King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

About: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Membrane & Catalysis. The organization has 6221 authors who have published 22019 publications receiving 625706 citations. The organization is also known as: KAUST.

Practical Switching-Based Hybrid FSO/RF Transmission and Its Performance Analysis

Abstract: Hybrid free-space optical (FSO)/radio-frequency (RF) systems have emerged as a promising solution for high-data-rate wireless backhaul. We present and analyze a switching-based transmission scheme for the hybrid FSO/RF system. Specifically, either the FSO or RF link will be active at a certain time instance, with the FSO link enjoying a higher priority. We considered both a single-threshold case and a dual-threshold case for FSO link operation. Analytical expressions have been obtained for the outage probability, average bit error rate, and ergodic capacity for the resulting system. Numerical examples are presented to compare the performance of the hybrid scheme with the FSO-only scenario.

Microbial Community Composition Is Unaffected by Anode Potential

Abstract: There is great controversy on how different set anode potentials affect the performance of a bioelectrochemical system (BES). It is often reported that more positive potentials improve acclimation and performance of exoelectrogenic biofilms, and alter microbial community structure, while in other studies relatively more negative potentials were needed to achieve higher current densities. To address this issue, the biomass, electroactivity, and community structure of anodic biofilms were examined over a wide range of set anode potentials (−0.25, −0.09, 0.21, 0.51, and 0.81 V vs a standard hydrogen electrode, SHE) in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells. Maximum currents produced using a wastewater inoculum increased with anode potentials in the range of −0.25 to 0.21 V, but decreased at 0.51 and 0.81 V. The maximum currents were positively correlated with increasing biofilm biomass. Pyrosequencing indicated biofilm communities were all similar and dominated by bacteria most similar to Geobacter sulf...

High-Sulfur-Vacancy Amorphous Molybdenum Sulfide as a High Current Electrocatalyst in Hydrogen Evolution.

Abstract: The remote hydrogen plasma is able to create abundant S-vacancies on amorphous molybdenum sulfide (a-MoSx ) as active sites for hydrogen evolution. The results demonstrate that the plasma-treated a-MoSx exhibits superior performance and higher stability than Pt in a proton exchange membrane based electrolyzers measurement as a proof-of-concept of industrial application.

A Novel Anaerobic Electrochemical Membrane Bioreactor (AnEMBR) with Conductive Hollow-fiber Membrane for Treatment of Low-Organic Strength Solutions

Abstract: A new anaerobic treatment system that combined a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) with membrane filtration using electrically conductive, porous, nickel-based hollow-fiber membranes (Ni-HFMs) was developed to treat low organic strength solution and recover energy in the form of biogas. This new system is called an anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor (AnEMBR). The Ni-HFM served the dual function as the cathode for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the membrane for filtration of the effluent. The AnEMBR system was operated for 70 days with synthetic acetate solution having a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 320 mg/L. Removal of COD was >95% at all applied voltages tested. Up to 71% of the substrate energy was recovered at an applied voltage of 0.7 V as methane rich biogas (83% CH4; <1% H2) due to biological conversion of the hydrogen evolved at the cathode to methane. A combination of factors (hydrogen bubble formation, low cathode potential and localized high pH at the cathode surface) contributed to reduced membrane fouling in the AnEMBR compared to the control reactor (open circuit voltage). The net energy required to operate the AnEMBR system at an applied voltage of 0.7 V was significantly less (0.27 kWh/m3) than that typically needed for wastewater treatment using aerobic membrane bioreactors (1-2 kWh/m3).