Premelting of ice adsorbed on a rock surface

Considering ice-premelting on a quartz rock surface (i.e. silica) we calculate the Lifshitz excess pressures in a four layer system with rock-ice-water-air. Our calculations give excess pressures across (1) ice layer, (2) water layer, and (3) ice-water interface for different ice and water layer thicknesses. We analyse equilibrium conditions where the different excess pressures take…

Dipole reorientation and local density of optical states influence the emission of light-emitting electrochemical cells

Herein, we analyze the temporal evolution of the electroluminescence of light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), a thin-film light-emitting device, in order to maximize the luminous power radiated by these devices. A careful analysis of the spectral and angular distribution of the emission of LECs fabricated under the same experimental conditions allows describing the dynamics of the…

Improving the activity of gold nanoparticles for the water-gas shift reaction using TiO2-Y2O3: an example of catalyst design

In the last ten years, there has been an acceleration in the pace at which new catalysts for the water-gas shift reaction are designed and synthesized. Pt-based catalysts remain the best solution when only activity is considered. However, cost, operation temperature, and deactivation phenomena are important variables when these catalysts are scaled in industry. Here,…

Combined TGA-MS kinetic analysis of multistep processes. Thermal decomposition and ceramification of polysilazane and polysiloxane preceramic polymers

The polymer-to-ceramic transformation kinetics of two widely employed ceramic precursors, 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-1,3,5,7-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane (TTCS) and polyureamethylvinylsilazane (CERASET), have been investigated using coupled thermogravimetry and mass spectrometry (TG-MS), Raman, XRD and FTIR. The thermally induced decomposition of the pre-ceramic polymer is the critical step in the synthesis of polymer derived ceramics (PDCs) and accurate kinetic modeling is key…

The interaction between hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite and selective contacts in perovskite solar cells: an infrared spectroscopy study

The interaction of hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite and selective contacts is crucial to get efficient, stable and hysteresis-free perovskite-based solar cells. In this report, we analyze the vibrational properties of methylammonium lead halide perovskites deposited on different substrates by infrared absorption (IR) measurements (4000-500 cm(-1)). The materials employed as substrates are not only characterized by…

Effect of dolomite decomposition under CO2 on its multicycle CO2 capture behaviour under calcium looping conditions

One of the major drawbacks that hinder the industrial competitiveness of the calcium looping (CaL) process for CO2 capture is the high temperature (∼930–950 °C) needed in practice to attain full calcination of limestone in a high CO2 partial pressure environment for short residence times as required. In this work, the multicycle CO2 capture performance of dolomite and…

Morphological and structural behavior of TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of WO3: crystallization of the oxide composite system

Composite TiO2-WO3 oxide materials were prepared by a single pot microemulsion method and studied during calcination treatments under dry air in order to analyze the influence of tungsten on the behavior of the dominant titania component. To this end, the surface and bulk morphological and structural evolution of the solid precursors was studied using X-ray…

Gold(III) stabilized over ionic liquids grafted on MCM-41 for highly efficient three-component coupling reactions

Two alkoxysilyl-modified ionic liquids (ILs) have been synthesized and further grafted onto mesoporous silica, MCM-41; these ionic liquids were used for dispersing AuCl3 catalysts that activate C–H bonds as required for the synthesis of propargylamines by coupling alkyne, aldehyde and amine (A3 coupling) species. 29Si NMR experiments demonstrate the formation of covalent bonds between alkoxysilyl-modified…