Removal of pharmaceuticals by advanced treatment methods.

The removal of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) remains a big challenge in water treatment in terms of public health. The aim of the study was evaluating the performance of nano TiO2, ozone, and UV system for removal of EDCs. In this study, the efficiency of the nano TiO2 to degrade target EDCs under catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was examined at different operational conditions. The maximum removal of target pollutant was obtained with pH 6.8; ozone concentration 10 mg/L; catalyst dosage 0.050 g/L and the duration time of the photocatalytic performances was 10 min showing the most treatment conditions respectively. In addition, the surface reaction mechanism of endocrine disrupting compound removal by catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was investigated. The results showed that the catalyst can significantly enhance the removal of target compound. The 99.0%, 88.3% and 51.8% removal rates were obtained at photocatalytic ozonation, catalytic ozonation and sole ozonation, respectively. These results indicated that the Ozone/TiO2/UV process was favorable for engineering applications for removal of endocrine disrupting compounds such as steroid hormone and likely similar micro pollutants.

Catalysts for Hydrogen Generation via Oxy-Steam Reforming of Methanol Process.

The production of pure hydrogen is one of the most important problems of the modern chemical industry. While high volume production of hydrogen is well under control, finding a cheap method of hydrogen production for small, mobile, or his receivers, such as fuel cells or hybrid cars, is still a problem. Potentially, a promising method for the generation of hydrogen can be oxy-steam-reforming of methanol process. It is a process that takes place at relatively low temperature and atmospheric pressure, which makes it possible to generate hydrogen directly where it is needed. It is a process that takes place at relatively low temperature and atmospheric pressure, which makes it possible to generate hydrogen directly where it is needed. This paper summarizes the current state of knowledge on the catalysts used for the production of hydrogen in the process of the oxy-steam-reforming of methanol (OSRM). The development of innovative energy generation technologies has intensified research related to the design of new catalysts that can be used in methanol-reforming reactions. This review shows the different pathways of the methanol-reforming reaction. The paper presents a comparison of commonly used copper-based catalysts with other catalytic systems for the production of H2 via OSRM reaction. The surface mechanism of the oxy-steam-reforming of methanol and the kinetic model of the OSRM process are discussed.

Revealing In Situ Li Metal Anode Surface Evolution upon Exposure to CO2 Using Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Because they deliver outstanding energy density, next-generation lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are essential to the advancement of both electric mobility and portable electronic devices. However, the high reactivity of metallic lithium surfaces leads to the low electrochemical performance of many secondary batteries. Besides, Li deposition is not uniform, which has been attributed to the low ionic conductivity of the anode surface. In particular, lithium exposure to CO2 gas is considered detrimental due to the formation of carbonate on the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). In this work, we explored the interaction of Li metal with CO2 gas as a function of time using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to clarify the reaction pathway and main intermediates involved in the process during which oxalate formation has been detected. Furthermore, when O2 gas is part of the surrounding environment with CO2 gas, the reaction pathway is bypassed to directly promote carbonate as a single product.

Atomic Layer Deposition of an Indium Gallium Oxide Thin Film for Thin-Film Transistor Applications.

Indium gallium oxide (IGO) thin films were deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) using [1,1,1-trimethyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)silanaminato]indium (InCA-1) and trimethylgallium (TMGa) as indium and gallium precursors, respectively, and hydrogen peroxide as the reactant. To clearly understand the mechanism of multicomponent ALD growth of oxide semiconductor materials, several variations in the precursor-reactant deposition cycles were evaluated. Gallium could be doped into the oxide film at 200 °C when accompanied by an InCA-1 pulse, and no growth of gallium oxide was observed without the simultaneous deposition of indium oxide. Density functional theory calculations for the initial adsorption of the precursors revealed that chemisorption of TMGa was kinetically hindered on hydroxylated SiOx but was spontaneous on a hydroxylated InOx surface. Moreover, the atomic composition and electrical characteristics, such as carrier concentration and resistivity, of the ALD-IGO film were controllable by adjusting the deposition supercycles, composed of InO and GaO subcycles. Thus, ALD-IGO could be employed to fabricate active layers for thin-film transistors to realize an optimum mobility of 9.45 cm2/(V s), a threshold voltage of -1.57 V, and a subthreshold slope of 0.26 V/decade.