Search results for: oxide materials
-
Optical Detection of Ketoprofen by Its Electropolymerization on an Indium Tin Oxide-Coated Optical Fiber Probe
PublicationIn this work an application of optical fiber sensors for real-time optical monitoring of electrochemical deposition of ketoprofen during its anodic oxidation is discussed. The sensors were fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering of indium tin oxide (ITO) on a 2.5 cm-long core of polymer-clad silica fibers. ITO tuned in optical properties and thickness allows for achieving a lossy-mode resonance (LMR) phenomenon and it can be...
-
Helium-assisted, solvent-free electro-activation of 3D printed conductive carbon-polylactide electrodes
PublicationFused filament fabrication is one of the most rapidly developing 3D printing techniques, with numerous applications, including in the field of applied electrochemistry. Here, the utilisation of conductive carbon black polylactic acid (CB-PLA) for 3D printouts is the most promising. To use CB-PLA as an electrode material, an activation process must be performed, removing the polymer matrix and uncovering the electrically conductive...
-
Effects of thermal history on the performance of low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with Sm0.2Ce0.8O2-δ electrolyte and LiNi0.81Co0.15Al0.04O2 electrodes
PublicationIn this study, low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with an ∼560 μm thick Sm0.2Ce0.8O2−δ (SDC) electrolyte and ∼890 μm thick LiNi0.81Co0.15Al0.04O2−δ (NCAL) electrodes are constructed and characterized under three experimental conditions. The cell with an NCAL cathode pre-reduced under an H2 atmosphere at 550 °C presents the best electrochemical performance. This is ascribed to facts that the reduction reaction generating Ni–Co...
-
High-performance NdSrCo2O5+δ–Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ composite cathodes for electrolyte-supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells
PublicationNdSrCo2O5+δ (NSCO) is a perovskite with an electrical conductivity of 1551.3 S cm−1 at 500 °C and 921.7 S cm−1 at 800 °C and has a metal-like temperature dependence. This perovskite is used as the cathode material for Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ (GDC)-supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (MT-SOFCs). The MT-SOFCs fabricated in this study consist of a bilayer anode, comprising a NiO–GDC composite layer and a NiO layer, and a NSCO–GDC...
-
Niobate in silicate and phosphate glasses: Effect of glass basicity on crucible dissolution
PublicationUsing niobium crucibles for melting phosphate and silicate glasses of various modifier oxide contents, and therefore varying optical basicity (Λ), was found to result in varying dissolution rates of niobate during melting. Because of their high electronic polarizability, even small concentrations of niobates are detectable in the Raman spectra of glasses. Even less than 1 mol% Nb2O5 can be identified, as independently confirmed...
-
Evaluation of electrosynthesized reduced graphene oxide–Ni/Fe/Co-based (oxy)hydroxide catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction
PublicationIn this work, the specific role of the addition of graphene oxide (GO) to state-of-the-art nickel–iron (NiFe) and cobalt–nickel–iron (CoNiFe) mixed oxides/hydroxides towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is investigated. Morphology, structure, and OER catalytic activity of the catalysts with and without GO were studied. The catalysts were fabricated via a two-step electrodeposition. The first step included the deposition...
-
Low-Coherence Interferometric Fiber-Optic Sensors with Potential Applications as Biosensors
PublicationFiber-optic Fabry-Pérot interferometers (FPI) can be applied as optical sensors, and excellent measurement sensitivity can be obtained by fine-tuning the interferometer design. In this work, we evaluate the ability of selected dielectric thin films to optimize the reflectivity of the Fabry-Pérot cavity. The spectral reflectance and transmittance of dielectric films made of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with...
-
Perovskite-type KTaO3–reduced graphene oxide hybrid with improved visible light photocatalytic activity
PublicationNovel rGO–KTaO3 composites with various graphene content were successfully synthesized using a facile solvothermal method which allowed both the reduction of graphene oxide and loading of KTaO3 nanocubes on the graphene sheets. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Fourier...
-
CGO FILMS ON YSZ ELECTROLYTE FABRICATED BY SPRAY PYROLYSIS FOR SOFC
PublicationINTRODUCTION Solid oxide fuel cells are one of the fastest developing energy converters. The advancement introduced by research community provides steady state progress is stability and performance of the fuel cells. Significant influence on the cell’s performance and stability is related to cell design. The simplest design just consists of an anode, a solid electrolyte and a cathode. However, in order to improve the properties,...
-
An overview of the strategies for the deammonification process start-up and recovery after accidental operational failures
PublicationThe deammonification process has been universally acknowledged as an energy-efficient technology for sewage disposal. In contrast with traditional biological nitrogen removal technology, the deammonification process is able to remove ammonia from wastewater with the simplest nitrogen removal process because of its advantages of lower operating expenses, no organic carbon consumption, lower biomass production, lower carbon dioxide...
-
Endometrial nitric oxide production and nitric oxide synthases in the equine endometrium: Relationship with microvascular density during the estrus cycle
PublicationNitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in angiogenesis and in the regulation of the blood flow. This study was carried out to investigate (i) the effects of endogenous estrogens and progestins and exogenous progesterone (P(4)) (5 ng/ml or 1 microg/ml) or estradiol 17beta (E(2)beta) (50 pg/ml or 1 microg/ml) on in vitro endometrial NO synthesis; (ii) the presence of different isoforms of NO synthase;...
-
Strategies for mitigating nitrous oxide production and decreasing the carbon footprint of a full-scale combined nitrogen and phosphorus removal activated sludge system
PublicationNitrous oxide (N2O) emitted from biological nutrient removal activated sludge systems contributes significantly to the total carbon footprint of modern wastewater treatment plants. In the present study, N2O production and emissions were experimentally determined in a large-scale plant (220,000 PE) employing combined nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal. As a modelling tool, the Activated Sludge Model 2d (ASM2d) was extended...
-
Unconditionally blue: Curing epoxy with polyethylene glycol (PEG) surface-functionalized Zn Fe3-O4 magnetic nanoparticles
PublicationNanoparticles govern early (chemical-controlled) and late (diffusion-controlled) stages of epoxy crosslinking, respectively. Surface functionalization of nanoparticles with macromolecules was recognized as an effective route to compensate for inadequate diffusion-controlled crosslinking. However, the effect of bulk composition amended with cations having catalytic effect towards epoxy ring opening has remained hitherto undescribed....
-
Treatment Wetland effluent quality improvement by usage sorbents of various origin
PublicationTWs are finding as low-cost and also effective system to treat domestic wastewater. The aim of this study is to find suitable adsorbing material for application in an additional treatment unit where treatment wetlands do not provide sufficient PO4 3- reduction level. Material M1 is a fine-grained by-product of thermal treatment of carbonate-siliceous rock (opoka) with high content of calcium carbonate CaCO3 in temperature 700°C....
-
Elicitation strategies for the improvement of essential oil content in Rhododendron tomentosum (Ledum palustre) bioreactor-grown microshoots
PublicationRhododendron tomentosum Harmaja, previously Ledum palustre L., is a fragrant plant growing in swampy areas, which is characterized by well-known repellent properties and the anti-arthritic potential. In the present study, R. tomentosum microshoots cultivated in RITA® bioreactor, providing the alternative, environment-independent source of the valuable essential oil, were treated for 7 days with copper and nickel salts, methyl jasmonate,...
-
Optimization of the Aeration Strategies in a Deammonification Sequencing Batch Reactor for Efficient Nitrogen Removal and Mitigation of N2O Production
PublicationIn deammonification systems, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) suppression and nitrous oxide (N2O) mitigation are two important operational objectives. To carry out this multivariable analysis of response, a comprehensive model for the N cycle was developed and evaluated against experimental data from a laboratory-scale deammonification granular sludge sequencing batch reactor. Different aeration strategies were tested, and the manipulated...
-
Metabolic Profiles of New Unsymmetrical Bisacridine Antitumor Agents in Electrochemical and Enzymatic Noncellular Systems and in Tumor Cells
PublicationNew unsymmetrical bisacridines (UAs) demonstrated high activity not only against a set of tumor cell lines but also against human tumor xenografts in nude mice. Representative UA compounds, named C-2028, C-2045 and C-2053, were characterized in respect to their physicochemical properties and the following studies aimed to elucidate the role of metabolic transformations in UAs action. We demonstrated with phase I and phase II enzymes...
-
Electronic conductivity in the SiO2-PbO-Fe2O3 glass containing magnetic nanostructures
PublicationThe linear impedance spectra of iron–silicate–lead glass samples were measured in the frequency range from 1 MHz to 1 MHz and in the temperature range from 153 K to 423 K. The structure was investigated by means of XRD and atomic force microscopy. Local electrical and magnetic properties of the samples were tested with the aid of electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The obtained results show...
-
Simultaneous optical and electrochemical label-free biosensing with ITO-coated lossy-mode resonance sensor
PublicationIn this work we discuss a new label-free biosensing device based on indium tin oxide (ITO) overlaid section of a multimode optical fiber fused silica core. The sensor has been used to optical measurements also simultaneously interrogated electrochemically (EC). Due to optimized thickness and optical properties of ITO film, a lossy-mode resonance (LMR) could be observed in the optical domain, where electrical properties of the film...
-
Low-Coherence Interferometric Fiber-Optic Sensors with Potential Applications as Biosensors
PublicationFiber-optic Fabry-Pérot interferometers (FPI) can be applied as optical sensors, and excellent measurement sensitivity can be obtained by fine-tuning the interferometer design. In this work, we evaluate the ability of selected dielectric thin films to optimize the reflectivity of the Fabry-Pérot cavity. The spectral reflectance and transmittance of dielectric films made of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with...