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Chemistry

Missouri State University

Theses/Dissertations

Computational chemistry

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Assessing Interatomic Potentials For Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Soybean Oil Pyrolysis, Tanner Garrett Rust Jan 2024

Assessing Interatomic Potentials For Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Soybean Oil Pyrolysis, Tanner Garrett Rust

MSU Graduate Theses

The world today relies on hydrocarbon combustion for many reasons, including its high energy density that provides ease of transportation. However, hydrocarbons sourced from fossil fuels are not expected to last forever. Biodiesel, a renewable alternative, has many attractive benefits but comes with other downsides. Biodiesel can gel in cold environments and may leave residue in an engine. Pyrolysis of biodiesel has shown promise in addressing these common detriments. Inducing pyrolysis on biodiesel feedstock (commonly soybean oil in the USA) would be an attractive option presuming it continues to produce fossil fuel analogs similar to biodiesel pyrolysis. Herein, Langevin molecular …


Computational Comparison Of Platinum, Base Metals, And Binary Intermetallic Compounds’ Efficiency In Hydrogenation Catalysis, Lauren M. Sayler Jan 2023

Computational Comparison Of Platinum, Base Metals, And Binary Intermetallic Compounds’ Efficiency In Hydrogenation Catalysis, Lauren M. Sayler

MSU Graduate Theses

In the petroleum industry, platinum is used as a catalyst in hydrogenation reactions during petroleum refining. Although platinum is extremely effective as a catalyst, it is expensive. This is an investigation into platinum and what characteristics make it so efficient, with the end goal of finding intermetallic compounds composed of base metals that are as effective in hydrogenation catalysis. The metals used in this investigation are Fe, Co, Ni, Mo, and W. The research performed here is computational and used to support and direct decisions made in the laboratory. The computation is first-principle, which is accomplished using Vienna Ab initio …


Computational Elucidation Of The "Coloring Problem" In Rhenium Aluminum Silicon Compounds, Alec George Neeson Aug 2020

Computational Elucidation Of The "Coloring Problem" In Rhenium Aluminum Silicon Compounds, Alec George Neeson

MSU Graduate Theses

Re1Si1Al1 and its related compounds are potential thermoelectric materials. Previously, it was reported to adopt a MoSi2-type structure with Si and Al atoms statistically sharing the same crystallographic sites. This recent study indicates otherwise – Si and Al are segregated and occupy different sites when mixed with a 1:1:1 stoichiometry. To confirm and rationalize the segregation between Si and Al, this research studied this compound with first-principle calculations. Several model structures have been constructed for Re1Si1Al1 including a number of different super-cell models. Energy analysis confirmed that the …


Computational Study Of Lawesson’S Reagent Mediated Fluorenone Dimerization Forming 9,9’-Bifluorenylidene, Andrew Jourdan Eckelmann May 2018

Computational Study Of Lawesson’S Reagent Mediated Fluorenone Dimerization Forming 9,9’-Bifluorenylidene, Andrew Jourdan Eckelmann

MSU Graduate Theses

The ambition of this work is to start a path to the a priori rational design of high yield production for electron acceptors with finely tuned band gaps, from the comfort of an armchair. To this end, organic photovoltaics offer a cheap and sustainable means of manufacture using readily available materials and avoids the toxicity of some of the heavy metals used in first and second-generation solar cells such as cadmium. The microwave assisted Lawesson’s reagent mediated one-pot one-step solventless synthesis takes less than 3 minutes and results in an 84% yield of 9,9’-bifluorenylidene from two equivalents of fluorenone. While …