Morphology effect of zirconia support on the catalytic performance of supported Ni catalysts for dry reforming of methane

An immature pinecone shaped hierarchically structured zirconia （ZrO2-ipch） and a cobblestone-like zirconia nanoparticulate （ZrO2-cs）, both with the monoclinic phase （m-phase）, were synthesized by the facile hydrothermal method and used as the support for a Ni catalyst for the dry reforming of methane （DRM） with CO2. ZrO2-ipch is a much better support than ZrO2-cs and the traditional ZrO2 irregular particles made by a simple precipitation method （ZrO2-ip）. The supported Ni catalyst on ZrO2-ipch （Ni/ZrO2-ipch） exhibited outstanding catalytic activity and coke-resistant stability compared to the ones on ZrO2-cs （Ni/ZrO2-cs） and ZrO2-ip （Ni/ZrO2-ip）. Ni/ZrO2-ip exhibited the worst catalytic performance. The origin of the significantly enhanced catalytic performance was revealed by characterization including XRD, N2 adsorption measurement （BET）, TEM, H2-TPR, CO chemisorption, CO2-TPD, XPS and TGA. The superior catalytic activity of Ni/ZrO2-ipch to Ni/ZrO2-cs or Ni/ZrO2-ip was ascribed to a higher Ni dispersion, increased reducibility, enhanced oxygen mo- bility, and more basic sites with a higher strength, which were due to the unique hierarchically structural morphology of the ZrO2-ipch support. Ni/ZrO2-ipch exhibited better stability for the DRM reaction than Ni/ZrO2-ip, which was ascribed to its higher resistance to Ni sintering due to a strengthened metal-support interaction and the confinement effect of the mesopores and coke deposition resistance. The higher coking resistance of Ni/ZrO2-ipch for the DRM reaction in comparison with Ni/ZrOz-ip orignated from the coke-removalabitity of the higher amount of lattice oxygen and more basic sites, confirmed by XPS and CO2-TPD analysis, and the stabilized Ni on the Ni/ZrO2-ipch catalyst by the confinement effect of the mesopores of the hierarchical ZrO2-ipch sup- port. The superior catalytic performance and coking resistance of the Ni/ZrO2-ipch catalyst makes it a promising candidate for synthesis gas production from the DRM reaction.

Burn-resistant behavior and mechanism of Ti14 alloy

The direct-current simulation burning method was used to investigate the burn-resistant behavior of Ti14 titanium alloy.The results show that Ti14 alloy exhibits a better burn resistance than TC4 alloy（Ti-6A1-4V）.Cu is observed to preferentially migrate to the surface of Ti14 alloy during the burning reaction,and the burned product contains Cu,Cu2O,and TiO2.An oxide layer mainly comprising loose TiO2 is observed beneath the burned product.Meanwhile,Ti2Cu precipitates at grain boundaries near the interface of the oxide layer,preventing the contact between O2 and Ti and forming a rapid diffusion layer near the matrix interface.Consequently,a multiple-layer structure with a Cu-enriched layer（burned product）/Cu-lean layer（oxide layer）/Cu-enriched layer（rapid diffusion layer） configuration is formed in the burn heat-affected zone of Ti14 alloy;this multiple-layer structure is beneficial for preventing O2 diffusion.Furthermore,although A1 can migrate to form A12O3 on the surface of TC4 alloy,the burn-resistant ability of TC4 is unimproved because the Al2O3 is discontinuous and not present in sufficient quantity.

Effects of Annealing Temperature on the Structural,Optical,and Electrical Properties of ZnO Thin Films Grown on n-Si<100>Substrates by the Sol–Gel Spin Coating Method

The effects of annealing temperature on the sol–gel-derived ZnO thin films deposited on n-Sh100 i substrates by sol–gel spin coating method have been studied in this paper.The structural,optical,and electrical properties of ZnO thin films annealed at 450,550,and 650 °C in the Ar gas atmosphere have been investigated in a systematic way.The XRD analysis shows a polycrystalline nature of the films at all three annealing temperatures.Further,the crystallite size is observed to be increased with the annealing temperature,whereas the positions of various peaks in the XRD spectra are found to be red-shifted with the temperature.The surface morphology studied through the scanning electron microscopy measurements shows a uniform distribution of ZnO nanoparticles over the entire Si substrates of enhanced grain sizes with the annealing temperature.Optical properties investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy shows an optical band gap varying in the range of 3.28–3.15 eV as annealing temperature is increased from 450 to 650 °C,respectively.The fourpoint probe measurement shows a decrease in resistivity from 2：1 10 2to 8：1 10 4X cm with the increased temperature from 450 to 650 °C.The study could be useful for studying the sol–gel-derived ZnO thin film-based devices for various electronic,optoelectronic,and gas sensing applications.