A produção de energia limpa e renovável é uma preocupação crescente da sociedade. Dentre as alternativas para produção de energia estão as células a combustível. Dentre os vários tipos de células, existem as PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membran Fuel Cell) que possuem vantagem de operar em baixa temperatura e podem utilizar como combustível hidrogênio ou álcoois. Porém as células PEM que utilizam álcool como combustível, ainda apresentam um rendimento inferior aquelas que operam com hidrogênio, além disso essas células requerem platina ou outros metais nobres porque somente estes materiais são relativamente estáveis nestas condições de pH. Nos últimos anos as células combustíveis alcalinas tem ganhado destaque devido à maior estabilidade dos eletrocalisadores, aumentando a possibilidade de utilização de metais não nobres ou óxidos metálicos. Neste trabalho, catalisadores do tipo Pt/C-CeO2 foram sintetizados sobre carbono de alta área superficial, variando-se a quantidade de CeO2 entre 0 a 10%. Os eletro-catalisadores contendo menor quantidade de óxidos apresentaram maior atividade frente a oxidação do etanol em meio básico. / The production of clean and renewable energy is a growing concern of society. Among the alternatives for energy production are fuel cells. Among the various types of cells, there are PEMFCs (Proton Exchange Membranes) which have the advantage of operating at low temperature and can use hydrogen or alcohols as fuel. However, PEM cells that use alcohol as fuel still have lower yields than those operating on hydrogen. In addition, these cells require platinum or other noble metals because only these materials are relatively stable under these pH conditions. In recent years alkaline fuel cells have gained prominence due to the greater stability of the electrocatalyst, increasing the possibility of using non-noble metals or metal oxides. In this work, catalysts like Pt-CeO2/C type were synthesized on carbon of high surface area, varying the amount of CeO2 between 0 and 10% (m/m). The electrocatalysts containing less oxides showed higher activity against the oxidation of ethanol in a basic medium.

On a global scale, the deployment of wind power plants is soaring. However, the availability of their construction materials could be a potential bottleneck, a problem rarely discussed in literature so far. Rare earth elements represent the most critical materials in terms of high economic importance, supply risk and environmental risk. This study therefore provides a market analysis of rare earths, ascertaining that geological scarcity is not the main problem. Instead, four kinds of market failure are identified: market power, co-production, by-production and negative externalities. Altogether, the market for rare earth metals is in a state of severe disequilibrium. Subsequently, an estimate of future rare earth demand patterns based on the wind power industry by 2050 reveals that the current level of supply is unlikely to be sufficient in the long run. To allow for a more elaborate analysis, two options of including a rare earth side condition in an integrated assessment model are finally suggested.

Rare-earth oxides used in oxide dispersion strengthening are known to provide excellent strength and deformability over ordinary dispersion strengthening. It has been suggested that this may be due to the development of molybdate compounds instead of pure dispersed oxide particles. These alloys are produced by dispersing particles of certain rare-earth oxides in a molybdenum matrix and forming the mixture into a composite ingot. During the high-temperature consolidation process, the oxides are converted into rare-earth molybdates. With subsequent processing, these molybdate phases undergo deformation to form high-surface-area ribbons that serve to inhibit dislocation movement, thus improving the mechanical properties of the molybdenum matrix. It is still unknown what specific compounds, phases, and crystal structures provide these metal-oxides with their high strength and deformability. Because the molybdate phases are formed at high temperatures and low oxygen partial pressures, little is also known of the high-temperature phase equilibria of the REO-Mo systems under these conditions. The primary goal of this study was to deifine phase equilibria on systems of Mo with rare-earth oxides. The project aimed to identify compounds, phases, and specific oxidation states of molybdenum at various processing conditions. Systems of LaO1.5-MoOx, YO1.5-MoOx, and ZrO2- MoOx were investigated at temperatures of 1000??nd 1200??and O2 partial pressures ranging from 10-4 Pa to 10-13 Pa. Samples were prepared using powder starting materials of Mo and rare-earth oxides were combined in stoichiometric ratios. The samples were then electrically heated in a ceramic tube furnace in which the oxygen partial pressure was controlled by means of a combined flow of H2 and CO2 gas. Characterization was performed using x-ray diffraction, with published powder diffraction files for phase identification.

This thesis covers the synthesis and the characterization of sodium lanthanide oxide phosphates, rare earth added strontium pyrophosphates and the Rietveld structural analysis of rare earth orthoborates. Solid state and microwave-assisted synthesis method was employed for the synthesis of desired materials. The formation of the produced phases was confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared FT-IR, Raman, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods. By using Rietveld Refinement method, structural analysis of rare earth orthoborates were done and three dimensional crystal structures were found. In the first part of the thesis, some new sodium lanthanide oxide phosphates were synthesized by solid state reaction method from Ln2O3 (where Ln= La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb), Na2CO3, NH4H2PO4 at 1100 oC. Na2LaOPO4, Na2NdOPO4, and Na2SmOPO4 produced with the space group is Pmm2. With the help of the same procedure new orthorhombic Na2DyOPO4, Na2HoOPO4, Na2ErOPO4, and Na2YbOPO4 were synthesized for the first time in the literature at 1100 oC with the same space group Pmm2. v In the second part of the thesis, Sr2P2O7 - ZrP2O7 solid solution was obtained by the solid state reaction and they were characterized for the first time in literature and subjected to thermoluminescence measurements showing Sr2P2O7 has glow curve around 100 oC. Then CuO and some rare earth oxides (Y2O3, La2O3, CeO2, Pr6O11, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3) 0.5-15% (by weight) were added to pure Sr2P2O7. After structural determinations by XRD, thermoluminescence studies showed two glow peaks of Pr, Ho, and Nd along with Cu-added samples, one of them is always at around 90 oC and the other TLthermoluminescence- peak around 180, 275, and 285 oC, respectively. This study showed that rare earth added Sr2P2O7 materials can be promising material for dosimetric applications. In the third part of this work, time saving microwave-assisted synthesis method was applied to produce pure LnBO3 (Ln=La, Nd, Dy, Ho) by using urea and sucrose as a microwave active organic additive. For LaBO3 and NdBO3, space group found as Pnma and for DyBO3 and HoBO3 powders crystallized in hexagonal unit cell with P-6c2 space group. All microwave-assisted products have particle sizes lower than 1 micrometer. In the final part of this study, pure LnBO3 (Ln=Y, La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) powder samples were produced by using solid state reactions of Ln2O3 and H3BO3 (ratio=1:2) heated at 900 oC for 10 hours and 1000 oC for 5 hours. The crystallographic studies conducted with rietveld structural refinement and unit cell parameters, background functions, profile parameters, zero shift, atomic positions, and unisotropic thermal parameters were refined. LaBO3 and NdBO3 were solved based on Pnma orthorhombic structure while the crystal structure of YBO3, DyBO3 and HoBO3 were monoclinic C2/c. SmBO3 showed triclinic P-1 structure.

Impurity trapped excitons (ITEs) occurring in divalent ytterbium doped calcium and strontium fluoride crystals have been investigated by exploiting the radically different radiative decay rates of the lowest exciton state and higher excited states, utilizing a novel two-colour transient photoluminescence enhancement experiment. The ITE energy levels have been directly measured with the observation of sharp transitions occurring from the changes of states of the localized hole and broad bands associated with changes of state of the delocalized electrons. The dynamic behaviour under excitation by time delayed ultra-violet (UV) and infrared (IR) pulses has been observed allowing for the identification of excitation and decay pathways between the ITE states. The position and transition intensities of the sharp lines within the IR excitation spectrum have been successfully matched using a semi-empirical effective Hamiltonian crystal field model. In CaCaF₂:Yb²⁺ the lines occurring at 249 and 1145 cm⁻¹ were matched with the crystal field parameter B4 = 800 cm⁻¹ and the exchange parameter G3(fs) = 5900 cm⁻¹. In SrCaF₂:Yb²⁺ these lines were observed at 178 and 1284 cm⁻¹ and matched with B4 = 600 cm⁻¹ and G3(fs) = 7278 cm⁻¹. Local heating and direct absorption by intra-excitonic transitions are found to be the causes of the broad band observed in the spectrum and have been deconvolved by studying the dynamic behaviour of the monitored emission at different IR excitation frequencies. Through this modeling, higher lying ITE states have been identified occurring at 785 cm⁻¹ in SrCaF₂:Yb²⁺ and in between 740 - 820 cm⁻¹ in CaCaF₂:Yb²⁺. The dynamic model developed successfully simulates the temporal behaviour of the emission under IR excitation under a variety of parameters including IR fluence, excitation frequency, sample temperature and UV - IR pulse delay. Examination of the SrCaF₂:Yb²⁺ dynamic behaviour over a time scale of 100 ms shows UV driven trap population at a rate of approximately 3% per pulse, which are liberated and recycled to the Yb²⁺ ground state by the IR pulse. The two-colour technique is applied to MgCaF₂:Yb²⁺, a candidate for possible ITE emission. Temperature dependent emission spectra obtained under UV excitation indicates the possibility of an ITE state, independently populated from the 5d level of the Yb²⁺. Typical 5d emission is also observed from this system. Under IR excitation, liberation of shallow traps and possible local heating is observed. No ITE emission is conclusively found with IR probing.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University (Canada), 1990. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-13, Section: A, page: 0000.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio University, 2001. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Neu, Richard W., Committee Member ; Sanders, Thomas H. Jr., Committee Member ; Wong, C.P., Committee Member ; McDowell, David L., Committee Member ; Qu, Jianmin, Committee Chair.

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