Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis And Applications Of Ceramic (Silicon Carbide And Silicon Nitride), Metallic (Cobalt(0)) And Polymeric (Polyurethane) Aerogels, Parwani M. Rewatkar

Doctoral Dissertations

"A new method has been demonstrated for the synthesis of monolithic ceramic and purely metallic aerogels from xerogel powder compacts, and the use of polyurethane aerogels based on cyclodextrins as efficient desiccants.

I. Highly porous ( > 80%) monolithic SiC and Si₃N₄, aerogels were prepared from compressed compacts of polyurea-crosslinked silica xerogel powders. The process is time efficient as solvent-exchange through powders is fast, and energy efficient as it bypasses drying with supercritical fluids. The final ceramic objects were chemically pure, sturdy, with compressive moduli at 37 ±7 MPa and 59 ± 7 MPa, and thermal conductivities …

Electrodeposited Epitaxial Cobalt Oxides And Copper Metal, Caleb M. Hull

Doctoral Dissertations

"Electrochemical deposition methods are presented for the deposition of Co(OH)₂ and Cu metal. Paper I shows the deposition of β-Co(OH)₂ on Ti through electrochemical reduction of [Co(en)₃]³⁺ to [Co(en)₃]²⁺ in 2M NaOH. The catalytic properties of the deposited Co(OH)₂ towards water oxidation is found comparable to Co₃O₄, with the surface of the Co(OH)₂ converting to CoOOH during the reaction. Paper II gives the conditions suitable for epitaxial growth of Co(OH)₂ on Au(100), Au(110), and Au(111) following the same reduction mechanism as described in Paper I. …

A 1-D Coordination Polymer Route To Catalytically Active Co@C Nanoparticles, Anand Pariyar, Siddharth Gopalakrishnan, Joseph Stansbery, Rajankumar L. Patel, Xinhua Liang, Nikolay Nikolaevich Gerasimchuk, Amitava Choudhury

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Pyrolysis of a 1-D polymeric cobalt(ii) coordination complex ([Co(BDC)(Mim)₂]_n, H₂BDC = benzenedicarboxylic acid; Mim = N-methylimidazole) results in the formation of carbon embedded fcc cobalt nanoparticle composites, Co@C. The as-prepared Co@C shows an agglomerated secondary structure with a highly embedded carbon shell comprising of cobalt nanoparticles of 20-100 nm. These Co@C particles show excellent catalytic activity in the reduction of nitrophenol to aminophenol, studied as a model reaction, and evolves as a promising candidate for the gas phase reduction process.

A Mössbauer Spectral Study Of The Gdco₄₋ₓfeₓb Compounds, Fernande Grandjean, Raphäel P. Hermann, Eustachy S. Popiel, Gary J. Long

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The iron-57 Mössbauer spectra of the GdCo_4-xFe_xB compounds, where x is 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 1, 2, 2.5, and 2.6, have been measured at room temperature and reveal relatively small iron hyperfine fields of approximately 12-18 T, relatively large quadrupole interactions of approximately +0.9 and -1 mm/s, and three very different types of spectra for x=0.10 and 0.15, x=0.25, 1, and 2, and x=2.5 and 2.6. The differences result from both the different easy magnetization directions in these compounds and the different cobalt and/or iron occupancies of the crystallographic 2c and 6i sites. The spectra have …

Cerium Liii-Edge X-Ray Absorption Study Of The Ceₓfe4-YCoYSb₁₂ Skutterudites, Fernande Grandjean, Gary J. Long, Robert Cortès, Donald T. Morelli, Gregory P. Meisner

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The cerium L_III-edge x-ray absorption near-edge spectra of the Ce_xFe_4-yCo_ySb₁₂ compounds have been obtained at 295 K and unambiguously indicate that cerium is in the 4f¹ electronic ground state for all values of 0.22≤x≤0.98 and 0.0≤y≤3.5. This stable trivalent state of cerium is in agreement with the proposed (CeFe₄Sb₁₂) _1-α(Co₄Sb₁₂)α, solid solution structure, in which the cerium atoms are always surrounded by twelve antimony first neighbors and six iron second neighbors, the observed magnetic properties of CeFe₄Sb₁₂ and …