Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube-Supported Pd Catalyst for Improved Electrocatalytic Performance toward Ethanol Electrooxidation

In this study, hydrothermal carbonization(HTC)was applied for surface functionalization of carbon nanotubes(CNTs) in the presence of glucose and urea. The HTC process allowed the deposition of thin nitrogen-doped carbon layers on the surface of the CNTs. By controlling the ratio of glucose to urea, nitrogen contents of up to 1.7 wt%were achieved. The nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube-supported Pd catalysts exhibited superior electrochemical activity for ethanol oxidation relative to the pristine CNTs.Importantly, a 1.5-fold increase in the specific activity was observed for the Pd/HTC-N1.67%CNTs relative to the catalyst without nitrogen doping(Pd/HTC-CNTs). Furtherexperiments indicated that the introduction of nitrogen species on the surface of the CNTs improved the Pd(0)loading and increased the binding energy.

Study on direct alcohol/ether fuel synthesis process in bubble column slurry reactor

The recent studies of direct alcohol/ether synthesis process in slurry reactors were reviewed,and the research work in our laboratory was carried out in this paper.a global kinetics model for direct dimethyl ether(DME)synthesis from syngas over a novel Cu-Zn-Al-Zr slurry catalyst was established according to the total of 25 experimental data,and a steady-state one-dimensional mathematical model was further developed in bubble column slurry reactor(BCSR),which was assumed that the bubble phase was plug flow,and the liquid phase was fully mixed flow.The numerical simulations of reactor design of 100000 t/a dimethyl ether pilot plant indicate that higher pressure and lower temperature were favorable to the increase of CO conversion,selectivity of dimethyl ether,product yield and height of slurry bed.The optimal operating conditions for DME synthesis process were obtained:reaction temperature at 240℃,reactor pressure at 5 MPa and reactor diameter of 2.5 m.

Photo-responsive metal/semiconductor hybrid nanostructure:A promising electrocatalyst for solar light enhanced fuel cell reaction

Direct alcohol fuel cells(DAFCs)have received wide attention as a new type of clean energy device because of their high energy conversion efficiency,portability,non-toxicity and pollution-free.Anode catalysts are the key factors affecting the performance of DAFCs.Recently studies show that using the optical activity of semiconductor materials as the carriers of traditional precious metal electrocatalysts,under the illumination of light sources,can greatly improve the electrocatalytic activity and stability of electrodes.In this review,the research progress of photo-responsive metal/semiconductor hybrids as the electrocatalysts for DAFCs in recent years is summarized,including:(1)Mechanism and advantages of photo-assistant electrochemical alcohol oxidation reaction,(2)me tal/semiconductor electrocatalyst for the different type of fuel cell reactions,(3)different kind of metals in photo-responsive metal/semiconductor hybrid nanostructure,(4)the personal prospects of the photo-responsive metal/semiconductor electrode for future application in DAFCs.