Metal loading determines the stabilization pathway for Co2+ in titanate nanowires: ion exchange vs. cluster formation

Carbon Nanofiber Double Active Layer and Co-Incorporation as New Anode Modification Strategies for Power-Enhanced Microbial Fuel Cells

Co-doped carbon nanofiber mats can be prepared by the addition of cobalt acetate to the polyacrylonitrile/DMF electrospun solution. Wastewater obtained from food industries was utilized as the anolyte as well as microorganisms as the source in single-chamber batch mode microbial fuel cells. The results indicated that the single Co-free carbon nanofiber mat was not a good anode in the used microbial fuel cells. However, the generated power can be distinctly enhanced by using double active layers of pristine carbon nanofiber mats or a single layer Co-doped carbon nanofiber mat as anodes. Typically, after 24 h batching time, the estimated generated power densities were 10, 92, and 121 mW/m2 for single, double active layers, and Co-doped carbon nanofiber anodes, respectively. For comparison, the performance of the cell was investigated using carbon cloth and carbon paper as anodes, the observed power densities were smaller than the introduced modified anodes at 58 and 62 mW/m2, respectively. Moreover, the COD removal and Columbic efficiency were calculated for the proposed anodes as well as the used commercial ones. The results further confirm the priority of using double active layer or metal-doped carbon nanofiber anodes over the commercial ones. Numerically, the calculated COD removals were 29.16 and 38.95% for carbon paper and carbon cloth while 40.53 and 45.79% COD removals were obtained with double active layer and Co-doped carbon nanofiber anodes, respectively. With a similar trend, the calculated Columbic efficiencies were 26, 42, 52, and 71% for the same sequence.

Rh-induced Support Transformation and Rh Incorporation in Titanate Structures and Their Influence on Catalytic Activity

Rh is one of the most effective metals in several technologically important heterogeneous catalytic reactions, like the hydrogenation of CO2, and CO, the CO+H2O reaction, and methane and ethanol transformations. Titania and titanates are among the most frequently studied supports for Rh nanoparticles. The present study demonstrates that the nature of the support has a marked influence on the specific activity. For comparison, the catalytic activity of TiO2 P25 is also presented. It is pointed out that a certain amount of Rh can be stabilized as cation (Rh+) in ion-exchange positions (i.e., in atomic scale distribution) of the titanate framework. This ionic form does not exists on TiO2. We pay distinguished attention not only to the electronic interaction between Rh metal and the titania/titanate support, but also to the Rh-induced phase transitions of one-dimensional titanate nanowires (TiONW) and nanotubes (TiONT). Support transformation phenomena can be observed in Rh-loaded titanates. Rh decorated nanowires transform into the TiO2(B) phase, whereas their pristine counterparts recrystallize into anatase. The formation of anatase is dominant during the thermal annealing process in both acid-treated and Rh-decorated nanotubes; Rh catalysis this transformation. We demonstrate that the phase transformations and the formation of Rh nanoclusters and incorporated Rh ions affect the conversion and the selectivity of the reactions. The following initial activity order was found in the CO2 + H2, CO + H2O and C2H5OH decomposition reactions: Rh/TiO2 (Degussa P25) ≥ Rh/TiONW > Rh/TiONT. On the other hand it is remarkable that the hydrogen selectivity in ethanol decomposition was two times higher on Rh/TiONW and Rh/TiO(NT) catalysts than on Rh/TiO2 due to the presence of Rh+ cations incorporated into the framework of the titanate structures.

Ion-Exchange Loading Promoted Stability of Platinum Catalysts Supported on Layered Protonated Titanate-Derived Titania Nanoarrays

Supported metal catalysts are one of the major classes of heterogeneous catalysts, which demand good stability in both the supports and catalysts. Herein, layered protonated titanate-derived TiO₂ (LPT-TiO₂) nanowire arrays were synthesized to support platinum catalysts using different loading processes. The Pt ion-exchange loading on pristine LPTs followed by thermal annealing resulted in superior Pt catalysts supported on the LPT-TiO₂ nanoarrays with excellent hydrothermal stability and catalytic performance toward CO and NO oxidations as compared to the Pt catalysts through wet-impregnation on the anatase TiO₂ (ANT-TiO₂) nanoarrays resulted from thermal annealing of LPT nanoarrays. Both loading processes resulted in highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles (NPs) with average sizes smaller than 1 nm at their pristine states. However, after hydrothermal aging at 800 °C for 50 h, highly dispersed Pt NPs were only retained on the ion-exchanged LPT-TiO₂ nanoarrays with the support structure consisting of a mixture of 74% anatase and 26% rutile TiO₂. For the wet-impregnation loading directly on anatase TiO₂ nanoarrays derived from LPT, the Pt catalysts experienced severe agglomeration after hydrothermal aging, with the nanoarray supports consisting of 86% anatase and 14% rutile TiO₂. Spectroscopy analysis suggested that Pt²⁺ cations intercalated into the interlayers of the titanate frameworks through ion-exchange impregnation procedure, which altered the chemical and electronic structures of the catalysts, resulting in the shifts of the electronic binding energy, Raman bands, and optical energy bandgap. The ion-exchangeable nature of LPT nanoarrays clearly provides a structural modification in Pt-doped LPT that has resulted in a strong interaction between the Pt catalysts and LPT-TiO₂ nanoarray supports, leading to the enhanced hydrothermal stability of the catalysts. Considering the wide applications of the LPT and TiO₂ nanomaterials as supports for catalysts, this finding provides a new pathway to design highly stable supported metal catalysts for different reactions.

Titania nanotube stabilized BiOCl nanoparticles in visible-light photocatalysis

Photocatalysis is a green approach in environmental organic pollutant decomposition.

Determination of the platinum concentration of a Pt/silica nanocomposite decorated with ultra small Pt nanoparticles using single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The accurate load concentration of ultra small nanoparticles in a Pt/SiO₂ nanocomposite is determined by the novel spICP-MS analytical method.

Influence of gold additives on the stability and phase transformation of titanate nanostructures

Au is stabilized on titanate nanowires partially in positively charged gold form and also as Au clusters. Au loaded nanotubes loose their tubular morphology and are readily transformed into anatase. On the other hand, gold stabilizes the layered structure of titanate nanowires.