Engineering Commons^™

Earth Abundant Catalyst For Evironmental Sustainability Applications, Javier Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The development of experimental methodologies for synthesizing a diverse range of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles tailored for sustainable water treatment applications was investigated. These nanoparticles are prepared using environmentally friendly and scalable synthesis methods, underscoring their potential for large-scale production. Synthesized nanoparticles are harnessed for various processes, including catalysis and electrocatalysis, with a primary objective of degrading and removing organic pollutants from water. Key to this research is the encapsulation of nanoparticles within solid supports. Multiple methodologies are explored to engineer supports that ensure nanoparticle stabilization, monodispersion, and prevent unintended release into the environment. Two alternative approaches were evaluated …

Chromatographic Dynamic Chemisorption, Shreya Thakkar

Masters Theses

Reaction rates of catalytic cycles over supported metal catalysts are normalized by the exposed metal atoms on the catalyst surface, reported as site time yields which provide a rigorous standard to compare distinct metal surfaces. Defined as the fraction of exposed metal surface atoms to the total number of metal atoms, it is important to measure the dispersion of supported metal catalysts to report standardized rates for kinetic investigations. Multiple characterization techniques such as electron microscopy, spectroscopy and chemisorption are exploited for catalyst dispersion measurements. While effective, electron microscopy and spectroscopy are not readily accessible due to cost and maintenance …

Electrocatalytic “Volcano-Type” Effect Of Nano-Tio2 (A)/(R) Phase Content In Pt/Tio2-CnX Catalyst, Ai-Lin Cui, Yang Bai, Hong-Ying Yu, Hui-Min Meng

Journal of Electrochemistry

The relationship between the electrochemical activity of fuel cell catalysts and Pt particle size, as well as the catalyst support and co-catalyst is still unclear. In this work, FESEM, XRD, BET, TEM and CV techniques were adopted to investigate the effects of TiO₂ anatase (A)/rutile (R) phases content on the electrochemical activity of Pt electrocatalyst. The results showed that the anatase-rutile phase transformation occurred during the heat treatment of TiO₂ at 700 ~ 900 oC accompanied by the growth of two-phase crystalline size, and anatase was completely transformed into rutile at 900 oC. TEM results revealed that the …

Synthesis And Advanced Characterization Of Energy Materials, Erik Sarnello

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Catalysts are used in an extremely broad range of systems including everything from biological systems to industrial processes. An ideal catalyst offers robust stability and high activity. This work focuses on the synthesis and characterization of materials that show promise in the field of catalysis. Advanced synchrotron characterization techniques and unique experimental design are highlighted to provide foundation work that will provide the necessary information to aid in designing and fabricating catalytic materials. Supported metal nanoparticle (SMN) catalysts are enormously crucial for many catalytic applications. However, catalyst deactivation, caused by sintering and coke formation, is a ubiquitous problem that significantly …

Nio@Rgo Supported Palladium And Silver Nanoparticles As Electrocatalysts For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Shuo Yao, Tai-Zhong Huang, Rizwan Haider, Heng-Yi Fang, Jie-Mei Yu, Zhan-Kun Jiang, Dong Liang, Yue Sun, Xian-Xia Yuan

Journal of Electrochemistry

For pervasive applications of fuel cells, highly efficient and economical materials are required to replace Pt-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this study, the NiO@rGO, Pd-NiO@rGO and Ag-NiO@rGO nanoparticles were synthesized, and their catalytic performances toward ORR were investigated. The results revealed that all the three materials were capable of catalyzing ORR, but both the Pd-NiO@rGO and Ag-NiO@rGO showed the better performances compared with the NiO@rGO in terms of the reaction pathway being 4-electron process, the increases of the onset potential and the intermediate yielding rate, as well as the extended stability. Moreover, the effect of Pd modification …

Development Of Novel Adsorbent For Industrial Waste Water Treatment, Islam M. Al-Akraa, Hassan M. Shehata Eng, Dalia A. Ali Eng., Hoda A. Elsawy Dr

Chemical Engineering

The main objective of this research project is to perform some experimental procedures to inform the ability of the novel adsorbent used in this project. The chemical modification of the adsorbent is the chemical oxidation of pure powder chitosan using some specific redox pairs which are potassium dichromate and sodium bisulphite. After preparing the modified chitosan, there are some parameters that must be discussed during the adsorption process. The first parameter is the time parameter, showing experimentally the optimum time for adsorption under certain conditions by collecting values of absorbance and concentration of thymol blue adsorbed after the process from …

Influences Of Morphology And Nitrogen Doping On The Electrocatalytic Characteristics For Oxygen Reduction Reaction Of Nio/Rgo, Dong Liang, Heng-Yi Fang, Shuo Yao, Jie-Mei Yu, Zhao-Liang Zhang, Zhan-Kun Jiang, Xue-Ping Gao, Tai-Zhong Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this research, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported sheet-like NiO (NiO/rGO) and spherical-like NiO (NiO/N-rGO) catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were prepared. The structures, morphologies and chemical states of the two catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical catalytic performance of the two catalysts for ORR were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), Tafel, linear sweeping voltammetry (LSV), rotating disc electrode (RDE) and rotating ring disc electrode (RRDE) tests. Electrochemical results showed that the current density and onset potential (about 0.89 V) …

Method Of Increasing Mass Transfer Rate Of Acid Gas Scrubbing Solvents, Joseph E. Remias, Cameron A. Lippert, Kunlei Liu

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty Patents

A method of increasing the overall mass transfer rate of acid gas scrubbing solids is disclosed. Various catalyst compounds for that purpose are also disclosed.

Atomically Dispersed Pd On Nanodiamond/Graphene Hybrid For Selective Hydrogenation Of Acetylene, Fei Huang, Yuchen Deng, Yunlei Chen, Xiangbin Cai, Mia Peng, Zhimin Jia, Pengju Ren, Dequan Xiao, Xiaodong Wen, Ning Wang, Hongyang Liu, Ding Ma

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

An atomically dispersed palladium (Pd) catalyst supported onto a defective nanodiamond-graphene (ND@G) is reported here for selective hydrogenation of acetylene in the presence of abundant ethylene. The catalyst exhibits remarkable performance for the selective conversion of acetylene to ethylene: high conversion (100%), ethylene selectivity (90%), and good stability (i.e., steady for at least 30 hours). The unique struc-ture of the catalyst (i.e., atomically dispersion of Pd atoms on graphene through Pd-C bond anchoring) ensure the facile desorption of ethylene against the over-hydrogenation of ethylene to undesired ethane, which is the key for the outstanding selectivity of the catalyst.

Recycling Mf Solid Waste Into Mesoporous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon With Iron Carbide Complex In Graphitic Layers As An Efficient Catalyst For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Can-Yun Zhao, Lin Huang, Yong You, Ying-Fang Yao, Xiao-Gang Su, Hong Wan, Jian-Guo Liu, Cong-Ping Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials with iron ions are known as catalytic growth agents for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells, but the design and synthesis of high-performance and low-cost catalysts still remain a significant challenge. Herein, we present a cost-effective approach to dispose of MF solid waste as the precursor for the synthesis of MCFes catalyst with the favorable structure features such as the high specific surface area, abundant active sites and suitable pore structure. The results showed that the MCFe-10/10/2 had specific surface area as high as 780.7 m²•g^-1 and high efficient catalytic activity comparable …

Transition Metal Carbide (Tmc) Novel Materials For Novel Catalytic Applications, Svetlana Lagoykina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transition metal carbides (TMC) constitute a diverse class of materials and traditionally have many technological applications. TMC became a subject of extensive research since 1973, when their platinum -like properties were discovered. They demonstrated high catalytical activity and selectivity in a variety of chemical reaction and have potential for some novel catalytic application.

This research is an effort to design new high effective, selective and stable bimetal or alkali promoted TMC catalyst. After extensive theoretical research a wide range of TMC, including bimetal and alkali promoted carbides, were synthesized by different methods. All solids were characterized by XRD and microscopy. …

Synthesis Of Platinum And Platinum-Copper Branched Nanoparticles For Electrooxidation Of Methanol, Eric Courtland Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Platinum and Pt alloys are among the most important heterogeneous catalysts for many organic reactions and electrochemical reactions associated with the fuel cell technologies. How to reduce Pt usage while maintaining the performance of the catalysts becomes a subject for intensive research in materials chemistry. For heterogeneous catalysis, the catalytic reactivity and selectivity are strongly correlated with different crystallographic facets exposed on the surface. The facets with high-index planes whose Miller indices with at one is larger than unity are generally more active than those with low-index planes (e.g., {100}, {111}, and {110}). Tuning the morphology of the nanoparticles to …

Environmental And Energy Saving Technologies Of Vinyl Chloride Production, Mykola Kurta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, because of the increase of environmental concerns in process design, the need to enhance conversion to product and prevent generation of wasteful byproducts in the reactor network has become urgent. This prevents high cost treatment and separation costs downstream in the process. Therefore, in this thesis I focus on making production of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) more efficient and on possible ways of industrial organochlorine waste (OCW) recycling. In particular, in the first experiment, we investigate how catalyst and its structure can affect product output.

Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were utilized to investigate the structure of the …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Novel Group 13 Nanostructured Building Block Heterogeneous Silicate Catalysts, Joshua G. Abbott

Doctoral Dissertations

A building block approach and sequential addition methodology were utilized to prepare heterogeneous silicate catalysts containing atomically dispersed group 13 metal (B, Al, Ga) centers. The octa(trimethyltin) silsequioxane, Si8[sub]O12[sub](OSnMe3[sub])8[sub], was used as the building block for the synthesis of these materials. Reaction of the building block with a variety of group 13 metal chlorides led to the formation of cross-linked matrices. All prepared materials were characterized by gravimetric analysis, gas absorption, IR, and NMR. In addition, aluminum and boron samples where characterized by 27[sup]Al and 11[sup]B solid state NMR, and gallium samples were studied using x-ray absorption techniques.

Studies found …

Preparation And Electrocatalytic Activity Of The Pt/Wc/Tio2 Composites, Chun-An Ma, Bin Yu, Mei-Qin Shi, Xiao-Ling Lang

Journal of Electrochemistry

TiO2 was used as the support for preparation of Pt/WC/TiO2 composite catalyst. The composites were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM methods. The electrocatalytical activity of Pt/WC/TiO2 composite for oxidation of methanol was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Pt/WC/TiO2 exhibited higher activity compared with that of Pt/TiO2 and Pt/WC composite catalysts. Based on this we discussed the effects of crystal phases of TiO2 on the electrocatalytical activity of Pt/WC/TiO2 composite catalyst.

Comparison Of Catalytic Performance On Different Materials Supported Pd Catalysts For Formic Acid Oxidation, Su-Dong Yang, Yan-Yu Liang, Zhu-Liang Wen, Qi-Jun Song, Xiao-Gang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Graphite oxide (GO) was prepared from by Hummers method. Then the graphene nanosheets supporting Pd catalysts were prepared by a single-step chemical reduction method. The electrocatalytic performance for formic acid oxidation of the prepared Pd/graphene composite was studied as an electrode material in comparison with the composite catalysts based on the other carbons (MWCNTs, SWCNTs, and Vulcan XC-72 carbon black). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements indicated that the Pd nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surface of the graphene nanosheets with a small particle size. The electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid was studied by electrochemically active …

Abatement Of Benzyl Alcohol And Methyl Ethyl Ketone (Mek) From Polluted Air Over Nanostructured Mn -Supported Alumina Catalyst, Hosein Afshary, Aligoli Niaei

Hosein Afshary

Total combustion of methyl ethyl ketone and benzyl alcohol as two models of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using catalytic method was studied over γ-Al2O3 and Mn/γ- Al2O3 catalysts. Catalyst (Mn/γ-Al2O3) was prepared by wet impregnation and characterized using XRD, BET, ICP-AES and SEM methods and the nanostructure of the catalyst were approved. The activity of the catalysts was measured in a catalytic packed bed reactor under atmospheric pressure and different reaction temperatures at range 150 to 450°C. The studies confirmed that manganese supported on γ-Al2O3 can be suitable for the abatement of the mentioned pollutants from contaminated air and hopefully …

Study Of Nano Structure Mn/Alumina Catalyst Deactivation Through Catalytic Oxidation Of O-Vocs, Hosein Afshary

Hosein Afshary

the deactivation and selectivity behavior of nanostructure Mn/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in catalytic oxidation of an O-VOC (isopropanol) was studied. The polluted air was simulated and the catalyst was tested in the course of 50-h time-on-stream. Characterization of fresh and used catalysts was done using FT-IR, XRD, SEM and EDS methods. Comparing the testing results of this catalyst and that of the industrial Pt/Al2O3 catalyst showed that prepared catalyst can be suitable for substitution with the expensive pt/Al2O3 catalyst in environmental applications.

Investigation Of Deactivation Of Transition Metal Oxide Catalysts Supported On Γ-Al2o3 During Catalytic Oxidation Of Some Oxygen Containing Vocs In A Tubular Reactor, Hosein Afshary

Hosein Afshary

It is necessary to decrease the emission of Volatile organic compound ( VOCs ) to air and among of all destructive techniques used for decreasing these compounds, Catalytic Oxidation is considered a suitable technique but deactivation of catalysts through catalytic processes is one of the major problems and most be studied. In this Project, at First, gamma alumina supported metal oxide catalysts were made and also industrial Pt catalyst was prepared. Then structure of these catalysts was studied using XRD, SEM and FT-IR techniques. These techniques approved the nanostructure of catalysts. The amount of supported metals in each catalyst was …

Design And Development Of Highly Active, Nanoengineered, Platinum Based Core-Shell Electrodes For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Seth Louis Knupp

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Highly active nanoengineered core-shell electrocatalyst have a great potential to be used as fuel cell electrodes. They can alleviate problems related with commercial carbon supported platinum by simultaneously lowering cost while enhancing reaction kinetics and overall performance. More recently, use of nanoengineered core-shell electrode structures have showed their ability to enhance the stability and overall lifetime of the catalyst without sacrificing the electrode's performance. We studied the potential of using highly active core-shell nanoparticles supported on carbon nanomaterials as fuel cell electrodes.

Oxygen Enrichment Effect Of Mno_2-Pt/C Compound Catalyst To The Cathode Of Pemfc, Hong-Feng Xu, Mao-Feng Zhang, Quan-Quan Gan, Cai-Sheng Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

TO study of the oxygen storage material of air cathode is crucial for increasing performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell.Using the MnO2 as oxygen storage materials,a MnO2-Pt/C catalysts were prepared and is used to replace the conventional Pt/C in air cathode.The electrochemical performance of air cathode composed of MnO2 supported on Pt/C and the properties of fuel cell composed of MnO2-Pt/C were investigated by using the CV,galvanostatic dischange method and TEM.

Investigation On The Resistance To Electrochemical Oxidation Of Carbon Nanotubes With Various Diameters, Yu-Yan Shao, Ge-Ping Yin, Yun-Zhi Gao, Peng-Fei Shi

Journal of Electrochemistry

The resistance to electrochemical oxidation of multi-wall carbon nanotubes(CNT) with various diameters is investigated by applying a fixed potential of 1.2 V(RHE) for 120 h in 0.5 mol L~(-1) H_(2)SO_(4).The oxidation current of CNTs decreases with their diameters,but CNTs between 10~20 nm in diameter(D1020) shows the lowest oxidation current.XPS analysis shows that,after oxidation,the increase in surface oxygen for D1020 is the smallest,implying that the oxidation degree for D1020 is the lowest.The conclusion can be reached that CNTs between 10~20 nm in diameter are the most resistant to electrochemical oxidation.The difference in electrochemical stability of CNTs is attributed to the difference …

Oxygen Enrichment Effect Of Ceo_2 To The Cathode Performance Of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Xiang-Li Hou, Hong-Feng Xu, Jian-Hua Dong, Xin Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

CeO_2 was added to Pt/C catalyst in the cathode of PEMFC by both sol and impregnation methods.The samples were evaluated by TEM,cyclic voltammogram techniques and proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance test.The addition of CeO_2 obviously improved the performance of PEMFC and represented a notable function of oxygen enrichment in the cathode side.But with the addition of CeO_2,part of the catalyst surface was covered and led to the performance drop of the PEMFC.The best content of CeO_2 is 1% when it is added by impregnation method and 3% when it is added by sol method.