Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Nanostructured Thin Film Synthesis By Aerosol Chemical Vapor Deposition For Energy Storage Applications, Tandeep Singh Chadha

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Renewable energy sources offer a viable solution to the growing energy demand while mitigating concerns for greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. This has led to a tremendous momentum towards solar and wind-based energy harvesting technologies driving efficiencies higher and costs lower. However, the intermittent nature of these energy sources necessitates energy storage technologies, which remain the Achilles heel in meeting the renewable energy goals. This dissertation focusses on two approaches for addressing the needs of energy storage: first, targeting direct solar to fuel conversion via photoelectrochemical water-splitting and second, improving the performance of current rechargeable batteries by developing new …

Nanoparticle Formation In The Flame Synthesis Of Multicomponent Nanostructured Materials For Clean Energy Applications, Jiaxi Fang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation studies the initial stages of particle formation during the combustion synthesis of multicomponent nanomaterials. Combustion is commonly used for the production of nanomaterials at industrial scales and has advantages of high production rates, low waste generation, and scalability. However, there are limitations in being able to apply this synthesis approach to more advanced multicomponent systems. Gas to particle conversion in flames occurs through precursor decomposition, collisional growth, coagulation, condensation, and sintering. There is a fundamental gap in knowledge on the initial stages of particle formation in flames below 2nm due to measurement difficulties and instrumentation limitations. Using a …

Crumpled Graphene Oxide: Aerosol Synthesis And Environmental Applications, Yi Jiang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Environmental technologies, such as for water treatment, have advanced significantly due to the rapid expansion and application of nanoscale material science and engineering. In particular, two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO), has demonstrated considerable potential for advancing and even revolutionizing some of these technologies, such as engineered photocatalysts and membranes. To realize such potential, an industrially scalable process is needed to produce monomeric and aggregation-resistant GO nanostructures/composites, in addition to new knowledge of material properties, behavior, and performance within an environmental context.

Research presented in this thesis addresses both scientific and engineering gaps through the development of a simple, yet robust aerosol-based …

Application Of Voltammetry For Electroanalytical Measurement Of Concentrations In Lacl3-Mgcl2 Mixtures In Eutectic Licl-Kcl, Zhonghang Wang, Devin Rappleye, C S. Yang, Michael Simpson

Faculty Publications

For electroanalytical measurement of molten chloride salts, various voltammetry methods have been used on mixtures of MgCl₂ and LaCl₃ in eutectic LiCl-KCl. These salt mixtures are of primary interest to spent nuclear fuel electrorefining systems. MgCl₂ is used as a surrogate for PuCl₃, while LaCl₃ represents rare earth fission product salts. Cyclic voltammetry scans with these salt mixtures exhibited extra peaks, presumably due to underpotential deposition of La(III) ions onto Mg. Quantitatively, the current contribution from each peak was best determined using normal pulse voltammetry and fit to the Cottrell equation. This yielded linear …

Development And Characterization Of Oxygen Sensitive Microbial Biosensors, Jonathan Lee

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Publications

Microbial biosensors are useful in detecting suboptimal conditions in a bioreactor. This detection can help in development of improved mixing methods to reduce the occurrence of these conditions. In this research, the activities of 3 promoters known to have activity under anaerobic conditions, the gadB promoter, an FNR protein activated promoter, and the pfl promoter, were tested for activity under anaerobic conditions by connecting them to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. Using two types of media, Luria-Bertani (LB) and Wilms-Reuss media, the activity of these promoters under aerobic and anaerobic conditions were tested. Results indicate that while the FNR …

Amine-Thiol Solution Route Method For Fabricating Cdxzn1-Xs Thin Film Solar Cells, Preston D. Fernandez, Xianyi Hu, Carol Handwerker, Rakesh Agrawal

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Cadmium zinc sulfide, CdZnS, is a promising material for the buffer layer of thin film solar cells because the alloy is considerably more cost effective and more optimizable than pure cadmium sulfide, CdS, in terms of band gap. The current fabrication methods of the buffer layer often require expensive equipment or produce undesirable impurities in the alloy. This study investigates a cost effective and scalable solution route method to synthesize the CdZnS buffer layer. Molecular precursors of CdZnS were dissolved in varying molecular ratios of cadmium and zinc in a mixture of hexylamine and propanethiol. The resulting alloys produced were …

Hydrophobic Zeolites For Applications In Adsorption And Catalysis, Zige Huang, Michael Cordon, Rajamani Gounder

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lewis acidic zeolites such as Sn-Beta are commonly studied for use as selective catalysts for glucose isomerization to fructose in liquid water. Glucose to fructose isomerization is a critical reaction for lignocellulosic biomass upgrading, which converts abundant and renewable feedstocks into commercially desirable fuels and chemicals.

Industrial applications require catalysts that maintain optimal reactivity over long time scales, yet at typical reaction temperatures, Lewis acidic Beta zeolites are known to deactivate in liquid water through poorly understood mechanisms. Recent work in our group has shown that interactions between water and Sn-Beta zeolites can cause leaching of active Sn sites from …

Exploring The Effects Of Aromatic Molecules In Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jacob M. Crain, Cliff Johnston, Rituraj Borgohain

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) methods are being used as a viable contributor to the world’s growing energy demands. Due to the complex chemical composition of crude oil, attempting to optimize the surfactant concentration and salinity of formulations is done empirically. This process can be very time intensive due to the wide variety of surfactant structures available for cEOR. Surfactant selection is typically done by matching the average chain length of the oil with that of the surfactant. In this study, we are trying to understand how aromatic structures present in Illinois Basin crude oil interact with surfactants. This will …

Continuous Ligand-Assisted Elution Chromatography Applied To Separation Of Rare Earth Elements, Jeremy A. Weinstock, David M. Harvey, N.-H. Linda Wang

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Rare earth elements (REEs) are metals used to make many valuable products such as magnets and electronics. Following their extraction from larger materials, REEs are to be separated into their individual components as high purity is required for product manufacture. Purification is very difficult because most (15/17) of the REEs are lanthanides (Ln’s) and Ln ions have the same valence and similar atomic radii. The current industrial process for purifying REEs involves using toxic solvents to perform a series of liquid-liquid extractions. Ling and Wang (2015) proposed a ligand-assisted batch chromatography process to purify Ln’s. The latter approach is a …

Quantification And Characterization Of Aluminum Distributions In Commercial Beta And Mordenite Zeolites By Cobalt Exchange, Rebecca L. Reitzel, Claire T. Nimlos, Rajamani Gounder

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The aluminum distribution throughout the zeolite framework determines the structural, ion-exchange and catalytic properties of the zeolite. Several methods have been proposed to control the Al distribution, but in order to accurately assess these methods a procedure is needed to quantify Al distribution in various zeolite frameworks. Co²⁺ ions exchange onto the zeolite framework at Al pairs, and atomic absorbance spectroscopy (AAS) can be used to quantify the number of exchanged Co²⁺ ions and, in turn, the overall number of Al pairs. Each framework exhibits differences in pore size and channel configuration which affect the equilibrium conditions needed …

Production Of Porous Alginate Substrates Via Membrane Emulsification For Pharmaceutical Applications, Genesis D. Correa-Rivera, David A. Acevedo, Zoltan K. Nagy

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released in 2013 a report that established the pharmaceuticals current good manufacturing practices for the 21^st century. This report encourages the creation of new technology in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, this research aims to develop a reliable method to produce porous polymers particles to be used in a novel continuous crystallization in porous substrate. The aim of the current work is to create porous polymer microspheres with uniform particle size distribution using a commercially available membrane emulsification system. In the present study, the emulsification was made using a dispersed phase composed of miglyol …

Effect Of Conveying And Distributive Mixing Elements On Breakage Phenomenon In Twin Screw Granulation, Jiayu Li, Shankali U Pradhan, Carl Wassgren

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Twin screw wet granulation (TSG) is gaining more attention and becoming an important process in the pharmaceutical industry. The process is widely implemented because of its flexibility, short residence time, and small equipment footprint. Past studies have shown that screw elements can have a significant impact on the performance of the TSG process. In addition, these studies identified that breakage of wet mass is a significant step in the process. Currently there is no literature that focuses on the effect of each screw element on the breakage process. In this work, experiments have been designed to isolate the breakage process …

Pt-Cu Catalysts For Catalytic Dehydrogenation Of Alkanes For Energy Production, Zixue Ma, Zhenwei Wu, Jeffrey T. Miller

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

More active, selective and stable catalysts are in demand to increase the yields of olefins production from light alkane dehydrogenation. Cu was reported to promote Pt catalysts and Pt-Cu catalysts has been shown to achieve increased olefin selectivity and decreased deactivation rate. Pt-Cu catalysts with different Pt:Cu molar ratios may have different crystal structure and performance. This study seeks to understand of the promotion effect of Cu on Pt alkane dehydrogenation catalysts. Four different Pt-Cu catalysts with different atomic ratios were prepared and tested for propane dehydrogenation at 550℃. Synchrotron in situ X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy are used …

A Highly Efficient Dual Rotating Disks Photocatalytic Fuel Cell With Wedged Surface Tio2 Nanopore Anode And Hemoglobin Film Cathode, Chen Yang, Yi He, Kan Li, Diwen Ying, Ye Yao, Tiantian Tang, Yalin Wang, Jinping Jia

Publications and Research

In this study, a dual rotating-disk photocatalytic fuel cell using TiO₂ on Ti plate with a wedged surface as the anode and hemoglobin (Hb) on graphite as the cathode was investigated and found to show excellent performance of simultaneous organic pollutant degradation and electricity generation. This study is based on a well-developed photocatalytic fuel cell equipped with dual rotating disks for wastewater treatment that we developed previously, and the innovation of this new device is using a hemoglobin on graphite cathode for in situ hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generation. The result proved with confidence that H …

Fast Diffusion Of Silver In Tio2 Nanotube Arrays, Wanggang Zhang, Yiming Liu, Diaoyu Zhou, Hui Wang, Wei Liang, Fuqian Yang

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Using magnetron sputtering and heat treatment, Ag@TiO₂ nanotubes are prepared. The effects of heat-treatment temperature and heating time on the evolution of Ag nanofilms on the surface of TiO₂ nanotubes and microstructure of Ag nanofilms are investigated by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Ag atoms migrate mainly on the outmost surface of the TiO₂ nanotubes, and fast diffusion of Ag atoms is observed. The diffusivity for the diffusion of Ag atoms on the outmost surface of the TiO₂ nanotubes at 400 °C is 6.87 × 10⁻¹⁸ m²/s, …

Study On Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunch Bruise In Harvesting And Transportation To Quality, Andreas Wahyu Krisdiarto, Lilik Sutiarso

Makara Journal of Technology

There are losses of production due to oil palm field’s material handling. Activities that may raise the losses are harvesting and transportation, which may cause bruise and damage to fruit. This research was aimed to learn the bruise of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) phenomenon in harvesting and transportation. Method used in this research was measuring the bruise area resulted by FFB falling when harvested, loading (throwing up) FFB to truck bin, and transporting using truck. These data, coupled with weight of bruised fruit, were calculated to get FFB bruise index. Each FFB bruise index is related to potential free fatty …

Automatic Arrhythmia Beat Detection: Algorithm, System, And Implementation, Wisnu Jatmiko, I Md. Agus Setiawan, Muhammad Ali Akbar, Muhammad Eka Suryana, Yulistiyan Wardhana, Muhammad Febrian Rachmadi

Makara Journal of Technology

Cardiac disease is one of the major causes of death in the world. Early diagnose of the symptoms depends on abnormality on heart beat pattern, known as Arrhythmia. A novel fuzzy neuro generalized learning vector quantization for automatic Arrhythmia heart beat classification is proposed. The algorithm is an extension from the GLVQ algorithm that employs a fuzzy logic concept as the discriminant function in order to develop a robust algorithm and improve the classification performance. The algorithm is tested against MIT-BIH arrhythmia database to measure the performance. Based on the experiment result, FN-GLVQ is able to increase the accuracy of …

Optimization Of Electricity Generation Schemes In The Java-Bali Grid System With Co2 Reduction Consideration, Farizal Farizal, Wenty Eka Septia, Amar Rachman, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia

Makara Journal of Technology

This research considers the problem of reducing CO2 emissions from the Java-Bali power grid system that consists of a variety of power-generating plants: coal-fired, natural gas, oil, and renewable energy (PV, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, and landfill gas). The problem is formulated as linear programming and solved using LINGO 10. The model was developed for a nation to meet a specified CO2 emission target. Two carbon dioxide mitigation options are considered in this study, i.e. fuel balancing and fuel switching. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions by 26% in 2021, State Electric Supply Company (PLN) has to generate up to …

Apparent Porosity And Compressive Strength Of Heat-Treated Clay/Iron Sand/Rice Husk Ash Composites Over A Range Of Sintering Temperatures, M. Nizar Machmud, Zulkarnain Jalil, Mochammad Afifuddin

Makara Journal of Technology

Novel composites of clay/iron sand/rice husk ash (RHA) have been developed. Electric furnace was used to perform heat treatment on the composites to study the effect of sintering temperature on their apparent porosity and compressive strength. Two types of RHA with different bulk density were prepared to gain an understanding of the influence of apparent porosity on compressive strength of the heat-treated composites over a range of sintering temperatures. Heattreated composites, made of clay/iron sand and clay/RHA, were also prepared as a referenced material. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was further performed to comprehensively discuss the role of iron sand on …

The Effect Of Irradiation Of Fe And Ar Ion On The Surface Morphology Of Diamond Thin Film Related To The Magnetoresistance Property, Salim Mustofa, Setyo Purwanto, Kenji Mishima

Makara Journal of Technology

The irradiation of Fe and Ar ion was applied on the surface of diamond/Si thin film to know its effect on the morphology of thin film.The magnetoresistance property was also studied. Ion irradiation treatment using Fe ion followed by argon ion at the energy of 70keV and a dose of 1 x 1015 ion/cm2 have been conducted on the surface of two types of thin film, diamond/Si (111) and diamond/Si (100). Both thin films were made by using a CVD method, and the thickness of the thin film is 1000-nm. From simulations using the software called Stopping and Range of …