Selective Discrimination between CO and H2 with Copper-Ceria-Resistive Gas Sensors.

The production of hydrogen and the utilization of biomass for sustainable concepts of energy conversion and storage require gas sensors that discriminate between hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Mesoporous copper-ceria (Cu-CeO2) materials with large specific surface areas and uniform porosity are prepared by nanocasting, and their textural properties are characterized by N2 physisorption, powder XRD, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The oxidation states of copper (Cu+, Cu2+) and cerium (Ce3+, Ce4+) are investigated by XPS. The materials are used as resistive gas sensors for H2 and CO. The sensors show a stronger response to CO than to H2 and low cross-sensitivity to humidity. Copper turns out to be a necessary component; copper-free ceria materials prepared by the same method show only poor sensing performance. By measuring both gases (CO and H2) simultaneously, it is shown that this behavior can be utilized for selective sensing of CO in the presence of H2.

Hard carbon microspheres with bimodal size distribution and hierarchical porosity via hydrothermal carbonization of trehalose.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an efficient thermochemical method for the conversion of organic feedstock to carbonaceous solids. HTC of different saccharides is known to produce microspheres (MS) with mostly Gaussian size distribution, which are utilized as functional materials in various applications, both as pristine MS and as a precursor for hard carbon MS. Although the average size of the MS can be influenced by adjusting the process parameters, there is no reliable mechanism to affect their size distribution. Our results demonstrate that HTC of trehalose, in contrast to other saccharides, results in a distinctly bimodal sphere diameter distribution consisting of small spheres with diameters of (2.1 ± 0.2) µm and of large spheres with diameters of (10.4 ± 2.6) µm. Remarkably, after pyrolytic post-carbonization at 1000 °C the MS develop a multimodal pore size distribution with abundant macropores > 100 nm, mesopores > 10 nm and micropores < 2 nm, which were examined by small-angle X-ray scattering and visualized by charge-compensated helium ion microscopy. The bimodal size distribution and hierarchical porosity provide an extraordinary set of properties and potential variables for the tailored synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons, making trehalose-derived hard carbon MS a highly promising material for applications in catalysis, filtration, and energy storage devices.