O dióxido de manganês (MnO2) é um catalisador eficiente de baixo custo utilizado no cátodo de baterias do tipo metal-ar e células a combustível alcalinas, sendo capaz de promover a redução completa de oxigênio pela rota 4e-. No entanto, o dióxido de manganês é um semicondutor e só pode ser utilizado como material eletródico nos dispositivos mencionados se combinado com algum suporte condutor. O suporte condutor mais utilizado para este fim é o carbono em pó. Entretanto, este material não possui estabilidade suficiente nas condições operacionais das células alcalinas, sendo convertido gradativamente em CO2. Uma das possíveis estratégias para tentar minimizar esta deficiência é incrementar a condutividade eletrônica do óxido puro pela dopagem com alguns cátions metálicos. Sendo assim, este trabalho tem como objetivo geral pesquisar de maneira sistemática o efeito da dopagem de dióxido de manganês com alguns cátions metálicos, como o Bi3+e Ce4+ nas propriedades físico-químicas e eletrocatalíticas deste óxido, visando o uso dos mesmos como em cátodos de baterias recarregáveis do tipo Zn-ar. As análises das características morfológicas dos catalisadores por meio de MEV e TEM mostram que os óxidos de manganês são gerados na forma de nano-bastões de 50 a 100 nm de comprimento. Os óxidos puros e dopados com bismuto e cério apresentam estruturas tetragonais típicas, ocorrendo expansão da célula unitária dos óxidos dopados pela troca de íons manganês pelos correspondentes dopantes na rede cristalina de MnO2. Os resultados eletroquímicos sugerem um aumento de condutividade do óxido dopado que possibilita seu uso sem mistura com carbono. Além disso, observa-se que a RRO é catalisada por um mecanismo que envolve a transferência de 4e- nestes materiais com participação de peróxido como intermediário. O óxido de manganês dopado com Bi apresentou promissor desempenho catalítico para a RDO, o que junto com os demais resultados apresentados para a RRO o qualificou a funcionar como o catalisador bifuncional mais promissor de todos os estudados em baterias do tipo metal-ar. Experimentos realizados em mini baterias do tipo Zn-ar demonstraram a total capacidade do catalisador dopado com bismuto operar como catalisador do eletrodo de ar, resultando num desempenho superior ao de um catalisador convencional de MnO2/C. / Manganese dioxide is at the same time an efficient and low-cost material used as cathode catalyst in the air electrode of metal-air and alkaline fuel cells, capable to promote the complete reduction of oxygen thru the 4e- mechanism. However, manganese dioxide is a semiconductor and can be used as electrodic material in the mentioned devices only combined with a conductor support. High surface area carbon powder is the most commonly used material for such purpose. The problem is that carbon suffers from severe instabilities in the experimental conditions that fuel cells and metal-air batteries operates, being gradually converted into CO2. A possible strategy to overcome or at least minimize the low oxide conductivity is by doping this material with some metallic cations. In this sense, the main purpose of this work was the systematic investigation of the physicochemical and electrocatalytic properties of Bi3+ and Ce4+ doped manganese dioxide materials used as cathode catalysts in the air electrode of alkaline type Zn-air batteries. The morphologic characterization performed SEM and TEM revealed that pure as well cation doped MnO2 are formed as poly dispersed nanorods with 50-100 nm length. Both pure and doped materials presented typical tetragonal structures, although a cell expansion was observed in the doped oxides caused by the exchange of some manganese cations by the doping counter parts. Electrochemical results suggest that a material with increased conductivity results from the doping process, allowing it to operate as air catalyst without the use of a carbon support. Besides, it is observed that the oxygen reduction reaction proceeds thru the 4e- mechanism on the doped oxides involving hydrogen peroxide as intermediate. The Bi doped oxide presented the best performance for the oxygen evolution reaction among all catalysts investigated. This result together with the superior performance for the oxygen reduction reaction presented by this material suggest that Bi doped MnO2 is a potential candidate to operate as an air catalyst of rechargeable alkaline metal-air batteries. Experiments conducted in a mini Zn-air battery using Bi doped MnO2 as air catalyst corroborated this observation.

Les supercondensateurs sont des dispositifs de stockage de l'énergie électrique particulièrement intéressants pour les applications de puissance. Les rendre flexibles permet de considérer de nouvelles possibilités d'intégration. Néanmoins, l'optimisation de la densité d'énergie, point faible de ces dispositifs, passe par la recherche et l'étude de nouveaux matériaux d'électrode et d'électrolytes. Dans ce but, ce travail de thèse s'est orienté vers des matériaux pseudo-capacitifs, avec l'utilisation d'électrodes à base de MnO2, et d'électrolytes à base de liquide ionique fonctionnalisé de type biredox. Afin de conserver le caractère flexible des électrodes, le dioxyde de manganèse a d'abord été synthétisé pour la formulation d'encres à pulvériser sur substrat flexible. A cette occasion, l'influence de dispersants sur les performances a été étudiée. Les performances de matériaux nanocomposites à base de fibres de carbone et de graphène décorés par MnO2 ont ensuite été évaluées. Les contributions faradiques et surfaciques à la capacité développée par MnO2 ont ensuite été déterminées par une étude électrochimique fine. Enfin, l'étude d'un nouveau liquide ionique fonctionnalisé utilisé dans un dispositif carbone/carbone a confirmé l'attractivité de ces phénomènes faradiques dans les performances électrochimiques d'un supercondensateur. / Supercapacitors are attractive electrical energy storage devices for power applications. As flexible devices new integration opportunities can be consider. Nevertheless, the optimization of the energy density, weak point of these devices, proceeds through the search and the study of new electrode materials and electrolytes. In this aim, this thesis work is turned towards so called pseudo-capacitive materials, with the use of MnO2-based electrodes, and biredox Ionic Liquid electrolytes. To preserve the flexible behavior of the electrodes, the manganese dioxide was, at first, synthesized for the formulation of an ink to be sprayed on flexible substrates. The influence of dispersing agents on the electrochemical performances was evaluated. Performances of nanocomposite materials prepared with carbon nanofibers and graphene oxide sheets were also studied. Faradaic and surface contributions to the capacity developed by MnO2 electrode material were then determined by an advanced electrochemical study. Finally, the study of a new Ionic Liquid used in a symmetrical carbon/carbon supercapacitor confirmed the attractiveness of these Faradaic phenomena for the enhancement of the supercapacitor electrochemical performances.

Les supercapacités hybrides se taillent de plus en plus une place dans le secteur des énergies renouvelables. L’oxyde de manganèse possède certaines caractéristiques (faible coût, caractère écologique et une capacitance spécifique supérieure) qui font de ce dernier un matériau très attirant pour l’assemblage de tels dispositifs. Ce mémoire, divisé en trois parties, propose l’utilisation des liquides ioniques protiques comme électrolytes pour l’assemblage de supercapacités hybrides à base d’oxyde de manganèse et carbone. D’abord, le comportement pseudocapacitif des électrodes à base de films minces d’oxyde de manganèse dans les liquides ioniques protiques ainsi que leurs propriétés optiques sont étudiés et évalués. Des valeurs de capacitance spécifique allant jusqu’à 397 F/g ont été trouvées dans cette partie. Ensuite, des mélanges composés par un solvant organique (acétonitrile) et le liquide ionique protique sont présentés comme une manière de contourner la faible conductivité de ce dernier qui limite les valeurs de capacitance spécifique à obtenir. Une amélioration de la capacitance spécifique d’environ 30% est reportée dans ce chapitre. Finalement, l’assemblage d’une supercapacité hybride est présenté comme une stratégie efficace qui permet l’élargissement de la faible fenêtre de potentiel de travail obtenue avec les électrodes à base d’oxyde de manganèse. De cette façon, la faisabilité de tel arrangement est montré ici, obtenant de valeurs de capacitance spécifique (16 F/g) ainsi que de puissance (81 W/kg) et d’énergie spécifique (1,9 Wh/kg) acceptables en utilisant des liquides ioniques protiques comme électrolytes de remplissage. / Hybrid supercapacitors continue to carve out a place in the field of renewable energies. Manganese dioxide, because of some attractive characteristics (low cost, environmental friendly and high specific capacitance), is a very promising material for the assembly of such devices. This thesis, divided into three chapters, proposes the use of protic ionic liquids as electrolyte for the assembly of a manganese dioxide/carbon based hybrid supercapacitor. Firstly, the pseudocapacitive behaviour and optical properties of thin manganese dioxide based electrodes in protic ionic liquids were investigated and evaluated. Specific capacitance values of up to 397 F/g are reported in this part. Then, mixtures of an organic solvent (acetonitrile) and protic ionic liquids were proposed in order to enhance the poor conductivity of ionic liquids, which limits the specific capacitance values. A 30% improvement of specific capacitance values is shown in this chapter. Finally, the assembly of a hybrid supecapacitor is presented as an alternative strategy to increase the narrow potential window of stability of manganese dioxide electrodes in our protic ionic liquids. The last chapter describes such a device as well as its specific capacitance (16 F/g), energy (1.9 Wh/kg) and power density (81 W/kg) values obtained in protic ionic liquids.

Catalisadores catódicos para aplicação em células a combustível alcalinas (AFCs) baseados em dióxido de manganês, como alternativa aos tradicionais catalisadores baseados em platina foram estudados no presente trabalho. O principal objetivo foi avaliar a viabilidade do uso de α-MnO2 através do estudo da atividade eletrocatalítica frente à reação de redução de oxigênio (RRO) do referido óxido em comparação com a atividade eletrocatalítica do material de referência baseado em platina, visando minimizar os elevados custos desses catalisadores que tornam muito restrita a comercialização das células a combustível apesar das vantagens comprovadas desse tipo de tecnologia. O uso de α-MnO2 para completa substituição da platina se mostrou viável por apresentar atividade catalítica comparável à da platina, e com a vantagem adicional de ser um material de menor custo devido à sua abundância. Estudos prévios demonstraram que a RRO catalisada pelo dióxido de manganês ocorre preferencialmente por duas vias: redução direta via quatro elétrons, ou redução por dois elétrons com formação de peróxido de hidrogênio como produto final. A redução direta via quatro elétrons é o mecanismo mais comum, seguido na maioria das estruturas cristalográficas, e é o mecanismo de reação de interesse para aplicação em células a combustível, sendo, portanto, o peróxido de hidrogênio um produto indesejável para esse tipo de aplicação. Foram promovidas modificações do referido óxido de manganês (α-MnO2) pela incorporação de metais não nobres (Cu e Bi) para estudar o impacto dessas modificações nas propriedades físico-químicas desses óxidos. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que a dopagem com Cu não promoveu alterações significativas nas propriedades desses óxidos. Em contrapartida, a dopagem com bismuto promoveu resultados significativos. A incorporação de Bi3+ na estrutura cristalina do α-MnO2 promoveu o aumento da condutividade eletrônica desse óxido, permitindo assim a eliminação do suporte de carbono, ocasionando desse modo, a eliminação quase que total da formação de peróxido de hidrogênio. Dessa maneira, os resultados mostraram que no caso específico desse material dopado, a RRO se dá predominantemente pela redução direta via quatro elétrons. Os resultados apresentados no presente trabalho, demonstraram que a dopagem do α-MnO2 com Bi3+ resulta em um material bastante promissor como catalisador catódico de AFCs. / Cathode catalysts for application in alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) based on manganese dioxide as alternative to traditional platinum-based catalysts were studied in this work. The main objective was to evaluate the feasibility of using α-MnO2 through the study of electrocatalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of said oxide compared to the electrocatalytic activity of platinum-based reference materials, aiming to cheapen the high costs of these catalysts that make very limited the marketing of fuel cells despite the proven benefits of such technology. The use of α-MnO2 as a complete substitution of platinum demonstrated to be viable due to its catalytic activity comparable with that of platinum, having the additional advantage of being a less costly material because of its abundance. Previous studies demonstrated that the ORR catalyzed by manganese dioxide takes place preferably in two ways: Direct reduction via four electrons or two electrons by reduction with formation of hydrogen peroxide as the final product. The direct reduction via four electrons is the most common mechanism, followed in most crystal structures, and the reaction mechanism is the one of interest for application in fuel cells. The production of hydrogen peroxide is undesirable for this type of application. Modifications of said manganese oxide (α-MnO2) by the incorporation of non-noble metals (Cu and Bi) were promoted to study the impact of these modifications on the physicochemical properties of these oxides. The results showed that doping with Cu did not cause significant changes in the properties of these oxides. By contrast, doping with bismuth promoted interesting and significant results. The incorporation of Bi3+ in a crystalline structure of α-MnO2 promoted the increase of the electronic conductivity of this oxide, thereby allowing the elimination of the carbon support, consequently causing the almost complete elimination of the formation of hydrogen peroxide. Thus, the results showed that in the specific case of this doped material, the ORR occurs predominantly by direct reduction via 4 electrons. The results presented in this study demonstrated that the α-MnO2 doped with Bi3+ showed a very promising cathode material for application in AFCs.

The present work deals with the use of manganese oxide as a catalyst for positive electrode of fuel cells. The theoretical part is to analyze the problem of fuel cells, focusing on lowtemperature fuel cells. Are discussed and the methods of measurement and evaluation of properties of manganese oxide layer. The practical part deals with doping electrolytic manganese dioxide salts of divalent metals and monitoring their behavior in the cyclic voltammetry by the EQCM method.

Systematic variation of membrane anchor, spacer and pharmacophore building blocks leads to an optimisation of the inhibitory effect of tripartite structures towards BACE1-induced cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Studium transportu náboje v Ta2O5 oxidových nanovrstvách se zaměřuje především na objasnění vlivu defektů na vodivost těchto vrstev. Soustředíme se na studium oxidových nanovrstev Ta2O5 vytvořených pomocí anodické oxidace. Proces výroby Ta2O5 zahrnuje řadu parametrů, jež ovlivňují koncentraci defektů (oxidových vakancí) v této struktuře. Vrstva oxidu Ta2O5 o tloušťce 20 až 200 nm se často používá jako dielektrikum pro tantalové kondenzátory, které se staly nedílnou součástí elektrotechnického průmyslu. Kondenzátory s Ta2O5 dielektrickou vrstvou lze modelovat jako strukturu MIS (kov – izolant – polovodič). Anodu tvoří tantal s kovovou vodivostí, katodu potom MnO2 či vodivý polymer (CP), které jsou polovodiče. Hodnoty elektronových afinit, respektive výstupních prací, jednotlivých materiálů potom určují výšku potenciálových bariér vytvořených na rozhraních kov-izolant (M – I) a izolant-polovodič (I – S). Dominantní mechanizmy transportu náboje lze určit analýzou I-V charakteristiky zbytkového proudu. Dominantní mechanizmy transportu náboje izolační vrstvou jsou ohmický, Poole-Frenkelův, Shottkyho a tunelování. Uplatnění jednotlivých vodivostních mechanismů je závislé na teplotě a intenzitě elektrického pole v izolantu. Hodnota zbytkového proud je významným indikátorem kvality daného izolantu. Ten závisí na technologii výroby kondenzátoru, významně především na parametrech anodické oxidace a na materiálu katody. I-V charakteristiky zbytkového proudu se měří v normálním a reversním módu, tj. normální mód značí kladné napětí na anodě a reversní mód záporné napětí na anodě. I-V charakteristika je výrazně nesymetrická, a proto tyto kondenzátory musí být vhodně polarizovány. Nesymetrie I-V charakteristiky se snižuje s klesající teplotou, při teplotě pod 50 K a je možno některé kondenzátory používat jako bipolární součástky. Z analýzy I-V charakteristiky lze určit řadu parametrů, jako tloušťku izolační vrstvy a koncentraci defektů v izolační Ta2O5 vrstvě a dále lze odhadnout parametry MIS modelu kondenzátoru - stanovit hodnotu potenciálových bariér na rozhraních M – I a I – S. Měření C-V charakteristik při různých teplotách v rozsahu 10 až 300 K je využíto pro určení výšky potenciálové bariéry na rozhraní I – S, závislosti kapacity na teplotě a dále pro výpočet efektivní plochy elektrod. Z výbrusu vzorků na skenovacím elektronovém mikroskopu byly určeny tloušťky dielektrika Ta2O5 pro jednotlivé vyhodnocované řady kondenzátorů.

Systematic variation of membrane anchor, spacer and pharmacophore building blocks leads to an optimisation of the inhibitory effect of tripartite structures towards BACE1-induced cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

This master thesis deals with qualifications of the catalytic materials for positive electrode low-temperature fuel cells. The teoretical part focuses on the physical and chemical properties of low-temperature fuel cells. There are described methods of hydrodynamic RDE and RRDE. RRDE study utilizes methods linear and cyclic voltammetry for qualifying performance of catalytic materials and presentation of results. The practical part describes the preparation various types of carbon materials. There are monitored the oxygen reduction using RRDE. Catalytic materials are evaluated: CV, stability, kinetic parameters, creation of intermediate H2O2 and kinetics of electrode reactions.

Three mathematical models, two of primary alkaline battery cathode discharge, and one of primary alkaline battery discharge, are developed, presented, solved and investigated in this thesis. The primary aim of this work is to improve our understanding of the complex, interrelated and nonlinear processes that occur within primary alkaline batteries during discharge. We use perturbation techniques and Laplace transforms to analyse and simplify an existing model of primary alkaline battery cathode under galvanostatic discharge. The process highlights key phenomena, and removes those phenomena that have very little effect on discharge from the model. We find that electrolyte variation within Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) particles is negligible, but proton diffusion within EMD crystals is important. The simplification process results in a significant reduction in the number of model equations, and greatly decreases the computational overhead of the numerical simulation software. In addition, the model results based on this simplified framework compare well with available experimental data. The second model of the primary alkaline battery cathode discharge simulates step potential electrochemical spectroscopy discharges, and is used to improve our understanding of the multi-reaction nature of the reduction of EMD. We find that a single-reaction framework is able to simulate multi-reaction behaviour through the use of a nonlinear ion-ion interaction term. The third model simulates the full primary alkaline battery system, and accounts for the precipitation of zinc oxide within the separator (and other regions), and subsequent internal short circuit through this phase. It was found that an internal short circuit is created at the beginning of discharge, and this self-discharge may be exacerbated by discharging the cell intermittently. We find that using a thicker separator paper is a very effective way of minimising self-discharge behaviour. The equations describing the three models are solved numerically in MATLABR, using three pieces of numerical simulation software. They provide a flexible and powerful set of primary alkaline battery discharge prediction tools, that leverage the simplified model framework, allowing them to be easily run on a desktop PC.