Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Organic Photochemistry: Remote Delivery Of Reactive Oxygen Intermediates Via A Heterogeneous Approach, Niluksha Walalawela Abeykoon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Photosensitized oxidation reactions produce a number of intermediates species, which are generated in varying amounts over time. This complexity presents major challenges in the study of oxidation processes. Mechanistic efforts to separate and deliver reactive oxygen intermediates enable their controlled use in processes such as bacterial inactivation. This thesis describes a heterogeneous reaction approach taken to control the generation and delivery of reactive oxygen intermediates. The mechanistic details of photosensitized reactions were elucidated via synthetic, materials, and physical organic techniques to optimize the delivery of reactive oxygen intermediates. This thesis contains six chapters as described below.

Chapter 1 gives a …

Nanoporous Carbon-Based Co2 Reduction Catalysts: Exploring The Combined Effects Of Surface Chemistry And Porosity, Wanlu Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the first-time sulfur-doped, nitrogen-doped and sulfur, nitrogen-codoped nanoporous carbons were systematically studied as catalysts for CO₂ electrochemical reduction reaction (CO₂ERR). The Faradaic efficiencies (FE) of CO and CH₄ formation were calculated to evaluate the performance of these carbons. The best catalysts showed the FE of CO and CH₄ formation of 29% and 0.76%, respectively. It was found that the overall performance in CO₂ERR dramatically increased upon the reduction pretreatment of the carbons in N₂-saturated electrolyte before the CO₂ reduction process. The pretreated carbon showed the maximum FE of CO …

The Study Of The Degradation Of Hexabromocyclododecane In A Heterogeneous System Containing Fe(Ii) Adsorbed To The Iron Oxide Hematite., Kristian K. Roopnarine

Dissertations and Theses

The reaction of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), a widely used brominated flame retardant, was studied in a heterogenous mixture containing reactive Fe(II) adsorbed to the iron oxide hematite. The adsorbed Fe(II)/iron oxide system has shown to be a potent reductant in the transformation of organic contaminants with relatively water soluble organic contaminants. There currently aren’t many studies involving hydrophobic organic contaminants, such as HBCDD, in this reducing Fe(II)/iron oxide system. The results indicate that across the pHs 6.86, 6.95, 7.15 and 7.35 γ and β-HBCDD are degraded within a couple days. The pseudo-first order rate constants at pH 6.95 are 0.049 hr …