M.Tech. (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / This thesis presents a slight on desulphurization process of the commercial diesel fuel using the carbon-based metal oxide nanocomposites such as graphene oxide, ZnO, rGO as a nano-adsorbent, activated carbon (PAC and AC) and charcoal Granular active carbon (GAC) to produce a fuel of less than 10 ppm sulphur content. Due to the high percentage of sulphur compounds in the fuel causing air pollution, acid rain and other problems related to combustion process. The synthesised of sorbents were achieved using incipient impregnation, microwaved-assisted and chemical exfoliation methods. The materials were characterized using Thermogrametric Analyzer (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET). The examination effect of operating conditions on the adsorption capacity with DBT and Sulphur compounds adsorption, the isotherms and the adsorption kinetic models were evaluated. The experimental data for PAC and AC were well suited to Freundlich isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The results shown that the sulphur feed concentration, the space velocity and the functional groups of the adsorbents have a considerable effect on the adsorption. In addition, it was observed that the temperature in the range of 30 to 80oC has a significant effect on the adsorption of Sulphur compounds from diesel fuel using 20 wt.% of sorbents. The rGO substrate which contained abundant oxygen functional groups was confirmed to promote the dispersion metal oxide and increased the adsorption efficiency of sulphur compounds (H2S and SO2) by providing oxygen ions weakly bound to the sulphur molecules. For the desulfurization process by adsorption, PAC and AC exhibited a better affinity for 80% removal of sulphur compared to the GAC and GO. The effects of metal species such as zinc oxide (ZnO) and reduced graphite oxide (rGO) composite on the adsorption capacity of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) were investigated. It was found that depending on the copper load, the adsorption capacity of H2S increased up to 20 times compared to pure ZnO. To study the oxidation changes on copper and zinc oxides, crystallite analysis by XRD and chemical state analysis by XPS were performed.

Compared to conventional materials, polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have a number of attractive properties, including light weight, easiness of installation, potential to lower system-level cost, high overall durability, and less susceptibility to environmental deterioration. However, PMCs are vulnerable to fire such that they degrade, decompose, and sometimes yield toxic gases at high temperature. The degradation and decomposition of composites lead to loss in mass, resulting in loss in mechanical strength. This research aims to improve the structural integrity of the PMCs under fire conditions by designing and optimizing a fire retardant nanopaper coating, and to fundamentally understand the thermal response and post-fire mechanical behavior the PMCs through numerical modeling. Specifically, a novel paper-making process that combined carbon nanofiber, nanoclay, exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet, and ammonium polyphosphate into a self-standing nanopaper was developed. The nanopaper was then coated onto the surface of the PMCs to improve the fire retardant performance of the material. The morphology, thermal stability, flammability, and post-fire flexural modulus of the nanopaper coated-PMCs were characterized. The fire retardant mechanism of the nanopaper coating was studied. Upon successfully improving the structure integrity of the PMCs by the nanopaper coatings, a thermal degradation model that captured the decomposition reaction of the iv polymer matrix with a second kind boundary condition (constant heat flux) was solved using Finite Element (FE) method. The weak form of the model was constructed by the weighted residual method. The model quantified the thermal and post-fire flexural responses of the composites subject to continuously applied heat fluxes. A temperature dependent post-fire residual modulus was assigned to each element in the FE domain. The bulk residual modulus was computed by assembling the modulus of each element. Based on the FE model, a refined Finite Difference (FD) model was developed to predict the fire response of the PMCs coated with the nanopapers. The FD model adopted the same post-fire mechanical evaluation method. However, unlike the FE model, the flow of the decomposed gas, and permeability and porosity of the composites were taken into account in the refined FD model. The numerical analysis indicated that the thickness and porosity of the composites had a profound impact on the thermal response of the composites. The research funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA COE AST) is acknowledged.

D. Tech. (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Nanoscience receives a lot of attention in the 21 century and is one of the most advancing technology in our days. It provides many new and advanced technological opportunities. This field involves many disciplines which include chemical, physical, and biological related fields. The advancement of nanoscience makes life to be better and bring about new inventions which can solve many problems in our day to day life. Although there are reservations about the use of these materials in other fields. Some researchers believe that these materials can be a problem to the environment and humanity at large. Therefore, more research needs to be done to fully understand these materials. Polymer science is another field that has been advancing every day. Many problems in our lives require material which have properties from nanomaterials and polymers. The combination of these technologies can leads to new materials which have many possibilities in solving most problems. Some researchers have taken advantage of these two powerful fields and merge them. There has been a lot of work done that involves combination of nanotechnology and polymer science. The current project is an initiative to manufacture nanofibers. These fibers are prepared using polymer solution mixed with metal oxide and metal selenide nanomaterials. The polymer solution is incorporated with nanoparticles and electrospunned to make nanofibers. The electrospinning afford the material prepared to be at nanoscale. The fact that the material formed is at nanoscale opens many possibilities to be used in various fields. The study is about fabrication of polymer nanofibers embedded with metal chalcogenide nanoparticles. The metal oxide and metal selenide nanoparticles were prepared using complexes. These complexes contain both the metal and the chalcogenide of interest. The complexes are prepared from oxygen-based (urea), and selenium-based (diphenyldiselenide) ligands. The urea complexes co-ordinates with metal using oxygen for iron, however in silver complexes both nitrogen and oxygen are used. These complexes allow easy control of reaction parameters, and thermal decomposes to form metal oxide, metal selenide, and metal. The complexes are very stable and decomposes at about 200 °C. These compounds are thermal decomposed to form metal chalcogenides, and metal nanoparticles. The complexes are characterized with FTIR, TGA, and elemental analysis. The metal chalcoginedes (copper oxide, iron oxide, silver oxide, copper selenide, iron selenide, and silver selenide) nanoparticles were prepared using thermal decomposition of a single source (complexes or metal salts). The prepared chalcogenides nanoparticles have good absorption and emission properties consistent with small sizes. These nanoparticles are composed of various phased and stoichiometry. Some metal chalcogenides have a mixture of stoichiometry and phase. The metal chalcogenides nanoparticles are dominated by spheres, and other shapes such as rods. These metal chalcogenides have a particles size in the range of 1-36 nm. The metal chalcogenides nanoparticles were tested against bacteria and fungi. These nanoparticles show highest activity in gram positive compared to gram negative bacteria. Metal oxide nanoparticles show the highest activity compared to metal selenide. All the metal chalcogenides show the highest against fungi. The nanoparticles are able to inhibit the fungi at lowest concentration. The nanoparticles are characterized with various instruments which includes UV-Vis, PL, XRD, and TEM. Nanofibers of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) incorporated with metal selenide and metal oxide nanoparticles were prepared by electrospinning. The nanofibers incorporated with metal chalcogenide are more thermal stable than PMMA nanofibers. Therefore, incorporation of metal chalcogenides nanoparticles leads to more thermal stability nanofibers. The PMMA are coordinated to the metal oxide and metal selenide through carbonyl oxygen atom. The PMMA incorporated with metal oxide and metal selenide leads to the formation of nanofibers with uneven surface with a diameter in the range of 30 to 200 nm. The prepared fibers are characterized using FTIR, TGA, SEM.

There is a consistent need in many industries, especially oil and gas, to develop coatings which have higher corrosion resistance and better hardness to extend the lifetime of equipment when it is exposed to hostile environments. Electrodeposition has been a favorable method in the synthesis of metal coatings because of its low cost, convenience, ability to work at low temperatures, and ability to control surface morphology and structure. The inclusion of ceramic nanoparticles in metal matrix composites has previously been investigated as a technique to not only increase the corrosion resistance of the native metal but also to improve the hardness and mechanical properties. Cerium oxide nanoparticles were modified through the grafting of organic groups with increasing hydrophobicity for use in nickel coatings on stainless steel to further improve the corrosion properties while maintaining the hardness of the nanocomposite coatings. The process of modifying the cerium oxide nanoparticles involved the use of aryl diazonium salts and resulted in multilayers forming on the surface of the nanoparticles. Praseodymium oxide nanoparticles were also investigated as additives to nickel coatings, since praseodymium oxide has not yet been studied as a possible corrosion protection enhancement in coatings. These coatings were evaluated for composition and corrosion using many different types of instrumental and electrochemical techniques. With the addition of both the modified cerium oxide nanoparticles and the praseodymium oxide nanoparticles into nickel coatings, an increase in coating hardness and corrosion resistance was observed over pure nickel, resulting in an improvement of the lifetime of these coatings.

As the miniaturization of functional devices in integrated circuit (IC) continues to scale down to sub-nanometer size, the process complexity increases and makes materials characterization difficult. One of our research effort demonstrates the development and application of novel Multiple Internal Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR-IR) as a sensitive (sub-5 nm) metrology tool to provide precise chemical bonding information that can effectively guide through the development of more efficient process control. In this work, we investigated the chemical bonding structure of thin fluorocarbon polymer films deposited on low-k dielectric nanostructures, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Complemented by functional group specific chemical derivatization reactions, fluorocarbon film was established to contain fluorinated alkenes and carbonyl moieties embedded in a highly cross-linked, branched fluorocarbon structure and a model bonding structure was proposed for the first time. In addition, plasma induced damage to high aspect ratio trench low-k structures especially on the trench sidewalls was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Damage from different plasma processing was correlated with Si-OH formation and breakage of Si-CH3 bonds with increase in C=O functionality. In another endeavor, TiN hard mask defect formation after fluorocarbon plasma etch was characterized and investigated. Finding suggest the presence of water soluble amines that could possibly trigger the formation of TiN surface defect. An effective post etch treatment (PET) methods were applied for etch residue defect removal/suppression.

The new nickel/layered silicate nanocomposites were electrodeposited from different pHs to study the influence on the metal ions/layered silicate plating solution and on the properties of the deposited films. Nickel/layered silicate nanocomposites were fabricated from citrate bath atacidic pHs (1.6−3.0), from Watts’ type solution (pH ~4-5), and from citrate bath at basic pH (~9). Additionally, the new nickel/molybdenum/layered silicate nanocomposites were electrodeposited from citrate bath at pH 9.5. The silicate, montmorillonite (MMT), was exfoliated by stirring in aqueous solution over 24 hours. The plating solutions were analyzed for zeta potential, particle size, viscosity, and conductivity to investigate the effects of the composition at various pHs. The preferred crystalline orientation and the crystalline size of nickel, nickel/layered silicate, nickel/molybdenum, and nickel/molybdenum/layered silicate films were examined by X-ray diffraction. The microstructure of the coatings and the surface roughness was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Nickel/molybdenum/layered silicate nanocomposites containing low content of layered silicate (1.0 g/L) had increase 32 % hardness and 22 % Young’s modulus values over the pure nickel/molybdenum alloy films. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance measurements showed that the nickel/molybdenum/layered silicate nanocomposite layers have higher corrosion resistance in 3.5% NaCl compared to the pure alloy films. The corrosion current density of the nickel/molybdenum/layered silicate nanocomposite composed of 0.5 g/L MMT is 0.63 µA·cm-2 as compare to a nickel/molybdenum alloy which is 2.00 µA·cm-2.

Formaldehyde-based adhesives have been reported to be detrimental to health. Petrochemical-based adhesives are non-renewable, limited and costly. Therefore, the improvement of environmental-friendly adhesive from natural agricultural products has awakened noteworthy attention. A novel adhesive for wood application was successfully prepared with enhanced shear strength and water resistance. The Fourier transmform infrared spectra showed the surface functionalities of the functionalized carbon nanotubes (FCNTs) and soy protein isolate nanocomposite adhesive. The attachment of carboxylic functional group on the surface of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) after purification contributed to the effective dispersion of the CNTs in the nanocomposite adhesive. Hence, enhanced properties of FCNTs were successfully transferred into the SPI/CNTs nanocomposite adhesive. These unique functionalities on FCNTs however, improved the mechanical properties of the adhesive. The shear strength and water resistance of SPI/FCNTs was higher than that of the SPI/CNTs. SEM images showed the homogenous dispersion of CNTs in the SPI/CNTs nanocomposite adhesive. The carbon nanotubes were distributed uniformly in the soy protein adhesive with no noticeable clusters at relatively reduced fractions of CNTs as shown in the SEM images, which resulted into better adhesion on wood surface. Mechanical (shear) mixing and ultrasonication with 30 minutes of shear mixing both showed an improved dispersion of CNTs in the soy protein matrix. However, ultrasonication method of dispersion showed higher tensile shear strength and water resistance than in mechanical (shear) mixing method. Thermogravimetric analysis of the samples also showed that the CNTs incorporated increases the thermal stability of the nanocomposite adhesive at higher loading fraction. Incorporation of CNTs into soy protein isolate adhesive improved both the shear strength and water resistance of the adhesive prepared at a relatively reduced concentration of 0.3%.The result showed that tensile shear strength of SPI/FCNTs adhesive was 0.8 MPa and 7.25MPa at dry and wet state respectively, while SPI/CNTs adhesive had 6.91 MPa and 5.48MPa at dry and wet state respectively. There was over 100% increase in shear strength both at dry and wet state compared to the pure SPI adhesive. The 19% decrease in value of the new adhesive developed compared to the minimum value of ≥10MPa of European standard for interior wood application may be attributed to the presence of metallic particles remaining after purification of CNTs. The presence of metallic particles will prevent the proper penetration of the adhesive into the wood substrate. The type of wood used in this study as well as the processing parameters could also result into lower value compared to the value of European standard. Therefore, optimization of the processing parameter as well as the conversion of carboxylic acid group on the surface of the CNTs into acyl chloride group may be employed in future investigation. However, the preparation of new nanocomposite adhesive from soy protein isolate will replace the formaldehyde and petrochemical adhesive in the market and be of useful application in the wood industry. / Civil and Chemical Engineering / M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)

The unique physical properties of nanomaterials, attributed to the combined effects of their size, shape, and composition, have sparked significant interest in the field of nanotechnology. Fabrication of nanodevices using nanomaterials as building-blocks are underway to enable novel technological applications. A fundamental understanding on the structure-property relationships and the mechanism of synthesizing nanomaterials with tailored physical properties is critical for a rationale design of functional nanodevices. In this thesis, molecular simulations that employ a detailed atomistic description of the nanoscopic structures were used to understand the structure-transport property relationships in two novel classes of porous nanomaterials, namely, polymer/porous inorganic layered nanocomposite materials and single-walled metal oxide nanotubes, and provide predictions for the design of nanodevices using these nanomaterials. We employed molecular dynamics to study transport of gas molecules (in particular He, H2, N2 and O2) through a polydimethylsiloxane/porous layered silicate (AMH-3) nanocomposite membrane material as a function of its composition. Gas separation performance of the nanocomposite was found to be substantially enhanced for H2/N2 and H2/O2 compared to pure polymeric material due to the molecular sieving effect of AMH-3, suggesting the possibility of developing a new class of superior separation devices. We also developed force field parameters for layered aluminophosphates that are emerging as potential inorganic layers for construction of nanocomposite materials. We presented preliminary work on developing Transition State Approach-Monte Carlo simulation method for calculating gas transport properties of nanocomposite materials. We investigated in detail the diameter control phenomenon in single-walled metal oxide nanotubes using molecular dynamics simulations and demonstrated the existence of a thermodynamic 'handle' for tuning the nanotube diameters and derived a unique correlation between nanotube energy, composition, and diameter to precisely predict nanotube diameters. Finally, using a combination of molecular dynamics, monte carlo and sorption experiments, we investigated adsorption and diffusion properties of water in single-walled aluminosilicate nanotubes. We predicted high water fluxes in these nanotubes, due to short lengths, hydrophilic interior and near-bulk-water diffusivities. Overall, my research represents two examples of the progress in developing a predictive basis for the design and analysis of nanostructures for applications in separations, nanofluidics, and fuel cell technology.

Les nanofibrilles de cellulose (NFC), obtenus par oxydation TEMPO des microfibrilles de cellulose native sous forme de suspensions colloïdales aqueuses, sont des nanoparticules biosourcées ayant des propriétés rhéologiques et optiques particulièrement séduisantes pour la conception de nanomatériaux à haute performance. Le but principal de cette étude était de contrôler et optimiser les conditions de préparation de ces NFCs extraites du rachis de palmier dattier en examinant le temps d'oxydation et le nombre de passe à travers l'homogéinsateur.La réussite de la réaction a été démontrée par spectroscopies FT-IR. Le taux de groupements carboxyliques a été calculé par dosage conductimétrique et était compris entre 221 et 772 µmol/g d'anhydroglucose. Les études morphologiques montrent que NFCs oxydées sont assez bien individualisés grâce à l'introduction des charges négatives à leur surface qui induisent des forces de répulsion électrostatique entre les fibrilles. Une attention particulière a été accordée à la viscoélasticité des suspensions NFC oxydées TEMPO dont le suivi a été réalisé par un rhéomètre ARES-G2TA. Ces nanocharges ont ensuite été incorporées au sein d'un thermoplastique (PVAc), puis les matériaux nanocomposites obtenus ont été caractérisés par MEB, ATG, DSC, DMA et par des tests mécaniques. / The cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), obtained by TEMPO oxidation of native cellulose microfibrils as colloidal aqueous suspensions, are biosourced nanoparticles having rheological and optical properties well adapted for the conception of new nanomaterials with high performance.The main purpose of this study was to control and optimize the conditions for preparing these NFCs extracted from date palm tree by examining the oxidation time and the number of passes through the homogenizer..The success of the reaction was demonstrated by FT-IR spectroscopy. The rate of the carboxylic groups has been calculated by conductometric titration and ranged between 221 and 772 mol / g of anhydroglucose. Morphological studies show that oxidized CNFs are very individualized by introducing negative charges on their surfaces that induce electrostatic repulsion forces between the fibrils. Particular attention has been given to the viscoelasticity of oxidized-TEMPO CNF suspensions whose monitoring was carried out by a rheometer ARES-G2TA. These nanocharges were incorporated in a thermoplastic (PVAc) and nanocomposite materials obtained were characterized by SEM, TGA, DSC, DMA and mechanical testing.

Formaldehyde-based adhesives have been reported to be detrimental to health. Petrochemical-based adhesives are non-renewable, limited and costly. Therefore, the improvement of environmental-friendly adhesive from natural agricultural products has awakened noteworthy attention. A novel adhesive for wood application was successfully prepared with enhanced shear strength and water resistance. The Fourier transmform infrared spectra showed the surface functionalities of the functionalized carbon nanotubes (FCNTs) and soy protein isolate nanocomposite adhesive. The attachment of carboxylic functional group on the surface of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) after purification contributed to the effective dispersion of the CNTs in the nanocomposite adhesive. Hence, enhanced properties of FCNTs were successfully transferred into the SPI/CNTs nanocomposite adhesive. These unique functionalities on FCNTs however, improved the mechanical properties of the adhesive. The shear strength and water resistance of SPI/FCNTs was higher than that of the SPI/CNTs. SEM images showed the homogenous dispersion of CNTs in the SPI/CNTs nanocomposite adhesive. The carbon nanotubes were distributed uniformly in the soy protein adhesive with no noticeable clusters at relatively reduced fractions of CNTs as shown in the SEM images, which resulted into better adhesion on wood surface. Mechanical (shear) mixing and ultrasonication with 30 minutes of shear mixing both showed an improved dispersion of CNTs in the soy protein matrix. However, ultrasonication method of dispersion showed higher tensile shear strength and water resistance than in mechanical (shear) mixing method. Thermogravimetric analysis of the samples also showed that the CNTs incorporated increases the thermal stability of the nanocomposite adhesive at higher loading fraction. Incorporation of CNTs into soy protein isolate adhesive improved both the shear strength and water resistance of the adhesive prepared at a relatively reduced concentration of 0.3%.The result showed that tensile shear strength of SPI/FCNTs adhesive was 0.8 MPa and 7.25MPa at dry and wet state respectively, while SPI/CNTs adhesive had 6.91 MPa and 5.48MPa at dry and wet state respectively. There was over 100% increase in shear strength both at dry and wet state compared to the pure SPI adhesive. The 19% decrease in value of the new adhesive developed compared to the minimum value of ≥10MPa of European standard for interior wood application may be attributed to the presence of metallic particles remaining after purification of CNTs. The presence of metallic particles will prevent the proper penetration of the adhesive into the wood substrate. The type of wood used in this study as well as the processing parameters could also result into lower value compared to the value of European standard. Therefore, optimization of the processing parameter as well as the conversion of carboxylic acid group on the surface of the CNTs into acyl chloride group may be employed in future investigation. However, the preparation of new nanocomposite adhesive from soy protein isolate will replace the formaldehyde and petrochemical adhesive in the market and be of useful application in the wood industry. / Civil and Chemical Engineering / M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)