Effective ethanol-to-CO_(2) electrocatalysis at iridium-bismuth oxide featuring the impressive negative shifting of the working potential

Since low overpotential for the anodic ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)can favor the higher output voltage and power of direct ethanol fuel cells(DEFCs),it is critical to design new EOR catalysts with efficient ethanol-to-CO_(2)activity at low applied potentials.Thereby,carbon-supported Ir-Bi_(2)O_(3)(Ir-Bi_(2)O_(3)/C)catalysts with highly dispersive bismuth oxide on the iridium surface are designed and prepared,which can merit splitting the ethanol C–C bond and promoting the oxidation of C1 intermediates at the bifunctional interfaces.The as-obtained Ir-Bi2O3/C catalysts show superior EOR mass activity of up to ca.2250 m A mgIr-1.Moreover,they exhibit the record lowest onset oxidation potentials(0.17–0.22 V vs.RHE)and the peak potential(ca.0.58 V vs.RHE),being 130–300 m V lower than the previous landmark noble metallic catalysts.Furthermore,an apparent C1 pathway faraday efficiency(FEC1)of 28%±5.9%at 0.5 V vs.RHE can be obtained at Ir-Bi_(2)O_(3)/C.This work might provide new insights into the new anodic EOR catalysts for increasing the power of DEFCs.

Preparation of bismuth oxide/titania composite particles and their photocatalytic activity to degradation of 4-chlorophenol

Bismuth oxide/titania, one interfacial composite semiconductor with high photocatalytic activity under solar light, was prepared at low temperature. The structure was characterized by X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, brunauer-emmett-teller （BET）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and diffuse reflection spectra （DRS）. The results indicate that deposited titania nanoparticles on bismuth oxide surface have micro-nano structure, and this composite material exhibits porosity and increased surface hydroxyl groups. Furthermore, the as-prepared photocatalyst shows higher photocatalytic activity to the degradation of 4-chlorophenol than pure titania or P25 under sunlight.

Preparation of bismuth subcarbonate by liquid ball-milling transformation method from bismuth oxide

In order to solve the problems of environment pollution and high cost in traditional process of bismuth subcarbonate preparation, a new process using ball-milling transformation method from NH4HCO3 and Bi2O3 was proposed. Additionally, the kinetics of bismuth subcarbonate preparation was studied. Effects of reaction temperature, particle size of bismuth oxide, solid-to-liquid ratio and concentrations of ammonium bicarbonate on the conversion rate of bismuth oxide were studied. The results indicate that the conversion rate of bismuth oxide significantly increased under the conditions of higher temperature, smaller particle size, higher concentration of ammonium bicarbonate and smaller solid-to-liquid ratio. The XRD and ICP-AES analyses show that the purity of product is high. The reaction kinetics with activation energy of 9.783 kJ/mol was analyzed by shrinking core model, and the whole transformation process is controlled by solid product layer diffusion. A semi-empirical kinetics equation was obtained to describe the conversion process.

Enhanced visible-light photo-oxidation of nitric oxide using bismuth-coupled graphitic carbon nitride composite heterostructures

Pure bismuth（Bi） metal-modified graphitic carbon nitride（g-C3N4） composites（Bi-CN） with a pomegranate-like structure were prepared by an in situ method.The Bi-CN composites were used as photocatalysts for the oxidation of nitric oxide（NO） under visible-light irradiation.The inclusion of pure Bi metal in the g-C3N4 layers markedly improved the light absorption of the Bi-CN composites from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared region because of the typical surface plasmon resonance of Bi metal.The separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers were greatly accelerated by the presence of built-in Mott-Schottky effects at the interface between Bi metal and g-C3N4.As a result,the Bi-CN composite photocatalysts exhibited considerably enhanced efficiency in the photocatalytic removal of NO compared with that of Bi metal or g-C3N4 alone.The pomegranate-like structure of the Bi-CN composites and an explanation for their improved photocatalytic activity were proposed.This work not only provides a design for highly efficient g-C3N4-based photocatalysts through modification with Bi metal,but also offers new insights into the mechanistic understanding of g-C3N4-based photo catalysis.

Conversion of Catalytically Inert 2D Bismuth Oxide Nanosheets for Effective Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Catalysis via Oxygen Vacancy Concentration Modulation

Oxygen vacancies(Vo)in electrocatalysts are closely correlated with the hydrogen evo-lution reaction(HER)activity.The role of vacancy defects and the effect of their concentration,how-ever,yet remains unclear.Herein,Bi2O3,an unfavorable electrocata-lyst for the HER due to a less than ideal hydrogen adsorption Gibbs free energy(ΔGH*),is utilized as a perfect model to explore the func-tion of Vo on HER performance.Through a facile plasma irradia-tion strategy,Bi2O3 nanosheets with different Vo concentrations are fabricated to evaluate the influence of defects on the HER process.Unexpectedly,while the generated oxygen vacancies contribute to the enhanced HER performance,higher Vo concentrations beyond a saturation value result in a significant drop in HER activity.By tunning the Vo concentration in the Bi_(2)O_(3)nanosheets via adjusting the treatment time,the Bi2O3 catalyst with an optimized oxygen vacancy concentration and detectable charge carrier concentration of 1.52×10^(24)cm^(−3)demonstrates enhanced HER performance with an overpotential of 174.2 mV to reach 10 mA cm^(−2),a Tafel slope of 80 mV dec−1,and an exchange current density of 316 mA cm−2 in an alkaline solution,which approaches the top-tier activity among Bi-based HER electrocatalysts.Density-functional theory calculations confirm the preferred adsorption of H*onto Bi2O3 as a function of oxygen chemical potential(ΔμO)and oxygen partial potential(PO2)and reveal that high Vo concentrations result in excessive stability of adsorbed hydrogen and hence the inferior HER activity.This study reveals the oxygen vacancy concentration-HER catalytic activity relationship and provides insights into activating catalytically inert materials into highly efficient electrocatalysts.

Effect of Various Alkaline Oxides on Broadband Near-infrared Luminescence from Bismuth-Doped Muminophosphate Glasses

We reported effect of various alkaline oxides on the broadband infrared luminescence from bismuth-doped aluminophosphate glasses. The samples of （99-x）P2O3-17Al2O3-xR2O-IBi2O3 （R=Li, Na and K, x=0 and 10 in mol%） were prepared under reducing condition controlled by additional carbon powders. The fluorescent intensity decreased with increasing content of alkaline oxides and basicity of host glasses. The 1/e fluorescence lifetime of the 72P2O3-17Al2O3-10R2O-1Bi2O3 （R=Li, Na and K） glasses decreased from 461 to 316 μs, as alkaline ions changed from Li^＋ to K^＋.

Influence of MgO contents on silica supported nano-size gold catalyst for carbon monoxide total oxidation

A series of nano-size gold catalysts were prepared by deposition-precipitation method using silica material promoted with different amounts of MgO as the carrier. The influences of MgO addition on the structure and property of the nano-size gold catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, O2 temperature-programmed desorption （O2-TPD）, and inductively coupled with plasma atomic emission spectroscopy （ICP-AES） techniques. The total oxidation of CO was chosen as the probe reaction. The results suggest that for the gold catalysts supported on the silica material after MgO modification, the size of the gold particles is pronouncedly reduced, the oxygen mobility is enhanced, and the catalytic activity for low-temperature CO oxidation is greatly improved. The gold catalyst modified by 6 wt% MgO （Mg/SiO2 weight ratio） shows higher CO oxidation activity, over which the temperature of CO total oxidation is lower about 150 K than that over the silica directly supported gold catalyst.

Role of Bismuth Oxide in Bi-MCo_2O_4(M=Co,Ni,Cu,Zn) Catalysts for Wet Air Oxidation of Acetic Acid

Two series of cobalt(Ⅲ)\|containing spinel catalysts were prepared by the decomposition of the corresponding nitrates. The catalysts doped with bismuth oxide exhibit a higher activity in the wet air oxidation of acetic acid than those without dopant bismuth oxide. The catalysts were investigated by XRD,TEM,ESR,UV\|DRS and XPS,and the interaction between Co and Bi was studied as well. It has been found that nano\|sized bismuth oxide is paved on the surface of cobalt spinel crystal and the structures of cobalt(Ⅲ)\|containing spinel are still maintained. The shift of the binding energy of Bi\-\{\%4f\%\-\{7/2\}\} is related to the catalytic activity of these catalysts doped with bismuth oxide.

Preparation of nanometer δ- and β-bismuth trioxide by vacuum vapor-phase oxidation

A stable δ- and β-bismuth trioxide was prepared at room temperature by vacuum vapor-phase oxidation. The average crystal size of products was 14.6 nm (by XRD), the d(0.5) value was in the range from 62 nm to 69 nm, and geometric standard deviation(GSD) was from 1.42 to 1.64. The results show that δ-Bi2O3 is formed when quenching rates is rapid and β-Bi2O3 is formed when it is slow. The size of grains increases with rising reaction temperature, flow rate of carrier gas, residual pressure of system and longer growing time of grains.

Systematic engineering of BiVO_(4)photoanode for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation

BiVO_(4)is one of the most promising photoanode materials for photoelectrochemical(PEC)solar energy conversion,but it still suffers from poor photocurrent density due to insufficient light‐harvesting efficiency(LHE),weak photogenerated charge separation efficiency(Φ_(Sep)),and low water oxidation efficiency(Φ_(OX)).Herein,we tackle these challenges of the BiVO_(4)photoanodes using systematic engineering,including catalysis engineering,bandgap engineering,and morphology engineering.In particular,we deposit a NiCoO_(x)layer onto the BiVO_(4)photoanode as the oxygen evolution catalyst to enhance theΦ_(OX)of Fe‐g‐C_(3)N_(4)/BiVO_(4)for PEC water oxidation,and incorporate Fe‐doped graphite‐phase C_(3)N_(4)(Fe‐g‐C_(3)N_(4))into the BiVO_(4)photoanode to optimize the bandgap and surface areas to subsequently expand the light absorption range of the photoanode from 530 to 690 nm,increase the LHE andΦ_(Sep),and further improve the oxygen evolution reaction activity of the NiCoO_(x)catalytic layer.Consequently,the maximum photocurrent density of the as‐prepared NiCoO_(x)/Fe‐g‐C_(3)N_(4)/BiVO_(4)is remarkably boosted from 4.6 to 7.4 mA cm^(−2).This work suggests that the proposed systematic engineering strategy is exceptionally promising for improving LHE,Φ_(Sep),andΦ_(OX)of BiVO_(4)‐based photoanodes,which will substantially benefit the design,preparation,and large‐scale application of next‐generation high‐performance photoanodes.

Research Progress on the Bismuth Containing Complex Oxide in Photocatalystic Technology

The photocatalytic degradation on the bismuth containing complex oxide was revised in detail including the synthesis and classification of photocatalyts, and then the photocatalytic reaction, scavenger, and the mechanism of reaction. In particular, the perspectives of photocatalytic degradation on the bismuth containing oxide were analyzed in detail.

Bismuth Oxide Carbonate Structures Synthesized by Microwave—Assisted Solvothermal Approach and Its Use as Catalyst for the Degradation of Azo Dye in a Solution

Because the textile industry wastewater is polluted with azo dyes, and in order to improve a process of wastewater remediation, the synthesized sample was evaluated in the photocatalysis of methylene blue and compared with commercial Bi2O3 and anatase TiO2. Structures of bismuth oxide carbonate (Bi2O2CO3) were successfully synthesized using a solution at 0.03 M concentration of sodium bismuthate as precursor and ethylene glycol as dissolvent by solvothermal microwave-assisted approach. The semiconductor catalyst samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XDR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET). The application of the synthesized sample as catalyst, obtained a 68% of degradation. This result is better than the commercial Bi2O3 and close to the anatase TiO2 degradation. This sample shows a variation in the formula (with the presence of carbonates) but also shows an acceptable degradation percentage according to TiO2 results, making Bi2O2CO3 a possible substitute of TiO2.

Amorphous ferric oxide as a hole-extraction and transfer layer on nanoporous bismuth vanadate photoanode for water oxidation

An amorphous ferric oxide layer was prepared on a bismuth vanadate photoanode.This resulted in improved charge carrier separation and surface catalytic performance compared with the photoanode without the oxide layer.The photocurrent of the oxide‐layer‐containing photoanode was2.52mA/cm2at1.23V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode,in potassium phosphate buffer,(0.5mol/L,pH=7.0).The amorphous ferric oxide layer on the photoanode contained low‐valence‐state iron species(FeII),which enabled efficient hole extraction and transfer.

Reduction smelting on bismuth oxide residue in FeO-SiO2-CaO ternary slag system

Reduction smelting of the bismuth oxide residue from pressure leaching of bismuth sulfide was investigated in the FeO-SiO_2-CaO ternary slag system.The results show that all the recovery ratios of Bi,Ag,Cu and Pb increase with the increase of reductive coal proportion,reaction temperature and time,while too much reductive coal would help Fe enter metal phase;CaO/SiO_2and Fe O/SiO_2 of the chosen slag system should be 0.5-0.75 and 1.25-1.75,respectively,for the reason that the slag system has the optimum mobility and is beneficial for the recovery of metals.The corresponding optimum conditions are determined as follows:the added coal proportion is 7%of the leaching residue,CaO/SiO_2 mass ratio in the chosen slag system is 0.5 and FeO-SiO_2 is 1.5,the reaction temperature is 1300°C and the reaction time is 40 min.Under the above conditions,the recovery ratios of Bi,Ag,Cu and Pb are 99.6%,99.8%,97.0%and 97.3%,respectively.

Preparation of α-Bi_2O_3 from bismuth powders through low-temperature oxidation

α-Bi2O3 powders were prepared from nanometer Bi powders through low-temperature oxidation at less than 873.15 K. XRD, SEM, TEM and HRTEM were used to characterize the structure and morphology of Bi powders and Bi2O3 particles. Kinetic studies on the bismuth oxidation at low-temperatures were carried out by TGA method. The results show that bismuth beads should be reunited and oxidized to become irregular Bi2O3 powders. The bismuth oxidation follows shrinking core model, and its controlling mechanism varies at different reaction time. Within 0-10 min, the kinetics is controlled by chemical reaction, after that it is controlled by O2 diffusion in the solid α-Bi2O3 layer. The apparent activation energy is determined as 55.19 kJ/mol in liquid-phase oxidation.

Microspheres of graphene oxide coupled to N-doped Bi_2O_2CO_3 for visible light photocatalysis

Hierarchical microspheres of a graphene oxide（GO） coupled to N‐doped（BiO）2CO3 composite（N‐BOC‐GO） was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal approach. The N‐BOC‐GO composite gave enhancement in photocatalytic activity compared to the pure BOC and N‐BOC samples. With 1.0wt% GO, 62% NO removal was obtained with N‐BOC‐GO. The factors enhancing the photocatalytic performance were the high electron‐withdrawing ability and high conductivity of GO and improved visible light‐harvesting ability of N‐BOC‐GO with a 3D hierarchical architecture due to the surface scattering and reflecting（SSR） effect. An effective charge transfer from N‐BOC to GO was demonstrated by the much weakened photoluminescene intensity of the N‐BOC‐GO composite. This work highlights the potential application of GO‐based photocatalysts in air purification.

Promotional Effect of Bismuth as Dopant in Bi-Doped Vanadyl Pyrophosphate Catalysts for Selective Oxidation of n-Butane to Maleic Anhydride

Bismuth-promoted （1% and 3%） vanadyl pyrophosphate catalysts were prepared by refluxing Bi（NO3）4.5H2O and VOPO4.2H2O in isobutanol. The incorporation of Bi into the catalysts lattice increased the surface area and lowered the overall V oxidation state. Profiles of temperature programmed reduction （TPR） in H2 show a significant shift of the maxima of major reduction peaks to lower temperatures for the Bi-promoted catalysts. A new peak was also observed at the low temperature region for the catalyst with 3% of Bi dopant. The addition of Bi also increased the total amount of oxygen removed from the catalysts. The reduction pattern and reactivity information provide fundamental insight into the catalytic properties of the catalysts. Bi-promoted catalysts were found to be highly active （71% and 81% conversion for 1% and 3% Bi promoted catalysts, respectively, at 703 K）, as compared to the unpromoted material （47% conversion）. The higher activity of the Bi-promoted catalysts is due to that these catalysts possess highly active and labile lattice oxygen. The better catalytic performance can also be attributed to the larger surface area.

Effect of nano-size nickel particles on wear resistance and high temperature oxidation resistance of ultrafine ceramic coating

In order to improve the wear resistance and high temperature oxidation resistance of titanium and titanium alloy, the high temperature ultra fine ceramic coating containing nano-size nickel particles was prepared by flow coat method on the surface of industrially pure titanium TB1-0. The effects of nano-size nickel particles on the wear resistance and high temperature oxidation resistance of coating substrate system were investigated through oxidation kinetics experiment and wear resistance test. The morphologies of the specimens were examined by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the high temperature ultra fine ceramic coating has notable protection effect on industrially pure titanium TB1-0 from oxidation. The oxidation and wear resistance properties of the coating can be effectively improved by adding nano-size nickel particles. The oxidative mass gain of the specimen decreases from 11.33 mg·cm-2 to 5.25 mg·cm-2 and the friction coefficient decreases from 1.1 to 0.6 by adding nano-size nickel particles, and the coating containing 10% （mass fraction） nano-size nickel shows the optimum properties.

Research on the Impact of CeO2 -based Solid Solution Metal Oxide on Combustion Performance of Diesel Engine and Emissions

This paper mainly studies on the performance of high-speed diesel engines and emission reduction when the engine uses heavy oil mixed with nanometer-sized additives Ce0.9 Cu0.1 O2 and Ce0.9 Zr0.1 O2.During the test,Indiset 620 combustion analyzer made by AVL,was used to make a real-time survey on the cylinder pressure,the fuel ignition moment,and establish a relation between the change trend of temperature in cylinder and the crank angle.For the engine burning heavy oil and heavy oil mixed with additives,combustion analysis software Indicom and Concerto were used to analyze its combustion process and emission conditions.Experimental investigation shows that nano-sized complex oxide can improve the performance of diesel engine fueled with heavy oil,and reduce the emission of pollutants like NOx and CO,comparing it with the pure heavy oil.According to the consequences of this experiment,the additives improve the overall performance in the use of heavy oil.