Synthesis and characterization of carbon black supported Pt-Ru alloy as a model catalyst for fuel cells

A set of bimetallic Pt-Ru catalysts prepared by co-impregnation of carbon black with ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate and hydrogen hexachloroplatinate(IV) hydrate were investigated by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), chemisorption of hydrogen, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), microcalorimetry of adsorbed CO and a structure-sensitive reaction (n-hexane conversion). The results showed that the volumetric capacities for CO and H-2 adsorption is influenced in the bimetallic Pt-Ru catalysts by the formation of a Pt-Ru alloy. The n-hexane reaction revealed that the reaction mechanism for the pure Pt catalyst mainly occurs via cyclic isomerization and aromatization due to the presence of bigger Pt surface ensembles, whereas the Pt-Ru catalysts exhibited predominantly bond-shift isomerization by the diluting effect of Ru metal addition. The differential heats of CO chemisorption on Pt-Ru catalysts fell between the two monometallic Pt and Ru catalysts extremes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of durable carbon black/titanium dioxide supported macrocycle catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Carbon black and titanium dioxide supported iron tetraphenylporphyrin (FeTPP/TiO2/C) catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were prepared by sol-gel and precipitation methods followed by a heat-treatment at temperatures of 400-1000 degrees C. The FeTPP/C and TiO2/C were also studied for comparison. The FeTPP/TiO2/C pyrolyzed at 700 degrees C exhibits significantly improved stability while maintaining high activity towards ORR in comparison with the FeTPP/C counterpart. The electrochemical study combined with XRD, XPS, and SEM/EDX analyses revealed that the appropriate dispersion of TiO2 on the surface of FeTPP/TiO2/C catalysts, which depending on heat-treatment temperature, plays a crucial role in determining the activity and stability of catalysts.

LDPE/carbon black conductive composites: Influence of radiation crosslinking on PTC and NTC properties

The electrical resistivity of low-density polyethylene/carbon black composites irradiated by Co-60 gamma-rays was investigated as a function of temperature. The experimental results obtained by scanning electron microscopy, solvent extraction techniques, and pressure-specific volume-temperature analysis techniques showed that the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effects of the composites were influenced by the irradiation dose, network forming (gel), and soluble fractions (Sol). The NTC effect was effectively eliminated when the radiation dose reached 400 kGy. The results showed that the elimination of the NTC effect was related to the difference in the thermal expansion of the gel and Sol regions. The thermal expansion of the sol played an important role in both increasing the PTC intensity and decreasing the NTC intensity at 400 kGy.

Studies on the PTC/NTC effect of carbon black filled low density polyethylene composites

The positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effect of carbon black (CB) filled low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites was studied using electrical resistivity spectra, DSC, tensile mechanical analysis (TMA) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The three LDPEs used have a similar crystallinity and different melting index (MI). The experimental results indicate that the CB has no significant effect on the crystallinity and the long spacing of crystalline domains of LDPE. Based upon the TMA and dynamic elastic modulus spectra, it can be concluded that the PTC effect is related to the thermal expansion of the polymer matrix, and the NTC effect is caused by a decrease of the elastic modulus of the polymer at high temperatures. The NTC effect can be reduced by enhancing either the elastic modulus or the interaction between carbon black and matrix. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Electrical and dynamic mechanical behavior of carbon black filled polymer composites

The effect of processing conditions on the electrical and dynamic behavior of carbon black (CB) filled ethylene/ethylacrylate copolymer (EEA) composites was investigated. The compounds were prepared by two methods, solution blending and mechanical mixing. Compared with the solution counterpart, the mechanical composites have a strong positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effect and a high dynamic elastic modulus, which results from the good dispersion state of carbon black in EEA, i.e. the strong interaction between carbon black and EEA. It can be concluded that the strong interaction between polymer and carbon black is essential for composites to have a high PTC intensity, good electrical reproducibility and high dynamic elastic modulus. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Studies on the electrical conductivity of carbon black filled polymers

The conductivity mechanism for a carbon black (CB) filled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) compound was investigated in this work. From the experimental results obtained, it can be seen that the relation between electrical current density (J) and applied voltage across the sample (V) coincides with Simmons's equation (i.e., the electrical resistivity of the compound decreases with the applied voltage, especially at the critical voltage). The minimum electrical resistivity occurs near the glass transition temperature (T-g) of HDPE (198 K). It can be concluded that electron tunneling is an important mechanism and a dominant transport process in the HDPE/CB composite. A new model of carbon black dispersion in the matrix was established, and the resistivity was calculated by using percolation and quantum mechanical theories. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Preparation and characterization of multiwalled carbon nanotube-supported platinum for cathode catalysts of direct methanol fuel cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-supported Pt (Pt/MWNT) nanocomposites were prepared by both the aqueous solution reduction of a Pt salt (HCHO reduction) and the reduction of a Pt ion salt in ethylene glycol solution. For comparison, a Pt/XC-72 nanocomposite was also prepared by the EG method. The Pt/MWNT catalyst prepared by the EG method has a high and homogeneous dispersion of spherical Pt metal particles with a narrow particle-size distribution. TEM images show that the Pt particle size is in the range of 2-5 nm with a peak at 2.6 nm, which is consistent with 2.5 nm obtained from the XRD broadening calculation. Surface chemical modifications of MWNTs and water content in EG solvent are found to be the key factors in depositing Pt particles on MWNTs. In the case of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) test, the Pt/MWNT catalyst prepared by EG reduction is slightly superior to the catalyst prepared by aqueous reduction and displays significantly higher performance than the Pt/XC-72 catalyst. These differences in catalytic performance between the MWNT-supported or the carbon black XC-72-supported catalysts are attributed to a greater dispersion of the supported Pt particles when the EG method is used, in contrast to aqueous HCHO reduction and to possible unique structural and higher electrical properties when contrasting MWNTs to carbon black XC-72 as a support.

Highly active PtRu catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes prepared by modified impregnation method for methanol electro-oxidation

A simple and rapid synthesis method (denoted as modified impregnation method, MI) for PtRu/CNTs (MI) and PtRu/C (MI) was presented. PtRu/CNTs (MI) and PtRu/C (MI) catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry. It was shown that Pt-Ru particles with small average size (2.7 nm) were uniformly dispersed on carbon supports (carbon nanotubes and carbon black) and displayed the characteristic diffraction peaks of Pt face-centered cubic structure.

Vacuum pyrolysis of waste tires with basic additives

Granules of waste tires were pyrolyzed tinder vacuum (3.5-10 kPa) conditions, and the effects of temperature and basic additives (Na2CO3, NaOH) on the properties of pyrolysis were thoroughly investigated. It was obvious that with or without basic additives, pyrolysis oil yield increased gradually to a maximum and subsequently decreased with a temperature increase from 450 degrees C to 600 degrees C, irrespective of the addition of basic additives to the reactor. The addition of NaOH facilitated pyrolysis dramatically, as a maximal pyrolysis oil yield of about 48 wt% was achieved at 550 degrees C without the addition of basic additives, while a maximal pyrolysis oil yield of about 50 wt% was achieved at 480 degrees C by adding 3 wt% (w/w, powder/waste tire granules) of NaOH powder. The composition analysis of pyrolytic naphtha (i.b.p. (initial boiling point) similar to 205 degrees C) distilled from pyrolysis oil showed that more dl-limonene was obtained with basic additives and the maximal content of dl-limonene in pyrolysis oil was 12.39 wt% which is a valuable and widely-used fine chemical. However, no improvement in pyrolysis was observed with Na2CO3 addition. Pyrolysis gas was mainly composed of H-2, CO, CH4, CO2, C2H4 and C2H6. Pyrolytic char had a surface area comparable to commercial carbon black, but its proportion of ash (above 11.5 wt%) was much higher.

Hydrogen Vanadate as an Effective Stabilizer of Pd Nanocatalysts for Formic Acid Electroxidation

In this paper, a simple chemical reduction route is discussed that results in small size, uniform dispersion of Pd nanoparticles supported on carbon black. HVO42-, the tridentate oxoanion with its O-O distance of 2.76 angstrom, closely matching with the Pd-Pd distance (2.75 angstrom), is expected to be an effective stabilizer for Pd according to the lattice size-matching binding model (Finke, R. G.; Ozkar, S. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2004, 248, 135). Because it has never been tested, HVO42- is exploited and found to be a very simple and effective stabilizer.