Microgravity Effects on Chronoamperometric Ammonia Oxidation at Platinum Nanoparticles on Modified Mesoporous Carbon Supports
- Paper number
IAC-16,A2,3,5,x32757
- Author
Dr. Carlos Poventud-Estrada, Puerto Rico
- Coauthor
Ms. Camila Morales-Navas, Puerto Rico
- Coauthor
Dr. Carlos Cabrera, Puerto Rico
- Coauthor
Ms. Diana Diaz, Puerto Rico
- Coauthor
Mr. Luis Betancourt, Puerto Rico
- Coauthor
Mr. Manuel A. Rodriguez III, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Eduardo Larios, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Raul Acevedo, Puerto Rico
- Year
2016
- Abstract
The effects of microgravity on the electrochemical oxidation of ammonia at platinum nanoparticles on modified mesoporous carbons (MPC) with three different pore diameters, e.g. 64, 100, and 137 A was studied via chronoamperometric technique. A microgravity environment was obtained with an average gravity of less than 0.02gs created aboard an airplane performing parabolic maneuvers. Results show that the oxidation current density on all three catalysts decreased while in microgravity conditions when compared to ground based experiments. It was demonstrated that in a microgravity environment a porous infrastructure for a catalyst support has an impact on the mass transfer process of electroactive species, and a current density decreasing factor of ca. 51 – 66\% must be taken into account. Furthermore, it was shown that the oxidation current does not immediately improves after a transition from microgravity to hypergravity conditions. A thorough physical characterization of the synthesized supported catalyst was conducted to sustain all findings.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)