Alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC), which convert the chemical energy stored in ethanol directly into electricity, are one of the most promising energy-conversion devices for portable, mobile ...and stationary power applications, primarily because this type of fuel cell runs on a carbon-neutral, sustainable fuel and the electrocatalytic and membrane materials that constitute the cell are relatively inexpensive. As a result, the alkaline DEFC technology has undergone a rapid progress over the last decade. This article provides a comprehensive review of transport phenomena of various species in this fuel cell system. The past investigations into how the design and structural parameters of membrane electrode assemblies and the operating parameters affect the fuel cell performance are discussed. In addition, future perspectives and challenges with regard to transport phenomena in this fuel cell system are also highlighted.
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•This article provides a review of transport phenomena in ADEFCs.•Particular attention is paid to mechanisms and critical issues of species transport.•How structural design and operating parameters affect performance is discussed.•Future perspectives and challenges with regard to transport are highlighted.
Alkaline direct ethylene glycol fuel cells are one of the most promising power sources for portable, mobile and stationary power applications, primarily because this type of fuel cell runs on a ...sustainable fuel and the key materials that constitute the fuel cell are relatively inexpensive. This review article summarizes and discusses the past investigations on the development of alkaline direct ethylene glycol fuel cells, including the physical and chemical processes through the fuel cell structure, the electrocatalytic oxidation and electrocatalysts of ethylene glycol, the singe-cell performance, and innovative system designs.
This article reviews the past research on the development of alkaline direct ethylene glycol fuel cells, including the working principle, mechanisms and materials of the ethylene glycol oxidation, singe-cell performance, as well as innovative system designs. Display omitted
•This article reviews past research on alkaline direct ethylene glycol fuel cells.•Particular attention is paid to electrocatalytic oxidation of ethylene glycol.•Single-cell performance is summarized and discussed.•Innovative system designs and future perspectives are highlighted.
As the fraction of electricity generated from intermittent renewable sources (such as solar and wind) grows, developing reliable energy storage technologies to store electrical energy in large scale ...is of increasing importance. Redox flow batteries are now enjoying a renaissance and regarded as a leading technology in providing a well-balanced solution for current daunting challenges. In this article, state-of-the-art studies of the complex multicomponent transport phenomena in aqueous redox flow batteries, with a special emphasis on all-vanadium redox flow batteries, are reviewed and summarized. Rather than elaborating on the details of previous experimental and numerical investigations, this article highlights: i) the key transport issues in each battery's component that need to be tackled so that the rate capability and cycling stability of flow batteries can be significantly improved, ii) the basic mechanisms that control the active species/ion/electron transport behaviors in each battery's component, and iii) the key experimental and numerical findings regarding the correlations between the multicomponent transport processes and battery performance.
•This article reviews past research on transport phenomena in flow batteries.•Particular attention is paid to mechanisms of transport behaviors.•Correlations between transport processes and battery performance are discussed.•Innovative component designs and future perspectives are highlighted.
Direct formate fuel cells (DFFC), which convert the chemical energy stored in formate directly into electricity, are recently attracting more attention, primarily because of the use of the ...carbon-neutral fuel and the low-cost electrocatalytic and membrane materials. As an emerging energy technology, the DFFC has made a rapid progress in recent years (currently, the state-of-the-art power density is 591 mW cm−2 at 60 °C). This article provides a review of past research on the development of this type of fuel cell, including the working principle, mechanisms and materials of the electrocatalytic oxidation of formate, singe-cell designs and performance, as well as innovative system designs. In addition, future perspectives with regard to the development of this fuel cell system are also highlighted.
This article provides a review of past research on the development of this type of fuel cell, including the working principle, mechanisms and materials of the electrocatalytic oxidation of formate, singe-cell designs and performance, as well as innovative system designs. Display omitted
•This article reviews past research on the development of direct formate fuel cells.•Particular attention is paid to mechanisms and materials of formate oxidation.•Singe-cell designs and their performance are summarized and discussed.•Innovative system designs and future perspectives are highlighted.
In this work, a high-performance porous electrode, made of KOH-activated carbon-cloth, is developed for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). The macro-scale porous structure in the carbon cloth ...formed by weaving the carbon fibers in an ordered manner offers a low tortuosity (∼1.1) and a broad pore distribution from 5 μm to 100 μm, rendering the electrode a high hydraulic permeability and high effective ionic conductivity, which are beneficial for the electrolyte flow and ion transport through the porous electrode. The use of KOH activation method to create nano-scale pores on the carbon-fiber surfaces leads to a significant increase in the surface area for redox reactions from 2.39 m2 g−1 to 15.4 m2 g−1. The battery assembled with the present electrode delivers an energy efficiency of 80.1% and an electrolyte utilization of 74.6% at a current density of 400 mA cm−2, as opposed to an electrolyte utilization of 61.1% achieved by using a conventional carbon-paper electrode. Such a high performance is mainly attributed to the combination of the excellent mass/ion transport properties and the high surface area rendered by the present electrode. It is suggested that the KOH-activated carbon-cloth electrode is a promising candidate in redox flow batteries.
•A high performance carbon cloth electrode is developed for flow batteries.•The developed electrode offers good transport properties and high surface area.•The battery with the carbon cloth electrode offers high performance.
Greenland's bed topography is a primary control on ice flow, grounding line migration, calving dynamics, and subglacial drainage. Moreover, fjord bathymetry regulates the penetration of warm Atlantic ...water (AW) that rapidly melts and undercuts Greenland's marine‐terminating glaciers. Here we present a new compilation of Greenland bed topography that assimilates seafloor bathymetry and ice thickness data through a mass conservation approach. A new 150 m horizontal resolution bed topography/bathymetric map of Greenland is constructed with seamless transitions at the ice/ocean interface, yielding major improvements over previous data sets, particularly in the marine‐terminating sectors of northwest and southeast Greenland. Our map reveals that the total sea level potential of the Greenland ice sheet is 7.42 ± 0.05 m, which is 7 cm greater than previous estimates. Furthermore, it explains recent calving front response of numerous outlet glaciers and reveals new pathways by which AW can access glaciers with marine‐based basins, thereby highlighting sectors of Greenland that are most vulnerable to future oceanic forcing.
Key Points
We present a comprehensive, seamless bed topography across the ice‐ocean margin around Greenland
Two to 4 times more glaciers have calving fronts grounded below 200 m compared to previous mappings
Total ice volume of Greenland is 2.99 ± 0.02 times 106 km3, yielding a potential sea level rise of 7.42 m, 7 cm greater than previous estimates
Abstract The utility of anthracycline antineoplastic agents in the clinic is compromised by the risk of cardiotoxicity. It has been calculated that approximately 10% of patients treated with ...doxorubicin or its derivatives will develop cardiac complications up to 10 years after the cessation of chemotherapy. Oxidative stress has been established as the primary cause of cardiotoxicity. However, interventions reducing oxidative stress have not been successful at reducing the incidence of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with doxorubicin. New insights into the cardiomyocyte response to oxidative stress demonstrate that underlying differences between in vitro and in vivo toxicities may modulate the response to superoxide radicals and related compounds. This has led to potentially new uses for pre-existing drugs and new avenues of exploration to find better pharmacotherapies and interventions for the prevention of cardiotoxicity. However, much work still must be done to validate the clinical utility of these new approaches and proposed mechanisms. In this review, the authors have reviewed the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of acute and chronic doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and propose potential pharmacological interventions and treatment options to prevent or reverse this specific type of heart failure.
Global warming is a challenge to animal health, because of increased heat stress, with subsequent induction of immunosuppression and increased susceptibility to disease. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are ...pattern recognition receptors that act as sentinels of pathogen invasion and tissue damage. Ligation of TLRs results in a signaling cascade and production of inflammatory cytokines, which eradicate pathogens and maintain the health of the host. We hypothesized that the TLR signaling pathway plays a role in immunosuppression in heat-stressed pigs. We explored the changes in the expression of TLR2, TLR4 and the concentration of acute inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-2, IL-8, IL-12 and IFN-γ in Bama miniature pigs subjected to 21 consecutive days of heat stress, both in vitro and in vivo models. The results showed that heat stress induced the upregulation of cortisol in the plasma of pigs (P<0.05); TLR4 mRNA was elevated, but IL-2 was reduced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC, P<0.05). The white blood cell count and the percentage of granulocytes (eosinophilic+basophilic) decreased significantly in heat-stressed pigs (P<0.05). In the in vitro model (PBMC heat shocked for 1 h followed by a 9 h recovery period), TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA expression also increased, as did the concentration of IL-12 in supernatants. However, IFN-γ was significantly reduced in PBMC culture supernatants (P<0.05). We concluded that a consecutive heat stress period elevated the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 in PBMC and increased the plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines. These data indicate that TLR activation and dysregulation of cytokine expression in response to prolonged heat stress may be associated with immunosuppression and increased susceptibility to antigenic challenge in Bama miniature pigs.
•Propose a carbon nanoparticle-decorated graphite felt electrode for VRFBs.•The energy efficiency is up to 84.8% at 100mAcm−2.•The new electrode allows the peak power density to reach 508mWcm−2.
...Increasing the performance of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), especially the energy efficiency and power density, is critically important to reduce the system cost to a level for widespread commercialization. Unlike conventional VRFBs with flow-through structure, in this work we create a VRFB featuring a flow-field structure with a carbon nanoparticle-decorated graphite felt electrode for the battery. This novel structure, exhibiting a significantly reduced ohmic loss through reducing electrode thickness, an increased surface area and improved electrocatalytic activity by coating carbon nanoparticles, allows the energy efficiency up to 84.8% at a current density of as high as 100mAcm−2 and the peak power density to reach a value of 508mWcm−2. In addition, it is demonstrated that the battery with this proposed structure exhibits a substantially improved rate capability and capacity retention as opposed to conventional flow-through structured battery with thick graphite felt electrodes.
The last several decades have witnessed the rapid development of alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AAEMFCs) that possess a series of advantages as compared to acid proton exchange membrane ...fuel cells, such as the enhanced electrochemical kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction and the use of inexpensive non-platinum electrocatalysts, both of which are rendered by the alkaline medium. As an emerging power generation technology, the significant progress has been made in developing the alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells in recent years. This review article starts with a general description of the setup of AAEMFCs running on hydrogen and physical and chemical processes occurring in multi-layered porous structure. Then, the electrocatalytic materials and mechanisms for both hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction are introduced, including metal-based, metal oxide-based, and non-metal based electrocatalysts. In addition, the chemistries of alkaline anion exchange membranes (AAEMs), e.g. polymer backbone and function groups, are reviewed. The effects of pre-treatment, carbonate, and radiation on the performance of AAEMs are concluded as well. The effects of anode and cathode ionomers, structural designs, and water flooding on the performance of the single-cell are explained, and the durability and power output of a single-cell are summarized. Afterwards, two innovative system designs that are hybrid fuel cells and regenerative fuel cells are presented and mathematical modeling on mass transport phenomenon in AAEMFCs are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for the future development of the AAEMFCs are discussed.
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