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93 records · Page 6

Visualizing Orbital Content of Electronic Bands in Anisotropic 2D Semiconducting ReSe 2

Many properties of layered materials change as they are thinned from their bulk forms down to single layers, with examples including indirect-to-direct band gap transition in 2H semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides as well as thickness-dependent changes in the valence band structure in post-transition-metal monochalcogenides and black phosphorus. Here, we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the electronic band structure of monolayer ReSe 2 , a semiconductor with a distorted 1T structure and in-plane anisotropy. By changing the polarization of incoming photons, we demonstrate that for ReSe 2 , in contrast to the 2H materials, the out-of-plane transition metal dz2 and chalcogen pz orbitals do not contribute significantly to the top of the valence band, which explains the reported weak changes in the electronic structure of this compound as a function of layer number. We estimate a band gap of 1.7 eV in pristine ReSe 2 using scanning tunneling spectroscopy and explore the implications on the gap following surface doping with potassium. Additionally, a lower bound of 1.4 eV is estimated for the gap in the fully doped case, suggesting that doping-dependent many-body effects significantly affect the electronic properties of ReSe 2 . Our results, supported by density functional theory calculations, provide insight into the mechanisms behind polarization-dependent optical properties of rhenium dichalcogenides and highlight their place among two-dimensional crystals.

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High-Temperature Rotating Disk Electrode Study of Platinum Bimetallic Catalysts in Phosphoric Acid

Understanding the H 3 PO 4 effect on the catalyst’s activity under a relevant condition is important for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) catalyst research. Here, we report a high-temperature rotating disk electrode (HT-RDE) study of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in H 3 PO 4 . With the regular electrochemical protocol, we found that H 3 PO 4 reduction could occur during cyclic voltammetry study and form a reductive species—phosphorus acid (H 3 PO 3 ). Further, to obtain reliable ORR measurement, we optimized the protocol to avoid the H 3 PO 3 generation. The ORR activity of carbon-supported PtM (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Ru, Pd, and Ir) bimetallic alloy catalysts measured with this HT-RDE method showed higher ORR activity than Pt. To understand the alloying effect, we combine experiments in diluted solutions to distinguish the alloying effect on Pt–O binding and Pt–H 3 PO 4 binding. The results indicate that H 3 PO 4 mainly reduces available sites for ORR, with little effect on neighboring site’s Pt–O binding via Pt–H 3 PO 4 interaction, which is also supported by the density functional theory calculation of the Pt–O binding energy with/without H 2 PO 4 . Further study in a phosphoric acid-doped quaternary ammonium-biphosphate ion pair coordinated polyphenylene (PA-QAPOH) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) shows that the active alloy catalyst has better performance in both the HT-RDE and MEA. Also, the MEA gives higher ORR activity than the HT-RDE because of the higher pressure and less phosphoric acid content of the MEA. Yet, the gap between the HT-RDE and MEA is significantly smaller than that between the room temperature (RT)-RDE and MEA, suggesting the importance of temperature and H 3 PO 4 concentration in understanding ORR in HT-PEMFCs.

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Electro-assisted regeneration of pH-sensitive ion exchangers for sustainable phosphate removal and recovery

Removal and recovery of phosphate from wastewater can minimize deleterious environmental impacts and supplement fertilizer supply. Hybrid anion exchangers (HAIX, with doped ferric oxide nanoparticles (FeOnp)) can remove phosphate from complex wastewaters and recover concentrated phosphate solutions. Here, we integrate HAIX with a weak acid cation exchanger (WAC) to enrich phosphate and calcium in mild regenerants and precipitate both elements for recovery. We demonstrated an electro-assisted regeneration approach to avoid strong acid and base input. Based on demonstrated pH sensitivities of both materials, electrochemically produced mild electrolytes (pH 3 and pH 11), which are 100–1000 times less concentrated than typical regenerants, preserved 80% WAC and 50% HAIX capacities over five batch adsorption-regeneration cycles. FeOnp in HAIX facilitated regeneration due to pH sensitivity and their likely distribution on the resin particle surface, which reduced intraparticle diffusion path length. In column tests, repeatable phosphate removal (> 95%) from synthetic wastewater (3 mg P/L) was achieved with 20 kWh/kg P specific energy consumption. After removal, a similar 50% HAIX regeneration efficiency as batch experiments was achieved. In spent regenerant, more than 95% phosphorus was recovered as hydroxyapatite. This novel approach enhances ion exchange by minimizing chemical inputs.

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