1,721,193 research outputs found
Electrochemical reduction of oxygen with iron phthalocyanine in neutral media
No full textRecent interest in electricity production using microbial fuel cells makes it important to better understand O2 reduction in neutral solutions with non-precious metal catalysts. Higher O2 reduction activity was obtained using iron phthalocyanine supported on Ketjen black carbon (FePc-KJB) than with a platinum catalyst in neutral pH. At low overpotentials, a Tafel slope close to -0.06 V/dec in both acid and neutral pH suggested that the mechanism of O2 reduction on FePc is not changed with the change of pH, and the reaction is mainly controlled by FeII/FeIII redox couple. This behaviour gives us new insight into catalysis using FePc, and further supports the use of FePc as a promising catalyst for the oxygen reduction applications in neutral media.</p
Assessment of a metal–organic framework catalyst in air cathode microbial fuel cells over time with different buffers and solutions
No full textMetal–organic framework (MOF) on activated carbon (AC) enhanced the performance of cathodes but longevity needs to be considered in the presence of metal chelators or ligands, such as phosphate, present in wastewaters. MOF catalysts on AC initially produced 2.78 ± 0.08 W m−2, but power decreased by 26% after eight weeks in microbial fuel cells using a 50 mM phosphate buffer (PBS) and acetate due to decreased cathode performance. However, power was still 41% larger than that of the control AC (no MOF). Power generation using domestic wastewater was initially 0.73 ± 0.01 W m−2, and decreased by 21% over time, with power 53% larger than previous reports, although changes in wastewater composition were a factor in performance. Adding phosphate salts to the wastewater did not affect the catalyst performance over time. While MOF catalysts are therefore initially adversely affected by chelators, performance remains enhanced compared to plain AC
Variation of power generation at different buffer types and conductivities in single chamber microbial fuel cells
No full textMicrobial fuel cells (MFCs) are operated with solutions containing various chemical species required for the growth of electrochemically active microorganisms including nutrients and vitamins, substrates, and chemical buffers. Many different buffers are used in laboratory media, but the effects of these buffers and their inherent electrolyte conductivities have not been examined relative to current generation in MFCs. We investigated the effect of several common buffers (phosphate, MES, HEPES, and PIPES) on power production in single chambered MFCs compared to a non-buffered control. At the same concentrations the buffers produced different solution conductivities which resulted in different ohmic resistances and power densities. Increasing the solution conductivities to the same values using NaCl produced comparable power densities for all buffers. Very large increases in conductivity resulted in a rapid voltage drop at high current densities. Our results suggest that solution conductivity at a specific pH for each buffer is more important in MFC studies than the buffer itself given relatively constant pH conditions. Based on our analysis of internal resistance and a set neutral pH, phosphate and PIPES are the most useful buffers of those examined here because pH was maintained close to the pK(a) of the buffer, maximizing the ability of the buffer to contribute to increase current generation at high power densities. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mitigating external and internal cathode fouling using a polymer bonded separator in microbial fuel cells
No full textMicrobial fuel cell (MFC) cathodes rapidly foul when treating domestic wastewater, substantially reducing power production over time. Here a wipe separator was chemically bonded to an activated carbon air cathode using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to mitigate cathode fouling and extend cathode performance over time. MFCs with separator-bonded cathodes produced a maximum power density of 190 ± 30 mW m−2after 2 months of operation using domestic wastewater, which was ∼220% higher than controls (60 ± 50 mW m−2) with separators that were not chemically bonded to the cathode. Less biomass (protein) was measured on the bonded separator surface than the non-bonded separator, indicating chemical bonding reduced external bio-fouling. Salt precipitation that contributed to internal fouling was also reduced using separator-bonded cathodes. Overall, the separator-bonded cathodes showed better performance over time by mitigating both external bio-fouling and internal salt fouling
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Recommended from our members
Acclimation of mixed cultures for phenol biodegradation
No full textExperiments were conducted to examine the cause of lag-phase growth during phenol degradation by mixed microbial cultures that had been acclimated to one of four substrates. Four aerated Imhoff cones were inoculated with wastewater sludge and fed one of four substrates: acetate, egg albumin, vegetable oil, or phenol. Inocula from these cones were injected into batch reactors containing phenol. Time-dependent growth was measured by two methods: most probable number (MPN) and epifluorescence microscopy (EM). The MPN technique was used to distinguish two cell concentrations: total cells and a phenol-degrading community within the total; EM was also used to count total cells. The results indicated that a lag in phenol utilization for all cultures, except the phenol-acclimated cultures, was a result of growth of a phenol-degrading subpopulation, and not due to enzyme induction of the existing population. Similar experiments were conducted using 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), which resulted in no growth and no degradation of 2,4-DCP
Recommended from our members
Increased bacterial uptake of macromolecular substrates with fluid shear
No full textTo investigate the effect of fluid shear on uptake rates of low diffusivity macromolecular substrates by suspended cultures, I measured the radiolabel and oxygen uptake of two model compounds, bovine serum albumin and dextran, in pure cultures of Zoogloea ramigera and E. coli, respectively. Oxygen utilization rates of stirred samples grown on BSA and dextran were 2.3 and 2.9 times higher, respectively, than undisturbed (still) samples. Uptake rates of (3H) BSA and (3H) dextran by stirred samples were 12.6 and 6.2 times higher, respectively, than still samples. These experimentally obtained increases are larger than increases predicted using a mass transfer model. The mass transfer model predicts uptake rate will increase by a factor of 1.6 and 1.8 for BSA and dextran, respectively, as a result of stirring. Uptake rates of low-molecular-weight substrates with high diffusivities, such as leucine and glucose, were only slightly affected by fluid shear. Since macromolecules can comprise a major portion of bacterial substrate in engineered, laboratory, and natural systems, the demonstrated effect of fluid shear has wide implications for the evaluation of engineered bioreactors used for wastewater treatment as well as for kinetic studies performed in basic metabolic research
- …
