| 1. |
- Ahmed, A., et al.
(författare)
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Toward High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators by Engineering Interfaces at the Nanoscale : Looking into the Future Research Roadmap
- 2020
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Ingår i: Advanced Materials Technologies. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 2365-709X. ; 5:11, s. 2000520-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To meet the future need for clean and sustainable energies, there has been considerable interest in the development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that scavenge waste mechanical energies. The performance of a TENG at the macroscale is determined by the multifaceted role of surface and interface properties at the nanoscale, whose understanding is critical for the future development of TENGs. Therefore, various protocols from the atomic to the macrolevel for fabrication and tuning of surfaces and interfaces are required to obtain the desired TENG performance. These protocols branch out into three categories: chemical engineering, physical engineering, and structural engineering. Chemical engineering is an affordable and optimal strategy for introducing more surface polarities and higher work functions for the improvement of charge transfer. Physical engineering includes the utilization of surface morphology control, and interlayer interactions, which can enhance the active interfacial area and electron transfer capacity. Structural engineering at the macroscale, which includes device and electrode design/modifications has a considerable effect on the performance of TENGs. Future challenges and promising research directions related to the construction of next-generation TENG devices, taking into consideration “interfaces” are also presented.
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| 2. |
- Akhlaghi, Shahin, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of ageing conditions on degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber filled with heat-treated ZnO star-shaped particles in rapeseed biodiesel
- 2017
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Ingår i: Polymer degradation and stability. - : Elsevier. - 0141-3910 .- 1873-2321.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) after exposure to biodiesel at different oxygen partial pressures in an automated ageing equipment at 80 °C, and in a high-pressure autoclave at 150 °C was studied. The oxidation of biodiesel was promoted by an increase in oxygen concentration, resulting in a larger uptake of fuel in the rubber due to internal cavitation, a greater decrease in the strain-at-break of NBR due to the coalescence of cavity, and a faster increase in the crosslinking density and carbonyl index due to the promotion of the oxidation of NBR. During the high-temperature autoclave ageing, less fuel was absorbed in the rubber, because the formation of hydroperoxides and acids was impeded. The extensibility of NBR aged in the autoclave decreased only slightly due to the cleavage of rubber chains by the biodiesel attack. The degradation of NBR in the absence of carbon black was explained as being due to oxidative crosslinking. The dissolution of ZnO crystals in the acidic components of biodiesel was retarded by removing the inter-particle porosity and surface defects through heat treating star-shaped ZnO particles. The rubber containing heat-treated ZnO particles swelled less in biodiesel than a NBR filled with commercial ZnO nanoparticles, and showed a smaller decrease in the strain-at-break and less oxidative crosslinking.
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| 3. |
- Björk, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Making an ultralow platinum content bimetallic catalyst on carbon fibres for electro-oxidation of ammonia in wastewater
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainable Energy & Fuels. - 2398-4902.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electrocatalysis of wastewater containing ammonia is a promising alternative to chemical and biological water purification for several reasons, one being that energy-rich hydrogen gas is generated as a by-product while the reaction can be strictly controlled to meet demands. An objective has been to reduce the loading of expensive platinum (Pt) in the catalyst electrodes, and to reduce the poisoning of the metal surface during the electrolysis. Herein, the co-deposition of a copper–platinum (Cu–Pt) bimetallic alloy onto carbon filaments, stripped from their polymeric coating, is shown to give an electrocatalytic performance superior to that of pure Pt at a content of less than 3 wt% Pt. The key to the enhanced performance was to take advantage of micrometer-sized carbon filaments to distribute a very large bimetallic alloy surface uniformly over the filaments. The Cu–Pt-alloy-coated filaments also suffer less electrode poisoning than pure Pt, and are bonded more strongly to the carbon fibre due to better mechanical interlocking between the bimetallic alloy and the carbon filaments. High-resolution electron microscopy studies combined with a tuned electro-deposition process made it possible to tailor the catalyst micro/nano morphology to reach a uniform coverage, surrounding the entire carbon filaments. The results are promising steps towards large-scale wastewater treatment, combined with clean energy production from regenerated hydrogen.
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| 4. |
- Liu, Dongming, et al.
(författare)
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Cavitation in strained polyethylene/aluminium oxide nanocomposites
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Polymer Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0014-3057 .- 1873-1945. ; 87, s. 255-265
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The incorporation of metal oxide (e.g. Al2O3) nanoparticles has a pronounced positive effect on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as an insulating material for high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) cables, the electrical conductivity being decreased by one to two orders of magnitude and charge species being trapped by the nanoparticles. The risk of debonding between the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix leading to electrical treeing via electrical discharges in the formed cavities was the motivation for this study. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray ptychographic tomography were used to study a series of LDPE nanocomposites which contained Al2O3 nanoparticles treated with silanes having terminal alkyl groups of different lengths (methyl, octyl and octadecyl). When specimens were subjected to a tensile strain (a typical specimen stretched beyond the onset of necking consisted of three zones according to SEM of specimens that were studied after removal of the external force: an essentially cavitation-free zone with low local plastic strain, a transitional zone in which local plastic strain showed a marked increase and the revealed concentration of permanent cavities increased with increasing plastic strain and a highly strained zone with extensive cavitation), the cavitation occurred mainly at the polymer-nanoparticle interface according to SEM and X-ray ptychographic tomography and according to SEM progressed with increasing plastic strain through an initial phase with no detectable formation of permanent cavities to a period of very fast cavitation and finally almost an order of magnitude slower cavitation. The polymer/nanoparticle interface was fractal before deformation, as revealed by the profile of the Porod region in SAXS, presumably due to the existence of bound polymers at the nanoparticle surface. A pronounced decrease in the interface fractal dimension was observed when the strain exceeded a critical value; a phenomenon attributed to the stress-induced de-bonding of nanoparticles. The strain-dependence of the interface fractal dimension value at low strain levels between composites containing differently treated nanoparticles seems to be an indicator of the strength of the nanoparticle-polymer interface.
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| 5. |
- Pallon, L. K. H., et al.
(författare)
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The impact of MgO nanoparticle interface in ultra-insulating polyethylene nanocomposites for high voltage DC cables
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 4:22, s. 8590-8601
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites with a reduced conductivity of two orders of magnitude are reported as a novel insulation material for high voltage distribution of renewable energy. The key to the high insulation capacity was to provide 70 nm hexagonal MgO nanoparticles with relatively tong, preferably 18 units long, hydrocarbon functional silsesquioxane coatings. This rendered the surface of the particles completely hydrophobic and also served as a protective layer against adsorption of polar low molecular weight atmospheric substances (H2O and CO2). The elimination of trace amounts of water, in combination with the provided carbon functionality, dramatically improved the dispersion of MgO nanoparticles. The lowest volume conductivity was ca. 7 x 10(-16) s m(-1) for 3 wt% surface coated nanoparticles. Extensive electron microscopy characterization was further used to relate the measured volume conductivity, acquired under conditions that resemble 800 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, to the distribution of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The results show that an appropriate surface-modification approach yielded uniformly dispersed MgO nanoparticles up to contents as high as 9 wt%, with maintained 10-100 times reduced volume conductivity. Simulations of the MgO nanoparticles distribution revealed that the required interaction radius of the MgO-phase was 775 nm, setting a lower limit of particle amount to effectively work as electrical insulation promoters. The reduced volume conductivity values and scalable processing chemistry reported allow for the production of the next generation insulation material for HVDC cables.
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| 6. |
- Pourrahimi, A. M., et al.
(författare)
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Heat treatment of ZnO nanoparticles : new methods to achieve high-purity nanoparticles for high-voltage applications
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 3:33, s. 17190-17200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Novel methods based on orienting and coating of ZnO nanoparticles were studied in order to obtain uniform, nano-sized and ultra-pure ZnO grains/particles after heat treatment. A 1 nm zinc-hydroxy-salt complex layer on the nanoparticle surfaces was revealed by thermogravimetry and infrared spectroscopy. This 'phase' gradually decomposed into ZnO during the heat treatment while sintering occurred above 600 degrees C, as revealed by scanning-and transmission-electron microscopy. The c-axis alignment of the nanoparticles provided smaller pores than those associated with non-oriented nanoparticles, presenting the means to obtain high-density ceramics. The orientation resulted in a smaller grain size after heat treatment than that of the nonaligned nanoparticles. Another method that involved three steps - silane coating, heat treatment and silica layer etching - was used to remove the ionic species from the nanoparticle surface while preserving its hydroxylated surface. These ultra-pure nanoparticles are expected to be key components in the development of HVDC insulation polyethylene nanocomposites.
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| 7. |
- Pourrahimi, Amir Masoud, et al.
(författare)
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Water-based synthesis and cleaning methods for high purity ZnO nanoparticles - comparing acetate, chloride, sulphate and nitrate zinc salt precursors
- 2014
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2046-2069. ; 4:67, s. 35568-35577
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A low temperature (60 degrees C) aqueous synthesis method of high purity ZnO nanoparticles intended as fillers for ultra-low electrical conductivity insulations is described. Particles were prepared under identical conditions from different zinc salts based on nitrate, chloride, sulphate or acetate to compare their abilities to form high yields of sub-50 nm particles with narrow size distribution. The acetate salt gave uniform 25 nm ZnO particles with a conical prism shape. The chloride and sulphate derived particles showed mixed morphologies of nanoprisms and submicron petals, whereas the nitrate salt yielded prisms assembled into well-defined flower shapes with spiky edges. The micron-sized flower shapes were confirmed by Xray diffraction to consist of the smaller prism units. Photoluminescence spectroscopy showed emission in the blue-violet region with little variation depending on precursor salt, suggesting that the spectra were dependent on the primary nanoprism formation and rather independent of the final particle morphology. Microscopy revealed that the salt residuals after the reaction showed different affinity to the particle surfaces depending on the type of salt used, with the acetate creating ca. 20 nm thick hydrated shells; and in falling order of affinity: chloride, sulphate and nitrate. An acetate ion shielding effect during the synthesis was therefore assumed, preventing nanoparticle fusion during growth. Varying the concentrations of the counter-ions confirmed the shielding and only the acetate anions showed an ability to stabilize solitary nanoprisms formation in reaction yields from 2 to 10 g L-1. Ultrasonic particle surface cleaning was significantly more efficient than water replacement, resulting in a stable aqueous dispersion with a high zeta potential of 38.9 mV at pH 8.
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