Effect of calcination temperature on the low-temperature oxidation of CO over CoOx/TiO2 catalysts

Synergistic Effects of Pyrrolic N/Pyridinic N on Ultrafast Microwave Synthesized Porous CoP/Ni2P to Boost Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Transition metal phosphides are ideal inexpensive electrocatalysts for water-splitting, but the catalytic activity still falls behind that of noble metal catalysts. Therefore, developing valid strategies to boost the electrocatalytic activity is urgent to promote large-scale applications. Herein, a microwave combustion strategy (20 s) is applied to synthesize N-doped CoP/Ni2P heterojunctions (N-CoP/Ni2P) with porous structure. The porous structure expands the specific surface area and accelerates the mass transport efficiency. Importantly, the pyrrolic N/pyridinic N content is adjusted by changing the amount of urea during the synthesis process and then optimizing the adsorption/desorption capacity for H*/OH* to enhance the catalyst activity. Then, the synthesized N-CoP/Ni2P exhibits small overpotentials of 111 and 133 mV for HER in acidic and alkaline electrolytes and 290 mV for OER in alkaline electrolytes. This work provides an original and efficient approach to the synthesis of porous metal phosphides.

Preparation of magnetic Co-Fe modified porous carbon from agricultural wastes by microwave and steam activation for mercury removal

In this article, a magnetic cobalt-iron modified porous carbon derived from agricultural wastes by microwave and steam activation was developed to remove elemental mercury in coal-fired flue gas. The effects of operating parameters on Hg⁰ capture were discussed. Reaction mechanism and regeneration performance were also studied. Results show that the activation of microwave and steam significantly improves the pore structure of the porous carbon. The ultrasound-assisted impregnation promotes the dispersion of cobalt oxides and iron oxides on the samples. The Co_0.4Fe₁₂/RSWU(500) sorbent exhibits highest Hg⁰ removal efficiency at 130 °C. The characterization analysis shows that cobalt oxides and iron oxides are the main active components for Hg⁰ removal. The XPS analysis suggests that the chemisorption oxygen and the lattice oxygen (derived from Co³⁺/Co²⁺ and Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺) participate in the Hg⁰ capture process. Moreover, the cobalt-iron mixed oxide modified porous carbon has a good regeneration performance, which is conductive to reduce the costs in the future application.

Quasi-in-situ single-grain photoelectron microspectroscopy of Co/PPy nanocomposites under oxygen reduction reaction

This paper reports an investigation into the aging of pyrolyzed cobalt/polypyrrole (Co/PPy) oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts, based on quasi-in-situ photoelectron microspectroscopy. The catalyst precursor was prepared by potentiostatic reverse-pulse coelectrodeposition from an acetonitrile solution on graphite. Accelerated aging was obtained by quasi-in-situ voltammetric cycling in an acidic electrolyte. Using photoelectron imaging and microspectroscopy of single Co/PPy grains at a resolution of 100 nm, we tracked the ORR-induced changes in the morphology and chemical state of the pristine material, consisting of uniformly distributed ∼20 nm nanoparticles, initially consisting of a mixture of Co(II) and Co(III) oxidation states in almost equal amounts. The evolution of the Co 2p, O 1s, and N 1s spectra revealed that the main effects of aging are a gradual loss of the Co present at the surface and the reduction of Co(III) to Co(II), accompanied by the emergence and growth of a N 1s signal, corresponding to electrocatalytically active C-N sites.

Gas-phase elemental mercury removal from flue gas by cobalt-modified fly ash at low temperatures

Co modified fly ash (FA) prepared by the wet impregnation method was investigated for gas-phase elemental mercury capture under air at 80°C in this paper. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, scanning electron micrographs, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the samples. Experimental results showed that the optimal Co loading was 9 wt%, which gave a Hg(0) removal efficiency of 76% in a laboratory packed-bed reactor at low temperatures in the presence of O₂. The high removal efficiency was mainly attributed to oxidation of Hg(0) by the enrichment of well-dispersed Co₃O₄on the surface of FA. However, higher Co loading resulted in the decrease of removal efficiency due to the decline of surface area and Co₃O₄agglomeration. TG and XPS characterization indicated that Hg(0) was oxidized by Co₃O₄and some of the oxidized mercury formed recombination mercury oxide with Co₃O₄, which could either exist stably at low temperature or be desorbed from the adsorbents at higher temperature. Finally, the possible adsorption mechanisms were proposed according to the observed phenomena.

Design of a highly sensitive ethanol sensor using a nano-coaxial p-Co3O4/n-TiO2 heterojunction synthesized at low temperature

In this paper, we describe the design, fabrication and gas-sensing tests of nano-coaxial p-Co3O4/n-TiO2 heterojunction. Specifically, uniform TiO2 nanotubular arrays have been assembled by anodization and used as templates for generation of the Co3O4 one-dimensional nanorods. The structure morphology and composition of as-prepared products have been characterized by SEM, XRD, TEM, and XPS. A possible growth mechanism governing the formation of such nano-coaxial heterojunctions is proposed. The TiO2 nanotube sensor shows a normal n-type response to reducing ethanol gas, whereas TiO2-Co3O4 exhibits p-type response with excellent sensing performances. This conversion of sensing behavior can be explained by the formation of p-n heterojunction structures. A possible sensing mechanism is also illustrated, which can provide theoretical guidance for the further development of advanced gas-sensitive materials with p-n heterojunction.

A study on the characteristics of CO oxidation at room temperature by metallic Pt

Various experiments and analysis were conducted in order to manufacture a catalyst that could very efficiently oxidize carbon monoxide at room temperature and also to identify the relevant factors influencing the oxidation reaction. Pt/TiO(2) catalyst can increase the oxidizing capability of CO at low temperature and room temperature by reduction. In FT-IR experiments, the catalyst that displayed excellent activity was capable of efficiently oxidizing CO to CO(2) using atmospheric oxygen. Based on the results of XPS analysis, we found that the reduced catalyst changed the platinum's oxidation value to Pt(+2) and Pt(+0). Through the O(2)-reoxidation experiments, the catalyst, which consisted of non-stoichiometric platinum oxidized species, displayed an excellent ability to accept oxygen. In this study, the Pt/TiO(2) catalyst was able to very efficiently oxidize CO at low temperature and room temperature even with a minute quantity of platinum.