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To improve the stability of molybdenum carbide catalysts in dimethyl ether steam reforming (DSR), the inactivation mechanism and the performance of Pt modified catalyst has been investigated. The Mo2C oxidation induced by H2O is verified to be the main reason of catalytic deactivation. After modified with Pt, the H2 production rate and selectivity are greatly enhanced, reaches 1605 μmol min−1·gcat−1 at 350 °C, in comparison to that of the Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst. Moreover, the 2%Pt–Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst is more stable with only 20% activity loss after 50 h on stream compares to the 73% activity loss in 12 h with Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst. By means of in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), the enhancement brought by Pt is ascribed to the consumption acceleration of intermediate oxygen species on catalyst surface and the decline of onset temperature of DSR reaction. It is expected that these findings can lead us to more practical molybdenum carbide catalysts in DSR.

In this work, well-ordered platinum (Pt) nanocubes (NCs), with precise control on the size and the spatial arrangement, are synthesized from a microemulsion overgrowth in a block copolymer (BC) nanotemplate. The nanovials on this self-assembled BC template serve as microreactors for the reduction of the HCl/H

A series of Cu-X/?-Al2O3 (X = Fe, Co, Ni) catalysts were synthesized by a rapid intermittent microwave irradiation method for hydrogen generation from dimethyl ether steam reforming. Different parameters, such as the promoters of X (X = Fe, Co, Ni), microwave irradiation procedure and the ratio of metal to ?-Al2O3, were investigated. The results show that 2Cu-Fe/72?-Al2O3 has the best performance, for which the agglomeration is prevented, CuO is well dispersed and the catalytic activity is improved. Promoter iron oxide in 2Cu-Fe/9?-Al2O3 facilitates the watergas shift reaction, which lead to an increase in the conversion of CO to CO2 and hydrogen yield. Particularly, the 2Cu-Fe/72?-Al2O3 catalyst, with the best molar ratio of metal to ?-Al2O3, shows a dimethyl ether conversion of >99% and a hydrogen yield of >98% and produces the lowest CO content of 1.4%, indicating that the synergism between dimethyl ether hydrolysis and methanol reforming requires an appropriate balance between the metallic Cu-Fe and the acid ?-Al2O3. The intermittent microwave irradiation technique provides a simple but effective method of the Cu-Fe/?-Al2O3 synthesis with a good catalyst performance for the dimethyl ether steam reforming.

This work offers an effective size-controlled synthesis of platinum nanoparticle (Pt NP) arrays for electrocatalyst through self-assembled nanopatterns of block copolymers on titanium (Ti) wafers. Size, spacing and uniformity of Pt NP with loading of Pt to a minimum were investigated to be controlled and adjusted in order to improve the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and ECSA stability, and Pt concentration in copolymer/chloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6) solution was verified to be one of the most important factors to control the arrays’ structure. In our case, the Pt NPs with predictable size of 5–16.5 nm could be obtained when the Pt concentration is larger than 0.05 mg ml−1, which the dominant diameter is proved to be proportional to one-third power of the Pt concentration according to the linear relation of templates’ Pt/N mass ratio versus Pt concentration, and the Pt NPs remain highly ordered arrays with predictable spacing when the Pt concentration is larger than 0.125 mg ml−1. Decrease in Pt concentration from 2 to 0.125 mg ml−1 is an effective method to improve the ECSA and durability simultaneously. The Pt NP arrays exhibit not only a remarkable initial ECSA value of 106.2 m2 g−1, but also a pseudo-zero particle aggregation possibility during 3000-cycle voltammetry, which is attributed to the high Pt NP dispersion and the ordered arrays that improve the Pt utilization and lower the possibility of aggregation.

Sorption enhanced steam reforming of acetic acid over sorbent assisted catalyst of Ni-CaO-La2O3 were investigated for high-purity H2 production. Ni-CaO-La2O3 with 8, 16 and 20 wt% Ni were developed by sol-gel combustion synthesis and were characterized by TG, TPR, BET, SEM, XRD and XPS. The catalytic activities and stability of the catalysts were tested in a fixed reactor. H2 yield and H2 concentration through Ni-CaO-La2O3 with 20 wt% Ni reaches 86.02% and 92.24% during pre-breakthrough period, respectively, which is attributed to sufficient Ni active sites on the surface and good Ni dispersion. Catalytic activities of Ni-CaO-La2O3 with 20 wt% Ni maintain stable during sorption-enhanced steam reforming reaction, but CO2 sorption capacity slightly decreases due to blockage of pores and size increase of CaO particles within nine sorption/desorption cycles.

Porous silica coated Ni/CeO 2 ZrO 2 catalysts were synthesized for steam reforming of acetic acid. The silica coated Ni/CeO 2 ZrO 2 catalyst showed a significantly enhanced activity (95% acetic acid conversion) than the Ni/CeO 2 ZrO 2 catalysts (62% acetic acid conversion) at a low temperature (550 °C). Interaction between Ni/CeO 2 ZrO 2 and silica layer was proved to be a crucial role on enhancing of catalytic activities. Further characterization (XPS, H 2 -TPR) indicates this interaction facilitates the steam reforming reaction and raises the selectivity of CO by modifying the surface Ni electronic structure. In addition, the coated catalyst also exhibited a good stability and no obvious deactivation was detected at 550 °C and 600 °C within 30 h.

A multistep synthesis method is introduced to fabricate high performance IrOx/W-TiO2 catalyst for noble metal reduction in PEM water electrolyzers. The performances of the IrOx/W-TiO2 catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are measured in half-cells and single-cells and compared with unsupported IrOx and commercial IrO2. In half-cell tests, IrOx/W-TiO2 displays an improved Ir mass activity compared with the unsupported IrOx, demonstrating a positive effect of the support material. In single-cell tests, the performance of IrOx/W-TiO2 also exceeds both the unsupported and commercial IrO2. The cell voltage reaches 1.602V at 1 A cm−2 (Nafion 212) with total noble metal loading less than 0.2 mg cm−2, suggesting that significant Ir reductions are possible by using IrOx/W-TiO2 without sacrificing the cell performance. It also shows improved durability than other unsupported catalysts at reduced Ir loading. In-situ electrochemical test reveals that the performance is associated with the enhanced conductivity of the catalyst layer.

This work contributes to a new protocol of patterning gold nanoparticles (NPs) via secondary phase-separation of micelle template of PS- b -P2VP- b -PEO block copolymer. The immiscibility between hydrophobic PS and hydrophilic P2VP and PEO leads to a bulk phase-separation in large compound micelles (LCMs) when heated at the temperature of 130 °C. The bulk-separated template then constitutes an ideal precursor for Au NPs loading by an immersion in an aqueous solution bath of chloroauric acid such that the primed P2VP domains would coordinate to the charged [AuCl 4 ] − through electrostatic interactions. With the following treatment of air plasma, pseudo-hexagonal nanopatterns are created with Au NPs on P2VP matrix.

Effect of minor carbon addition on the creep properties of an experimental Ni-based single crystal superalloy has been investigated. Three alloys with different level of carbon addition were subjected to creep tests of 871 °C/552 MPa and 1038 °C/172 MPa. With the increase of carbon addition, the creep properties of alloys presented different trends. Detailed microstructural analysis have revealed that precipitation of M6C carbide and reduction of casting pores are beneficial to the creep properties, and the improvement at high temperature and low stress is stronger than that at low temperature and high stress. The larger γ′ particle, eutectic and MC carbide are the weakening factors for creep properties; however, the weakening effect at high temperature and low stress is weaker than that at low temperature and high stress.

The microstructure of experimental nickel-base single crystal superalloys with different levels of carbon has been studied. With increasing carbon addition, the incipient melting point decreases obviously and the carbide morphology is changed from blocky to script-like shape. Minor carbon addition also affects the shrinkage porosity and eutectic in as-cast state. The segregation behavior of elements W and Ta is also influenced by the minor carbon addition.