Pt-supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and N-modified MWCNT (N-MWCNT) catalysts are synthesized by pyrolysis from emeraldine solution and microemulsion. Their electrochemical properties and carbon corrosion resistance in a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) are compared with a commercial Pt/Vulcan catalyst through I–V curves, cyclic voltammetry and CO stripping. The initial fuel cell performances of the Pt/(N-)MWCNT catalysts are superior to Pt/Vulcan. The corrosion of the catalysts is quantified by the continuous measure of the CO2 release by online-mass spectrometry during potentiodynamic cycling between 0.1 and 1.6 V at 80 °C. The results show that Pt/MWCNT (with the lowest double-layer capacity) is the most stable catalyst followed by Pt/N-MWCNT and Pt/Vulcan, initially losing carbon at a rate of 1.1, 3.4 and 4.7 μgC (mg Ctot)−1 cycle−1, respectively. After about 30% carbon loss (50–70 cycles) all catalysts corrode at an approximate rate of 5.5 μgC mg−1 cycle−1. At this stage, all show similar electrochemical surface area and double-layer capacity. However, the substantial diminution of the initially very thick and porous Pt/(N-)MWCNT catalyst layers after corrosion consequences in lower fuel cell performance compared to the structurally less affected Pt/Vulcan electrode. The results clearly reveal that CNT-based catalyst supports are more corrosion resistant compared to state-of-the-art Vulcan. Moreover, the performance of the corroded electrodes envisages the importance of electrode porosity.

The reactions in energy-optimized 25 Ah prismatic NMC/graphite lithium-ion cell, as a function of fast charging (1C-4C), are more complex than earlier described. There are no clear charging rate dependent trends but rather different mechanisms dominating at the different charging rates. Ageing processes are faster at 3 and 4C charging. Cycling with 3C-charging results in accelerated lithium plating but the 4C-charging results in extensive gas evolution that contribute significantly to the large cell impedance rise. Graphite exfoliation and accelerated lithium inventory loss point to the graphite electrode as the source of the gas evolution. The results are based on careful post-mortem analyses of electrodes using: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). SEM results show particle cracking independent of the charging rate used for the cycling. XPS and EIS generally indicate thicker surface film and larger impedance, respectively, towards the edge of the jellyrolls. For the intended application of a battery electric inner-city bus using this type of cell, charging rates of 3C and above are not feasible, considering battery lifetime. However, charging rates of 2C and below are too slow from the point of view of practical charging time.

Internal resistance is a key parameter that affects the power, energy, efficiency, lifetime, and safety of a lithium-ion battery. It grows due to chemical and mechanical battery wear during ageing. In this work, the effect of the jelly-roll winding curvature on impedance rise is investigated. NMC electrode samples, harvested from the curved as well as the flat regions of the jelly-roll from cycle-aged and calendar-aged prismatic cells (25 Ah, hard casing) are investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. After cycling, larger impedance rise is observed at the outer radius (concave) of the curved region compared to the inner radius (convex) or the flat region of the jelly-roll, and the difference increases with a decrease in the jelly-roll radius of curvature, from the cell skin towards the core. To identify the causes behind the observed difference in the impedance rise, investigations at different external compression (0 and 2.5 MPa) and temperature (5 and 25 °C) are performed. The results show that contact loss between the current collector and the active layer is the main source of the difference in impedance rise. Mechanical mechanisms that may cause the contact loss are discussed and design recommendations to mitigate the rise in impedance are given. 

Discharge of waste water from textile industry during coloring processes contains high concentrations of biologically difficult-to-degrade dye chemicals along with antifouling agents. Azo dyes considered to be the largest class of synthetic dyes used in the textile industries and are present in significant amounts in its effluents. These are highly stable because of its complex aromatic structure and covalent azo bonds. Traditional physico-chemical methods are not considered sufficient because of their high cost, partial degradation and more sludge production. The use of biocatalysts for decolorization is a gaining momentum due to having redox-active molecules. Current review explored techniques for the decomposition of textile dyes, their merits, limitations and recommended the emerging microbial fuel cell technology followed by aerobic treatment for complete degradation of dye intermediate metabolites.

Stainless steel bipolar plates (BPPs) are the preferred choice for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs); however, a surface coating is needed to minimize contact resistance and corrosion. In this paper, Ni–Mo and Ni–Mo–P coatings were electroplated on stainless steel BPPs and investigated by XRD, SEM/EDX, AFM and contact angle measurements. The performance of the BPPs was studied by corrosion and conduction tests and by measuring their interfacial contact resistances (ICRs) ex situ in a PEMFC set-up at varying clamping pressure, applied current and temperature. The results revealed that the applied coatings significantly reduce the ICR and corrosion rate of stainless steel BPP. All the coatings presented stable performance and the coatings electroplated at 100 mA cm−2showed even lower ICR than graphite. The excellent properties of the coatings compared to native oxide film of the bare stainless steel are due to their higher contact angle, crystallinity and roughness, improving hydrophobicity and electrical conductivity. Hence, the electroplated coatings investigated in this study have promising properties for stainless steel BPPs and are potentially good alternatives for the graphite BPP in PEMFC.

The restricted lifetime of Fe-N-C based catalysts is often assumed to be connected to the operating temperature. This study will investigate how the cell performance, electrode structure and composition vary over time, at different cell temperatures. At lower temperature, one may expect an increase in radical's stability, but a decrease in reactivity. Results show that the electrode degenerates over time, and that the electrochemical performance decay is similar for 40, 60, and 80° C. However, the loss of active sites is higher at higher temperature. This suggests that indirect production of radicals via H2O2 production during ORR is higher at higher temperatures and is a key degradation mechanism for this Fe-N-C catalyst.

The performance of anion-exchange membrane fuel cells is highly dependent on electrode preparation. This study has investigated the influence of water content and catalyst to ionomer ratio in the electrode ink on in-situ fuel cell performance and the electrode microstructure using SEM. It has shown that changing the solvent composition affects the electrode properties. Higher water content in ink results in a lower power density. An increase in water content from 40 to 70 vol% shows a 500 mA/cm2 drop in current density. SEM analysis of newly prepared electrodes revealed an observable difference in the microstructure. This indicates that for high water volume the ionomer distribution in the electrode is very uneven. The results also indicate that lower ionomer content in the bulk of the structure lowers the cell performance, which may be explained by limited hydroxide transportation.

The SO2-induced atmospheric corrosion of some magnesium-aluminum (Mg-Al) alloys, including Mg alloy AZ91D, and commercially pure Mg (CP Mg) was investigated using well-controlled laboratory exposures and included real-time measurements of SO2 deposition. The influence of SO2 concentration, alloy composition, humidity, and ppb level additions of O-3 or NO2 on the rate of SO2 deposition was investigated. SO2 accelerates the corrosion of Mg and Mg alloys causing localized corrosion, MgSO(3)6H(2)O being the dominant corrosion product. At 60% RH, traces of O-3 or NO2 strongly increased both the SO2 deposition and the corrosion rate. The rate of SO2 deposition was strongly dependent on humidity; at 70% RH and higher the SO2 deposition rate was very rapid and constant in time while it was transient below 50% RH. At 60% RH, a change from transient to rapid, steady-state, SO2 deposition occurred. The sudden activation is explained by the onset of electrochemical corrosion. The activation behavior was shown to depend on SO2 concentration, the thickness of the surface film and by the presence of ambient O-2. (C) The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A critical aging mechanism in lithium-ion batteries is the decomposition of the electrolyte at the negative electrode forming a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer that increases impedance and consumes cyclable lithium. In contrast to the typical nanometer SEI layer generally discussed, this paper reports on the formation of a micrometer thick film on top of and within the upper part of a porous graphite electrode in a deep-cycled commercial cylindrical LiFePO4/graphite cell. Morphological, chemical, and electrochemical characterizations were performed by means of cross-sectional electron microscopy in combination with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and focused ion-beam milling, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to evaluate the properties and impact of the uneven film. It is shown that the film is enriched in PO and carbonate species but is otherwise similar in composition to the thin SEI formed on a calendar-aged electrode and clogs the pores in the electrode closest to the separator. Performance evaluation by physics-based EIS modeling supports a local porosity decrease, impeding the effective electrolyte transport in the electrode. The local variation of electrode properties implies that current distribution in the porous electrode under these cycling conditions causes inefficient material utilization and sustained uneven electrode degradation.

Electrode degradation in LiFePO₄ / mesocarbon microbead graphite (MCMB) pouch cells aged at 55 °C by a synthetic hybrid drive cycle or storage is diagnosed and put into context with previous results of aging at 22 °C. The electrode degradation is evaluated by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), measured separately on electrodes harvested from the cells, and by using a physics-based impedance model for aging evaluation. Additional capacity measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are used in the evaluation. At 55 °C the LiFePO₄ electrode shows increased particle/electronic conductor resistance, for both stored and cycled electrodes. This differs from results obtained at 22 °C, where the electrode suffered lowered porosity, particle fracture, and loss of active material. For graphite, only cycling gave a sustained effect on electrode performance at 55 °C due to lowered porosity and changes of surface properties, and to greater extent than at low temperature. Furthermore, increased current collector resistance also contributes to a large part of the pouch cell impedance when aged at increased temperatures. The result shows that increased temperature promotes different degradation on the electrode level, and is an important implication for high temperature accelerated aging. In light of the electrode observations, the correlation between full-cell and electrode impedances is discussed.