Search results for "Energy engineering"
showing 10 items of 1099 documents
New insight on the lithium hydride–water vapor reaction system
2018
Abstract The reaction of lithium hydride (LiH) powder with pure water vapor (H2O and D2O) was studied by thermogravimetry and in situ infrared spectroscopy at 298 K over a large pressure range. The mean particle size of LiH is around 27 μm. At very low pressure, the hydrolysis starts with the formation of lithium oxide (Li2O). Then, both Li2O and lithium hydroxide (LiOH) are formed on increasing pressure, thus, creating a Li2O/LiOH bilayer. The reaction takes place through the consumption of LiH and the formation of Li2O at the LiH/Li2O interface and through the consumption of Li2O and the formation of LiOH at the Li2O/LiOH interface. Above 10 hPa, only the monohydrate LiOH·H2O is formed. T…
High-performance of PbO2 nanowire electrodes for lead-acid battery
2014
Abstract PbO2 nanowires were obtained by template electrodeposition in polycarbonate membranes and tested as positive electrode for lead-acid battery. Nanowires were grown on the same material acting as current collector that was electrodeposited too. The nanostructured electrodes were assembled in a zero-gap configuration using commercial negative plate and separator. Cell performance was tested by galvanostatic charge/discharge cycles in a 5 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte. PbO2 nanostructured electrodes were able to deliver at 1C rate an almost constant capacity of about 190 mAh g−1 (85% of active material utilization), close to the theoretical value (224 mAh g−1). The nanowire array provide…
Improvement in the performance of low temperature H2-O2 fuel cell with chitosanephosphotungstic acid composite membranes
2016
Abstract Free-standing chitosan/phosphotungstic acid polyelectrolyte membranes, prepared by ionotropic gelation on alumina porous supports, were employed as proton conductor in low temperature H 2 –O 2 fuel cell. A drying step on glass substrate was introduced in the fabrication procedure to reduce shrinkage and consequent corrugation. Membranes were tested with electrodes prepared according to different procedures and with two different Pt loadings, namely 0.5 and 1 mg cm −2 . Both the investigated kinds of electrodes allowed to get very promising power peaks of 550 mW cm −2 in spite of the different Pt content. The polarization curves and the electrochemical impedance spectra suggest that…
Characterization process to measure the electrical contact resistance of Gas Diffusion Layers under mechanical static compressive loads
2016
AEM2016. International conference on Advanced Energy Materials, University of Surrey, Guildford, ROYAUME-UNI, 12-/09/2016 - 14/09/2016; Recent research has identified the mechanical properties of the fuel cell internal components (in particular, the Gas Diffusion Layers - GDLs) as key-parameters to obtain high final performances of the generator. The mechanical compression modulus of these components, the stability of their mechanical properties with respect to temperature and humidity, and their ability to interact with water have an impact on the electrical contact resistances in the stack and, by consequence, on the overall performance of the electric generator. Reducing the losses by co…
Charge Transport Layers Limiting the Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells: How To Optimize Conductivity, Doping, and Thickness
2019
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are one of the main research topics of the photovoltaic community; with efficiencies now reaching up to 24%, PSCs are on the way to catching up with classical inorganic solar cells. However, PSCs have not yet reached their full potential. In fact, their efficiency is still limited by nonradiative recombination, mainly via trap-states and by losses due to the poor transport properties of the commonly used transport layers (TLs). Indeed, state-of-the-art TLs (especially if organic) suffer from rather low mobilities, typically within 10(-5) and 10(-2) cm(-2) V-1 s(-1), when compared to the high mobilities, 1-10 cm(-2) V-1 s(-1), measured for perovskites. This work…
Performance Enhancement of Alkaline Water Electrolyzer Using Nanostructured Electrodes Synthetized by Template Electrosynthesis
2018
The increase of power generation by renewable sources is causing problems in the management of the electricity grid. In order to favor the transition from the current energy production towards renewable energy sources, it is necessary to plan strategy to develop suitable energy storage systems. Certainly, the electrochemical hydrogen production can be considered as one of the most promising storage technologies. In this work, an innovative alkaline electrolyzer is presented from its design based on the use of nanostructured electrodes up to its implementation suggested by the results of tests simulating real operation. The nanostructured electrodes were fabricated by template electrosynthes…
Ni alloy nanowires as high efficiency electrode materials for alkaline electrolysers
2021
Abstract The fabrication and characterization of nickel-alloy electrodes for alkaline electrolysers is reported. Three different alloys (Ni–Co, Ni–Zn and Ni–W) at different composition were studied in order to determine the optimum condition. Nanostructured electrodes were obtained by template electrodeposition into a nanoporous membrane, starting from aqueous solution containing the two elements of the alloy at different concentrations. Composition of alloys can be tuned by electrolyte composition and also depends on the difference of the redox potential of elements and on the presence of complexing agents in deposition bath. Electrochemical and electrocatalytic tests, aimed at establishin…
Fabrication and Characterisation of Perovskite Thin Films for Photovoltaic Application
2018
This paper presents an alternative way to obtain perovskite thin films for photovoltaic application. This technique results more competitive, scalable, low-cost, reproducible and is different from other most common methods of fabrication.
Determination of lifetime probabilities of carbon fibre composite plates and pressure vessels for hydrogen storage
2011
International audience; It is shown that an analogy can be made between the failure of unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced epoxy plates and filament wound carbon fibre composite pressure vessels and that their strengths and failure probabilities can be determined. Fibres in filament wound composite structures are placed on geodesic paths around the mandrel, which becomes the liner; so that when the structure is pressurised the fibres are only subjected to tensile forces, as in a unidirectional composite. Multiscale modelling reveals that composite failure is controlled by fibre breakage and that clustering of fibre breaks determines ultimate reliability of the structure. Time dependent r…
Visual indicator for the detection of end-of-life criterion for composite high pressure vessels for hydrogen storage
2012
International audience; A model to predict the accumulation of fibre breaks in advanced composites, that takes into account all physical phenomena implicated in fibre failure (i.e. the random nature, stress transfer due to breaks, fibre debonding and viscosity of the matrix) shows clearly that the failure of a unidirectional composite structure results in the formation of random fibre breaks which at higher loads coalesce into clusters of broken fibres. This stage of development is followed almost immediately by failure. This has direct application to filament wound pressure vessels of the type used to store hydrogen under high pressure. A novel, cost effective, method of revealing developi…