Search Results (17)

With the increasing adoption of regenerative braking technology in electric vehicles (EVs), one-pedal driving (OPD) mode has become a prevalent feature. While OPD offers technical advantages in energy efficiency, its implications for driver behavior and traffic safety remain unclear. To address the lack of human factors research in this domain, this study utilized a driving simulator to systematically compare driving performance between OPD and two-pedal driving (TPD) modes. Twenty-six participants engaged in car-following tasks under varying traffic densities (uncongested vs. congested) and cognitive load levels (normal vs. 1-back). Driving performance and safety were quantified using the absolute speed difference, distance headway, braking frequency, and Time-to-Collision at brake onset (TTC_brake). The results revealed a significant trade-off: while OPD simplified operation, it led to compromised driving performance compared to TPD in specific contexts. Specifically, OPD resulted in larger speed variations and reduced safety margins during the approach stage. Conversely, under high cognitive load, OPD demonstrated a protective effect by mitigating performance degradation. These findings suggest that while OPD can benefit drivers under mental pressure, its deployment requires adaptive safety strategies, such as the integration of Headway Monitoring Warning (HMW) and Forward Collision Warning (FCW), to compensate for performance deficits in complex traffic environments. Full article

This study evaluates the environmental sustainability of hydrogen production from high-calorific mixed waste gasification through a Gate-to-Gate (GtG) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based on operational data from a 2 TPD pilot plant. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was calculated to be 9.80 kg CO₂-eq per kg of H₂ produced. A contribution analysis identified the primary environmental hotspots as external electricity consumption (37.0%), chelated iron production for syngas cleaning (19.5%), externally supplied oxygen 18.6%), and plant construction (12.3%). A comparative analysis, contextualized within South Korea’s energy structure, demonstrates this GWP is competitive with regionally contextualized Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) and lower than coal gasification. Furthermore, a scenario analysis based on national energy policies reveals a clear pathway for GWP reduction. Aligning with the 2030 renewable energy target (20% RE share) reduces the GWP to 9.14 kg CO₂-eq, while a full transition to 100% wind power lowers it to 6.27 kg CO₂-eq. These findings establish this Waste-to-Hydrogen (WtH) technology as a promising transitional solution that simultaneously valorizes problematic waste. This research provides a critical empirical benchmark for the technology’s commercialization and establishes an internationally transferable framework. It confirms that the technology’s ultimate environmental sustainability is intrinsically linked to the decarbonization of the local electricity grid. Full article

To develop eco-friendly low-temperature NH₃-SCR catalysts for the non-electric industry, a series of CeMn-modified Ba₂Ti₅O₁₂ catalysts were synthesized using the sol-gel method to achieve denitrification. Activity tests revealed that Ce-Mn-modified Ba₂Ti₅O₁₂ catalysts exhibit excellent low-temperature denitrification performance with a broad operational temperature window. Characterization through XRD, XPS, BET, NH₃-TPD, and EPR indicated that Ce-Mn modification enhances surface oxygen chemisorption and increases acidity, significantly improving NO_x reduction. Notably, the optimal catalyst achieved NO_x conversion rates exceeding 90% within the temperature range of 90 to 240 °C under a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 28,000 h⁻¹. In particular, the coexistence of Ce and Mn species promotes the oxidation of NO to NO₂, facilitating the “fast SCR” reaction. The abundance of valence states further enhances the catalyst’s ultra-low-temperature NH₃-SCR denitration performance. Full article

Since fossil fuels still dominate industry and electricity production, post-combustion carbon capture remains essential for decarbonizing these sectors. The most advanced technique for widespread application, particularly in hard-to-abate industries, is amine-based absorption. However, increasing energy efficiency is crucial for broader implementation. This study presents pilot-scale results from the Tauron Power Plant in Poland using a mobile CO₂ capture unit (1 TPD). Two innovative process modifications—Split Flow (SF) and Heat Integrated Stripper (HIS)—were experimentally investigated; they achieved a 10% reduction in reboiler heat duty, reaching 2.82 MJ/kg_CO2, along with a 36% decrease in overall heat losses and up to a 28% reduction in cross-flow heat exchanger duty. The analysis highlights both the advantages and challenges of these modifications. SF is easier to retrofit into existing plants, whereas the HIS requires more extensive modifications in the stripper section, thus making HIS more cost-effective for new installations. Moreover, as heat consumption constitutes the primary operational cost, even a moderate reduction in heat duty can lead to significant economic benefits. The HIS also offers substantial potential for thermal integration in industries with available waste heat streams. The pilot data underwent validation procedures to ensure reliability, which provides a robust foundation for process modeling, optimization, and scaling for industrial applications. Full article

Ammonia has attracted much interest as a potential green and renewable hydrogen carrier or energy vector. Compared to hydrogen, ammonia offers several advantages. For example, ammonia has a significantly higher energy density and can be liquefied at room temperature at a moderate pressure of 8 bars. While ammonia can be cracked to supply hydrogen, it is also possible to convert it directly into high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to generate electricity. The Ship-FC project aims to install an ammonia-fed 2MW SOFC system on board the vessel Viking energy to demonstrate the feasibility of zero CO₂ emission shipping. For this NH₃ SOFC system, a catalytic afterburner is required to remove the hydrogen and ammonia present in the SOFC off-gas and to recover heat. The current study analysed the effects of different catalyst supports, with a focus on NO_X formation through the combustion of an SOFC off-gas surrogate. The study investigated the performance of catalysts based on the active metals, platinum and iridium, as well as the catalyst supports, Al₂O₃, SiO₂, and TiO₂. The results were correlated with catalyst characterisation data and ammonia TPD results. The investigations showed that the formation of NO_X was clearly affected by the nature of the catalyst support. The highest selectivity towards NO_X was observed for Al₂O₃, followed by SiO₂, and the lowest selectivity was observed for TiO₂. This trend was evident for the supported platinum and iridium catalysts and for the samples exclusively containing the support. The trend for N₂O formation was opposite to that of NO_X formation (TiO₂ > SiO₂ > Al₂O₃) in both the presence and absence of platinum or iridium. Full article

Amid economic pressures in the U.S. electricity market, nuclear utilities are exploring new revenue streams, including hydrogen production. A generic pressurized water reactor simulator was modified to incorporate a novel design for a TPD system coupled to a hydrogen production plant. Standard malfunctions were included in the simulation design, including steam line breaks at various system locations and flow interruptions in the hydrogen plant due to multiple faults, reflecting anticipated operational challenges. It is imperative that the TPD system operation has a minimal effect on the reactor power, primary coolant system, and turbine system operation and performance. Due to the specific design and application of this TPD system, with the proposed turbine control system changes, the overall impact on the existing plant systems is low. Normal TPD operating scenarios resulted in minor effects on the existing plant systems: reactor power changes by at most 0.2%, and gross generator output changes by 20.5 MWe from 100 MWt of TPD. The most severe malfunction analyzed in this work is a full TPD steam line break downstream of the extraction location, which results in an increase in reactor power of about 0.5%. The gross generator output decreases by 36 MWe, a total decrease of 60 MWe from the full power steady state (FPSS) condition. These results indicate that an industrial hydrogen production plant could be coupled thermally to a nuclear power plant with limited effects on the existing system operation and safety. Full article

The photocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) on metal-loaded one-dimensional TiO₂ nanowires (TiO₂ NWs) was performed. With metal loading, the electric and optical properties of TiO₂ NWs were adjusted, contributing to the improvement of the activity and selectivity of the OCM reaction. In the photocatalytic OCM reaction, the 1.0 Au/TiO₂ NW catalyst exhibits an outstanding C₂H₆ production rate (4901 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹) and selectivity (70%), alongside the minor production of C₃H₈ and C₂H₄, achieving a total C₂–C₃ hydrocarbon selectivity of 75%. In contrast, catalysts loaded with Ag, Pd, and Pt show significantly lower activity, with Pt/TiO₂ NWs producing only CO₂, indicating a propensity for the deep oxidation of methane. The O₂-TPD analyses reveal that Au facilitates mild O₂ adsorption and activation, whereas Pt triggers excessive oxidation. Spectroscopic and kinetic studies demonstrate that Au loading not only enhances the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, but also promotes the generation of active oxygen species in moderate amounts, which facilitates the formation of methyl radicals and their coupling into C₂H₆ while suppressing over-oxidation to CO₂. This work provides novel insights and design strategies for developing efficient photocatalysts. Full article

This paper presents reduced-order modeling of thermal power dispatch (TPD) from a pressurized water reactor (PWR) for providing heat to nearby heat consuming industrial processes that seek to take advantage of nuclear heat to reduce carbon emissions. The reactor model includes the neutronics of the reactor core, thermal–hydraulics of the primary coolant cycle, and a three-lump model of the steam generator (SG). The secondary coolant cycle is represented with quasi-steady state mass and energy balance equations. The secondary cycle consists of a steam extraction system, high-pressure and low-pressure turbines, moisture separator and reheater, high-pressure and low-pressure feedwater heaters, deaerator, feedwater and condensate pumps, and a condenser. The steam produced by the SG is distributed between the turbines and the extraction steam line (XSL) that delivers steam to nearby industrial processes, such as production of clean hydrogen. The reduced-order simulator is verified by comparing predictions with results from separate validated steady-state and transient full-scope PWR simulators for TPD levels between 0% and 70% of the rated reactor power. All simulators indicate that the flow rate of steam in the main steam line and turbine systems decrease with increasing TPD, which causes a reduction in PWR electric power generation. The results are analyzed to assess the impact of TPD on system efficiency and feedwater flow control. Due to the simplicity of the proposed reduced-order model, it can be scaled to represent a PWR of any size with a few parametric changes. In the future, the proposed reduced-order model will be integrated into a power system model in a digital real-time simulator (DRTS) and physical hardware-in-the-loop simulations. Full article

Integrated STEM education (iSTEM) has attracted attention due to its potentialities regarding students’ learning and intentions to pursue STEM-related careers. However, although increasingly popular, iSTEM remains challenging and elusive, particularly from teachers’ perspective. This scenario became even more complex with the inclusion of “A”, from the Arts. Considering that the quality of teachers is decisive in the success of integrated STEAM education (iSTEAM), it is essential to provide teachers with opportunities to develop their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) for iSTEAM. In this work, the aim was to understand the effect of teacher professional development (TPD) within iSTEAM on the development of Physics teachers’ PCK related to the topic of “Electrical circuits with associations in series and parallel”. This study followed a pre-test/post-test design with a single group, which facilitates the subsequent comparison of participants’ reported PCK before and after their involvement in the TPD. The results showed that the TPD had a favorable impact on teachers’ PCK. The results of this study also contribute to defining a specific PCK for STEAM (STEAM-PCK). Full article

In materials (polymer) science and medicinal chemistry, heteroaromatic derivatives play the role of the central skeleton in development of novel devices and discovery of new drugs. On the other hand, (3-trifluoromethyl)phenyldiazirine (TPD) is a crucial chemical method for understanding biological processes such as ligand–receptor, nucleic acid–protein, lipid–protein, and protein–protein interactions. In particular, use of TPD has increased in recent materials science to create novel electric and polymer devices with comparative ease and reduced costs. Therefore, a combination of heteroaromatics and (3-trifluoromethyl)diazirine is a promising option for creating better materials and elucidating the unknown mechanisms of action of bioactive heteroaromatic compounds. In this review, a comprehensive synthesis of (3-trifluoromethyl)diazirine-substituted heteroaromatics is described. Full article

For a long time, transition metal oxide systems have been considered well explored materials in heterogeneous catalysis. Amongst, the spinel-type oxides, materials such as cobaltites (Co₃O₄) received significant attention, owing to their use in many industrial applications. In the present study, nanosized Cu, Ni, and Zn cobaltite spinel oxides were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. Physicochemical characterization of the synthesized materials was performed utilizing XRD, HRTEM, CO₂-TPD, and XPS techniques. The textural characteristics (BET-surface area, pore size, etc.) of samples were determined from N₂ physisorption measurements at −196 °C. The CO₂-electrocatalytic reduction was selected as a model reaction to evaluate the electrochemical performance of the synthesized spinel cobaltites. For Ni, Cu, and Zn spinel materials, hydrogen was produced as the main product at the whole potential, along with other products, such as CO and HCOOH. Despite the advantages, the catalytic electrochemical CO₂ reduction performance of spinel cobaltite catalysts is still far from adequate, which is principally ascribed to the low number of active sites combined with poor electrical conductivity. Full article

The performances of organometallic halide perovskite-based solar cells severely depend on the device architecture and the interface between each layer included in the device stack. In particular, the interface between the charge transporting layer and the perovskite film is crucial, since it represents both the substrate where the perovskite polycrystalline film grows, thus directly influencing the active layer morphology, and an important site for electrical charge extraction and/or recombination. Here, we focus on engineering the interface between a perovskite-polymer nanocomposite, recently developed by our group, and different commonly employed polymeric hole transporters, namely PEDOT: PSS [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)], PEDOT, PTAA [poly(bis 4-phenyl}{2,4,6-trimethylphenyl}amine)], Poly-TPD [Poly(N,N′-bis(4-butylphenyl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)-benzidine] Poly-TPD, in inverted planar perovskite solar cell architecture. The results show that when Poly-TPD is used as the hole transfer material, perovskite film morphology improved, suggesting an improvement in the interface between Poly-TPD and perovskite active layer. We additionally investigate the effect of the Molecular Weight (MW) of Poly-TPD on the performance of perovskite solar cells. By increasing the MW, the photovoltaic performances of the cells are enhanced, reaching power conversion efficiency as high as 16.3%. Full article

Hydrogen retention in Pd–Ag (silver 21 wt. %) thin foil has been tested by means of temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) in the temperature range 25–200 °C and compared to the resistivity measurements for the purpose of explaining the characteristic S-shaped resistivity curve and its minimum observed in the same temperature range. The TPD results indicated that the highest uptake of hydrogen was between 65 °C and 105 °C, with a maximum at ~85 °C. Furthermore, in all examined cases, the hydrogen desorption peak was between 140 °C and 180 °C. The resistivity measurements in argon, hydrogen, and vacuum allowed us to examine the influence of hydrogen on the resistivity of a Pd–Ag alloy. The results showed evidence of two kinds of hydrides: (1) a weak absorption at low temperature (T < 70 °C) with the hydrogen present mainly in tetrahedral sites, and (2) a strong absorption up to 150 °C with the hydrogen present mainly in octahedral sites. The behaviour of the electrical resistivity and the minimum between 90 °C and 110 °C can be explained by the two kinds of hydrogen uploaded into the metal lattice. Full article

Two-dimensional (2D) tungsten disulfide (WS₂) has inspired great efforts in optoelectronics, such as in solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and photodetectors. However, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown 2D WS₂ domains with the coexistence of a discontinuous single layer and multilayers are still not suitable for the fabrication of photodetectors on a large scale. An emerging field in the integration of organic materials with 2D materials offers the advantages of molecular diversity and flexibility to provide an exciting aspect on high-performance device applications. Herein, we fabricated a photodetector based on a 2D-WS₂/organic semiconductor materials (mixture of the (Poly-(N,N′-bis-4-butylphenyl-N,N′-bisphenyl) benzidine and Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (Poly-TPD/PCBM)) heterojunction. The application of Poly-TPD/PCBM organic blend film enhanced light absorption, electrically connected the isolated WS₂ domains, and promoted the separation of electron-hole pairs. The generated exciton could sufficiently diffuse to the interface of the WS₂ and the organic blend layers for efficient charge separation, where Poly-TPD was favorable for hole carrier transport and PCBM for electron transport to their respective electrodes. We show that the photodetector exhibited high responsivity, detectivity, and an on/off ratio of 0.1 A/W, 1.1 × 10¹¹ Jones, and 100, respectively. In addition, the photodetector showed a broad spectral response from 500 nm to 750 nm, with a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 8%. Our work offers a facile solution-coating process combined with a CVD technique to prepare an inorganic/organic heterojunction photodetector with high performance on silicon substrate. Full article

The influence of various gas compositions on surface adsorbate species and electrical conductivity of indium tin oxide (ITO) powders and thick films was studied. By combining results of temperature dependent desorption (TPD) with electrical conductivity measurements it was shown that, after exposure to ambient air, the surfaces of both powders and films are covered with significant amounts of oxygen, water and carbon related species. While the influence of oxygen adsorbates has already been described for temperatures below 500 °C, desorption of some of these species could be detected at temperatures as high as 675 °C, with a significant influence on electrical film conductivity. Full article