The adsorption of cesium on mesoporous silica materials containing embedded phosphotungstic acid (PTA) was studied. The materials contained active adsorbent and binders: γ-Al2O3, kaolin, or charcoal. The presence of Keggin units of PTA in the bound materials was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Among all materials, the formulation with γ-Al2O3 demonstrated the highest porosity and effectiveness in adsorption. Pure PTA/SiO2 contained a significant fraction of small particles between 100 and 300 nm. However, in the alumina-bound material, they were not detected. SEM imaging showed that these particles occupied interparticle space between larger γ-Al2O3 particles. The material was stable up to 540 °C. In most materials, the adsorption of cesium decreased with increase of the binder contents but not proportionally. The adsorption capacity of all materials depended on the concentration of cesium in the solutions. Maximum adsorption was achieved after 1 h. The adsorption of cesium is controlled by intraparticle diffusion while its rate can be described by the pseudo-second-order model.

Abstract: Silica gels containing embedded heteropolyacids were synthesized in acidic media by co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane with phosphotungstic or phosphomolybdic acids using the sol-gel technique. Surfactants dodecylamine, sodium dodecylsulfate, trimethylstearylammonium chloride, and Pluronic P123 were used as templates. The effect of the synthesis conditions on their structure and morphology was studied. All materials were mesoporous but contained micropores in their structures. Presence of bands of Keggin structures in fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra along with absence of X-ray diffraction patterns of crystalline heteropolyacids confirmed their fine incorporation into silica network. Particle sizes of modified materials were 500–1100 nm except for the W-containing sample obtained with trimethylstearylammonium chloride, which was significantly lower. This unusual effect was attributed to stabilization of primary silica nanoparticles by interactions between the surfactant and heteropolyacid. High ratio heteropolyacid/tetraethoxysilane resulted in partial loss of porosity. Obtained results might be used for optimization of synthesis of effective catalysts and adsorbents containing heteropolyacids in mesoporous structure. Graphical Abstract: [InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.]

In this project the author has attempted to determine the specific conductance of a gel of known composition; the changes, if any, of conductance in a gel as it sets; and the changes in conductance due to the diffusing of an electrolyte through the gel.

Linear alkylbenzenes (LAB) are semi-products in the manufacture of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate surfactants that are active ingredients of various detergents. The use of traditional soluble acids (e.g. hydrofluoric acid or aluminum chloride) as catalysts for production of LAB results in the formation of large amounts of acidic toxic wastes. In this work, an efficient heterogeneous catalyst containing immobilized phosphotungstic acid (PTA) was synthesized and tested in the alkylation of benzene by higher alkenes. Sol–gel synthesis of silica gel from tetraethyl orthosilicate and PTA, as precursors, produced a mesoporous material containing covalently embedded PTA clusters. Obtained superacidic catalyst demonstrated high catalytic activity in liquid-phase alkylation of benzene by higher alkenes. Conversion of alkenes to corresponding phenylalkanes on this catalyst was significantly higher than on pure PTA. Covalent embedding of catalytically active HPA clusters prevented their leaching from the catalyst surface, which enabled its excellent catalytic properties.

No / A new technique using ozone loaded on adsorbents for industrial waste-water treatment has been investigated. This is a three-step process: ozone adsorption on a fixed bed column; water treatment on the bed loaded with ozone; and finally drying/ regeneration of the wet bed. Silica gel of mean particle size of 1.5 mm has been tested for ozone loading capacities followed by water treatment, both at ambient temperature. The mechanisms of the mass transfer process during ozone loading and water treatment have been established. The drying of the adsorbent using vacuum and dry air is feasible, but it is a time-consuming operation. A design procedure is described for the whole system.

Structure evolution of silica aerogel was studied in microwave- and conventionally processed samples over the temperature range from 25 to 1200â °C. The samples were produced using sol-gel processing and dried under carbon dioxide supercritical conditions. After drying, the monolithic samples received a thermal treatment at different programmed temperatures in two different ovens, conventional and microwave. The microwave process was performed using a single mode microwave oven at 2.45GHz. Dielectric properties were measured using the cavity perturbation method, and structural characterization was carried out using a variety of techniques, including absorption surface analysis, Helium pycnometry, Archimedes principle, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high resolution microscopy. The data obtained revealed that structural differences do exist between microwave- and conventionally processed samples. Three different regions were identified from the structural characterization of the samples. Regions I exhibited a structure densification at temperatures between 25 and 850â °C. Region II was characterized by a bulk densification in the temperature range from 850 to 1200â °C. Region III was represented by the onset of crystallization above 1200â °C. Explanation and possible causes behind the structural differences observed in each region are provided. In general, the structure evolution observed in microwave- and conventionally processed samples followed the same order, but occurred at lower temperature for the microwave process. / Ph. D.

Liquefiable soils are common at ports due to the use of hydraulic fills for construction of waterfront facilities. Liquefaction-induced ground failure can result in permanent ground deformations that can cause loss of foundation support and structural damage. This can lead to substantial repair and/or replacement costs and business interruption losses that can have an adverse effect on the port and the surrounding community. Although numerous soil improvement methods exist for remediating a liquefaction-prone site, many of these methods are poorly suited for developed sites because they could damage existing infrastructure and disrupt port operations. An alternative is to use a passive remediation technique. Treating liquefiable soils with colloidal silica gel via permeation grouting has been shown to resist cyclic deformations and is a candidate to be used as a soil stabilizer in passive mitigation. The small-strain dynamic properties are essential to determine the response to seismic loading. The small-to-intermediate strain shear modulus and damping ratio of loose sand treated with colloidal silica gel was investigated and the influence of colloidal silica concentration was determined. The effect of introducing colloidal silica gel into the pore space in the initial phase of treatment results in a 10% to 12% increase in the small-strain shear modulus, depending on colloidal silica concentration. The modulus reduction curve indicates that treatment does not affect the linear threshold shear strain, however the treated samples reduce at a greater rate than the untreated samples in the intermediate-strain range above 0.01% cyclic shear strain. It was observed that the treated sand has slightly higher damping ratio in the small-strain range; however, at cyclic shear strains around 0.003% the trend reverses and the untreated sand begins to have higher damping ratio. Due to the nature of the colloidal silica gelation process, chemical bonds continue to form with time, thus the effect of aging on the dynamic properties is important. A parametric study was performed to investigate the influence of gel time on the increase in small-strain shear modulus. The effect of aging increases the small-strain shear modulus after gelling by 200 to 300% for the 40-minute-gel time samples with a distance from gelation (time after gelation normalized by gel time) of 1000 to 2000; 700% for the 2-hour-gel time sample with a distance from gelation of 1000; and 200 to 400% for the 20-hour-gel time samples with a distance from gelation of 40 to 100. The treatment of all potentially liquefiable soil at port facilities with colloidal silica would be cost prohibitive. Identifying treatment zones that would reduce the lateral pressure and resulting pile bending moments and displacements caused by liquefaction-induced lateral spreading to prevent foundation damage is an economic alternative. Colloidal silica gel treatment zones of varying size and location were evaluated by subjecting a 3-by-3 pile group in gently sloping liquefiable ground to 1-g shaking table tests. The results are compared to an untreated sample. The use of a colloidal silica treatment zone upslope of the pile group results in reduced maximum bending moments and pile displacements in the downslope row of piles when compared to an untreated sample; the presence of the treatment zone had minimal effect on the other rows of piles within the group.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-04-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:53:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_as_me_ilha.pdf: 690149 bytes, checksum: dcd57c1df4d926f151fe50ced6db565f (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho consistiu na organofuncionalização da superfície da sílica gel com o ligante 4-amino-2-mercaptopirimidina (Si-AMP), a qual foi utilizada para estudo de sorção e pré-concentração de Cd(II) e Cu(II) em meio aquoso. A reação de modificação da sílica gel foi realizada em duas etapas, a primeira constituiu na sililação com o agente sililante 3-cloropropiltrimetoxisilano e a última tratou-se do ancoramento da molécula do ligante. O produto final obtido, Si-AMP, foi caracterizado por espectrometria na região do infravermelho com transformada de Fourrier (FT-IR), ressonância magnética nuclear (RMN), medida da área superficial específica, análise elementar de nitrogênio e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV). Os espectros de FT-IR apresentaram bandas na região de 3347 cm-1 e 1541 cm-1, as quais foram atribuídas a vibrações de grupamentos amina existentes na molécula do ligante. Os espectros de RMN de 13C e 29Si obtidos nas regiões entre 0 e 50 ppm e -65,560 ppm respectivamente, confirmaram que o grupo orgânico encontra-se covalentemente ligado na superfície da matriz sílica. O ancoramento do ligante na matriz também resultou em modificações na área superficial do material, a qual teve uma redução de 331,70 para 289,74 m2g-1. A análise elementar indicou a presença de 0,245 mmoles do ligante por grama de Si-AMP. O material funcionalizado foi aplicado em estudo de sorção pelo método de batelada, onde investigou-se o tempo de equilíbrio (fixado em 10 minutos), influência do pH (ajustado em 5) no processo de sorção e a determinação da capacidade máxima de sorção da Si-AMP. As isotermas de adsorção foram ajustadas à equação modificada de Langmuir e os valores de Ns (capacidade máxima de sorção) encontrados foram 0,447 mmoles g-1 para... / The present work refers to the organofunctionalization of the silica gel surface with the 4-amino-2-mercaptopyrimidine ligand (Si-AMP), which was used to sorption and preconcentration of Cd (II) and Cu (II) in aqueous medium. The modification reaction of silica gel was performed in two steps, the first one was the sililation with the silylant agent (chloropropyltrimethoxysilane) and the second was the attachment of the molecule ligand. The characterization of the product obtained, Si-AMP, was done by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), measurement of specific surface area, nitrogen elemental analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The bands obtained by FT-IR spectra at 3347 cm-1 and 1541 cm-1 were attributed to amino groups vibrations in the ligand molecule. The NMR spectra, obtained between 0 and 50 ppm and -65.560 ppm for 13C and 29Si respectively, confirmed that the organic group is covalently attached to the silica matrix surface. The anchoring of the ligand in the matrix also resulted in changes in the area of the material surface, which was reduced from 331.70 to 289.74 m2g-1. The elemental analysis indicated the presence of 0.245 mmols of ligand per gram of Si-AMP. The functionalized material was applied to sorption experiments by the batch method, where it was investigated the equilibrium time (fixed at 10 minutes), pH influence (adjusted to 5) in the sorption process and the determination of maximum adsorption capacity of Si -AMP. The adsorption isotherms were adjusted to the modified Langmuir equation, and the Ns values (maximum sorption capacity) were found to be 0.447 mmol g-1 for Cu (II) and 0.193 mmoles g-1 for Cd(II). The preconcentration experiments, using a mini-column packed with 5 mg of Si-AMP, showed a preconcentration enrichment factor... (Summary complete electronic access click below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-02-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:29:01Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 britto_pf_me_ilha.pdf: 560643 bytes, checksum: 54cea600ab279deb0d7e2d6533cdb694 (MD5) / A combinação de diferentes tipos de materiais para obtenção de novas propriedades tem despertado grande interesse em vários campos da ciência de materiais. Em processos de separação, é de considerável interesse o uso de materiais com propriedades básicas extremamente diferentes. Entre os suportes mais usados está a sílica gel, um material com tamanho de partículas e porosidade bem definidas, elevada área superficial, e estabilidades mecânica, química e térmica elevadas. Neste contexto, a sílica gel modificada com grupos organofuncionais pode ser utilizada para a adsorção de íons metálicos em soluções aquosas e não aquosas, pré-concentração e separação de íons metálicos. Neste trabalho, a sílica gel 60 (Merck), com tamanho de partículas entre 0,2 e 0,05 mm e área superficial específica de 486 m2.g-1, foi quimicamente modificada em duas etapas. Primeiro, a sílica gel foi quimicamente modificada com 3-cloropropiltrimetoxisilano, resultando o 3-cloropropil sílica gel (CPSG). Na segunda etapa, o produto resultante, CPSG, reagiu com 2-mercaptopirimidina e 4-amino-2-mercaptopirimidina, resultando os materiais sólidos 2-mercaptopirimidina-propil sílica gel (MPSG) e 4-amino-2-mercaptopirimidinapropil sílica gel (AMSG). As quantidades de grupos funcionais conectados na superfície da sílica gel, N0, foram 7,007 x 10-4 mols e 7,416 x 10-4 mols de moléculas por grama de sílica, para MPSG e AMSG, respectivamente. Conhecendo a área superficial específica e assumindo que as moléculas cobrem uniformemente a superfície, a densidade média, d, das moléculas ancoradas e a distância intermolecular média, l, podem ser calculadas aplicando as equações d = N0 N/SBET e l = (l/d) 1/2 , onde N é o número de Avogadro. Os valores calculados são d = 1,42 moléculas.nm2 e l = 0,979 nm, e d = 1,166 moléculas.nm2 e l = 0,926 nm, para MPSG e... . / The combination of different type of materials for achieving novel properties has always been of high interest in many fields of the materials sciences. The use of materials with extremely different basic properties, like organic and inorganic compounds, is of considerable interest in separation processes. Among the supports the most used is silica gel, a material of well-established particle sizes and well-define porosity, high surface area, and high mechanical, chemical, and thermal stability. In this context, silica gel modified with organofunctional groups has been used for adsorption of metal ions from aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, pre-concentration and separation of metallic ions. In this work, silica gel 60 (Merck) having secondary particles sized between 0,2 and 0,05 mm and specific surface area of 486 m2.g-1 was modified using a two step approach. First, the silica gel was chemically modified with 3- chloropropyltrimetoxysilane, resulting the 3-chloropropyl-silica gel (CPSG). Second, the resultant product, CPSG, reacted with 2-mercaptopyrimidine and 4-amino-2- mercaptopyrimidine, resulting the solid materials 2-mercaptopyrimidine-propyl-silica gel (MPSG) and 4-amino-2-mercaptopyrimidine-propyl-silica gel (AMSG). The quantities of functional groups attached on the silica gel surface, No, were 7,007 x 10-4 mols e 7,416 x 10-4 mols .g-1 of molecules per gram of silica, for MPSG and AMSG, respectively. It being known the specific surface area and assuming that the molecules uniformly cover the surface, the average density, d, of the attached molecules and the average intermolecular distance, l, can be calculated by applying the equations: d = N0 N /SBET and l = (l/d)1/2, where N is Avogadro's number. The calculated values were d = 1,042 molecules.nm-2 and l = 0,979 nm and d = 1,166 molecules.nm-2 and... (Complete abstract click electronic address below).

Orientador: Gustavo Rocha de Castro / Banca: Jean Richard Dasnoy Marinho / Banca: Pedro de Magalhães Padilha / Resumo: O presente trabalho consistiu na organofuncionalização da superfície da sílica gel com o ligante 4-amino-2-mercaptopirimidina (Si-AMP), a qual foi utilizada para estudo de sorção e pré-concentração de Cd(II) e Cu(II) em meio aquoso. A reação de modificação da sílica gel foi realizada em duas etapas, a primeira constituiu na sililação com o agente sililante 3-cloropropiltrimetoxisilano e a última tratou-se do ancoramento da molécula do ligante. O produto final obtido, Si-AMP, foi caracterizado por espectrometria na região do infravermelho com transformada de Fourrier (FT-IR), ressonância magnética nuclear (RMN), medida da área superficial específica, análise elementar de nitrogênio e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV). Os espectros de FT-IR apresentaram bandas na região de 3347 cm-1 e 1541 cm-1, as quais foram atribuídas a vibrações de grupamentos amina existentes na molécula do ligante. Os espectros de RMN de 13C e 29Si obtidos nas regiões entre 0 e 50 ppm e -65,560 ppm respectivamente, confirmaram que o grupo orgânico encontra-se covalentemente ligado na superfície da matriz sílica. O ancoramento do ligante na matriz também resultou em modificações na área superficial do material, a qual teve uma redução de 331,70 para 289,74 m2g-1. A análise elementar indicou a presença de 0,245 mmoles do ligante por grama de Si-AMP. O material funcionalizado foi aplicado em estudo de sorção pelo método de batelada, onde investigou-se o tempo de equilíbrio (fixado em 10 minutos), influência do pH (ajustado em 5) no processo de sorção e a determinação da capacidade máxima de sorção da Si-AMP. As isotermas de adsorção foram ajustadas à equação modificada de Langmuir e os valores de Ns (capacidade máxima de sorção) encontrados foram 0,447 mmoles g-1 para... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present work refers to the organofunctionalization of the silica gel surface with the 4-amino-2-mercaptopyrimidine ligand (Si-AMP), which was used to sorption and preconcentration of Cd (II) and Cu (II) in aqueous medium. The modification reaction of silica gel was performed in two steps, the first one was the sililation with the silylant agent (chloropropyltrimethoxysilane) and the second was the attachment of the molecule ligand. The characterization of the product obtained, Si-AMP, was done by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), measurement of specific surface area, nitrogen elemental analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The bands obtained by FT-IR spectra at 3347 cm-1 and 1541 cm-1 were attributed to amino groups vibrations in the ligand molecule. The NMR spectra, obtained between 0 and 50 ppm and -65.560 ppm for 13C and 29Si respectively, confirmed that the organic group is covalently attached to the silica matrix surface. The anchoring of the ligand in the matrix also resulted in changes in the area of the material surface, which was reduced from 331.70 to 289.74 m2g-1. The elemental analysis indicated the presence of 0.245 mmols of ligand per gram of Si-AMP. The functionalized material was applied to sorption experiments by the batch method, where it was investigated the equilibrium time (fixed at 10 minutes), pH influence (adjusted to 5) in the sorption process and the determination of maximum adsorption capacity of Si -AMP. The adsorption isotherms were adjusted to the modified Langmuir equation, and the Ns values (maximum sorption capacity) were found to be 0.447 mmol g-1 for Cu (II) and 0.193 mmoles g-1 for Cd(II). The preconcentration experiments, using a mini-column packed with 5 mg of Si-AMP, showed a preconcentration enrichment factor... (Summary complete electronic access click below) / Mestre