Towards the Design of a Textile Chemical Ontology

The main goal of this paper is to present the initial version of a Textile Chemical Ontology, to be used by textile professionals with the purpose of conceptualising and representing the banned and harmful chemical substances that are forbidden in this domain. After analysing different methodologies and determining that “Methontology” is the most appropriate for the purposes, this methodology is explored and applied to the domain. In this manner, an initial set of concepts are defined, together with their hierarchy and the relationships between them. This paper shows the benefits of using the ontology through a real use case in the context of Information Retrieval. The potentiality of the proposed ontology in this preliminary evaluation encourages extending the ontology with a higher number of concepts and relationships, and validating it within other Natural Language Processing applications.

Well-defined mesoporosity on lignocellulosic-derived activated carbons

Activated carbons with a highly developed mesoscale cavitation-linked structure have been prepared from natural products (e.g. peach stones) by combining chemical and physical activation processes. Characterization results show that these materials exhibit a large “apparent” surface area (∼1500 m2/g) together with a well-defined mesoporous structure, i.e. large cavities connected to the external surface through narrower mesoporous necks (cavitation effects).

Pt- and Ru-Doped SnO2–Sb Anodes with High Stability in Alkaline Medium

Different Pt- and Ru-doped Ti/SnO2–Sb electrodes were synthesized by thermal decomposition. The effect of the gradual substitution of Sb by Ru in the nominal composition on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties were evaluated. The electrochemical stability of the electrodes was estimated from accelerated tests at 0.5 A cm–2 in 1 M NaOH. Both as-synthesized and deactivated electrodes were thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The incorporation of a small amount (about 3 at. %) of both Pt and Ru into the SnO2–Sb electrodes produced a 400-times increase in their service life in alkaline medium, with no remarkable change in the electrocatalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). It is concluded that the deactivation of the electrodes is promoted by alkaline dissolution of metal species and coating detachment at high potentials. The introduction of Pt has a coating compacting effect, and Ru(IV), at low amounts until 9.75 at. %, replaces the Sn(IV) cations in the rutile-like SnO2 structure to form a solid solution that strongly increases the stability of the electrodes. The observed Ru segregation and decreased stability for larger Ru contents (x > 9.75 at. %), together with the selective dissolution of Ru after deactivation, suggest that the formation of a homogeneous (RuδSn1−δ)O2 single-phase is crucial for the stabilization of these electrodes.

Understanding the CO Preoxidation and the Intrinsic Catalytic Activity of Step Sites in Stepped Pt Surfaces in Acidic Medium

In order to deepen the knowledge about the origin of the CO preoxidation process and the intrinsic catalytic activity of Pt superficial steps toward CO oxidation, a series of CO stripping experiments were performed on stepped Pt electrodes in acidic medium. For the occurrence of CO preoxidation, it was found that it arises (reproducibly) whenever four interconnected conditions are simultaneously fulfilled: (1) CO adsorption at potentials lower than about 0.2 V; (2) on surfaces saturated with COads; (3) in the presence of traces of CO in solution; (4) in the presence of surface steps. If any of these four conditions is not satisfied, the CO preoxidation pathway does not appear, even though the steps on the electrode surface are completely covered by CO. By controlling the removal of the CO adlayer (voltammetrically), we show that once the CO adlayer has been partially oxidized, the (111) terrace sites of stepped surfaces are released earlier than the (110) step sites. Moreover, if (110) steps are selectively decorated with CO, its oxidation occurs only at potentials ∼150 mV higher than the CO preoxidation peak. Our results systematically demonstrate that step sites are less active to oxidize CO than those ones responsible for the CO preoxidation process. Once the sites responsible for the CO preoxidation are made free, there is no apparent motion of the remaining adsorbed CO layer, suggesting that the activation of the surface controls the whole process, rather than the diffusion of COads toward hypothetically “most active sites”. Voltammetric and chronoamperometric experiments performed on partially covered CO adlayers suggest that adsorbed CO behave as a motionless species during its oxidation, in which the CO adlayer is removed piece by piece. By means of in situ FTIR experiments, the stretching frequency of CO selectively adsorbed on (110) step sites was examined. Band frequency results confirm that those molecules adsorbed on steps are fully coupled with the adsorbed CO on (111) terraces when the surface reaches full coverage.