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Copyright of Automotive Digest is the property of Automotive Digest Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Significant progress reconciling economic activities with a stable climate requires radical and rapid technological change in multiple sectors. Here, we study the case of the automotive industry's transition to electric vehicles, which involved choosing between two different technologies: fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) or battery electric vehicles (BEVs). We know very little about the role that such technological uncertainty plays in shaping the strategies of firms, the efficacy of technological and climate policies, and the speed of technological transitions. Here, we explain that the choice between these two technologies posed a global and multisectoral coordination game, due to technological complementarities and the global organization of the industry's markets and supply chains. We use data on patents, supply-chain relationships, and national policies to document historical trends and industry dynamics for these two technologies. While the industry initially focused on FCEVs, around 2008, the technological paradigm shifted to BEVs. National-level policies had a limited ability to coordinate global players around a type of clean car technology. Instead, exogenous innovation spillovers from outside the automotive sector played a critical role in solving this coordination game in favor of BEVs. Our results suggest that global and cross-sectoral technology policies may be needed to accelerate low-carbon technological change in other sectors, such as shipping or aviation. This enriches the existing theoretical paradigm, which ignores the scale of interdependencies between technologies and firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A genetically- and nano-engineered form of a common bacterium can gobble up carbon-containing compounds like those found in sewage and generate impressive amounts of electricity in the process, according to [...]

The increasing emission of carbon dioxide worldwide has emerged as a major global concern in the context of addressing climate change. Converting CO2 to high-value carbon materials is a promising solution to capture emitted carbon for achieving carbon neutrality. Furthermore, such conversion can provide carbon nanomaterials for key industries, including the lithium battery and fuel cell industries. Here, it is shown that sub-50 nm tangled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be synthesized by adjusting the metaborate concentration and the current density through the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide in a molten carbonate salt. The metaborate ion concentration affects the product selectivity and carbon morphology, and the current density is strongly related to the particle size of in situ seed catalysts supplied by the dissolution of an Ni-Fe-Cr alloy anode. The optimized process conditions control the nucleation and growth of carbon via a tip-growth mechanism, thereby promoting the formation of sub-50 nm CNTs rather than bulky irregular carbon particles. The Raman and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analyses showed that the properties of the prepared CNTs depended on the synthetic parameters. This study provides deep insights into the mechanism underlying carbon synthesis through the electrochemical reduction of a molten carbonate salt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) offer significant potential for conversion from chemical energy to electrical energy due to their significant low-temperature range, high power density, mobility, and increasing start-up. PEMFC design and applications have been simplified through the utilization of artificial neural network (ANN) based multi-objective optimization (ANN-MOO). This approach can be easily adjusted to consider multiple factors simultaneously, even when dealing with customized objective functions or new case scenarios. This study thoroughly examines the existing body of literature on the application of Artificial Neural Network-Multi-Objective Optimization in the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell industry. The original elucidation of ANN-MOO provided a full explanation of its definition, classifications, and structure. The study evaluates objectives, intelligence algorithms, and tradeoff methods in PEMFC, focusing on ANN-MOO's application in components, kinetics, control, performance, and hybrid systems. The relevant issues, including the techniques, variables, objectives, and outcomes of optimization, were enumerated and discussed. The present review aimed to examine the existing limitations in the field of study and put up suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Elektronik Industrie is the property of Hüthig GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Azo-Schiff bases contain an azo photochrome showing isomerization accompanying with color change, and an imine moiety (which can contribute to the metal complexation capability). The syntheses of these molecules will be described, and their dyes applications will be discussed, such as for fuel cells, as photometric or colorimetric sensors. In addition, liquid crystals and their antibacterial efficiencies will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the needs of industries for clean and environmentally friendly fuels today, new energy sources such as fuel cells are at the center of attention. Polymer fuel cells, meanwhile, require a short start-up time due to low operating temperature, high power density, no emission and very low noise, making them the best option for vehicles as an alternative to internal combustion engines. One of the most important reasons for fuel cell loss is the uneven distribution of reactants on the active area, which causes non-uniform reactions. Therefore, the use of an optimal flow field to improve the durability and performance of PEM fuel cells seems necessary. Although different studies introduced novel designs, a study comparing different patterns comprehensively to introduce the best ones is not performed yet. In this study, first, a numerical validation was performed with an experimental test that showed good accuracy. Then, to achieve efficient patterns, several flow field designs were inspired by previous effective designs and others were selected as superior designs from the literature. The effects of presented geometries on the performance of a PEMFC were investigated to improve its performance. In addition, efficient evaluation criteria from the literature were employed to better analyze the performance of such systems, and the ones consistent with the I-V performance were introduced. By surveying the criteria, a novel performance factor was introduced that showed the best agreement with the I-V performance. The results were obtained in single-phase and two-phase approaches, which lead to remarkable findings. The two-phase study revealed that the waved serpentine case has the highest electrical performance with the highest mass fraction of oxygen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lowering the dehydrogenation temperature and maintaining high dehydrogenation capacity are greatly hindering the practical application of α-AlH 3 for the hydrogen fuel cell industry. Herein, the layered accordion-like V 2 C MXene is synthesized and doped into α-AlH 3 by mild ball milling. The 1 wt.% V 2 C-catalyzed α-AlH 3 possesses excellent dehydrogenation performance with a low initial decomposition temperature of 70.5 °C and a high hydrogen release capacity of 8.1 wt.%. Furthermore, 7.8 wt.% of hydrogen could be quickly released from α-AlH 3 -1 wt.% V 2 C composite within 15 min at 120 °C, with a lower activation energy of 69.5 kJ/mol than that of as-received sample. The excellent dehydrogenation performance is attributed to the high activity of the zero valence V catalyst which is transformed from the multivalent V during ball milling and to promote dissociation and reorganization of hydrogen. This effective approach significantly enhances the dehydrogenation of α-AlH 3 , providing a hopeful approach for modifying metal hydrides. • V 2 C MXene was firstly used to catalyze the dehydrogenation of α-AlH 3. • The α-AlH 3 -1 wt.% V 2 C composites showed excellent desorption performance. • The vanadium metal (V0) plays a catalytic role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inexpensive, endurable sealing members are among the key components determining the performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, there is a lack of effective in situ measurement to monitor the sealing performance change in the fuel cell operation environment. Therefore, the durability of a sealing material should be assessed previously to its application. The present work investigates four types of commercially available sealing silicone rubbers, and five groups of aging tests are carried out to compare their properties and durability in a simulated PEMFC environment, including compression set, stress relaxation, compression stress–strain, solution soaking, and low‐temperature characterization. Furthermore, to comprehensively evaluate the performance of these four types of silicone rubbers and screen out the most suitable one, a comprehensive evaluation table of sealing materials selection based on weight factor was established through an expert survey method, by which the experimental results of all the silicone rubbers can be weighted and scored. This method can be widely used in the fuel cell industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Converting hydrocarbons and greenhouse gases (i.e., carbon dioxide, CO2) directly into electricity through fuel cells at intermediate temperatures (450 to 550 °C) remains a significant challenge, primarily due to the sluggish activation of C–H and C=O bonds. Here, we demonstrated a unique strategy to address this issue, in which light illumination was introduced into the thermal catalytic CO2 reforming of ethane in the anode as a unique thermo-photo anode process for carbonate-superstructured solid fuel cells. The light-enhanced fuel activation led to excellent cell performance with a record-high peak power density of 168 mW cm−2 at an intermediate temperature of 550 °C. Furthermore, no degradation was observed during ~50 h operation. Such a successful integration of photo energy into the fuel cell system provides a new direction for the development of efficient fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]