published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis investigates the application of low energy electron irradiation to 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene films to test whether site-selective C–H bond cleavage can be achieved in a molecule presenting both aliphatic and aromatic target sites. IRRAS was used to characterize the orientation of vapour-deposited 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene on Au(111) and alkanethiolated gold under UHV and cryogenic conditions. On both substrates, the disordered as-deposited films were transformed by thermal treatment, producing two film structures – within the first 4-monolayers, aromatic rings lie nearly parallel to the metal surface, while molecules in additional layers are more upright. Low energy electron irradiation (0-10 eV) produced no dissociations in 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene; however, low energy electron transmission spectra indicate charge accumulates at interstitial sites in the mesitylene film, decelerating subsequent incident electrons. These decelerated electrons traverse the charged film and are reaccelerated, inducing dissociations in the underlying SAM. Contrary to literature claims, 1,3,5-trimethylbezene is a poor molecule for adsorption studies such as BET as the initial adsorption is disordered and thermodynamically unstable.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-108).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Xu Xiangdong. / "December 2001." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

The interactions of a model synthetic liquid fuel reactant (furan) with a model hydrodeoxygenation catalyst (clean and sulfided single crystal molybdenum) were investigated using the following UHV tools: Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and temperature programed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS). In addition to furan, the reactions of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ethylene, and propene on clean and sulfided Mo(110) were also examined. All adsorbates exposed to the extremely reactive clean or sulfided Mo(110) surface decomposed, yielding gaseous H��� and surface C. In addition, furan TPRS caused the production of gaseous CO. The presence of background hydrogen caused no major changes in the TPRS of furan or the other adsorbates. Sulfur pre-adsorption caused the chemical shifting of H��� TPRS peaks. Both sulfur and carbon pre-adsorption resulted in the Van der Waal's radius blocking of adsorption sites for all adsorbates studied. / Graduation date: 1997

Graduation date: 1997