ABSTRACT
An X-ray computed nano-tomography (nano-CT) system has been established at the BL33XU beamline of SPring-8. The optical system consists of pseudo-Köhler illumination with a sector condenser zone plate, an apodization Fresnel zone plate as the objective lens, and a Zernike phase plate. The imaging detector is a fiber-coupling type X-ray camera. The performance of the X-ray nano-CT system was confirmed by imaging an X-ray test chart. The system was subsequently applied to the observation of a microporous layer for polymer electrolyte fuel cells and a simulated microporous layer including liquid water. The nano-CT system, which can perform a computed tomography measurement in less than 4â min, allowed visualization of a spherical water droplet produced in the microporous layer. In the present study, the shape of water droplets in a nanoscale porous structure is investigated.
ABSTRACT
This study is the first report on liquid water and ice imaging conducted at a pulsed spallation neutron source facility. Neutron imaging can be utilised to visualise the water distribution inside polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Particularly, energy-resolved neutron imaging is a methodology capable of distinguishing between liquid water and ice, and is effective for investigating ice formation in PEFCs operating in a subfreezing environment. The distinction principle is based on the fact that the cross sections of liquid water and ice differ from each other at low neutron energies. In order to quantitatively observe transient freezing and thawing phenomena in a multiphase mixture (gas/liquid/solid) within real PEFCs with high spatial resolution, a pulsed neutron beam with both high intensity and wide energy range is most appropriate. In the validation study of the present work, we used water sealed in narrow capillary tubes to simulate the flow channels of a PEFC, and a pulsed neutron beam was applied to distinguish ice, liquid water and super-cooled water, and to clarify freezing and thawing phenomena of the water within the capillary tubes. Moreover, we have enabled the observation of liquid water/ice distributions in a large field of view (300 mm × 300 mm) by manufacturing a sub-zero environment chamber that can be cooled down to -30 °C, as a step towards in situ visualisation of full-size fuel cells.
ABSTRACT
Using an operando time-resolved XAFS technique at the Cu and Ce K-edges, we have discovered that the synchronization of Cu and Ce valence change in Cu/CeO2 under periodic (rich-lean cycling) operation can improve the catalytic activity for NO reduction at low temperature.
Subject(s)
Cerium/chemistry , Copper/chemistry , Nitric Oxide/chemistry , Catalysis , Oxidation-Reduction , Temperature , Time Factors , X-Ray Absorption SpectroscopyABSTRACT
Two novel high-temperature reactors for in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements in fluorescence are presented, each of them being optimized for a particular purpose. The powerful combination of these reactors with the turbo-XAS technique used in a dispersive-XAS beamline permits the study of commercial three-way catalysts under realistic gas composition and temporal conditions.