Porous materials have application in adsorption based processes due to their high internal surface area and tailorable pore size. They find uses in fields such as catalysis, separation, biotechnology, and microelectronics. Fluids confined in such materials exhibit interesting behavior in regards to the condensation and evaporation mechanisms. Understanding study the behavior of fluids confined in these porous materials is necessary for the efficient design of these materials. The adsorption/desorption isotherm provides valuable information about the effect of network features like pore connectivity and pore size distribution on fluid behavior during pore condensation and evaporation. Such insight can be useful in the characterization of these porous materials. Three dimensionally ordered mesoporous (3DOm) carbon is a porous material that has recently emerged and is of interest. These porous structures are obtained from templating colloidal crystals formed from lysine-silica nanoparticles. The resulting structure consist of spherical pores connected to each other by windows. Due to the use of silica nanoparticles a range of tunable pore sizes can be obtained. These structures have high degree of order. They find applications in the synthesis of zeolites due to their highly controllable pore size. Hence a study of the adsorption properties of these structures is of importance. Molecular modeling has proved effective in the study of porous materials. The development of the density functional theory (DFT) and the dynamic mean field theory (DMFT) has led to great advances in the study of the behavior of confined fluids. The DFT enables the study of the adsorption desorption hysteresis phenomena of confined fluids. The DMFT describes the density profile versus time for a step change in relative pressure on the isotherm. These theories have been applied in the past to two dimensional model pore networks to investigate the mechanisms of adsorption and desorption. In this research project we aim to apply the same to various model 3DOm carbon pore networks. Studying the density distributions in these networks can help understand the thermodynamics of fluid adsorption and desorption in these structures. The results could be useful in understanding the effect of pore structure features like pore size and windows on adsorption and desorption. Also the effect of disorder in the pore network as well as effect of variation in pore size on fluid behavior can be studied. Study of the dynamics of adsorption gives an insight into the nucleation mechanisms that govern the condensation of fluid in the pore. These results could prove useful in the characterization of these porous structures.

The Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is one of the major topics currently studied as a potential way to help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Major car manufacturers are interested in adapting the Li-ion battery in the power trains of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) to improve fuel efficiency. Materials currently used for Li-ion batteries are LiCoO2 (LCO) and graphite—the first materials successfully integrated by Sony into Li-ion batteries. However, due to the high cost and polluting effect of cobalt (Co), and the low volumetric capacity of graphite, new materials are being sought out. LiFePO4 (LFP) and SnO2 are both good alternatives for the cathode and anode materials in Li-ion batteries. But, to create high-performance batteries, nano-sized carbon-coated particles of LFP and SnO2 are required. The present work attempts to develop a new synthesis method for these materials: organic template-assisted synthesis for three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) LFP and porous SnO2. With the newly developed synthesis, highly pure materials were successfully synthesized and tested in Li-ion batteries. The obtained capacity for LFP was 158m Ah/g, which is equivalent to 93% of the theoretical capacity. The obtained capacity for SnO2 was 700 mAh/g, which is equivalent to 90% of the theoretical capacity. Moreover, Hybrid Pulse Power Characterization (HPPC) was used to test LFP and LCO for comparison and feasibility in PHEVs. HPPC is generally used to test the feasibility and capacity fade for PHEVs. It simulates battery use in various driving conditions of PHEVs to study pulse energy consumption and regeneration. In this case, HPPC was conducted on a half-cell battery for the first time to study the phenomena on a single active material, LFP or LCO. Based on the HPPC results, LFP proved to be more practical for use in PHEVs.

The Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is one of the major topics currently studied as a potential way to help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Major car manufacturers are interested in adapting the Li-ion battery in the power trains of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) to improve fuel efficiency. Materials currently used for Li-ion batteries are LiCoO2 (LCO) and graphite—the first materials successfully integrated by Sony into Li-ion batteries. However, due to the high cost and polluting effect of cobalt (Co), and the low volumetric capacity of graphite, new materials are being sought out. LiFePO4 (LFP) and SnO2 are both good alternatives for the cathode and anode materials in Li-ion batteries. But, to create high-performance batteries, nano-sized carbon-coated particles of LFP and SnO2 are required. The present work attempts to develop a new synthesis method for these materials: organic template-assisted synthesis for three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) LFP and porous SnO2. With the newly developed synthesis, highly pure materials were successfully synthesized and tested in Li-ion batteries. The obtained capacity for LFP was 158m Ah/g, which is equivalent to 93% of the theoretical capacity. The obtained capacity for SnO2 was 700 mAh/g, which is equivalent to 90% of the theoretical capacity. Moreover, Hybrid Pulse Power Characterization (HPPC) was used to test LFP and LCO for comparison and feasibility in PHEVs. HPPC is generally used to test the feasibility and capacity fade for PHEVs. It simulates battery use in various driving conditions of PHEVs to study pulse energy consumption and regeneration. In this case, HPPC was conducted on a half-cell battery for the first time to study the phenomena on a single active material, LFP or LCO. Based on the HPPC results, LFP proved to be more practical for use in PHEVs.

The Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is one of the major topics currently studied as a potential way to help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Major car manufacturers are interested in adapting the Li-ion battery in the power trains of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) to improve fuel efficiency. Materials currently used for Li-ion batteries are LiCoO2 (LCO) and graphite—the first materials successfully integrated by Sony into Li-ion batteries. However, due to the high cost and polluting effect of cobalt (Co), and the low volumetric capacity of graphite, new materials are being sought out. LiFePO4 (LFP) and SnO2 are both good alternatives for the cathode and anode materials in Li-ion batteries. But, to create high-performance batteries, nano-sized carbon-coated particles of LFP and SnO2 are required. The present work attempts to develop a new synthesis method for these materials: organic template-assisted synthesis for three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) LFP and porous SnO2. With the newly developed synthesis, highly pure materials were successfully synthesized and tested in Li-ion batteries. The obtained capacity for LFP was 158m Ah/g, which is equivalent to 93% of the theoretical capacity. The obtained capacity for SnO2 was 700 mAh/g, which is equivalent to 90% of the theoretical capacity. Moreover, Hybrid Pulse Power Characterization (HPPC) was used to test LFP and LCO for comparison and feasibility in PHEVs. HPPC is generally used to test the feasibility and capacity fade for PHEVs. It simulates battery use in various driving conditions of PHEVs to study pulse energy consumption and regeneration. In this case, HPPC was conducted on a half-cell battery for the first time to study the phenomena on a single active material, LFP or LCO. Based on the HPPC results, LFP proved to be more practical for use in PHEVs.

Esta Tesis Doctoral se ha enfocado en el diseño y síntesis de catalizadores de NiO-CeO2 para la metanación de CO2 y el reformado seco de metano, como alternativas para la revalorización de CO2. Concretamente, se ha estudiado el mecanismo de reacción de la metanación de CO2 sobre sistemas catalíticos NiO-CeO2 y se han optimizado los sitios activos implicados en esta reacción. Además, se ha estudiado la influencia de la morfología de los catalizadores NiO-CeO2 en su comportamiento catalítico para la reacción de metanación de CO2 utilizando diferentes tipos de materiales, como nanopartículas, nanopartículas soportadas, 3DOM, catalizadores macroporosos convencionales y xerogeles de carbón. Finalmente, se ha diseñado un catalizador basado en nanopartículas y se ha estudiado sus propiedades catalíticas para la reacción de reformado seco de metano.

The Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is one of the major topics currently studied as a potential way to help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Major car manufacturers are interested in adapting the Li-ion battery in the power trains of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) to improve fuel efficiency. Materials currently used for Li-ion batteries are LiCoO2 (LCO) and graphite—the first materials successfully integrated by Sony into Li-ion batteries. However, due to the high cost and polluting effect of cobalt (Co), and the low volumetric capacity of graphite, new materials are being sought out. LiFePO4 (LFP) and SnO2 are both good alternatives for the cathode and anode materials in Li-ion batteries. But, to create high-performance batteries, nano-sized carbon-coated particles of LFP and SnO2 are required. The present work attempts to develop a new synthesis method for these materials: organic template-assisted synthesis for three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) LFP and porous SnO2. With the newly developed synthesis, highly pure materials were successfully synthesized and tested in Li-ion batteries. The obtained capacity for LFP was 158m Ah/g, which is equivalent to 93% of the theoretical capacity. The obtained capacity for SnO2 was 700 mAh/g, which is equivalent to 90% of the theoretical capacity. Moreover, Hybrid Pulse Power Characterization (HPPC) was used to test LFP and LCO for comparison and feasibility in PHEVs. HPPC is generally used to test the feasibility and capacity fade for PHEVs. It simulates battery use in various driving conditions of PHEVs to study pulse energy consumption and regeneration. In this case, HPPC was conducted on a half-cell battery for the first time to study the phenomena on a single active material, LFP or LCO. Based on the HPPC results, LFP proved to be more practical for use in PHEVs.