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Description
There has been much interest in photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy in recent years due to its potential for low-–cost, sustainable and renewable production of fuels. Despite the huge potential, there are still a number of technical barriers due to the many constraints needed in order to drive photoelectrochemical reactions such as overall water splitting and the identification of efficient and effective semiconductor materials. To this end, the search for novel semiconductors that can act as light absorbers is still needed. The copper hydroxyphosphate mineral libethenite (CHP), which has a chemical formula of Cu2(OH)PO4, has been recently shown to be active for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV-–irradiation, indicating that photo-excited electrons and holes can effectively be generated and separated in this material. However, CHP has not been well studied and many of its fundamental electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties are still unknown. In this work, the synthesis of different morphologies of CHP using hydrothermal synthesis and precipitation methods were explored. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of the relevant fundamental characteristics such as the bandgap, flatband potential, band diagram, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties for CHP was performed. Better understanding of the properties of this material may lead to the development of improved catalysts and photocatalysts from natural sources.
ContributorsLi, Man (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / O'Connell, Michael (Committee member) / Crozier, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Novel materials for Li-ion batteries is one of the principle thrust areas for current research in energy storage, more so than most, considering its widespread use in portable electronic gadgets and plug-in electric and hybrid cars. One of the major limiting factors in a Li-ion battery's energy density is the low specific capacities of the active materials in the electrodes. In the search for high-performance anode materials for Li-ion batteries, many alternatives to carbonaceous materials have been studied. Both cubic and amorphous silicon can reversibly alloy with lithium and have a theoretical capacity of 3500 mAh/g, making silicon a potential high density anode material. However, a large volume expansion of 300% occurs due to changes in the structure during lithium insertion, often leading to pulverization of the silicon. To this end, a class of silicon based cage compounds called clathrates are studied for electrochemical reactivity with lithium. Silicon-clathrates consist of silicon covalently bonded in cage structures comprised of face sharing Si20, Si24 and/or Si28 clusters with guest ions occupying the interstitial positions in the polyhedra. Prior to this, silicon clathrates have been studied primarily for their superconducting and thermoelectric properties. In this work, the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of two categories of silicon clathrates - Type-I silicon clathrate with aluminum framework substitution and barium guest ions (Ba8AlxSi46-x) and Type-II silicon clathrate with sodium guest ions (Nax Si136), are explored. The Type-I clathrate, Ba8AlxSi46-x consists of an open framework of aluminium and silicon, with barium (guest) atoms occupying the interstitial positions. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that a crystalline phase of clathrate is obtained from synthesis, which is powdered to a fine particle size to be used as the anode material in a Li-ion battery. Electrochemical measurements of these type of clathrates have shown that capacities comparable to graphite can be obtained for up to 10 cycles and lower capacities can be obtained for up to 20 cycles. Unlike bulk silicon, the clathrate structure does not undergo excessive volume change upon lithium intercalation, and therefore, the crystal structure is morphologically stable over many cycles. X-ray diffraction of the clathrate after cycling showed that crystallinity is intact, indicating that the clathrate does not collapse during reversible intercalation with lithium ions. Electrochemical potential spectroscopy obtained from the cycling data showed that there is an absence of formation of lithium-silicide, which is the product of lithium alloying with diamond cubic silicon. Type II silicon clathrate, NaxSi136, consists of silicon making up the framework structure and sodium (guest) atoms occupying the interstitial spaces. These clathrates showed very high capacities during their first intercalation cycle, in the range of 3,500 mAh/g, but then deteriorated during subsequent cycles. X-ray diffraction after one cycle showed the absence of clathrate phase and the presence of lithium-silicide, indicating the disintegration of clathrate structure. This could explain the silicon-like cycling behavior of Type II clathrates.
ContributorsRaghavan, Rahul (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Crozier, Peter (Committee member) / Petuskey, William T (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
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
Description
Gold-silver alloy nanoparticles (NPs) capped with adenosine 5'-triphosphate were synthesized by borohydride reduction of dilute aqueous metal precursors. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed the as-synthesized particles to be spherical with average diameters ~4 nm. Optical properties were measured by UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and the formation of alloy NPs was verified across all gold:silver ratios by a linear shift in the plasmon band maxima against alloy composition. The molar absorptivities of the NPs decreased non-linearly with increasing gold content from 2.0 x 108 M-1 cm-1 (fÉmax = 404 nm) for pure silver to 4.1 x 107 M-1 cm-1 (fÉmax = 511 nm) for pure gold. The NPs were immobilized onto transparent indium-tin oxide composite electrodes using layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition with poly(diallyldimethylammonium) acting as a cationic binder. The UV-Vis absorbance of the LbL film was used to calculate the surface coverage of alloy NPs on the electrode. Typical preparations had average NP surface coverages of 2.8 x 10-13 mol NPs/cm2 (~5% of cubic closest packing) with saturated films reaching ~20% of ccp for single-layer preparations (1.0 ~ 10-12 mol NPs/cm2). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of alloy NPs in the LbL film and showed silver enrichment of the NP surfaces by ~9%. Irreversible oxidative dissolution (dealloying) of the less noble silver atoms from the NPs on LbL electrodes was performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in sulfuric acid. Alloy NPs with higher gold content required larger overpotentials for silver dealloying. Dealloying of the more-noble gold atoms from the alloy NPs was also achieved by CV in sodium chloride. The silver was oxidized first to cohesive silver chloride, and then gold dealloyed to soluble HAuCl4- at higher potentials. Silver oxidation was inhibited during the first oxidative scan, but subsequent cycles showed typical, reversible silver-to-silver chloride voltammetry. The potentials for both silver oxidation and gold dealloying also shifted to more oxidizing potentials with increasing gold content, and both processes converged for alloy NPs with >60% gold content. Charge-mediated electrochemistry of silver NPs immobilized in LbL films, using Fc(meOH) as the charge carrier, showed that 67% of the NPs were electrochemically inactive.
ContributorsStarr, Christopher A (Author) / Buttry, Daniel A (Thesis advisor) / Petuskey, William (Committee member) / Jones, Anne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Lithium-ion batteries can fail and catch fire when overcharged, exposed to high temperatures or short-circuited due to the highly flammable organic liquid used in the electrolyte. Using inorganic solid electrolyte materials can potentially improve the safety factor. Additionally, nanostructured electrolyte materials may further enhanced performance by taking advantage of their large aspect ratio. In this work, the synthesis of two promising nanostructured solid electrolyte materials was explored. Amorphous lithium niobate nanowires were synthesized through the decomposition of a niobium-containing complex in a structure-directing solvent using a reflux method. Lithium lanthanum titanate was obtained via solid state reaction with titanium oxide nanowires as the titanium precursor, but the nanowire morphology could not be preserved due to high temperature sintering. Hyperbranched potassium lanthanum titanate was synthesized through hydrothermal route. This was the first time that hyperbranched nanowires with perovskite structure were made without any catalyst or substrate. This result has the potential to be applied to other perovskite materials.
ContributorsYang, Ting (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Crozier, Peter A. (Committee member) / Sieradzki, Karl (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Waste heat energy conversion remains an inviting subject for research, given the renewed emphasis on energy efficiency and carbon emissions reduction. Solid-state thermoelectric devices have been widely investigated, but their practical application remains challenging because of cost and the inability to fabricate them in geometries that are easily compatible with heat sources. An intriguing alternative to solid-state thermoelectric devices is thermogalvanic cells, which include a generally liquid electrolyte that permits the transport of ions. Thermogalvanic cells have long been known in the electrochemistry community, but have not received much attention from the thermal transport community. This is surprising given that their performance is highly dependent on controlling both thermal and mass (ionic) transport. This research will focus on a research project, which is an interdisciplinary collaboration between mechanical engineering (i.e. thermal transport) and chemistry, and is a largely experimental effort aimed at improving fundamental understanding of thermogalvanic systems. The first part will discuss how a simple utilization of natural convection within the cell doubles the maximum power output of the cell. In the second part of the research, some of the results from the previous part will be applied in a feasibility study of incorporating thermogalvanic waste heat recovery systems into automobiles. Finally, a new approach to enhance Seebeck coefficient by tuning the configurational entropy of a mixed-ligand complex formation of copper sulfate aqueous electrolytes will be presented. Ultimately, a summary of these results as well as possible future work that can be formed from these efforts is discussed.
ContributorsGunawan, Andrey (Author) / Phelan, Patrick E (Thesis advisor) / Buttry, Daniel A (Committee member) / Mujica, Vladimiro (Committee member) / Chan, Candace K. (Committee member) / Wang, Robert Y (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Carbon nanomaterials have caught tremendous attention in the last few decades due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Tremendous effort has been made to develop new synthesis techniques for carbon nanomaterials and investigate their properties for different applications. In this work, carbon nanospheres (CNSs), carbon foams (CF), and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were studied for various applications, including water treatment, energy storage, actuators, and sensors.
A facile spray pyrolysis synthesis technique was developed to synthesize individual CNSs with specific surface area (SSA) up to 1106 m2/g. The hollow CNSs showed adsorption of up to 300 mg rhodamine B dye per gram carbon, which is more than 15 times higher than that observed for conventional carbon black. They were also evaluated as adsorbents for removal of arsenate and selenate from water and displayed good binding to both species, outperforming commercial activated carbons for arsenate removal in pH > 8. When evaluated as supercapacitor electrode materials, specific capacitances of up to 112 F/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g were observed. When used as Li-ion battery anode materials, the CNSs achieved a discharge capacity of 270 mAh/g at a current density of 372 mA/g (1C), which is 4-fold higher than that of commercial graphite anode.
Carbon foams were synthesized using direct pyrolysis and had SSA up to 2340 m2/g. When used as supercapacitor electrode materials, a specific capacitance up to 280 F/g was achieved at current density of 0.1 A/g and remained as high as 207 F/g, even at a high current density of 10 A/g.
A printed walking robot was made from common plastic films and coatings of SWNTs. The solid-state thermal bimorph actuators were multifunctional energy transducers powered by heat, light, or electricity. The actuators were also investigated for photo/thermal detection. Electrochemical actuators based on MnO2 were also studied for potential underwater applications.
SWNTs were also used to fabricate printable electrodes for trace Cr(VI) detection, which displayed sensitivity up to 500 nA/ppb for Cr(VI). The limit of detection was shown to be as low as 5 ppb. A flow detection system based on CNT/printed electrodes was also demonstrated.
A facile spray pyrolysis synthesis technique was developed to synthesize individual CNSs with specific surface area (SSA) up to 1106 m2/g. The hollow CNSs showed adsorption of up to 300 mg rhodamine B dye per gram carbon, which is more than 15 times higher than that observed for conventional carbon black. They were also evaluated as adsorbents for removal of arsenate and selenate from water and displayed good binding to both species, outperforming commercial activated carbons for arsenate removal in pH > 8. When evaluated as supercapacitor electrode materials, specific capacitances of up to 112 F/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g were observed. When used as Li-ion battery anode materials, the CNSs achieved a discharge capacity of 270 mAh/g at a current density of 372 mA/g (1C), which is 4-fold higher than that of commercial graphite anode.
Carbon foams were synthesized using direct pyrolysis and had SSA up to 2340 m2/g. When used as supercapacitor electrode materials, a specific capacitance up to 280 F/g was achieved at current density of 0.1 A/g and remained as high as 207 F/g, even at a high current density of 10 A/g.
A printed walking robot was made from common plastic films and coatings of SWNTs. The solid-state thermal bimorph actuators were multifunctional energy transducers powered by heat, light, or electricity. The actuators were also investigated for photo/thermal detection. Electrochemical actuators based on MnO2 were also studied for potential underwater applications.
SWNTs were also used to fabricate printable electrodes for trace Cr(VI) detection, which displayed sensitivity up to 500 nA/ppb for Cr(VI). The limit of detection was shown to be as low as 5 ppb. A flow detection system based on CNT/printed electrodes was also demonstrated.
ContributorsWang, Chengwei, Ph.D (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Committee member) / Wang, Qing Hua (Committee member) / Seo, Dong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Microfluidics has shown great potential in rapid isolation, sorting, and concentration of bioparticles upon its discovery. Over the past decades, significant improvements have been made in device fabrication techniques and microfluidic methodologies. As a result, considerable microfluidic-based isolation and concentration techniques have been developed, particularly for rapid pathogen detection. Among all microfluidic techniques, dielectrophoresis (DEP) is one of the most effective and efficient techniques to quickly isolate and separate polarizable particles under inhomogeneous electric field. To date, extensive studies have demonstrated that DEP devices are able to precisely manipulate cells ranging from over 10 μm (mammalian cells) down to about 1 μm (small bacteria). However, very limited DEP studies on manipulating submicron bioparticles, such as viruses, have been reported.
In this dissertation, rapid capture and concentration of two different and representative types of virus particles (Sindbis virus and bacteriophage M13) with gradient insulator-based DEP (g-iDEP) has been demonstrated. Sindbis virus has a near-spherical shape with a diameter ~68 nm, while bacteriophage M13 has a filamentous shape with a length ~900 nm and a diameter ~6 nm. Under specific g-iDEP experimental conditions, the concentration of Sindbis virus can be increased two to six times within only a few seconds, using easily accessible voltages as low as 70 V. A similar phenomenon is also observed with bacteriophage M13. Meanwhile, their different DEP behavior predicts the potential of separating viruses with carefully designed microchannels and choices of experimental condition.
DEP-based microfluidics also shows great potential in manipulating blood samples, specifically rapid separations of blood cells and proteins. To investigate the ability of g-iDEP device in blood sample manipulation, some proofs of principle work was accomplished including separating two cardiac disease-related proteins (myoglobin and heart-type fatty acid binding protein) and red blood cells (RBCs). Consistent separation was observed, showing retention of RBCs and passage of the two spiked protein biomarkers. The numerical concentration of RBCs was reduced (~70 percent after one minute) with the purified proteins available for detection or further processing. This study explores and extends the use of the device from differentiating similar particles to acting as a sample pretreatment step.
In this dissertation, rapid capture and concentration of two different and representative types of virus particles (Sindbis virus and bacteriophage M13) with gradient insulator-based DEP (g-iDEP) has been demonstrated. Sindbis virus has a near-spherical shape with a diameter ~68 nm, while bacteriophage M13 has a filamentous shape with a length ~900 nm and a diameter ~6 nm. Under specific g-iDEP experimental conditions, the concentration of Sindbis virus can be increased two to six times within only a few seconds, using easily accessible voltages as low as 70 V. A similar phenomenon is also observed with bacteriophage M13. Meanwhile, their different DEP behavior predicts the potential of separating viruses with carefully designed microchannels and choices of experimental condition.
DEP-based microfluidics also shows great potential in manipulating blood samples, specifically rapid separations of blood cells and proteins. To investigate the ability of g-iDEP device in blood sample manipulation, some proofs of principle work was accomplished including separating two cardiac disease-related proteins (myoglobin and heart-type fatty acid binding protein) and red blood cells (RBCs). Consistent separation was observed, showing retention of RBCs and passage of the two spiked protein biomarkers. The numerical concentration of RBCs was reduced (~70 percent after one minute) with the purified proteins available for detection or further processing. This study explores and extends the use of the device from differentiating similar particles to acting as a sample pretreatment step.
ContributorsDing, Jie (Author) / Hayes, Mark A. (Thesis advisor) / Ros, Alexandra (Committee member) / Buttry, Daniel A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
As selenium and chromium are toxic even at low levels, it is very necessary to remove them from drinking water with proper ways. In this work, titanium dioxide based photocatalysts were mainly investigated in detail for their photoreduction ability towards selenate and chromate in aqueous environment. Firstly, photoreduction ability of layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets with commercial TiO2 particle hybrid materials was investigated towards selenate or chromate. The results showed that commercial LDH/TiO2 (P90) composite, homemade LDH nanosheets/TiO2 (P90) composite and also in situ LDH/TiO2 (P25) composite all did not indicate significant improvement on photoreduction performance towards selenate or chromate. Secondly, TiO2 nanosheets material was synthesized with TiS2 as precursor via hydrothermal treatment. Morphology of TiO2 nanosheets were characterized by SEM, AFM and TEM. Photodegradation of MB (methylene blue) with TiO2 nanosheets was performed. In the future, first approach is to synthesize visible-light driven LDH photocatalyst NiFe-LDH nanosheets with TiO2 nanosheets hybrid material for selenate removal. Second approach is to use anion intercalation/insertion via electrochemical process to remove anions in drinking water.
ContributorsJing, Hangkun (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Sieradzki, Karl (Committee member) / Wang, Qinghua (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
New sol-gel routes based on peroxo complexes of early transition metals in a highly acidic medium were developed, to prepare metal oxide phosphates that feature structural protons. A sol-gel synthetic route was chosen because it allows atomic level mixing of precursors and lower heating temperatures, which are preferable in exploring metastable phases. Titanium and molybdenum sol-gel chemistries were the focus of the initial studies and the synthesis of Ti1-xMoxP2O7 (x = 0 – 0.5) and Mo1-yTiyP2O8-y (y = 0 – 0.4) type metal oxide phosphates were explored. For the synthesis of the metal oxide phosphates, hydrogen peroxide was employed to prepare the respective precursor solutions. The peroxide ligand suppressed the immediate precipitation of metal cations in aqueous medium, by coordinating to Ti4+ and Mo6+ ions, and produced a soft wet-gel following polycondensation. Phosphoric acid was used to acidify the reaction medium and to provide protons and phosphate ions as structural components. From this synthetic route, a series of Ti1-xMoxP2O7 (x = 0 – 0.5) and Mo1-yTiyP2O8-y (y = 0 – 0.4) crystalline compounds, with various degrees of purity, were synthesized. For x = 0 and y = 0, the crystalline compounds TiP2O7 and MoP2O8 were produced, respectively, after calcining at 600 °C.
In pursuit of new metastable molybdenum oxide phosphate compounds, peroxo-molybdenum precursor mixtures with different molar ratios were treated gently by low-temperature heating. After controlled drying in a lab oven, MoO2(H2O)(HPO4) crystals were obtained as a highly crystalline pure product instead of a gel. The dissolution of MoO2(H2O)(HPO4) in water and precipitation with a CsCl solution produced a new crystalline compound with a cubic unit cell (a = 11.8(2) Å). Further studies will lead to crystal structure determination and elucidation of the aqueous chemistry of MoO2(H2O)(HPO4).
In pursuit of new metastable molybdenum oxide phosphate compounds, peroxo-molybdenum precursor mixtures with different molar ratios were treated gently by low-temperature heating. After controlled drying in a lab oven, MoO2(H2O)(HPO4) crystals were obtained as a highly crystalline pure product instead of a gel. The dissolution of MoO2(H2O)(HPO4) in water and precipitation with a CsCl solution produced a new crystalline compound with a cubic unit cell (a = 11.8(2) Å). Further studies will lead to crystal structure determination and elucidation of the aqueous chemistry of MoO2(H2O)(HPO4).
ContributorsAbeysooriya, Shanika (Author) / Seo, Dong K (Thesis advisor) / Chan, Candace K. (Committee member) / Trovitch, Ryan J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018