Automotive, Energy and Photonics engineering

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Browsing Automotive, Energy and Photonics engineering by Subject "34 Chemical Sciences"

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    Effect of the combined use of cryogenic + aging treatment on mechanical and damping property of Mn-Cu alloy based on response surface model
    (Elsevier, 2025-06-01) Ding, Ran; Liu, Guang-lei; Liu, Shu-cong; Ranjbar, Mostafa; Potter, Andrew; Liu, Hai-xia
    In this paper, the response surface method (RSM) is used to model the response surface between the target values and the cryogenic + aging treatment parameters. The effects of cryogenic + aging treatment on microstructures, mechanical, and damping properties of Mn-20Cu-5Ni-2Fe alloy are then investigated. The outcome indicates cryogenic + aging treatment can effectively enhance both mechanical and damping properties, and the optimum parameters cryogenic (-196 °C/30 h) + aging (428 °C/2 h) were obtained. The associated microstructural changes caused by the precipitated phase after the compound treatment resulted in an increase in the tensile strength from 358.3 MPa to 396.7 MPa, 38 MPa higher compared to that of the as-cast alloy. Meanwhile, it has the best damping property within a wide temperature range. At 50 °C, the internal friction value increased from 0.033 to 0.074, which was increased by 124 %. The damping strengthening mechanisms were discussed mainly from the perspective of the change in formation of {101} twins and motionable interface induced by fcc-fct transformation after the compound treatment. The obtained results provide a new reference for simultaneously improving mechanical and damping behaviors of Mn-Cu based alloys.
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    Fuelling hydrogen futures? A trust-based model of social acceptance
    (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2025) Gordon, Joel A.; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Haq, Anwar U. l.; Nabavi, Seyed Ali
    Public trust plays a fundamental role in shaping national energy policies in democratic countries, as exemplified by nuclear phase-out in Germany following the Fukushima accident. While trust dynamics have been explored in different contexts of the energy transition, few studies have attempted to quantify the influence of public trust in shaping social acceptance and adoption potential. Moreover, the interaction between public trust and perceived community benefits remains underexplored in the literature, despite the relevance of each factor to facilitating social acceptance and technology uptake. In response, this quantitative analysis closes a parallel research gap by examining the antecedents of public trust and perceived community benefits in the context of deploying hydrogen heating and cooking appliances across parts of the UK housing stock. Drawing on results from a nationally representative online survey (N = 1845), the study advances insights on the consumer perspective of transitioning to ‘hydrogen homes’, which emerged as a topical and controversial aspect of UK energy policy in recent years. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis are undertaken to assess the predictive capabilities of a trust-based model, which incorporates aspects of institutional, organisational, interpersonal, epistemic, and social trust. Regarding sufficiency-based logic, social trust is the most influential predictor of public trust, whereas trust in product and service quality corresponds to the most important necessary condition for enabling public trust. Nevertheless, trust in the government, energy sector, and entities involved in research & development are needed to facilitate and strengthen public trust. Overall, this study enriches scholarly understanding of how public trust may shape prospects for trialling novel low-carbon technologies, highlights the need for segment-specific consumer engagement, and advances scholarly understanding of the innovation-decision process in the context of net-zero pathways. As policymakers approach critical decisions on the portfolio of technologies needed to support residential decarbonisation, public trust will prove fundamental to fuelling hydrogen-based energy futures.
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    Hydrogen bond enhanced electrochemical hydrogenation of benzoic acid over a bimetallic catalyst
    (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2025-06-07) Catizane, Cesar; Jiang, Ying; Sumner, Joy
    Electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) is a sustainable alternative to traditional hydrogenation methods, offering selective reduction of organic compounds under mild conditions. This study investigates the co-hydrogenation of benzoic acid (BA) and phenol on a platinum-ruthenium on activated carbon cloth (PtRu/ACC) catalyst, with a focus on the synergistic effects arising from hydrogen bonding. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the formation of a hydrogen-bonded complex between BA and phenol facilitates adsorption energy and lowers activation barrier energies compared to BA alone. Experimental results demonstrate that a 20 mM BA and 5 mM phenol mixture achieves the highest conversion rate (87.33%) and faradaic efficiency (63%), significantly outperforming single-compound systems. Notably, co-hydrogenation facilitates the reduction of BA to cyclohexanemethanol, a valuable product for biofuel applications, which has reduced corrosiveness and improved energy density. These findings underscore the potential for optimising multi-compound ECH systems through targeted catalyst design and reagent concentration tuning, thus advancing the development of efficient strategies for bio-oil upgrading and sustainable chemical production.
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    Unveiling host-guest interactions and stability of amine-functionalized silica sorbents for carbon capture
    (Elsevier, 2025-06-01) Ogunedo, Briggs M. O.; Wadi, Basil; Manovic, Vasilije; Nabavi, Seyed Ali
    Despite making significant progress in terms of capture kinetics and capacity, the thermochemical and cyclic instability of silica-based amine functionalized adsorbents present challenges for their practical implementation and economic viability. Accordingly, this work provides a critical review to analyse factors affecting thermal and cyclic stability of functional silica-based sorbents. The first section provides background information and context for the review. The second section focuses on the synthesis routes employed for silica-based amine functionalized adsorbents. The third section delves into the mechanism underlying the thermal and cyclic instability observed in these adsorbents. The fourth section explored the factors that influence the thermal and cyclic stability of silica-based amine functionalized adsorbents. The last section dissects host-guest interaction in silica-based amine functionalized adsorbents. The review concludes by underscoring the importance of further research and development into host-guest interaction studies in amine functionalized adsorbents to optimize performance and address the challenges associated with thermal and cyclic instability, thereby enhancing the practical feasibility of these adsorbents in carbon capture applications.