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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Computationally-Driven Insights Into The Ligand Environments Of Materials For Catalysis And Separations, Stephen Vicchio Dec 2023

Computationally-Driven Insights Into The Ligand Environments Of Materials For Catalysis And Separations, Stephen Vicchio

All Dissertations

Designing new catalytic and sorption materials is necessary to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 ◦C by 2050, while also meeting global energy demands. Climate change and energy production are not mutually exclusive; global population growth has direct impacts on global energy demands and climate. In both catalysis and adsorption applications, new technologies are needed to address these challenges. Catalysis can provide alternate, low-energy routes for converting low-value gases into higher-value chemical commodities, thus altering our current energy production. Likewise, new sorption materials can capture previously emitted CO2 from decades of energy production from fossil fuels, thus helping to …


Dft Study Of NiM@Pt1AuN-M-1 (N=19, 38, 55, 79; M = 1, 6, 13, 19) Core-Shell Orr Catalyst, Wen-Jie Li, Dong-Xu Tian, Hong Du, Xi-Qiang Yan Aug 2021

Dft Study Of NiM@Pt1AuN-M-1 (N=19, 38, 55, 79; M = 1, 6, 13, 19) Core-Shell Orr Catalyst, Wen-Jie Li, Dong-Xu Tian, Hong Du, Xi-Qiang Yan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The slow kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) limits the performance of low temperature fuel cells. Thus, it needs to design effective catalysts with low cost. Core-shell clusters (CSNCs) show promising activity because of their size-dependent geometric and electronic effects. The ORR activity trend of Nim@Pt1Aun-m-1(n = 19, 38, 55, 79; m = 1, 6, 13, 19) was studied using the GGA-PBE-PAW methods. The adsorption configurations of *O, *OH and *OOH were optimized and the reaction free energies of four proton electron (H+ + e-) transfer steps were calculated. Using …


Rational Design Of Non-Noble Metal Intermetallic Compounds With Tunable Surface And Catalytic Chemistry Via Combined Computational And Experimental Method, Yuanjun Song Dec 2020

Rational Design Of Non-Noble Metal Intermetallic Compounds With Tunable Surface And Catalytic Chemistry Via Combined Computational And Experimental Method, Yuanjun Song

Doctoral Dissertations

This study focuses upon understanding and rationally tuning the surface reactivity towards C, H, and O of non-noble metal intermetallic compounds (IMCs) catalysts in olefin production and hydrocarbons reforming reactions. In these reactions, different degrees of surface reactivity towards C, H, and O are required to achieve high activity and selectivity as well as stability. A combined computational and experimental method was performed to build this understanding how to rationally design catalysts. Investigations based on quantum chemical calculations indicate surface reactivity towards C, H, and O is a function of element size of constituent elements as well as bulk and …


Theoretical Investigation Of The Biomass Conversion On Transition Metal Surfaces Based On Density Functional Theory Calculations And Machine Learning, Wenqiang Yang Jul 2020

Theoretical Investigation Of The Biomass Conversion On Transition Metal Surfaces Based On Density Functional Theory Calculations And Machine Learning, Wenqiang Yang

Theses and Dissertations

During the past decades, heterogenous catalyzed conversion of biomass to hydrocarbons with similar or identical properties to conventional fossil fuels has gained significantly academic and industrial interest. However, the conventional heterogeneous catalysts such as sulfided NiMo/Al2O3 and CoMo/Al2O3 used have various drawbacks, such as short catalyst lifetime and high sulfur content of product. To overcome the limitations of the conventional sulfided catalysts, new catalysts must be developed, which requires a better understanding of the reaction mechanism of the biomass conversion. Based on density functional theory, in this thesis, we reported a computational calculation study …


Coulombic And Non-Coulombic Effects Of Single And Overlapping Electric Double Layers With Surface Charge Regulation, Raviteja Vangara Dec 2019

Coulombic And Non-Coulombic Effects Of Single And Overlapping Electric Double Layers With Surface Charge Regulation, Raviteja Vangara

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The physical origin of charged interfaces involving electrolyte solutions is in the thermodynamic equilibrium between the surface reactive groups and certain dissolved ionic species in the bulk. This equilibrium is very strongly dependent on the precise local density of these species, also known as potential determining ions in the solution. The latter, however, is determined by the overall solution structure, which is dominated by the large number of solvent molecules relative to all solutes. Hence, the solvent contribution to the molecular structure is a crucial factor that determines the properties of electric double layers. Models that explicitly account for the …


Computational Catalysis: Creating A User-Friendly Tool For Research And Education, Kevin P. Greenman, Peilin Liao Aug 2018

Computational Catalysis: Creating A User-Friendly Tool For Research And Education, Kevin P. Greenman, Peilin Liao

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Catalysis is used in a significant portion of production processes in the industrialized world, including most processing of chemicals and fuels. This makes maximizing the efficiency of catalysts a high priority. However, the immense number of candidates for new catalysts precludes the possibility of testing all of them by experiments. Density functional theory (DFT) has been widely and successfully used to calculate material properties relevant to catalysis and to screen promising candidates for experimental testing, but there currently exists no publicly- available, user-friendly tool for performing these DFT calculations. This work details the development of such a tool for nanoHUB.org …


Synergistic Interactions Of H2 And N2 With Molten Gallium In The Presence Of Plasma, Maria L. Carreon, Daniel F. Jaramillo-Cabanzo, Indira Chaudhuri, Madhu Menon, Mahendra K. Sunkara Dec 2017

Synergistic Interactions Of H2 And N2 With Molten Gallium In The Presence Of Plasma, Maria L. Carreon, Daniel F. Jaramillo-Cabanzo, Indira Chaudhuri, Madhu Menon, Mahendra K. Sunkara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The present study examines the interaction of hydrogen and nitrogen plasmas with gallium in an effort to gain insights into the mechanisms behind the synergetic effect of plasma and a catalytic metal. Absorption/desorption experiments were performed, accompanied by theoretical-computational calculations. Experiments were carried out in a plasma-enhanced, Ga-packed, batch reactor and entailed monitoring the change in pressure at different temperatures. The results indicated a rapid adsorption/dissolution of the gas into the molten metal when gallium was exposed to plasma, even at a low temperature of 100 °C. The experimental observations, when hydrogen was used, indicate that gallium acts as a …


Molecular Dynamics Studies Of The Adsorption Behavior Of Methyl 3-((2-Mercaptophenyl)Imino)Butanoate As Corrosion Inhibitors On Copper Surface, Jianlin Sun, Sang Xiong, Xudong Yan, Yang Xu Oct 2016

Molecular Dynamics Studies Of The Adsorption Behavior Of Methyl 3-((2-Mercaptophenyl)Imino)Butanoate As Corrosion Inhibitors On Copper Surface, Jianlin Sun, Sang Xiong, Xudong Yan, Yang Xu

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.


Applying Bayesian Machine Learning Methods To Theoretical Surface Science, Shane Carr Dec 2015

Applying Bayesian Machine Learning Methods To Theoretical Surface Science, Shane Carr

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Machine learning is a rapidly evolving field in computer science with increasingly many applications to other domains. In this thesis, I present a Bayesian machine learning approach to solving a problem in theoretical surface science: calculating the preferred active site on a catalyst surface for a given adsorbate molecule. I formulate the problem as a low-dimensional objective function. I show how the objective function can be approximated into a certain confidence interval using just one iteration of the self-consistent field (SCF) loop in density functional theory (DFT). I then use Bayesian optimization to perform a global search for the solution. …


Electrochemical Catalysis: A Dft Study, Li Li, Zi-Dong Wei Aug 2014

Electrochemical Catalysis: A Dft Study, Li Li, Zi-Dong Wei

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this review, we focus on achievements in electro-catalysis based on the density function theory study. The relationships among the electrode potential, electronic structure of catalysts and electro-catalytic activity are summarized in three parts: the adsorption and desorption of species, electron transfer, and stability of catalysts. The electrode potential and the electronic structure (d-band center or Fermi (HOMO) energy) of catalysts significantly influence the formation, adsorption and desorption of surface species on electrode. The electro-catalytic activity can be improved by modulating the electrode potential and electronic structure of catalysts.


In Situ Study Of The Role Of Substrate Temperature During Atomic Layer Deposition Of Hfo2 On Inp, H. Dong, Santosh Kc, X. Qin, B. Brennan, S. Mcdonnell, D. Zhernokletov, C. Hinkle, J. Kim, K. Cho, R. Wallace Oct 2013

In Situ Study Of The Role Of Substrate Temperature During Atomic Layer Deposition Of Hfo2 On Inp, H. Dong, Santosh Kc, X. Qin, B. Brennan, S. Mcdonnell, D. Zhernokletov, C. Hinkle, J. Kim, K. Cho, R. Wallace

Faculty Publications

The dependence of the “self cleaning” effect of the substrate oxides on substrate temperature during atomic layer deposition (ALD) of HfO2 on various chemically treated and native oxide InP (100) substrates is investigated using in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The removal of In-oxide is found to be more efficient at higher ALD temperatures. The P oxidation states on native oxide and acid etched samples are seen to change, with the total P-oxide concentration remaining constant, after 10 cycles of ALD HfO2 at different temperatures. An (NH4)2 S treatment is seen to effectively remove native oxides and passivate the InP surfaces …


Rational Design Of Perovskite Based Anode Materials For Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: A Computational Approach, Suwit Suthirakun Jan 2013

Rational Design Of Perovskite Based Anode Materials For Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: A Computational Approach, Suwit Suthirakun

Theses and Dissertations

A key challenge in the development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is related to finding a suitable replacement for Ni-based cermet anodes. Although conventional Ni-based electrodes exhibit excellent catalytic activity and current collection, they suffer from several limitations such as instability upon redox cycling, nickel sintering, and sulfur and carbon poisoning when exposed to practical hydrocarbon fuels. Therefore, alternative anode materials need to be developed for SOFCs. Among the novel anode electrodes, perovskite based materials are of great interest because they have been shown to satisfy most intrinsic SOFC anode requirements such as high thermodynamic stability in anodic …


Chemical Potential Perturbation: Extension Of The Method To Lattice Sum Treatment Of Intermolecular Potentials, Stan G. Moore, Dean R. Wheeler Apr 2012

Chemical Potential Perturbation: Extension Of The Method To Lattice Sum Treatment Of Intermolecular Potentials, Stan G. Moore, Dean R. Wheeler

Faculty Publications

The recently developed chemical potential perturbation (CPP) method [S. G. Moore and D. R. Wheeler, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 114514 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3561865.] is extended to the lattice (Ewald) sum treatment of intermolecular potentials. The CPP method predicts chemical potentials for a range of composition points using the local (position-dependent) pressure tensor of an inhomogeneous system. When computing the local pressure tensor, one can use the Irving-Kirkwood (IK) or Harasima (H) contours of distributing the pressure. We compare these two contours and show that for a planar interface, the homogeneous pressure and resulting chemical potential can be approximated with …


Chemical Potential Perturbation: A Method To Predict Chemical Potentials In Periodic Molecular Simulations, Stan G. Moore, Dean R. Wheeler Mar 2011

Chemical Potential Perturbation: A Method To Predict Chemical Potentials In Periodic Molecular Simulations, Stan G. Moore, Dean R. Wheeler

Faculty Publications

A new method, called chemical potential perturbation (CPP), has been developed to predict the chemical potential as a function of density in periodic molecular simulations. The CPP method applies a spatially varying external force field to the simulation, causing the density to depend upon position in the simulation cell. Following equilibration the homogeneous (uniform or bulk) chemical potential as a function of density can be determined relative to some reference state after correcting for the effects of the inhomogeneity of the system. We compare three different methods of approximating this correction. The first method uses the van der Waals density …