Smoke and NOx emission characteristics of in-use construction machinery base on substantial field measurement: A case study in Beijing, China.

To understand the smoke level and NOx emission characteristics of in-use construction machinery in Beijing, we selected 905 construction machines in Beijing from August 2022 to April 2023 to monitor the emission level of smoke and NOx. The exhaust smoke level and excessive emission situation of different machinery types were identified, and their NOx emission levels were monitored according to the free acceleration method. We investigated the correlation of NOx and smoke emission, and proposed suggestions for controlling pollution discharge from construction machinery in the future. The results show that the exhaust smoke level was 0-2.62 m-1, followed a log-normal distribution (µ = -1.73, δ = 1.09, R2 = 0.99), with a 5.64% exceedance rate. Differences were observed among machinery types, with low-power engine forklifts showing higher smoke levels. The NOx emission range was 71-1516 ppm, followed a normal distribution (µ = 565.54, δ = 309.51, R2 = 0.83). Differences among machinery types were relatively small. Engine rated net power had the most significant impact on NOx emissions. Thus, NOx emissions from construction machinery need further attention. Furthermore, we found a weak negative correlation (p < 0.05) between the emission level of smoke and NOx, that is the synergic emission reduction effect is poor, emphasizing the need for NOx emission limits. In the future, the oversight in Beijing should prioritize phasing out China Ⅰ and China Ⅱ machinery, and monitor emissions from high-power engine China Ⅲ machinery.

Residuo de Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) como absorbente de combustibles para aplicación pasiva en ingeniería contra incendios / Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) residue as a fuel sorbent for passive application in fire-fighting engineering

Resumen Introducción: Los vertidos de líquidos inflamables pueden producir accidentes graves, principalmente en plantas industriales y en carretera. Para prevenir la dispersión de derrames, se utilizan diversas formas de recolecta, como la absorción con sólidos porosos. Residuos agroindustriales pueden ser aprovechados como materiales sorbentes de líquidos inflamables. Objetivo: Determinar la capacidad de absorción de las biomasas residuales del pedúnculo de la palma aceitera (Elaeis guineensis) y del endocarpio del fruto de coyol (Acrocomia sp.) para cuatro líquidos orgánicos inflamables. Métodos: Las biomasas residuales de E. guineensis y de Acrocomia sp. se evaluaron como sorbentes para combustibles derramados (diésel, queroseno de aviación, queroseno comercial y gasolina). Se midió la cantidad de líquido absorbida por las biomasas a 24 ºC durante una semana, y su cinética de desorción a 50 ºC, usando balanzas de secado. Resultados: La propiedad sorbente del material de Acrocomia sp. no fue satisfactoria, comparada con el pedúnculo de E. guineensis, debido a diferencias en arquitectura residual del material orgánico. Esta última biomasa muestra una capacidad de absorción para los combustibles de 2.4 ± 0.2 cm3 g-1 a 24 ºC. La diatomita absorbe mayor cantidad de los combustibles estudiados, pero la difusión de estos fluidos a 50 ºC por la matriz mineral es solo 0.26 ± 0.09 veces lo observado para el material de E. guineensis, como resultado del mayor grado de tortuosidad de los poros de la diatomita. Conclusiones: El pedúnculo de palma aceitera (E. guineensis) mostró un adecuado potencial desempeño para la aplicación pasiva en la mitigación de los riesgos de incendio, con respecto a la diatomita. El endocarpio del fruto de Acrocomia sp. no resultó útil para esta operación de recuperación.

Abstract Introduction: Spills of flammable liquids can lead to serious accidents, mainly in industrial plants and on roads. To prevent the spread of spills, various forms of collection are used, such as absorption with porous solids. Agroindustrial waste can be used as sorbent materials for flammable liquids. Objective: To determine the sorption capacity of the residual empty-fruit bunch of oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis) and the macaw palm (Acrocomia sp.) nutshell for four organic flammable liquids. Methods: The residual biomasses of E. guineensis and Acrocomia sp. were assessed as sorbents for spilled fuels (diesel, jet fuel, commercial kerosene, and gasoline). Volumetric measurement of liquid-fuel absorption at 24 ºC was taken during a week. Desorption was measured at 50 ºC as the drying kinetics, by using moisture scales. Results: The sorption capacity of the Acrocomia sp. material was not satisfactory, compared to the E. guineensis residual material, due to differences in the residual architecture of the organic material. This last can absorb 2.4 ± 0.2 cm3 g-1 at 24 ºC, during a one-week period. Diatomite absorbs greater quantities of the organic liquids but, the fluids diffusion at 50 ºC is 0.26 ± 0.09 times more slowly in the mineral matrix, because of the greater pore tortuosity in this mineral matrix. Conclusions: The oil-palm empty fruit bunch of E. guineensis, showed lesser but adequate performance than the sorbing behavior for fire hazard mitigation of diatomite. The nutshell of macaw palm (Acrocomia sp.) did not prove to be useful for this recovery operation.

A Universal Strategy to Enhance Polarization Performance and Anode Reversal Tolerance by Polyaniline-Coated Carbon Support for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells.

Anode cell reversal typically leads to severe carbon corrosion and catalyst layer collapse, which significantly compromises the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, three types of commercial carbon supports with various structures are facilely coated by polyaniline (PANI) and subsequently fabricated into reversal-tolerant anodes (RTAs). Consequently, the optimized PANI-coated catalyst RTAs demonstrate enhanced polarization performance and improved reversal tolerance compared to their uncoated counterparts, thus confirming the universality of this coating strategy. Essentially, the surface engineering introduced by PANI coating incorporates abundant N-groups and enhances coulombic interactions with ionomer side chains, which in turn reduces lower carbon exposure, promotes more uniform Pt deposition, and ensures better ionomer distribution. Accordingly, the membrane-electrode-assembly containing the Pt/PANI/XC-72R-1+IrO2 RTA presents a 100 mV (at 2500 mA cm-2) polarization performance improvement and 26-fold reduction in the degradation rate compared to the uncoated counterpart. This work provides a universal strategy for developing durable anodes and lays the groundwork for the practical fabrication of high-performance, low-degradation RTA.

Studying the Effect of Operating Conditions and NO2 Cathode Contamination on PEM Fuel Cells Using Distribution Function of Relaxation Times Analysis.

The effect of NO2, an air pollutant, on the durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and the affected electrochemical processes in the PEMFC following the contamination were investigated. In-situElectrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were conducted on PEMFCs under different operating conditions of temperature and relative humidity (RH). NO2 was introduced to the cathode inlet flow. Analyses of the EIS measurements were performed using a genetic algorithm called ISGP (Impedance Spectroscopy by Genetic Programming) to obtain the distribution function of relaxation times (DFRT, a.k.a. DRT) models. Utilizing ISGP enabled us to differentiate the various phenomena in PEMFC and study how they are affected by NO2 contamination. Moreover, the experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the mitigation method to flush the PEMFC and regenerate its performance after being contaminated, particularly at low operating temperatures. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) technique is performed on the contaminated PEMFC to detect the presence of any nitrogen components in the FC's gas diffusion layer and the catalyst layer post the mitigation step. Cyclic Voltammetry is also performed on the contaminated cell to determine the effect of the contamination on the electrochemically active surface area of the cathode by evaluating the double-layer capacitance.

Performance and emission analysis of cassava peel waste pyrolysis oil-hydrogen-diesel blends in a compression ignition engine.

As the world moves away from fossil fuels and embraces sustainable energy sources, the need for sustainable fuels for transportation becomes paramount. This study investigates the effects of pyrolysis oil derived from cassava peel waste (CPO), hydrogen (H), and diesel (D) blends as a partial substitute for low-displacement compression ignition engines. We tested three blends - CPO25, CPO25H5, and CPO25H10 - against neat diesel operation at engine speeds of 3400 rpm, 3600 rpm, and 3800 rpm and torques of 4 Nm, 6 Nm, and 8 Nm. Our findings reveal that while energy efficiency decreased with CPO25 compared to D100 operation, adding H2 increased energy efficiency. The highest increase was 7.8 % for CPO25H5 and 16 % for CPO25H10 compared to CPO25. Exergy efficiency also decreased with CPO25 compared to D100, but adding H2 compensated for this reduction. The highest increase was 8.0 % for CPO25H5 and 17 % for CPO25H10 compared to D100. CPO25H10 showed an increase of 8.1 % in combustion pressure and 9.9 % in heat release rate compared to CPO25. Emissions analysis also revealed that CO emissions were considerably lower with CPO and H2 than with D100, with the highest decrease of 11 % with CPO25H10. CO2 and hydrocarbon emissions followed the same trend as CO. Although NOx emissions slightly increased, the benefits of using pyrolysis oil-H2-diesel blends as a partial substitution fuel for low-displacement compression ignition engines are evident.

Hydrodeoxygenation of Isoeugenol-derived Model Compound over Carbon-supported Pt and Pt-SnS Catalysts for the Production of Sustainable Jet Fuel.

This study focuses on the sustainable production of bio-jet fuel through the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of isoeugenol (IE). Properties of two spraying synthesis methods (in situ and ex situ metal doping) with different platinum (Pt) loading percentages. The catalyst was characterised using various techniques such as XAS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and thermogravimetric analysis. The HRTEM and FESEM results show the successful preparation of a spherical nanoparticle doped over activated carbon, and Pt was dispersed on the outer shell of the particles. The catalytic HDO of IE showed a high yield and conversion as follows: IE conversion of 100%, liquid-phase mass balance of 95.92%, dihydroeugenol conversion of 99.32%, propylcyclohexane yield of 88.94% and HYD yield of 76.19%. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited high reusability with low metal leaching and high coke resistance for 10 cycles. The catalyst was evaluated in a continuous flow reactor for 100 h at different reaction temperatures, and interestingly, the catalyst showed low deactivation with a high half-time.

Advancing sustainable biotechnology through protein engineering.

The push for industrial sustainability benefits from the use of enzymes as a replacement for traditional chemistry. Biological catalysts, especially those that have been engineered for increased activity, stability, or novel function, and are often greener than alternative chemical approaches. This Review highlights the role of engineered enzymes (and identifies directions for further engineering efforts) in the application areas of greenhouse gas sequestration, fuel production, bioremediation, and degradation of plastic wastes.

Ionomeric Binders for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells.

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) based on phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole membrane (PBI/PA) operating at 120-200 °C can provide insensitivity to carbon monoxide (CO) and simplified managements of water and heat and thus attract significant global attention. However, one significant drawback is its low utilization of precious metal catalysts resulted from the PA poisoning and inefficient three-phase boundary. Studies of binder materials in catalyst layers for HT-PEMFC are gradually emerging and there are few literature reviews on this important topic. The purpose of this review is to describe the various types of binders based on their molecular structure and electrochemical properties, with particular emphasis on catalyst layer for fuel cells. Importantly, this review provides a better understanding of relationship between fuel cell performance and the gas permeability and conductivity of different binders. Then, future directions of research and development in binder materials of HT-PEMFC are pointed out.

Formation Characteristics of Pt-Ni Alloy Nanoparticles Fabricated by Nanolamination of Atomic Layer Deposition in Hydrogen.

Forced-flow atomic layer deposition nanolamination is employed to fabricate Pt-Ni nanoparticles on XC-72, with the compositions ranging from Pt94Ni6 to Pt67Ni33. Hydrogen is used as a co-reactant for depositing Pt and Ni. The growth rate of Pt is slower than that using oxygen reactant, and the growth exhibits preferred orientation along the (111) plane. Ni shows much slower growth rate than Pt, and it is only selectively deposited on Pt, not on the substrate. Higher ratios of Ni would hinder subsequent stacking of Pt atoms, resulting in lower overall growth rate and smaller particles (1.3-2.1 nm). Alloying of Pt with Ni causes shifted lattice that leads to larger lattice parameter and d-spacing as Ni fraction increases. From the electronic state analysis, Pt 4f peaks are shifted to lower binding energies with increasing the Ni content, suggesting charge transfer from Ni to Pt. Schematic of the growth behavior is proposed. Most of the alloy nanoparticles exhibit higher electrochemical surface area and oxygen reduction reaction activity than those of commercial Pt. Especially, Pt83Ni17 and Pt87Ni13 show excellent mass activities of 0.76 and 0.59 A mgPt -1, respectively, higher than the DOE target of 2025, 0.44 A mgPt -1.

New Morphology Modifier Enables the Preparation of Ultra-Long Platinum Nanowires Excluding Mo Component for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Performance.

The structural tailoring of Pt-based catalysts into 1D nanowires for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) has been a focus of research. Mo(CO)6 is commonly used as a morphological modifier to form nanowires, but it is found that it inevitably leads to Mo doping. This doping introduces unique electrochemical signals not seen in other Pt-based catalysts, which can directly reflect the stability of the catalyst. Through experiments, it is demonstrated that Mo doping is detrimental to ORR performance, and theoretical calculations have shown that Mo sites that are inherently inactive also poison the ORR activity of the surrounding Pt. Therefore, a novel gas-assisted technique is proposed to replace Mo(CO)6 with CO, which forms ultrafine nanowires with an order of magnitude increase in length, ruling out the effect of Mo. The catalyst performs at 1.24 A mgPt -1, 7.45 times greater than Pt/C, demonstrating significant ORR mass activity, and a substantial improvement in stability. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell using this catalyst provides a higher power density (0.7 W cm-2). This study presents a new method for the preparation of ultra-long nanowires, which opens up new avenues for future practical applications of low-Pt catalysts in PEMFC.

Spatially Confined Alloying of Pt Accelerates Mass Transport for Fuel Cell Oxygen Reduction.

Pt-based alloy with high mass activity and durability is highly desired for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, yet a great challenge remains due to the high mass transport resistance near catalysts with lowering Pt loading. Herein, an extensible approach employing atomic layer deposition to accurately introduce a gas-phase metal precursor into platinum nanoparticles (NPs) pre-filled mesoporous channels is reported, achieved by controlling both the deposition site and quantity. Following the spatially confined alloying treatment, the prepared PtSn alloy catalyst within mesopores demonstrates a small size and homogeneous distribution (2.10 ± 0.53 nm). The membrane electrode assembly with mesoporous carbon-supported PtSn alloy catalyst achieves a high initial mass activity of 0.85 A mg Pt - 1 ${\mathrm{mg}}_{\mathrm{Pt}}^{-1}$ at 0.9 V, which is attributed to the smallest local oxygen transport resistance (3.68 S m-1) ever reported. The mass activity of the catalyst only decreases by 11% after 30000 cycles of accelerated durability test, representing superior full-cell durability among the reported Pt-based alloy catalysts. The enhanced activity and durability are attributed to the decreased adsorption energy of oxygen intermediates on Pt surface and the strong electronic interaction between Pt and Sn inhibiting Pt dissolution.

Balancing Edge Defects and Graphitization in a Pt-Fe/Carbon Electrocatalyst for High-Power-Density and Durable Flow Seawater-Al/Acid Hybrid Fuel Cells and Zn-Air Batteries.

Overcoming the trade-off between the graphitization of the carbon substrate and enhanced electronic metal-support interaction (EMSI) and intrinsic activity of Pt-C catalysts remains a major challenge for ensuring the durable operation of energy conversion devices. This article presents a hybrid catalyst consisting of PtFe nanoparticles and single Pt and Fe atoms supported on N-doped carbon (PtFeNPs@PtFeSAs-N-C), which exhibits improved activities in hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions (HER and ORR, respectively) and has excellent durability owing to the high graphitization, rich edge defects, and porosity of the carbon in PtFeNPs@PtFeSAs-N-C, as well as strong EMSI between the PtFe nanoparticles and edge-defective carbon embedded with Pt and Fe atoms. According to theoretical calculations, the strong EMSI optimizes the H* adsorption-desorption and facilitates the adsorption OOH*, accelerating the HER and ORR processes. A novel flow seawater-Al/acid hybrid fuel cell using the PtFeNPs@PtFeSAs-N-C cathode can serve as a high-efficiency energy conversion device that delivers a high power density of 109.5 mW cm-2 while producing H2 at a significantly high rate of 271.6 L m-2 h-1. Moreover, PtFeNPs@PtFeSAs-N-C exhibits a remarkable performance (high power density of 298.0 mW cm-2 and long-term durability of 1000 h) in a flow Zn-air battery.

Interface-rich porous Fe-doped hcp-PtBi/fcc-Pt heterostructured nanoplates enhanced the CC bond cleavage of C3 alcohols electrooxidation.

Efficient CC bond cleavage and the complete oxidation of alcohols are key to improving the efficiency of renewable energy utilization. Herein, we successfully prepare porous Fe-doped hexagonal close-packed (hcp)-PtBi/face-centered cubic (fcc)-Pt heterostructured nanoplates with abundant grain/phase interfaces (h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs) via a simple solvothermal method. The open porous structure, abundant grain/phase interface and stacking fault defects, and the synergistic effect between intermetallic hcp-PtBi and fcc-Pt make h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs an effective electrocatalyst for the glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) in direct glycerol fuel cells (DGFCs). Notably, the h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs exhibit an excellent mass activity of 7.6 A mgPt-1 for GOR, 4.75-fold higher than that of commercial Pt black in an alkaline medium. Moreover, the h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs achieve higher power density (125.8 mW cm-2) than commercial Pt/C (81.8 mW cm-2) in a single DGFC. The h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs can also effectively catalyze the electrochemical oxidation of 1-propanol (17.1 A mgPt-1), 1,2-propanediol (7.2 A mgPt-1), and 1,3-propanediol (5.2 A mgPt-1). The in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectra further reveal that the CC bond of glycerol, 1-propanol, 1,2-propanediol, and 1,3-propanediol was dissociated for the complete oxidation by the h-PtBi/f-Pt@Fe1.7 PNPs. This study provides a new class of porous Pt-based heterostructure nanoplates and insight into the intrinsic activity of different C3 alcohols.

Techno-economic dataset for hydrogen storage-based microgrids.

The challenge of energy storage is a pivotal consideration in renewable energy-based power systems. Hydrogen emerges as a highly promising alternative or complementary solution to electric batteries, showcasing its potential for long-term and high-capacity storage. In this context, energy system modeling and optimization has gained prominence as an indispensable research tool, aiding in the processes of designing, sizing, and managing the day-to-day operations of renewable energy systems integrated with a hydrogen storage unit. However, the gathering of reliable and accurate techno-economic data emerges as time-consuming tasks, and the lack of standardized reference data introduces variability in model results. This variability arises from inconsistent input parameters rather than the physics or complexity of energy systems, leading to potentially erroneous results and misguided policy recommendations. Recognizing the need for comprehensive and transparent datasets, we introduce this open data techno-economic repository. The dataset is meticulously designed to encompass key technologies essential for hydrogen production, compression, storage, and utilization within a power-to-power system. Specifically, techno-economic data are reported for electrolysers, fuel cells, battery energy storage systems, hydrogen compression units, and hydrogen storage vessels. The learning curves and cost functions embedded in this paper, delineating investment costs as a function of production scale up and size, are derived directly from the raw data, providing a nuanced understanding of the economic landscape.

A High-Methanol-Permeation Resistivity Polyamide-Based Proton Exchange Membrane Fabricated via a Hyperbranching Design.

Four non-fluorinated sulfonimide polyamides (s-PAs) were successfully synthesized and a series of membranes were prepared by blending s-PA with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to achieve high-methanol-permeation resistivity for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications. Four membranes were fabricated by blending 50 wt% PVDF with s-PA, named BPD-101, BPD-102, BPD-111 and BPD-211, respectively. The s-PA/PVDF membranes exhibit high methanol resistivity, especially for the BPD-111 membrane with methanol resistivity of 8.13 × 10-7 cm2/s, which is one order of magnitude smaller than that of the Nafion 117 membrane. The tensile strength of the BPD-111 membrane is 15 MPa, comparable to that of the Nafion 117 membrane. Moreover, the four membranes also show good thermal stability up to 230 °C. The BPD-x membrane exhibits good oxidative stability, and the measured residual weights of the BPD-111 membrane are 97% and 93% after treating in Fenton's reagent (80 °C) for 1 h and 24 h, respectively. By considering the mechanical, thermal and dimensional properties, the polyamide proton-exchange membrane exhibits promising application potential for direct methanol fuel cells.

Orientation Control of Perfluorosulfonic Acid Films via Addition of 1,2,4-Triazole during Casting.

Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymers are used as electrolyte membranes in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. To investigate the effect on proton conductivity through structural orientation control, we added 1,2,4-triazole to PFSA films during casting to impart anisotropy to the ion-cluster structure of the films. The proton conductivities of the films were found to be high in the film-surface direction and low in the film-thickness direction. Structural analysis using small-angle X-ray scattering suggested that the anisotropy in proton conductivity was due to anisotropy in the ion-cluster structure, which in turn was attributed to the formation of a phase-separated structure via strong bonding between sulfonic acid groups and 1,2,4-triazole during cast film formation and the surface segregation of fluorine. We expect the findings of this study to aid in the fabrication of PFSA films with controlled ion clusters.

Leveraging microbial synergy: Predicting the optimal consortium to enhance the performance of microbial fuel cell using Subspace-kNN.

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are a sophisticated and advanced system that uses exoelectrogenic microorganisms to generate bioenergy. Predicting performance outcomes under experimental settings is challenging due to the intricate interactions that occur in mixed-species bioelectrochemical reactors like MFCs. One of the key factors that limit the MFC's performance is the presence of a microbial consortium. Traditionally, multiple microbial consortia are implemented in MFCs to determine the best consortium. This approach is laborious, inefficient, and wasteful of time and resources. The increase in the availability of soft computational techniques has allowed for the development of alternative strategies like artificial intelligence (AI) despite the fact that a direct correlation between microbial strain, microbial consortium, and MFC performance has yet to be established. In this work, a novel generic AI model based on subspace k-Nearest Neighbour (SS-kNN) is developed to identify and forecast the best microbial consortium from the constituent microbes. The SS-kNN model is trained with thirty-five different microbial consortia sharing different effluent properties. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction, voltage generation, exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, and standard deviation (SD) of voltage generation are used as input features to train the SS-kNN model. The proposed SS-kNN model offers an accuracy of 100% during training period and 85.71% when it is tested with the data obtained from existing literature. The implementation of selected consortium (as predicted by SS-kNN model) improves the COD reduction capability of MFC by 15.67% than that of its constituent microbes which is experimentally verified. In addition, to prevent the effects of climate change and mitigate water pollution, the implementation of MFC technology ensures clean and green electricity. Consequently, achieving sustainable development goals (SDG) 6, 7, and 13.

Performance and mechanisms of constructed wetland integrated microbial fuel cell for remediation and detoxification of leather tannery wastewater.

Several previous studies concerned of microbial fuel cells integrated into constructed wetlands, nevertheless, their application as a convenient treatment for wastewater is still developing. In this experimental investigation, five CW-MFC systems were similarly designed, setup, and operated in a batch mode for two subsequent cycles. Each cycle lasted for 10 days to evaluate the performance of CW-MFC system for the remediation of real leather tannery wastewater (LTW). Four CW-MFCs were planted, each with different type of vegetation including Conocarpus, Arundo donax, Canna lily, and Cyperus papyrus in CW1-MFC, CW2-MFC, CW3-MFC, and CW4-MFC, respectively. The fifth CW5-MFC was maintained unplanted and considered as the control system. The performance of each CW-MFCs systems was evaluated mainly based on the removal of organic content (COD), total dissolved solid (TDS) elimination, and power generation. The results demonstrated that the four types of plants maintained healthy and no sign of wilting was observed during the 20 days of monitoring. For the first cycle of batch operation, maximum removal efficiencies of COD were 99.8%, 99.5%, 99.7%, 99.6% and 99.5% with power outputs of 10,502.8, 10,254.6, 9956.4, 10,029.6, and 9888.0 mW/m3, while, maximum TDS elimination were 46.7%, 39.7%, 60.8%, 55.5%, and 13.8% observed in CW1-MFC, CW2-MFC, CW3-MFC, CW4-MFC, and CW5-MFC, respectively. Very comparable results were observed in the second operation cycle. Results of phototoxicity test indicated that the germination of Hordeum vulgare and Triticum aestivum were 100% watered with treated effluent compared to 90% accomplished with tap water as the control solution for both types of seeds.

Parameter extraction of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on artificial rabbits' optimization algorithm and conducting laboratory tests.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) parameter extraction is an important issue in modeling and control of renewable energies. The PEMFC problem's main objective is to estimate the optimal value of unknown parameters of the electrochemical model. The main objective function of the optimization problem is the sum of the square errors between the measured voltages and output voltages of the proposed electrochemical optimized model at various loading conditions. Natural rabbit survival strategies such as detour foraging and random hiding are influenced by Artificial rabbit optimization (ARO). Meanwhile, rabbit energy shrink is mimicked to control the smooth switching from detour foraging to random hiding. In this work, the ARO algorithm is proposed to find the parameters of PEMFC. The ARO performance is verified using experimental results obtained from conducting laboratory tests on the fuel cell test system (SCRIBNER 850e, LLC). The simulation results are assessed with four competitive algorithms: Grey Wolf Optimization Algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimizer, Salp Swarm Algorithm, and Sine Cosine Algorithm. The comparison aims to prove the superior performance of the proposed ARO compared with the other well-known competitive algorithms.

Construction of three-dimensional proton-conduction networks with functionalized PU@PAN/UiO-66 nanofibers for proton exchange membranes.

Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) play an important role in fuel cells. For realizing a nanofiber (NF) structure design in PEMs, the material should have tunable pores and a high specific area. In this study, we attempt to design a novel NF with synergistic architecture doped MOF for constructing three-dimensional (3D) proton conduction networks in PEMs. In this framework, UiO-66-COOH serves as a platform for proton sites to synergistically promote proton conductivity via polyvinylpyrrolidone dissolution, hydrolyzation of polyacrylonitrile, and sulfamic acid functionalization of the shell-layer NF. Benefiting from enriched proton-transfer sites in NFs, the obtained composite membrane overcomes the trade-off among proton conductivity, methanol permeability, and mechanical stability. The composite membrane with 50 % fiber (Nafion/S@NF-50) exhibited a high proton conductivity of 0.212 S cm-1 at 80 °C and 100 % relative humidity, suppressed methanol permeability of 0.66 × 10-7 cm2 s-1, and the maximum power density of direct methanol fuel cell is 182.6 mW cm-2. Density functional theory was used to verify the important role of sulfamic acid in proton transfer, and the activation energy barriers under anhydrous and hydrous conditions are only 0.337 and 0.081 kcal, respectively. This study opens up new pathways for synthesizing NF composite PEMs.