Low temperature preparation of ceria solid solutions doubly doped with rare-earth and alkali-earth and their properties as solid oxide fuel cells

A series of solid electrolytes, (Ce(0.8)Ln(0.2))(1 - x)MxO2 - delta(Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Gd, M:Alkali-earth), were prepared by amorphous citrate gel method. XRD patterns indicate that a pure fluorite phase is formed at 800 degreesC. The electrical conductivity and the AC impedance spectra were measured. XPS spectra show that the oxygen vacancies increase owing to the MO doping, which results in the increase of the oxygen ionic transport number and conductivity. The performance of ceria-based solid electrolyte is improved. The effects of rare-earth and alkali-earth ions on the electricity were discussed. The open-circuit voltages and maximum power density of planar solid oxide fuel cell using (Ce0.8Sm0.2)(1 - 0.05)Ca0.05O2 - delta as electrolyte are 0.86 V and 33 mW . cm(-2), respectively.

Sol-gel derived iridium composite glucose biosensor

Iridium powder is introduced into sol-gel process for the first time to fabricate a novel type of sol-gel derived metal composite electrode. The iridium ceramic electrode shows excellent electrocatalytic action for both oxidation and reduction of hydrogen peroxide. The glucose biosensor based on sol-gel derived iridium composite electrode was fabricated. The biosensor shows highly selectivity towards glucose because of the strong catalytic action of iridium composite matrix for enzyme-liberated hydrogen peroxide at low operating potential, at which common interferences cannot be sensed. The novel type of biosensor can be renewed by simply mechanical polishing with favorable reproducibility and long-term stability.

Sol-gel derived iridium composite glucose biosensor

Iridium powder is introduced into sol-gel process for the first time to fabricate a novel type of sol-gel derived metal composite electrode. The iridium ceramic electrode shows excellent electrocatalytic action for both oxidation and reduction of hydrogen peroxide. The glucose biosensor based on sol-gel derived iridium composite electrode was fabricated. The biosensor shows highly selectivity towards glucose because of the strong catalytic action of iridium composite matrix for enzyme-liberated hydrogen peroxide at low operating potential, at which common interferences cannot be sensed. The novel type of biosensor can be renewed by simply mechanical polishing with favorable reproducibility and long-term stability.

Morphological study on water-borne conducting polyaniline-poly(ethylene oxide) blends

Conducting polyaniline-poly(ethylene oxide) blends were prepared from their aqueous solutions. The blends displayed an electrical conductivity percolation threshold as low as 1.83 wt % of polyaniline loading. As demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, polarized optical microscopy, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction studies, the conducting polyaniline took a fibrillar morphology in the blend, and it existed only in the amorphous phase of poly(ethylene oxide). A three-phase model combining morphological factors instead of a two-phase model was proposed to explain the low-conductivity percolation threshold.

An organic-inorganic vanadium oxide with one-dimensional ladder-type structure: hydrothermal synthesis, structure and characterization of [V4O10(o-phen)(2)]

A novel organic-inorganic hybrid vanadium oxide [V4O10(o-phen)(2)], involving all vanadium atoms present in +5 oxidation, has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-vis, ESR, XPS spectra and TG-DTA thermal analysis. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that the red-brown crystal is formed in the triclinic system, space group P (1) over bar, a = 9.782(2), b = 6.5124(14), c = 19.765(4) Angstrom, alpha = 89.94(2)degrees, beta = 100.66(2)degrees, gamma = 89.86(2)degrees. The title compound exhibits an infinite one-dimensional ladder-type tetravanadate skeleton with organonitrogen donors of o-phenanthroline ligands coordinated directly to the vanadium oxide framework.

Solvent-dependent formation of di- and trinuclear rhodiurn and iridium complexes bridged by N,N '-donor ligands

Reactions of Rh and Ir hydrido complexes. [Rh(H)(2)(PPh3)(2)(solv)(EtOH)]ClO4 (solv = Me2CO, 1a; EtOH, 1b) and [Ir(H)(2)(PPh3)(2)(Me2CO)(2)]BF4 (2), with various N,N'-donor bridging ligands, such as pyrazine (pyz), 4,4'-trimethylenedipyridine (tmdp) and di(4-pyridyl) disulfide (dpds), in some solvents were examined, and their reaction products were characterized by X-ray crystal structure analysis. IR, H-1 NMR and UV-vis spectra. Rh hydrido complexes, la or 1b, formed a dinuclear Rh complex, [Rh-2(PPh3)(2) {(eta(6)-C6H5PPh2}(2)] (ClO4)(2).6CH(2)Cl(2) (3.6CH(2)Cl(2)), in dichloromethane with a reductive elimination of hydrogen. The reactions of 1a or 1b with the pyz ligand in dichloromethane and tetrahydrofuran gave triangular Rh-3 complexes, [Rh-3(PPh3)(6)(pyz)(3)](ClO4)(3).CH2Cl2 (5.CH2Cl2) and [Rh-3(PPh3)(6)(pyz)(3)](ClO4)(3).EtOH (5.EtOH), respectively, in contrast to the formation of a dinuclear Rh hydrido complex, [Rh-2(H)(4)(PPh3)(4)(Me2CO)(2)(pyz)](ClO4)(2).EtOH A-EtOH). in acetone. The reactions of la or 1b with the tmdp ligand in dichloromethane and 3-methyl-2-butanone also afforded dinuclear Rh complexes, [Rh-2(PPh3)(4)(tmdp)(2)](ClO4)(2) (6) and [Rh-2(PPh3)(4)(tmdp)(2)](ClO4)(2).4MeCOCHMe(2) (6.4MeCOCHMe(2)), respectively. On the other hand, Ir hydrido complex 2 reacted with pyz and dpds ligands in dichloromethane to afford dinuclear Ir complexes, [Ir-2(H)(4)(PPh3)(4)(Me2CO)(2)(pyz)]- (BF4)(2).3CH(2)Cl(2) (7.3CH(2)Cl(2)) and [Ir-2(H)(4)(PPh3)(4)(dpds)(2)](BF4)(2).3CH(2)Cl(2).H2O (8.3CH(2)Cl(2).H2O), respectively, without any reductive elimination of hydrogen. Based on structural studies in solution and in the solid state. it was demonstrated that various Rh and Ir complexes were selectively produced depending on the choice of solvents and N,N'-donor bridging ligands.

An organic-inorganic hybrid ultrathin film: preparation and characterization of copper phthalocyanine derivative-ferric oxide nanoparticles

A nanoparticulate ferric oxide-copper tris(2,4-di-tert-amylphenoxy)-8-quinolinolylphthalocyanine hybrid ultrathin film was constructed from alternate layers by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. The composition, morphology and structure of the film were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, visible spectroscopy and polarized UV-Vis spectroscopy. All the above analyses suggest that the thin film is a kind of one-dimensional superlattice, composed of organic and inorganic components. The XPS data reveal that the nanoparticulate ferric oxide exists as an alpha-Fe2O3 phase in the films. Gas-sensing measurements show that the hybrid LB film has very fast response-recovery characteristics towards 2 ppm C2H5OH vapor.

Study on sensing properties of tin oxide CO gas sensor with low power consumption

In this paper, the fabrication method of a new type of carbon monoxide gas sensor based on SnOx with low power consumption and its sensing characteristics have been reported. The electric conductance of this type of sensor evolves oscillation form regularly when the sensor is exposed to low level of CO gas. The oscillation amplitude is directly proportional to the concentration of CO gas over a wide range. The effects of relevant factors. such as. humidity, temperature and interference gases on the sensor properties were examined. The sensing oscillation response mechanism was also discussed.

Alternating LB film of ferric oxide nanoparticles-copper phthalocyanine derivative and its gas sensitivity

Nanoparticulate ferric oxide - tris - (2,4-di-t-amylphenoxy) - (8-quinolinolyl) copper phthalocyanine Langmuir-Blodgett Z-type multilayers were obtained by using monodisperse nanoparticle ferric oxide hydrosol as the subphase. XPS data reveal that the nanoparticle ferric oxide exist as alpha -Fe2O3 phase in the films. Transition electron microscopic (TEM) image of the alternating monolayer shows that the film was highly covered by the copper phthalocyanine derivative and the nanoparticles were arranged rather closely. IR and visible spectra all give the results that the nanoparticles were deposited onto the substrate with the copper phthalocyanine derivative. The gas-sensing measurements show that the alternating LB film had very fast response-recovery characteristic to 2 ppm C2H5OH gas, and also sensitive to larger than 200 ppm NH3.

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of PEO in poly(ethylene terephthalate)-poly(ethylene oxide) segmented copolymers. I. Effect of the sofi-block length

The isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) block in two poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)-PEO segmented copolymers was studied with differential scanning calorimetry. The Avrami equation failed to describe the overall crystallization process, but a modified Avrami equation, the Q equation, did. The crystallizability of the PET block and the different lengths of the PEO block exerted strong influences on the crystallization process, the crystallinity, and time final morphology of the PEO block. The mechanism of nucleation and the growth dimension of the PEG block were different because of the crystallizability of time PET block and the compositional heterogeneity. The crystallization of the PEO block was physically constrained by the microstructure of time PET crystalline phase, which resulted in a lower crystallization rate. However, this influence became weak with the increase in the soft-block length. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.