Solar Energy News  
TECH SPACE
Rusting iron can be its own worst enemy
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Jan 22, 2022

Iron (blue) can react with trace amounts of water to produce corrosive chemicals despite being bathed in "inert" supercritical fluids of carbon dioxide. Atomistic simulations carried out at Rice University show how this reaction happens.

Iron that rusts in water theoretically shouldn't corrode in contact with an "inert" supercritical fluid of carbon dioxide. But it does.

The reason has eluded materials scientists to now, but a team at Rice University has a theory that could contribute to new strategies to protect iron from the environment.

Materials theorist Boris Yakobson and his colleagues at Rice's George R. Brown School of Engineering found through atom-level simulations that iron itself plays a role in its own corrosion when exposed to supercritical CO2 (sCO2) and trace amounts of water by promoting the formation of reactive species in the fluid that come back to attack it.

In their research, published in the Cell Press journal Matter, they conclude that thin hydrophobic layers of 2D materials like graphene or hexagonal boron nitride could be employed as a barrier between iron atoms and the reactive elements of sCO2.

Rice graduate student Qin-Kun Li and research scientist Alex Kutana are co-lead authors of the paper. Rice assistant research professor Evgeni Penev is a co-author.

Supercritical fluids are materials at a temperature and pressure that keeps them roughly between phases - say, not all liquid, but not yet all gas. The properties of sCO2 make it an ideal working fluid because, according to the researchers, it is "essentially inert," noncorrosive and low-cost.

"Eliminating corrosion is a constant challenge, and it's on a lot of people's minds right now as the government prepares to invest heavily in infrastructure," said Yakobson, the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering and a professor of chemistry. "Iron is a pillar of infrastructure from ancient times, but only now are we able to get an atomistic understanding of how it corrodes."

The Rice lab's simulations reveal the devil's in the details. Previous studies have attributed corrosion to the presence of bulk water and other contaminants in the superfluid, but that isn't necessarily the case, Yakobson said.

"Water, as the primary impurity in sCO2, provides a hydrogen bond network to trigger interfacial reactions with CO2 and other impurities like nitrous oxide and to form corrosive acid detrimental to iron," Li said.

The simulations also showed that the iron itself acts as a catalyst, lowering the reaction energy barriers at the interface between iron and sCO2, ultimately leading to the formation of a host of corrosive species: oxygen, hydroxide, carboxylic acid and nitrous acid.

To the researchers, the study illustrates the power of theoretical modeling to solve complicated chemistry problems, in this case predicting thermodynamic reactions and estimates of corrosion rates at the interface between iron and sCO2. They also showed all bets are off if there's more than a trace of water in the superfluid, accelerating corrosion.

Research Report: "Iron corrosion in the "inert" supercritical CO2, ab initio dynamics insights: How impurities matter"


Related Links
Rice University
Space Technology News - Applications and Research


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


TECH SPACE
Using ice to boil water
Blacksburg VA (SPX) Jan 22, 2022
Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko and graduate fellow Mojtaba Edalatpour have made a discovery about the properties of water that could provide an exciting addendum to a phenomenon established over two centuries ago. The discovery also holds interesting possibilities for cooling devices and processes in industrial applications using only the basic properties of water. Their work was published on Jan. 21 in the journal Physical Review Fluids. Water can exist in three phases: a frozen solid, a li ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TECH SPACE
Getting hydrogen out of banana peels

Scientists build bioreactors and engineer bacteria to advance biofuel research

Creating sustainable material from waste

Mapping the photosynthetic properties of the fastest growing alga in the world

TECH SPACE
Kirigami robotic grippers are delicate enough to lift egg yolks

Researchers teach a robotic arm to autonomously push and pick random objects

Carnegie Mellon-led team to develop robotics to service satellites and build structures

Bone growth inspired "microrobots" that can create their own bone

TECH SPACE
Owl wing design reduces aircraft, wind turbine noise pollution

Earth, wind and reindeer: Lapland herders see red over turbines

Earth, wind and reindeer: Lapland herders see red over turbines

'Ocean battery' targets renewable energy dilemma

TECH SPACE
GM to spend $7 bn in Michigan to build electric auto capacity

Volkswagen hits 2021 EU emissions target after 2020 miss

Bentley says first luxury electric car due 2025

Tesla reports record profit, sees more supply chain woes in 2022

TECH SPACE
Researchers achieve burning plasma regime for first time in lab

First hydride superionic conductor developed, implications for sustainable energy

How a smart electric grid will power our future

Form fit: Device wraps around hot surfaces, turns wasted heat to electricity

TECH SPACE
Japan to help with Bill Gates' next-gen nuclear power project

Britain injects 100m pounds into Sizewell C nuclear project

Iran says in talks with Russia to build nuclear power units

Austria gears up to fight EU 'green' nuclear energy plan

TECH SPACE
EU ministers mull climate policy, carbon border tax

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'

World risks more years of high energy prices, emissions: IEA

Idaho researchers unveil enhanced electric power grid test bed

TECH SPACE
Just what is a 'resilient' forest, anyway?

Land battle awaits Indigenous communities over Indonesia capital relocation: NGO

US announces historic $1.1 bn investment for Everglades rehabilitation

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations globally affect photosynthesis of peat-forming mosses









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.