2:1 presented a specific capacitance of 273.8 F g{sup −1} at a current density of 0.5 A g{sup −1}. More importantly, the assembled NHPCS-2-8-based symmetric capacitor displayed a high energy density of 17.2 Wh kg{sup −1} at a power density of 178.9 W kg{sup −1} within a voltage window of 0 ∼ 1.8 V in 0.5 M Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4} aqueous electrolyte. In addition, the CO{sub 2} capture application of these NHPCS materials was also explored, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-0-8 with a large

Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds for phase change materials with improved thermal conductivity and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jie; Yu, Peng; Tang, Li-Sheng; Bao, Rui-Ying; Liu, Zheng-Ying; Yang, Ming-Bo; Yang, Wei

2017-11-23

An ice-templating self-assembly strategy and a vacuum impregnation method were used to fabricate polyethylene glycol (PEG)/hierarchical porous scaffold composite phase change materials (PCMs). Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds of boron nitride (BN), with the aid of a small amount of graphene oxide (GO), endow the composite PCMs with high thermal conductivity, excellent shape-stability and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion. The formation of a three-dimensional (3D) thermally conductive pathway in the composites contributes to improving the thermal conductivity up to 2.36 W m -1 K -1 at a relatively low content of BN (ca. 23 wt%). This work provides a route for thermally conductive and shape-stabilized composite PCMs used as energy storage materials.

Formation factor of regular porous pattern in poly-α-methylstyrene film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Ruizhuang; Xu Jiajing; Gao Cong; Ma Shuang; Chen Sufen; Luo Xuan; Fang Yu; Li Bo

2015-01-01

Regular poly-α-methylstyrene (PAMS) porous film with macron-sized cells was prepared by casting the solution in the condition with high humidity. In this paper, the effects of the molecular weight of PAMS, PAMS concentration, humidity, temperature, volatile solvents and the thickness of liquid of solution on formation of regular porous pattern in PAMS film were discussed. The results show that these factors significantly affect the pore size and the pore distribution. The capillary force and Benard-Marangoni convection are main driving forces for the water droplet moving and making pores regular arrangement. (authors)

Liquid phase epitaxial growth of heterostructured hierarchical MOF thin films

KAUST Repository

Chernikova, Valeriya

2017-05-10

Precise control of epitaxial growth of MOF-on-MOF thin films, for ordered hierarchical tbo-type structures is demonstrated. The heterostructured MOF thin film was fabricated by successful sequential deposition of layers from two different MOFs. The 2-periodic layers, edge-transitive 4,4-square lattices regarded as supermolecular building layers, were commendably cross-linked using a combination of inorganic/organic and organic pillars.

Liquid phase epitaxial growth of heterostructured hierarchical MOF thin films

KAUST Repository

Chernikova, Valeriya; Shekhah, Osama; Spanopoulos, Ioannis; Trikalitis, Pantelis N.; Eddaoudi, Mohamed

2017-01-01

Precise control of epitaxial growth of MOF-on-MOF thin films, for ordered hierarchical tbo-type structures is demonstrated. The heterostructured MOF thin film was fabricated by successful sequential deposition of layers from two different MOFs. The 2-periodic layers, edge-transitive 4,4-square lattices regarded as supermolecular building layers, were commendably cross-linked using a combination of inorganic/organic and organic pillars.

Design of Capillary Flows with Spatially Graded Porous Films

Science.gov (United States)

Joung, Young Soo; Figliuzzi, Bruno Michel; Buie, Cullen

2013-11-01

We have developed a new capillary tube model, consisting of multi-layered capillary tubes oriented in the direction of flow, to predict capillary speeds on spatially graded porous films. Capillary flows through thin porous media have been widely utilized for small size liquid transport systems. However, for most media it is challenging to realize arbitrary shapes and spatially functionalized micro-structures with variable flow properties. Therefore, conventional media can only be used for capillary flows obeying Washburn's equation and the modifications thereof. Given this background, we recently developed a method called breakdown anodization (BDA) to produce highly wetting porous films. The resulting surfaces show nearly zero contact angles and fast water spreading speed. Furthermore, capillary pressure and spreading diffusivity can be expressed as functions of capillary height when customized electric fields are used in BDA. From the capillary tube model, we derived a general capillary flow equation of motion in terms of capillary pressure and spreading diffusivity. The theoretical model shows good agreement with experimental capillary flows. The study will provide novel design methodologies for paper-based microfluidic devices.

Rapid fabrication of hierarchically structured supramolecular nanocomposite thin films in one minute

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Ting; Kao, Joseph

2016-11-08

Functional nanocomposites containing nanoparticles of different chemical compositions may exhibit new properties to meet demands for advanced technology. It is imperative to simultaneously achieve hierarchical structural control and to develop rapid, scalable fabrication to minimize degradation of nanoparticle properties and for compatibility with nanomanufacturing. The assembly kinetics of supramolecular nanocomposite in thin films is governed by the energetic cost arising from defects, the chain mobility, and the activation energy for inter-domain diffusion. By optimizing only one parameter, the solvent fraction in the film, the assembly kinetics can be precisely tailored to produce hierarchically structured thin films of supramolecular nanocomposites in approximately one minute. Moreover, the strong wavelength dependent optical anisotropy in the nanocomposite highlights their potential applications for light manipulation and information transmission. The present invention opens a new avenue in designing manufacture-friendly continuous processing for the fabrication of functional nanocomposite thin films.

Electrodeposited porous and amorphous copper oxide film for application in supercapacitor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patake, V.D. [Thin Film Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, (M.S.) (India); Joshi, S.S. [Clean Energy Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650 (Korea, Republic of); Lokhande, C.D. [Thin Film Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, (M.S.) (India); Clean Energy Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: l_chandrakant@yahoo.com; Joo, Oh-Shim [Clean Energy Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: joocat@kist.rre.kr

2009-03-15

In present study, the porous amorphous copper oxide thin films have been deposited from alkaline sulphate bath. The cathodic electrodeposition method was employed to deposit copper oxide film at room temperature on stainless steel substrate. Their structural and surface morphological properties were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron micrograph (SEM), respectively. To propose this as a new material for possible application in the supercapacitor, its electrochemical properties have been studied in aqueous 1 M Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4} electrolyte using cyclic voltammetry. The structural analysis from XRD pattern showed the formation of amorphous copper oxide film on the substrate. The surface morphological studies from scanning electron micrographs revealed the formation of porous cauliflower-like copper oxide film. The cyclic voltammetric curves showed symmetric nature and increase in capacitance with increase in film thickness. The maximum specific capacitance of 36 F g{sup -1} was exhibited for the 0.6959 mg cm{sup -2} film thickness. This shows that low-cost copper oxide electrode will be a potential application in supercapacitor.

Three-dimensional hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposite for high-capacity supercapacitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Peipei; Hu, Zhonghua, E-mail: huzh@tongji.edu.cn; Liu, Yafei; Yao, Mingming; Zhang, Qiang

2015-02-15

Highlights: • 3D hierarchical porous flower-like Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs was synthesized. • The electrode shows a large specific surface area and desirable mesoporosity. • High specific capacitances and outstanding stability were obtained. • The content of MWCNTs affects the electrochemical properties of the electrode. - Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs) nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile and template-free hydrothermal method as electrodes for high-capacity supercapacitors. The samples were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical performance was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge, and cycle life. It was found that Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs nanocomposites displayed a high specific capacitance (1703 F g{sup −1} at a discharge current density of 1 A g{sup −1}) and, additionally, an excellent cycling performance, retaining 97% of the maximum capacitance after 2000 cycles at 10 A g{sup −1}. Even at a high current density (20 A g{sup −1}), the specific capacitance was still up to 1309 F g{sup −1}. This outstanding capacitive performance may be attributed to the ideal composition of the material and to its unique 3D hierarchical porous flower-like architecture.

Three-dimensional hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposite for high-capacity supercapacitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Peipei; Hu, Zhonghua; Liu, Yafei; Yao, Mingming; Zhang, Qiang

2015-01-01

Highlights: • 3D hierarchical porous flower-like Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs was synthesized. • The electrode shows a large specific surface area and desirable mesoporosity. • High specific capacitances and outstanding stability were obtained. • The content of MWCNTs affects the electrochemical properties of the electrode. - Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs) nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile and template-free hydrothermal method as electrodes for high-capacity supercapacitors. The samples were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical performance was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge, and cycle life. It was found that Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs nanocomposites displayed a high specific capacitance (1703 F g −1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g −1 ) and, additionally, an excellent cycling performance, retaining 97% of the maximum capacitance after 2000 cycles at 10 A g −1 . Even at a high current density (20 A g −1 ), the specific capacitance was still up to 1309 F g −1 . This outstanding capacitive performance may be attributed to the ideal composition of the material and to its unique 3D hierarchical porous flower-like architecture

Tuning the cathodoluminescence of porous silicon films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biaggi-Labiosa, A.; Fonseca, L.F.; Resto, O.; Balberg, I.

2008-01-01

We have obtained intense cathodoluminescence (CL) emission from electron beam modified porous silicon films by excitation with electrons with kinetic energies below 2 keV. Two types of CL emissions were observed, a stable one and a non-stable one. The first type is obtained in well-oxidized samples and is characterized by a spectral peak that is red shifted with respect to the photoluminescence (PL) peak. The physically interesting and technologically promising CL is however the CL that correlates closely with the PL. Tuning of this CL emission was achieved by controlling the average size of the nanostructure thus showing that the origin of this CL emission is associated with the quantum confinement and the surface chemistry effects that are known to exist in the porous silicon system. We also found that the electron bombardment causes microscale morphological modifications of the films, but the nanoscale features appear to be unchanged. The structural changes are manifested by the increase in the density of the nanoparticles which explains the significant enhancement of the PL that follows the electron irradiation

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene thin films with hierarchical roughness deposited using a single step vapor phase technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Sushant; Arjunan, Arul Chakkaravarthi; Deshpande, Sameer; Seal, Sudipta; Singh, Deepika; Singh, Rajiv K.

2009-01-01

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene films with hierarchical surface roughness were deposited using pulse electron deposition technique. We were able to modulate roughness of the deposited films by controlling the beam energy and hence the electron penetration depth. The films deposited at higher beam energy showed contact angle as high as 166 o . The scanning electron and atomic force microscope studies revealed clustered growth and two level sub-micron asperities on films deposited at higher energies. Such dual-scale hierarchical roughness and heterogeneities at the water-surface interface was attributed to the observed contact angle and thus its superhydrophobic nature.

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene thin films with hierarchical roughness deposited using a single step vapor phase technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Sushant, E-mail: sushant3@ufl.ed [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Arjunan, Arul Chakkaravarthi [Sinmat Incorporated, 2153 SE Hawthorne Road, 129, Gainesville, Florida 32641 (United States); Deshpande, Sameer; Seal, Sudipta [Advanced Material Processing and Analysis Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816 (United States); Singh, Deepika [Sinmat Incorporated, 2153 SE Hawthorne Road, 129, Gainesville, Florida 32641 (United States); Singh, Rajiv K. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)

2009-06-30

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene films with hierarchical surface roughness were deposited using pulse electron deposition technique. We were able to modulate roughness of the deposited films by controlling the beam energy and hence the electron penetration depth. The films deposited at higher beam energy showed contact angle as high as 166{sup o}. The scanning electron and atomic force microscope studies revealed clustered growth and two level sub-micron asperities on films deposited at higher energies. Such dual-scale hierarchical roughness and heterogeneities at the water-surface interface was attributed to the observed contact angle and thus its superhydrophobic nature.

Convenient and large-scale synthesis of nitrogen-rich hierarchical porous carbon spheres for supercapacitors and CO2 capture

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Binbin; Zhang, Shouren; Yin, Hang; Yang, Baocheng

2017-08-01

Herein, considering the great potential of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons in energy storage and CO2 capture, we designed a convenient and easily large-scale production strategy for preparing nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere (NHPCS) materials. In this synthesis route, spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resins were selected as carbon precursor, and then the ZnCl2-impregnated RF resin spheres were carbonized in a NH3 atmosphere at a temperature range of 600-800 °C. During the one-step heat-treatment process, nitrogen atom could be efficiently incorporated into the carbon skeleton, and the interconnected and hierarchical pore structure with different micro/mesopore proportion could be generated and tuned by adjusting the activating agent ZnCl2 dosage and carbonization temperature. The resultant nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere materials exhibited a satisfactory charge storage capacity, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-2-8 with a high mesopore proportion obtained at 800 °C with a ZnCl2/RF mass ratio of 2:1 presented a specific capacitance of 273.8 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. More importantly, the assembled NHPCS-2-8-based symmetric capacitor displayed a high energy density of 17.2 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 178.9 W kg-1 within a voltage window of 0 ∼ 1.8 V in 0.5 M Na2SO4 aqueous electrolyte. In addition, the CO2 capture application of these NHPCS materials was also explored, and the optimal sample of NHPCS-0-8 with a large micropore proportion prepared at 800 °C exhibited an exceptional CO2 uptake capacity at ambient pressures of up to 4.23 mmol g-1 at 0 °C.

Flexible free-standing porous graphene/Ni film electrode with enhanced rate capability for lithium-ion batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cao, Hailiang; Zhou, Xufeng, E-mail: zhouxf@nimte.ac.cn; Shi, Junli; Liu, Zhaoping, E-mail: liuzp@nimte.ac.cn

2016-11-15

Flexible, lightweight and reliable lithium-ion batteries have attracted tremendous attention and research interest to meet the requirements of portable and bendable devices. Here, flexible, free-standing and porous graphene/Ni film with vertical nano-channels inside is prepared by metal etching of graphene film. Compared with dense graphene film, the porous graphene/Ni film employed as a binder-free anode in lithium-ion batteries exhibits higher capacity and much better rate capability, due to its unique interior channel architecture which is favorable for fast ion transport. At a high current density of 2 A g{sup −1}, it can reach a specific capacity of 117 mAh g{sup −1}. The porous film also shows low charge transfer resistance and good cycling stability. After 300 cycles at 1 A g{sup −1}, its specific capacity still remains at 147 mAh g{sup −1}, with high Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. Furthermore, the strategy developed here is very simple and of great importance to rational design of porous graphene film or graphene-based hybrids with various applications.

Flexible free-standing porous graphene/Ni film electrode with enhanced rate capability for lithium-ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Hailiang; Zhou, Xufeng; Shi, Junli; Liu, Zhaoping

2016-01-01

Flexible, lightweight and reliable lithium-ion batteries have attracted tremendous attention and research interest to meet the requirements of portable and bendable devices. Here, flexible, free-standing and porous graphene/Ni film with vertical nano-channels inside is prepared by metal etching of graphene film. Compared with dense graphene film, the porous graphene/Ni film employed as a binder-free anode in lithium-ion batteries exhibits higher capacity and much better rate capability, due to its unique interior channel architecture which is favorable for fast ion transport. At a high current density of 2 A g"−"1, it can reach a specific capacity of 117 mAh g"−"1. The porous film also shows low charge transfer resistance and good cycling stability. After 300 cycles at 1 A g"−"1, its specific capacity still remains at 147 mAh g"−"1, with high Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. Furthermore, the strategy developed here is very simple and of great importance to rational design of porous graphene film or graphene-based hybrids with various applications.

Hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres architectured with sub-nanoparticles as a high performance anode for lithium ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rong, Haibo; Xie, Guiting; Cheng, Si; Zhen, Zihao; Jiang, Zhongqing; Huang, Jianlin; Jiang, Yu; Chen, Bohong; Jiang, Zhong-Jie

2016-01-01

A simple two-step procedure, which involves the synthesis of the Zn_0_._3_3Mn_0_._6_7CO_3 microspheres through a hydrothermal process and the subsequent calcination, has been used to synthesize the ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), these hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres could exhibit a stable reversible capability of ∼723.7 mAh g"−"1 at the current density of 400 mA g"−"1, which is much higher than those of the ZnMn_2O_4 based materials reported previously, indicating the great potential of using them as the anode for the LIBs. This is further supported by their better rate capability and higher cycling stability. Careful analysis has shown that the unique porous structure of the hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres which consists of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles plays an important role in their higher electrochemical performance, since it allows the accommodation of the volume expansion during the repeated discharge–charge cycles, preventing them from the structural destruction, and increase the accessibility of the electrode material to the Li"+ storage, making a better utilization of active materials and an easy diffusion of electrolytes in and out of the electrode material. - Graphical abstract: The ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles have been synthesized by the calcination of the Zn_0_._3_3Mn_0_._6_7CO_3 microspheres and could exhibit superior electrochemical performance when used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. - Highlights: • A simple procedure has been used to synthesize the ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres. • The ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres exhibit excellent performance when used in LIBs. • The porous structure plays a crucial role in their high performance. • These spheres exhibit a good morphology retention

Modified chemical synthesis of porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumbhar, V.S.; Jagadale, A.D. [Thin Film Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, (M.S.) 416004 (India); Gaikwad, N.S. [Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, Satara, (M.S.) 415 001 (India); Lokhande, C.D., E-mail: l_chandrakant@yahoo.com [Thin Film Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, (M.S.) 416004 (India)

2014-08-15

Highlights: • A novel chemical route to prepare α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films. • A porous honeycomb like morphology of the α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film. • An application of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film toward its supercapacitive behaviour. - Abstract: The paper reports synthesis of porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films using modified chemical synthesis, also known as successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), wettability and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) techniques are used for the study of structural, elemental, morphological and optical properties of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} films. An orthorhombic crystal structure of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} is resulted from XRD study. The SEM and AFM observations showed highly porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} film surface. An optical band gap of 2.50 eV is estimated from optical absorption spectrum. The porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film tuned for supercapacitive behaviour using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge discharge showed a specific capacitance and energy density of 294 Fg{sup –1} and 48.9 kW kg{sup –1}, respectively in 1 M LiClO{sub 4}–propylene carbonate electrolyte.

Hierarchical porous carbon derived from Allium cepa for supercapacitors through direct carbonization method with the assist of calcium acetate

KAUST Repository

Xu, Jinhui; Zhang, Wenli; Hou, Dianxun; Huang, Weimin; Lin, Haibo

2017-01-01

In this paper, a direction carbonization method was used to prepare porous carbon from Allium cepa for supercapacitor applications. In this method, calcium acetate was used to assist carbonization process. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and N2 adsorption/desorption method were used to characterize the morphology, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore size distribution of porous carbon derived from Allium cepa (onion derived porous carbon, OPC). OPC is of hierarchical porous structure with high specific surface area and relatively high specific capacitance. OPC possesses relatively high specific surface area of 533.5 m2/g. What’s more, OPC possesses a specific capacitance of 133.5 F/g at scan rate of 5 mV/s.

Hierarchical porous carbon derived from Allium cepa for supercapacitors through direct carbonization method with the assist of calcium acetate

KAUST Repository

Xu, Jinhui

2017-11-02

In this paper, a direction carbonization method was used to prepare porous carbon from Allium cepa for supercapacitor applications. In this method, calcium acetate was used to assist carbonization process. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and N2 adsorption/desorption method were used to characterize the morphology, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore size distribution of porous carbon derived from Allium cepa (onion derived porous carbon, OPC). OPC is of hierarchical porous structure with high specific surface area and relatively high specific capacitance. OPC possesses relatively high specific surface area of 533.5 m2/g. What’s more, OPC possesses a specific capacitance of 133.5 F/g at scan rate of 5 mV/s.

Detailed microstructure analysis of as-deposited and etched porous ZnO films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang, Congcong; Thimont, Yohann; Barnabé, Antoine; Presmanes, Lionel; Pasquet, Isabelle; Tailhades, Philippe

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Porous ZnO thin films were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering. • Surface enhancement factors were deduced from geometrical considerations. • Enlargement of the inter-grain spaces have been achieved by HCl chemical etching. • Microstructural parameters were deduced from SEM, AFM and optical measurements. - Abstract: ZnO nanostructured materials in thin film forms are of particular interest for photovoltaic or photocatalysis processes but they suffer from a lack of simple methods for optimizing their microstructure. We have demonstrated that microporous ZnO thin films with optimized inter grain accessibility can be produce by radio frequency magnetron sputtering process and chemical etching with 2.75 mM HCl solution for different duration. The as-deposited ZnO thin films were first characterized in terms of structure, grain size, inter grain space, open cavity depth and total thickness of the film by XRD, AFM, SEM, profilometry and optical measurements. A specific attention was dedicated to the determination of the surface enhancement factor (SEF) by using basic geometrical considerations and images treatments. In addition, the porous fraction and its distribution in the thickness have been estimated thanks to the optical simulation of the experimental UV–Visible–IR spectrums using the Bruggeman dielectric model and cross section SEM images analysis respectively. This study showed that the microstructure of the as-deposited films consists of a dense layer covered by a porous upper layer developing a SEF of 12–13 m 2 m −2 . This two layers architecture is not modified by the etching process. The etching process only affects the upper porous layer in which the overall porosity and the inter-grain space increase with the etching duration. Column diameter and total film thickness decrease at the same time when the films are soaked in the HCl bath. The microporous structure obtained after the etching process could

Graphene-doped carbon/Fe3O4 porous nanofibers with hierarchical band construction as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Jianxin; Zhao, Shuyuan; Lian, Yanping; Zhou, Mengjuan; Wang, Lidan; Ding, Bin; Cui, Shizhong

2017-01-01

Highlights: • GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 are synthesized via in-situ electrospinning and thermal treatment. • GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 show unique dark/light banding with a hierarchical porous structure. • Doped graphene induces a uniform distribution of smaller size Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles. • Doped graphene provides more active sites and accommodate the volume change. • GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 electrode displays a reversible capacity of 872 mAh/g after 100 cycles. - Abstract: Porous graphene-doped carbon/Fe 3 O 4 (GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 ) nanofibers are synthesized via in-situ electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment for use as lithium-ion battery anode materials. A polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) solution containing ferric acetylacetone and graphene oxide nanosheets is used as the electrospinning precursor solution. The resulting porous GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 nanofibers show unique dark/light banding and a hierarchical porous structure. These nanofibers have a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area of 323.0 m 2 /g with a total pore volume of 0.337 cm 3 /g, which is significantly greater than that of a sample without graphene and C/Fe 3 O 4 nanofibers. The GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 nanofiber electrode displays a reversible capacity of 872 mAh/g at a current density of 100 mA/g after 100 cycles, excellent cycling stability, and superior rate capability (455 mA/g at 5 A/g). The excellent performance of porous GN@C/Fe 3 O 4 is attributed to the material’s unique structure, including its striped topography, hierarchical porous structure, and inlaid flexible graphene, which not only provides more accessible active sites for lithium-ion insertion and high-efficiency transport pathways for ions and electrons, but also accommodates the volume change associated with lithium insertion/extraction. Moreover, the zero-valent iron and graphene in the porous nanofibers enhance the conductivity of the electrodes.

Synthesis of 3D hierarchical porous iron oxides for adsorption of Congo red from dye wastewater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Zhigang; Liu, Jianhong; Wang, Qiuze; Li, Shengbiao; Qi, Qin; Zhu, Rongsun

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Bowknot-like precursor is obtained via poval-mediated precipitation reaction. • The growth mechanism of the hierarchical superstructure has been discussed. • Mesoporous iron oxide superstructures have been successfully synthesized. • The magnetic superstructures can adsorb CR from aqueous solution effectively. • The adsorption kinetics and isotherm processes are discussed. - Abstract: In this study, 3D hierarchical porous iron oxides were prepared by a precursor thermal conversion method and their adsorption properties for Congo red were reported. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron microscopy (EM) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. Results demonstrated that the 3D magnetic bowknot-like iron oxides were constructed by three-dimensional self-assembly of nanorods with porous nanostructures. The effect of experimental parameters including polymer concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time and heat treatment atmosphere were studied. Bowknot-like α-Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 superstructures were obtained by the thermal transformation of the oxalate precursor under the various atmosphere. These porous iron oxide superstructures exhibited ferromagnetic property at room temperature. Adsorption of Congo red (CR) onto the as-prepared samples from aqueous solutions was investigated and discussed. The results indicated that pseudo-second-order kinetic equation model can better describe the adsorption kinetics of CR onto α-Fe 2 O 3 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 , and Lagergren-first-order kinetic model is better fitted for the adsorption of CR onto Fe 3 O 4 . The hierarchically α-Fe 2 O 3 bowknots showed better adsorption ability for CR than Fe 3 O 4 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 superstructure

Synthesis of 3D hierarchical porous iron oxides for adsorption of Congo red from dye wastewater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Zhigang, E-mail: zjchemyue@126.com; Liu, Jianhong; Wang, Qiuze; Li, Shengbiao; Qi, Qin; Zhu, Rongsun

2015-02-15

Highlights: • Bowknot-like precursor is obtained via poval-mediated precipitation reaction. • The growth mechanism of the hierarchical superstructure has been discussed. • Mesoporous iron oxide superstructures have been successfully synthesized. • The magnetic superstructures can adsorb CR from aqueous solution effectively. • The adsorption kinetics and isotherm processes are discussed. - Abstract: In this study, 3D hierarchical porous iron oxides were prepared by a precursor thermal conversion method and their adsorption properties for Congo red were reported. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron microscopy (EM) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. Results demonstrated that the 3D magnetic bowknot-like iron oxides were constructed by three-dimensional self-assembly of nanorods with porous nanostructures. The effect of experimental parameters including polymer concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time and heat treatment atmosphere were studied. Bowknot-like α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} and γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} superstructures were obtained by the thermal transformation of the oxalate precursor under the various atmosphere. These porous iron oxide superstructures exhibited ferromagnetic property at room temperature. Adsorption of Congo red (CR) onto the as-prepared samples from aqueous solutions was investigated and discussed. The results indicated that pseudo-second-order kinetic equation model can better describe the adsorption kinetics of CR onto α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} and γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and Lagergren-first-order kinetic model is better fitted for the adsorption of CR onto Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}. The hierarchically α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} bowknots showed better adsorption ability for CR than Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} and γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} superstructure.

Interpretation of electrokinetic measurements with porous films: role of electric conductance and streaming current within porous structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaroshchuk, Andriy; Luxbacher, Thomas

2010-07-06

It is shown that in tangential electrokinetic measurements with porous films the porous structure makes contribution not only to the cell electric conductance (as demonstrated previously) but also to the observed streaming current. Both of these contributions give rise to dependences of streaming-potential and streaming-current coefficients on the channel height. However, due to the combined contribution of two phenomena, the dependence of streaming-potential coefficient on the channel height may be rather complicated and not allow for simple extrapolation. At the same time, the dependences of streaming-current coefficient and cell electric conductance on the channel height turn out linear and can be easily extrapolated to zero channel heights. This enables one to determine separately the contributions of external surface of porous film and of its porous structure to the streaming current and of the channel and porous structure to the cell electric conductance. This procedure is illustrated by the measurements of tangential electrokinetic phenomena and electric conductance with Millipore mixed-cellulose membrane filters of various average pore sizes (from 0.025 to 5 mum) in the so-called adjustable-gap cell of SurPASS electrokinetic instrument (Anton Paar GmbH). The design of this cell allows for easy and quasi-continuous variation of channel height as well as accurate determination of cell electric conductance, streaming-current coefficient, and channel height (from the cell hydraulic permeability). The quality of linear fits of experimental data has been found to be very good, and thus, the extrapolation procedures were quite reliable and accurate. Zeta-potentials could be determined of both external film and internal pore surfaces. It is demonstrated that the porous structures make considerable contributions to both streaming-current coefficient and cell electric conductance especially in the case of filters with larger pores. It is also found that, rather

Development of hierarchically porous cobalt oxide for enhanced photo-oxidation of indoor pollutants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, J. P., E-mail: chengjp@zju.edu.cn [Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (China); Shereef, Anas; Gray, Kimberly A., E-mail: k-gray@northwestern.edu [Northwestern University, Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (United States); Wu, Jinsong [Northwestern University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (United States)

2015-03-15

Porous cobalt oxide was successfully prepared by precipitation of cobalt hydroxide followed by low temperature thermal decomposition. The morphologies of the resultant oxides remained as the corresponding hydroxides, although the morphology of cobalt hydroxides was greatly influenced by the precursor salts. The cobalt oxides with average crystal size less than 20 nm were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, BET surface area, and XPS analysis. The photocatalytic activities of the various cobalt oxides morphologies were investigated by comparing the photo-degradation of acetaldehyde under simulated solar illumination. Relative to their low order structures and reference titania samples, the hierarchical nanostructures of cobalt oxide showed excellent abilities to rapidly degrade acetaldehyde, a model air pollutant. This was attributed to the unique nature of these hierarchical cobalt oxide nanoassemblies, which contained many catalytically active reaction sites and open pores.

Preparation and characterization of hierarchical porous carbons derived from solid leather waste for supercapacitor applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konikkara, Niketha; Kennedy, L. John; Vijaya, J. Judith

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Solid leather waste was used as a precursor for preparing HPCs—waste to energy storage. • The textural, structural and morphological properties show the hierarchical porous nature. • Porous carbon with surface area 716 m"2/g and pore volume 0.4030 cm"3/g has been produced. • HPCs based supercapacitor electrodes are fabricated with three electrode system in 1 M KCl. • Specific capacitance of 1960 F/g is achieved at scan rate of 1 mV/s in 1 M KCl. - Abstract: Utilization of crust leather waste (CLW) as precursors for the preparation of hierarchical porous carbons (HPC) were investigated. HPCs were prepared from CLW by pre-carbonization followed by chemical activation using KOH at relatively high temperatures. Textural properties of HPC’s showed an extent of micro-and mesoporosity with maximum BET surface area of 716 m"2/g. Inducements of graphitic planes in leather waste derived carbons were observed from X-ray diffraction and HR-TEM analysis. Microstructure, thermal behavior and surface functional groups were identified using FT-Raman, thermo gravimetric analysis and FT-IR techniques. HPCs were evaluated for electrochemical properties by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) by three electrode system. CLC9 sample showed a maximum capacitance of 1960 F/g in 1 M KCl electrolyte. Results achieved from rectangular curves of CV, GCD symmetric curves and Nyquist plots show that the leather waste carbon is suitable to fabricate supercapacitors as it possess high specific capacitance and electrochemical cycle stability. The present study proposes an effective method for solid waste management in leather industry by the way of converting toxic leather waste to new graphitic porous carbonaceous materials as a potential candidate for energy storage devices.

Preparation and characterization of hierarchical porous carbons derived from solid leather waste for supercapacitor applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konikkara, Niketha [Materials Division, School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Chennai Campus, Chennai 600 127 (India); Kennedy, L. John, E-mail: jklsac14@yahoo.co.in [Materials Division, School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Chennai Campus, Chennai 600 127 (India); Vijaya, J. Judith [Catalysis and Nanomaterials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Loyola College (Autonomous) Chennai 600 034 (India)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Solid leather waste was used as a precursor for preparing HPCs—waste to energy storage. • The textural, structural and morphological properties show the hierarchical porous nature. • Porous carbon with surface area 716 m{sup 2}/g and pore volume 0.4030 cm{sup 3}/g has been produced. • HPCs based supercapacitor electrodes are fabricated with three electrode system in 1 M KCl. • Specific capacitance of 1960 F/g is achieved at scan rate of 1 mV/s in 1 M KCl. - Abstract: Utilization of crust leather waste (CLW) as precursors for the preparation of hierarchical porous carbons (HPC) were investigated. HPCs were prepared from CLW by pre-carbonization followed by chemical activation using KOH at relatively high temperatures. Textural properties of HPC’s showed an extent of micro-and mesoporosity with maximum BET surface area of 716 m{sup 2}/g. Inducements of graphitic planes in leather waste derived carbons were observed from X-ray diffraction and HR-TEM analysis. Microstructure, thermal behavior and surface functional groups were identified using FT-Raman, thermo gravimetric analysis and FT-IR techniques. HPCs were evaluated for electrochemical properties by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) by three electrode system. CLC9 sample showed a maximum capacitance of 1960 F/g in 1 M KCl electrolyte. Results achieved from rectangular curves of CV, GCD symmetric curves and Nyquist plots show that the leather waste carbon is suitable to fabricate supercapacitors as it possess high specific capacitance and electrochemical cycle stability. The present study proposes an effective method for solid waste management in leather industry by the way of converting toxic leather waste to new graphitic porous carbonaceous materials as a potential candidate for energy storage devices.

Hierarchically structured self-supported latex films for flexible and semi-transparent electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Määttänen, Anni; Ihalainen, Petri; Törngren, Björn; Rosqvist, Emil; Pesonen, Markus; Peltonen, Jouko

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Transparent self-supported latex films were fabricated by a peel-off process. • Various template substrates were used for creating e.g. hierarchically structured latex films. • Ultra-thin and semi-transparent conductive gold electrodes were evaporated on the latex films.Electrochemical experiments were carried out to verify the applicability of the electrodes. - Abstract: Different length scale alterations in topography, surface texture, and symmetry are known to evoke diverse cell behavior, including adhesion, orientation, motility, cytoskeletal condensation, and modulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In this work, self-supported latex films with well-defined isotropic/anisotropic surface features and hierarchical morphologies were fabricated by a peel-off process from different template surfaces. In addition, the latex films were used as substrates for evaporated ultrathin gold films with nominal thicknesses of 10 and 20 nm. Optical properties and topography of the samples were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, respectively. The latex films showed high-level transmittance of visible light, enabling the fabrication of semi-transparent gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out for a number of days to investigate the long-term stability of the electrodes. The effect of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) and HS(CH_2)_1_1OH (MuOH) thiolation and protein (human serum albumin, HSA) adsorption on the impedance and capacitance was studied. In addition, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were carried out to determine active medicinal components, i.e., caffeic acid with interesting biological activities and poorly water-soluble anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam. The results show that the fabrication procedure presented in this study enables the formation of platforms with hierarchical morphologies for multimodal (optical and

Hierarchically structured self-supported latex films for flexible and semi-transparent electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Määttänen, Anni, E-mail: anni.maattanen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Ihalainen, Petri, E-mail: petri.ihalainen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Törngren, Björn, E-mail: bjorn.torngren@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Rosqvist, Emil, E-mail: emil.rosqvist@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Pesonen, Markus, E-mail: markus.pesonen@abo.fi [Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Peltonen, Jouko, E-mail: jouko.peltonen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland)

2016-02-28

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Transparent self-supported latex films were fabricated by a peel-off process. • Various template substrates were used for creating e.g. hierarchically structured latex films. • Ultra-thin and semi-transparent conductive gold electrodes were evaporated on the latex films.Electrochemical experiments were carried out to verify the applicability of the electrodes. - Abstract: Different length scale alterations in topography, surface texture, and symmetry are known to evoke diverse cell behavior, including adhesion, orientation, motility, cytoskeletal condensation, and modulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In this work, self-supported latex films with well-defined isotropic/anisotropic surface features and hierarchical morphologies were fabricated by a peel-off process from different template surfaces. In addition, the latex films were used as substrates for evaporated ultrathin gold films with nominal thicknesses of 10 and 20 nm. Optical properties and topography of the samples were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, respectively. The latex films showed high-level transmittance of visible light, enabling the fabrication of semi-transparent gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out for a number of days to investigate the long-term stability of the electrodes. The effect of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) and HS(CH{sub 2}){sub 11}OH (MuOH) thiolation and protein (human serum albumin, HSA) adsorption on the impedance and capacitance was studied. In addition, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were carried out to determine active medicinal components, i.e., caffeic acid with interesting biological activities and poorly water-soluble anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam. The results show that the fabrication procedure presented in this study enables the formation of platforms with hierarchical morphologies for multimodal

Cost-Effective Fabrication of Inner-Porous Micro/Nano Carbon Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Shulan; Shi, Tielin; Tang, Zirong; Xi, Shuang

2018-03-01

This paper reports the fabrication of a new micro/nano carbon architecture array which owns the characteristics of inner-porous, desired conductivity and large effective surface area. The micro/nano inner-porous carbon structures were fabricated for the first time, with ordinary and cost-effective processes, including photolithography, oxygen plasma etching and pyrolysis. Firstly, micro/nano hierarchical photoresist structures array was generated through photolithography and oxygen plasma etching processes. By introducing a critical thin-film spin-coating step, and followed with carefully pyrolyzing process, the micro/nano photoresist structures were converted into innerporous carbon architectures with good electric connection which connected the carbon structures array together. Probably the inner-porous property can be attributed to the shrinkage difference between positive thin film and negative photoresist structures during pyrolyzing process. It is demonstrated that the simple method is effective to fabricate inner-porous carbon structures with good electric connection and the carbon structures can be used as electrochemical electrodes directly and without the addition of other pyrolysis or film coating processes. The electrochemical property of the carbon structures has been explored by cyclic voltammetric measurement. Compared with solid carbon microstructures array, the cyclic voltammetry curve of inner-porous carbon structures shows greatly enhanced current and improved charge-storage capability, indicating great potential in micro energy storage devices and bio-devices.

Self-cleaning poly(dimethylsiloxane) film with functional micro/nano hierarchical structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Sheng; Zhu, Fu-Yun; Han, Meng-Di; Sun, Xu-Ming; Peng, Xu-Hua; Zhang, Hai-Xia

2013-08-27

This paper reports a novel single-step wafer-level fabrication of superhydrophobic micro/nano dual-scale (MNDS) poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) films. The MNDS PDMS films were replicated directly from an ultralow-surface-energy silicon substrate at high temperature without any surfactant coating, achieving high precision. An improved deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process with enhanced passivation steps was proposed to easily realize the ultralow-surface-energy MNDS silicon substrate and also utilized as a post-treatment process to strengthen the hydrophobicity of the MNDS PDMS film. The chemical modification of this enhanced passivation step to the surface energy has been studied by density functional theory, which is also the first investigation of C4F8 plasma treatment at molecular level by using first-principle calculations. From the results of a systematic study on the effect of key process parameters (i.e., baking temperature and time) on PDMS replication, insight into the interaction of hierarchical multiscale structures of polymeric materials during the micro/nano integrated fabrication process is experimentally obtained for the first time. Finite element simulation has been employed to illustrate this new phenomenon. Additionally, hierarchical PDMS pyramid arrays and V-shaped grooves have been developed and are intended for applications as functional structures for a light-absorption coating layer and directional transport of liquid droplets, respectively. This stable, self-cleaning PDMS film with functional micro/nano hierarchical structures, which is fabricated through a wafer-level single-step fabrication process using a reusable silicon mold, shows attractive potential for future applications in micro/nanodevices, especially in micro/nanofluidics.

Preparation of porous monolayer film by immersing the stearic acid Langmuir-Blodgett monolayer on mica in salt solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, S. [Institute of Near-Field Optics and Nano Technology, School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Street No. 2 Linggong Road, Dalian 116024 (China); Li, Y.L.; Zhao, H.L.; Liang, H. [Institute of Photo-Biophysics, School of Physics and Electronic, Henan University, Jinming, Kaifeng 475004, Henan (China); Liu, B., E-mail: boliu@henu.edu.cn [Institute of Photo-Biophysics, School of Physics and Electronic, Henan University, Jinming, Kaifeng 475004, Henan (China); Pan, S., E-mail: span@dlut.edu.cn [Institute of Near-Field Optics and Nano Technology, School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Street No. 2 Linggong Road, Dalian 116024 (China)

2012-11-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Porous film has been prepared by immersing the stearic acid Langmuir-Blodgett monolayer on mica in salt solution. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The mechanism relies on the electrostatic screening effect of the cations in salt solution. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The factors influencing the size and area of the pores were investigated. - Abstract: Porous materials have drawn attention from scientists in many fields such as life sciences, catalysis and photonics since they can be used to induce some materials growth as expected. Especially, porous Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film is an ideal material with controlled thickness and flat surface. In this paper, stearic acid (SA), which has been extensively explored in LB film technique, is chosen as the template material with known parameters to prepare the LB film, and then the porous SA monolayer film is obtained by means of etching in salt solution. The main etching mechanism is suggested that the cations in the solution block the electrostatic interaction between the polar carboxyl group of SA and the electronegative mica surface. The influencing factors (such as concentration of salt solution, valence of cation and surface pressure) of the porous SA film are systematically studied in this work. The novel method proposed in this paper makes it convenient to prepare porous monolayer film for designed material growth or cell culture.

Reciprocal space analysis of the microstructure of luminescent and nonluminescent porous silicon films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.R.; Barbour, J.C.; Medernach, J.W.; Stevenson, J.O.; Custer, J.S.

1994-01-01

The microstructure of anodically prepared porous silicon films was determined using a novel X-ray diffraction technique. This technique uses double-crystal diffractometry combined with position-sensitive X- ray detection to efficiently and quantitatively image the reciprocal space structure of crystalline materials. Reciprocal space analysis of newly prepared, as well as aged, p - porous silicon films showed that these films exhibit a very broad range of crystallinity. This material appears to range in structure from a strained, single-crystal, sponge-like material exhibiting long-range coherency to isolated, dilated nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix. Reciprocal space analysis of n + and p + porous silicon showed these materials are strained single-crystals with a spatially-correlated array of vertical pores. The vertical pores in these crystals may be surrounded by nanoporous or nanocrystalline domains as small as a few nm in size which produce diffuse diffraction indicating their presence. The photoluminescence of these films was examined using 488 nm Ar laser excitation in order to search for possible correlations between photoluminescent intensity and crystalline microstructure

Hierarchically porous, ultra-strong reduced graphene oxide-cellulose nanocrystal sponges for exceptional adsorption of water contaminants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yousefi, Nariman; Wong, Kerwin K.W.; Hosseinidoust, Zeinab

2018-01-01

Self-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets into porous 3D sponges is a promising approach to exploit their capacity to adsorb contaminants while facilitating the recovery of the nanosheets from treated water. Yet, forming mechanically robust sponges with suitable adsorption properties presents...... a significant challenge. Ultra-strong and highly porous 3D sponges are formed using GO, vitamin C (VC), and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) - natural nanorods isolated from wood pulp. CNCs provide a robust scaffold for the partially reduced GO (rGO) nanosheets resulting in an exceptionally stiff nanohybrid....... The concentration of VC as a reducing agent plays a critical role in tailoring the pore architecture of the sponges. By using excess amounts of VC, a unique hierarchical pore structure is achieved, where VC grains act as soft templates for forming millimeter-sized pores, the walls of which are also porous...

Metal Chloride Induced Formation of Porous Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Films: Morphology, Thermal Properties and Crystallinity

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, W. L.; Yaakob, N. N.; Zainal Abidin, A.; Abu Bakar, M.; Abu Bakar, N. H. H.

2016-06-01

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) films with highly porous structures were synthesized using a one phase system comprising of metal chloride/methanol/PHB/chloroform (MCl2/CH3OH/PHB/CHCl3). SEM analyses confirmed that the MCl2 (where M = Cu2+ or Ni2+) induced porous structures with pore sizes ranging from 0.3 - 2.0 μm. The average pore size increased with the increasing MCl2 content. There existed weak physical interactions between the PHB chains and MCl2 as revealed by FTIR and NMR spectroscopies. The residue of MCl2 in the porous PHB film does not exert significant influence on the thermal stability of PHB. Nevertheless, the crystallinity of the prepared film is enhanced, as MCl2 acts as the nucleation sites to promote the growth of spherullites.

Porous CrN thin films by selectively etching CrCuN for symmetric supercapacitors

KAUST Repository

Wei, Binbin

2018-03-18

Transition metal nitrides are regarded as a new class of excellent electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors due to their superior chemical stability and excellent electrical conductivity. We synthesize successfully the porous CrN thin films for binder-free supercapacitor electrodes by reactive magnetron co-sputtering and selective chemical etching. The porous CrN thin film electrodes exhibit high-capacitance performance (31.3 mF cm−2 at 1.0 mA cm−2) and reasonable cycling stability (94% retention after 20000 cycles). Moreover, the specific capacitance is more than two-fold higher than that of the CrN thin film electrodes in previous work. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor device with a maximum energy density of 14.4 mWh cm−3 and a maximum power density of 6.6 W cm−3 is achieved. These findings demonstrate that the porous CrN thin films will have potential applications in supercapacitors.

Porous CrN thin films by selectively etching CrCuN for symmetric supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Binbin; Mei, Gui; Liang, Hanfeng; Qi, Zhengbing; Zhang, Dongfang; Shen, Hao; Wang, Zhoucheng

2018-05-01

Transition metal nitrides are regarded as a new class of excellent electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors due to their superior chemical stability and excellent electrical conductivity. We synthesize successfully the porous CrN thin films for binder-free supercapacitor electrodes by reactive magnetron co-sputtering and selective chemical etching. The porous CrN thin film electrodes exhibit high-capacitance performance (31.3 mF cm-2 at 1.0 mA cm-2) and reasonable cycling stability (94% retention after 20000 cycles). Moreover, the specific capacitance is more than two-fold higher than that of the CrN thin film electrodes in previous work. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor device with a maximum energy density of 14.4 mWh cm-3 and a maximum power density of 6.6 W cm-3 is achieved. These findings demonstrate that the porous CrN thin films will have potential applications in supercapacitors.

Hierarchical porous nickel oxide-carbon nanotubes as advanced pseudocapacitor materials for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Aldwin D.; Zhang, Xiang; Rinaldi, Ali; Nguyen, Son T.; Liu, Huihui; Lei, Zhibin; Lu, Li; Duong, Hai M.

2013-03-01

Hierarchical porous carbon anode and metal oxide cathode are promising for supercapacitor with both high energy density and high power density. This Letter uses NiO and commercial carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as electrode materials for electrochemical capacitors with high energy storage capacities. Experimental results show that the specific capacitance of the electrode materials for 10%, 30% and 50% CNTs are 279, 242 and 112 F/g, respectively in an aqueous 1 M KOH electrolyte at a charge rate of 0.56 A/g. The maximum specific capacitance is 328 F/g at a charge rate of 0.33 A/g.

Molecular Design for Preparation of Hexagonal-Ordered Porous Films Based on Side-chain Type Liquid-Crystalline Star Polymer.

Science.gov (United States)

Naka, Yumiko; Takayama, Hiromu; Koyama, Teruhisa; Le, Khoa V; Sasaki, Takeo

2018-05-02

Fabrication of regularly porous films by the breath-figure method has attracted much attention. The simple, low-cost technique uses the condensation of water droplets to produce these structures, but the phenomenon itself is complex, requiring control over many interacting parameters that change throughout the process. Developing a unified understanding for the molecular design of polymers to prepare ordered porous films is challenging, but required for further advancements. In this article, the effects of the chemical structure of polymers in the breath-figure technique were systematically explored using side-chain type liquid-crystalline (LC) star polymers. The formation of porous films was affected by the structure of the polymers. Although the entire film surface of poly(11-[4-(4-cyanobiphenyl)oxy]undecyl methacrylate) (P11CB) had a hexagonal ordered porous structure over a certain Mn value, regularly arranged holes did not easily form in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), even though the main chain of PMMA is similar to that of P11CB. Comparing P11CB and poly(11-[(1,1'-biphenyl)-4-yloxy]undecyl methacrylate) (P11B) (P11CB without cyano groups) showed that the local polar groups in hydrophobic polymers promoted the formation of ordered porous films. No holes formed in poly(4-cyanobiphenyl methacrylate) (P0CB) (P11CB without alkyl spacers) films due to its hydrophilicity. The introduction of alkyl chains in P0CB allowed the preparation of honeycomb-structured films by increasing the internal tension. However, alkyl chains in the side chain alone did not result in a porous structure, as in the case of poly(11-[(1,1'-biphenyl)-4-yloxy]undecyl methacrylate) (P11). Aromatic rings are also required to increase the Tg and improve film formability. In the present study, suitable molecular designs of polymers were found, specifically hydrophobic polymers with local polar groups, to form a regularly porous structure. Development of clear guidelines for the molecular

Porous titania surfaces on titanium with hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities for enhancing cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Guang; Müller, Werner E.G.; Wang, Xiaohong; Lilja, Louise; Shen, Zhijian

2015-01-01

Titanium received a macroporous titania surface layer by anodization, which contains open pores with average pore diameter around 5 μm. An additional mesoporous titania top layer following the contour of the macropores, of 100–200 nm thickness and with a pore diameter of 10 nm, was formed by using the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method with titanium (IV) tetraethoxide as the precursor. A coherent laminar titania surface layer was thus obtained, creating a hierarchical macro- and mesoporous surface that was characterized by high-resolution electron microscopy. The interfacial bonding between the surface layers and the titanium matrix was characterized by the scratch test that confirmed a stable and strong bonding of titania surface layers on titanium. The wettability to water and the effects on the osteosarcoma cell line (SaOS-2) proliferation and mineralization of the formed titania surface layers were studied systematically by cell culture and scanning electron microscopy. The results proved that the porous titania surface with hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities was hydrophilic that significantly promoted cell attachment and spreading. A synergistic role of the hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities was revealed in terms of enhancing cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization, compared with the titania surface with solo scale topography. - Highlights: • We developed a hierarchical macro- and mesoporous surface layer on titanium. • New surface layer was strong enough to sustain on implant surface. • New surface owned better surface wettability. • New surface can promote SaOS-2 cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization. • Synergistic effects on cell responses occur when two porous structures coexist

Porous titania surfaces on titanium with hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities for enhancing cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Guang [Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Müller, Werner E.G.; Wang, Xiaohong [ERC Advanced Grant Research Group at the Institute for Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, D-55128 Mainz (Germany); Lilja, Louise [Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden); Shen, Zhijian, E-mail: shen@mmk.su.se [Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden)

2015-02-01

Titanium received a macroporous titania surface layer by anodization, which contains open pores with average pore diameter around 5 μm. An additional mesoporous titania top layer following the contour of the macropores, of 100–200 nm thickness and with a pore diameter of 10 nm, was formed by using the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method with titanium (IV) tetraethoxide as the precursor. A coherent laminar titania surface layer was thus obtained, creating a hierarchical macro- and mesoporous surface that was characterized by high-resolution electron microscopy. The interfacial bonding between the surface layers and the titanium matrix was characterized by the scratch test that confirmed a stable and strong bonding of titania surface layers on titanium. The wettability to water and the effects on the osteosarcoma cell line (SaOS-2) proliferation and mineralization of the formed titania surface layers were studied systematically by cell culture and scanning electron microscopy. The results proved that the porous titania surface with hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities was hydrophilic that significantly promoted cell attachment and spreading. A synergistic role of the hierarchical macro- and mesoporosities was revealed in terms of enhancing cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization, compared with the titania surface with solo scale topography. - Highlights: • We developed a hierarchical macro- and mesoporous surface layer on titanium. • New surface layer was strong enough to sustain on implant surface. • New surface owned better surface wettability. • New surface can promote SaOS-2 cell adhesion, proliferation and mineralization. • Synergistic effects on cell responses occur when two porous structures coexist.

Formation of Defect-Free Latex Films on Porous Fiber Supports

KAUST Repository

Lively, Ryan P.

2011-09-28

We present here the creation of a defect-free polyvinylidene chloride barrier layer on the lumen-side of a hollow fiber sorbent. Hollow fiber sorbents have previously been shown to be promising materials for enabling low-cost CO 2 capture, provided a defect-free lumen-side barrier layer can be created. Film experiments examined the effect of drying rate, latex age, substrate porosity (porous vs nonporous), and substrate hydrophobicity/ hydrophilicity. Film studies show that in ideal conditions (i.e., slow drying, fresh latex, and smooth nonporous substrate), a defect-free film can be formed, whereas the other permutations of the variables investigated led to defective films. These results were extended to hollow fiber sorbents, and despite using fresh latex and relatively slow drying conditions, a defective lumen-side layer resulted. XRD and DSC indicate that polyvinylidene chloride latex develops crystallinity over time, thereby inhibiting proper film formation as confirmed by SEM and gas permeation. This and other key additional challenges associated with the porous hollow fiber substrate vs the nonporous flat substrate were overcome. By employing a toluene-vapor saturated drying gas (a swelling solvent for polyvinylidene chloride) a defect-free lumen-side barrier layer was created, as investigated by gas and water vapor permeation. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Hierarchically Porous Carbon Materials for CO ₂ Capture: The Role of Pore Structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Estevez, Luis [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Barpaga, Dushyant [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Zheng, Jian [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Sabale, Sandip [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Patel, Rajankumar L. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Zhang, Ji-Guang [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; McGrail, B. Peter [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Motkuri, Radha Kishan [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99352, United States

2018-01-17

With advances in porous carbon synthesis techniques, hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) materials are being utilized as relatively new porous carbon sorbents for CO2 capture applications. These HPC materials were used as a platform to prepare samples with differing textural properties and morphologies to elucidate structure-property relationships. It was found that high microporous content, rather than overall surface area was of primary importance for predicting good CO2 capture performance. Two HPC materials were analyzed, each with near identical high surface area (~2700 m2/g) and colossally high pore volume (~10 cm3/g), but with different microporous content and pore size distributions, which led to dramatically different CO2 capture performance. Overall, large pore volumes obtained from distinct mesopores were found to significantly impact adsorption performance. From these results, an optimized HPC material was synthesized that achieved a high CO2 capacity of ~3.7 mmol/g at 25°C and 1 bar.

Pore size dependent molecular adsorption of cationic dye in biomass derived hierarchically porous carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Long; Ji, Tuo; Mu, Liwen; Shi, Yijun; Wang, Huaiyuan; Zhu, Jiahua

2017-07-01

Hierarchically porous carbon adsorbents were successfully fabricated from different biomass resources (softwood, hardwood, bamboo and cotton) by a facile two-step process, i.e. carbonization in nitrogen and thermal oxidation in air. Without involving any toxic/corrosive chemicals, large surface area of up to 890 m 2 /g was achieved, which is comparable to commercial activated carbon. The porous carbons with various surface area and pore size were used as adsorbents to investigate the pore size dependent adsorption phenomenon. Based on the density functional theory, effective (E-SSA) and ineffective surface area (InE-SSA) was calculated considering the geometry of used probing adsorbate. It was demonstrated that the adsorption capacity strongly depends on E-SSA instead of total surface area. Moreover, a regression model was developed to quantify the adsorption capacities contributed from E-SSA and InE-SSA, respectively. The applicability of this model has been verified by satisfactory prediction results on porous carbons prepared in this work as well as commercial activated carbon. Revealing the pore size dependent adsorption behavior in these biomass derived porous carbon adsorbents will help to design more effective materials (either from biomass or other carbon resources) targeting to specific adsorption applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanocomposites based on hierarchical porous carbon fiber@vanadium nitride nanoparticles as supercapacitor electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ran, Fen; Wu, Yage; Jiang, Minghuan; Tan, Yongtao; Liu, Ying; Kong, Lingbin; Kang, Long; Chen, Shaowei

2018-03-28

In this study, a hybrid electrode material for supercapacitors based on hierarchical porous carbon fiber@vanadium nitride nanoparticles is fabricated using the method of phase-separation mediated by the PAA-b-PAN-b-PAA tri-block copolymer. In the phase-separation procedure, the ionic block copolymer self-assembled on the surface of carbon nanofibers, and is used to adsorb NH 4 VO 3 . Thermal treatment at controlled temperatures under an NH 3  : N 2 atmosphere led to the formation of vanadium nitride nanoparticles that are distributed uniformly on the nanofiber surface. By changing the PAN to PAA-b-PAN-b-PAA ratio in the casting solution, a maximum specific capacitance of 240.5 F g -1 is achieved at the current density of 0.5 A g -1 with good rate capability at a capacitance retention of 72.1% at 5.0 A g -1 in an aqueous electrolyte of 6 mol L -1 KOH within the potential range of -1.10 to 0 V (rN/A = 1.5/1.0). Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor is assembled by using the hierarchical porous carbon fiber@vanadium nitride as the negative electrode and Ni(OH) 2 as the positive electrode. Remarkably, at the power density of 400 W kg -1 , the supercapacitor device delivers a better energy density of 39.3 W h kg -1 . It also shows excellent electrochemical stability, and thus might be used as a promising energy-storage device.

Molecular dynamics simulation about porous thin-film growth in secondary deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Huawei; Tieu, A. Kiet; Liu Qiang; Hagiwara, Ichiro; Lu Cheng

2007-01-01

The thin film growth has been confirmed to be assembled by an enormous number of clusters in experiments of CVD. Sequence of clusters' depositions proceeds to form the thin film at short time as gas fluids through surface of substrate. In order to grow condensed thin film using series of cluster deposition, the effect of initial velocity, substrate temperature and density of clusters on property of deposited thin film, especially appearance of nanoscale pores inside thin film must be investigated. In this simulation, three different cluster sizes of 203, 653, 1563 atoms with different velocities (0, 10, 100, 1000 and 3000 m/s) were deposited on a Cu(0 0 1) substrate whose temperatures were set between 300 and 1000 K. Four clusters and one cluster were used in primary deposition and secondary deposition, respectively. We have clarified that adhesion between clusters and substrate is greatly influenced by initial velocity. As a result, the exfoliation pattern of deposited thin film is dependent on initial velocity and different between them. One borderline dividing whole region into porous region and nonporous region are obtained to show the effect of growth conditions on appearance of nanoscale pores inside thin film. Moreover, we have also shown that the likelihood of porous thin film is dependent on the point of impact of a cluster relative to previously deposited clusters

Molecular dynamics simulation about porous thin-film growth in secondary deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Huawei [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, No. 37 Xuyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing (China) and Mechanical Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW 2522 (Australia)]. E-mail: chen_hua_wei@yahoo.com; Tieu, A. Kiet [Mechanical Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW 2522 (Australia); Liu Qiang [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, No. 37 Xuyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing (China); Hagiwara, Ichiro [Department of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo (Japan); Lu Cheng [Mechanical Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW 2522 (Australia)

2007-07-15

The thin film growth has been confirmed to be assembled by an enormous number of clusters in experiments of CVD. Sequence of clusters' depositions proceeds to form the thin film at short time as gas fluids through surface of substrate. In order to grow condensed thin film using series of cluster deposition, the effect of initial velocity, substrate temperature and density of clusters on property of deposited thin film, especially appearance of nanoscale pores inside thin film must be investigated. In this simulation, three different cluster sizes of 203, 653, 1563 atoms with different velocities (0, 10, 100, 1000 and 3000 m/s) were deposited on a Cu(0 0 1) substrate whose temperatures were set between 300 and 1000 K. Four clusters and one cluster were used in primary deposition and secondary deposition, respectively. We have clarified that adhesion between clusters and substrate is greatly influenced by initial velocity. As a result, the exfoliation pattern of deposited thin film is dependent on initial velocity and different between them. One borderline dividing whole region into porous region and nonporous region are obtained to show the effect of growth conditions on appearance of nanoscale pores inside thin film. Moreover, we have also shown that the likelihood of porous thin film is dependent on the point of impact of a cluster relative to previously deposited clusters.

Structure and properties of porous films based on aliphatic copolyamide developed for cellular technologies

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dobrovol`skaya, I.P.; Popryadukhin, P.V.; Yudin, V. E.; Ivankova, E.M.; Elokhovskiy, V.Y.; Weishauptová, Zuzana; Balík, Karel

2015-01-01

Roč. 26, č. 1 (2015), article number 46 ISSN 0957-4530 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : porous film * aliphatic copolyamide * structure * properties Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 2.272, year: 2015 http://www.stem-art.com/Library/Science/Structure%20and%20properties%20of%20porous%20films%20based%20on%20aliphatic%20copolyamide%20developed%20for%20cellular%20technologies.pdf

One-step synthesis of g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} hierarchical porous structure nanosheets with dramatic ultraviolet light photocatalytic activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jing; Wang, Yong; Huang, Jianfeng, E-mail: huangjfsust@126.com; Cao, Liyun; Li, Jiayin; Hai, Guojuan; Bai, Zhe

2016-12-15

Highlights: • g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} nanosheets with hierarchical porous structure were synthesized via one step. • The band gap of the nanosheets was wider and investigated in detail. • The nanosheets can degrade almost all of the RhB within 9 min. • The photocurrent of the nanosheets is 5.97 times as high as that of the P-25. - Abstract: Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4}) nanosheets with hierarchical porous structure were synthesized via one-step thermal condensation-oxidation process. The microstructure of g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} was characterized to explain the dramatic ultraviolet light photocatalytic activity. The results showed that g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} hierarchical aggregates were assembled by nanosheets with a length of 1–2 μm and a thickness of 20–30 nm. And the N{sub 2}-adsorption/desorption isotherms further informed the presence of fissure form mesoporous structure. An enhanced photocurrent of 37.2 μA was obtained, which is almost 5 times higher than that of P-25. Besides, the g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} nanosheets displayed the degradation of Rhodamine B with 99.4% removal efficiency in only 9 min. Such highly photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the nano platelet morphology which improves electron transport ability along the in-plane direction. In addition, the hierarchical porous structure adapted a wider band gap of C{sub 3}N{sub 4}. Therefore, the photoinduced electron-hole pairs have a stronger oxidation-reduction potential for photocatalysis.

Effect of substrate porosity on photoluminescence properties of ZnS films prepared on porous Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Cai-Feng; Li, Qing-Shan; Zhang, Li-Chun; Lv, Lei; Qi, Hong-Xia

2007-05-01

ZnS films were deposited on porous Si (PS) substrates with different porosities by pulsed laser deposition. The photoluminescence spectra of the samples were measured to study the effect of substrate porosity on luminescence properties of ZnS/porous Si composites. After deposition of ZnS films, the red photoluminescence peak of porous Si shows a slight blueshift compared with as-prepared porous Si samples. With an increase of the porosity, a green emission at about 550 nm was observed which may be ascribed to the defect-center luminescence of ZnS films, and the photoluminescence of ZnS/porous Si composites is very close to white light. Good crystal structures of the samples were observed by x-ray diffraction, showing that ZnS films were grown in preferred orientation. Due to the roughness of porous Si surface, some cracks appear in ZnS films, which could be seen from scanning electron microscope images.

In situ one-step synthesis of hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Ju-Won; Sharma, Ronish; Meduri, Praveen; Arey, Bruce W; Schaef, Herbert T; Lutkenhaus, Jodie L; Lemmon, John P; Thallapally, Praveen K; Nandasiri, Manjula I; McGrail, Benard Peter; Nune, Satish K

2014-05-28

A hierarchically structured nitrogen-doped porous carbon is prepared from a nitrogen-containing isoreticular metal-organic framework (IRMOF-3) using a self-sacrificial templating method. IRMOF-3 itself provides the carbon and nitrogen content as well as the porous structure. For high carbonization temperatures (950 °C), the carbonized MOF required no further purification steps, thus eliminating the need for solvents or acid. Nitrogen content and surface area are easily controlled by the carbonization temperature. The nitrogen content decreases from 7 to 3.3 at % as carbonization temperature increases from 600 to 950 °C. There is a distinct trade-off between nitrogen content, porosity, and defects in the carbon structure. Carbonized IRMOFs are evaluated as supercapacitor electrodes. For a carbonization temperature of 950 °C, the nitrogen-doped porous carbon has an exceptionally high capacitance of 239 F g(-1). In comparison, an analogous nitrogen-free carbon bears a low capacitance of 24 F g(-1), demonstrating the importance of nitrogen dopants in the charge storage process. The route is scalable in that multi-gram quantities of nitrogen-doped porous carbons are easily produced.

Hierarchically porous carbon/polyaniline hybrid for use in supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Min Jae; Yun, Young Soo; Jin, Hyoung-Joon

2014-12-01

A hierarchically porous carbon (HPC)/polyaniline (PANI) hybrid electrode was prepared by the polymerization of PANI on the surface of the HPC via rapid-mixing polymerization. The surface morphologies and chemical composition of the HPC/PANI hybrid electrode were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The surface morphologies and XPS results for the HPC, PANI and HPC/PANI hybrids indicate that PANI is coated on the surface of HPC in the HPC/PANI hybrids which have two different nitrogen groups as a benzenoid amine (-NH-) peak and positively charged nitrogen (N+) peak. The electrochemical performances of the HPC/PANI hybrids were analyzed by performing cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge tests. The HPC/PANI hybrids showed a better specific capacitance (222 F/g) than HPC (111 F/g) because of effect of pseudocapacitor behavior. In addition, good cycle stabilities were maintained over 1000 cycles.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of F-containing TiO{sub 2} sphere thin film induced by its novel hierarchical structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong Xiang [College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China); Tao Jie, E-mail: taojie@nuaa.edu.cn [College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China); Li Yingying; Zhu Hong [College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016 (China)

2009-05-30

The novel nanostructured F-containing TiO{sub 2} (F-TiO{sub 2}) sphere was directly synthesized on the surface of Ti foil in the solution of NH{sub 4}F and HCl by one-step hydrothermal approach under low-temperature condition. The samples were characterized respectively by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the F-TiO{sub 2} sphere was hierarchical structure, which composed of porous octahedron crystals with one truncated cone, leading to a football-like morphology. XPS results indicated that F{sup -} anions were just physically adsorbed on the surface of TiO{sub 2} microspheres. The studies on the optical properties of the F-TiO{sub 2} were carried out by UV-vis light absorption spectrum. The surface fluorination of the spheres, the unique nanostructure induced accessible macropores or mesopores, and the increased light-harvesting abilities were crucial for the high photoelectrochemical activity of the synthesized F-TiO{sub 2} sphere for water-splitting. The photocurrent density of the F-TiO{sub 2} sphere thin film was more than two times than that of the P25 thin film. Meanwhile, a formation mechanism was briefly proposed. This approach could provide a facile method to synthesize F-TiO{sub 2} microsphere with a special morphology and hierarchical structure in large scale.

The porous carbon derived from water hyacinth with well-designed hierarchical structure for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Kaiwen; Li, Yuanyuan; Zhu, Ming; Yu, Xi; Zhang, Mengyan; Shi, Ling; Cheng, Jue

2017-10-01

A hierarchical porous water hyacinth-derived carbon (WHC) is fabricated by pre-carbonization and KOH activation for supercapacitors. The physicochemical properties of WHC are researched by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that WHC exhibits hierarchical porous structure and high specific surface area of 2276 m2/g. And the electrochemical properties of WHC are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. In a three-electrode test system, WHC shows considerable specific capacitance of 344.9 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g, good rate performance with 225.8 F/g even at a current density of 30 A/g, and good cycle stability with 95% of the capacitance retention after 10000 cycles of charge-discharge at a current density of 5 A/g. Moreover, WHC cell delivers an energy density of 23.8 Wh/kg at 0.5 A/g and a power density of 15.7 kW/kg at 10 A/g. Thus, using water hyacinth as carbon source to fabricate supercapacitors electrodes is a promising approach for developing inexpensive, sustainable and high-performance carbon materials. Additionally, this study supports the sustainable development and the control of biological invasion.

Three-Dimensional Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon as an Electrode for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Jing; Wang, Tao; Salunkhe, Rahul R; Alshehri, Saad M; Malgras, Victor; Yamauchi, Yusuke

2015-11-23

A facile and sustainable procedure for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons with a three-dimensional interconnected framework (NHPC-3D) was developed. The strategy, based on a colloidal crystal-templating method, utilizes nitrogenous dopamine as the precursor due to its unique properties, including self-polymerization under mild alkaline conditions, coating onto various surfaces, a high carbonization yield, and well-preserved nitrogen doping after heat treatment. The obtained NHPC-3D possesses a high surface area of 1056 m(2)  g(-1) , a large pore volume of 2.56 cm(3)  g(-1) , and a high nitrogen content of 8.2 wt %. The NHPC-3D is implemented as the electrode material of a supercapacitor and exhibits a specific capacitance as high as 252 F g(-1) at a current density of 2 A g(-1) . The device also shows a high capacitance retention of 75.7 % at a higher current density of 20 A g(-1) in aqueous electrolyte due to a sufficient surface area for charge accommodation, reversible pseudocapacitance, and minimized ion-transport resistance, as a result of the advantageous interconnected hierarchical porous texture. These results showcase NHPC-3D as a promising candidate for electrode materials in supercapacitors. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Investigation of bioactivity and cell effects of nano-porous sol–gel derived bioactive glass film

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Zhijun, E-mail: mokuu@zju.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 (China); Ji, Huijiao [College of Life Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028 (China); Hu, Xiaomeng [School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 (China); Teng, Yu [State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 (China); Zhao, Guiyun; Mo, Lijuan; Zhao, Xiaoli [College of Life Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028 (China); Chen, Weibo [School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 (China); Qiu, Jianrong, E-mail: qjr@scut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 (China); Zhang, Ming, E-mail: zhangming201201@126.com [College of Life Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028 (China)

2013-11-01

In orthopedic surgery, bioactive glass film coating is extensively studied to improve the synthetic performance of orthopedic implants. A lot of investigations have confirmed that nano-porous structure in bioactive glasses can remarkably improve their bioactivity. Nevertheless, researches on preparation of nano-porous bioactive glasses in the form of film coating and their cell response activities are scarce. Herein, we report the preparation of nano-porous bioactive glass film on commercial glass slide based on a sol–gel technique, together with the evaluation of its in vitro bioactivity through immersion in simulated body fluid and monitoring the precipitation of apatite-like layer. Cell responses of the samples, including attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, were also investigated using BMSCS (bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells) as a model. The results presented here provide some basic information on structural influence of bioactive glass film on the improvement of bioactivity and cellular effects.

Investigation of bioactivity and cell effects of nano-porous sol-gel derived bioactive glass film

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhijun; Ji, Huijiao; Hu, Xiaomeng; Teng, Yu; Zhao, Guiyun; Mo, Lijuan; Zhao, Xiaoli; Chen, Weibo; Qiu, Jianrong; Zhang, Ming

2013-11-01

In orthopedic surgery, bioactive glass film coating is extensively studied to improve the synthetic performance of orthopedic implants. A lot of investigations have confirmed that nano-porous structure in bioactive glasses can remarkably improve their bioactivity. Nevertheless, researches on preparation of nano-porous bioactive glasses in the form of film coating and their cell response activities are scarce. Herein, we report the preparation of nano-porous bioactive glass film on commercial glass slide based on a sol-gel technique, together with the evaluation of its in vitro bioactivity through immersion in simulated body fluid and monitoring the precipitation of apatite-like layer. Cell responses of the samples, including attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, were also investigated using BMSCS (bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells) as a model. The results presented here provide some basic information on structural influence of bioactive glass film on the improvement of bioactivity and cellular effects.

Natural sisal fibers derived hierarchical porous activated carbon as capacitive material in lithium ion capacitor

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhewei; Guo, Huajun; Li, Xinhai; Wang, Zhixing; Yan, Zhiliang; Wang, Yansen

2016-10-01

Lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) is a novel advanced electrochemical energy storage (EES) system bridging gap between lithium ion battery (LIB) and electrochemical capacitor (ECC). In this work, we report that sisal fiber activated carbon (SFAC) was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment followed by KOH activation and served as capacitive material in LIC for the first time. Different particle structure, morphology, specific surface area and heteroatoms affected the electrochemical performance of as-prepared materials and corresponding LICs. When the mass ratio of KOH to char precursor was 2, hierarchical porous structured SFAC-2 was prepared and exhibited moderate specific capacitance (103 F g-1 at 0.1 A g-1), superior rate capability and cyclic stability (88% capacity retention after 5000 cycles at 1 A g-1). The corresponding assembled LIC (LIC-SC2) with optimal comprehensive electrochemical performance, displayed the energy density of 83 Wh kg-1, the power density of 5718 W kg-1 and superior cyclic stability (92% energy density retention after 1000 cycles at 0.5 A g-1). It is worthwhile that the source for activated carbon is a natural and renewable one and the synthesis method is eco-friendly, which facilitate that hierarchical porous activated carbon has potential applications in the field of LIC and other energy storage systems.

Preparation of porous titanium oxide films onto indium tin oxide for application in organic photovoltaic devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macedo, Andreia G. [Laboratorio de Dispositivos Nanoestruturados, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Parana (Brazil); Mattos, Luana L.; Spada, Edna R.; Serpa, Rafael B.; Campos, Cristiani S. [Laboratorio de Sistemas Nanoestruturados, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina (Brazil); Grova, Isabel R.; Ackcelrud, Leni [Laboratorio de Polimeros Paulo Scarpa, Departamento de Quimica, Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Parana (Brazil); Reis, Francoise T.; Sartorelli, Maria L. [Laboratorio de Sistemas Nanoestruturados, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina (Brazil); Roman, Lucimara S., E-mail: lsroman@fisica.ufpr.br [Laboratorio de Dispositivos Nanoestruturados, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Parana (Brazil)

2012-05-01

In this work, porous ordered TiO{sub 2} films were prepared through sol gel route by using a monolayer of polystyrene spheres as template on indium-tin oxide/glass substrate. These films were characterized by SEM, AFM, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis absorbance and XRD. The UV-vis absorbance spectrum show a pseudo band gap (PBG) with maxima at 460 nm arising from the light scattering and partial or total suppression of the photon density of states, this PBG can be controlled by the size of the pore. We also propose the use of this porous film as electron acceptor electrode in organic photovoltaic cells; we show that devices prepared with porous titania displayed higher efficiencies than devices using compact titania films as electrode. Such behaviour was observed in both bilayer and bulk heterojunction devices.

Preparation of porous titanium oxide films onto indium tin oxide for application in organic photovoltaic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macedo, Andreia G.; Mattos, Luana L.; Spada, Edna R.; Serpa, Rafael B.; Campos, Cristiani S.; Grova, Isabel R.; Ackcelrud, Leni; Reis, Françoise T.; Sartorelli, Maria L.; Roman, Lucimara S.

2012-01-01

In this work, porous ordered TiO 2 films were prepared through sol gel route by using a monolayer of polystyrene spheres as template on indium-tin oxide/glass substrate. These films were characterized by SEM, AFM, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis absorbance and XRD. The UV-vis absorbance spectrum show a pseudo band gap (PBG) with maxima at 460 nm arising from the light scattering and partial or total suppression of the photon density of states, this PBG can be controlled by the size of the pore. We also propose the use of this porous film as electron acceptor electrode in organic photovoltaic cells; we show that devices prepared with porous titania displayed higher efficiencies than devices using compact titania films as electrode. Such behaviour was observed in both bilayer and bulk heterojunction devices.

Easy fabrication and high electrochemical capacitive performance of hierarchical porous carbon by a method combining liquid-liquid phase separation and pyrolysis process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Hui-li; Ran, Fen; Zhang, Xuan-xuan; Song, Hai-ming; Jing, Wen-xia; Shen, Kui-wen; Kong, Ling-bin; Kang, Long

2014-01-01

A hierarchical porous carbon membrane was designed and prepared through a method combining liquid-liquid phase separation and then pyrolysis process using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as precursor. The results of scan electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller characterization reveal that the 3D nanoscaled architecture with hierarchical porous structure was achieved, which not only provide a continuous electron pathway to ensure good electrical contact, but also facilitate ion transport by shortening diffusion pathways. The effect of PAN concentration in casting solution on structure feature of carbon membrane was also studied, indicating that the membrane thickness with different porous structure can be mediated by PAN concentration. As the electrode material for supercapacitor, a high specific capacitance of 277.0 F g −1 was attained at a current density of 5 mA cm −2 and long cycle life of 90.0% capacity retention was obtained after 2000 charge-discharge cycles in 2 mol L −1 KOH solution

Design and synthesis of three-dimensional hierarchical ordered porous carbons for supercapacitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Qinglan; Wang, Xianyou; Liu, Jing; Wang, Hao; Zhang, Youwei; Gao, Jiao; Lu, Qun; Zhou, Heye

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The 3D HOPCs are prepared by a facile templating method. • The pore structure of the 3D HOPCs can be effectively controllable. • The 3D HOPCs show exellent supercapacitive performances. • The high specific capacitance of 247 F g −1 is achieved. - Abstract: Three-dimensional hierarchical ordered porous carbons (3D HOPCs) have been successfully prepared through templating method using silica sphere nano-array as a hard template, triblock copolymer P123 as a soft template and sucrose as a carbon source, and used as the electrode materials for supercapacitors. The structure, morphology and physicochemical properties of the as-prepared 3D HOPCs are characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) tests, and cycle life measurements. The results show that the 3D HOPCs possess well-interconnected 3D hierarchical ordered porous structure. Especially, the 3D HOPC-80, of which the pore size is 4.01 nm, shows the specific surface area of 1182 m 2 g −1 and a specific capacitance of 247 F g −1 at the current density of 1 A g −1 . Besides, the supercapacitors based on 3D HOPCs exhibit excellent rate performance, high energy densities of 7.5 W h kg −1 and 5.8 W h kg −1 at the power densities of 500 W kg −1 and 10000 W kg −1 , respectively. Moreover, the supercapacitors using 3D HOPCs as electrode materials hold high capacitance retentions over 91% even after 10000 cycles

One-step synthesis of hierarchically porous hybrid TiO2 hollow spheres with high photocatalytic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ruiping; Ren, Feng; Yang, Jinlin; Su, Weiming; Sun, Zhiming; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Chang-an

2016-03-01

Hierarchically porous hybrid TiO2 hollow spheres were solvothermally synthesized successfully by using tetrabutyl titanate as titanium precursor and hydrated metal sulfates as soft templates. The as-prepared TiO2 spheres with hierarchically pore structures and high specific surface area and pore volume consisted of highly crystallized anatase TiO2 nanocrystals hybridized with a small amount of metal oxide from the hydrated sulfate. The proposed hydrated-sulfate assisted solvothermal (HAS) synthesis strategy was demonstrated to be widely applicable to various systems. Evaluation of the hybrid TiO2 hollow spheres for the photo-decomposition of methyl orange (MO) under visible-light irradiation revealed that they exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and durability.

Hierarchical porous carbon materials derived from petroleum pitch for high-performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Abudu, Patiman; Wang, Luxiang; Xu, Mengjiao; Jia, Dianzeng; Wang, Xingchao; Jia, Lixia

2018-06-01

In this work, a honeycomb-like carbon material derived from petroleum pitch was synthesized by a simple one-step carbonization/activation method using silica nanospheres as the hard templates. The obtained hierarchical porous carbon materials (HPCs) with a large specific surface area and uniform macropore distribution provide abundant active sites and sufficient ion migration channels. When used as an electrode material for supercapacitors, the HPCs exhibit a high specific capacitance of 341.0 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, excellent rate capability with a capacitance retention of 55.6% at 50 A g-1 (189.5 F g-1), and outstanding cycling performance in the three-electrode system.

Hierarchical meso/macro-porous carbon fabricated from dual MgO templates for direct electron transfer enzymatic electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Funabashi, Hiroto; Takeuchi, Satoshi; Tsujimura, Seiya

2017-03-01

We designed a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical pore structure to improve the current production efficiency and stability of direct electron transfer-type biocathodes. The 3D hierarchical electrode structure was fabricated using a MgO-templated porous carbon framework produced from two MgO templates with sizes of 40 and 150 nm. The results revealed that the optimal pore composition for a bilirubin oxidase-catalysed oxygen reduction cathode was a mixture of 33% macropores and 67% mesopores (MgOC33). The macropores improve mass transfer inside the carbon material, and the mesopores improve the electron transfer efficiency of the enzyme by surrounding the enzyme with carbon.

Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of porous TiO2 films prepared by ODA/sol-gel method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Wenjie; Bai Jiawei

2012-01-01

Porous TiO 2 films were deposited on SiO 2 pre-coated glass-slides by sol-gel method using octadecylamine (ODA) as template. The amount of ODA in the sol played an important role on the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic performance of the TiO 2 films. The films prepared at different conditions were all composed of anatase titanium dioxide crystals, and TiO 2 crystalline size got larger with increasing ODA amount. The maximum specific surface area of 41.5 m 2 /g was obtained for TiO 2 powders prepared from titanium sol containing 2.0 g ODA. Methyl orange degradation rate was enhanced along with increasing ODA amount and reached the maximal value at 2.0 g addition of ODA. After 40 min of UV-light irradiation, methyl orange degradation rate reached 30.5% on the porous film, which was about 10% higher than that on the smooth film. Porous TiO 2 film showed almost constant activity with slight decrease from 30.5% to 28.5% after 4 times of recycles.

ORDERED POROUS ANODIC ALUMINUM OXIDE FILMS MADE BY TWO-STEP ANODIZATION

OpenAIRE

HANSONG XUE; HUAJI LI; YU YI; HUIFANG HU

2007-01-01

Porous Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) films were prepared by two-step anodizing in sulfuric and oxalic acid solutions and observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the form of AAO film is affected by the varieties and concentrations of electrolyte, anodizing voltage, and the anodizing time; the formation and evolution processes of the AAO film are relative with the anodizing voltage severely, and the appropriate voltage is helpful to the orde...

Self-assembled 3D-hierarchical structure Cu2ZnSnS4 photocathodes by tuning anion ratios in precursor solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Xin; Shao, Hansen; Fu, Gao; Zhou, Yong; Zou, Zhigang; Luo, Wenjun; Guan, Zhongjie

2016-01-01

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) is one of the most promising light capture materials for solar cells or solar fuels. Construction of 3D hierarchical structure is very important for efficient optoelectronic devices. It is challenging to directly fabricate 3D hierarchical structure CZTS film by a facile solution method. Herein, we present a one-step sol–gel method for fabrication of CZTS thin films with 3D hierarchical structures. For the first time, it is found that the morphologies of thin films can be adjusted between dense, porous and 3D hierarchical structures by tuning anion ratios of Cl − /Ac − in precursor solution. Further analysis suggests the formation of intermediate phases of SnO 2 nanoparticles and SnS 2 nanosheets by tuning ratios of Cl − /Ac − in precursor solution, which has important effects on the formation of different nanostructures of CZTS. This study can deepen understanding of anion’ effect on morphologies of samples using a solution method and forms a reference to prepare novel nanostructures of other materials. (paper)

Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon made from pomelo peel fiber as electrode material for supercapacitor

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Liu, Wenlong; Xiao, Dan; Wang, Xinhui

2017-09-01

Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon has been fabricated using pomelo peel fiber as a carbon source via an improved KOH activation method. The morphology and chemical composition of the obtained carbon materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), electron microscopy (EM), Raman spectra and elemental analysis. The unique porous structure with abundant oxygen functional groups is favorable to capacitive behavior, and the as-prepared carbon material exhibits high specific capacitance of 222.6 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 in 6 M KOH and superior stability over 5000 cycles. This work not only describes a simple way to prepare high-performance carbon material from the discarded pomelo peel, but also provides a strategy for its disposal issue and contributes to the environmental improvement.

Controllable synthesis of cobalt oxide nanoflakes on three-dimensional porous cobalt networks as high-performance cathode for alkaline hybrid batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Minghua, E-mail: chenminghuahrb@126.com [Key Laboratory of Engineering Dielectric and Applications, Ministry of Education, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080 (China); Xia, Xinhui, E-mail: helloxxh@zju.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Applications for Batteries of Zhejiang Province, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Zhang, Jiawei; Qi, Meili; Yin, Jinghua; Chen, Qingguo [Key Laboratory of Engineering Dielectric and Applications, Ministry of Education, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080 (China)

2016-02-15

Highlights: • Construct self-supported porous Co networks. • Porous Co/CoO composite films show high capacity and good cycling life. • Porous conductive metal network is favorable for fast ion/electron transfer. - Abstract: Herein we report porous three-dimensional cobalt networks supported CoO nanoflakes by the combination of successive electro-deposition methods. The electrodeposited Co networks have average large pores of ∼5 μm and all the branches are composed of interconnected nanoparticles. CoO nanoflakes with thickness of ∼15 nm are uniformly coated on the Co networks forming self-supported Co/CoO composite films. The as-prepared Co/CoO composite films possess combined properties of porous structure and strong mechanical stability. As cathode for alkaline hybrid batteries, the Co/CoO composite films exhibit good electrochemical performances with high capacity of 83.5 mAh g{sup −1} at 1 A g{sup −1} and stable high-rate cycling life (65 mAh g{sup −1} at 10 A g{sup −1} after 15,000 cycles). The hierarchical porous architecture provides positive roles in the enhancement of electrochemical properties, including fast electronic transportation path, short diffusion of ions and high contact area between the active material and the electrolyte.

Microscale and nanoscale hierarchical structured mesh films with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties induced by long-chain fatty acids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Shutao; Song Yanlin; Jiang Lei

2007-01-01

Inspired by the lotus effect, we fabricate new microscale and nanoscale hierarchical structured copper mesh films by a simple electrochemical deposition. After modification of the long-chain fatty acid monolayer, these films show superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties, which could be used for the effective separation of oil and water. The length of the fatty acid chain strongly influences the surface wettability of as-prepared films. It is confirmed that the cooperative effect of the hierarchical structure of the copper film and the nature of the long-chain fatty acid contribute to this unique surface wettability

One-step route to the fabrication of highly porous polyaniline nanofiber films by using PS-b-PVP diblock copolymers as templates.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xue; Tian, Shengjun; Ping, Yang; Kim, Dong Ha; Knoll, Wolfgang

2005-10-11

We report a new method to control both the nucleation and growth of highly porous polyaniline (PANI) nanofiber films using porous poly(styrene-block-2-vinylpyridine) diblock copolymer (PS-b-P2VP) films as templates. A micellar thin film composed of P2VP spheres within a PS matrix is prepared by spin coating a PS-b-P2VP micellar solution onto substrates. The P2VP domains are swollen in a selective solvent of acetic acid, which results in the formation of pores in the block copolymer film. PANI is then deposited onto the substrates modified with such a porous film using electrochemical methods. During the deposition, the nucleation and growth of PANI occur only at the pores of the block copolymer film. After the continued growth of PANI by the electrochemical deposition, a porous PANI nanofiber film is obtained.

Hierarchically porous micro-rod lithium-rich cathode material Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 for high performance lithium-ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Linjing; Borong, Wu.; Ning, Li.; Feng, Wu.

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The hierarchically porous micro-rod Li 1.2 Ni 0.13 Mn 0.54 Co 0.13 O 2 material is prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. • This material exhibits good cycling performance. • It delivers discharge capacities of 280.7, 254.8, 232.3, 225.6, 201.7 and 172.7 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, 0.2 C, 0.5 C, 1 C, 2 C and 5 C rates, respectively. • Excellent rate capability and cycleability are obtained attributed to the hierarchically porous micro-rod structure. - Abstract: Lithium-rich cathode material Li 1.2 Ni 0.13 Mn 0.54 Co 0.13 O 2 with hierarchically porous micro-rod structures has been synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method. The morphology and XRD patterns explain the formation mechanism of the sample. Micro-rod oxalates precursor with rough surface is formed during the hydrothermal reaction, and then the product with hierarchically porous structures constructed of nanoparticles is synthesized during the sintering process at high temperatures. The electrochemical performance results show that the as-prepared sample exhibits high capacities, good cycleability and outstanding rate capability. It delivers discharge capacities of 280.7, 254.8, 232.3, 225.6, 201.7 and 172.7 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, 0.2 C, 0.5 C, 1 C, 2 C and 5 C rates, respectively. The cycle voltammograms indicate the good reversibility of the as-prepared Li 1.2 Ni 0.13 Mn 0.54 Co 0.13 O 2 material. The high onset temperature of the exothermal peak in the differential scanning calorimetry curve implies its good thermal stability. The good performance of the as-prepared material is endowed by its hierarchically porous structures

Light and Strong Hierarchical Porous SiC Foam for Efficient Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Thermal Insulation at Elevated Temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Caiyun; Wang, Zhenfeng; Wu, Lina; Zhang, Xiaochen; Wang, Huan; Wang, Zhijiang

2017-09-06

A novel light but strong SiC foam with hierarchical porous architecture was fabricated by using dough as raw material via carbonization followed by carbothermal reduction with silicon source. A significant synergistic effect is achieved by embedding meso- and nanopores in a microsized porous skeleton, which endows the SiC foam with high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, thermal insulation, and mechanical properties. The microsized skeleton withstands high stress. The meso- and nanosized pores enhance multiple reflection of the incident electromagnetic waves and elongate the path of heat transfer. For the hierarchical porous SiC foam with 72.8% porosity, EMI shielding can be higher than 20 dB, and specific EMI effectiveness exceeds 24.8 dB·cm 3 ·g -1 at a frequency of 11 GHz at 25-600 °C, which is 3 times higher than that of dense SiC ceramic. The thermal conductivity reaches as low as 0.02 W·m -1 ·K -1 , which is comparable to that of aerogel. The compressive strength is as high as 9.8 MPa. Given the chemical and high-temperature stability of SiC, the fabricated SiC foam is a promising candidate for modern aircraft and automobile applications.

Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO3 thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

2012-01-01

Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO 3 films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO 3 films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: ► Ordered WO 3 nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. ► Two hierarchical WO 3 structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. ► Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO 3 films is proposed.

Catalytically active and hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite synthesized in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yan

2014-03-01

Hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite (H-SAPO-11) is rationally synthesized from a starting silicoaluminophosphate gel in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine as a mesoscale template. The sample is well characterized by XRD, N2 sorption, SEM, TEM, NMR, XPS, NH3-TPD, and TG techniques. The results show that the sample obtained has good crystallinity, hierarchical porosity (mesopores at ca. 10nm and macropores at ca. 50-200nm), high BET surface area (226m2/g), large pore volume (0.25cm3/g), and abundant medium and strong acidic sites (0.36mmol/g). After loading Pt (0.5wt.%) on H-SAPO-11 by using wet impregnation method, catalytic hydroisomerization tests of n-dodecane show that the hierarchical Pt/SAPO-11 zeolite exhibits high conversion of n-dodecane and enhanced selectivity for branched products as well as reduced selectivity for cracking products, compared with conventional Pt/SAPO-11 zeolite. This phenomenon is reasonably attributed to the presence of hierarchical porosity, which is favorable for access of reactants on catalytically active sites. The improvement in catalytic performance in long-chain paraffin hydroisomerization over Pt/SAPO-11-based catalyst is of great importance for its industrial applications in the future. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

A bio-inspired N-doped porous carbon electrocatalyst with hierarchical superstructure for efficient oxygen reduction reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Yue-E.; Yan, Jiajie; Ouyang, Yue; Lu, Hengyi; Lai, Feili; Wu, Yue; Liu, Tianxi

2018-06-01

The bio-inspired hierarchical "grape cluster" superstructure provides an effective integration of one-dimensional carbon nanofibers (CNF) with isolated carbonaceous nanoparticles into three-dimensional (3D) conductive frameworks for efficient electron and mass transfer. Herein, a 3D N-doped porous carbon electrocatalyst consisting of carbon nanofibers with grape-like N-doped hollow carbon particles (CNF@NC) has been prepared through a simple electrospinning strategy combined with in-situ growth and carbonization processes. Such a bio-inspired hierarchically organized conductive network largely facilitates both the mass diffusion and electron transfer during the oxygen reduction reactions (ORR). Therefore, the metal-free CNF@NC catalyst demonstrates superior catalytic activity with an absolute four-electron transfer mechanism, strong methanol tolerance and good long-term stability towards ORR in alkaline media.

Substrate dependent hierarchical structures of RF sputtered ZnS films

Science.gov (United States)

Chalana, S. R.; Mahadevan Pillai, V. P.

2018-05-01

RF magnetron sputtering technique was employed to fabricate ZnS nanostructures with special emphasis given to study the effect of substrates (quartz, glass and quartz substrate pre-coated with Au, Ag, Cu and Pt) on the structure, surface evolution and optical properties. Type of substrate has a significant influence on the crystalline phase, film morphology, thickness and surface roughness. The present study elucidates the suitability of quartz substrate for the deposition of stable and highly crystalline ZnS films. We found that the role of metal layer on quartz substrate is substantial in the preparation of hierarchical ZnS structures and these structures are of great importance due to its high specific area and potential applications in various fields. A mechanism for morphological evolution of ZnS structures is also presented based on the roughness of substrates and primary nonlocal effects in sputtering. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a controlled growth of hierarchical ZnS structures may be achieved with an ordinary RF sputtering technique by changing the substrate type.

Green method for producing hierarchically assembled pristine porous ZnO nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escobedo-Morales, A.; Téllez-Flores, D.; Ruiz Peralta, Ma. de Lourdes; Garcia-Serrano, J.; Herrera-González, Ana M.; Rubio-Rosas, E.; Sánchez-Mora, E.; Olivares Xometl, O.

2015-01-01

A green method for producing pristine porous ZnO nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution is reported. This method consists in synthesizing ZnO 2 nanopowders via a hydrothermal route using cheap and non-toxic reagents, and its subsequent thermal decomposition at low temperature under a non-protective atmosphere (air). The morphology, structural and optical properties of the obtained porous ZnO nanoparticles were studied by means of powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements. It was found that after thermal decomposition of the ZnO 2 powders, pristine ZnO nanoparticles are obtained. These particles are round-shaped with narrow size distribution. A further analysis of the obtained ZnO nanoparticles reveals that they are hierarchical self-assemblies of primary ZnO particles. The agglomeration of these primary particles at the very early stage of the thermal decomposition of ZnO 2 powders provides to the resulting ZnO nanoparticles a porous nature. The possibility of using the synthesized porous ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalysts has been evaluated on the degradation of rhodamine B dye. - Highlights: • A green synthesis method for obtaining porous ZnO nanoparticles is reported. • The obtained ZnO nanoparticles have narrow particle size distribution. • This method allows obtaining pristine ZnO nanoparticles avoiding unintentional doping. • A growth mechanism for the obtained porous ZnO nanoparticles is proposed

Green method for producing hierarchically assembled pristine porous ZnO nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Escobedo-Morales, A., E-mail: alejandro.escobedo@correo.buap.mx [Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, C.P. 72570 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico); Téllez-Flores, D.; Ruiz Peralta, Ma. de Lourdes [Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, C.P. 72570 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico); Garcia-Serrano, J.; Herrera-González, Ana M. [Centro de Investigaciones en Materiales y Metalurgia, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca Tulancingo Km 4.5, Pachuca, Hidalgo (Mexico); Rubio-Rosas, E. [Centro Universitario de Vinculación y Transferencia de Tecnología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, C.P. 72570 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico); Sánchez-Mora, E. [Instituto de Física, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Apdo. Postal J-48, 72570 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico); Olivares Xometl, O. [Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, C.P. 72570 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico)

2015-02-01

A green method for producing pristine porous ZnO nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution is reported. This method consists in synthesizing ZnO{sub 2} nanopowders via a hydrothermal route using cheap and non-toxic reagents, and its subsequent thermal decomposition at low temperature under a non-protective atmosphere (air). The morphology, structural and optical properties of the obtained porous ZnO nanoparticles were studied by means of powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements. It was found that after thermal decomposition of the ZnO{sub 2} powders, pristine ZnO nanoparticles are obtained. These particles are round-shaped with narrow size distribution. A further analysis of the obtained ZnO nanoparticles reveals that they are hierarchical self-assemblies of primary ZnO particles. The agglomeration of these primary particles at the very early stage of the thermal decomposition of ZnO{sub 2} powders provides to the resulting ZnO nanoparticles a porous nature. The possibility of using the synthesized porous ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalysts has been evaluated on the degradation of rhodamine B dye. - Highlights: • A green synthesis method for obtaining porous ZnO nanoparticles is reported. • The obtained ZnO nanoparticles have narrow particle size distribution. • This method allows obtaining pristine ZnO nanoparticles avoiding unintentional doping. • A growth mechanism for the obtained porous ZnO nanoparticles is proposed.

Honeycomb-like Nitrogen and Sulfur Dual-Doped Hierarchical Porous Biomass-Derived Carbon for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Manfang; Jiang, Shouxin; Huang, Cheng; Wang, Xianyou; Cai, Siyu; Xiang, Kaixiong; Zhang, Yapeng; Xue, Jiaxi

2017-04-22

Honeycomb-like nitrogen and sulfur dual-doped hierarchical porous biomass-derived carbon/sulfur composites (NSHPC/S) are successfully fabricated for high energy density lithium-sulfur batteries. The effects of nitrogen, sulfur dual-doping on the structures and properties of the NSHPC/S composites are investigated in detail by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and charge/discharge tests. The results show that N, S dual-doping not only introduces strong chemical adsorption and provides more active sites but also significantly enhances the electronic conductivity and hydrophilic properties of hierarchical porous biomass-derived carbon, thereby significantly enhancing the utilization of sulfur and immobilizing the notorious polysulfide shuttle effect. Especially, the as-synthesized NSHPC-7/S exhibits high initial discharge capacity of 1204 mA h g -1 at 1.0 C and large reversible capacity of 952 mA h g -1 after 300 cycles at 0.5 C with an ultralow capacity fading rate of 0.08 % per cycle even at high sulfur content (85 wt %) and high active material areal mass loading (2.8 mg cm -2 ) for the application of high energy density Li-S batteries. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The optical properties of ZnO films grown on porous Si templates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Y L; Liu, Y C; Yang, H; Wang, W B; Ma, J G; Zhang, J Y; Lu, Y M; Shen, D Z; Fan, X W

2003-01-01

ZnO films were electrodeposited on porous silicon templates with different porosities. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the samples before and after deposition of ZnO were measured to study the effect of template porosity on the luminescence properties of ZnO/porous Si composites. As-prepared porous Si (PS) templates emit strong red light. The red PL peak of porous Si after deposition of ZnO shows an obvious blueshift, and the trend of blueshift increases with an increase in template porosity. A green emission at about 550 nm was also observed when the porosity of template increases, which is ascribed to the deep-level emission band of ZnO. A model-based band diagram of the ZnO/porous Si composite is suggested to interpret the properties of the composite

Zeolitic materials with hierarchical porous structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Orozco, Sofia; Inayat, Amer; Schwab, Andreas; Selvam, Thangaraj; Schwieger, Wilhelm

2011-06-17

During the past several years, different kinds of hierarchical structured zeolitic materials have been synthesized due to their highly attractive properties, such as superior mass/heat transfer characteristics, lower restriction of the diffusion of reactants in the mesopores, and low pressure drop. Our contribution provides general information regarding types and preparation methods of hierarchical zeolitic materials and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Thereafter, recent advances in the preparation and characterization of hierarchical zeolitic structures within the crystallites by post-synthetic treatment methods, such as dealumination or desilication; and structured devices by in situ and ex situ zeolite coatings on open-cellular ceramic foams as (non-reactive as well as reactive) supports are highlighted. Specific advantages of using hierarchical zeolitic catalysts/structures in selected catalytic reactions, such as benzene to phenol (BTOP) and methanol to olefins (MTO) are presented. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anisotropic permeable porous facing and slip velocity on squeeze film in an axially undefined journal bearing with ferrofluid lubricant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, R.C.; Bhat, M.V.

2004-01-01

Ferrofluid squeeze film in an axially undefined porous journal bearing was analyzed to determine its performance considering anisotropic permeability of the porous facing and slip velocity at the interface of porous matrix and film region using Jenkins flow model. Expressions were obtained for dimensionless pressure, load capacity and response time of the squeeze film. How to deduce results for no-slip case, isotropic porous case and for Neuringer-Rosensweig model case were indicated. The computed values of dimensionless load capacity and response time were displayed in graphical form. They increased with increasing values of eccentricity ratio and anisotropic parameter while they decreased with increasing values of slip parameter or material parameter of Jenkins model

Development of pore interconnectivity/morphology in porous silica films investigated by cyclic voltammetry and slow positron annihilation spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Xiuqin; Xiong, Bangyun; Li, Qichao; Mao, Wenfeng; Xiao, Wei; Fang, Pengfei; He, Chunqing

2015-01-01

Highlights: •Porous silica films were studied by cyclic voltammetry and positron annihilation. •Highly interconnected pores were formed in the film fabricated with more CTAB. •Aligned nanochannels were observed in the porous flim prepared with 25 wt.% CTAB. •I − and Ps diffusion in the films was governed by pore interconnectivity/morphology. •Cyclic voltammetry is feasible to explore pore interconnectivity/morphology. -- Abstract: Cyclic voltammetry and positronium (Ps) 3γ-annihilation spectroscopy were applied to investigate pore interconnectivity/morphology of porous silica films fabricated with various loading of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). With increasing the ratio of CTAB up to 15 wt.%, the total charge Q, resulted from I − diffusion across the silica films, increased remarkably, indicative of formation of highly interconnected pores in the films prepared with more porogen. However, it decreased dramatically with further loading CTAB of 25 wt.%. Interestingly, 3γ-annihilation fraction I 3γ due to a triplet-state Ps (ortho-positronium, o-Ps) emission from the silica films showed a similar behavior as a function of CTAB loading. The abnormal decrement in Q and I 3γ in the film fabricated with 25 wt.% CTAB was well explained by formation of long nanochannels aligning parallel to the film surface. The results indicated that the total charge Q and Ps 3γ-annihilation fraction were closely associated with I − and Ps diffusion governed by the pore interconnectivity/morphology of the silica films, which made cyclic voltammetry possible to be a feasible tool to characterize pore interconnectivity/morphology of porous thin films

Hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres architectured with sub-nanoparticles as a high performance anode for lithium ion batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rong, Haibo; Xie, Guiting; Cheng, Si; Zhen, Zihao [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China); Jiang, Zhongqing [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo 315016, Zhejiang (China); Huang, Jianlin; Jiang, Yu; Chen, Bohong [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China); Jiang, Zhong-Jie, E-mail: zhongjiejiang1978@hotmail.com [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China)

2016-09-15

A simple two-step procedure, which involves the synthesis of the Zn{sub 0.33}Mn{sub 0.67}CO{sub 3} microspheres through a hydrothermal process and the subsequent calcination, has been used to synthesize the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), these hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres could exhibit a stable reversible capability of ∼723.7 mAh g{sup −1} at the current density of 400 mA g{sup −1}, which is much higher than those of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} based materials reported previously, indicating the great potential of using them as the anode for the LIBs. This is further supported by their better rate capability and higher cycling stability. Careful analysis has shown that the unique porous structure of the hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres which consists of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles plays an important role in their higher electrochemical performance, since it allows the accommodation of the volume expansion during the repeated discharge–charge cycles, preventing them from the structural destruction, and increase the accessibility of the electrode material to the Li{sup +} storage, making a better utilization of active materials and an easy diffusion of electrolytes in and out of the electrode material. - Graphical abstract: The ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles have been synthesized by the calcination of the Zn{sub 0.33}Mn{sub 0.67}CO{sub 3} microspheres and could exhibit superior electrochemical performance when used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. - Highlights: • A simple procedure has been used to synthesize the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres. • The ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres exhibit excellent performance when used in LIBs

A Study Of Magnetic Fluid Based Squeeze Film Between Porous ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Efforts have been made to study and analyze the effect of surface roughness on the performance of magnetic fluid based squeeze film between porous elliptic plates. The transverse roughness of the bearing surface is characterized by a stochastic random variable with non-zero mean, variance and skewness.

Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO{sub 3} thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi, E-mail: sysy7373@163.com; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

2012-10-01

Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO{sub 3}) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO{sub 3} films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO{sub 3} films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ordered WO{sub 3} nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Two hierarchical WO{sub 3} structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO{sub 3} films is proposed.

Squeeze-film flow between a flat impermeable bearing and an anisotropic porous bed

Science.gov (United States)

Karmakar, Timir; Raja Sekhar, G. P.

2018-04-01

We consider a theoretical model of the squeeze film in the presence of a porous bed. The gap between the porous bed and the bearing is assumed to be filled with a Newtonian fluid. We use the Navier-Stokes equation in the fluid region and the Darcy equation in the fluid filled porous region. Lubrication approximation is used to derive the corresponding evolution equation for the film thickness. We use G. S. Beavers and D. D. Joseph ["Boundary conditions at a naturally permeable wall," J. Fluid. Mech. 30, 197-207 (1967)] and M. Le Bars and M. G. Worster ["Interfacial conditions between a pure fluid and a porous medium: Implications for binary alloy solidification," J. Fluid. Mech. 550, 149-173 (2006)] condition at the liquid porous interface and present a detailed analysis on the corresponding impact. We assume that the porous bed is anisotropic in nature with permeabilities K2 and K1 along the principal axes. Accordingly, the anisotropic angle ϕ is taken as the angle between the horizontal direction and principal axis with permeability K2. We show that the anisotropic permeability ratio and the anisotropic angle make a significant influence on the contact time, flux, velocity, etc. Contact time to meet the porous bed when a bearing approaches under a constant prescribed load is estimated. We present some important findings (relevant to the knee joint) based on the anisotropic properties of the human cartilage. For a prescribed constant load, we have estimated the time duration, during which a healthy human knee remains fluid lubricated.

On the use of mesophase pitch for the preparation of hierarchical porous carbon monoliths by nanocasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philipp Adelhelm, Karin Cabrera and Bernd M Smarsly

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A detailed study is given on the synthesis of a hierarchical porous carbon, possessing both meso- and macropores, using a mesophase pitch (MP as the carbon precursor. This carbon material is prepared by the nanocasting approach involving the replication of a porous silica monolith (hard templating. While this carbon material has already been tested in energy storage applications, various detailed aspects of its formation and structure are addressed in this study. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Hg porosimetry and N2 physisorption are used to characterize the morphology and porosity of the carbon replica. A novel approach for the detailed analysis of wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS from non-graphitic carbons is applied to quantitatively compare the graphene microstructures of carbons prepared using MP and furfuryl alcohol (FA. This WAXS analysis underlines the importance of the carbon precursor in the synthesis of templated porous carbon materials via the nanocasting route. Our study demonstrates that a mesophase pitch is a superior precursor whenever a high-purity, low-micropore-content and well-developed graphene structure is desired.

Mo-doped V2O5 hierarchical nanorod/nanoparticle core/shell porous microspheres with improved performance for cathode of lithium-ion battery

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Haolin; Zeng, Jianyun; Hao, Wen; Zhou, Peng; Wen, Xiaogang

2018-05-01

Mo-doped V2O5 hierarchical nanorod/nanoparticle core/shell porous microspheres (MVHPMs) were prepared via a simple hydrothermal approach using ammonium metavanadate and ammonium molybdate as precursors followed by a thermal annealing process. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, and XPS carefully; it confirmed that porous microspheres with uniform Mo doping in the V2O5 matrix were obtained, and it contains an inner core self-assembled with 1D nanorods and outer shell consisting of nanoparticles. A plausible growth mechanism of Mo-doped V2O5 (Mo-V2O5) porous microspheres is suggested. The unique microstructure made the Mo-V2O5 hierarchical microspheres a good cathode material for Li-ion battery. The results indicate the synthesized Mo-V2O5 hierarchical microspheres exhibit well-improved electrochemical performance compared to the undoped samples. It delivers a high initial reversible capacity of 282 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C, 208 mAh g-1 at 2 C, and 111 mAh g-1 at 10 C, and it also exhibits good cycling stabilities; a capacity of 144 mAh g-1 is obtained after 200 cycles at 6 C with a capacity retention of > 82%, which is much high than that of pure V2O5 (95 mAh g-1 with a capacity retention of 72%). [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Facile Preparation of Porous WO3 Film for Photoelectrochemical Splitting of Natural Seawater

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yonghong; Li, Yuangang; Wei, Xiaoliang; Feng, Juan; Li, Huajing; Zhou, Wanyi

2017-12-01

Sunlight-driven natural seawater splitting provides a promising way for large-scale conversion and storage of solar energy. Here, we develop a facile and low-cost method via a deposition-annealing technique to fabricate porous WO3 film and demonstrate its application as a photoanode for natural seawater splitting. The WO3 film yields a photocurrent density of 1.95 mA cm-2 and possesses excellent stability at 1.23 V (versus RHE), under the illumination of 100 mW cm-2 (AM 1.5G). The photoelectrochemical performance is ascribed to the large surface area and good permeation of the electrolyte into the porous film. Furthermore, the photocurrent density remains almost the same during 3 h continuous light irradiation. The evolution of chlorine gas from seawater splitting was determined with qualitative and quantitative analyses, with a Faradic efficiency of about 56%.

Hierarchically Nanoporous Bioactive Glasses for High Efficiency Immobilization of Enzymes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

He, W.; Min, D.D.; Zhang, X.D.

2014-01-01

Bioactive glasses with hierarchical nanoporosity and structures have been heavily involved in immobilization of enzymes. Because of meticulous design and ingenious hierarchical nanostructuration of porosities from yeast cell biotemplates, hierarchically nanostructured porous bioactive glasses can...... and products of catalytic reactions can freely diffuse through open mesopores (2–40 nm). The formation mechanism of hierarchically structured porous bioactive glasses, the immobilization mechanism of enzyme and the catalysis mechanism of immobilized enzyme are then discussed. The novel nanostructure...

Formation of three-dimensional nano-porous silver films and application toward electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fan, Junpeng [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Bian, Xiufang, E-mail: xfbian@sdu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Niu, Yuchao [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Fengming Road, Lingang Development Zone, Jinan 250101 (China); Bai, Yanwen; Xiao, Xinxin; Yang, Chuncheng; Yang, Jianfei; Yang, Jinyue [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China)

2013-11-15

By using the chemically dealloying method, three-dimensional nano-porous silver films (3-D NPSFs) are fabricated into a novel sensor for detecting hydrogen peroxide. The precursor films are prepared by high vacuum magnetron co-sputtering. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) are taken to investigate the structure and the micro morphology of the precursor films and nano-porous films. We find that the precursor films are composed of glassy matrix and nanocrystallines. After dealloying, the films exhibit a combination of homogenously distributed pores and silver filaments, and exhibit an open, three dimensional bicontinuous interpenetrating ligament–channel structure. Thickness and morphology of the films can be easily controlled by the sputtering time and alloy composition of the precursor films, respectively. In addition, NPSFs show a good linear responding for the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in phosphate buffered solutions, which indicates NPSFs could be a promising electrochemical material for hydrogen peroxide detection.

Super-hydrophobic nickel films with micro-nano hierarchical structure prepared by electrodeposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hang Tao; Hu Anmin; Ling Huiqin; Li Ming; Mao Dali

2010-01-01

Super-hydrophobic nickel films were prepared by a simple and low cost electrodepositing method. The surface morphologies of the films characterized by scanning electronic microscope exhibit hierarchical structure with micro-nanocones array, which can be responsible for their super-hydrophobic characteristic (water contact angle over 150 o ) without chemical modification. The wettability of the film can be varied from super-hydrophobic (water contact angle 154 o ) to relatively hydrophilic (water contact angle 87 o ) by controlling the size of the micro-nanocones. The mechanism of the hydrophobic characteristic of nickel films with this unique structure was illustrated by several models. Such micro-nanostructure and its special wettability are expected to be applied in the practical industry.

Preparation and characterization of nanocrystalline porous TiO2/WO3 composite thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, C.-S.; Lin, C.-K.; Chan, C.-C.; Chang, C.-C.; Tsay, C.-Y.

2006-01-01

TiO 2 materials possessing not only photocatalytic but also electrochromic properties have attracted many research and development interests. Though WO 3 exhibits excellent electrochromic properties, the much higher cost and water-sensitivity of WO 3 as compared with the TiO 2 may restrict the practical application of WO 3 materials. In the present study, the feasibility of preparing nanocrystalline porous TiO 2 /WO 3 composite thin films was investigated. Precursors of sols TiO 2 and/or WO 3 and polystyrene microspheres were used to prepare nanocrystalline pure TiO 2 , WO 3 , and composite TiO 2 /WO 3 thin films by spin coating. The spin-coated thin films were amorphous and, after heat treating at a temperature of 500 o C, nanocrystalline TiO 2 , TiO 2 /WO 3 , and WO 3 thin films with or without pores were prepared successfully. The heat-treated thin films were colorless and coloration-bleaching phenomena can be observed during cyclic voltammetry tests. The heat-treated thin films exhibited good reversible electrochromic behavior while the porous TiO 2 /WO 3 composite film exhibited improved electrochromic properties

Nitrogen-doped hierarchical lamellar porous carbon synthesized from the fish scale as support material for platinum nanoparticle electrocatalyst toward the oxygen reduction reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haijing; Cao, Yinliang; Wang, Feng; Huang, Yaqin

2014-01-22

Novel hierarchical lamellar porous carbon (HLPC) with high BET specific surface area of 2730 m(2) g(-1) and doped by nitrogen atoms has been synthesized from the fish scale without any post-synthesis treatment, and applied to support the platinum (Pt) nanoparticle (NP) catalysts (Pt/HLPC). The Pt NPs could be highly dispersed on the porous surface of HLPC with a narrow size distribution centered at ca. 2.0 nm. The results of the electrochemical analysis reveal that the electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of Pt/HLPC is larger than the Pt NP electrocatalyst supported on the carbon black (Pt/Vulcan XC-72). Compared with the Pt/Vulcan XC-72, the Pt/HLPC exhibits larger current density, lower overpotential, and enhanced catalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through the direct four-electron pathway. The improved catalytic activity is mainly attributed to the high BET specific surface area, hierarchical porous structures and the nitrogen-doped surface property of HLPC, indicating the superiority of HLPC as a promising support material for the ORR electrocatalysts.

Luminescence and structural study of porous silicon films

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Y. H.; Wilson, W. L.; Ross, F. M.; Mucha, J. A.; Fitzgerald, E. A.; Macaulay, J. M.; Harris, T. D.

1992-03-01

A combination of photoluminescence, TEM, and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy is used to investigate the luminescence properties of 3-micron thick, strongly emitting, and highly porous silicon films. TEMs indicate that these samples have structures of predominantly 6-7-nm size clusters. In the as-prepared films, there is a significant concentration of Si-H bonds which is gradually replaced by Si-O bonds during prolonged aging in air. Upon optical excitation these films exhibit strong visible emission, peaking at about 690 nm. The excitation edge is shown to be emission-wavelength dependent, revealing the inhomogeneous nature of both the initially photoexcited and luminescing species. The correlation of the spectral and structural information suggest that the source of the large blue shift of the visible emission compared to the bulk Si bandgap energy is due to quantum confinement in the nanometer-size Si clusters.

Hierarchically porous silicon–carbon–nitrogen hybrid materials towards highly efficient and selective adsorption of organic dyes

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Lala; Zhang, Xiaofei; Tang, Yusheng; Su, Kehe; Kong, Jie

2015-01-01

The hierarchically macro/micro-porous silicon–carbon–nitrogen (Si–C–N) hybrid material was presented with novel functionalities of totally selective and highly efficient adsorption for organic dyes. The hybrid material was conveniently generated by the pyrolysis of commercial polysilazane precursors using polydivinylbenzene microspheres as sacrificial templates. Owing to the Van der Waals force between sp2-hybridized carbon domains and triphenyl structure of dyes, and electrostatic interaction between dyes and Si-C-N matrix, it exhibites high adsorption capacity and good regeneration and recycling ability for the dyes with triphenyl structure, such as methyl blue (MB), acid fuchsin (AF), basic fuchsin and malachite green. The adsorption process is determined by both surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion. According to the Langmuir model, the adsorption capacity is 1327.7 mg·g−1 and 1084.5 mg·g−1 for MB and AF, respectively, which is much higher than that of many other adsorbents. On the contrary, the hybrid materials do not adsorb the dyes with azo benzene structures, such as methyl orange, methyl red and congro red. Thus, the hierarchically porous Si–C–N hybrid material from a facile and low cost polymer-derived strategy provides a new perspective and possesses a significant potential in the treatment of wastewater with complex organic pollutants. PMID:25604334

Porous plug phase separator and superfluid film flow suppression system for the soft x-ray spectrometer onboard Hitomi

Science.gov (United States)

Ezoe, Yuichiro; DiPirro, Michael; Fujimoto, Ryuichi; Ishikawa, Kumi; Ishisaki, Yoshitaka; Kanao, Kenichi; Kimball, Mark; Mitsuda, Kazuhisa; Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki; Murakami, Masahide; Noda, Hirofumi; Ohashi, Takaya; Okamoto, Atsushi; Satoh, Yohichi; Sato, Kosuke; Shirron, Peter; Tsunematsu, Shoji; Yamaguchi, Hiroya; Yoshida, Seiji

2018-01-01

When using superfluid helium in low-gravity environments, porous plug phase separators are commonly used to vent boil-off gas while confining the bulk liquid to the tank. Invariably, there is a flow of superfluid film from the perimeter of the porous plug down the vent line. For the soft x-ray spectrometer onboard ASTRO-H (Hitomi), its approximately 30-liter helium supply has a lifetime requirement of more than 3 years. A nominal vent rate is estimated as ˜30 μg/s, equivalent to ˜0.7 mW heat load. It is, therefore, critical to suppress any film flow whose evaporation would not provide direct cooling of the remaining liquid helium. That is, the porous plug vent system must be designed to both minimize film flow and to ensure maximum extraction of latent heat from the film. The design goal for Hitomi is to reduce the film flow losses to knife-edge devices. Design, on-ground testing results, and in-orbit performance are described.

Low-cost shape-control synthesis of porous carbon film on β″-alumina ceramics for Na-based battery application

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yingying; Wen, Zhaoyin; Wu, Xiangwei; Jin, Jun

2012-12-01

Porous carbon films with tunable pore structure to modify the β″-alumina electrolyte surface are fabricated through a low-cost and direct wet chemistry method with glucose and poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) as precursors. FTIR analysis confirms the effective connection between the carbohydrate and the pore-forming agent PMMA through hydrogen bonds. The experimental results indicate that the structural parameters of the porous carbon films, including mean pore size and film thickness, can be tuned simply by adjusting the amount of PMMA in the glucose/PMMA composite. This soft-template-assisted method could be readily extended to modify any other ceramic surfaces. The porous carbon films are demonstrated to greatly improve the wettability of the β″-alumina ceramics by molten sodium. Na/β″-alumina/Na cells are used to investigate the interfacial properties between sodium and the β″-alumina electrolyte. The results obtained at 350 °C reveal that the polarization behavior of the cell is alleviated by the porous coating. This work represents a successful method to coat ceramics with porous carbon and offers a promising solution to overcome the polarization problems of the sodium/β″-alumina interface in Na-based batteries.

Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

KAUST Repository

Wang, Hong; Wu, Tao

2017-01-01

The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced

Hydroxyapatite hierarchically nanostructured porous hollow microspheres: rapid, sustainable microwave-hydrothermal synthesis by using creatine phosphate as an organic phosphorus source and application in drug delivery and protein adsorption.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Chao; Zhu, Ying-Jie; Lu, Bing-Qiang; Zhao, Xin-Yu; Zhao, Jing; Chen, Feng; Wu, Jin

2013-04-22

Hierarchically nanostructured porous hollow microspheres of hydroxyapatite (HAP) are a promising biomaterial, owing to their excellent biocompatibility and porous hollow structure. Traditionally, synthetic hydroxyapatite is prepared by using an inorganic phosphorus source. Herein, we report a new strategy for the rapid, sustainable synthesis of HAP hierarchically nanostructured porous hollow microspheres by using creatine phosphate disodium salt as an organic phosphorus source in aqueous solution through a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The as-obtained products are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) nitrogen sorptometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). SEM and TEM micrographs show that HAP hierarchically nanostructured porous hollow microspheres consist of HAP nanosheets or nanorods as the building blocks and DLS measurements show that the diameters of HAP hollow microspheres are within the range 0.8-1.5 μm. The specific surface area and average pore size of the HAP porous hollow microspheres are 87.3 m(2) g(-1) and 20.6 nm, respectively. The important role of creatine phosphate disodium salt and the influence of the experimental conditions on the products were systematically investigated. This method is facile, rapid, surfactant-free and environmentally friendly. The as-prepared HAP porous hollow microspheres show a relatively high drug-loading capacity and protein-adsorption ability, as well as sustained drug and protein release, by using ibuprofen as a model drug and hemoglobin (Hb) as a model protein, respectively. These experiments indicate that the as-prepared HAP porous hollow microspheres are promising for applications in biomedical fields, such as drug delivery and protein adsorption. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Porous Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis Approaches and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Laurenti

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Zinc oxide (ZnO thin films have been widely investigated due to their multifunctional properties, i.e., catalytic, semiconducting and optical. They have found practical use in a wide number of application fields. However, the presence of a compact micro/nanostructure has often limited the resulting material properties. Moreover, with the advent of low-dimensional ZnO nanostructures featuring unique physical and chemical properties, the interest in studying ZnO thin films diminished more and more. Therefore, the possibility to combine at the same time the advantages of thin-film based synthesis technologies together with a high surface area and a porous structure might represent a powerful solution to prepare ZnO thin films with unprecedented physical and chemical characteristics that may find use in novel application fields. Within this scope, this review offers an overview on the most successful synthesis methods that are able to produce ZnO thin films with both framework and textural porosities. Moreover, we discuss the related applications, mainly focused on photocatalytic degradation of dyes, gas sensor fabrication and photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Hierarchical porous carbon materials prepared using nano-ZnO as a template and activation agent for ultrahigh power supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haoran; Yu, Shukai; Xu, Bin

2016-09-20

Hierarchical porous carbon materials with high surface areas and a localized graphitic structure were simply prepared from sucrose using nano-ZnO as a hard template, activation agent and graphitization catalyst simultaneously, which exhibit an outstanding high-rate performance and can endure an ultrafast scan rate of 20 V s -1 and ultrahigh current density of 1000 A g -1 .

Photoluminescence enhancement in porous SiC passivated by atomic layer deposited Al2O3 films

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Weifang; Iwasa, Yoshimi; Ou, Yiyu

2016-01-01

Porous SiC co-doped with B and N was passivated by atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3 films to enhance the photoluminescence. After optimizing the deposition conditions, as high as 14.9 times photoluminescence enhancement has been achieved.......Porous SiC co-doped with B and N was passivated by atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3 films to enhance the photoluminescence. After optimizing the deposition conditions, as high as 14.9 times photoluminescence enhancement has been achieved....

Facile Fabrication of Multi-hierarchical Porous Polyaniline Composite as Pressure Sensor and Gas Sensor with Adjustable Sensitivity

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xiao-Xiao; Li, Jin-Tao; Jia, Xian-Sheng; Tong, Lu; Wang, Xiao-Xiong; Zhang, Jun; Zheng, Jie; Ning, Xin; Long, Yun-Ze

2017-08-01

A multi-hierarchical porous polyaniline (PANI) composite which could be used in good performance pressure sensor and adjustable sensitivity gas sensor has been fabricated by a facile in situ polymerization. Commercial grade sponge was utilized as a template scaffold to deposit PANI via in situ polymerization. With abundant interconnected pores throughout the whole structure, the sponge provided sufficient surface for the growth of PANI nanobranches. The flexible porous structure helped the composite to show high performance in pressure detection with fast response and favorable recoverability and gas detection with adjustable sensitivity. The sensing mechanism of the PANI/sponge-based flexible sensor has also been discussed. The results indicate that this work provides a feasible approach to fabricate efficient sensors with advantages of low cost, facile preparation, and easy signal collection.

Cryogenic 3D printing for producing hierarchical porous and rhBMP-2-loaded Ca-P/PLLA nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chong; Zhao, Qilong; Wang, Min

2017-06-07

The performance of bone tissue engineering scaffolds can be assessed through cell responses to scaffolds, including cell attachment, infiltration, morphogenesis, proliferation, differentiation, etc, which are determined or heavily influenced by the composition, structure, mechanical properties, and biological properties (e.g. osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity) of scaffolds. Although some promising 3D printing techniques such as fused deposition modeling and selective laser sintering could be employed to produce biodegradable bone tissue engineering scaffolds with customized shapes and tailored interconnected pores, effective methods for fabricating scaffolds with well-designed hierarchical porous structure (both interconnected macropores and surface micropores) and tunable osteoconductivity/osteoinductivity still need to be developed. In this investigation, a novel cryogenic 3D printing technique was investigated and developed for producing hierarchical porous and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2)-loaded calcium phosphate (Ca-P) nanoparticle/poly(L-lactic acid) nanocomposite scaffolds, in which the Ca-P nanoparticle-incorporated scaffold layer and rhBMP-2-encapsulated scaffold layer were deposited alternatingly using different types of emulsions as printing inks. The mechanical properties of the as-printed scaffolds were comparable to those of human cancellous bone. Sustained releases of Ca 2+ ions and rhBMP-2 were achieved and the biological activity of rhBMP-2 was well-preserved. Scaffolds with a desirable hierarchical porous structure and dual delivery of Ca 2+ ions and rhBMP-2 exhibited superior performance in directing the behaviors of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and caused improved cell viability, attachment, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation, which has suggested their great potential for bone tissue engineering.

Flexible Transparent Supercapacitors Based on Hierarchical Nanocomposite Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Fanhong; Wan, Pengbo; Xu, Haijun; Sun, Xiaoming

2017-05-31

Flexible transparent electronic devices have recently gained immense popularity in smart wearable electronics and touch screen devices, which accelerates the development of the portable power sources with reliable flexibility, robust transparency and integration to couple these electronic devices. For potentially coupled as energy storage modules in various flexible, transparent and portable electronics, the flexible transparent supercapacitors are developed and assembled from hierarchical nanocomposite films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and aligned polyaniline (PANI) nanoarrays upon their synergistic advantages. The nanocomposite films are fabricated from in situ PANI nanoarrays preparation in a blended solution of aniline monomers and rGO onto the flexible, transparent, and stably conducting film (FTCF) substrate, which is obtained by coating silver nanowires (Ag NWs) layer with Meyer rod and then coating of rGO layer on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Optimization of the transparency, the specific capacitance, and the flexibility resulted in the obtained all-solid state nanocomposite supercapacitors exhibiting enhanced capacitance performance, good cycling stability, excellent flexibility, and superior transparency. It provides promising application prospects for exploiting flexible, low-cost, transparent, and high-performance energy storage devices to be coupled into various flexible, transparent, and wearable electronic devices.

Constructing hierarchical porous nanospheres for versatile microwave response approaches: the effect of architectural design.

Science.gov (United States)

Quan, Bin; Liang, Xiaohui; Yi, Heng; Gong, He; Ji, Guangbin; Chen, Jiabin; Xu, Guoyue; Du, Youwei

2017-10-24

Owing to their immense potential in functionalized applications, tremendous interest has been devoted to the design and synthesis of nanostructures. The introduction of sufficient amount of microwaves into the absorbers on the premise that the dissipation capacity is strong enough remains a key challenge. Pursuing a general methodology to overcome the incompatibility is of great importance. There is widespread interest in designing the materials with specific architectures. Herein, the common absorber candidates were chosen to feature the hierarchical porous Fe 3 O 4 @C@Fe 3 O 4 nanospheres. Due to the reduced skin effect (induced by low-conductivity Fe 3 O 4 outer layer), multiple interfacial polarizations and scattering (due to the ternary hierarchical structures and nanoporous inner core) as well as the improved magnetic dissipation ability (because of multiple magnetic components), the material design enabled a promising microwave absorption performance. This study not only illustrates the primary mechanisms for the improved microwave absorption performance but also underscores the potential in designing the particular architectures as a strategy for achieving the compatibility characteristics.

Superior lithium storage performance of hierarchical porous vanadium pentoxide nanofibers for lithium ion battery cathodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Bo [Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083 (China); Energy & Materials Engineering Centre, College of Physics and Materials Science, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387 (China); National Key Laboratory of Power Sources, Tianjin Institute of Power Sources, Tianjin 300381 (China); Li, Xifei, E-mail: xfli2011@hotmail.com [Energy & Materials Engineering Centre, College of Physics and Materials Science, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387 (China); Bai, Zhimin, E-mail: zhimibai@cugb.edu.cn [Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083 (China); Li, Minsi [Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Dong, Lei; Xiong, Dongbin [Energy & Materials Engineering Centre, College of Physics and Materials Science, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387 (China); Li, Dejun, E-mail: dejunli@mail.tjnu.edu.cn [Energy & Materials Engineering Centre, College of Physics and Materials Science, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387 (China)

2015-06-15

Highlights: • Hierarchical porous vanadium pentoxide nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning. • V{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanofibers showed much enhanced lithium storage performance. • Kinetics process of electrospinning V{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanofibers was studied by means of EIS for the first time. • Strategies to enhance the electrochemical performance of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} electrode were concluded. - Abstract: The hierarchical V{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanofibers cathode materials with diameter of 200–400 nm are successfully synthesized via an electrospinning followed by annealing. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirms the formation of phase-pure product. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) obviously display the hierarchical porous nanofibers constructed by attached tiny vanadium oxide nanoplates. Electrochemical behavior of the as-prepared product is systematically studied using galvanostatic charge/discharge testing, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). It turns out that in comparison to the commercial V{sub 2}O{sub 5} and other unique nanostructured materials in the literature, our V{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanofibers show much enhanced lithium storage capacity, improved cyclic stability, and higher rate capability. After 100 cycles at a current density of 800 mA g{sup −1}, the specific capacity of the V{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanofibers retain 133.9 mAh g{sup −1}, corresponding to high capacity retention of 96.05%. More importantly, the EIS at various discharge depths clearly reveal the kinetics process of the V{sub 2}O{sub 5} cathode reaction with lithium. Based on our results, the possible approach to improve the specific capacity and rate capability of the V{sub 2}O{sub 5} cathode material is proposed. It is expected that this study could accelerate the development of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} cathode in rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

A facile approach for the synthesis of monolithic hierarchical porous carbons – high performance materials for amine based CO2 capture and supercapacitor electrode

KAUST Repository

Estevez, Luis; Dua, Rubal; Bhandari, Nidhi; Ramanujapuram, Anirudh; Wang, Peng; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.

2013-01-01

An ice templating coupled with hard templating and physical activation approach is reported for the synthesis of hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with tunable porosities across all three length scales (macro- meso- and micro), with ultrahigh

Non-oxidic nanoscale composites: single-crystalline titanium carbide nanocubes in hierarchical porous carbon monoliths.

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnenburg, Kirstin; Smarsly, Bernd M; Brezesinski, Torsten

2009-05-07

We report the preparation of nanoscale carbon-titanium carbide composites with carbide contents of up to 80 wt%. The synthesis yields single-crystalline TiC nanocubes 20-30 nm in diameter embedded in a hierarchical porous carbon matrix. These composites were generated in the form of cylindrical monoliths but can be produced in various shapes using modern sol-gel and nanocasting methods in conjunction with carbothermal reduction. The monolithic material is characterized by a combination of microscopy, diffraction and physisorption. Overall, the results presented in this work represent a concrete design template for the synthesis of non-oxidic nanoscale composites with high surface areas.

Binary Hierarchical Porous Graphene/Pyrolytic Carbon Nanocomposite Matrix Loaded with Sulfur as a High-Performance Li-S Battery Cathode.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hang; Gao, Qiuming; Qian, Weiwei; Xiao, Hong; Li, Zeyu; Ma, Li; Tian, Xuehui

2018-06-06

A N,O-codoped hierarchical porous nanocomposite consisting of binary reduced graphene oxide and pyrolytic carbon (rGO/PC) from chitosan is fabricated. The optimized rGO/PC possesses micropores with size distribution concentrated around 1.1 nm and plenty of meso/macropores. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area is 480.8 m 2 g -1 , and it possesses impressively large pore volume of 2.14 cm 3 g -1 . On the basis of the synergistic effects of the following main factors: (i) the confined space effect in the hierarchical porous binary carbonaceous matrix; (ii) the anchor effects by strong chemical bonds with codoped N and O atoms; and (iii) the good flexibility and conductivity of rGO, the rGO/PC/S holding 75 wt % S exhibits high performance as Li-S battery cathode. Specific capacity of 1625 mA h g -1 can be delivered at 0.1 C (1 C = 1675 mA g -1 ), whereas 848 mA h g -1 can be maintained after 300 cycles at 1 C. Even at high rate of 5 C, 412 mA h g -1 can be restrained after 1000 cycles.

Electrodynamic properties of porous PZT-Pt films at terahertz frequency range

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komandin, Gennady A.; Porodinkov, Oleg E.; Spektor, Igor E.; Volkov, Alexander A. [Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation); Vorotilov, Konstantin A.; Seregin, Dmitry S.; Sigov, Alexander S. [Moscow Technological University (MIREA), Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-01-15

Electrodynamics of Si-SiO{sub 2}-TiO{sub 2}-Pt-PZT heterostructures is studied in the frequency range from 5 to 5000 cm{sup -1} by monochromatic BWO (backward wave oscillator) and infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy techniques to derive the dielectric characteristics of the sol-gel porous ferroelectric PbZr{sub 0.48}Ti{sub 0.52}O{sub 3} films. Broad frequency band dielectric response of PZT films with different density is constructed using the oscillator dispersion models. The main contribution to the film permittivity is found to form at frequencies below 100 cm{sup -1} depending strongly and non-linearly on the film medium density. (copyright 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Preparation of Porous F-WO3/TiO2 Films with Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity by Microarc Oxidation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chung-Wei Yeh

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Porous F-WO3/TiO2 (mTiO2 films are prepared on titanium sheet substrates using microarc oxidation (MAO technique. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that visible-light (Vis enabling mTiO2 films with a very high content of anatase TiO2 and high loading of WO3 are successfully synthesized at a low applied voltage of 300 V using electrolyte contenting NaF and Na2WO4 without subsequent heat treatment. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy micrograph reveals that the mTiO2 films feature porous networks connected by many micron pores. The diffused reflection spectrum displays broad absorbance across the UV-Vis regions and a significant red shift in the band gap energy (∼2.23 eV for the mTiO2 film. Owing to the high specific surface area from the porous microstructure, the mTiO2 film shows a 61% and 50% rate increase in the photocatalytic dye degradation, as compared with the N,C-codoped TiO2 films under UV and Vis irradiation, respectively.

Hierarchically structured self-supported latex films for flexible and semi-transparent electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Määttänen, Anni; Ihalainen, Petri; Törngren, Björn; Rosqvist, Emil; Pesonen, Markus; Peltonen, Jouko

2016-02-01

Different length scale alterations in topography, surface texture, and symmetry are known to evoke diverse cell behavior, including adhesion, orientation, motility, cytoskeletal condensation, and modulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In this work, self-supported latex films with well-defined isotropic/anisotropic surface features and hierarchical morphologies were fabricated by a peel-off process from different template surfaces. In addition, the latex films were used as substrates for evaporated ultrathin gold films with nominal thicknesses of 10 and 20 nm. Optical properties and topography of the samples were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, respectively. The latex films showed high-level transmittance of visible light, enabling the fabrication of semi-transparent gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out for a number of days to investigate the long-term stability of the electrodes. The effect of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) and HS(CH2)11OH (MuOH) thiolation and protein (human serum albumin, HSA) adsorption on the impedance and capacitance was studied. In addition, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were carried out to determine active medicinal components, i.e., caffeic acid with interesting biological activities and poorly water-soluble anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam. The results show that the fabrication procedure presented in this study enables the formation of platforms with hierarchical morphologies for multimodal (optical and electrical) real-time monitoring of length-scale-dependent biomaterial-surface interactions.

Coralline-Like N-Doped Hierarchically Porous Carbon Derived from Enteromorpha as a Host Matrix for Lithium-Sulfur Battery.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Shengnan; Imtiaz, Sumair; Sun, Dan; Xin, Ying; Li, Qian; Huang, Taizhong; Zhang, Zhaoliang; Huang, Yunhui

2017-12-22

Coralline-like N-doped hierarchically porous carbon (CNHPC) was prepared through a hydrothermal carbonization process using a sea pollutant enteromorpha as the starting material. The addition of a small amount of glucose during carbonization improved the yield of carbon, and the inherent N contents, especially for pyrrolic N and pyridinic N atoms. After loading 40 wt. % sulfur, the CNHPC/S composite, as a cathode in a Li-S battery, exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 1617 mAh g -1 (96.5 % of theoretical capacity) at 0.1 C and a capacity loss of 0.05 % per charge-discharge cycle after 500 cycles at 0.5 C with a stable Coulombic efficiency of 100 % in carbonate based electrolyte. Such a great performance can be attributed to the coralline-like hierarchically porous infrastructure and inherently abundant N doping. Given the conversion of waste pollutants into valuable energy-storage materials and the easy process, this work features a promising approach to prepare C/S cathodes for Li-S batteries. The special structural and textural characteristics of CNHPC might be attractive to other practical applications such as supercapacitors and catalysis. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Self-Reconstructed Formation of a One-Dimensional Hierarchical Porous Nanostructure Assembled by Ultrathin TiO2 Nanobelts for Fast and Stable Lithium Storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuan; Yan, Xiaodong; Xu, Bingqing; Lan, Jinle; Yu, Yunhua; Yang, Xiaoping; Lin, Yuanhua; Nan, Cewen

2018-06-06

Owing to their unique structural advantages, TiO 2 hierarchical nanostructures assembled by low-dimensional (LD) building blocks have been extensively used in the energy-storage/-conversion field. However, it is still a big challenge to produce such advanced structures by current synthetic techniques because of the harsh conditions needed to generate primary LD subunits. Herein, a novel one-dimensional (1D) TiO 2 hierarchical porous fibrous nanostructure constructed by TiO 2 nanobelts is synthesized by combining a room-temperature aqueous solution growth mechanism with the electrospinning technology. The nanobelt-constructed 1D hierarchical nanoarchitecture is evolves directly from the amorphous TiO 2 /SiO 2 composite fibers in alkaline solutions at ambient conditions without any catalyst and other reactant. Benefiting from the unique structural features such as 1D nanoscale building blocks, large surface area, and numerous interconnected pores, as well as mixed phase anatase-TiO 2 (B), the optimum 1D TiO 2 hierarchical porous nanostructure shows a remarkable high-rate performance when tested as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (107 mA h g -1 at ∼10 A g -1 ) and can be used in a hybrid lithium-ion supercapacitor with very stable lithium-storage performance (a capacity retention of ∼80% after 3000 cycles at 2 A g -1 ). The current work presents a scalable and cost-effective method for the synthesis of advanced TiO 2 hierarchical materials for high-power and stable energy-storage/-conversion devices.

Fabrication of honeycomb-structured poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic acid) porous films and biomedical applications for cell growth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yao, Bingjian [Key Laboratory of Special Functional Aggregated Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250199 (China); College of chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014 (China); Zhu, Qingzeng, E-mail: qzzhu@sdu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Special Functional Aggregated Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250199 (China); Yao, Linli [Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, 250012 Jinan (China); Hao, Jingcheng [Key Laboratory of Special Functional Aggregated Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250199 (China)

2015-03-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA porous films were fabricated. • The organization of pores depends on molecular weight ratio of PEG-to-PLA block. • The pores in the film were internally decorated with a layer of PEG. • The honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA film was suitable as a substrate for cell growth. - Abstract: A series of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-PLA) copolymers with a hydrophobic PLA block of different molecular weights and a fixed length hydrophilic PEG were synthesized successfully and characterized. These amphiphilic block copolymers were used to fabricate honeycomb-structured porous films using the breath figure (BF) templating technique. The surface topology and composition of the highly ordered pattern film were further characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and fluorescence microscopy. The results indicated that the PEG-to-PLA block molecular weight ratio influenced the BF film surface topology. The film with the best ordered pores was obtained with a PEG-to-PLA ratio of 2.0 × 10{sup 3}:3.0 × 10{sup 4}. The self-organization of the hydrophilic PEG chains within the pores was confirmed by XPS and fluorescence labeled PEG. A model is proposed to elucidate the stabilization process of the amphiphilic PEG-PLA aggregated architecture on the water droplet-based templates. In addition, GFP-U87 cell viability has been investigated by MTS test and the cell morphology on the honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA porous film has been evaluated using phase-contrast microscope. This porous film is shown to be suitable as a matrix for cell growth.

Fabrication of honeycomb-structured poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic acid) porous films and biomedical applications for cell growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Bingjian; Zhu, Qingzeng; Yao, Linli; Hao, Jingcheng

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA porous films were fabricated. • The organization of pores depends on molecular weight ratio of PEG-to-PLA block. • The pores in the film were internally decorated with a layer of PEG. • The honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA film was suitable as a substrate for cell growth. - Abstract: A series of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-PLA) copolymers with a hydrophobic PLA block of different molecular weights and a fixed length hydrophilic PEG were synthesized successfully and characterized. These amphiphilic block copolymers were used to fabricate honeycomb-structured porous films using the breath figure (BF) templating technique. The surface topology and composition of the highly ordered pattern film were further characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and fluorescence microscopy. The results indicated that the PEG-to-PLA block molecular weight ratio influenced the BF film surface topology. The film with the best ordered pores was obtained with a PEG-to-PLA ratio of 2.0 × 10 3 :3.0 × 10 4 . The self-organization of the hydrophilic PEG chains within the pores was confirmed by XPS and fluorescence labeled PEG. A model is proposed to elucidate the stabilization process of the amphiphilic PEG-PLA aggregated architecture on the water droplet-based templates. In addition, GFP-U87 cell viability has been investigated by MTS test and the cell morphology on the honeycomb-structured PEG-PLA porous film has been evaluated using phase-contrast microscope. This porous film is shown to be suitable as a matrix for cell growth

Irreversible membrane fouling abatement through pre-deposited layer of hierarchical porous carbons

KAUST Repository

Hamad, Juma

2014-11-01

In this work, dual-templated hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs), produced from a coupled ice-hard templating approach, are shown to be a highly effective solution to the commonly occurring problem of irreversible fouling of low-pressure membranes used for pre-treatment in wastewater reuse. For the first time, dual-templated HPCs, along with their respective counterparts - single-templated meso-porous carbon (MPCs) (without macropores) - are tested in terms of their fouling reduction capacity and ability to remove different effluent organic matter fractions present in wastewater and compared with a commercially available powdered activated carbon (PAC). The synthesized HPCs provided exceptional fouling abatement, a 4-fold higher fouling reduction as compared to the previously reported best performing commercial PAC and ~2.5-fold better fouling reduction than their respective mesoporous counterpart. Thus, it is shown that not only mesoporosity, but macroporosity is also necessary to achieve high fouling reduction, thus emphasizing the need for dual templating. In the case of HPCs, the pre-deposition technique is also found to outperform the traditional sorbent-feed mixing approach, mainly in terms of removal of fouling components. Based on their superior performance, a high permeability (ultra-low-pressure) membrane consisting of the synthesized HPC pre-deposited on a large pore size membrane support (0.45μm membrane), is shown to give excellent pre-treatment performance for wastewater reuse application. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon derived from the activation of agriculture waste by potassium hydroxide and urea for high-performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Kaixiang; Deng, Yuanfu; Chen, Juping; Qian, Yunqian; Yang, Yuewang; Li, Yingwei; Chen, Guohua

2018-02-01

Nitrogen-doped carbon with an ultra-high specific surface area and a hierarchically interconnected porous structure is synthesized in large scale from a green route, that is, the activation of bagasse via a one-step method using KOH and urea. KOH and urea play a synergistic effect for the enhancement of the specific surface area and the modification of pore size of the as-prepared material. Benefiting from the multiple synergistic roles originated from an ultra-high specific area (2905.4 m2 g-1), a high porous volume (2.05 mL g-1 with 75.6 vol% micropores, which is an ideal proportion of micropores for obtaining high specific capacitance), a suitable nitrogen content (2.63 wt%), and partial graphitization, the hierarchically interconnected porous N-doped carbon exhibits an excellent electrochemical performance with a high specific capacitance (350.8, 301.9, and 259.5 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1 in acidic, alkaline, and neutral electrolytes, respectively), superior rate capability and excellent cycling stability (almost no capacitance loss up to 5000 cycles). Furthermore, the symmetric device assembled by this material achieves high energy densities of 39.1 and 23.5 Wh kg-1 at power densities of 1.0 and 20 kW kg-1, respectively, and exhibits an excellent long-term cycling stability (with capacitance retention above 95.0% after 10 000 cycles).

Lithium battery using sulfur infiltrated in three-dimensional flower-like hierarchical porous carbon electrode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreno, Noelia; Caballero, Alvaro [Dpto.Química Inorgánica, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Química Fina y Nanoquímica, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales (Spain); Morales, Julián, E-mail: iq1mopaj@uco.es [Dpto.Química Inorgánica, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Química Fina y Nanoquímica, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales (Spain); Agostini, Marco [Department of Chemistry, SapienzaUniversity, P.zzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome (Italy); Hassoun, Jusef, E-mail: jusef.hassoun@unife.it [Università di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Via Fossato di Mortara 17, Ferrara (Italy)

2016-09-01

Three dimensional, flower-like hierarchical porous carbon (FPC) and its CO{sub 2}-activation (AFPC) are reported as sulfur-hosting matrixes in Li/S battery. The composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms as well as by galvanostatic cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in lithium-cell. Both samples show well defined micrometric morphology and a sulfur content as high as 66% expected to reflect into rather high practical energy density of the electrode in lithium-sulfur battery. The lithium sulfur cell using the FPC-S composite exhibits at 25 °C a moderate cycling stability with delivered capacity ranging from 1000 to about 610 mAh g{sup −1} upon 50 cycles at 100 mA g{sup −1}. The AFPC-S composite reveals increased cycling stability and delivers a capacity ranging from 1000 to 680 mAh g{sup −1}. Improved capacity is achieved by slightly increasing the temperature, as demonstrated by cycling the FPC-S at 35 °C using a current as high as 500 mA g{sup −1}. The excellent rate capability of the electrode is associated to the carbon texture and morphology that significantly lower the cell resistance, as indeed demonstrated by EIS measurement upon cycling. - Highlights: • Sulfur electrode basing on activated, flower-like hierarchical porous carbon is reported. • Defined micrometric morphology and a sulfur content as high as 66% are obtained. • Lithium sulfur cell using the composite exhibits remarkable performances. • A specific capacity of about 1000 mAh g{sup −1} is obtained at high current rate. • The resulting Li/S battery has relevant energy content.

White light photoluminescence from ZnS films on porous Si substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Caifeng; Li Weibing; Li Qingshan; Hu Bo

2010-01-01

ZnS films were deposited on porous Si (PS) substrates using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. White light emission is observed in photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and the white light is the combination of blue and green emission from ZnS and red emission from PS. The white PL spectra are broad, intense in a visible band ranging from 450 to 700 nm. The effects of the excitation wavelength, growth temperature of ZnS films, PS porosity and annealing temperature on the PL spectra of ZnS/PS were also investigated. (semiconductor materials)

Effect of pre-tension on the peeling behavior of a bio-inspired nano-film and a hierarchical adhesive structure

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Zhilong; Chen, Shaohua

2012-10-01

Inspired by the reversible adhesion behaviors of geckos, the effects of pre-tension in a bio-inspired nano-film and a hierarchical structure on adhesion are studied theoretically. In the case with a uniformly distributing pre-tension in a spatula-like nano-film under peeling, a closed-form solution to a critical peeling angle is derived, below or above which the peel-off force is enhanced or reduced, respectively, compared with the case without pre-tension. The effects of a non-uniformly distributing pre-tension on adhesion are further investigated for both a spatula-like nano-film and a hierarchical structure-like gecko's seta. Compared with the case without pre-tension, the pre-tension, no matter uniform or non-uniform, can increase the adhesion force not only for the spatula-like nano-film but also for the hierarchical structure at a small peeling angle, while decrease it at a relatively large peeling angle. Furthermore, if the pre-tension is large enough, the effective adhesion energy of a hierarchical structure tends to vanish at a critical peeling angle, which results in spontaneous detachment of the hierarchical structure from the substrate. The present theoretical predictions can not only give some explanations on the existing experimental observation that gecko's seta always detaches at a specific angle and no apparent adhesion force can be detected above the critical angle but also provide a deep understanding for the reversible adhesion mechanism of geckos and be helpful to the design of biomimetic reversible adhesives.

Brillouin light scattering studies on the mechanical properties of ultrathin, porous low-K dielectric films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wei; Sooryakumar, R.; King, Sean

2010-03-01

Low K dielectrics have predominantly replaced silicon dioxide as the interlayer dielectric material for interconnects in state of the art integrated circuits. To further reduce interconnect resistance-capacitance (RC) delays, additional reductions in the K for these low-K materials is being pursued by the introduction of controlled levels of porosity. The main challenge for porous low-K dielectrics is the substantial reduction in mechanical properties that is accompanied by the increased pore volume content needed to reduce K. We report on the application of the nondestructive Brillouin light scattering technique to monitor and characterize the mechanical properties of these porous films at thicknesses well below 200 nm that are pertinent to present applications. Observation of longitudinal and transverse standing wave acoustic resonances and the dispersion that accompany their transformation into traveling waves with finite in-plane wave vectors provides for the principal elastic constants that completely characterize the mechanical properties of these porous films. The mode amplitudes of the standing waves, their variation within the film, and the calculated Brillouin intensities account for most aspects of the spectra. The resulting elastic constants are compared with corresponding values obtained from other experimental techniques.

Ti Porous Film-Supported NiCo₂S₄ Nanotubes Counter Electrode for Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Jianping; Wang, Minqiang; Song, Xiaohui; Yang, Zhi; Yuan, Zhaolin

2018-04-17

In this paper, a novel Ti porous film-supported NiCo₂S₄ nanotube was fabricated by the acid etching and two-step hydrothermal method and then used as a counter electrode in a CdS/CdSe quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell. Measurements of the cyclic voltammetry, Tafel polarization curves, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of the symmetric cells revealed that compared with the conventional FTO (fluorine doped tin oxide)/Pt counter electrode, Ti porous film-supported NiCo₂S₄ nanotubes counter electrode exhibited greater electrocatalytic activity toward polysulfide electrolyte and lower charge-transfer resistance at the interface between electrolyte and counter electrode, which remarkably improved the fill factor, short-circuit current density, and power conversion efficiency of the quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell. Under illumination of one sun (100 mW/cm²), the quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell based on Ti porous film-supported NiCo₂S₄ nanotubes counter electrode achieved a power conversion efficiency of 3.14%, which is superior to the cell based on FTO/Pt counter electrode (1.3%).

Potentiodynamical deposition of nanostructured MnO2 film at the assist of electrodeposited SiO2 as template

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Lian-Kui; Xia, Jie; Hou, Guang-Ya; Cao, Hua-Zhen; Tang, Yi-Ping; Zheng, Guo-Qu

2016-01-01

Highlights: • MnO 2 -SiO 2 composite film is prepared by potentiodynamical deposition. • Hierarchical porous MnO 2 films is obtained after the etching of SiO 2 . • The obtained MnO 2 film electrode exhibit high specific capacitance. - Abstract: We report a novel silica co-electrodeposition route to prepare nanostructured MnO 2 films. Firstly, MnO 2 -SiO 2 composite film was fabricated on a stainless steel substrate by potentiodynamical deposition, i.e. cyclic deposition, and then the SiO 2 template was removed by simple immersion in concentrated alkaline solution, leading to the formation of a porous MnO 2 (po-MnO 2 ) matrix. The structure and morphology of the obtained films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical properties of the po-MnO 2 film were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results showed that this porous MnO 2 derived from the MnO 2 -SiO 2 composite film exhibits good electrochemical performance for potential use as a supercapacitor material.

Effect of aqueous electrolytes on the electrochemical behaviors of supercapacitors based on hierarchically porous carbons

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaoyan; Wang, Xianyou; Jiang, Lanlan; Wu, Hao; Wu, Chun; Su, Jingcang

2012-10-01

Hierarchically porous carbons (HPCs) have been prepared by sol-gel self-assembly technology with nickel oxide and surfactant as the dual template. The porous carbons are further activated by nitric acid. The electrochemical behaviors of supercapacitors using HPCs as electrode material in different aqueous electrolytes, e.g., (NH4)2SO4, Na2SO4, H2SO4 and KOH are studied by cyclic voltametry, galvanostatic charge/discharge, cyclic life, leakage current, self-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the supercapacitors in various electrolytes perform definitely capacitive behaviors; especially in 6 M KOH electrolyte the supercapacitor represents the best electrochemical performance, the shortest relaxation time, and nearly ideal polarisability. The energy density of 8.42 Wh kg-1 and power density of 17.22 kW kg-1 are obtained at the operated voltage window of 1.0 V. Especially, the energy density of 11.54 Wh kg-1 and power density of 10.58 kW kg-1 can be achieved when the voltage is up to 1.2 V.

Review. Freeze-casting: Fabrication of highly porous and hierarchical ceramic supports for energy applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaudillere, C.; Serra, J. M.

2016-05-01

The manufacture of structured ceramic porous support knows an important boom since more than a decade with the development of new shaping techniques. Among the most promising ones, the freeze-casting also called Ice-Tem plating allows the fabrication of ceramic parts exhibiting high porosity (>50%) and vertically aligned and hierarchically organized pores. Such structures were firstly conceived for biomedical applications like bone substitute and tissue engineering, but the distinctive features of freeze-cast structures have attracted the attention of diverse scientific fields, especially in high temperature ceramic-based energy production systems. Indeed, technologies like (a) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) and Electrolyser Cell (SOEC), (b) gas separation (O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}) by asymmetric supported membranes based on mixed ionic and electronic conductors (MIEC) or hydrogen-permeable metals, and (c) Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) systems present a porous component in their physical structure. This latest, presenting a tortuous pathway for gas access and as a consequence, a high transport limitation, is known to be a limiting component for the operation at high flow streams that would enable to reach industrial target. (Author)

Hierarchically structured photonic crystals for integrated chemical separation and colorimetric detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Qianqian; Zhu, Biting; Ge, Jianping

2017-02-16

A SiO 2 colloidal photonic crystal film with a hierarchical porous structure is fabricated to demonstrate an integrated separation and colorimetric detection of chemical species for the first time. This new photonic crystal based thin layer chromatography process requires no dyeing, developing and UV irradiation compared to the traditional TLC. The assembling of mesoporous SiO 2 particles via a supersaturation-induced-precipitation process forms uniform and hierarchical photonic crystals with micron-scale cracks and mesopores, which accelerate the diffusion of developers and intensify the adsorption/desorption between the analytes and silica for efficient separation. Meanwhile, the chemical substances infiltrated to the voids of photonic crystals cause an increase of the refractive index and a large contrast of structural colors towards the unloaded part, so that the sample spots can be directly recognized with the naked eye before and after separation.

Double Soft-Template Synthesis of Nitrogen/Sulfur-Codoped Hierarchically Porous Carbon Materials Derived from Protic Ionic Liquid for Supercapacitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Zhou, Hua; Li, Li; Yao, Ying; Qu, Haonan; Zhang, Chengli; Liu, Shanhu; Zhou, Yanmei

2017-08-09

Heteroatom-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials derived from the potential precursors and prepared by a facile, effective, and low-pollution strategy have recently been particularly concerned in different research fields. In this study, the interconnected nitrogen/sulfur-codoped hierarchically porous carbon materials have been successfully obtained via one-step carbonization of the self-assembly of [Phne][HSO 4 ] (a protic ionic liquid originated from dilute sulfuric acid and phenothiazine by a straightforward acid-base neutralization) and the double soft-template of OP-10 and F-127. During carbonization process, OP-10 as macroporous template and F-127 as mesoporous template were removed, while [Phne][HSO 4 ] not only could be used as carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur source, but also as a pore forming agent to create micropores. The acquired carbon materials for supercapacitor not only hold a large specific capacitance of 302 F g -1 even at 1.0 A g -1 , but also fine rate property with 169 F g -1 at 10 A g -1 and excellent capacitance retention of nearly 100% over 5000 circulations in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Furthermore, carbon materials also present eximious rate performance with 70% in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte.

Morphology and transmittance of porous alumina on glass substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo Peitao, E-mail: guopeitao@hotmail.com [Wuhan University of Technology. Wuhan (China); Xia Zhilin [Wuhan University of Technology. Wuhan (China); Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Materials and Application Technology, Xiangtan University, Ministry of Education, Xiangtan (China); Xue Yiyu [Wuhan University of Technology. Wuhan (China); Huang Caihua [China Three Gorges University, Yichang (China); Zhao Lixin [Wuhan University of Technology. Wuhan (China)

2011-02-01

The porous optical film has higher threshold of laser-induced damage than densified films, for the study of mechanism of laser-induced damage of porous optical film with ordered pore structure. Porous anodic alumina (PAA) film with high transmittance on glass substrate has been prepared. Aluminum film was deposited on glass substrate by means of resistance and electron beam heat (EBH) evaporation. Porous alumina was prepared in oxalic acid solution under different anodizing conditions. At normal incidence, the optical transmittance spectrum over 300-1000 nm spectra region was obtained by spectrophotometer. SEM was introduced to analysis the morphology of the porous alumina film. The pore aperture increased with the increase of anodizing voltage, which resulted in a rapid decrease of the pore concentration and the optical thickness of porous alumina film. Damage morphology of porous alumina film is found to be typically defects initiated, and the defect is the pore presented on the film.

Fabrication of semi-transparent superoleophobic thin film from fabrics and nanoparticle-based hierarchical structure

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Nishizawa S.

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Superoleophobic thin films have many potential applications including fluid transfer, fluid power systems, stain resistant and antifouling materials, and microfluidics among others. Transparency is also desired with superhydrophobicity for their numerous applications; however transparency and oleophobicity are almost incompatible relationship with each other in the point of surface structure. Because oleophobicity required rougher structure at nano-micro scale than hydrophobicity, and these rough structure brings light scattering. So far, there is very few report of the compatible of transparency and superoleophobicity. In this report, we proposed the see-through type fabrics using the nanoparticle-based hierarchical structure thin film for improving both of oleophobicity and transparency. The vacant space between fibrils of fabrics has two important roles: the one is to through the light, another one is to introduce air layer to realize Cassie state of liquid droplet on thin film. To realize the low surface energy and nanoscale rough structure surface on fibrils, we used the spray method with perfluoroalkyl methacrylic copolymer (PMC, silica nano particles and volatile solvent. From the SEM image, the hierarchical structures of nanoparticle were formed uniformly on the fabrics. The transparency of thin film obtained was approximately 61% and the change of transparency between pre-coated fabrics and coated was 11%. From investigation of the surface wettability, the contact angles of oils (rapeseed oil and hexadecane and water droplet on the fabricated film were over 150 degree.

A plasmaless, photochemical etch process for porous organosilicate glass films

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, E. Todd; Molis, Steven E.

2017-12-01

A plasmaless, photochemical etch process using ultraviolet (UV) light in the presence of NH3 or O2 etched porous organosilicate glass films, also called pSiCOH films, in a two-step process. First, a UV/NH3 or UV/O2 treatment removed carbon (mostly methyl groups bonded to silicon) from a pSiCOH film by demethylation to a depth determined by the treatment exposure time. Second, aqueous HF was used to selectively remove the demethylated layer of the pSiCOH film leaving the methylated layer below. UV in the presence of inert gas or H2 did not demethylate the pSiCOH film. The depth of UV/NH3 demethylation followed diffusion limited kinetics and possible mechanisms of demethylation are presented. Unlike reactive plasma processes, which contain ions that can damage surrounding structures during nanofabrication, the photochemical etch contains no damaging ions. Feasibility of the photochemical etching was shown by comparing it to a plasma-based process to remove the pSiCOH dielectric from between Cu interconnect lines, which is a critical step during air gap fabrication. The findings also expand our understanding of UV photon interactions in pSiCOH films that may contribute to plasma-induced damage to pSiCOH films.

High-energy supercapacitors based on hierarchical porous carbon with an ultrahigh ion-accessible surface area in ionic liquid electrolytes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Hui; Xu, Fei; Li, Zenghui; Fu, Ruowen; Wu, Dingcai

2013-05-01

A very important yet really challenging issue to address is how to greatly increase the energy density of supercapacitors to approach or even exceed those of batteries without sacrificing the power density. Herein we report the fabrication of a new class of ultrahigh surface area hierarchical porous carbon (UHSA-HPC) based on the pore formation and widening of polystyrene-derived HPC by KOH activation, and highlight its superior ability for energy storage in supercapacitors with ionic liquid (IL) as electrolyte. The UHSA-HPC with a surface area of more than 3000 m2 g-1 shows an extremely high energy density, i.e., 118 W h kg-1 at a power density of 100 W kg-1. This is ascribed to its unique hierarchical nanonetwork structure with a large number of small-sized nanopores for IL storage and an ideal meso-/macroporous network for IL transfer.A very important yet really challenging issue to address is how to greatly increase the energy density of supercapacitors to approach or even exceed those of batteries without sacrificing the power density. Herein we report the fabrication of a new class of ultrahigh surface area hierarchical porous carbon (UHSA-HPC) based on the pore formation and widening of polystyrene-derived HPC by KOH activation, and highlight its superior ability for energy storage in supercapacitors with ionic liquid (IL) as electrolyte. The UHSA-HPC with a surface area of more than 3000 m2 g-1 shows an extremely high energy density, i.e., 118 W h kg-1 at a power density of 100 W kg-1. This is ascribed to its unique hierarchical nanonetwork structure with a large number of small-sized nanopores for IL storage and an ideal meso-/macroporous network for IL transfer. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Sample preparation, material characterization, electrochemical characterization and specific mass capacitance and energy density. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr00738c

Macrostructure-dependent photocatalytic property of high-surface-area porous titania films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kimura, T., E-mail: t-kimura@aist.go.jp [Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Shimoshidami, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya 463-8560 (Japan)

2014-11-01

Porous titania films with different macrostructures were prepared with precise control of condensation degree and density of the oxide frameworks in the presence of spherical aggregates of polystyrene-block-poly(oxyethylene) (PS-b-PEO) diblock copolymer. Following detailed explanation of the formation mechanisms of three (reticular, spherical, and large spherical) macrostructures by the colloidal PS-b-PEO templating, structural variation of the titania frameworks during calcination were investigated by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Then, photocatalytic performance of the macroporous titania films was evaluated through simple degradation experiments of methylene blue under an UV irradiation. Consequently, absolute surface area of the film and crystallinity of the titania frameworks were important for understanding the photocatalytic performance, but the catalytic performance can be improved further by the macrostructural design that controls diffusivity of the targeted molecules inside the film and their accessibility to active sites.

Macrostructure-dependent photocatalytic property of high-surface-area porous titania films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Kimura

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Porous titania films with different macrostructures were prepared with precise control of condensation degree and density of the oxide frameworks in the presence of spherical aggregates of polystyrene-block-poly(oxyethylene (PS-b-PEO diblock copolymer. Following detailed explanation of the formation mechanisms of three (reticular, spherical, and large spherical macrostructures by the colloidal PS-b-PEO templating, structural variation of the titania frameworks during calcination were investigated by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Then, photocatalytic performance of the macroporous titania films was evaluated through simple degradation experiments of methylene blue under an UV irradiation. Consequently, absolute surface area of the film and crystallinity of the titania frameworks were important for understanding the photocatalytic performance, but the catalytic performance can be improved further by the macrostructural design that controls diffusivity of the targeted molecules inside the film and their accessibility to active sites.

Validity of the t-plot method to assess microporosity in hierarchical micro/mesoporous materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Galarneau, Anne; Villemot, François; Rodriguez, Jeremy; Fajula, François; Coasne, Benoit

2014-11-11

The t-plot method is a well-known technique which allows determining the micro- and/or mesoporous volumes and the specific surface area of a sample by comparison with a reference adsorption isotherm of a nonporous material having the same surface chemistry. In this paper, the validity of the t-plot method is discussed in the case of hierarchical porous materials exhibiting both micro- and mesoporosities. Different hierarchical zeolites with MCM-41 type ordered mesoporosity are prepared using pseudomorphic transformation. For comparison, we also consider simple mechanical mixtures of microporous and mesoporous materials. We first show an intrinsic failure of the t-plot method; this method does not describe the fact that, for a given surface chemistry and pressure, the thickness of the film adsorbed in micropores or small mesopores (plot method to estimate the micro- and mesoporous volumes of hierarchical samples is then discussed, and an abacus is given to correct the underestimated microporous volume by the t-plot method.

Antithrombogenicity of Fluorinated Diamond-Like Carbon Films Coated Nano Porous Polyethersulfone (PES) Membrane

Science.gov (United States)

Prihandana, Gunawan S.; Sanada, Ippei; Ito, Hikaru; Noborisaka, Mayui; Kanno, Yoshihiko; Suzuki, Tetsuya; Miki, Norihisa

2013-01-01

A nano porous polyethersulfone (PES) membrane is widely used for aspects of nanofiltration, such as purification, fractionation and dialysis. However, the low-blood-compatibility characteristic of PES membrane causes platelets and blood cells to stick to the surface of the membrane and degrades ions diffusion through membrane, which further limits its application for dialysis systems. In this study, we deposited the fluorinated-diamond-like-carbon (F-DLC) onto the finger like structure layer of the PES membrane. By doing this, we have the F-DLC films coating the membrane surface without sacrificing the membrane permeability. In addition, we examined antithrombogenicity of the F-DLC/PES membranes using a microfluidic device, and experimentally found that F-DLC drastically reduced the amount of blood cells attached to the surface. We have also conducted long-term experiments for 24 days and the diffusion characteristics were found to be deteriorated due to fouling without any surface modification. On the other hand, the membranes coated by F-DLC film gave a consistent diffusion coefficient of ions transfer through a membrane porous. Therefore, F-DLC films can be a great candidate to improve the antithrombogenic characteristics of the membrane surfaces in hemodialysis systems. PMID:28788333

Fabrication and electrochemical capacitance of hierarchical graphene/polyaniline/carbon nanotube ternary composite film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Xiangjun; Dou Hui; Yang Sudong; Hao Liang; Zhang Luojiang; Shen Laifa; Zhang Fang; Zhang Xiaogang

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: A hierarchical film with coaxial polyaniline/carbon nanotube (PANI/CNT) nanocables uniformly sandwiched between graphene (GN) sheets was prepared by filtration of the complex dispersion of graphite oxide (GO) and PANI/CNT. Highlights: → A film composed of GN sheets, PANI and CNTs was fabricated. → The coaxial PANI/CNT nanocables uniformly sandwiched between the GN sheets. → The unique structure facilitates contact between electrolyte and electrode materials. → Each component provides unique function to achieve superior electrochemical properties. - Abstract: A film composed of graphene (GN) sheets, polyaniline (PANI) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been fabricated by reducing a graphite oxide (GO)/PANI/CNT precursor prepared by flow-directed assembly from a complex dispersion of GO and PANI/CNT, followed by reoxidation and redoping of the reduced PANI in the composite to restore the conducting PANI structure. Scanning electron microscope images indicate that the ternary composite film is a layered structure with coaxial PANI/CNT nanocables uniformly sandwiched between the GN sheets. Such novel hierarchical structure with high electrical conductivity perfectly facilitates contact between electrolyte ions and PANI for faradaic energy storage and efficiently utilizes the double-layer capacitance at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. The specific capacitance of the GN/PANI/CNT estimated by galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement is 569 F g -1 (or 188 F cm -3 for volumetric capacitance) at a current density of 0.1 A g -1 . In addition, the GN/PANI/CNT exhibits good rate capability (60% capacity retention at 10 A g -1 ) and superior cycling stability (4% fade after 5000 continuous charge/discharge cycles).

Elastic properties of porous low-k dielectric nano-films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, W.; Bailey, S.; Sooryakumar, R.; King, S.; Xu, G.; Mays, E.; Ege, C.; Bielefeld, J.

2011-08-01

Low-k dielectrics have predominantly replaced silicon dioxide as the interlayer dielectric for interconnects in state of the art integrated circuits. In order to further reduce interconnect RC delays, additional reductions in k for these low-k materials are being pursued via the introduction of controlled levels of porosity. The main challenge for such dielectrics is the substantial reduction in elastic properties that accompanies the increased pore volume. We report on Brillouin light scattering measurements used to determine the elastic properties of these films at thicknesses well below 200 nm, which are pertinent to their introduction into present ultralarge scale integrated technology. The observation of longitudinal and transverse standing wave acoustic resonances and their transformation into traveling waves with finite in-plane wave vectors provides for a direct non-destructive measure of the principal elastic constants that characterize the elastic properties of these porous nano-scale films. The mode dispersion further confirms that for porosity levels of up to 25%, the reduction in the dielectric constant does not result in severe degradation in the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the films.

Adsorption of anionic surfactant on porous and nonporous polyethylene terephthalate films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamauchi, Yu.; Apel, P.Yu.

2016-01-01

We study the adsorption of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl diphenyloxide disulfonate (SDDD) on three types of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates from aqueous solutions of SDDD of different concentrations. Neutral electrolyte (KCl) was added to the solutions to vary the ionic strength. Three types of substrates were used: 1) original PET film; 2) etched nonporous film, obtained from pristine film by chemical etching and bearing negative charge on the surface; 3) etched porous membranes, fabricated from pristine film by ion irradiation and subsequent chemical etching. The membranes have negative charge on the flat surface and on the inner pore walls. The comparison shows that the negative charge on the flat surface has weak effect on adsorption of the anionic surfactant, and the SDDD adsorption on the inner walls of pores is much weaker than on flat surface, even if the pore radius is significantly larger than the Debye length. This «exclusion» effect strongly depends on ionic strength of solution. [ru

Fabrication of porous TiO{sub 2} films using a spongy replica prepared by layer-by-layer self-assembly method: Application to dye-sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsuge, Yosuke [Department of Applied Physics and Physico-informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi 223-8522 (Japan)]. E-mail: yotsuge@appi.keio.ac.jp; Inokuchi, Kohei [Department of Applied Physics and Physico-informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi 223-8522 (Japan); Onozuka, Katsuhiro [Department of Applied Physics and Physico-informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi 223-8522 (Japan); Shingo, Ohno [Research and Development Division, Bridgestone Corporation, 3-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo-to 187-8531 (Japan); Sugi, Shinichiro [Research and Development Division, Bridgestone Corporation, 3-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo-to 187-8531 (Japan); Yoshikawa, Masato [Research and Development Division, Bridgestone Corporation, 3-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo-to 187-8531 (Japan); Shiratori, Seimei [Department of Applied Physics and Physico-informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi 223-8522 (Japan)]. E-mail: shiratori@appi.keio.ac.jp

2006-03-21

In this study, we report the fabrication of the anatase TiO{sub 2} films with high porosity using a new spongy replica which prepared by layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. The scanning electron microscope photographs revealed that the spongy replica has an extremely porous microstructure and high surface area. Moreover, this porous replica was easily fabricated from a very flat film through the action with silver acetate solution. This method facilitated the porous TiO{sub 2} films with a high surface area. Additionally, by this method, a necking between the TiO{sub 2} films was strong and the amount of loaded dye was increased, so that the increase of forward electron transfer between the TiO{sub 2} films on the surface and the TiO{sub 2} films on the substrate. By using the fabricated porous TiO{sub 2} films as the photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cell, the improvement of the photocurrent-voltage characteristic was achieved, resulting in an energy conversion efficiency of Eff = 2.66% with the thickness of approximately 5 {mu}m.

An original way to obtain porous Zn(1–xMgxO thin films by spray pyrolysis technique

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Abdelhakim Mahdjoub

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Zn(1–xMgxO thin films with various concentrations of magnesium were deposited using the spray pyrolysis method. The transmittance spectra recorded for all films exhibit maxima exceeding 90%. The band gap energy of the films with wurtzite structure increases from 3.22 up to 3.60 eV by incorporating Mg into ZnO. However, when the atomic ratio of Mg exceeded 0.4, a second crystalline phase (assigned to cubic MgO became discernable in XRD patterns, a compressive strain was observed in the wurtzite lattice, and crystallite sizes decreased significantly. In accordance with these observations, finer grains with a pronounced columnar growth were observed in 3D AFM representations and the surface roughness decreases significantly. Finally, selective etching in water yields to porous films with a great surface-to-volume ratio, a lower refractive index and a better light transmission. These porous films with tunable band gap seem to be excellent candidates to various interesting applications.

Effect of Surface Roughness on MHD Couple Stress Squeeze-Film Characteristics between a Sphere and a Porous Plane Surface

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M. Rajashekar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The combined effects of couple stress and surface roughness on the MHD squeeze-film lubrication between a sphere and a porous plane surface are analyzed, based upon the thin-film magnetohydrodynamic (MHD theory. Using Stoke’s theory to account for the couple stresses due to the microstructure additives and the Christensen’s stochastic method developed for hydrodynamic lubrication of rough surfaces derives the stochastic MHD Reynolds-type equation. The expressions for the mean MHD squeeze-film pressure, mean load-carrying capacity, and mean squeeze-film time are obtained. The results indicate that the couple stress fluid in the film region enhances the mean MHD squeeze-film pressure, load-carrying capacity, and squeeze-film time. The effect of roughness parameter is to increase (decrease the load-carrying capacity and lengthen the response time for azimuthal (radial roughness patterns as compared to the smooth case. Also, the effect of porous parameter is to decrease the load-carrying capacity and increase the squeeze-film time as compared to the solid case.

Biomass-Derived Oxygen and Nitrogen Co-Doped Porous Carbon with Hierarchical Architecture as Sulfur Hosts for High-Performance Lithium/Sulfur Batteries

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Yan Zhao

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this work, a facile strategy to synthesize oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (ONPC is reported by one-step pyrolysis of waste coffee grounds. As-prepared ONPC possesses highly rich micro/mesopores as well as abundant oxygen and nitrogen co-doping, which is applied to sulfur hosts as lithium/sulfur batteries’ appropriate cathodes. In battery testing, the sulfur/oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (S/ONPC composite materials reveal a high initial capacity of 1150 mAh·g−1 as well as a reversible capacity of 613 mAh·g−1 after the 100th cycle at 0.2 C. Furthermore, when current density increases to 1 C, a discharge capacity of 331 mAh·g−1 is still attainable. Due to the hierarchical porous framework and oxygen/nitrogen co-doping, the S/ONPC composite exhibits a high utilization of sulfur and good electrochemical performance via the immobilization of the polysulfides through strong chemical binding.

Effect of pore structure on anomalous behaviour of the lithium intercalation into porous V2O5 film electrode using fractal geometry concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Kyu-Nam; Pyun, Su-Il

2006-01-01

The effect of pore structure on anomalous behaviour of the lithium intercalation into porous V 2 O 5 film electrode has been investigated in terms of fractal geometry by employing ac-impedance spectroscopy combined with N 2 gas adsorption method and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For this purpose, porous V 2 O 5 film electrodes with different pore structures were prepared by the polymer surfactant templating method. From the analysis of N 2 gas adsorption isotherms and the triangulation analysis of AFM images, it was found that porous V 2 O 5 surfaces exhibited self-similar scaling properties with different fractal dimensions depending upon amount of the polymer surfactant in solution and the spatial cut-off ranges. All the ac-impedance spectra measured on porous V 2 O 5 film electrodes showed the non-ideal behaviour of the charge-transfer reaction and the diffusion reaction, which resulted from the interfacial capacitance dispersion and the frequency dispersion of the diffusion impedance, respectively. From the comparison between the surface fractal dimensions by using N 2 gas adsorption method and AFM, and the analysis of ac-impedance spectra by employing a constant phase element (CPE), it is experimentally confirmed that the lithium intercalation into porous V 2 O 5 film electrode is crucially influenced by the pore surface irregularity and the film surface irregularity

Nitrogen-enriched hierarchically porous carbons prepared from polybenzoxazine for high-performance supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Liu; Wang, Jianlong; Xie, Lijing; Sun, Yahui; Li, Kaixi

2014-09-10

Nitrogen-enriched hierarchically porous carbons (HPCs) were synthesized from a novel nitrile-functionalized benzoxazine based on benzoxazine chemistry using a soft-templating method and a potassium hydroxide (KOH) chemical activation method and used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The textural and chemical properties could be easily tuned by adding a soft template and changing the activation temperature. The introduction of the soft-templating agent (surfactant F127) resulted in the formation of mesopores, which facilitated fast ionic diffusion and reduced the internal resistance. The micropores of HPCs were extensively developed by KOH activation to provide large electrochemical double-layer capacitance. As the activation temperature increased from 600 to 800 °C, the specific surface area of nitrogen-enriched carbons increased dramatically, micropores were enlarged, and more meso/macropores were developed, but the nitrogen and oxygen content decreased, which affected the electrochemical performance. The sample HPC-800 activated at 800 °C possesses a high specific surface area (1555.4 m(2) g(-1)), high oxygen (10.61 wt %) and nitrogen (3.64 wt %) contents, a hierarchical pore structure, a high graphitization degree, and good electrical conductivity. It shows great pseudocapacitance and the largest specific capacitance of 641.6 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1) in a 6 mol L(-1) KOH aqueous electrolyte when measured in a three-electrode system. Furthermore, the HPC-800 electrode exhibits excellent rate capability (443.0 F g(-1) remained at 40 A g(-1)) and good cycling stability (94.3% capacitance retention over 5000 cycles).

Anisotropic and Hierarchical Porosity in Multifunctional Ceramics

Science.gov (United States)

Lichtner, Aaron Zev

The performance of multifunctional porous ceramics is often hindered by the seemingly contradictory effects of porosity on both mechanical and non-structural properties and yet a sufficient body of knowledge linking microstructure to these properties does not exist. Using a combination of tailored anisotropic and hierarchical materials, these disparate effects may be reconciled. In this project, a systematic investigation of the processing, characterization and properties of anisotropic and isotropic hierarchically porous ceramics was conducted. The system chosen was a composite ceramic intended as the cathode for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Comprehensive processing investigations led to the development of approaches to make hierarchical, anisotropic porous microstructures using directional freeze-casting of well dispersed slurries. The effect of all the important processing parameters was investigated. This resulted in an ability to tailor and control the important microstructural features including the scale of the microstructure, the macropore size and total porosity. Comparable isotropic porous ceramics were also processed using fugitive pore formers. A suite of characterization techniques including x-ray tomography and 3-D sectional scanning electron micrographs (FIB-SEM) was used to characterize and quantify the green and partially sintered microstructures. The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructure was quantified and discrete element simulations (DEM) were used to explain the experimental observations. Finally, the comprehensive mechanical properties, at room temperature, were investigated, experimentally and using DEM, for the different microstructures.

Growth of porous type anodic oxide films at micro-areas on aluminum exposed by laser irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kikuchi, Tatsuya [Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan)], E-mail: kiku@eng.hokudai.ac.jp; Sakairi, Masatoshi [Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan); Takahashi, Hideaki [Asahikawa National College of Technology, Syunkohdai, 2-2, 1-6, Asahikawa 071-8142 (Japan)

2009-11-30

Aluminum covered with pore-sealed anodic oxide films was irradiated with a pulsed Nd-YAG laser to remove the oxide film at micro-areas. The specimen was re-anodized for long periods to examine the growth of porous anodic oxide films at the area where substrate had been exposed by measuring current variations and morphological changes in the oxide during the re-anodizing. The chemical dissolution resistance of the pore-sealed anodic oxide films in an oxalic acid solution was also examined by measuring time-variations in rest potentials during immersion. The resistance to chemical dissolution of the oxide film became higher with increasing pore-sealing time and showed higher values at lower solution temperatures. During potentiostatic re-anodizing at five 35-{mu}m wide and 4-mm long lines for 72 h after the film was removed the measured current was found to increase linearly with time. Semicircular columnar-shaped porous type anodic oxide was found to form during the re-anodizing at the laser-irradiated area, and was found to grow radially, thus resulting in an increase in the diameter. After long re-anodizing, the central and top parts of the oxide protruded along the longitudinal direction of the laser-irradiated area. The volume expansion during re-anodizing resulted in the formation of cracks, parallel to the lines, in the oxide film formed during the first anodizing.

Fabrication of electrophoretically deposited, self-assembled three-dimensional porous Al/CuO nanothermite films for highly enhanced energy output

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yin, Yanjun [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Li, Xueming, E-mail: xuemingli@cqu.edu.cn [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Shu, Yuanjie [Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an 71000 (China); Guo, Xiaogang; Bao, Hebin; Li, Wulin; Zhu, Yuhua; Li, Yu; Huang, Xinyue [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China)

2017-06-15

A novel porous Al/CuO nanothermite was successfully synthetized by utilizing the controllable electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. The morphology and phase composition of the CuO and Al/CuO films were investigated in detail by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). When the pH of the solution was 2.0, the surface area of the Al/CuO film was able to reach 495.6 m{sup 2}/g, which was much higher than that of films grown at pH 1.0, 3.0 or 4.0. Meanwhile, the combustion performance and energy outputs were coincident with the results mentioned above. At pH 2.0, bright flames were observed after ignition, and the released heat of the nanothermite reaction reached 3.49 kJ/g, exhibiting excellent combustion performance and enhanced energy output. - Highlights: • Porous CuO films were synthesized without using templates. • The self-assembled porous Al/CuO nanothermite had a specific surface area of 495.6 m{sup 2}/g. • The energy output and combustion performance of Al/CuO nanothermite were significantly enhanced.

Tunable photoluminescence of porous silicon by liquid crystal infiltration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Qinglan; Xiong Rui; Huang Yuanming

2011-01-01

The photoluminescence (PL) of porous silicon films has been investigated as a function of the amount of liquid crystal molecules that are infiltrated into the constricted geometry of the porous silicon films. A typical nematic liquid crystal 4-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl was employed in our experiment as the filler to modify the PL of porous silicon. It is found that the originally red PL of porous silicon films can be tuned to blue by simply adjusting the amount of liquid crystal molecules in the microchannels of the porous films. The chromaticity coordinates are calculated for the recorded PL spectra. The mechanism of the tunable PL is discussed. Our results have demonstrated that the luminescent properties of porous silicon films can be efficiently tuned by liquid crystal infiltration. - Highlights: → Liquid crystal infiltration can tune the photoluminescence of porous silicon. → Red emission of porous silicon can be switched to blue by the infiltration. → Chromaticity coordinates are calculated for the tuned emissions. → White emission is realized for porous silicon by liquid crystal infiltration.

Antithrombogenicity of Fluorinated Diamond-Like Carbon Films Coated Nano Porous Polyethersulfone (PES Membrane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norihisa Miki

2013-09-01

Full Text Available A nano porous polyethersulfone (PES membrane is widely used for aspects of nanofiltration, such as purification, fractionation and dialysis. However, the low-blood-compatibility characteristic of PES membrane causes platelets and blood cells to stick to the surface of the membrane and degrades ions diffusion through membrane, which further limits its application for dialysis systems. In this study, we deposited the fluorinated-diamond-like-carbon (F-DLC onto the finger like structure layer of the PES membrane. By doing this, we have the F-DLC films coating the membrane surface without sacrificing the membrane permeability. In addition, we examined antithrombogenicity of the F-DLC/PES membranes using a microfluidic device, and experimentally found that F-DLC drastically reduced the amount of blood cells attached to the surface. We have also conducted long-term experiments for 24 days and the diffusion characteristics were found to be deteriorated due to fouling without any surface modification. On the other hand, the membranes coated by F-DLC film gave a consistent diffusion coefficient of ions transfer through a membrane porous. Therefore, F-DLC films can be a great candidate to improve the antithrombogenic characteristics of the membrane surfaces in hemodialysis systems.

Biomass derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sheets for supercapacitors with high performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Cunjing; Wu, Dapeng; Wang, Hongju; Gao, Zhiyong; Xu, Fang; Jiang, Kai

2018-08-01

A facile potassium chloride salt-locking technique combined with hydrothermal treatment on precursors was explored to prepare nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sheets in air from biomass. Benefiting from the effective synthesis strategy, the as-obtained carbon possesses a unique nitrogen-doped thin carbon sheet structure with abundant hierarchical pores and large specific surface areas of 1459 m 2  g -1 . The doped nitrogen in carbon framework has a positive effect on the electrochemical properties of the electrode material, the thin carbon sheet structure benefits for fast ion transfer, the abundant meso-pores provide convenient channels for rapid charge transportation, large specific surface area and lots of micro-pores guarantee sufficient ion-storage sites. Therefore, applied for supercapacitors, the carbon electrode material exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance of 451 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 in a three-electrode system. Moreover, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor based on two identical carbon electrodes also displays high specific capacitance of 309 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 , excellent rate capacity and remarkable cycling stability with 99.3% of the initial capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 5 A -1 . The synthesis strategy avoids expensive inert gas protection and the use of corrosive KOH and toxic ZnCl 2 activated reagents, representing a promising green route to design advanced carbon electrode materials from biomass for high-capacity supercapacitors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Effects of heat treatment on the hierarchical porous structure and electro-capacitive properties of RuO2/activated carbon nanofiber composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun, Ye Ri; Kim, Bo Hye

2016-01-01

Electrochemical capacitors based on hierarchical porous activated carbon nanofiber (RuO 2 /ACNF) composites are fabricated by one-step electrospinning, and then stabilized at different activation temperatures. The effect of the activation temperature on the structural properties and electrochemical behavior of the RuO 2 /ACNF composites is intensively investigated in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The RuO 2 /ACNF-800 composites activated at high temperature possess abundant mesopores and larger pores, which improve the electrochemical performance, especially at high charge–discharge rates. The energy storage capabilities of the RuO 2 /ACNF-800 electrode prepared at high temperature are as follows: a maximum specific capacitance of 150 F/g and an energy density of 14–20 Wh/kg in the respective power density range of 400 to 10 000 W/kg in an aqueous solution. Furthermore, this electrode exhibits high-rate electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance reduction of less than 28% of the initial value at a discharge current of 20 mA/cm 2 . Therefore, the hierarchical porous RuO 2 /ACNF composites with well-developed mesoporous structure provide low resistance for charge diffusion and a short pathway for ion transportation, yielding good capacitive behavior

Room temperature synthesis of porous SiO2 thin films by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

OpenAIRE

Barranco Quero, Ángel; Cotrino Bautista, José; Yubero Valencia, Francisco; Espinós, J. P.; Rodríguez González-Elipe, Agustín

2004-01-01

Synthesis of porous SiO2 thin films in room temperature was carried out using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in an electron cyclotron resonance microwave reactor with a downstream configuration.The gas adsorption properties and the type of porosity of the SiO2 thin films were assessed by adsorption isotherms of toluene at room temperature.The method could also permit the tailoring synthesis of thin films when both composition and porosity can be simultaneously and independent...

Self-assembly silicon/porous reduced graphene oxide composite film as a binder-free and flexible anode for lithium-ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, H.; Zhang, Y.J.; Xiong, Q.Q.; Cheng, J.D.; Zhang, Q.; Wang, X.L.; Gu, C.D.; Tu, J.P.

2015-01-01

A Si/porous reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite film synthesized by evaporation and leavening method are developed as a high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries. The porous structure as buffer base can effectively release the volume expansion of the silicon particles, increase the electrical conductivity and reduce the transfer resistance of Li ions. The Si/porous rGO composite film presents high specific capacity and good cycling stability (1261 mA h g −1 at 50 mA g −1 up to 70 cycles), as well as enhanced rate capability. This approach to prepare such a unique structure is a low-cost and facile route for the silicon-based anode materials

Chemically grown, porous, nickel oxide thin-film for electrochemical supercapacitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inamdar, A.I.; Kim, YoungSam; Im, Hyunsik [Department of Semiconductor Science, Dongguk University, Seoul 100-715 (Korea, Republic of); Pawar, S.M.; Kim, J.H. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyungsang [Department of Physics, Dongguk University, Seoul 100-715 (Korea, Republic of)

2011-02-15

A porous nickel oxide film is successfully synthesized by means of a chemical bath deposition technique from an aqueous nickel nitrate solution. The formation of a rock salt NiO structure is confirmed with XRD measurements. The electrochemical supercapacitor properties of the nickel oxide film are examined using cyclic voltammetery (CV), galvanostatic and impedance measurements in two different electrolytes, namely, NaOH and KOH. A specific capacitance of {proportional_to}129.5 F g{sup -1} in the NaOH electrolyte and {proportional_to}69.8 F g{sup -1} in the KOH electrolyte is obtained from a cyclic voltammetery study. The electrochemical stability of the NiO electrode is observed for 1500 charge-discharge cycles. The capacitative behaviour of the NiO electrode is confirmed from electrochemical impedance measurements. (author)

SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS: White light photoluminescence from ZnS films on porous Si substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Caifeng, Wang; Qingshan, Li; Bo, Hu; Weibing, Li

2010-03-01

ZnS films were deposited on porous Si (PS) substrates using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. White light emission is observed in photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and the white light is the combination of blue and green emission from ZnS and red emission from PS. The white PL spectra are broad, intense in a visible band ranging from 450 to 700 nm. The effects of the excitation wavelength, growth temperature of ZnS films, PS porosity and annealing temperature on the PL spectra of ZnS/PS were also investigated.

Synthesis of polymer/inorganic nanocomposite films using highly porous inorganic scaffolds.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huanjun; Popp, Matthias; Hartwig, Andreas; Mädler, Lutz

2012-04-07

Polymeric/inorganic nanocomposite films have been fabricated through a combination of flame-spray-pyrolysis (FSP) made inorganic scaffold and surface initiated polymerization of cyanoacrylate. The highly porous structure of pristine SnO(2) films allows the uptake of cyanoacrylate and the polymerization is surface initiated by the water adsorbed onto the SnO(2) surface. Scanning electron microscopy study reveals a nonlinear increase in the composite particle size and the film thickness with polymerization time. The structural change is rather homogeneous throughout the whole layer. The composite is formed mainly by an increase of the particle size and not by just filling the existing pores. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging shows SnO(2) nanoparticles embedded in the polymeric matrix, constituting the nanocomposite material. Thermogravimetric analysis indicates that the porosity of the nanocomposite films decreases from 98% to 75%, resulting in a significant enhancement of the hardness of the films. DC conductivity measurements conducted in situ on the nanocomposite layer suggest a gradual increase in the layer resistance, pointing to a loss of connectivity between the SnO(2) primary particles as the polymerization proceeds. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Analysis on porous aluminum anodic oxide film formed in Re-OA-H{sub 3}PO{sub 4} solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, H. [State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030 (China); Wang, H.W. [State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030 (China)]. E-mail: hwwang@sjtu.edu.cn

2006-06-10

An anodic porous film on aluminum was prepared in a mixed electrolyte of phosphoric acid and organic acid and cerium salt. The growth, morphology and chemical composition of the film were investigated. The results indicate that the growth of porous layers in this solution undergo three stages during anodizing, as in other conventional solution, while the whole growth rate is nonlinear. This electrolyte is sensitive to anodizing temperature, which affects current density in great degree. SEM indicates the surface morphology of film is strongly dependent on temperature and current density and its cross-section has two distinct oxide layers. Al, O and P are found in the film with different distribution in the two layers with EPMA. However, Ce has been detected on the outer surface with EDAX. XPS analysis on the electron binding energy of the component elements show the chemical composition of oxide film surface are Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Ce(OH) and some phosphates. The formation mechanics of Ce compound is also deduced.

Soybean Root-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon as Electrode Material for High-Performance Supercapacitors in Ionic Liquids.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Nannan; Li, Min; Wang, Yong; Sun, Xingkai; Wang, Feng; Yang, Ru

2016-12-14

Soybeans are extensively cultivated worldwide as human food. However, large quantities of soybean roots (SRs), which possess an abundant three-dimensional (3D) structure, remain unused and produce enormous pressure on the environment. Here, 3D hierarchical porous carbon was prepared by the facile carbonization of SRs followed by chemical activation. The as-prepared material, possessing large specific surface area (2143 m 2 g -1 ), good electrical conductivity, and unique 3D hierarchical porosity, shows outstanding electrochemical performance as an electrode material for supercapacitors, such as a high capacitance (276 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 ), superior cycle stability (98% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 5 A g -1 ), and good rate capability in a symmetric two-electrode supercapacitor in 6 M KOH. Furthermore, the maximum energy density of as-assembled symmetric supercapacitor can reach 100.5 Wh kg -1 in neat EMIM BF 4 . Moreover, a value of 40.7 Wh kg -1 is maintained at ultrahigh power density (63000 W kg -1 ). These results show that the as-assembled supercapacitor can simultaneously deliver superior energy and power density.

Origin of thermally stable ferroelectricity in a porous barium titanate thin film synthesized through block copolymer templating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norihiro Suzuki

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A porous barium titanate (BaTiO3 thin film was chemically synthesized using a surfactant-assisted sol-gel method in which micelles of amphipathic diblock copolymers served as structure-directing agents. In the Raman spectrum of the porous BaTiO3 thin film, a peak corresponding to the ferroelectric tetragonal phase was observed at around 710 cm−1, and it remained stable at much higher temperature than the Curie temperature of bulk single-crystal BaTiO3 (∼130 °C. Measurements revealed that the ferroelectricity of the BaTiO3 thin film has high thermal stability. By analyzing high-resolution transmission electron microscope images of the BaTiO3 thin film by the fast Fourier transform mapping method, the spatial distribution of stress in the BaTiO3 framework was clearly visualized. Careful analysis also indicated that the porosity in the BaTiO3 thin film introduced anisotropic compressive stress, which deformed the crystals. The resulting elongated unit cell caused further displacement of the Ti4+ cation from the center of the lattice. This displacement increased the electric dipole moment of the BaTiO3 thin film, effectively enhancing its ferro(piezoelectricity.

Supported porous carbon and carbon-CNT nanocomposites for supercapacitor applications

Science.gov (United States)

Schopf, Dimitri; Es-Souni, Mohammed

2016-03-01

Supported porous carbon and porous carbon-MWCNT-nanocomposite films are produced by pyrolysis of porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or porous PVDF-MWCNT-nanocomposite films on thermally resistant substrates. All films are characterized by SEM, RAMAN and XRD. The application of these films as supercapacitors is explored with outstanding supercapacitance values ranging from 80 to 120 F g-1 (up to 70 mF cm-2) in a three-electrode set-up in 1 M KOH, depending on microstructure. Additionally, the implementation of porous nanocarbon-MWCNT-nanocomposite films as electrodes in a symmetrical supercapacitor device is investigated. In all cases, long-term charge-discharge stability is demonstrated.

Hierarchically porous carbon with high-speed ion transport channels for high performance supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Haoyuan; Li, Qingwei; Guo, Jianhui; Song, Aixin; Gong, Chunhong; Zhang, Jiwei; Zhang, Jingwei

2018-01-01

Hierarchically porous carbons (HPC) are considered as promising electrode materials for supercapacitors, due to their outstanding charge/discharge cycling stabilities and high power densities. However, HPC possess a relatively low ion diffusion rate inside the materials, which challenges their application for high performance supercapacitor. Thus tunnel-shaped carbon pores with a size of tens of nanometers were constructed by inducing the self-assembly of lithocholic acid with ammonium chloride, thereby providing high-speed channels for internal ion diffusion. The as-formed one-dimensional pores are beneficial to the activation process by KOH, providing a large specific surface area, and then facilitate rapid transport of electrolyte ions from macropores to the microporous surfaces. Therefore, the HPC achieve an outstanding gravimetric capacitance of 284 F g-1 at a current density of 0.1 A g-1 and a remarkable capacity retention of 64.8% when the current density increases by 1000 times to 100 A g-1.

Trimethylamine Sensors Based on Au-Modified Hierarchical Porous Single-Crystalline ZnO Nanosheets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fanli Meng

2017-06-01

Full Text Available It is of great significance for dynamic monitoring of foods in storage or during the transportation process through on-line detecting trimethylamine (TMA. Here, TMA were sensitively detected by Au-modified hierarchical porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (HPSCZNs-based sensors. The HPSCZNs were synthesized through a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment. Polyethyleneimine (PEI was used to modify the surface of the HPSCZNs, and then the PEI-modified samples were mixed with Au nanoparticles (NPs sol solution. Electrostatic interactions drive Au nanoparticles loading onto the surface of the HPSCZNs. The Au-modified HPSCZNs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, transmission electron microscopy (TEM and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS, respectively. The results show that Au-modified HPSCZNs-based sensors exhibit a high response to TMA. The linear range is from 10 to 300 ppb; while the detection limit is 10 ppb, which is the lowest value to our knowledge.

Trimethylamine Sensors Based on Au-Modified Hierarchical Porous Single-Crystalline ZnO Nanosheets.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Fanli; Zheng, Hanxiong; Sun, Yufeng; Li, Minqiang; Liu, Jinhuai

2017-06-22

It is of great significance for dynamic monitoring of foods in storage or during the transportation process through on-line detecting trimethylamine (TMA). Here, TMA were sensitively detected by Au-modified hierarchical porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (HPSCZNs)-based sensors. The HPSCZNs were synthesized through a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was used to modify the surface of the HPSCZNs, and then the PEI-modified samples were mixed with Au nanoparticles (NPs) sol solution. Electrostatic interactions drive Au nanoparticles loading onto the surface of the HPSCZNs. The Au-modified HPSCZNs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), respectively. The results show that Au-modified HPSCZNs-based sensors exhibit a high response to TMA. The linear range is from 10 to 300 ppb; while the detection limit is 10 ppb, which is the lowest value to our knowledge.

Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

KAUST Repository

Wang, Hong

2017-08-03

The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced on a large-scale approach. The unique HNDCM holds great promise as components in separation and advanced carbon devices because they could offer unconventional fluidic transport phenomena on the nanoscale. Overall, the invention set forth herein covers a hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes and methods of making and using such a membranes.

Acoustic Phonons and Mechanical Properties of Ultra-Thin Porous Low-k Films: A Surface Brillouin Scattering Study

Science.gov (United States)

Zizka, J.; King, S.; Every, A.; Sooryakumar, R.

2018-04-01

To reduce the RC (resistance-capacitance) time delay of interconnects, a key development of the past 20 years has been the introduction of porous low-k dielectrics to replace the traditional use of SiO2. Moreover, in keeping pace with concomitant reduction in technology nodes, these low-k materials have reached thicknesses below 100 nm wherein the porosity becomes a significant fraction of the film volume. The large degree of porosity not only reduces mechanical strength of the dielectric layer but also renders a need for non-destructive approaches to measure the mechanical properties of such ultra-thin films within device configurations. In this study, surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) is utilized to determine the elastic constants, Poisson's ratio, and Young's modulus of these porous low-k SiOC:H films (˜ 25-250 nm thick) grown on Si substrates by probing surface acoustic phonons and their dispersions.

Directed Self-Assembly in "Breath Figure" Templating of Melamine-Based Amphiphilic Copolymers: Effect of Hydrophilic End-Chain on Honeycomb Film Formation and Wetting.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Hongyao; Feng, Yujun; Billon, Laurent

2018-01-09

Amphiphilic copolymers are widely used in the fabrication of hierarchically honeycomb-structured films through a "breath figure" (BF) process because the hydrophilic block plays a key role in stabilising water templating. However, the hydrophilic monomers reported are mainly confined to acrylic acid and its derivatives, which largely limits understanding of the formation of BF arrays and the introduction of additional functions on porous films. The relationship between polymer composition, film microstructure and surface properties are also less documented. Herein, a novel melamine-based hydrophilic moiety, N-[3-({3-[(4,6-bis{[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]amino}-1,3,5-triazin-2yl)amino]propyl}(methyl)amino)propyl]methacrylamide (ANME), was incorporated into polystyrene (PS) chains by combining atom-transfer radical polymerisation and post-modification to afford three well-defined end-functionalised PS-PANME derivatives. These polymers were used to fabricate honeycomb films through the BF technique. Both inner and outer microstructures of the films were characterised by optical microscopy, AFM and SEM. Polymer hydrophilicity is enhanced upon increasing the PANME content, which results in variation of the film microstructure and porosity, and provokes a transition from Cassie-Baxter to Wenzel behaviour. Furthermore, the surface wettability of as-prepared honeycomb films and corresponding pillared films is mainly governed by film morphology, rather than by the properties of the polymers. Knowledge of the relationships between polymer composition and film structure, as well as surface wettability, is beneficial to design and prepare hierarchically porous films with desirable structures and properties. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Synthesis of aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers from porous anodic alumina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jha, Himendra; Kikuchi, Tatsuya; Sakairi, Masatoshi; Takahashi, Hideaki [Laboratory of Interface Microstructure Analysis (LIMSA), Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan)], E-mail: himendra@eng.hokudai.ac.jp

2008-10-01

A novel method for the synthesis of aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers from a porous anodic oxide film of aluminum is demonstrated. In the present method, the porous anodic alumina not only acts as a template, but also serves as the starting material for the synthesis. The porous anodic alumina film is hydrothermally treated for pore-sealing, which forms aluminum oxy-hydroxide inside the pores of the oxide film as well as on the surface of the film. The hydrothermally sealed porous oxide film is immersed in the sodium citrate solution, which selectively etches the porous aluminum oxide from the film, leaving the oxy-hydroxide intact. The method is simple and gives highly uniform aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers. Moreover, the diameter of the nanofibers can be controlled by controlling the pore size of the porous anodic alumina film, which depends on the anodizing conditions. Nanofibers with diameters of about 38-85 nm, having uniform shape and size, were successfully synthesized using the present method.

Synthesis of aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers from porous anodic alumina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jha, Himendra; Kikuchi, Tatsuya; Sakairi, Masatoshi; Takahashi, Hideaki

2008-01-01

A novel method for the synthesis of aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers from a porous anodic oxide film of aluminum is demonstrated. In the present method, the porous anodic alumina not only acts as a template, but also serves as the starting material for the synthesis. The porous anodic alumina film is hydrothermally treated for pore-sealing, which forms aluminum oxy-hydroxide inside the pores of the oxide film as well as on the surface of the film. The hydrothermally sealed porous oxide film is immersed in the sodium citrate solution, which selectively etches the porous aluminum oxide from the film, leaving the oxy-hydroxide intact. The method is simple and gives highly uniform aluminum oxy-hydroxide nanofibers. Moreover, the diameter of the nanofibers can be controlled by controlling the pore size of the porous anodic alumina film, which depends on the anodizing conditions. Nanofibers with diameters of about 38-85 nm, having uniform shape and size, were successfully synthesized using the present method

Photocatalytic evaluation of self-assembled porous network structure of ferric oxide film fabricated by dry deposition process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Yunchan; Kim, Hyungsub; Lee, Geon-Yong; Pawar, Rajendra C.; Lee, Jai-Sung; Lee, Caroline Sunyong, E-mail: sunyonglee@hanyang.ac.kr

2016-09-15

Ferric oxide powder in the alpha phase (α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) was deposited on an aluminum oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) substrate by a nanoparticle deposition system using the dry deposition method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) images confirmed that the phase of the deposited α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} did not change. The deposited α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} was characterized in terms of its microstructure using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A porous network microstructure formed when small agglomerates of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} (SAF) were deposited. The deposition and formation mechanism of the microstructure were investigated using SEM and three-dimensional (3D) profile analysis. First, a dense coating layer formed when the film was thinner than the particle size. After that, as the film thickness increased to over 5 μm, the porous network structure formed by excavating the surface of the coating layer as it was bombarded by particles. Rhodamine B (RhB) was degraded after 6 h of exposure to the Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} coating layer with SAF, which has good photocatalytic activity and a high porous network structure. The kinetic rate constants of the SAF and large agglomerates of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} (LAF) were calculated to be 0.197(h{sup −1}) and 0.128(h{sup −1}), respectively, based on the absorbance results. Using linear sweep voltammetry, we confirmed that the photoelectric effect occurred in the coating layer by measuring the resulting current under illuminated and dark conditions. - Graphical abstract: Self-assembled porous photocatalytic film fabricated by dry deposition method for water purification. - Highlights: • Different sizes of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} agglomerates were used to form porous network structure. • Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} agglomerate particles were deposited using solvent-free process. • Self-assembled porous network microstructure formed better with small agglomerates of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}. • Fabricated porous network structure showed its potential to be used

Transparent conducting films of hierarchically nanostructured polyaniline networks on flexible substrates for high-performance gas sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Shouli; Sun, Chaozheng; Wan, Pengbo; Wang, Cheng; Luo, Ruixian; Li, Yaping; Liu, Junfeng; Sun, Xiaoming

2015-01-21

Transparent chemical gas sensors are assembled from a transparent conducting film of hierarchically nanostructured polyaniline (PANI) networks fabricated on a flexible PET substrate, by coating silver nanowires (Ag NWs) followed by the in situ polymerization of aniline near the sacrificial Ag NW template. The sensor exhibits enhanced gas sensing performance at room temperature in both sensitivity and selectivity to NH3 compared to pure PANI film. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Porous Polymeric Films from Microbubbles Generated Using a T-Junction Microfluidic Device.

Science.gov (United States)

Elsayed, M; Kothandaraman, A; Edirisinghe, M; Huang, J

2016-12-20

In this work, a simple microfluidic junction with a T geometry and coarse (200 μm diameter) capillaries was used to generate monodisperse microbubbles with an alginate polymer shell. Subsequently, these bubbles were used to prepare porous alginate films with good control over the pore structure. The lack of pore size, shape, and surface control in scalable forming of polymeric films is a major application-limiting drawback at present. Controlling the thinning process of the shell of the bubbles to tune the surface of the resulting structures was also explored. Films were prepared with nanopatterned surfaces by controlling the thinning of the bubble shell, with the aid of surfactants, to induce efficient bursting (fragmentation) of bubbles to generate nanodroplets, which become embedded within the film surface. This novel feature greatly expands and enhances the use of hydrophilic polymers in a wide range of biomedical applications, particularly in drug delivery and tissue engineering, such as studying cellular responses to different morphological surfaces.

A polyacrylonitrile copolymer-silica template for three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon as a Pt catalyst support for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Minmin; Li, Jian; Cai, Chao; Zhou, Ziwei; Ling, Yun; Liu, Rui

2017-08-01

Herein, we report a novel route to construct a hierarchical three-dimensional porous carbon (3DC) through a copolymer-silica assembly. In the synthesis, silica acts as a hard template and leads to the formation of an interconnected 3D macropore, whereas styrene-co-acrylonitrile polymer has been used as both a carbon source and a soft template for micro- and meso-pores. The obtained 3DC materials possess a large surface area (∼550.5 m 2 g -1 ), which facilitates high dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on the carbon support. The 3DC-supported Pt electrocatalyst shows excellent performance in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The easy processing ability along with the characteristics of hierarchical porosity offers a new strategy for the preparation of carbon nanomaterials for energy application.

Effects of heat treatment on the hierarchical porous structure and electro-capacitive properties of RuO{sub 2}/activated carbon nanofiber composites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jun, Ye Ri; Kim, Bo Hye [Div. of Science Education, Chemistry Education Major, Daegu University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-15

Electrochemical capacitors based on hierarchical porous activated carbon nanofiber (RuO{sub 2} /ACNF) composites are fabricated by one-step electrospinning, and then stabilized at different activation temperatures. The effect of the activation temperature on the structural properties and electrochemical behavior of the RuO{sub 2} /ACNF composites is intensively investigated in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The RuO{sub 2} /ACNF-800 composites activated at high temperature possess abundant mesopores and larger pores, which improve the electrochemical performance, especially at high charge–discharge rates. The energy storage capabilities of the RuO{sub 2} /ACNF-800 electrode prepared at high temperature are as follows: a maximum specific capacitance of 150 F/g and an energy density of 14–20 Wh/kg in the respective power density range of 400 to 10 000 W/kg in an aqueous solution. Furthermore, this electrode exhibits high-rate electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance reduction of less than 28% of the initial value at a discharge current of 20 mA/cm{sup 2}. Therefore, the hierarchical porous RuO{sub 2} /ACNF composites with well-developed mesoporous structure provide low resistance for charge diffusion and a short pathway for ion transportation, yielding good capacitive behavior.

Enhanced charge collection and photocatalysis performance of CdS and PbS nanoclusters co-sensitized TiO{sub 2} porous film

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Miao; Xu, Yanyan; Gong, Zezhou; Tao, Jiajia [School of Physics & Material Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601 (China); Sun, Zhaoqi, E-mail: szq@ahu.edu.cn [School of Physics & Material Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601 (China); Lv, Jianguo [School of Electronic & Information Engineering, Hefei Normal University, Hefei, 230601 (China); National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083 (China); Chen, Xiaoshuang [National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083 (China); Jiang, Xishun [School of Physics & Material Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601 (China); School of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, 239000 (China); He, Gang; Wang, Peihong; Meng, Fanming [School of Physics & Material Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601 (China)

2015-11-15

A novel translucent TiO{sub 2} porous film was prepared through etched method. The CdS, PbS and CdS/PbS nanoclusters were imbedded on TiO{sub 2} porous film by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method. Microstructure, morphology, optical and photoelectron-chemical properties of the as-synthesized thin films were investigated systematically. XRD and morphology analysis showed that PbS or CdS nanoclusters have been attached to the TiO{sub 2} porous films. It was found that the energy band gap of TiO{sub 2} porous film decreased from 3.46 to 3.2 eV after sensitized with nanoclusters. The photocurrent density of ITO/TiO{sub 2} photoelectrode increased from 0.017 to 0.28 mA/cm{sup 2} after co-sensitized with CdS and PbS nanoclusters. Besides, the photoelectrode sensitized with two sorts of nanoclusters showed evident higher photocurrent density than which sensitized just one sort of nanoclusters. The photocurrent density of ITO/TiO{sub 2}/PbS and TO/TiO{sub 2}/CdS photoelectrode was 0.11 mA/cm{sup 2} and 0.22 mA/cm{sup 2} respectively. 0.28 mA/cm{sup 2} can be obtained by ITO/TiO{sub 2}/CdS/PbS photoelectrode. The results showed that the optical and photoelectrochemistry properties and phtotcatalysis performance of TiO{sub 2} porous film were greatly improved by co-sensitized with CdS and PbS nanoclusters. - Graphical abstract: When CdS and PbS were brought in the cascade structure, such a Fermi level alignment causes upward and downward shifts of the band edges for PbS and CdS, respectively. Therefore the resulting band edges for the ITO/TiO{sub 2}/CdS/PbS devices are inferred to have a stepwise structure. The elevated conduction band edge of PbS provides a higher driving force for the injection of photogenerated electrons from PbS to CdS as well as the injection of excited holes from CdS to PbS. Such a structure offers efficient separation and transport of the excited electrons and holes. - Highlights: • Ti films were obtained from direct current

Low temperature oxidative desulfurization with hierarchically mesoporous titaniumsilicate Ti-SBA-2 single crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Chengxiang; Wang, Wenxuan; Liu, Ni; Xu, Xueyan; Wang, Danhong; Zhang, Minghui; Sun, Pingchuan; Chen, Tiehong

2015-07-21

Hierarchically porous Ti-SBA-2 with high framework Ti content (up to 5 wt%) was firstly synthesized by employing organic mesomorphous complexes of a cationic surfactant (CTAB) and an anionic polyelectrolyte (PAA) as templates. The material exhibited excellent performance in oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuel at low temperature (40 °C or 25 °C) due to the unique hierarchically porous structure and high framework Ti content.

A facile approach for the synthesis of monolithic hierarchical porous carbons – high performance materials for amine based CO2 capture and supercapacitor electrode

KAUST Repository

Estevez, Luis

2013-05-03

An ice templating coupled with hard templating and physical activation approach is reported for the synthesis of hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with tunable porosities across all three length scales (macro- meso- and micro), with ultrahigh specific pore volumes [similar]11.4 cm3 g−1. The materials function well as amine impregnated supports for CO2 capture and as supercapacitor electrodes.

Embedding nano-Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12} in hierarchical porous carbon matrixes derived from water soluble polymers for ultra-fast lithium ion batteries anodic materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lan, Chun-Kai; Bao, Qi; Huang, Yao-Hui; Duh, Jenq-Gong, E-mail: jgd@mx.nthu.edu.tw

2016-07-15

Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12}/hierarchical porous carbon matrixes composites are successfully prepared by a facile and fast polymers assisted sol–gel method, aiming to promote both electronic and ionic conductivity. As indicated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, three less expensive cost and available water soluble polymers (e.g. PAA, CMC, and SA) can homogeneously react with Li–Ti–O precursor to incorporate into interior of nano-scale lithium titanate and provide a continues conductive network after pyrolysis. In addition, the results of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy also prove that the Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12} nanoparticles are firmly embedded in porous carbon matrix with no obvious agglomeration. EIS measurement and cyclic voltammetry further reveal that the facilitated electrode kinetics and better ionic transport of Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12}/hierarchical porous carbon matrixes composites than that of Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12}. The c-CMC-LTO exhibits a superior capacity of 92 mAh g{sup −1} and retains its initial value with no obviously capacity decay over 200 cycles under an ultra-high C rate (50 C). - Graphical abstract: Schematic illustrations of the formation process of embedding LTO into Carbon matrixes derived from water soluable polymers (upper) and the electrochemical reaction paths in LTO/Carbon composites during charging/discharging processes (lower). - Highlights: • Hierarchical porous carbon matrixes were used to improve the Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12} anodes. • Carbon matrixes could suppress the agglomeration of Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12} nanoparticles. • meso-nanoporous carbon structure was beneficial for filtration of electrolyte. • The c-CMC-LTO exhibited superior high rate capability and cycling durability.

Influence of desiccation procedures on the surface wettability and corrosion resistance of porous aluminium anodic oxide films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng Meng, E-mail: ZhengMeng@eng.hokudai.ac.jp [Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita-13, Nishi-8, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan); Sakairi, Masatoshi [Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita-13, Nishi-8, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-8628 (Japan); Jha, Himendra [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

2012-02-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple desiccation treatment without coating or etching produces hydrophobicity of porous anodic oxide film. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Treatment time can be shortened by controlling desiccation condition. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Surface microstructure is the key point to determine the wettability. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The hydrophobic surfaces show better corrosion resistance than oxide aluminium. - Abstract: A hydrophobic oxide film was formed on aluminium by anodizing followed by desiccation treatment. Films subjected to gradual heating and cooling exhibit larger water contact angles than samples exposed to fast heating and cooling at the same temperature. From SEM and Auger Electron Spectroscopic observations, the low wettability surface shows a regular porous morphology with no significant chemical composition differences due to the different treatments. The desiccation process improves the corrosion resistance, shown by immersion in NaCl. The change in morphology by the desiccation processes is considered a main reason to lower the wettability, which further affects the corrosion properties.

Microarc oxidized TiO2 based ceramic coatings combined with cefazolin sodium/chitosan composited drug film on porous titanium for biomedical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Daqing; Zhou, Rui; cheng, Su; Feng, Wei; Li, Baoqiang; Wang, Yaming; Jia, Dechang; Zhou, Yu; Guo, Haifeng

2013-10-01

Porous titanium was prepared by pressureless sintering of titanium beads with diameters of 100, 200, 400 and 600 μm. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of porous titanium changed significantly with different bead diameters. Plastic deformations such as necking phenomenon and dimple structure were observed on the fracture surface of porous titanium sintered by beads with diameter of 100 μm. However, it was difficult to find this phenomenon on the porous titanium with a titanium bead diameter of 600 μm. The microarc oxidized coatings were deposited on its surface to improve the bioactivity of porous titanium. Furthermore, the cefazolin sodium/chitosan composited films were fabricated on the microarc oxidized coatings for overcoming the inflammation due to implantation, showing good slow-release ability by addition of chitosan. And the release kinetic process of cefazolin sodium in composited films could be possibly fitted by a polynomial model. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced arsenic removal from water by hierarchically porous CeO₂-ZrO₂ nanospheres: role of surface- and structure-dependent properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Weihong; Wang, Jing; Wang, Lei; Sheng, Guoping; Liu, Jinhuai; Yu, Hanqing; Huang, Xing-Jiu

2013-09-15

Arsenic contaminated natural water is commonly used as drinking water source in some districts of Asia. To meet the increasingly strict drinking water standards, exploration of efficient arsenic removal methods is highly desired. In this study, hierarchically porous CeO₂-ZrO₂ nanospheres were synthesized, and their suitability as arsenic sorbents was examined. The CeO₂-ZrO₂ hollow nanospheres showed an adsorption capacity of 27.1 and 9.2 mg g(-1) for As(V) and As(III), respectively, at an equilibrium arsenic concentration of 0.01 mg L(-1) (the standard for drinking water) under neutral conditions, indicating a high arsenic removal performance of the adsorbent at low arsenic concentrations. Such a great arsenic adsorption capacity was attributed to the high surface hydroxyl density and presence of hierarchically porous network in the hollow nanospheres. The analysis of Fourier transformed infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that the adsorption of arsenic on the CeO₂-ZrO₂ nanospheres was completed through the formation of a surface complex by substituting hydroxyl with arsenic species. In addition, the CeO₂-ZrO₂ nanospheres were able to remove over 97% arsenic in real underground water with initial arsenic concentration of 0.376 mg L(-1) to meet the guideline limit of arsenic in drinking water regulated by the World Health Organization without any pre-treatment and/or pH adjustment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of hierarchically porous TiO2 nanofibers by microemulsion electrospinning and their application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Zhang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Titanium dioxide (TiO2 nanofibers have been widely applied in various fields including photocatalysis, energy storage and solar cells due to the advantages of low cost, high abundance and nontoxicity. However, the low conductivity of ions and bulk electrons hinder its rapid development in lithium-ion batteries (LIB. In order to improve the electrochemical performances of TiO2 nanomaterials as anode for LIB, hierarchically porous TiO2 nanofibers with different tetrabutyl titanate (TBT/paraffin oil ratios were prepared as anode for LIB via a versatile single-nozzle microemulsion electrospinning (ME-ES method followed by calcining. The experimental results indicated that TiO2 nanofibers with the higher TBT/paraffin oil ratio demonstrated more axially aligned channels and a larger specific surface area. Furthermore, they presented superior lithium-ion storage properties in terms of specific capacity, rate capability and cycling performance compared with solid TiO2 nanofibers for LIB. The initial discharge and charge capacity of porous TiO2 nanofibers with a TBT/paraffin oil ratio of 2.25 reached up to 634.72 and 390.42 mAh·g−1, thus resulting in a coulombic efficiency of 61.51%; and the discharge capacity maintained 264.56 mAh·g−1 after 100 cycles, which was much higher than that of solid TiO2 nanofibers. TiO2 nanofibers with TBT/paraffin oil ratio of 2.25 still obtained a high reversible capacity of 204.53 mAh·g−1 when current density returned back to 40 mA·g−1 after 60 cycles at increasing stepwise current density from 40 mA·g−1 to 800 mA·g−1. Herein, hierarchically porous TiO2 nanofibers have the potential to be applied as anode for lithium-ion batteries in practical applications.

Combined Effect of Piezoviscous Dependency and Non-Newtonian Couple Stress on Squeeze-Film Porous Annular Plate

Science.gov (United States)

Vasanth, K. R.; Hanumagowda, B. N.; Santhosh Kumar, J.

2018-04-01

Squeeze film investigations focus upon film pressure, load bearing quantity and the minimum thickness of film. The combined effect of pressure viscous dependent and non- Newtonian couple stress in porous annular plate is studied. The modified equations of one dimensional pressure, load bearing quantity, non dimensional squeeze time are obtained. The conclusions obtained in the study are found to be in very good agreement compared to the previous results which are published. The load carrying capacity is increased due to the variation in the pressure dependent viscosity and also due to the couple stress effect. Finally this results in change in the squeeze film timings.

A simple route to Develop Highly porous Nano Polypyrrole/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite film for Selective Determination of Dopamine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daniel Arulraj, Abraham; Arunkumar, Arumugam; Vijayan, Muthunanthevar; Balaji Viswanath, Kamatchirajan; Vasantha, Vairathevar Sivasamy

2016-01-01

A highly selective sensor was developed for dopamine with electrochemically treated sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate doped nano polypyrrole (ET-SDBS-NPPy)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) film. First, graphene oxide (GO) was reduced on the electrode surface electrochemically and then, SDBS-NPPy film was polymerized electrochemically on the ERGO coated GCE and bare GCE also. The SDBS-NPPy/ERGO and SDBS-NPPy films were treated electrochemically in phosphate buffer solution to replace macro SDBS- anions by smaller phosphate anions. Then, the physical properties of the above composite films were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and water wettability test. The replacement of SDBS- anions by phosphate anions leaves porous structure in the polymer films and also increases the hydrophobicity in the films. Then, these composite films were applied for the determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid. Under the optimal conditions, the linear range for dopamine detection is 0.1 μM-100.0 μM with the detection limit of 20 nM at S/N = 3. Generally, conducting polypyrrole film could sense ascorbic acid and dopamine simultaneously. However, we have proposed a simple route to synthesis a porous and hydrophobic polypyrrole composite film for selective determination of dopamine in the presence of higher concentration (five orders) of ascorbic acid and uric acid.

Biowaste-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets for Ultrahigh Power Density Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Dengfeng; Chen, Chong; Zhao, Gongyuan; Sun, Lei; Du, Baosheng; Zhang, Hong; Li, Zhuo; Sun, Ye; Besenbacher, Flemming; Yu, Miao

2018-03-05

Low-cost activated carbons with high capacitive properties remain desirable for supercapacitor applications. Herein, a three-dimensional scaffolding framework of porous carbon nanosheets (PCNSs) has been produced from a typical biowaste, namely, ground cherry calyces, the specific composition and natural structures of which have contributed to the PCNSs having a very large specific surface area of 1612 m 2  g -1 , a hierarchical pore size distribution, a turbostratic carbon structure with a high degree graphitization, and about 10 % oxygen and nitrogen heteroatoms. A high specific capacitance of 350 F g -1 at 0.1 A g -1 has been achieved in a two-electrode system with 6 m KOH; this value is among the highest specific capacitance of biomass-derived carbon materials. More inspiringly, a high energy density of 22.8 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 198.8 W kg -1 can be obtained with 1 m aqueous solution of Li 2 SO 4 , and an ultrahigh energy density of 81.4 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 446.3 W kg -1 is realized with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate electrolyte. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Pyroelectric energy harvesting using Olsen cycles in purified and porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navid, Ashcon; Pilon, Laurent

2011-01-01

This paper is concerned with the direct conversion of heat into electricity using pyroelectric materials. The Olsen (or Ericsson) cycle was experimentally performed on three different types of 60/40 poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymer samples, namely commercial, purified, and porous films. This cycle consists of two isoelectric field and two isothermal processes. The commercial and purified films were about 50 µm thick and produced a maximum energy density of 521 J l −1 and 426 J l −1 per cycle, respectively. This was achieved by successively dipping the films in cold and hot silicone oil baths at 25 and 110 °C under low and high applied electric fields of about 200 and 500 kV cm −1 , respectively. The 11 µm thick porous films achieved a maximum energy density of 188 J l −1 per cycle between 25 and 100 °C and electric field between 200 and 400 kV cm −1 . The performance of the purified and porous films suffered from their lower electrical resistivity and electric breakdown compared with commercial thin films. However, the energy densities of all 60/40 P(VDF-TrFE) films considered matched or exceeded those reported recently for 0.9Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –0.10PbTiO 3 (0.9PMN–0.1PT) (186 J l −1 ) and Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) 0.955 Ti 0.045 O 3 (243 J l −1 ) bulk ceramics. Furthermore, the results are discussed in light of recently proposed figures of merit for energy harvesting applications

Hierarchical templating in deposition of semi-covalently imprinted inverse opal polythiophene film for femtomolar determination of human serum albumin.

Science.gov (United States)

Dabrowski, Marcin; Cieplak, Maciej; Sharma, Piyush Sindhu; Borowicz, Pawel; Noworyta, Krzysztof; Lisowski, Wojciech; D'Souza, Francis; Kuhn, Alexander; Kutner, Wlodzimierz

2017-08-15

Nanostructured artificial receptor materials with unprecedented hierarchical structure for determination of human serum albumin (HSA) are designed and fabricated. For that purpose a new hierarchical template is prepared. This template allowed for simultaneous structural control of the deposited molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film on three length scales. A colloidal crystal templating with optimized electrochemical polymerization of 2,3'-bithiophene enables deposition of an MIP film in the form of an inverse opal. Thickness of the deposited polymer film is precisely controlled with the number of current oscillations during potentiostatic deposition of the imprinted poly(2,3'-bithiophene) film. Prior immobilization of HSA on the colloidal crystal allows formation of molecularly imprinted cavities exclusively on the internal surface of the pores. Furthermore, all binding sites are located on the surface of the imprinted cavities at locations corresponding to positions of functional groups present on the surface of HSA molecules due to prior derivatization of HSA molecules with appropriate functional monomers. This synergistic strategy results in a material with superior recognition performance. Integration of the MIP film as a recognition unit with a sensitive extended-gate field-effect transistor (EG-FET) transducer leads to highly selective HSA determination in the femtomolar concentration range. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of Meso-Porous Gamma-Alumina Films by Sol-Gel and Gel Casting Processes for Making Moisture Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalyan Kumar Mistry

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Meso-porous g-Al2O3 film may be used as a highly sensitive trace moisture sensor. The crack-free alumina film was developed using a combination of sol-gel and tape casting processes, which produce high porosity, high surface area and small pore dimensions in the range of few nano-meter at uniform distribution. Sol-gel processes are well known in nano-technology and nano-material preparation, but it is difficult to make crack-free thick or thin films using this method. Tape cast methods are used for the fabrication of flexible crack-free thick ceramic sheets. Our objective was to develop nano-structured, crack-free, transparent Al2O3 film a few microns thick, has a highly porous and stable crystallographic nature. A metallic paste was printed by screen printing on both side of the film surface for electrodes to form a sensitive element. A silver wire (dia j=0.1mm lead was connected to a grid structure electrode using a silver paste spot for fine joining. Alumina is absorbs moisture molecules into its meso-porous layer and changes its electrical characteristics according to the moisture content, its dielectric constant increase as moisture increase. Moisture molecules can be conceived of as dipoles in random state before the application of an electric field. When the dipole orientation was changed from random to an equilibrium state under the application of external field, a large change in dielectric constant was observed. The number of water molecules absorbed determines the electrical impedance of the capacitor, which in turn is proportional to water vapor pressure.

Surface modification of porous poly(tetrafluoraethylene) film by a simple chemical oxidation treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Shifang; Li Juan; Suo Jinping; Luo Tianzhi

2010-01-01

A simple, inexpensive and environmental chemical treatment process, i.e., treating porous poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) films by a mixture of potassium permanganate solution and nitric acid, was proposed to improve the hydrophilicity of PTFE. To evaluate the effectiveness of this strong oxidation treatment, contact angle measurement was performed. The effects of treatment time and temperature on the contact angle of PTFE were studied as well. The results showed that the chemical modification decreased contact angle of as-received PTFE film from 133 ± 3 deg. to 30 ± 4 deg. treated at 100 deg. C for 3 h, effectively converting the hydrophobic PTFE to a hydrophilic PTFE matrix. The changes in chemical structure, surface compositions and crystal structure of PTFE were examined by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. It was found that the F/C atomic ratio decreased from untreated 1.65-0.10 treated by the mixture at 100 deg. C for 3 h. Hydrophilic groups such as carbonyl (C=O) and hydroxyl (-OH) were introduced on the surface of PTFE after treatment. Furthermore, hydrophilic compounds K 0.27 MnO 2 .0.54H 2 O was absorbed on the surface of porous PTFE film. Both the introduction of hydrophilic groups and absorption of hydrophilic compounds contribute to the significantly decreased contact angle of PTFE.

Surface modification of porous poly(tetrafluoraethylene) film by a simple chemical oxidation treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Shifang; Li Juan [State Key Laboratory of Mould Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Luo-Yu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); Suo Jinping, E-mail: jpsuo@yahoo.com.cn [State Key Laboratory of Mould Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Luo-Yu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); Luo Tianzhi [State Key Laboratory of Mould Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Luo-Yu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)

2010-01-15

A simple, inexpensive and environmental chemical treatment process, i.e., treating porous poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) films by a mixture of potassium permanganate solution and nitric acid, was proposed to improve the hydrophilicity of PTFE. To evaluate the effectiveness of this strong oxidation treatment, contact angle measurement was performed. The effects of treatment time and temperature on the contact angle of PTFE were studied as well. The results showed that the chemical modification decreased contact angle of as-received PTFE film from 133 {+-} 3 deg. to 30 {+-} 4 deg. treated at 100 deg. C for 3 h, effectively converting the hydrophobic PTFE to a hydrophilic PTFE matrix. The changes in chemical structure, surface compositions and crystal structure of PTFE were examined by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. It was found that the F/C atomic ratio decreased from untreated 1.65-0.10 treated by the mixture at 100 deg. C for 3 h. Hydrophilic groups such as carbonyl (C=O) and hydroxyl (-OH) were introduced on the surface of PTFE after treatment. Furthermore, hydrophilic compounds K{sub 0.27}MnO{sub 2}.0.54H{sub 2}O was absorbed on the surface of porous PTFE film. Both the introduction of hydrophilic groups and absorption of hydrophilic compounds contribute to the significantly decreased contact angle of PTFE.

Development of porous plug phase separator and superfluid film flow suppression system for the Soft X-ray Spectrometer onboard ASTRO-H

Science.gov (United States)

Ezoe, Yuichiro; Ishikawa, Kumi; Ohashi, Takaya; Yamaguchi, Hiroya; Mitsuda, Kazuhisa; Fujimoto, Ryuichi; Murakami, Masahide; Kanao, Kenichi; Yoshida, Seiji; Tsunematsu, Shoji; DiPirro, Michael; Shirron, Peter; the SXS Team

2012-04-01

ASTRO-H is the sixth Japanese astronomy satellite scheduled for launch in 2014. The Soft X-ray Spectrometer instrument is onboard ASTRO-H. This is a 6 × 6 array of X-ray microcalorimeters with an energy resolution of gravity, a porous plug phase separator made of sintered stainless is used. Since the vapor mass flow rate is only 29 μg/s, any additional superfluid film loss influences the lifetime of the liquid helium. Therefore, a film flow suppression system consisting of an orifice, a heat exchanger, and knife edge devices is adopted based on the design used for the X-ray Spectrometer onboard Suzaku. The film flow will be suppressed to <2 μg/s, sufficiently smaller than the vapor flow rate. In the present investigation, the design and ground experiments of a helium vent system composed of the porous plug and film flow suppression system are presented. The results show that the phase separation and the film flow suppression are satisfactorily achieved.

Hierarchical Cu2O foam/g-C3N4 photocathode for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xinzhou; Zhang, Jingtao; Wang, Biao; Li, Qiuguo; Chu, Sheng

2018-01-01

Solar photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production is a promising way for solving energy and environment problems. Earth-abundant Cu2O is a potential light absorber for PEC hydrogen production. In this article, hierarchical porous Cu2O foams are prepared by thermal oxidation of the electrochemically deposited Cu foams. PEC performances of the Cu2O foams are systematically studied and discussed. Benefiting from their higher light harvesting and more efficient charge separation, the Cu2O foams demonstrate significantly enhanced photocurrents and photostability compared to their film counterparts. Moreover, by integrating g-C3N4, hierarchical Cu2O foam/g-C3N4 composites are prepared with further improved photocurrent and photostability, appearing to be potential photocathodes for solar PEC hydrogen production. This study may provide a new and useful insight for the development of Cu2O-based photocathodes for PEC hydrogen production.

Effects of a magnetic field on growth of porous alumina films on aluminum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ispas, Adriana; Bund, Andreas [Technische Universitaet Dresden, Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, 01062 Dresden (Germany); Vrublevsky, Igor, E-mail: vrublevsky@bsuir.edu.b [Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics Minsk, Department of Micro and Nanoelectronics, 220013 Minsk (Belarus)

2010-05-01

The effects induced by a magnetic field on the oxide film growth on aluminum in sulfuric, oxalic, phosphoric and sulfamic acid, and on current transients during re-anodizing of porous alumina films in the barrier-type electrolyte, were studied. Aluminum films of 100 nm thickness were prepared by thermal evaporation on Si wafer substrates. We could show that the duration of the anodizing process increased by 33% during anodizing in sulfuric acid when a magnetic field was applied (0.7 T), compared to the process without a magnetic field. Interestingly, such a magnetic field effect was not found during anodizing in oxalic and sulfamic acid. The pore intervals were decreased by ca. 17% in oxalic acid. These findings were attributed to variations in electronic properties of the anodic oxide films formed in various electrolytes and interpreted on the basis of the influence of trapped electrons on the mobility of ions migrating during the film growth. The spin dependent tunneling of electrons into the surface layer of the oxide under the magnetic field could be responsible for the shifts of the current transients to lower potentials during re-anodizing of heat-treated oxalic and phosphoric acid alumina films.

Synthesis and characterization of porous structured ZnO thin film for dye sensitized solar cell applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marimuthu, T.; Anandhan, N., E-mail: anandhan-kn@rediffmail.com; Mummoorthi, M. [School of Physics, Alagappa University, Karaikudi – 630 003 (India); Dharuman, V. [Department of Bioelectronics and Biosensors, Alagappa University, Karaikudi – 630 003 (India)

2016-05-23

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc oxide/eosin yellow (ZnO/EY) thin films were potentiostatically deposited onto fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate. Effect of eosin yellow dye on structural, morphological and optical properties was studied. X-ray diffraction patterns, micro Raman spectra and photoluminescence (PL) spectra reveal hexagonal wurtzite structure with less atomic defects in 101 plane orientation of the ZnO/EY film. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show flower for ZnO and porous like structure for ZnO/EY thin film, respectively. DSSC was constructed and evaluated by measuring the current density verses voltage curve.

Enhanced catalytic performance for light-olefins production from chloromethane over hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite synthesized by a growth-inhibition strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qing; Wen, Dafen; Yang, Yanran; Fei, Zhaoyang; Zhang, Zhuxiu; Chen, Xian; Tang, Jihai; Cui, Mifen; Qiao, Xu

2018-03-01

Hierarchical porous ZSM-5 (HP-ZSM-5) zeolites were synthesized by hydrothermal crystallization method adding triethoxyvinylsilane as the growth-inhibitor at different hydrothermal crystallized temperatures. The properties of the obtained samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, N2-sorption, uptake of ethylene, 27Al MAS NMR, NH3-TPD, and Py-IR. It was found that the mesopore was introduced and the acidity was adjusted over HP-ZSM-5 samples successfully. The hydrothermal crystallized temperature had an important influence on the porous structure and surface properties. The catalytic performance for chloromethane to light-olefins (CMTO) were also investigated. Compared with ZSM-5 samples, HP-ZSM-5 samples exhibited enhanced stability and increased selectivity of light-olefins for CMTO reaction because of the introduction of the abundant mesopore and appropriate acidity. The lifetime (the duration of chloromethane conversion >98%) and selectivity of light-olefins reached 115 h and 69.3%, respectively.

Fabrication of hierarchical flower-like porous ZnO nanostructures from layered ZnC2O4·3Zn(OH)2 and gas sensing properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Jiashan; Sun, Jianbo; Liu, Xin; Li, Jinwei; Ma, Xinzhi; Chen, Tingting

2014-01-01

ZnO materials with porous and hierarchical flower-like structure were synthesized through mild hydrothermal and simple calcination approach, in which the flower-like layered zinc oxalate hydroxide (ZnC 2 O 4 ·3Zn(OH) 2 ) precursor was first synthesized and then calcined at 600 °C. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopic (TEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. We proposed the possible growth mechanism of the material via studying the time evolution experiment results. In the process of reaction, oxalic acid as a structure-directing agent hydrolyzed and then formed primarily sheets-like intermediate ZnC 2 O 4 ·2H 2 O. Hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) as surfactant, with directional adsorption, leads to the formation of layered zinc oxalate hydroxide precursor. Furthermore, the gas sensitivity also can be characterized, whose results indicated that the synthesized materials had a preferable selectivity to ethanol gas. The fast response rate and reversible performance can be attributed to the produced greater specific surface area produced, which was caused by the porous and hierarchical flower-like structure.

Fabrication of hierarchical flower-like porous ZnO nanostructures from layered ZnC2O4·3Zn(OH)2 and gas sensing properties

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Jiashan; Sun, Jianbo; Liu, Xin; Li, Jinwei; Ma, Xinzhi; Chen, Tingting

2014-07-01

ZnO materials with porous and hierarchical flower-like structure were synthesized through mild hydrothermal and simple calcination approach, in which the flower-like layered zinc oxalate hydroxide (ZnC2O4·3Zn(OH)2) precursor was first synthesized and then calcined at 600 °C. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopic (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. We proposed the possible growth mechanism of the material via studying the time evolution experiment results. In the process of reaction, oxalic acid as a structure-directing agent hydrolyzed and then formed primarily sheets-like intermediate ZnC2O4·2H2O. Hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) as surfactant, with directional adsorption, leads to the formation of layered zinc oxalate hydroxide precursor. Furthermore, the gas sensitivity also can be characterized, whose results indicated that the synthesized materials had a preferable selectivity to ethanol gas. The fast response rate and reversible performance can be attributed to the produced greater specific surface area produced, which was caused by the porous and hierarchical flower-like structure.

A highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction: phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon derived from an iron-functionalized polymer

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Chengwei; Zhong, Hexiang; Li, Xianfeng; Yao, Lan; Zhang, Huamin

2016-01-01

Heteroatom-doped carbon materials have shown respectable activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. However, the performances of these materials are not satisfactory for energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells. Here, we demonstrate a new type of phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon (PNHOPC) derived from an iron-functionalized mesoporous polymer through an evaporation-induced self-assembly process that simultaneously combines the carbonization and nitrogen doping processes. The soft template and the nitrogen doping process facilitate the formation of the hierarchically ordered structure for the PNHOPC. The catalyst possesses a large surface area (1118 cm2 g-1) and a pore volume of 1.14 cm3 g-1. Notably, it exhibits excellent ORR catalytic performance, superior stability and methanol tolerance in acidic electrolytes, thus making the catalyst promising for fuel cells. The correlations between the unique pore structure and the nitrogen and phosphorus configuration of the catalysts with high catalytic activity are thoroughly investigated.Heteroatom-doped carbon materials have shown respectable activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. However, the performances of these materials are not satisfactory for energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells. Here, we demonstrate a new type of phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon (PNHOPC) derived from an iron-functionalized mesoporous polymer through an evaporation-induced self-assembly process that simultaneously combines the carbonization and nitrogen doping processes. The soft template and the nitrogen doping process facilitate the formation of the hierarchically ordered structure for the PNHOPC. The catalyst possesses a large surface area (1118 cm2 g-1) and a pore volume of 1.14 cm3 g-1. Notably, it exhibits excellent ORR catalytic performance, superior stability and methanol tolerance in acidic

Comparative study of the biodegradability of porous silicon films in simulated body fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Peckham, J; Andrews, G T

2015-01-01

The biodegradability of oxidized microporous, mesoporous and macroporous silicon films in a simulated body fluid with ion concentrations similar to those found in human blood plasma were studied using gravimetry. Film dissolution rates were determined by periodically weighing the samples after removal from the fluid. The dissolution rates for microporous silicon were found to be higher than those for mesoporous silicon of comparable porosity. The dissolution rate of macroporous silicon was much lower than that for either microporous or mesoporous silicon. This is attributed to the fact that its specific surface area is much lower than that of microporous and mesoporous silicon. Using an equation adapted from [Surf. Sci. Lett. 306 (1994), L550-L554], the dissolution rate of porous silicon in simulated body fluid can be estimated if the film thickness and specific surface area are known.

Preparation and characterization of photocatalytic performance of hierarchical heterogeneous nanostructured ZnO/TiO2 films made by DC magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Phuc Quy; Vu Thi Hanh Thu

2013-01-01

With the aim to enhance photocatalytic properties and anti-Ecoli bacteria abilities of TiO 2 thin films; hierarchical heterogeneous nanostructured ZnO/TiO 2 (HN s ) films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. The obtained results showed that both the photocatalytic performance and anti-Ecoli bacteria ability of HN s films exhibited enhancement in comparison with standard TiO 2 films. This enhancement was explained due to the reduction of the electron - hole recombination and the red shift of absorption edge of the HNs films. (author)

Mango core inner shell membrane template-directed synthesis of porous ZnO films and their application for enzymatic glucose biosensor

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yu; Wang, Lei; Ye, Zhizhen; Zhao, Minggang; Cai, Hui; Huang, Jingyun

2013-11-01

Micro/nano-porous ZnO films were synthesized through a simple biotemplate-directed method using mango core inner shell membranes as templates. The achieved ZnO films with wrinkles on the surface are combined of large holes and small pores in the bulk. High specific surface area, numerous microspaces, and small channels for fluid circulation provided by this unique structure along with the good biocompatibility and electron communication features of ZnO material make the product an ideal platform for the immobilization of enzymes The fabricated glucose biosensor based on the porous ZnO films exhibits good selective detection ability of analyte with good stability, high sensitivity of 50.58 μA cm-2 mM-1 and a wide linear range of 0.2-5.6 mM along with a low detection limit of 10 μM.

Electro-synthesis of novel nanostructured PEDOT films and their application as catalyst support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Yushan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT films doped with nitric and chlorine ions have been electrochemically deposited simply by a one-step electrochemical method in an aqueous media in the absence of any surfactant. The fabricated PEDOT films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate that the hierarchical structured PEDOT film doped with nitric ions displays a 'lunar craters' porous morphology consisting of PEDOT nano-sheets with a thickness of less than 2 nm. The effect of counter ions on the electro-polymerization, the electrochemistry, and the morphology of the polymer film was studied. Compared with PEDOT film doped with nitric acid, PEDOT film deposited in the presence of chlorine ions shows irregular morphology and less electrochemical activity. The specific nanostructure of the polymer was further studied as catalyst support for platinum nanoparticles to methanol electro-oxidation.

Design of 3D Graphene-Oxide Spheres and Their Derived Hierarchical Porous Structures for High Performance Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhuangnan; Gadipelli, Srinivas; Yang, Yuchen; Guo, Zhengxiao

2017-11-01

Graphene-oxide (GO) based porous structures are highly desirable for supercapacitors, as the charge storage and transfer can be enhanced by advancement in the synthesis. An effective route is presented of, first, synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) assembly of GO sheets in a spherical architecture (GOS) by flash-freezing of GO dispersion, and then development of hierarchical porous graphene (HPG) networks by facile thermal-shock reduction of GOS. This leads to a superior gravimetric specific capacitance of ≈306 F g -1 at 1.0 A g -1 , with a capacitance retention of 93% after 10 000 cycles. The values represent a significant capacitance enhancement by 30-50% compared with the GO powder equivalent, and are among the highest reported for GO-based structures from different chemical reduction routes. Furthermore, a solid-state flexible supercapacitor is fabricated by constructing the HPG with polymer gel electrolyte, exhibiting an excellent areal specific capacitance of ≈220 mF cm -2 at 1.0 mA cm -2 with exceptional cyclic stability. The work reveals a facile but efficient synthesis approach of GO-based materials to enhance the capacitive energy storage. © 2017 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hierarchical mesoporous/microporous carbon with graphitized frameworks for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingying Lv

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A hierarchical meso-/micro-porous graphitized carbon with uniform mesopores and ordered micropores, graphitized frameworks, and extra-high surface area of ∼2200 m2/g, was successfully synthesized through a simple one-step chemical vapor deposition process. The commercial mesoporous zeolite Y was utilized as a meso-/ micro-porous template, and the small-molecule methane was employed as a carbon precursor. The as-prepared hierarchical meso-/micro-porous carbons have homogeneously distributed mesopores as a host for electrolyte, which facilitate Li+ ions transport to the large-area micropores, resulting a high reversible lithium ion storage of 1000 mA h/g and a high columbic efficiency of 65% at the first cycle.

Current-voltage characteristics of porous-silicon structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diligenti, A.; Nannini, A.; Pennelli, G.; Pieri, F.; Fuso, F.; Allegrini, M.

1996-01-01

I-V DC characteristics have been measured on metal/porous-silicon structures. In particular, the measurements on metal/free-standing porous-silicon film/metal devices confirmed the result, already obtained, that the metal/porous-silicon interface plays a crucial role in the transport of any device. Four-contacts measurements on free-standing layers showed that the current linearly depends on the voltage and that the conduction process is thermally activated, the activation energy depending on the porous silicon film production parameters. Finally, annealing experiments performed in order to improve the conduction of rectifying contacts, are described

Investigation of the HA film deposited on the porous Ti6Al4V alloy prepared via additive manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surmeneva, M; Chudinova, E; Syrtanov, M; Surmenev, R; Koptioug, A

2015-01-01

This study is focused on the use of radio frequency magnetron sputtering to modify the surface of porous Ti6Al4V alloy fabricated via additive manufacturing technology. The hydroxyapatite (HA) coated porous Ti6Al4V alloy was studied in respect with its chemical and phase composition, surface morphology, water contact angle and hysteresis, and surface free energy. Thin nanocrystalline HA film was deposited while its structure with diamond-shaped cells remained unchanged. Hysteresis and water contact angle measurements revealed an effect of the deposited HA films, namely an increased water contact angle and contact angle hysteresis. The increase of the contact angle of the coating-substrate system compared to the uncoated substrate was attributed to the multiscale structure of the resulted surfaces. (paper)

Incomparable hardness and modulus of biomimetic porous polyurethane films prepared by directional melt crystallization of a solvent

Science.gov (United States)

An, Suyeong; Kim, Byoungsoo; Lee, Jonghwi

2017-07-01

Porous materials with surprisingly diverse structures have been utilized in nature for many functional purposes. However, the structures and applications of porous man-made polymer materials have been limited by the use of processing techniques involving foaming agents. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the outstanding hardness and modulus properties of an elastomer that originate from the novel processing approach applied. Polyurethane films of 100-μm thickness with biomimetic ordered porous structures were prepared using directional melt crystallization of a solvent and exhibited hardness and modulus values that were 6.8 and 4.3 times higher than those of the random pore structure, respectively. These values surpass the theoretical prediction of the typical model for porous materials, which works reasonably well for random pores but not for directional pores. Both the ordered and random pore structures exhibited similar porosities and pore sizes, which decreased with increasing solution concentration. This unexpectedly significant improvement of the hardness and modulus could open up new application areas for porous polymeric materials using this relatively novel processing technique.

Optical Design of Porous ZnO/TiO2 Films for Highly Transparent Glasses with Broadband Ultraviolet Protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Sung Song

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present a design of a bilayer porous film structure on a glass substrate for the highly efficient ultraviolet (UV protection with high visible-light transparency. To effectively block UVB (280–315 nm and UVA (315–400 nm, titanium dioxide (TiO2 and zinc oxide (ZnO are used as absorbing layers having the appropriate coverages in different UV ranges with extinction coefficients, respectively. We show the process of refractive index (RI matching by controlling porosity (Pr. Effective RIs of porous media with TiO2 and ZnO were calculated based on volume averaging theory. Transmittances of the designed films with different effective RIs were calculated using rigorous coupled-wave analysis method. Using admittance loci method, the film thickness was optimized in center wavelengths from 450 to 550 nm. The results show that the optimal design provides high UV shielding performance at both UVA and UVB with high transparency in the visible range. We also analyze electrical field distributions in each layer and angle dependency with 3D HSV color map.

Mango core inner shell membrane template-directed synthesis of porous ZnO films and their application for enzymatic glucose biosensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Yu; Wang, Lei [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 (China); Ye, Zhizhen [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 (China); Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, Zhejiang University (China); Zhao, Minggang; Cai, Hui [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 (China); Huang, Jingyun, E-mail: huangjy@zju.edu.cn [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 (China); Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, Zhejiang University (China)

2013-11-15

Micro/nano-porous ZnO films were synthesized through a simple biotemplate-directed method using mango core inner shell membranes as templates. The achieved ZnO films with wrinkles on the surface are combined of large holes and small pores in the bulk. High specific surface area, numerous microspaces, and small channels for fluid circulation provided by this unique structure along with the good biocompatibility and electron communication features of ZnO material make the product an ideal platform for the immobilization of enzymes The fabricated glucose biosensor based on the porous ZnO films exhibits good selective detection ability of analyte with good stability, high sensitivity of 50.58 μA cm{sup −2} mM{sup −1} and a wide linear range of 0.2–5.6 mM along with a low detection limit of 10 μM.

Directed self-assembly of nanoporous metallic- and bimetallic nanoparticle thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pietsch, Torsten [Fachbereich Physik, Universitaet Konstanz (Germany); Gindy, Nabil; Fahmi, Amir [Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom)

2010-07-01

Nanoporous thin films attracted considerable interest due to potential applications in optical coatings, catalysis, sensors as well as electronic devices. Recently, such films were prepared by post deposition treatments. The present study is focused on the fabrication of nanoporous thin films via directed self-assembly of hybrid materials. Due to the nature of this process no additional treatments are necessary to develop the pores. Hierarchical nanoporous structures are fabricated directly via deposition of polymer templated Au-nanoparticles onto hydrophilic substrates. These films exhibit two different pore diameters and a total pore density of more than 10{sup 10} holes per cm{sup 2}. Control over the pore size is achieved by changing the molecular weight of the PS-b-P4VP diblock copolymer. Moreover, the porous morphology is used as a template to fabricate bimetallic nanostructured thin films. Such well-defined nanostructures, not only exhibit unique physical properties but also provide control over the hydrophobicity of the coated surfaces.

Hierarchically porous graphene in natural graphitic globules from silicate magmatic rocks

OpenAIRE

PONOMARCHUK V.A.; TITOV A.T.; MOROZ T.N.; PYRYAEV A.N.; PONOMARCHUK A.V.

2014-01-01

Naturally-occurring nanostructured graphites from silicate magmatic rocks, which are rare, were characterized using electron microscope and X-ray spectroscopy. This graphite consists of porous carbon, nanographite layers, microand nanotubes. The porous carbon is classified as macroporous matter with a small amount of mezopores. Evidence for the unusual properties of porous carbon are given: nanographite layers are created at the exposed surface of sample and the nanotubes occurs in the bulk o...

Tailored Porous Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

BARTON,THOMAS J.; BULL,LUCY M.; KLEMPERER,WALTER G.; LOY,DOUGLAS A.; MCENANEY,BRIAN; MISONO,MAKOTO; MONSON,PETER A.; PEZ,GUIDO; SCHERER,GEORGE W.; VARTULI,JAMES C.; YAGHI,OMAR M.

1999-11-09

Tailoring of porous materials involves not only chemical synthetic techniques for tailoring microscopic properties such as pore size, pore shape, pore connectivity, and pore surface reactivity, but also materials processing techniques for tailoring the meso- and the macroscopic properties of bulk materials in the form of fibers, thin films and monoliths. These issues are addressed in the context of five specific classes of porous materials: oxide molecular sieves, porous coordination solids, porous carbons, sol-gel derived oxides, and porous heteropolyanion salts. Reviews of these specific areas are preceded by a presentation of background material and review of current theoretical approaches to adsorption phenomena. A concluding section outlines current research needs and opportunities.

Growth of a sea urchin-like rutile TiO2 hierarchical microsphere film on Ti foil for a quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Ri, Jin Hyok; Wu, Shufang; Jin, Jingpeng; Peng, Tianyou

2017-11-30

A sea urchin-like rutile TiO 2 microsphere (RMS) film was fabricated on Ti foil via a hydrothermal process. The resulting rutile TiO 2 hierarchical microspheres with a diameter of 5-6 μm are composed of nanorods with a diameter of ∼200 nm and a length of 1-2 μm. The sea urchin-like hierarchical structure leads to the Ti foil-based RMS film possessing much better light-scattering capability in the visible region than the bare Ti foil. By using it as an underlayer of a nanosized anatase TiO 2 film (bTPP3) derived from a commercially available paste (TPP3), the corresponding bilayer Ti foil-based quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) only gives a conversion efficiency of 4.05%, much lower than the single bTPP3 film-based one on Ti foil (5.97%). By spin-coating a diluted TPP3 paste (sTPP3) on the RMS film prior to scraping the bTPP3 film, the resulting RMS/sTPP3/bTPP3 film-based DSSC achieves a significantly enhanced efficiency (7.27%). The electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) show that the RMS/sTPP3/bTPP3 film possesses better electron transport capability and longer electron lifetime than the bTPP3 film. This work not only provides the first example of directly growing rutile TiO 2 hierarchically structured microsphere film on Ti foil suitable for replacing the rigid, heavy and expensive transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass substrate to serve as a light-scattering underlayer of Ti foil-based quasi-solid-state DSSCs, but also paves a new route to develop Ti foil-based flexible DSSCs with high efficiency, low cost and a wide application field through optimizing the composition and structure of the photoanode.

Robust Superhydrophobic Carbon Nanotube Film with Lotus Leaf Mimetic Multiscale Hierarchical Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pengwei; Zhao, Tianyi; Bian, Ruixin; Wang, Guangyan; Liu, Huan

2017-12-26

Superhydrophobic carbon nanotube (CNT) films have demonstrated many fascinating performances in versatile applications, especially for those involving solid/liquid interfacial processes, because of their ability to affect the material/energy transfer at interfaces. Thus, developing superhydrophobic CNTs has attracted extensive research interests in the past decades, and it could be achieved either by surface coating of low-free energy materials or by constructing micro/nanohierarchical structures via various complicated processes. So far, developing a simple approach to fabricate stable superhydrophobic CNTs remains a challenge because the capillary force induced coalescence frequently happens when interacting with liquid. Herein, drawing inspirations from the lotus leaf, we proposed a simple one-step chemical vapor deposition approach with programmable controlled gas flow to directly fabricate a CNT film with rather stable superhydrophobicity, which can effectively prevent even small water droplets from permeating into the film. The robust superhydrophobicity was attributable to typical lotus-leaf-like micro/nanoscale hierarchical surface structures of the CNT film, where many microscale clusters composed of entangled nanotubes randomly protrude out of the under-layer aligned nanotubes. Consequently, dual-scale air pockets were trapped within each microscale CNT cluster and between, which could largely reduce the liquid/solid interface, leading to a Cassie state. Moreover, the superhydrophobicity of the CNT film showed excellent durability after long time exposure to air and even to corrosive liquids with a wide range of pH values. We envision that the approach developed is advantageous for versatile physicochemical interfacial processes, such as drag reduction, electrochemical catalysis, anti-icing, and biosensors.

Structural, optical and electrical properties of quasi-monocrystalline silicon thin films obtained by rapid thermal annealing of porous silicon layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hajji, M.; Khardani, M.; Khedher, N.; Rahmouni, H.; Bessais, B.; Ezzaouia, H.; Bouchriha, H.

2006-01-01

Quasi-mono-crystalline silicon (QMS) layers have a top surface like crystalline silicon with small voids in the body. Such layers are reported to have a higher absorption coefficient than crystalline silicon at the interesting range of the solar spectrum for photovoltaic application. In this work we present a study of the structural, optical and electrical properties of quasimonocrystalline silicon thin films. Quasimonocrystalline silicon thin films were obtained from porous silicon, which has been annealed at a temperature ranging from 950 to 1050 deg. C under H 2 atmosphere for different annealing durations. The porous layers were prepared by conventional electrochemical anodization using a double tank cell and a HF / Ethanol electrolyte. Porous silicon is formed on highly doped p + -type silicon substrates that enable us to prevent back contacts for the anodization. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was used to study the morphological quality of the prepared layers. Optical properties were extracted from transmission and reflectivity spectra. Dark I-V characteristics were used to determine the electrical conductivity of quasimonocrystalline silicon thin films. Results show an important improvement of the absorption coefficient of the material and electrical conductivity reaches a value of twenty orders higher than that of starting mesoporous silicon

Preparation of activated carbon aerogels with hierarchically porous structures for electrical double layer capacitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Dong; Shen, Jun; Liu, Nianping; Yang, Huiyu; Du, Ai

2013-01-01

Activated carbon aerogels (ACAs) with hierarchically porous structures and high specific surface area have been prepared via CO 2 and KOH activation processes. The pore structures of ACAs are characterized by N 2 adsorption/desorption and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results show that the ACAs contain three types of pores: micropores with diameters below 2 nm, small mesopores with diameters from 2 to 4 nm and large pores or channels with diameters over 30 nm. The typical sample ACAs-4, which possess pore volume of 2.73 cm 3 g −1 and specific surface area of 2119 m 2 g −1 , exhibits high specific capacitances of 250 F g −1 and 198 F g −1 at the current densities of 0.5 A g −1 and 20 A g −1 respectively in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. Furthermore, the resultant ACAs electrode materials also exhibit high power density, good cycling stability and long lifetime. With these features, ACAs are expected to be promising electrode materials for electrical double layer capacitors

Humic acids-based hierarchical porous carbons as high-rate performance electrodes for symmetric supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Zhi-jun; Chen, Ming-ming; Wang, Cheng-yang; Yuan, Yun-cai

2014-07-01

Two kinds of hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) with specific surface areas of 2000 m(2)g(-1) were synthesized using leonardite humic acids (LHA) or biotechnology humic acids (BHA) precursors via a KOH activation process. Humic acids have a high content of oxygen-containing groups which enabled them to dissolve in aqueous KOH and facilitated the homogeneous KOH activation. The LHA-based HPC is made up of abundant micro-, meso-, and macropores and in 6M KOH it has a specific capacitance of 178 F g(-1) at 100 Ag(-1) and its capacitance retention on going from 0.05 to 100 A g(-1) is 64%. In contrast, the BHA-based HPC exhibits a lower capacitance retention of 54% and a specific capacitance of 157 F g(-1) at 100 A g(-1) which is due to the excessive micropores in the BHA-HPC. Moreover, LHA-HPC is produced in a higher yield than BHA-HPC (51 vs. 17 wt%). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Porosity-dependent fractal nature of the porous silicon surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahmani, N.; Dariani, R. S., E-mail: dariani@alzahra.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Alzahra University, Tehran, 1993893973 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-07-15

Porous silicon films with porosity ranging from 42% to 77% were fabricated by electrochemical anodization under different current density. We used atomic force microscopy and dynamic scaling theory for deriving the surface roughness profile and processing the topography of the porous silicon layers, respectively. We first compared the topography of bare silicon surface with porous silicon and then studied the effect of the porosity of porous silicon films on their scaling behavior by using their self-affinity nature. Our work demonstrated that silicon compared to the porous silicon films has the highest Hurst parameter, indicating that the formation of porous layer due to the anodization etching of silicon surface leads to an increase of its roughness. Fractal analysis revealed that the evolution of the nanocrystallites’ fractal dimension along with porosity. Also, we found that both interface width and Hurst parameter are affected by the increase of porosity.

Modelling the growth process of porous aluminum oxide film during anodization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aryslanova, E M; Alfimov, A V; Chivilikhin, S A

2015-01-01

Currently it has become important for the development of metamaterials and nanotechnology to obtain regular self-assembled structures. One such structure is porous anodic alumina film that consists of hexagonally packed cylindrical pores. In this work we consider the anodization process, our model takes into account the influence of layers of aluminum and electrolyte on the rate of growth of aluminum oxide, as well as the effect of surface diffusion. In present work we consider those effects. And as a result of our model we obtain the minimum distance between centers of alumina pores in the beginning of anodizing process. (paper)

Modelling the growth process of porous aluminum oxide film during anodization

Science.gov (United States)

Aryslanova, E. M.; Alfimov, A. V.; Chivilikhin, S. A.

2015-11-01

Currently it has become important for the development of metamaterials and nanotechnology to obtain regular self-assembled structures. One such structure is porous anodic alumina film that consists of hexagonally packed cylindrical pores. In this work we consider the anodization process, our model takes into account the influence of layers of aluminum and electrolyte on the rate of growth of aluminum oxide, as well as the effect of surface diffusion. In present work we consider those effects. And as a result of our model we obtain the minimum distance between centers of alumina pores in the beginning of anodizing process.

Effect of gas type on foam film permeability and its implications for foam flow in porous media.

Science.gov (United States)

Farajzadeh, R; Muruganathan, R M; Rossen, W R; Krastev, R

2011-10-14

The aim of this paper is to provide a perspective on the effect of gas type on the permeability of foam films stabilized by different types of surfactant and to present a critical overview of the tracer gas experiments, which is the common approach to determine the trapped fraction of foam in porous media. In these experiments some part of the gas is replaced by a "tracer gas" during the steady-state stage of the experiments and trapped fraction of foam is determined by fitting the effluent data to a capacitance mass-transfer model. We present the experimental results on the measurement of the gas permeability of foam films stabilized with five surfactants (non-ionic, anionic and cationic) and different salt concentrations. The salt concentrations assure formation of either common black (CBF) or Newton black films (NBF). The experiments are performed with different single gasses. The permeability of the CBF is in general higher than that of the NBF. This behavior is explained by the higher density of the surfactant molecules in the NBF compared to that of CBF. It is also observed that the permeability coefficient, K(cm/s), of CBF and NBF for non-ionic and cationic surfactants are similar and K is insensitive to film thickness. Compared to anionic surfactants, the films made by the non-ionic surfactant have much lower permeability while the films made by the cationic surfactant have larger permeability. This conclusion is valid for all gasses. For all types of surfactant the gas permeability of foam film is largely dependent on the dissolution of gas in the surfactant solution and increases with increasing gas solubility in the bulk liquid. The measured values of K are consistent with rapid diffusion of tracer gasses through trapped gas adjacent to flowing gas in porous media, and difficulties in interpreting the results of tracer-foam experiments with conventional capacitance models. The implications of the results for foam flow in porous media and factors leading

Hierarchical opal grating films prepared by slide coating of colloidal dispersions in binary liquid media.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Wonmok; Kim, Seulgi; Kim, Seulki; Kim, Jin-Ho; Lee, Hyunjung

2015-02-15

There are active researches on well ordered opal films due to their possible applications to various photonic devices. A recently developed slide coating method is capable of rapid fabrication of large area opal films from aqueous colloidal dispersion. In the current study, the slide coating of polystyrene colloidal dispersions in water/i-propanol (IPA) binary media is investigated. Under high IPA content in a dispersing medium, resulting opal film showed a deterioration of long range order, as well as a decreased film thickness due to dilution effect. From the binary liquid, the dried opal films exhibited the unprecedented topological groove patterns with varying periodic distances as a function of alcohol contents in the media. The groove patterns were consisted of the hierarchical structures of the terraced opal layers with periodic thickness variations. The origin of the groove patterns was attributed to a shear-induced periodic instability of colloidal concentration within a thin channel during the coating process which was directly converted to a groove patterns in a resulting opal film due to rapid evaporation of liquid. The groove periods of opal films were in the range of 50-500 μm, and the thickness differences between peak and valley of the groove were significantly large enough to be optically distinguishable, such that the coated films can be utilized as the optical grating film to disperse infra-red light. Utilizing a lowered hydrophilicity of water/IPA dispersant, an opal film could be successfully coated on a flexible Mylar film without significant dewetting problem. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Laser Direct Writing of Tree-Shaped Hierarchical Cones on a Superhydrophobic Film for High-Efficiency Water Collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Meng; Liu, Qian; Zhang, Haoran; Wang, Chuang; Wang, Lei; Xiang, Bingxi; Fan, Yongtao; Guo, Chuan Fei; Ruan, Shuangchen

2017-08-30

Directional water collection has stimulated a great deal of interest because of its potential applications in the field of microfluidics, liquid transportation, fog harvesting, and so forth. There have been some bio or bioinspired structures for directional water collection, from one-dimensional spider silk to two-dimensional star-like patterns to three-dimensional Nepenthes alata. Here we present a simple way for the accurate design and highly controllable driving of tiny droplets: by laser direct writing of hierarchical patterns with modified wettability and desired geometry on a superhydrophobic film, the patterned film can precisely and directionally drive tiny water droplets and dramatically improve the efficiency of water collection with a factor of ∼36 compared with the original superhydrophobic film. Such a patterned film might be an ideal platform for water collection from humid air and for planar microfluidics without tunnels.

Kosterlitz-Thouless superfluid transition for thin helium-4 films adsorbed in porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotsubo, V.Y.

1985-01-01

Thin helium-4 films adsorbed in porous media with small grain sizes are studied in an attempt to understand size effects on the thin-film superfluid transition. Films were adsorbed in 500A, 3000A, and 1μ diameter packed alumina powders, and the superfluidity density was probed using third sound. The main features observed are a broadening of the transition and a reduction of third sound attenuation as the grain sizes are reduced. To explain the results, the flat-substrate Kosterlitz-Thouless theory is adapted to a finite-size system. The model, which is based on the behavior of thermally excited vortices, qualitatively agrees with the experimental results. Fits to the sound velocity data produces reasonable values for the parameters of the vortices, but quantitative agreement with the attenuation data could not be achieved. The overall results of this study suggests that the transition evolves continuously as the geometry changes form the flat substrate down to this small scale systems

STUDY CONCERNING THE INFLUENCE OF CERTAIN HYDROPHILIC AUXILIARIES ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE PLASTICIZED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE POROUS FILMS Part II-HYGIENIC PROPERTIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BĂLĂU MÎNDRU Tudorel

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper was to obtain certain PVC films with improved hygienic properties, with applications both in the artificial leather industry and in other domains. This was done by introducing certain hydrophilic auxiliaries with free chemical functions into the chemical structure of the PVC films, such as: collagen hydrolysates (CH, hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (HTPDMS and nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE. The use of these hydrophilic auxiliaries combined with the action of the high frequency electric fields (H.F.E.F. allows the attainment of cellular structures where the walls of the cells obtained from the expanding process display an enhanced humidity absorption. The collagen hydrolysates used to obtain the plasticized PVC porous films was obtained by electrolytic hydrolysis starting from Chamois leather powder waste resulting from buffing operation, according to a methodology described in a previous paper. The first part of this study was concerned with the influence of the addition of hydrophilic agents upon the moisture sorption of the plasticized PVC porous films. In this paper, there was investigated the water vapour and air permeability as well as the water vapour absorption of the porous films expanded in the H.F.E.F. in correlation with the nature and the recipe variant of the hydrophilic auxiliaries. The results highlighted the fact that the use of certain combinations of hydrophilic agents led to obtaining materials with adequate hygienic properties.

Template-free approach to synthesize hierarchical porous nickel cobalt oxides for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Jie; Sun, Jing; Xu, Chaohe; Xu, Huan; Gao, Lian

2012-10-01

Nickel cobalt oxides with various Ni/Co ratios were synthesized using a facile template-free approach for electrochemical supercapacitors. The texture and morphology of the nanocomposites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET). The results show that a hierarchical porous structure assembled from nanoflakes with a thickness of ~10 nm was obtained, and the ratio of nickel to cobalt in the nanocomposites was very close to the precursors. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge and discharge tests were carried out to study the electrochemical performance. Both nickel cobalt oxides (Ni-Co-O-1 with Ni : Co = 1, Ni-Co-O-2 with Ni : Co = 2) outperform pure NiO and Co3O4. The Ni-Co-O-1 and Ni-Co-O-2 possess high specific capacities of 778.2 and 867.3 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and capacitance retentions of 84.1% and 92.3% at 10 A g-1, respectively. After full activation, the Ni-Co-O-1 and Ni-Co-O-2 could achieve a maximum value of 971 and 1550 F g-1 and remain at ~907 and ~1450 F g-1 at 4 A g-1, respectively. Also, the nickel cobalt oxides show high capacity retention when fast charging.Nickel cobalt oxides with various Ni/Co ratios were synthesized using a facile template-free approach for electrochemical supercapacitors. The texture and morphology of the nanocomposites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET). The results show that a hierarchical porous structure assembled from nanoflakes with a thickness of ~10 nm was obtained, and the ratio of nickel to cobalt in the nanocomposites was very close to the precursors. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge and discharge tests were carried out to study the electrochemical performance. Both nickel cobalt oxides (Ni-Co-O-1 with Ni : Co = 1, Ni-Co-O-2 with Ni

Boiling process in oil coolers on porous elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genbach Alexander A.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Holography and high-speed filming were used to reveal movements and deformations of the capillary and porous material, allowing to calculate thermo-hydraulic characteristics of boiling liquid in the porous structures. These porous structures work at the joint action of capillary and mass forces, which are generalised in the form of dependences used in the calculation for oil coolers in thermal power plants (TPP. Furthermore, the mechanism of the boiling process in porous structures in the field of mass forces is explained. The development process of water steam formation in the mesh porous structures working at joint action of gravitational and capillary forces is investigated. Certain regularities pertained to the internal characteristics of boiling in cells of porous structure are revealed, by means of a holographic interferometry and high-speed filming. Formulas for calculation of specific thermal streams through thermo-hydraulic characteristics of water steam formation in mesh structures are obtained, in relation to heat engineering of thermal power plants. This is the first calculation of heat flow through the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the boiling process in a reticulated porous structure obtained by a photo film and holographic observations.

Synthesis of cauliflower-like ZnO-TiO2 composite porous film and photoelectrical properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Yinhua; Yan Yun; Zhang Wenli; Ni Liang; Sun Yueming; Yin Hengbo

2011-01-01

A series of cauliflower-like TiO 2 -ZnO composite porous films with various molar ratios of Zn/Ti were prepared by the screen printing technique on the fluorine-doped SnO 2 (FTO) conducting glasses. The composite films were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and UV-vis transmittance spectrum. The results showed composite film electrode had a novel cauliflower-like morphology, which could effectively increase the dye absorption. The corresponding dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were made by the composite film, and effects of ZnO incorporation on the photovoltaic performances of the DSCs were studied. With the Zn/Ti molar ratio not more than 3% in ZnO-TiO 2 composite film of about 5 μm-thickness, the photocurrent density (J sc ) and the solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) were greatly improved compared with those of the DSC based on bare TiO 2 film of same thickness. This increases in efficiency and J sc were attributed to high electron conductivity of ZnO, the improved dye adsorption and large light transmittance of composite film.

3D Networked Tin Oxide/Graphene Aerogel with a Hierarchically Porous Architecture for High-Rate Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Xiuqiang; Chen, Shuangqiang; Sun, Bing; Wang, Chengyin; Wang, Guoxiu

2015-09-07

Low-cost and sustainable sodium-ion batteries are regarded as a promising technology for large-scale energy storage and conversion. The development of high-rate anode materials is highly desirable for sodium-ion batteries. The optimization of mass transport and electron transfer is crucial in the discovery of electrode materials with good high-rate performances. Herein, we report the synthesis of 3 D interconnected SnO2 /graphene aerogels with a hierarchically porous structure as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries. The unique 3 D architecture was prepared by a facile in situ process, during which cross-linked 3 D conductive graphene networks with macro-/meso-sized hierarchical pores were formed and SnO2 nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly on the graphene surface simultaneously. Such a 3 D functional architecture not only facilitates the electrode-electrolyte interaction but also provides an efficient electron pathway within the graphene networks. When applied as anode materials in sodium-ion batteries, the as-prepared SnO2 /graphene aerogel exhibited high reversible capacity, improved cycling performance compared to SnO2 , and promising high-rate capability. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

NiCo2S4 nanosheet-decorated 3D, porous Ni film@Ni wire electrode materials for all solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Saravanakumar, Balasubramaniam; Jayaseelan, Santhana Sivabalan; Seo, Min-Kang; Kim, Hak-Yong; Kim, Byoung-Suhk

2017-12-07

Wire type supercapacitors with high energy and power densities have generated considerable interest in wearable applications. Herein, we report a novel NiCo 2 S 4 -decorated 3D, porous Ni film@Ni wire electrode for high performance supercapacitor application. In this work, a facile method is introduced to fabricate a 3D, porous Ni film deposited on a Ni wire as a flexible electrode, followed by decoration with NiCo 2 S 4 as an electroactive material. The fabricated NiCo 2 S 4 -decorated 3D, porous Ni film@Ni wire electrode displays a superior performance with an areal and volumetric capacitance of 1.228 F cm -2 and 199.74 F cm -3 , respectively, at a current density of 0.2 mA cm -1 with a maximum volumetric energy and power density (E V : 6.935 mW h cm -3 ; P V : 1.019 W cm -3 ). Finally, the solid state asymmetric wire type supercapacitor is fabricated using the fabricated NiCo 2 S 4 -decorated 3D, porous Ni film@Ni wire as a positive electrode and N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) as a negative electrode and this exhibits good areal and volumetric capacitances of C A : 0.12 F cm -2 and C V : 19.57 F cm -2 with a higher rate capability (92%). This asymmetric wire type supercapacitor demonstrates a low leakage current and self-discharge with a maximum volumetric energy (E V : 5.33 mW h cm -3 ) and power (P V : 855.69 mW cm -3 ) density.

Preparation of Porous F-WO3/TiO2 Films with Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity by Microarc Oxidation

OpenAIRE

Yeh, Chung-Wei; Wu, Kee-Rong; Hung, Chung-Hsuang; Chang, Hao-Cheng; Hsu, Chuan-Jen

2012-01-01

Porous F-WO3/TiO2 (mTiO2) films are prepared on titanium sheet substrates using microarc oxidation (MAO) technique. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that visible-light (Vis) enabling mTiO2 films with a very high content of anatase TiO2 and high loading of WO3 are successfully synthesized at a low applied voltage of 300 V using electrolyte contenting NaF and Na2WO4 without subsequent heat treatment. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy micrograph reveals that the mTiO2 films...

Hybrid Energy Cell with Hierarchical Nano/Micro-Architectured Polymer Film to Harvest Mechanical, Solar, and Wind Energies Individually/Simultaneously.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudem, Bhaskar; Ko, Yeong Hwan; Leem, Jung Woo; Lim, Joo Ho; Yu, Jae Su

2016-11-09

We report the creation of hybrid energy cells based on hierarchical nano/micro-architectured polydimethylsiloxane (HNMA-PDMS) films with multifunctionality to simultaneously harvest mechanical, solar, and wind energies. These films consist of nano/micro dual-scale architectures (i.e., nanonipples on inverted micropyramidal arrays) on the PDMS surface. The HNMA-PDMS is replicable by facile and cost-effective soft imprint lithography using a nanoporous anodic alumina oxide film formed on the micropyramidal-structured silicon substrate. The HNMA-PDMS film plays multifunctional roles as a triboelectric layer in nanogenerators and an antireflection layer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as well as a self-cleaning surface. This film is employed in triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices, fabricated by laminating it on indium-tin oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate (ITO/PET) as a bottom electrode. The large effective contact area that emerged from the densely packed hierarchical nano/micro-architectures of the PDMS film leads to the enhancement of TENG device performance. Moreover, the HNMA-PDMS/ITO/PET, with a high transmittance of >90%, also results in highly transparent TENG devices. By placing the HNMA-PDMS/ITO/PET, where the ITO/PET is coated with zinc oxide nanowires, as the top glass substrate of DSSCs, the device is able to add the functionality of TENG devices, thus creating a hybrid energy cell. The hybrid energy cell can successfully convert mechanical, solar, and wind energies into electricity, simultaneously or independently. To specify the device performance, the effects of external pushing frequency and load resistance on the output of TENG devices are also analyzed, including the photovoltaic performance of the hybrid energy cells.

Simultaneous formation of multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies through sequential wrinkling and folding

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yu; Sun, Qingyang; Xiao, Jianliang

2018-02-01

Highly organized hierarchical surface morphologies possess various intriguing properties that could find important potential applications. In this paper, we demonstrate a facile approach to simultaneously form multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies through sequential wrinkling. This method combines surface wrinkling induced by thermal expansion and mechanical strain on a three-layer structure composed of an aluminum film, a hard Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, and a soft PDMS substrate. Deposition of the aluminum film on hard PDMS induces biaxial wrinkling due to thermal expansion mismatch, and recovering the prestrain in the soft PDMS substrate leads to wrinkling of the hard PDMS film. In total, three orders of wrinkling patterns form in this process, with wavelength and amplitude spanning 3 orders of magnitude in length scale. By increasing the prestrain in the soft PDMS substrate, a hierarchical wrinkling-folding structure was also obtained. This approach can be easily extended to other thin films for fabrication of multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies with potential applications in different areas.

Exploring the mechanism of microarteriogenesis in porous silk fibroin film.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Lun; Wang, Guangqian; Tan, Xiaoyan; Xu, Jianmei

2012-01-01

Purpose. Based on the experiment of the microarteriogenesis that is associated with angiogenesis during tissue repair process in porous silk fibroin films (PSFFs), we investigate the characteristics of micro-arteriogenesis and explore its mechanism. Methods. After the porous silk fibroin materials are implanted into the back hypodermal tissue of SD rats, the arteriole development and the morphogenesis of smooth muscle cell are histologically monitored and the micro-arteriogenesis is quantitatively analyzed. Results. 10 days after implantation, the arteriole density reaches the highest level in the junction of silk fibroin materials with tissues. Three weeks later, the arteriolar density in the materials reaches the maximum, and the arterioles in the junction of materials with tissues appear to be in a mature and upgrading state. Modeling of Microarteriogenesis. The arterioles in materials are generated after capillary angiogenesis. It is inferred that arteriolar development does not start until the network of the capillaries is formed. At first, the arterioles grow in the conjunct area of precapillaries with arterioles. Then with the extension of the arterioles, the upgrade of arterioles in connecting area is observed at a later stage. Based on the observation, the conditions and the mechanism of microarterializations as well as the upgrade of arterioles are analyzed.

Hierarchy concepts: classification and preparation strategies for zeolite containing materials with hierarchical porosity.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwieger, Wilhelm; Machoke, Albert Gonche; Weissenberger, Tobias; Inayat, Amer; Selvam, Thangaraj; Klumpp, Michael; Inayat, Alexandra

2016-06-13

'Hierarchy' is a property which can be attributed to a manifold of different immaterial systems, such as ideas, items and organisations or material ones like biological systems within living organisms or artificial, man-made constructions. The property 'hierarchy' is mainly characterised by a certain ordering of individual elements relative to each other, often in combination with a certain degree of branching. Especially mass-flow related systems in the natural environment feature special hierarchically branched patterns. This review is a survey into the world of hierarchical systems with special focus on hierarchically porous zeolite materials. A classification of hierarchical porosity is proposed based on the flow distribution pattern within the respective pore systems. In addition, this review might serve as a toolbox providing several synthetic and post-synthetic strategies to prepare zeolitic or zeolite containing material with tailored hierarchical porosity. Very often, such strategies with their underlying principles were developed for improving the performance of the final materials in different technical applications like adsorptive or catalytic processes. In the present review, besides on the hierarchically porous all-zeolite material, special focus is laid on the preparation of zeolitic composite materials with hierarchical porosity capable to face the demands of industrial application.

Lignocellulose-derived porous phosphorus-doped carbon as advanced electrode for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Jianan; Qing, Yan; Wu, ChuTian; Zeng, Yinxiang; Wu, Yiqiang; Lu, Xihong; Tong, Yexiang

2017-05-01

Engineering porous heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials with remarkable capacitive performance is highly attractive. Herein, a simple and smart method has been developed to synthesize phosphorus (P) doped carbon with hierarchical porous structure derived from lignocellulose. Hierarchically porous P doped carbon is readily obtained by the pyrolysis of lignocellulose immersed in ZnCl2/NaH2PO4 aqueous solution, and exhibits excellent capacitive properties. The as-obtained P doped porous carbon delivers a significant capacitance of 133 F g-1 (146 mF cm-2) at a high current density of 10 A g-1 with outstanding rate performance. Furthermore, the P doped carbon electrode yields a long-term cycling durability with more than 97.9% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles as well. A symmetric supercapacitor with a maximum energy density of 4.7 Wh kg-1 is also demonstrated based on these P doped carbon electrodes.

Preparation of SDC electrolyte thin films on dense and porous substrates by modified sol-gel route

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Hongfei; Ding, Changsheng; Sato, Kazuhisa; Tsutai, Yoshifumi; Ohtaki, Hiromichi; Iguchi, Mabito; Wada, Chiharu; Hashida, Toshiyuki

2008-01-01

Nanocrystalline fluorite type samarium doped ceria (SDC) electrolyte thin film for intermediate temperature-solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) application were prepared on the dense and porous substrates at low temperatures of 573-1373 K using a novel citrate sol-gel route combined with a sol suspension spray coating technique. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the decomposition of the citrate gel film and the initial crystallization of the SDC occurred at a low temperature of about 590 K. XRD examination revealed that the annealing of the green film at temperatures of 573-1373 K provided cubic nanocrystalline SDC phase. The crystallite sizes were in the range of 9-19 nm. Microscopic observations indicated that the derived film was homogeneous, dense and crack-free without pinholes. The desired thickness for preparation of thin electrolyte films from hundreds of nm to several μm should be controllable and feasible by repeating the simple and inexpensive citrate sol-gel spray coating process

Hierarchically porous and heteroatom doped carbon derived from tobacco rods for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yong-Qing; Lu, Min; Tao, Peng-Yu; Zhang, Yun-Jie; Gong, Xiao-Ting; Yang, Zhi; Zhang, Guo-Qing; Li, Hu-Lin

2016-03-01

A novel tobacco rods-derived carbon (TC) has been prepared by hydrothermal carbonization and potassium hydroxide activation strategy for supercapacitors application. The physicochemical properties of TC are investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, Scanning electron microscopy, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and four-probe tests. Results show TC derived from different tobacco rods possesses similar properties, such as amorphous state, high specific surface area, hierarchical porous structure, numerous heteroatom groups, and good electrical conductivity. The electrochemical characteristics of TC are examined via cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. In a three-electrode system, TC exhibits high capacitance with 286.6 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, excellent rate performance with 212.1 F g-1 even at 30 A g-1, and outstanding cyclic stability with 96% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 5 A g-1. Furthermore, TC supercapacitor devices can deliver an energy density of 31.3 Wh kg-1 at 0.5 A g-1 and power density of 11.8 kW kg-1 at 15 A g-1. Therefore, this novel concept of tobacco use, namely tobacco rods from cigarette (the harmful) to high-performance carbon for supercapacitors (the beneficial), is an extremely promising strategy for developing high-performance carbon from renewable sources, and supporting the tobacco control.

A facile approach to fabricate hierarchically structured poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) films

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Weihua; Zong, Chuanyong; Xie, Jixun

2017-01-01

Microstructured surfaces have great potentials to improve the performances and efficiency of optoelectronic devices. In this work, a simple robust approach based on surface instabilities was presented to fabricate poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) films with ridge-like/wrinkled composite...... microstructures. Namely, the hierarchically patterned films were prepared by spin coating the P3HT/tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate to form stable ridge-like structures, followed by solvent vapor swelling to create surface wrinkles with the orientation guided by the ridge......-like structures. During spin coating of the P3HT/THF solution, the ridge-like structures were generated by the in-situ template of the THF swelling-induced creasing structures on the PDMS substrate. To our knowledge, it is the first report that the creasing structures are used as a recoverable template...

Porous squeeze-film flow

KAUST Repository

Knox, D. J.; Wilson, S. K.; Duffy, B. R.; McKee, S.

2013-01-01

surface moving under a prescribed constant load and a flat thin porous bed coating a stationary flat impermeable surface is considered. Unlike in the classical case of an impermeable bed, in which an infinite time is required for the two surfaces to touch

Assembly of porous hierarchical copolymers/resin proppants: New approaches to smart proppant immobilization via molecular anchors.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Shirin; Dunnill, Charles W; Barron, Andrew R

2016-03-15

The assembly of temperature/pH sensitive complex microparticle structures through chemisorption and physisorption provides a responsive system that offers application as routes to immobilization of proppants in-situ. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) have been used to characterize a series of bi-functionalized monolayers and/or multilayers grown on alumina microparticles and investigate the reactive nature of both temperature sensitive cross-linker (epoxy resin) with the layers and pH-responsive bridging layer (polyetheramine). The bifunctional acids, behaving as molecular anchors, allow for a controlled reaction with a cross-linker (resin or polymer) with the formation of networks, which is either irreversible or reversible based on the nature of the cross-linker. The networks results in formation of porous hierarchical particles that offer a potential route to the creation of immobile proppant pack. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inkjet-Printed Porous Silver Thin Film as a Cathode for a Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Chen-Chiang; Baek, Jong Dae; Su, Chun-Hao; Fan, Liangdong; Wei, Jun; Liao, Ying-Chih; Su, Pei-Chen

2016-04-27

In this work we report a porous silver thin film cathode that was fabricated by a simple inkjet printing process for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell applications. The electrochemical performance of the inkjet-printed silver cathode was studied at 300-450 °C and was compared with that of silver cathodes that were fabricated by the typical sputtering method. Inkjet-printed silver cathodes showed lower electrochemical impedance due to their porous structure, which facilitated oxygen gaseous diffusion and oxygen surface adsorption-dissociation reactions. A typical sputtered nanoporous silver cathode became essentially dense after the operation and showed high impedance due to a lack of oxygen supply. The results of long-term fuel cell operation show that the cell with an inkjet-printed cathode had a more stable current output for more than 45 h at 400 °C. A porous silver cathode is required for high fuel cell performance, and the simple inkjet printing technique offers an alternative method of fabrication for such a desirable porous structure with the required thermal-morphological stability.

High-Performance Hydrogen Storage Nanoparticles Inside Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanofibers with Stable Cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Guanglin; Chen, Xiaowei; Zhao, Yan; Li, Xingguo; Guo, Zaiping; Jensen, Craig M; Gu, Qinfen; Yu, Xuebin

2017-05-10

An effective route based on space-confined chemical reaction to synthesize uniform Li 2 Mg(NH) 2 nanoparticles is reported. The hierarchical pores inside the one-dimensional carbon nanofibers (CNFs), induced by the creation of well-dispersed Li 3 N, serve as intelligent nanoreactors for the reaction of Li 3 N with Mg-containing precursors, resulting in the formation of uniformly discrete Li 2 Mg(NH) 2 nanoparticles. The nanostructured Li 2 Mg(NH) 2 particles inside the CNFs are capable of complete hydrogenation and dehydrogenation at a temperature as low as 105 °C with the suppression of ammonia release. Furthermore, by virtue of the nanosize effects and space-confinement by the porous carbon scaffold, no degradation was observed after 50 de/rehydrogenation cycles at a temperature as low as 130 °C for the as-prepared Li 2 Mg(NH) 2 nanoparticles, indicating excellent reversibility. Moreover, the theoretical calculations demonstrate that the reduction in particle size could significantly enhance the H 2 sorption of Li 2 Mg(NH) 2 by decreasing the relative activation energy barrier, which agrees well with our experimental results. This method could represent an effective, general strategy for synthesizing nanoparticles of complex hydrides with stable reversibility and excellent hydrogen storage performance.

Studies on the adsorption of RuN{sub 3} dye on sheet-like nanostructured porous ZnO films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Rong; Pan, Jie; Briggs, Evan P.; Thrash, Marvin; Kerr, Lei L. [Department of Paper and Chemical Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 (United States)

2008-04-15

The interface between the ZnO and dye directly impacts the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performance. Nanostructured porous ZnO film was developed by a simple chemical solution process. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images demonstrated the uniform ZnO films with sheet-like nanostructure. Adsorption studies indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity of RuN{sub 3} dye on the surface of ZnO films was approximately 0.016 mmol RuN{sub 3}/g ZnO films. Adsorption studies were conducted at 25 and 40 C. The results showed that the dye adsorption was significantly influenced by temperatures. Moreover, the problem of the dye aggregation on the ZnO surface was reduced at higher adsorption temperatures. The adsorption chemistry was studied with Raman spectroscopy. (author)

Synthesis of cauliflower-like ZnO-TiO{sub 2} composite porous film and photoelectrical properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang Yinhua, E-mail: jyinhua@126.com [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013 (China) and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189 (China); Yan Yun; Zhang Wenli; Ni Liang [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013 (China); Sun Yueming [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189 (China); Yin Hengbo [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013 (China)

2011-05-15

A series of cauliflower-like TiO{sub 2}-ZnO composite porous films with various molar ratios of Zn/Ti were prepared by the screen printing technique on the fluorine-doped SnO{sub 2} (FTO) conducting glasses. The composite films were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and UV-vis transmittance spectrum. The results showed composite film electrode had a novel cauliflower-like morphology, which could effectively increase the dye absorption. The corresponding dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were made by the composite film, and effects of ZnO incorporation on the photovoltaic performances of the DSCs were studied. With the Zn/Ti molar ratio not more than 3% in ZnO-TiO{sub 2} composite film of about 5 {mu}m-thickness, the photocurrent density (J{sub sc}) and the solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency ({eta}) were greatly improved compared with those of the DSC based on bare TiO{sub 2} film of same thickness. This increases in efficiency and J{sub sc} were attributed to high electron conductivity of ZnO, the improved dye adsorption and large light transmittance of composite film.

Hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface area derived from endothelium corneum gigeriae galli for high-performance supercapacitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Xiaoting; Hui, K.S.; Zeng, Zhi; Hui, K.N.; Zhang, Luojiang; Mo, Mingyue; Li, Min

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Porous carbons were prepared using endothelium corneum gigeriae galli as precursor. • Surface and structural properties strongly depend on carbonization temperatures. • Resultant carbons possess nitrogen heteroatom and high surface areas. • ECGG-900 sample exhibits excellent electrochemical capacitive performances. - Abstract: Endothelium corneum gigeriae galli derived 3D hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon was for the first time prepared by preliminary carbonization at 450 °C and final KOH activation at high temperatures. The surface and structural properties of the as-synthesized samples are analyzed with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface analyzer apparatus, X-Ray Diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The electrochemical performances are analyzed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The obtained results show that the sample carbonized at 900 °C possesses the SSA of 2149.9 m 2 g −1 , average micropore diameter of 1.78 nm, and exhibits the highest initial specific capacitance of 198.0 F g −1 at current density of 1 A g −1 in 6 M KOH solution. It retains good specific capacitance retention of 91.6% after 3000 charge/discharge cycles at current density of 2 A g −1

Fabrication of porous anodic alumina films by using two-step anodization process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Zhan; Zhou Bin; Xu Xiang; Wang Xiaoli; Wu Di; Shen Jun

2006-01-01

This article introduces the fabrication of the porous anodic alumina films which have ordered pore arrangement by using a two-step anodization process. The films have a parallel channel structure which nanopore diameter can be 20-100 nm, and depth can reach 50 μm. The change of pore structure in the first and second anodization, moving the alumina layer, widening process was analysed. The effect of the parameters such as different electrolytes, anodization temperature and the voltage on the nanopore structure was studied. The surface and profile structure through FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscope), the element composition in tiny area of the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) surface were studied. The result indicates the pore diameter of AAO which is anodized in oxalic acid solution is larger than which anodized in sulfuric acid solution. The anodization temperature and voltage can enlarge the nanopore diameter of AAO in a range. (authors)

Entropy driven spontaneous formation of highly porous films from polymer-nanoparticle composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korampally, Venumadhav; Yun, Minseong; Rajagopalan, Thiruvengadathan; Gangopadhyay, Keshab; Gangopadhyay, Shubhra; Dasgupta, Purnendu K