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At least 1,189 records · Page 66

X-ray computed tomography-based porosity analysis: Algorithms and application for porous woody biomass

The properties of lignocellulosic biomass, such as bulk physical, thermal, and mechanical properties, as well as the mobility of enzymes or catalysts, are largely affected by porosity, pore structures, and pore size distribution. While X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been introduced to effectively produce 3D volumetric images of material microstructure, a quantitative porosity analysis from the 3D images has never been done. This work introduces a first-of-its-kind X-ray CT-based quantitative porosity analysis method and applies the developed toolkit to characterize the internal porosity distribution of loblolly pine. A sample loblolly pine chip was scanned by a nano-resolution X-ray CT system and digitally reconstructed after a sequence of image processing operations. Here, a comprehensive porosity analysis was then performed to quantify the envelope porosity, the spatial distribution of local porosity, and the directional porosity. Solutions to the various challenges in image processing, porosity calculation, and large data handling are provided.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Porous potassium tantalate-reduced graphene oxide nano cube architecture for high performance hybrid supercapacitors

Energy storage has always been a major concern in the present-day situation. Advanced energy storage devices are batteries, supercapacitor and solar cells. However, advancements have been noteworthy in the field of high-performance hybrid supercapacitors. On this note, we have fabricated a hybrid supercapacitor electrode material Potassium tantalate nano cube (KT NCs) and its reduced graphene oxide composite (KT-rGO NCs) and tested its electrochemical performance. The materials showed high performances with specific capacitance of 565 F/g for KT NCs and 850 F/g for KT-rGO NCs respectively. Energy densities of both KT NCs & KT-rGO NCs are 28.24 Wh/Kg and 29.50 Wh/kg with good retention capacities. Further detailed study of both KT NCs and KT-rGO NCs are carried out with characterization techniques like XRD, FTIR, BET, Raman and HRTEM for structural analysis and electrochemical measurements to analyse various parameters pertaining to its charge storage capacity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mesoporous MoO 2 thin films for high rate Li + storage: Effect of crystallinity and porous structure

MoO 2 has attracted much recent attention as a high capacity energy storage material. While much of the current work on MoO 2 has been focused on the high capacity four-electron reduction, this reaction is limited to slow charging process due to the large volume change and phase transitions involved. In this study we focus on one-electron insertion reactions and demonstrate that ordered mesoporous thin films of MoO 2 can show signatures of pseudocapacitive charge storage. Mesoporous MoO 2 (mp-MoO 2 ) thin films were treated at different temperatures between 350 and 700 °C to explore the role of crystallinity and nanoscale structure on charging dynamics. The porosity and pore size decreased while the crystallinity and grain size increased as the calcination temperature increased. Materials processed at 600 °C showed the best electrochemical performance due to an optimized combination of high crystallinity and small grain size. These materials could be charged and discharged in 24 s while still achieving a Li + storage capacity of 158 mAh/g. While such thin film systems do not constitute a practical energy storage device, the work here provides structural design parameters for the production of future bulk nanoporous materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Hermetically sealed porous-wall hollow microspheres enabled by monolithic glass coatings: Potential for thermal insulation applications

Thermal insulation materials are crucial to improve the energy performance of buildings and industrial applications. We report an approach to create hermetically vacuum-sealed silica-based hollow microspheres that can lower the thermal conductivity of closed-cell insulation materials. The wall structure of these hollow microspheres includes a reticulated network of pores or channels that extend through the thickness of the wall. When a thin layer of glass material is applied to the wall exterior, followed by a vacuum-assisted thermal treatment process, the coated microsphere surfaces display a highly dense conformal coverage and near-complete elimination of surface porosity. The sealing efficiency of these microspheres is verified by trapping argon within their cavities as well as through evacuating their hollow cores. Notably, incorporating the evacuated microspheres into a polymer matrix resulted in ~27% enhancement in its thermal insulation performance and no notable loss of performance was observed following three months of exposure to ambient conditions. Thus, we believe that the present study offers a commercially viable strategy that opens the door to applications of such inorganic hollow particles in areas ranging from vacuum-based thermal insulation systems to catalysis, separation technologies, and medical fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Crystal structure and synchrotron X-ray powder reference pattern for the porous pillared cyanonickelate, Ni(3-amino-4,4′-bipyridine)[Ni(CN) 4 ]

The structure of Ni(3-amino-4,4′-bipyridine)[Ni(CN) 4 ] (or known as Ni-BpyNH 2 ) in powder form was determined using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and refined using the Rietveld refinement technique (R = 8.8%). The orthorhombic (Cmca) cell parameters were determined to be a = 14.7218(3) Å, b = 22.6615(3) Å, c = 12.3833(3) Å, V = 4131.29(9) Å 3 , and Z = 8. Ni-BpyNH 2 forms a 3-D network, with a 2-D Ni(CN) 4 net connecting to each other via the BpyNH 2 ligands. Further, there are two independent Ni sites on the net. The 2-D nets are connected to each other via the bonding of the pyridine “N” atom to Ni2. The Ni2 site is of six-fold coordination to N with relatively long Ni2–N distances (average of 2.118 Å) as compared to the four-fold coordinated Ni1–C distances (average of 1.850 Å). The Ni(CN) 4 net is arranged in a wave-like fashion. The functional group, –NH 2 , is disordered and was found to be in the m-position relative to the N atom of the pyridine ring. Instead of having a unique position, N has ¼ site occupancy in each of the four m-positions. The powder reference diffraction pattern for Ni-BpyNH 2 was prepared and submitted to the Powder Diffraction File (PDF) at the International Centre of Diffraction Data (ICDD).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗