BE (Hons) final year project assessment - leaving out the subjectiveness

Final year projects for BE(Hons) programmes are the linkage between the academic and the industrial domains. Projects are often judged by respective employers as the measure by which students are considered and are also closely surveyed by professional bodies when accreditation is sought. In some instances, final year projects can lead to publications in conferences and journals and also allow students to continue their academic study into research degrees. However, the assessment of both the final thesis and the process of conducting the project are often subjective and open to challenge. This paper discusses a comprehensive strategy for removing some of the inconsistencies and proposes a transparent and robust assessment model which can be applied in similar areas elsewhere. This approach has been developed at the School of Engineering at AUT University in Auckland.

Oxygen reduction reaction activity of La-based perovskite oxides in alkaline medium : a thin-film rotating ring-disk electrode study

In this work, LaMO₃ and LaNi_0.5M_0.5O₃ (M = Ni, Co, Fe, Mn and Cr) perovskite oxide electrocatalysts were synthesized by a combined ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-citrate complexation technique and subsequent calcinations at 1000 °C in air. Their powder X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrate the formation of a specific crystalline structure for each composition. The catalytic property of these materials toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was studied in alkaline potassium hydroxide solution using the rotating disk and rotating ring-disk electrode techniques. Carbon is considered to be a crucial additive component because its addition into perovskite oxide leads to optimized ORR current density. For LaMO₃ (M = Ni, Co, Fe, Mn and Cr)), in terms of the ORR current densities, the performance is enhanced in the order of LaCrO₃, LaFeO₃, LaNiO₃, LaMnO₃, and LaCoO3. For LaNi_0.5M_0.5O₃, the ORR current performance is enhanced in the order of LaNi_0.5Fe_0.5O₃, LaNi_0.5Co_0.5O₃, LaNi_0.5Cr_0.5O₃, and LaNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₃. Overall, LaCoO₃ demonstrates the best performance. Most notably, substituting half of the nickel with cobalt, iron, manganese, or chromium translates the ORR to a more positive onset potential, suggesting the beneficial catalytic effect of two transition metal cations with Mn as the most promising candidate. Koutecky–Levich analysis on the ORR current densities of all compositions indicates that the four-electron pathway is favored on these oxides, which are consistent with hydroperoxide ion formation of <2%.