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Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will inevitably lead to long-term changes in climate that can have serious consequences. Controlling anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however, represents a significant technological challenge. Various chemical approaches have been suggested, perhaps the most promising of these is based

Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will inevitably lead to long-term changes in climate that can have serious consequences. Controlling anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however, represents a significant technological challenge. Various chemical approaches have been suggested, perhaps the most promising of these is based on electrochemical trapping of carbon dioxide using pyridine and derivatives. Optimization of this process requires a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of the reactions of reduced pyridines with carbon dioxide, which are not currently well known. This thesis describes a detailed mechanistic study of the nucleophilic and Bronsted basic properties of the radical anion of bipyridine as a model pyridine derivative, formed by one-electron reduction, with particular emphasis on the reactions with carbon dioxide. A time-resolved spectroscopic method was used to characterize the key intermediates and determine the kinetics of the reactions of the radical anion and its protonated radical form. Using a pulsed nanosecond laser, the bipyridine radical anion could be generated in-situ in less than 100 ns, which allows fast reactions to be monitored in real time. The bipyridine radical anion was found to be a very powerful one-electron donor, Bronsted base and nucleophile. It reacts by addition to the C=O bonds of ketones with a bimolecular rate constant around 1* 107 M-1 s-1. These are among the fastest nucleophilic additions that have been reported in literature. Temperature dependence studies demonstrate very low activation energies and large Arrhenius pre-exponential parameters, consistent with very high reactivity. The kinetics of E2 elimination, where the radical anion acts as a base, and SN2 substitution, where the radical anion acts as a nucleophile, are also characterized by large bimolecular rate constants in the range ca. 106 - 107 M-1 s-1. The pKa of the bipyridine radical anion was measured using a kinetic method and analysis of the data using a Marcus theory model for proton transfer. The bipyridine radical anion is found to have a pKa of 40±5 in DMSO. The reorganization energy for the proton transfer reaction was found to be 70±5 kJ/mol. The bipyridine radical anion was found to react very rapidly with carbon dioxide, with a bimolecular rate constant of 1* 108 M-1 s-1 and a small activation energy, whereas the protonated radical reacted with carbon dioxide with a rate constant that was too small to measure. The kinetic and thermodynamic data obtained in this work can be used to understand the mechanisms of the reactions of pyridines with carbon dioxide under reducing conditions.
ContributorsRanjan, Rajeev (Author) / Gould, Ian R (Thesis advisor) / Buttry, Daniel A (Thesis advisor) / Yarger, Jeff (Committee member) / Seo, Dong-Kyun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
New sol-gel routes were developed to fabricate transparent conducting oxide coatings for energy applications. Sol-gel synthesis was chosen because the metal oxide products have high surface area and porosity. Titanium sol-gel chemistry was the main focus of the studies, and the synthesis of macroporous antimony-doped tin oxide was

New sol-gel routes were developed to fabricate transparent conducting oxide coatings for energy applications. Sol-gel synthesis was chosen because the metal oxide products have high surface area and porosity. Titanium sol-gel chemistry was the main focus of the studies, and the synthesis of macroporous antimony-doped tin oxide was also explored. The surface chemistry and band characteristics of anatase TiO2 show promise for solar energy purposes as photoelectrodes in DSSCs and as photocatalysts to degrade organic dyes and to split water. Modifying the band structure by increasing the conduction band edge energy is specifically of interest for reducing protons in water. To this end, a new sol-gel method was developed for incorporating Zr-dopant in nanoporous anatase TiO2. The products follow Vegard’s law up to 20 atom%, exhibiting surface area of 79 m2/g and pore volume of 0.20 cm3/g with average pore diameter of 10.3 nm; the conduction band edge energy increased by 0.22 eV and the band gap increased by 0.1 eV.

In pursuit of a greener sol-gel route for TiO2 materials, a solution of TiOSO4 in water was explored. Success in obtaining a gel came by utilizing hydrogen peroxide as a ligand that suppressed precipitation reactions. Through modifying this sol-gel chemistry to obtain a solid acid, the new material hydrogen titanium phosphate sulfate, H1-xTi2(PO4)3-x(SO4)x, (0 < x < 0.5) was synthesized and characterized for the first time. From the reported synthetic route, this compound took the form of macroscopic agglomerates of nanoporous aggregates of nanoparticles around 20 nm and the product calcined at 600 °C exhibited surface area of 78 m2/g, pore volume of 0.22 cm3/g and an average pore width of 11 nm. This solid acid exhibits complete selectivity for the non-oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde and hydrogen gas, with >50% conversion at 300 °C.

Finally, hierarchically meso-macroporous antimony doped tin oxide was synthesized with regular macropore size around 210 nm, determined by statistical dye trajectory tracking, and also with larger pores up to micrometers in size. The structure consisted of nanoparticles around 4 nm in size, with textural mesopores around 20 nm in diameter.
ContributorsMieritz, Daniel (Author) / Seo, Dong-Kyun (Thesis advisor) / Petuskey, William (Committee member) / Herckes, Pierre (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
This work describes the investigation of novel cathode and anode materials. Specifically, several mixed polyanion compounds were evaluated as cathodes for Li and Na-ion batteries. Clathrate compounds composed of silicon or germanium arranged in cage-like structures were studied as anodes for Li-ion batteries.

Nanostructured Cu4(OH)6SO4 (brochantite) platelets were synthesized using polymer-assisted

This work describes the investigation of novel cathode and anode materials. Specifically, several mixed polyanion compounds were evaluated as cathodes for Li and Na-ion batteries. Clathrate compounds composed of silicon or germanium arranged in cage-like structures were studied as anodes for Li-ion batteries.

Nanostructured Cu4(OH)6SO4 (brochantite) platelets were synthesized using polymer-assisted titration and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods. These nanostructures exhibited a capacity of 474 mAh/g corresponding to the full utilization of the copper redox in an conversion reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were preformed to understand the mechanism and structural changes.

A microwave hydrothermal synthesis was developed to prepare a series compounds based on jarosite, AM3(SO4)2(OH)6 (A = K, Na; M = Fe, V). Both the morphology and electrochemical properties showed a compositional dependence. At potentials >1.5 V vs. Li/Li+, an insertion-type reaction was observed in Na,Fe-jarosite but not in K,Fe-jarosite. Reversible insertion-type reactions were observed in both vanadium jarosites between 1 – 4 V with capacities around 40 - 60 mAh/g. Below 1 V vs. Li/Li+, all four jarosite compounds underwent conversion reactions with capacities ~500 mAh/g for the Fe-jarosites.

The electrochemical properties of hydrogen titanium phosphate sulfate, H0.4Ti2(PO4)2.4(SO4)0.6 (HTPS), a new mixed polyanion material with NASICON structure was reported. A capacity of 148 mAh/g corresponding to2 Li+ insertion per formula unit was observed. XRD and XPS were used to characterize the HTPS before and after cycling and to identify the lithium sites. Evaluation of the HTPS in Na-ion cell was also performed, and a discharge capacity of 93 mAh/g was observed.

A systematic investigation of the role of the processing steps, such as ball-milling and acid/base etching, on the electrochemical properties of a silicon clathrate compound with nominal composition of Ba8Al16Si30 was performed. According to the transmission electron microscope (TEM), XPS, and electrochemical analysis, very few Li atoms can be electrochemically inserted, but the introduction of disorder through ball-milling resulted in higher capacity, while the oxidation layer made by the acid/base treatment prevented the reation. The electrochemical property of germanium clathrate was also investigated, unlike the silicon clathrate, the germanium one underwent a conversion reaction.
ContributorsZhao, Ran (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Buttry, Daniel (Committee member) / Yarger, Jeffery (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017