Search Results (3)

Low-carbon powertrains and sustainable fuels are closely linked as they both aim to reduce carbon emissions and transition away from reliance on fossil fuels. The methane from biogas, biomass, and organic waste can serve as an alternative energy source to traditional fossil fuels. The process of obtaining sustainable fuel (e.g., hydrogen and syngas) from methane is commonly confronted with the problems of carbon deposition on metal oxide. The study of carbon deposition characteristics during methane thermal conversion processes is particularly crucial for low-carbon powertrains. Herein, the carbon deposition on CoAl₂O₄ and strongly alkali-etched CoAl₂O₄ (CoAl^vO₄) spinel oxides from the CH₄ stage was investigated. We demonstrate that reaction time, calcination temperature, and reaction temperature have no effect on the compositions of carbon deposition, and the material itself plays a crucial role in carbon deposition. The graphitization degree for CoAl^vO₄ is lower than that for CoAl₂O₄. The strong alkali etching in CoAl₂O₄ only affects contents in different composition carbon deposition. This is mainly attributed to the introduction of Al³⁺ vacancies by alkali etching, which efficiently tunes the surface electronic structure in CoAl₂O₄. These findings guide designing efficient and clean low-carbon powertrains, especially in the development of removal carbon deposition technologies and catalysts. Full article

The search for low-cost, high-performance, and robust stability bifunctional electrocatalysts to substitute noble metals-based counterparts for overall water splitting to generate clean and sustainable hydrogen energy is of great significance and challenges. Herein, a high-efficient bi-functional nickel–iron phosphide on NiFe alloy foam (denoted as e-NFP/NFF) with 3D coral-like nanostructure was controllably constructed by means of alkali etching and the introduction of non-metallic atoms P. The unique superhydrophilic coral-like structure can not only effectively facilitate the exposure of catalytic active sites and increase the electroactive surface area, but also accelerate charge transport and bubble release. Furthermore, owing to the synergistic effect between the bicomponent of nickel–iron phosphides as well as the strong electronic interactions of the multiple metal sites, the as-fabricated catalyst behaves with excellent bifunctional performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (overpotentials of 132 and 286 mV at 10 and 300 mA·cm⁻², respectively) and oxygen evolution reaction (overpotentials of 181 and 303 mV at 10 and 300 mA·cm⁻², respectively) in alkaline electrolytes. Impressively, cells with integrated e-NFP/NFF electrodes as a cathode and anode require only a low cell voltage (1.58 V) to drive a current density of 10 mA·cm⁻² for overall water splitting, along with remarkable stability in long-term electrochemical durability tests. This study provides a tunable synthetic strategy for the development of efficient and durable non-noble metal bifunctional catalysts based on the construction of an elaborate structure framework and rational design of the electronic structure. Full article

Herein, a superhydrophobic surface with superior durability was fabricated on a glass-ceramic surface by crystallization, hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching, and surface grafting. The as-prepared glass-ceramic surface was composed of three-dimensional flower-like micro-clusters, which were self-assembled from numerous nanosheets. Such a dual-scale rough surface exhibited superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 170.3° ± 0.1° and a sliding angle (SA) of ~2° after grafting with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FAS-17). This can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the dual-scale structure and surface chemistry. Furthermore, this surface exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties, stability against strong acid and strong alkali corrosion, and anti-stripping properties. Full article