High performance novel gadolinium doped ceria/yttria stabilized zirconia/nickel layered and hybrid thin film anodes for application in solid oxide fuel cells

Magnetron sputtering under oblique angle deposition was used to produce Ni-containing ultra thin film anodes comprising alternating layers of,gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) of either 200 nm or 1000 nm thickness. The evolution of film structure from initial deposition, through calcination and final reduction was examined by XRD, SEM, TEM and…

New insights into surface-functionalized swelling high charged micas: Their adsorption performance for non-ionic organic pollutants

The major components of the wastewater from the petroleum refineries are benzene, toluene and phenol and one of the techniques applied to the treatment of effluents is sorption using organo-functionalized clay. The materials exploited in the present study are a family of surface-functionalized synthetic micas and their sorption capacities for non-ionic organic pollutants are analyzed.…

Lead-Free Polycrystalline Ferroelectric Nanowires with Enhanced Curie Temperature

Ferroelectrics are important technological materials with wide-ranging applications in electronics, communication, health, and energy. While lead-based ferroelectrics have remained the predominant mainstay of industry for decades, environmentally friendly lead-free alternatives are limited due to relatively low Curie temperatures (T-C) and/or high cost in many cases. Efforts have been made to enhance T-C through strain engineering,…

One-reactor plasma assisted fabrication of ZnO@TiO2 multishell nanotubes: assessing the impact of a full coverage on the photovoltaic performance

This paper addresses the fabrication of vertically aligned ZnO@TiO2multishell nanotubes by a combined full vacuum-plasma approach at mild temperatures. The growth is carried out within the premises of a one-reactor approach, i.e. minimizing the number of vacuum chambers and sample transferences. In this way, the interface between ZnO and TiO2 is fully preserved from humidity thus…

Thermal study of residues from greenhouse crops plant biomass

The principal aim of this work is to examine the effect of thermal treatments using a muffle furnace (static heating) and by simultaneous TG/DTA (dynamic heating) on selected greenhouse crops plant biomass investigated here as the first time. The effect of fractionation by sieving (<25 and <2.5 mm), preheating at 150 °C for 48 h and leaching with…

Biomorphic ceramics from wood-derived precursors

Materials development is driven by microstructural complexity and, in many cases, inspired by biological systems such as bones, shells and wood. In one approach, one selects the main microstructural features responsible for improved properties and design processes to obtain materials with such microstructures (continuous-fibre-reinforced ceramics, porous ceramics, fibrous ceramic monoliths, etc.). In a different approach,…