Monitoring the spontaneous wetting process of hydrophobic microporous membrane assisted by alternating current impedance spectroscopy

In the process of membrane absorption,spontaneous wetting of hydrophobic microporous membrane causes membrane modification and increases membrane phase mass transfer resistance,which have attracted wide interest.However,due to the limitations of previous testing methods,the study of the spontaneous membrane wetting process is limited.Herein,we present a method for monitoring spontaneous membrane wetting by measuring its alternating current(AC)impedance.The impedance tests of the PVDF flat membranes and hollow fiber membranes were conducted in a two-electrode system.The results of equivalent circuit fitting indicate that the impedance value of the unwetted membrane is about 1.02×10^(10)Ω,which is close to the theoretical value of 1.4×10^(10)Ω,and this method can quantify the electrochemical impedance value of membranes with different degrees of spontaneous wetting.In addition,a method of impedance test for real-time monitoring of spontaneous wetting was designed.During the experiment,the timeliness and continuity of this method are confirmed with exact judgment under different conditions.In future work,the impedance data will be used to build model to predict the percentage of membrane wetting degree.

Characterization of alternating current impedance properties of biomedical electrodes

To study the alternating current （AC） impedance properties of Ag/AgC1 electrocardiograph （ECG） electrodes, the electrode pair was gel-to-gel connected, and then the electrical potential was recorded after a safe stimulating current passes through the electrode pair, so the AC impedance data of ECG electrodes were obtained. Varying the frequency and value of stimulating current, the detailed comparison and analysis of AC impedance properties of the electrodes were performed, and the stability was further characterized by using the continuous measurement within 24 h. The experimental results show that the AC impedance values of electrodes decreased, and then slightly increased with the increase of frequency of stimulating current. The minimum AC impedance value was obtained when the frequency was changed to 10 kHz. When the stimulating current increased, the AC impedance values of electrodes showed a slight decrease, but did not change significantly. Besides, the continuous measurement results show that the impedance value presented a significant increase in the initial 30 min, and then was stabilized in the following measuring process.

Ionic Conduction and Fuel Cell Performance of Ba0.98Ce0.8Tm0.2O3-α Ceramic

The perovskite-type oxide solid solution Ba0.98Ce0.8Tm0.2O3-α was prepared by high temperature solid-state reaction and its single phase character was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The conduction property of the sample was investigated by alternating current impedance spectroscopy and gas concentration cell methods under different gases atmospheres in the temperature range of 500-900 ℃. The performance of the hydrogen-air fuel cell using the sample as solid electrolyte was measured. In wet hydrogen, the sample is a pure protonic conductor with the protonic transport number of 1 in the range of 500-600 ℃, a mixed conductor of proton and electron with the protonic transport number of 0.945-0.933 above 600 ℃. In wet air, the sample is a mixed conductor of proton, oxide ion, and electronic hole. The protonic transport numbers are 0.010-0.021, and the oxide ionic transport numbers are 0.471-0.382. In hydrogen-air fuel cell, the sample is a mixed conductor of proton, oxide ion and electron, the ionic transport numbers are 0.942 0.885. The fuel cell using Ba0.98Ce0.8Tm0.2O3-α as solid electrolyte can work stably. At 900 ℃, the maximum power output density is 110,2 mW/cm2, which is higher than that of our previous cell using Ba0.98Ce0.8Tm0.2O3-α （x〈≤1, RE=Y, Eu, Ho） as solid electrolyte.