Neste estudo, silsesquioxanos (POSS) foram empregados como suportes ou modificadores de sílica em sistemas catalíticos heterogêneos. Os silsesquioxanos são constituídos por estruturas octaédricas (T8), nonaédricas (T9(OH)) e decaédricas (T10) contendo grupos orgânicos volumosos e ramificados ligados aos átomos de silício. Os silsesquioxanos foram impregnados com catalisadores metalocênicos, os quais foram imobilizados também sobre sílicas previamente modificadas com POSS. As interações metaloceno-POSS, POSS-sílica e metaloceno-POSS-sílica foram investigadas por diversas técnicas de caracterização, tais como FT-IR-ATR, FT-IR-PAS, FT-IR-IES, DRIFTS, Raman, TGA, RMN no estado sólido, XPS e RBS.Os resultados mostraram que o catalisador metalocênico fixa-se sobre o silsesquioxano através de ligações químicas com o álcool do grupo orgânico, gerando segmentos Zr-O-C e espécies de hidrocloreto de amina. Além disso, os heteroátomos presentes nos grupos orgânicos do POSS podem se coordenar ao metaloceno. A imobilização do metaloceno sobre a sílica modificada com POSS resulta na formação de duas espécies catalíticas, uma delas imobilizada sobre o silsesquioxano e a outra imobilizada diretamente sobre a superfície da sílica. As sílicas solúveis (SS), resultantes da adição de TEOS durante a síntese do silsesquioxanos, também foram testadas como suportes ou modificadores de sílicas comerciais em catalisadores metalocênicos suportados. Os sistemas catalíticos foram caracterizados por FT-IR-ATR, DRIFTS, UV-Vis-DRS, RMN no estado sólido, SAXS, RBS e análise elementar. Os resultados mostraram que as sílicas solúveis têm um maior teor de silanóis do que os silsesquioxanos. Os sistemas catalíticos foram testados em reações de polimerização de etileno. Os silsesquioxanos e as sílicas solúveis mostraram-se eficientes como modificadores da sílica comercial, melhorando a atividade catalítica com respeito ao metaloceno imobilizado diretamente sobre a sílica. Os polímeros obtidos com sistemas heterogêneos apresentaram massas molares maiores do que aqueles obtidos com catalisadores homogêneos. / In this study, silsesquioxanes (POSS) were employed as supports or silica modifiers in heterogeneous catalytic systems. The silsesquioxanes are formed by the octahedral (T8), nonahedral (T9(OH)) and decahedral (T10) structures containing bulky and branched organic groups linked to the silicon atoms. The silsesquioxanes were impregnated with metallocene catalysts, which were immobilized also on POSS-modified silicas. The metallocene-POSS, POSS-silica and metallocene-POSS-silica interactions were investigated by many characterization techniques, such as FT-IR-ATR, FT-IR-PAS, FTIR- IES, DRIFTS, Raman, TGA, solid state RMN, XPS and RBS.The results have shown that the metallocene catalyst is immobilized on silsesquioxane by chemical bonds with alcohol of organic groups, generating Zr-O-C moieties and amine hydrochloride species. Besides, the heteroatoms of organic groups can be coordinated by the metallocene. The immobilization of metallocene on POSS-modified silica leads to a formation of two catalytic species, one of them immobilized on silsesquioxane and the other one immobilized directly on silica surface. Soluble silicas (SS), which result from the addition of TEOS during the silsesquioxane synthesis, were also employed as support or silica modifier for heterogeneous metallocene catalysts. The catalytic systems were characterized by FT-IRATR, DRIFTS, UV-Vis-DRS, solid state RMN, SAXS, RBS e elemental analysis. The results have shown that the soluble silicas have higher silanol content than silsesquioxanes. The catalytic systems were employed in ethylene polymerization reactions. The silsesquioxanes and the soluble silicas were efficient as a silica modifier, improving the catalytic activity regarding to metallocene immobilized on bare silica. The polymers obtained with heterogeneous systems have shown molecular weight higher than that obtained with homogeneous catalysts.

No description available.

This thesis reports on the synthesis and characterization of both symmetrical and asymmetrical Zinc phthalocyanine complexes. The complexes contained groups such as carboxylic, amino and alkyne for covalent grafting to the surface of silica nanoparticles. The use of symmetrical and asymmetrical complexes was geared towards comparing the non-specific binding of the symmetrical complexes to the specific binding observed in the asymmetrical complexes. The complexes were also doped within the silica matrix and compared to the surface grafted conjugates. The complexes and the conjugates were well characterized with a variety of techniques. The fluorescence lifetimes of the phthalocyanine complexes containing either terminal carboxylic groups or an alkyne group showed a mono-exponential decay while the amino containing phthalocyanine complexes gave a bi-exponential decay. A similar trend was observed for their respective conjugates. Some of the conjugates of the asymmetrical complexes showed a decrease in fluorescence lifetimes and a corresponding decrease in fluorescence quantum yields. The fluorescence quantum yields for all the symmetrical complexes studied showed either an improvement or retained the luminescence of the grafted phthalocyanine complex. Most of the conjugates showed a faster intersystem crossing time in comparison to the complexes alone. The grafted or doped conjugates containing symmetrical phthalocyanine complexes with carboxyl groups showed improvements both in fluorescence and triplet quantum yields. All the conjugates except two showed an increase in triplet lifetimes when compared to their respective phthalocyanine complexes. Optical nonlinearities of nine of the phthalocyanine complexes were studied and all the complexes showed characteristic reverse saturable absorption behavior. Complex 10 showed the most promising optical limiting behavior. The aggregation and dissolution studies of the conjugates were also carried out in a simulated biological medium and the silicon level detected was noticed to have increased with incubation time.

Amorphous silica membranes have molecular sieving properties for the separation of hydrogen from gas mixtures at high temperature. Consequently, they are considered to be applied in separation of a shifted syngas coming out of a water-gas-shift-reactor into the syngas and hydrogen. This separation is a key to an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant, which would allow reducing the carbon footprint in power generation industry. The main objective of this thesis was to carry out a preliminary assessment of suitability of currently available amorphous silica membranes for this separation. However, the separation properties of amorphous silica membranes reported in the open literature vary by orders of magnitude. Therefore, in the first part of this thesis the separation properties of hypothetical silica membrane with different pore size distributions were predicted from first principles. Considering different possible gas transport mechanisms, it was concluded that gas transport in amorphous silica membranes is dominated by the activated and non-activated Knudsen diffusion. The activation energy for transport of different species was predicted using the concept of suction energy. Then, with arbitrary pore size distributions gas permeance of hypothetical silica membrane was predicted for different gas species. Since the pore size distribution of amorphous silica membrane cannot be known a priori, the developed model was used to determine the pore size distribution based on experimentally measured single gas permeances of three different species (kindly provided by Natural Resources Canada, CANMET Energy Technology Center (CETC) laboratory in Ottawa) by minimizing the error of the calculated permeance ratios with respect to the experimental values. The results indicate that, depending on how the objective function is defined, more than one pore size distribution can be found to satisfy the experimental permeance ratios. It is speculated that by increasing the number of experimentally determined permeances, a more unique pore size distribution for the tested silica membrane can be obtained. However, even at this early stage, the developed model provides a rational explanation for the effect of membrane densification on the properties of silica membranes. More specifically, a simultaneous decrease in membrane permeance and selectivity due to membrane densification, reported in the literature, is explained by shrinking the size of pores beyond a certain critical value, which depends on the kinetic diameter of gas molecules that are being separated. Comparing theoretically determined permeances, which match experimentally observed permeance ratios, revealed that the experimental permeances are considerably smaller than the theoretical values. The ratio of the two provided the basis for a scaling factor, a new concept that was introduced in this thesis. To simulate membrane module performance, a novel approach was introduced. More specifically, co- and counter-current flow configurations as well as cross-flow configuration were modeled by assuming no change in feed composition over an infinitesimally small element of membrane area. This led to a system of linear, rather than differential equations, which was readily solved numerically.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Chemistry)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / This dissertation investigated the properties of ferrierite synthesised using different SiO2 sources under identical conditions. The SiO2 sources used were TEOS, water-glass, Aerosil 200 and Ludox LS-30. The synthesis procedure comprised preparation of a gel with molar composition: 20 Na2O : Al2O3 : 37 pyrrolidine : 66:5 SiO2 : 6:3 H2SO4 : 1460 H2O. This was followed by hydrothermal treatment at 160 oC in a stainless steel autoclave for 72 h. The solid products were characterised by XRD, SEM, NH3-TPD and BET techniques. The ferrierite prepared using sodium silicate was more crystalline than ferrierite zeolites synthesised using Ludox LS-30, Aerosil 200 and tetraethyl orthosilicate as SiO2 sources. An amorphous phase was produced when ferrierite was synthesised using unhydrolysed TEOS as a sole SiO2 source. The physicochemical properties of the materials were not only affected by the nature of the SiO2 source, but also some synthesis manipulations such as acid-hydrolysis and water-glass addition when TEOS was used as a primary silica source. There were improvements in the materials produced when the TEOS was pre-hydrolysed with HCl and also mixed with water-glass in equal proportions. The SEM images of ferrierite materials synthesised using water-glass and Ludox LS-30 were uniform. The water-glass-based materials were thin sheets, flake-like images and Ludox LS-30-based produced thin-plate-like morphologies. The micrograph of ferrierite synthesised using TEOS as the SiO2 source showed hexagonal-type morphology and aggregates of smaller particles. There were two types of shapes in the ferrierite synthesised using Aerosil 200 as the silica source, namely, octagonal prismatic and hexagonal type morphologies. An equimolar mixture of TEOS and water-glass showed octagonal prismatic shape with triangular faces along certain edges of the material. The NH3-TPD acid site distribution profiles showed two peaks of weak acid strength at low temperatures (≤ 350 oC) for the representative H-ferrierite investigated. The ferrierite materials synthesised using unhydrolysed TEOS and Ludox LS-30 as SiO2 sources, showed NH3 desorption peaks at higher temperatures (≥ 350 oC). These peaks correspond to ammonia eluted from strong acid sites. The BET surface area of ferrierite synthesised using water-glass was high, while the material synthesised using unhydrolysed TEOS had the lowest surface area. Novel crystal shapes, comprising octagonal prisms with additional triangular phases, were observed in ferrierite samples prepared by the use of TEOS/water-glass mixture as silica source. The zeolitic materials prepared in this study were tested for the efficiency in the removal of Cu2+ from simulated wastewater, using a batch method. The effects of initial pH, initial concentration, contact time and adsorbent dose on Cu2+ adsorption were studied. All the materials showed maximum metal uptake efficiency at pH 5, and this pH was fixed in further studies involving other variables. It was observed that the metal uptake from aqueous solution increased with contact time and adsorbent dose. The Na-form of ferrierite synthesised using water-glass was the poorest Cu2+ adsorbent with respect to the four variables investigated (pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and initial metal ion concentration). KEY CONCEPTS Acidity, Adsorption, Ferrierite, Morphology, Silica source.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 1982 / Bibliography: leaves 134-139. / by Bruce A. Robinson. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering

Wetting of a substance has been widely investigated since it has many applications to many different fields. Wetting principles can be applied to better select cleans for front end of line (FEOL) and back end of line (BEOL) cleaning processes. These principles can also be used to help determine processes that best repel water from a semiconductor device. It is known that the value of the dielectric constant in an insulator increases when water is absorbed. These contact angle experiments will determine which processes can eliminate water absorption. Wetting is measured by the contact angle between a solid and a liquid. It is known that roughness plays a crucial role on the wetting of a substance. Different surface groups also affect the wetting of a surface. In this work, it was investigated how wetting was affected by different solid surfaces with different chemistries and different roughness. Four different materials were used: silicon; thermally grown silicon dioxide on silicon; chemically vapor deposited (CVD) silicon dioxide on silicon made from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS); and organosilicate glass (OSG) on silicon. The contact angle of each of the samples was measured using a goniometer. The roughness of the samples was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The chemistry of each of the samples were characterized by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and grazing angle total attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR/GATR). Also, the contact angle was measured at the micro scale by using an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM).

This thesis is focused on understanding the correct method to simulate atomistic models to calculate coefficient of diffusion of water through the membrane. It also aims to fix the method previously used in molecular modelling in which the simulation results did not match the experimental results. These membranes will be used in air dehumidification systems. The four types of membranes namely, polyurethane, polyurethane with silica nano particles, polyurethane with silica nano particles and amine surface modifier, and polyurethane with silica nano particles and aniline surface modifier. These membranes were also simulated to understand the effects of temperatures and pressure using molecular dynamics. The software packages used are MAPS 4.3, Avogadro, EMC, OVITO, and LAMMPS. MAPS, Avogadro and EMC were used to model the membrane at an atomistic level while LAMMPS is used to simulate the model generated. OVITO is used to analyze the simulation visually. The movement of water vapor molecules were tracked through the membrane in the simulation and diffusion coefficient was calculated using Mean square displacement equation. To create a realistic model, silica was dispersed in the Polyurethane matrix, simulated under standard atmospheric conditions. These results will help in further optimizing the membrane for air dehumidification. This will be an energy efficient, and environment friendly way of dehumidification compared to the traditional heat pump type.

Isolating chemically-reactive sites into nanosized compartments is an important mode of control used by Nature to perform chemical transformations with extremely high yields and selectivity. Biological systems are fundamentally organized as bounded and isolated nano- and micro-sized environments featuring distinct localized properties, such as steric crowding, polarity, hydrophobicity, potential for molecular recognition, or pH. Through this compartmentalization, reaction substrates are sequestered away from interfering factors and competing substrates, or are physically prevented from forming alternative products or favoring specific pathways. Inspired by Nature, chemists have explored the rational design and application of various nanocompartments. This work explores three types of nanoconfinement systems capable of catalysis and specific transport: surfactant micelles, block-copolymer micelles, and hollow inorganic nanoparticles. The surfactant micelles are designed as part of a system of self-replicating micelles and are used to show how the chirality of the confinement system effects reaction kinetics. Simple click chemistry between a hydrophilic chiral head and a hydrophobic tail is used to produce an amphiphile under biphasic conditions. Once the product achieves critical micelle concentration, stable micelles can form. These micelles subsequently compartmentalize and pre-concentrate hydrophobic substrates, increasing the reaction rate and resulting in the self-propagation of the micellar structures and their chiralities. The next system explores block-copolymer micelles that are made up of a hydrophobic saturated fluorocarbon block and a hydrophilic block. The amphiphilic copolymers can form aggregates in water and, because of properties unique to the hydrophobic block, this system also increases oxygen solubility in water. Different fluorocarbon monomers are discussed and it was found that the structure of the fluorinated monomer, temperature, and pH effect aggregation behavior and the concentration of dissolved oxygen. Additionally, varying the pH of the system could be used to trigger oxygen release. Similar to the block-copolymer micelles, the hollow inorganic nanoparticles were designed to transport oxygen. Here, hollow silica nanoparticles were designed with a fluorinated interior surface and a hydrophilic exterior. This design allows for highly dispersible nanoparticles in water and facilitates the uptake of saturated fluorocarbon liquids into their cores. Once the saturated fluorocarbon is incorporated, the system can les to increases in oxygen solubility.

This research focused on development of nanoparticle- based therapeutics against amyloid fibrils. Amyloid fibrils are associated with various diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, mad cow disease, Alzheimer’s, and cataracts. Amyloid fibrils develop when proteins change their shape from a native form to a pathogenic “misfolded” form. The misfolded proteins have the ability to recruit more native proteins into the pathogenic forms, which self-assemble into amyloid fibrils that are hallmarks of the various protein-misfolding diseases listed above. Amyloid fibrils are highly resistant to degradation, which may contribute to the symptoms of amyloid diseases. Synthetic drugs, natural compounds, and antibodies are widely explored for potential to stop pathogenic protein assembly or to promote fibril degradation and clearance, but to date have had little success in relieving symptoms in clinical trials. In this research, I have synthesized fluorine-containing silica nanoparticles (NPs), and tested their fibril-inhibiting activity against amyloid fibrils formed by a non-pathogenic protein, β-lactoglobulin (BLG). These fluoro-silica NPs prevented BLG amyloid formation, whereas non-fluorinated nanoparticle analogs did not inhibit fibrillation under the same reaction conditions. The fluoro-silica NPs interacted with the BLG protein in a manner that prevented the protein from adopting a form that could self-assemble into fibrils. Additional applications of the NPs were explored as small-molecule drug-delivery systems; such that multiple functionalities could be introduced into a single nano- therapeutic.