Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Utilization Of Biomass Derived Furans In Value-Added Organics And Heterogeneous Oxorhenium Catalysts For Deoxydehydration Of Diols, Benjamin L. Wegenhart

Open Access Dissertations

As fossil fuels are depleted, there is a growing focus on renewable chemicals based on biomass materials, including both fuels and chemical feedstocks. Current methods for biomass utilization include biological conversion to produce ethanol and various thermochemical routes (gasification, pyrolysis, liquefaction, hydrothermal treatment, etc.). Furfural is one particular chemical that can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass in good yields through the dehydration of sugar residues. It can be used as a feedstock for chemicals such as furan and THF, or as a platform molecule for making liquid fuels. The objective of this research is to investigate new pathways for the …

Preparation Of Mesoporous Silica Supported Ruthenium Oxides And The Application And Kinetic Study In The Catalysis Of Water Oxidation, Yang Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

Photo-induced water splitting of water into H2 and O2 has been a major focus in the development of clean and renewable energy. The development of viable and efficient catalysts that facilitates O2 production remains the major challenge in the study of the corresponding half-reaction of water oxidation. There are plenty of metal oxides reported active in the catalysis of water oxidation. However, several important performance bench marks of those materials, such as the non-stoichiometric production of O2, slow reaction rate and/or low quantum efficiency, remain to be improved.

Ruthenium oxide (RuO2) has long been known as one of the most …

Vibrational Spectroscopy Of Intermediates Of C-H Bond Activation By Transition Metal Oxide Cations, Gokhan Altinay

Open Access Dissertations

Direct, efficient oxidation of alkanes is a long-standing goal of catalysis. Gas phase FeO+ can convert methane to methanol and benzene to phenol under thermal conditions. Two key intermediates of these reactions are the [HO-Fe-R]+ insertion intermediate and Fe+(ROH) (R=CH3 or C6H5) exit channel complex. This work describes measurements of the vibrational spectra of these intermediates and electronic structure theory calculations of the potential energy surfaces for the reactions. They help to characterize the mechanism for these reactions. Chapter 1 describes previous studies of methane-to-methanol and benzene-to-phenol conversion by gas-phase transition metal oxide cations. Spectra of gas-phase reaction intermediates are …