A new reactor and a novel in-situ sampling technique were developed for the study of the synthesis of CeO2 powders produced from dissolved cerium nitrate salts. The reactor minimized particle recirculation and provided a highly symmetric and undisturbed plasma flow suitable for the analysis of the phenomena affecting the formation of CeO2 powders. The sampling probe provided in-situ sampling of in-flight CeO2 particles and allowed continuous sampling without cross contamination. The sampled particles were collected using a wet collection system composed of a mist atomizer acting as a scrubber and a custom-made spray chamber. The entire collection system is portable and it was tested in the particle range of 20 nm to 100 mum. This information provided a picture of how CeO2 particles were formed. A numerical simulation of different plasma operating parameters using Fluent was presented. A comprehensive droplet-to-particle formation mechanism was deduced based on calorimetry, thermodynamics of CeO2 formation, numerical simulations and collected particles. The effect of adding water soluble fuels (alanine and glycine) to the original cerium nitrate solutions was investigated. Fuel addition decreased the temperature of CeO2 formation by acting as a local heat source as a result of fuel auto-ignition. The addition of fuel caused "particle size discrimination", and a single mode particle size distribution centered between 50-140 nm was achieved along the centerline of the reactor. / Also, heat and mass transfer effects were numerically investigated in evaporating solution droplets (20-40 mum in diameter) containing dissolved hexahydrated cerium nitrate in a stationary rf Ar-O2 thermal plasma. This model was developed to study the evaporation of a solution droplet surrounded by a porous crust in a stagnant rf Ar-O2 thermal plasma under reduced pressure. It considered a three phase system: a liquid core of dissolved Ce(NO 3)3.6H2O in water, a dry porous crust of homogeneously precipitated spherical crystals of equal size, and an Ar-O2 plasma under reduced pressure. The impact of different plasma operating parameters on the temperature and dissolved solid content profiles in the droplet was studied, i.e. surrounding plasma temperature, initial salt content and droplet size, plasma gas composition, and system pressure. Temperature and composition dependant thermophysical properties were used. The model was solved in a moving boundary frame using an ALE approach and considering Stefan flow. It provided the necessary information to understand the droplet to particle transformation steps in regions where in-flight probing was unfeasible, i.e. torch zone.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2004. / Submitted to the Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Mississippi State University. Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Esta tese teve como objetivo avaliar o desempenho de catalisadores de Rh suportados em cério-zircônio (CZ) e em óxido misto de magnésio e alumínio (HT) derivado de hidrotalcita na reação de redução do NO pelo CO em meio estequiométrico. Os suportes puros e impregnados com Rh foram nomeados CZ, RhCZ, HT e RhHT. Os suportes foram preparados por coprecipitação e o metal nobre foi adicionado no teor de 0,15% (m/m) por impregnação a seco. Foram realizados testes de caracterização como fisissorção de N2, DRX, TPR, espectroscopia Raman, DRIFTS, TGA-DTA e TPD-CO/NO. Para a avaliação catalítica, foi utilizada uma mistura de 1%NO + 1%CO em He e a atividade e seletividade foram expressas através das concentrações dos gases envolvidos ao longo de uma rampa de temperatura desde a temperatura ambiente até 500C. Os resultados de caracterização indicaram nítidas diferenças estruturais e físico-químicas entre os dois tipos de catalisadores nas isotermas de adsorção de N2, nos perfis de redução e nos difratogramas, já dando indícios de que os mecanismos de reação seriam diferentes. Pelas análises de DRIFTS identifica-se a presença de bandas características de espécies de CO adsorvidas no Rh somente para o catalisador RhCZ a baixa temperatura, ressaltando a interação Rh-CZ, também evidenciadas pelos resultados de Raman, mas que provavelmente não ocorrem com o óxido misto de Al e Mg. Observou-se que o suporte de CZ foi mais ativo a baixas temperaturas que o suporte de HT, porém o catalisador RhHT foi mais seletivo a N2 a 350C e emitiu menos N2O ao longo da faixa de temperatura avaliada do que o catalisador RhCZ. Resultados de TPD de NO e comparações de curvas experimentais e teóricas envolvendo as concentrações de CO, CO2 e NOx durante os testes catalíticos, acompanhados também pelas análises de DRIFTS nas mesmas condições, indicam que a redução do Rh e a afinidade do catalisador pelo NO são importantes para favorecer a maior seletividade da reação de redução do NO pelo CO a N2. / The aim of this work was to evaluate the catalytic performance of cerium-zirconium and hydrotalcite-like Mg-Al mixed oxide as supports in the reduction of NO by CO catalyzed by rhodium. The pure supports and metallic catalysts were named CZ, RhCZ, HT and RhHT. The supports were prepared by coprecipitation and were impregnated with 0,15% wt. of Rh. Characterization tests such as N2 fisisorption, XRD, TPR, Raman spectroscopy, DRIFTS, TGA-DTA and NO/CO TPD were performed. To measure the catalytic activity, a gas mixture containing 1% NO + 1% CO in He was used. Activity and selectivity were expressed by means of the gas concentrations measured all over a temperature range, from room temperature to 500C. The characterization results clearly indicated structural and physicochemical differences between the two supports in N2 adsorption isotherms, XRD and TPR profiles and therefore, they would work through different mechanisms. DRIFTS analyses indicated the presence of bands resulting from the adsorption of CO on Rh at low temperatures on RhCZ catalyst, evidencing the great synergy between Rh and CZ, already indicated by Raman results. This synergic effect probably did not occur in RhHT catalyst. The CZ support was more active at low temperatures than HT, however, RhHT catalyst was more selective to N2 at 350 C and emitted less N2O than RhCZ through the evaluated temperature range.The NO TPD results and the comparison of theoretical and experimental CO, CO2 and NOx curves during catalytic tests, also followed by DRIFTS, indicate that Rh reduction and the affinity with NO are important parameters to achieve higher selectivity to N2 in the reduction of NO by CO.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-12-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:50:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pinheiro_mal_me_bauru.pdf: 1192855 bytes, checksum: 66755e7d207e28d90240b6062ca10066 (MD5) / Neste trabalho foi feita a produção e caracterização de amostras em formato de pó e filmes do material semicondutor dióxido de estanho (Sn 'O IND. 2') dopado com o terra-rara cério (Ce). Os filmes finos de (Sn 'O IND. 2') são preparados pelo método sol-gel e depositados pela técnica de molhamento (dip-coating). A incorporação de 'Ce POT. 3+' ou 'Ce POT. 4+' aumenta drasticamente a resistividade, quando comparado com filmes finos não dopados. A anális estrutural foi feita utilizando a técnica de difração de raios X e o método de refinamento Rietveld, onde se constatou cristalitos de dimensões nanoscópicas entre 5-7nm, para os filmes. O grande número de cristalitos diminui a mobilidade eletrônica devido ao aumento da densidade de barreira de potencial entre os grãos por unidade de volume. Uma alta dopagem leva a uma baixa condutividade quando no sal precursor usado temos 'Ce POT. 3+', o que assegura o comportamento naturalmente aceitador desse dopante. Medidas de corrente em função da voltagem para diversas temperaturas mostram o mecanismo de condução Schottky como dominante, ainda que um processo de tunelamento pareça ser uma boa aproximação para os desvios observados quando baixos campos elétricos são aplicados. Para o dopante 'Ce POT. 4+', um aumento na largura da região de depleção do contorno de grão parece ser responsável pela alta resistividade, resultando em um maior espalhamento de elétrons. Medidas realizadas sob pressão ambiente levam a barreiras de potencial mais altas do que as medidas feitas sob vácuo, devido a absorção de oxigênio na superfície das partículas. Para temperaturas maiores do que '150 GRAUS', sob condições de vácuo, pode acontecer a eliminação de espécies 'O POT. 2 -', mudando o comportamento da relação corrente-voltagem em amostras dopadas com 'Ce POT. 4+'. / In this work, the production and characterization of the semiconductor tin dioxide (Sn 'O IND. 2'), doped with the rare earth cerium (Ce), is done. Samples are produced in the form of thin and powders. The thin films are prepared by the sol-gel-dip-coating technique. Incorporation of 'Ce POT. 3+' ou 'Ce POT. 4+' increases drastically the resistivity, when compared to undoped thin films. Structural analysis is done by X ray diffraction technique and the Rietveld refinement method, which yields crystallites in the nanoscopic 5-7 nm range, for the films. The high number of crystallites decreases the electronic mobility due to the increase in the density of potential barriers between grains by volume unit. A high doping leads to low conductivity, when... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:35:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:56:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

The high-pressure behaviour of the lanthanide series of metals has been the subject of study since the work of Percy Bridgman in the 1940s. Differences in said behaviour between the different lanthanide metals are attributed to the increasing occupation of the 4f electron shell as Z increases. Upon compression, or as Z decreases, the trivalent lanthanides (La to Lu, excluding Eu and Yb) undergo a common phase transformation sequence through various close packed structures: hcp → Sm-type (the structure adopted by samarium at ambient conditions) → dhcp → fcc → distorted fcc (d-fcc). Upon further compression, the lanthanide metals experience a first order transition to a "volume collapsed" phase. Many studies have focused on the low-Z members of the series, since the various phase transitions occur at much lower pressure where it is comparatively easy to collect high quality data. By contrast, the other members of the series have received comparability little attention, and there are even fewer reports of the structural behaviour of the lanthanide metals at high pressure and high temperature. This thesis contains the results of angle-dispersive x-ray powder diffraction experiments at high pressure and high temperature of the various members of the lanthanide metals. Ce has been the subject of many previous studies, but a systematic x-ray diffraction study of the fcc/d-fcc phase boundary has never been attempted. Furthermore, the location in P-T space of the high temperature fcc/bct/d-fcc triple point has only been inferred, due to the lack of data on the fcc/bct phase boundary at high temperature. The high-pressure high-temperature phase diagram of Ce is presented and discussed. La is unique amongst the lanthanide metals due to its empty 4f shell at ambient conditions. Despite this, La undergoes the common lanthanide transformation sequence up to the d-fcc phase, after which it undergoes a re-entrant transition back to the fcc phase at 60 GPa. The diffraction peaks of d-fcc La are shown in this thesis to undergo changes in intensity upon compression, indicating a transformation to the oI 16 structure found in Pr. La is one of the few elements whose behaviour has been unknown above 100 GPa, and results of La's structural behaviour upon compression to 280 GPa are presented and discussed. At 76 GPa, La begins a transition from the fcc phase to a new phase with the bct structure. Finally, the d-fcc→fcc re-entrant phase transition has been determined at various temperatures, and the d-fcc stability region has been mapped out. Finally, x-ray diffraction experiments were performed on Gd up to 100 GPa and ~700 K, to determine the structure of the d-fcc phase and the "volume collapsed" phase. While d-fcc Gd does not undergo pressure-induced changes similar to its low Z brethren, the d-fcc Gd remains stable up to 41 GPa at 700 K, putting a constraint on the d-fcc stability region. The data collected on Gd's "volume collapsed" phase cannot be fitted to the currently accepted mC4 structure. This has implications for our understanding of the lanthanide series as a whole, since most of of the heavier members, and some of the lighter lanthanides, are reported to adopt the mC4 structure.