Publications by authors named "Sara Perez-Rodriguez"
The rational design of metal-nitrogen-doped carbons (M-N-C) from available and cost-effective sources featuring high electrocatalytic performance and stability is attractive for the development of viable low-temperature fuel cells. Herein, mimosa tannin, an abundant polyphenol easily extracted from the Mimosa plant, is used as a natural carbon source to produce a tannin-Fe(III) coordination complex. This process is assisted by Pluronic F127, which acts as both a surfactant and a promoter of Fe-N active sites.
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- * The study contrasts the effects of nitrogen functionalities against textural properties in four types of activated carbons to determine their influence on ORR activity.
- * Results indicate that N-doping plays a more critical role than textural properties in these carbon materials, contributing to ongoing discussions in the carbon research community.
Article Synopsis
- Bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts are crucial for improving low-temperature unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) as a renewable energy storage solution using hydrogen.* -
- TiO is typically seen as an ineffective electrocatalyst for oxygen reactions due to its poor conductivity and reactivity, but new composites using TiO and N-doped graphene show potential.* -
- The synergistic effects of TiO with N-doped graphene and Ti/Ti-N species enhance electrochemical activity, prompting the development of a non-noble, effective electrocatalyst for energy storage technologies.*
Lithium battery materials can be advantageously used for the selective sequestration of lithium ions from natural resources, which contain other cations in high excess. However, for practical applications, this new approach for lithium production requires the battery host materials to be stable over many cycles while retaining the high lithium selectivity. Here, a nearly symmetrical cell design was employed to show that LiFePO shows good capacity retention with cycling in artificial lithium brines representative of brines from Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUpgrading of pine tannin biochars as electrochemical capacitor electrodes.
J Colloid Interface Sci
November 2021
Article Synopsis
- Biochar produced from pine tannin through pyrolysis and activated with KOH shows promising properties for use as activated carbon in energy storage.
- The activation process resulted in highly developed surface areas and increased porosity, facilitating enhanced electrochemical performance in capacitors.
- Testing revealed a maximum electrode capacitance of 232 F/g and impressive long-term stability, indicating strong potential for commercial applications in electrochemical energy storage.
Article Synopsis
- This research focuses on graphene oxide nanofibers (GONFs), a type of nanocarbon material ideal for energy storage and conversion due to their unique structure.
- It was found that reduced GONFs (RGONFs), created by partially removing functional groups, exhibit higher mesoporosity and better conductivity, resulting in much improved capacitance compared to GONFs.
- The study also highlights the importance of reduction temperature, with 140 °C yielding the best electrochemical performance, achieving capacitance values up to 137 F·g, while higher temperatures reduce the effectiveness by removing beneficial sulfur groups.
A facile and straightforward methodology for the preparation of monometallic (copper and palladium) and bimetallic nanocatalysts (NiCu and PdCu) stabilized by a N-heterocyclic carbene ligand is reported. Both colloidal and supported nanoparticles (NPs) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared in a one-pot synthesis with outstanding control on their size, morphology and composition. These catalysts were evaluated in the selective hydrogenation of alkynes and alkynols.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWell defined Ni nanoparticles (NiNPs) stabilized with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been synthesized through a new methodology involving the decarboxylation of a zwitterionic CO adduct. Their catalytic performance was tested in the partial hydrogenation of alkynes into (Z)-alkenes under very mild reaction conditions (50 °C and 5 bar H pressure), providing excellent activities and selectivities.
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