New Sustainable Multilayered Membranes Based on ZrVTi for Hydrogen Purification.

Some metals belonging to groups IV and V show a high permeability to hydrogen and have been studied as possible alternatives to palladium in membranes for hydrogen purification/separation in order to increase their sustainability and decrease their costs. However, to date, very few alloys among those metals have been investigated, and no membrane studies based on 4-5 element alloys with low or zero Pd content and quasi-amorphous structure have been reported so far. In this work, new membranes based on ZrVTi- and ZrVTiPd alloys were tested for the first time for this application.

Nanostructured Tetrahedrite Synthesis for Thermoelectric Applications.

Nowadays, a big challenge in the thermoelectric field is the identification of efficient thermoelectric materials but inexpensive, easy to synthesize, and comprised of Earth-abundant elements. On this basis, tetrahedrite mineral family (Cu(12−x)Tr(x)Sb₄S₁₃ where Tr = Cu, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) seems to be an attractive p-Type Pb-free thermoelectric material, showing a relatively high conversion efficiency. In this work, a solvothermal synthesis method was developed for undoped tetrahedrite Cu₁₂Sb₄S₁₃ and the introduction of Zn and Ni as substituents of copper was also tested.

Tuning PEDOT:Tos Thermoelectric Properties Through Nanoparticle Inclusion.

Thermoelectric application of conjugated polymers has recently become a subject of scientific interest. This is due to the peculiar features of these organic materials, such as low cost, safety, abundance of atomic components, and easy processing, which make them an interesting alternative to inorganic materials commonly used for this application in the room temperature range, i.e.

Tuning the thermal diffusivity of silver based nanofluids by controlling nanoparticle aggregation.

With the aim of preparing stable nanofluids for heat exchange applications and to study the effect of surfactant on the aggregation of nanoparticles and thermal diffusivity, stable silver colloids were synthesized in water by a green method, reducing AgNO₃ with fructose in the presence of poly-vinylpyrollidone (PVP) of various molecular weights. A silver nanopowder was precipitated from the colloids and re-dispersed at 4 vol% in deionized water. The Ag colloids were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, combined dynamic light scattering and ζ-potential measurements, and laser flash thermal diffusivity.

An electrochemical gas sensor based on paper supported room temperature ionic liquids.

A sensitive and fast-responding membrane-free amperometric gas sensor is described, consisting of a small filter paper foil soaked with a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), upon which three electrodes are screen printed with carbon ink, using a suitable mask. It takes advantage of the high electrical conductivity and negligible vapour pressure of RTILs as well as their easy immobilization into a porous and inexpensive supporting material such as paper. Moreover, thanks to a careful control of the preparation procedure, a very close contact between the RTIL and electrode material can be achieved so as to allow gaseous analytes to undergo charge transfer just as soon as they reach the three-phase sites where the electrode material, paper supported RTIL and gas phase meet.

Cathodoluminescence evaluation of oxygen vacancy population in nanostructured titania thin films for photocatalytic applications.

Room-temperature results of cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy investigations are presented for nanostructured titanium dioxide (anatase) thin films (500 nm thick) deposited via RF magnetron sputtering on high-purity silica substrates. The collected CL bands of the anatase thin films, as deposited and after different annealing cycles, showed a broad morphology consisting of three Voigtian bands located at 500, 550, and 610 nm that were partially overlapping. The overall CL emission increased with increasing temperature and time of the annealing cycle as a consequence of the increased crystallinity of the thin film.