A method is described herein that produces UN from UF.sub.6 in at most two steps comprising UF.sub.6.fwdarw.intermediate.fwdarw.UN. The principle of the reaction is that in a first step, UF.sub.6 would be reduced to U.sub.xN.sub.y, where x may be an integer selected from 1 and 3, and y is an integer selected from 1 and 2. Reduction occurs at or near the surface of a gaseous membrane electrode where it is also in contact with a nitrogen bearing salt. In a second step, U.sub.xN.sub.y decomposes to UN and N.sub.2 gas, either in the same reactor as the first step or after removal to a separate unit for further processing.

The disclosure relates to porous Co.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles which include flocculated amorphous primary nanoparticles, with air pores formed between the amorphous primary nanoparticles. The porous Co.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, may be in the form of flocculated amorphous primary nanoparticles of 1 nm or less, have a 400 times larger specific surface area than the conventional Co.sub.3O.sub.4 particles, and address the issue with the expansion of Co.sub.3O.sub.4 lattices which may arise when the battery is charged or discharged, thereby providing more reliability when applied to batteries.

The disclosure relates to porous Co.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles which include flocculated amorphous primary nanoparticles, with air pores formed between the amorphous primary nanoparticles. The porous Co.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, may be in the form of flocculated amorphous primary nanoparticles of 1 nm or less, have a 400 times larger specific surface area than the conventional Co.sub.3O.sub.4 particles, and address the issue with the expansion of Co.sub.3O.sub.4 lattices which may arise when the battery is charged or discharged, thereby providing more reliability when applied to batteries.

The disclosure relates to porous manganese oxide nanoparticles which include flocculated primary nanoparticles, with air pores formed between the primary nanoparticles. Unlike in the prior art, the porous manganese oxide nanoparticles of the disclosure have 6 nm or less MnO.sub.2 primary nanoparticles and Mn.sub.3O.sub.4 primary nanoparticles uniformly mixed and flocculated, exhibiting a 16 times higher specific surface area as compared with the conventional manganese oxide particles and superior storage characteristics and stability.

The disclosure relates to porous manganese oxide nanoparticles which include flocculated primary nanoparticles, with air pores formed between the primary nanoparticles. Unlike in the prior art, the porous manganese oxide nanoparticles of the disclosure have 6 nm or less MnO.sub.2 primary nanoparticles and Mn.sub.3O.sub.4 primary nanoparticles uniformly mixed and flocculated, exhibiting a 16 times higher specific surface area as compared with the conventional manganese oxide particles and superior storage characteristics and stability.

Methods and apparatus incorporating porous metallic electrodes for electrolytic conversion of carbon-containing ions are disclosed. A electrochemical cell has an anode, a porous metallic electrode which serves as a cathode, and an ion exchange membrane between the anode and the porous metallic electrode. Water dissociates into hydroxide ions and hydrogen ions at the ion exchange membrane. The hydroxide ions permeate towards the anode, and the hydrogen ions permeate towards the porous metallic electrode. A carbon-containing solution is supplied to the porous metallic electrode. The carbon-containing solution reacts with the hydrogen ions to form one or more carbon-containing intermediate products. One of the carbon-containing intermediate products participate in a reduction reaction at the porous metallic electrode to form one or more carbon-containing resulting products. In some embodiments, the carbon-containing solution comprises a solution containing bicarbonate. One application of the methods and apparatus is in the field of carbon capture.

A system and process for producing macro length carbon nanotubes is disclosed. A carbonate electrolyte including transition metal powder is provided between a nickel alloy anode and a nickel alloy cathode contained in a cell. The carbonate electrolyte is heated to a molten state. An electrical current is applied to the nickel alloy anode, nickel alloy cathode, and the molten carbonate electrolyte disposed between the anode and cathode. The resulting carbon nanotube growth is collected from the cathode of the cell.

A system and process for producing macro length carbon nanotubes is disclosed. A carbonate electrolyte including transition metal powder is provided between a nickel alloy anode and a nickel alloy cathode contained in a cell. The carbonate electrolyte is heated to a molten state. An electrical current is applied to the nickel alloy anode, nickel alloy cathode, and the molten carbonate electrolyte disposed between the anode and cathode. The resulting carbon nanotube growth is collected from the cathode of the cell.

The present invention relates to a method for chlorination of silver materials in the forms of wire, thick film paste and metallic sheet/disc. The method is environmentally friendly since the process does not produce hazardous chemicals or flammable gas. The electrochemical setup includes position the electrode containing silver materials in the anode and a platinum wire at the cathode. A DC voltage supply between 1 to 5 volts oxidizes the silver surface which receives chloride from imidazolium chloride solution to produce silver chloride on silver wire, film or disc. The imidazolium chloride reagent can be in aqueous solution or polar organic solvents or naturally exists in ionic liquid form. The imidazolium radical cation decomposes to produce a stabilized organic radical and an imidazole molecule. The stabilized radical recombines to produce volatile organic compound that can be recovered by simple distillation. The chlorination reagent can be regenerated by re-introducing the stabilized group at N.sub.1.

According to one embodiment, a reduction catalyst includes a current collector including a metal layer; and organic molecules including a quaternary nitrogen cation, which are bonded to the metal layer. The organic molecules are represented by any of the following general formulae I to V.

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