Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemical Engineering / Jennifer L. Anthony / Zeolites and zeolite-like materials have well-ordered structures and pores creating varying capacities for molecules based upon size, functional groups, polarity, and intermolecular forces making the materials useful for molecular sensing as well for molecules that are considered hazardous at very low concentrations with reproducible results because of these properties. This study will identify and characterize applications for zeolite and zeolite-like materials in gas and liquid phases based upon the dominating physical and chemical properties of the materials. The properties of interest include liquid phase ion exchange capacities, selectivities, gas/vapor phase adsorption capacity, and initial adsorption uptake rate. Zincosilicates have similar framework structures to aluminosilicate zeolites; however, they have distinct advantages over traditional zeolites. Zincosilicates typically have a higher ion density, lack “cages” in their structure which leads to all the cations being accessible for ion exchange, and have the ability to form three-membered rings which lead to large void spaces in their structure. These features lead to high capture capacities for divalent heavy metal mercury ions. In this work, the potential to use zincosilicates as ion exchangers such as VPI-7, VPI-9 and VPI-10 is presented. Results have shown that zincosilicates have capture capacities greater than traditional zeolites, even greater than those that have been synthesized with functional groups intended to increase metal sorption capacities. The selectivity coefficients in a binary ion exchange system were successfully modeled using the Gibbs-Donnan selectivity model. The selectivities for the zincosilicates were Pb>Na>Hg>K>Ca. Zeolites are also able to adsorb chemical species and therefore can be used as the recognition element in sensing devices. The sorption capacity of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, dimethyl methanephosphonate, ethanol, and n-butanethiol were examined with zeolites 13X, 4A, MCM-41, VPI-7, VPI-9, and ZSM-5. The zeolites selected provided very different framework composition, countercation, and surface area features for determining the most significant properties in adsorption. Zeolite 13X had the highest equilibrium and initial uptake rate for most compounds tested, whereas the low surface area zincosilicates, VPI-7 and VPI-9, had the lowest capacity. Based on these results, a piezoelectric device with an array of zeolites can be successfully employed as a sensor.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Kenneth J. Klabunde / First, a new tiara Pd(II) thiolate complex-[Pd(SC[subscript]12H[subscript]25)[subscript]2][subscript]6 has been synthesized and fully characterized. Then the complex was further used as a single-source precursor to prepare nearly monodisperse palladium sulfide (PdS) nanoparticles through the high-temperature-induced decomposition in diphenyl ether. Secondly, the influence of dodecanethiol on the product distribution upon heating a Pd(II)-octylamine system was investigated. The molar ratio of octylamine to Pd(II) was fixed at 20:1, and the concentration of dodecanethiol was changed systematically. Without thiol ligand, only aggregated Pd(0) particles were obtained due to the reduction of Pd(II) by octylamine. When the molar ratio of dodecanethiol to Pd(II) was increased to 0.5, highly monodisperse sulfurized palladium nanoparticles with diameter 7.55 [plus or minus] 0.73 nm were generated. When the molar ratio reached to 2, only a thiolate complex-[Pd(SC[subscript]12H[subscript]25)[subscript]2][subscript]6 was found as the final product. Thirdly, we report a facile method to prepare nearly monodisperse Pd nanoparticles by heating Pd(II) ions in 4-tert-butyltoluene solvent, in the presence of oleylamine and trioctylphosphine (TOP) ligands. It has been found the concentration of TOP ligand was highly pivotal for the formation of Pd nanoparticles. Without TOP, only aggregated Pd particles were obtained due to the reduction of Pd(II) by oleylamine. When the molar ratio of TOP to Pd(II) was less than two, well-protected Pd nanoparticles were obtained. However, when the molar ratio reached to two, only Pd(II)-TOP coordination complexes were obtained as the final product. Fourthly, we present a novel way to synthesize cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles from a heterogeneous system only containing cadmium oxide, trioctylphosphine, and trioctylphosphine selenide. Last, the formation of magnesium oxychloride (Mg[subscript]x(OH)[subscript]yCl[subscript]z•nH[subscript]2O) nanorods from the system MgO-MgCl[subscript]2-H[subscript]2O was investigated. By changing the amounts of the starting materials, short nanorods (< 1 micron) or long nanorods (up to 20 micron) could be obtained readily with the aspect ratio in the range of 10-70. The resulting magnesium oxychloride nanorods could be further transformed to magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)[subscript]2) nanorods by treating with NaOH.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Christopher J. Levy / In the field of asymmetric catalysis salens and related molecules occupy a unique position in the breath and scope of reactions facilitated. They, nonetheless, are characterized by several conformationally derived limitations. This work deals with applying the principles of helicity with the goal of remedying these shortcomings, thereby ultimately fashioning, better, more selective catalysts. A series of novel ligands bearing phenanthryl and benz[a]anthryl side-arms attached to either a cyclohexyl or binaphthyl backbone bridging group, were prepared via multi-step synthesis. The ligands were subsequently metallated with zinc and iron salts to afford neutral helimeric complexes, that were characterized in the solution and solid states. The binaphthyl complexes were found via X-ray crystallographic analysis to afford exclusively M-helimers, while those incorporating a cyclohexyl bridge gave predominantly 1 : 1 P + M mixtures. A significantly greater degree of side-arm overlap was apparent where benz[a]anthryl side-arms were employed. 1H NMR analysis, unfortunately, did not allow for solution phase helimer determination, and ECD spectroscopy was therefore utilized as an alternative. In conjunction with computational techniques the conformations were probed, and to a high degree of certainty the prevailing solution geometries of the cyclohexyl complexes predicted. Our results indicate that in solution the M configuration is the sole or dominant form. Ionic zinc complexes based upon a tetradentate nitrogen donor motif and 8-isopropyl-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde were also prepared. Structural characterization of the zinc complexes showed each to bind to two ZnCl2 units, and as a consequence to form dinuclear helicates.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Christopher J. Levy / 2-Formylbenzoquinoline and a selection of novel chiral bis(pyridine-imine) and bis-amide ligands derived from (1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine and (R)-[1,1’-binaphthalene]-2,2’-diamine have been synthesized and thoroughly characterized. Subsequently, their coordination chemistry has been investigated. Metallation with Zn(II), Ni(II) and Fe(II) has resulted in the formation of a series of helical complexes, some of which exhibit unusual coordination modes. Bis(imine-pyridine) ligands were found to form dinuclear complexes upon reaction with ZnCl2. In one case, the use of Zn(CF3SO3)2 resulted in the formation a single stranded monohelix, after the ligand had undergone a reduction at one imine bond. The use of NiI2 as the metal salt resulted in the formation of penta-coordinate complexes with N3-coordination and helical dinuclear complexes with bridging iodo ligands. Ni(CF3SO3)2 was also used, this resulted in the formation of a double stranded mononuclear complex. The ligand, in this case was hydrolyzed to yield a tridentate ligand, subsequently two of these new ligands coordinate to one metal center to form the complex. Bis-amide ligands were reacted with FeCl2 and Fe(CF3SO3)2 to form complexes with various different colors. In all but one case, several attempts to structurally characterize the Fe(II) complexes were unsuccessful. Suitable crystals of this complex revealed a double stranded helicate complex that coordinates through carbonyl oxygens rather than amide nitrogens. The work described herein, is an account of the synthesis, characterization and study of a new family of tetradentate nitrogen donor ligands and their respective transition metal complexes.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Christer B. Aakeroy / We have shown that supramolecular synthons can be used to construct discrete two or three component co-crystals and 1-D inorganic-organic chains and dramatically influence the arrangement of nanoparticle assemblies. A collection of supramolecular reagents (SR's) have been designed and synthesised to carry out a systematic study into hydrogen bonding. In order to test Etter's guideline "the best proton donor and acceptor remaining after intramolecular hydrogen-bond formation will form an intermolecular hydrogen-bond" and to develop a hierarchy of interactions, a series of co-crystals between the supramolecular reagents and hydrogen-bond donors (carboxylic acids) have been synthesised. Co-crystals with pyrazole benzamide SR's have demonstrated the ability to fine-tune hydrogen-bond formation. By utilising a poor hydrogen-bond acceptor (pyrazole) the incoming carboxylic acid opts to form a heteromeric acid-amide dimer via N-H[three dots]O hydrogen bonds. Additionally, we have shown that the hydrogen-bond acceptor strength of the pyrazole can be turned up through simple covalent modifications (i.e. isomer change or addition of methyl groups to the pyrazole ring). Although the heteromeric acid-amide dimer is observed, O-H[three dots]N hydrogen bonds to the pyrazole are also observed in cases when more than one donor site is present (i.e. di-carboxylic acids and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid). Furthermore, co-crystals with picolyl-indazole and pyrimidine-pyrazole SR's agree with Etter's guideline. In all cases, the incoming carboxylic acid forms an O-H[three dots]N hydrogen bond to the best acceptor (pyridine and pyrazole, respectively). The homomeric amide-amide dimer has been used to construct inorganic-organic hybrid materials. The reaction between the pyrazole benzamide ligands with acac or "paddle-wheel" complex ions yielded 1-D chains. Furthermore, pyrimidine-bispyrazole and functionalised 1,3-bisbenzylpyrazole ligands have been utilised as chelating-ligands for reliable metal coordination. Finally, the power of supramolecular synthons to control the arrangement of much larger nanoparticle assemblies has been shown. Both homomeric (acid-acid, alcohol-alcohol) and heteromeric (acid-imidazole, alcohol-imidazole) hydrogen bonding cause significant changes in nanoparticle assemblies.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Viktor Chikan / This dissertation reports the colloidal synthesis of iron silicide, hafnium oxide core-gold shell and water soluble iron-gold alloy for the first time. As the first part of the experimentation, plasmonic and superparamagnetic nanoparticles of gold and iron are synthesized in the form of core-shell and alloy. The purpose of making these nanoparticles is that the core-shell and alloy nanoparticles exhibit enhanced properties and new functionality due to close proximity of two functionally different components. The synthesis of core-shell and alloy nanoparticles is of special interest for possible application towards magnetic hyperthermia, catalysis and drug delivery. The iron-gold core-shell nanoparticles prepared in the reverse micelles reflux in high boiling point solvent (diphenyl ether) in presence of oleic acid and oleyl amine results in the formation of monodisperse core-shell nanoparticles. The second part of the experimentation includes the preparation of water soluble iron-gold alloy nanoparticles. The alloy nanoparticles are prepared for the first time at relatively low temperature (110 oC). The use of hydrophilic ligand 3-mercapto-1-propane sulphonic acid ensures the aqueous solubility of the alloy nanoparticles. Next, hafnium oxide core-gold shell nanoparticles are prepared for the first time using high temperature reduction method. These nanoparticles are potentially important as a high κ material in semiconductor industry. Fourth, a new type of material called iron silicide is prepared in solution phase. The material has been prepared before but not in a colloidal solution. The Fe3Si obtained is superparamagnetic. Another phase β-FeSi2 is a low band gap (0.85 eV) semiconductor and is sustainable and environmentally friendly. At last, the iron monosilicide (FeSi) and β-FeSi2 are also prepared by heating iron-gold core-shell and alloy nanoparticles on silicon (111) substrate. The nucleation of gaseous silicon precursor on the melted nanoparticles results the formation of nanodomains of FeSi and β-FeSi2. A practical application of these nanoparticles is an important next step of this research. Further improvement in the synthesis of β-FeSi2 nanoparticles by colloidal synthetic approach and its application in solar cell is a future goal.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemical Engineering / Keith L. Hohn / To characterize surface properties by current techniques, metal oxides typically have to be pre-treated at high temperature to remove surface absorbents. Therefore, a new low temperature method which can provide information on the surface chemistry is desired. In this work, the surface properties of metal oxide samples were studied by tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TDE) chemiluminescence (CL). This chemiluminescent method was also employed in probing the properties of reversed microemulsions. It was found that the emission intensity vs. reaction time curve (I[subscript]t) of catalyzed TDE CL on MgO was affected by the distributions and types of surface hydroxyl groups. Isolated hydroxyls with lower coordination were found to have higher catalytic reactivity for the emission of TDE CL. Although hydrogen bonded hydroxyls also catalyze the TDE oxidation reaction, the influence on the light emission was negative. Because the properties of surface hydroxyls are associated with specific orientations of adjacent ions, information on surface hydroxyls can provide information about some general surface characteristics of a metal oxide. When characterizing surface hydroxyls on Al[subscript]2O[subscript]3 by TDE CL, it was found that the catalytic reactivity of isolated hydroxyl groups is strongly associated with the stretching frequency of isolated hydroxyl. The stretching frequency of an isolated hydroxyl group is related to the modification of the adjacent ions and the coordination of the isolated hydroxyl. The results showed that the blue-shifts in the stretching frequencies of isolated hydroxyls led to increases in the catalytic reactivity of Al[subscript]2O[subscript]3 surfaces for the emission of TDE CL. TDE CL was further applied in characterizing the surfaces of other metal oxides and chemically grafted Al[subscript]2O[subscript]3. The results indicated that the isolated hydroxyl groups with fewer adjacent ions likely have higher affinity for the binding of grafting agents. Higher emission intensities were obtained from catalyzed TDE CL on metal oxides featuring higher percentages of isolated hydroxyls. The determination of a surfactant’s critical micellar concentration was accomplished by measuring the decay rate of the emission of TDE CL in a reversed microemulsion system. In this study, the CMC values of non-ionic and ionic surfactants were measured in different non-polar solvents.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Kenneth J. Klabunde / For solar environmental remediation, a new generation of nanosized (< 10 nm) titanium dioxide photocatalysts codoped with metals and nonmetals, or metals only were prepared by the xero-gel and aero-gel methods. For silver or cobalt-based xero-gel titanium dioxide photocatalysts, photoactivities tests revealed that codoping of titanium dioxide with a metal (1% Ag or 2% Co) and nonmetals (carbon and sulfur) is necessary to achieve high-activities for acetaldehyde degradation under visible light (wavelength > 420 nm). It was concluded that high visible-light-activities for acetaldehyde degradation over codoped titanium dioxide were attributed to an interplay of anatase crystallinity, high-surface area, reduced band-gap (< 3.0 eV), uniform dispersion of doped metal ions, and suppressed recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the nature and amount of codoped metals play a significant role in visible-light-induced photocatalysis. Metals (Al, Ga, and In) doped/codoped titanium dioxide photocatalysts were prepared by the aero-gel method. The photocatalytic studies showed that activities of metal doped/codoped photocatalysts under UV light (wavelength < 400 nm) were found to be dependent on pollutants. Indium demonstrated beneficial effects in both textural and photocatalytic properties. Gallium and indium codoped titanium dioxide photocatalysts displayed even better performance in the CO oxidation reaction under UV light. Notably, titanium dioxide codoped with Ga, In, and Pt, exhibited unique photoactivities for the CO oxidation under both UV and visible light irradiation, indicating that this system could have promise for the water-gas shift reaction for hydrogen production. Silver-based nanostructured titanium dioxide samples were developed for killing human pathogens (Escherichia coli cells and Bacillus subtilis spores). Biocidal tests revealed that silver, carbon, and sulfur codoped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (< 10 nm) possess very strong antimicrobial actions on both E. coli (logarithmic kill > 8) and B. subtilis spores (logarithmic kill > 5) for 30 minute exposures in dark conditions compared with Degussa P25. It was believed that the carbon and sulfur codoped titanium dioxide support and Ag species acted synergistically during deactivation of both E. coli and B. subtilis spores. Thus, titanium dioxide codoped with silver, carbon, sulfur can serve as a multifunctional generic biocide and a visible- light-active photocatalyst.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemical Engineering / Keith L. Hohn / Vanadium phosphorous oxide (VPO) is traditionally manufactured from solid vanadium oxides by synthesizing VOHPO[4subscript][dot in middle of line]0.5H[2subscript]O (the precursor) followed by in-situ activation to produce (VO)[2subscript]P[2subscript]O[subscript]7 (the active phase). These catalysts considerably improve their performance when prepared as nanostructured materials and this study discusses an alternative synthesis method based on sol-gel techniques capable of producing nanostructured VPO. Vanadium(V) triisopropoxide oxide was reacted with ortho-phosphoric acid in tetrahydrofuran (THF). This procedure yielded a gel of VOPO[4subscript] with interlayer entrapped molecules. The gels were dried at high pressure in an autoclave with controlled excess and composition of THF-2-propanol mixtures. The surface area of the obtained materials was between 50 and 120 m[2superscript]/g. Alcohol produced by the alkoxide hydrolysis and incorporated along with the excess solvent reduced the vanadium during the drying step. Therefore, after the autoclave drying, the solid VOPO[4subscript] was converted to the precursor; and, non-agglomerated platelets were observed. Use of additional 2-propanol increased the amount of precursor in the powder but reduced its surface area and increased its crystallite size. In general, sol-gel prepared catalysts were significantly more selective than the traditionally prepared materials, and it is suggested that the small crystallite size obtained in the precursor influenced the crystallite size of the active phase increasing their selectivity towards maleic anhydride. The evaluation of these materials as catalysts for the partial oxidation of n-butane at 673 K under mixtures of 1.5% n-butane in air yielded selectivity of 40% at 50% conversion compared to 25% selectivity at similar level of conversion produced by the traditionally prepared catalysts. Variations in the catalytic performance are attributed to observed polymorphism in the activated materials, which is evidenced by remarkable differences in the intrinsic activity. All precursors and catalysts were characterized by IR, XRD, SEM and BET, and the products of the catalytic tests were analyzed by GC.

Master of Science / Department of Chemistry / Kenneth J. Klabunde / Although Degussia-Huls P-25 TiO[subscript]2 semiconductor photocatalyst has high photodegradation rate for organic molecules, it works only under ultra-violet (UV) light. Mesoporous metal doped V-MCM-48 silica was synthesized under ambient conditions for use as a visible-light photocatalyst to convert toxic probe molecules to innocuous products: CO[subscript]2 + H[subscript]2O. The synthesis employed a modified Stober metal doped MCM-48 silica method. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse-reflectance-ultra-violet-visible (DR-UV-vis) spectroscopy, and N[subscript]2 adsorption-desorpton analysis characterization methods were completed on V-MCM-48 mesoporous material. These characterization methods indicate V-MCM-48 structure had formed with visible light absorption and mesoporous properties. Photocatalysis studies were completed with V-MCM-48 under dark, visible, and UV-light illumination conditions for the following probe molecules: acetaldehyde, carbon monoxide, ethanol, acetone, 2-propanol, and acetonitrile. Acetaldehyde over V-MCM-48 was converted to CO[subscript]2 under dark, visible, and UV-light conditions. Carbon monoxide photooxidation occurred over V-MCM-48 under visible and UV-light. Ethanol and acetonitrile had smaller photodegradation activity over V-MCM-48. Acetone and 2-propanol had no activity photocatalytically. Under dark and visible light illumination, V-MCM-48 consumed approximately one-half acetaldehyde and produced one-third CO[subscript]2 concentration as compared with the P-25 TiO[subscript]2 under UV-light. V-MCM-48 produced two-thirds of the amount of CO[subscript]2 in comparison to nanoparticle Au/ZnO catalyst under UV-light. The results infer V-MCM-48 might be useful in gas and liquid phase photocatalysis including water-splitting due to a high oxidation state (V[superscript]5+), visible light absorption, and high surface area. In conclusion, an extended literature review has been completed and literature employed extensively throughout the thesis with potential methods to further the research on V-MCM-48/Si-MCM-48 in catalysis, chromatography, adsorption/gas separation, and solar collection/water-splitting.