A fast and facile
pulse combustion (PC) method that allows for
the continuous production of multigram quantities of high-metal-loaded
and highly uniform supported metallic nanoparticles (SMNPs) is presented.
Namely, various metal on carbon (M/C) composites have been prepared
by using only three feedstock components: water, metal–salt,
and the supporting material. The present approach can be elegantly
utilized also for numerous other applications in electrocatalysis,
heterogeneous catalysis, and sensors. In this study, the PC-prepared
M/C composites were used as metal precursors for the Pt NPs deposition
using double passivation with the galvanic displacement method (DP
method). Lastly, by using thin-film rotating disc electrode (TF-RDE)
and gas-diffusion electrode (GDE) methodologies, we show that the
synergistic effects of combining PC technology with the DP method
enable production of superior intermetallic Pt–M electrocatalysts
with an improved oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance when
compared to a commercial Pt–Co electrocatalyst for proton exchange
membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) application.
During the last decade the focus in superconductivity research has shifted towards the manufacturing of easy-to-handle superconductors, because of their high usability in electronic applications in comparison to bulky ceramics. This article reviews our recent progress made in the buffer-layer architecture of such a coated conductor, focusing on CeO 2 thin films prepared by an aqueous sol-gel method and deposited by dip-coating. Starting from water-soluble cerium(III) nitrate precursors, we were able to deposit films showing a very high degree of [002] orientation depending on the film characteristics and synthesis conditions. The formation and stability of the chemical complexes in the solu-
When working with chemical solution deposition techniques, one of the main issues for optimal performance of CeO2 buffer layers in coated conductors is the insufficient chemical stability of the CeO2 layer during YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thermal processing. This work focusses on the morphology and nanostructure in thin CeO2 films prepared by means of a novel aqueous synthesis route and incorporated into a Ni–W/La2Zr2O7/CeO2/YBa2Cu3O7‐coated conductor. Optimization of precursor chemistry and thermal processing led to a reduction in barium cerate formation. In a new precursor design, iminodiacetic acid was used as a stabilizing ligand, which resulted in an improved morphology of the buffer layer. A shelf life of more than 6 months was established by using a metal‐to‐ligand ratio of 1 to 5. During thermal processing, a combination of a slow calcination ramp with a high sintering ramp, short sintering dwell time and a low oxygen partial pressure during the synthesis resulted in a root mean square roughness below 3 nm for AFM analysis, a [111] to [002] ratio of 1 to 90 in X‐ray diffraction and well‐defined patterns in reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED) analysis of the CeO2 surface. Trifluoroacetate‐YBCO was deposited on top of the CeO2 buffer layer. Cross‐section analysis with a focussed ion beam allowed us to correlate the morphology and nanostructure of the CeO2 buffer layer with the formation of BaCeO3 and the appearance of voids and secondary phases throughout the YBa2Cu3O7 layer.
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