Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Washington. / Vita. Bibliography: 3 leaves at end.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2001. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-97). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 1998. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, Novmeber, 1999. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 2000. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 1999. / Title from PDF t.p.

The objective of this investigation was to assess the influence of the SO3 content on the durability and strength of portland cement. Four portland cements were used in this study. The cements had a variable tricalcium silicate, tricalcium aluminate, and alkali contents, as well as differences in the amount and form of calcium sulfates. The SO3 content of the cements was increased by replacing part of the cement by gypsum according to ASTM C 452-95. Mortar bars and cubes were prepared for the as-received as well as for the cements with an SO3 content of 3.0% and 3.6%. The durability of the as-received and doped cements was determined by measuring the length change of the mortar bars that were exposed to sodium sulfate environment. The compressive strength of the mortar cubes prepared for the same mixes was measured at different ages for sets of cubes cured both in sodium sulfate solution and in saturated lime solution. It was concluded at the end of this study that there is an optimum SO3 content for the lowest expansion that is different from that determined for the highest compressive strength. Optimum values also differed from one cement to another and from one age to another for the same cement. The results also indicate the dependence of SO3 content on tricalcium aluminate and alkali content of cements. In addition, for all cements examined in this study with alkali content of less than 0.60%, increasing the SO3 content above 3.0% had negative effects on durability assessed by strength or expansion measurements. For the cement with highest alkali and tricalcium aluminate content, increasing the SO3 content from 3.0% to 3.6% delayed the onset of strength drop; however, at 360 days the strength drop experienced by both doping levels was the same.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂), a well-known pollutant emitted from fossil fuel combustion, has major adverse health and environmental impacts. It is harmful at low concentration with a permissible exposure limit of two ppm for the eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) value. Fortunately, its atmospheric concentration, like other air pollutants, has gradually reduced in Canada in the past years. However, despite the well-established flue gas desulfurization technologies, they have the disadvantages of being energy-intensive, not very efficient to achieve very low concentrations (at ppm level) and they operate at high temperatures. Moreover, emission standards are becoming more stringent. Novel methods are therefore investigated to capture SO₂, such as adsorption processes using zeolites and metal oxides (e.g., Iron (Fe) and Vanadium (V) based) which tend to sustain wide ranges of temperatures and pressures. Graphene oxide (GO) was also shown to physisorb SO₂ at low temperatures. In this work, we propose to metal functionalize GO as a step forward on the path for efficient SO₂ capture, by promoting the SO₂ oxidation reaction into sulfur trioxide (SO₃) for increased capacity due to a possible higher affinity with the surface. The GO has a high surface area, high porosity, and controllable surface chemistry. The aim is to achieve outlet concentration of SO₂ as low as 1 ppm through combined physisorption and reaction promoted that the presence of GO and metal, at low operating temperature. Iron oxide functionalized GO was synthesized using two different techniques: a polyol process (GO-FeₓOᵧ-P) and using a hydrolysis method (GO-FeₓOᵧ-H). The characterization analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), performed on the materials before and after SO₂ reaction show changes on the surface due to metal adding and to the sulfur capture. The breakthrough curves and the capacity calculations of the performed experiments have shown that with the addition of FeₓOᵧ on the surface of GO, the capturing capacity increases by a factor of three to four, indicating a possible change in the capturing mechanism. The evaluation of the temperature effect (from room temperature to 100℃) showed an increasing trend in the capture capacity for SO₂ with an increase in temperature, for both functionalized and non-functionalized GO, indicating it is not driven only by surface adsorption. The presence of sulfur species captured from the gas stream has been confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDXS) analysis. The future work would be focused on the investigation of the mechanisms and capturing phenomenon and the regeneration step for the materials in order to further improve the capturing capacity and process applicability.