Developing a fundamental understanding of the interactions of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) with surfaces is essential for the rational design of new sorbents, sensors, and decontamination strategies. The interactions of chemical warfare agent simulants, molecules which retain many of the same chemical or physical properties of the agent without the toxic effects, with amorphous silica were conducted to investigate how small changes in chemical structure affect the overall chemistry. Experiments investigating the surface chemistry of two classes of CWAs, nerve and blister agents, were performed in ultrahigh vacuum to provide a well-characterized system in the absence of background gases. Transmission infrared spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption techniques were used to learn about the adsorption mechanism and to measure the activation energy for desorption for each of the simulant studied. In the organophosphate series, the simulants diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP), dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), trimethyl phosphate (TMP), dimethyl chlorophosphate (DMCP), and methyl dichlorophosphate (MDCP) were all observed to interact with the silica surface through the formation of a hydrogen bond between the phosphoryl oxygen of the simulant and an isolated hydroxyl group on the surface. In the limit of zero coverage, and after defect effects were excluded, the activation energies for desorption were measured to be 57.9 ± 1, 54.5 ± 0.3, 52.4 ± 0.6, 48.4 ± 1, and 43.0 ± 0.8 kJ/mol for DIMP. DMMP, TMP, DMCP, and MDCP respectively. The adsorption strength was linearly correlated to the magnitude of the frequency shift of the ν(SiO-H) mode upon simulant adsorption. The interaction strength was also linearly correlated to the calculated negative charge on the phosphoryl oxygen, which is affected by the combined inductive effects of the simulants’ different substituents. From the structure-function relationship provided by the simulant studies, the CWA, Sarin is predicted to adsorb to isolated hydroxyl groups of the silica surface via the phosphoryl oxygen with a strength of 53 kJ/mol. The interactions of two common mustard simulants, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (2-CEES) and methyl salicylate (MeS), with amorphous silica were also studied. 2-CEES was observed to adsorb to form two different types of hydrogen bonds with isolated hydroxyl groups, one via the S moiety and another via the Cl moiety. The desorption energy depends strongly on the simulant coverage, suggesting that each 2-CEES adsorbate forms two hydrogen bonds. MeS interacts with the surface via a single hydrogen bond through either its hydroxyl or carbonyl functionality. While the simulant work has allowed us to make predictions agent-surface interactions, actual experiments with the live agents need to be conducted to fully understand this chemistry. To this end, a new surface science instrument specifically designed for agent-surface experiments has been developed, constructed, and tested. The instrument, located at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, now makes it possible to make direct comparisons between simulants and agents that will aid in choosing which simulants best model live agent chemistry for a given system. These fundamental studies will also contribute to the development of new agent detection and decontamination strategies. / Ph. D.

Abstract The aim of the thesis is to expand the knowledge of the catalytic properties of platinum-loaded zeolite catalysts in the reduction of NOx by hydrocarbons. The work is divided into three parts. First the recent literature of zeolite catalysts has been introduced, secondly the adsorption capacity, activity, and acidity of the catalysts have been studied by TPD and IR techniques, and thirdly the derived reaction mechanisms based on the obtained data are presented. Parent and 1 wt-% Pt-loaded ZSM-5, Beta, Y, and Ferrierite zeolite catalysts have been studied in the C3H6-assisted reduction of NO. The Pd/Al2O3-based catalyst was used as a reference material for the reaction mechanistic studies. Several experimental techniques (in situ DRIFT, activity measurements, CO chemisorption, N2 physisorption, TPD, and TEM) have been used for the characterisation of the catalysts properties. The IR technique was used as the main technique for the determination of activities, surface species, and the acidic properties of the zeolite-based catalysts. The activity studies carried out by the gaseous FTIR technique provide information on the desired reaction products as well as the undesired by-products. The detection and identification of the surface species as well as the reaction intermediates formed were done by the DRIFT method. The activity experiments indicate the effectiveness of the Pt-loaded zeolite catalysts. The reduction of NO was found to decrease in the order: Pt/Beta > Pt/Y > Pt/Ferrierite > Pt/ZSM-5 in the conditions with excess O2. Platinum can be concluded to have an effect on O2 and NO dissociation. Oxidation reactions of NO to NO2 and propene to CO2 were observed to be more intense over the platinum-loaded zeolites than over the parent zeolites. In this work the reaction mechanisms for the C3H6-SCR of NO were derived over the Pt-loaded zeolite as well as the Pd/alumina catalysts based on the data obtained by DRIFT and activity experiments. The kinetics for the NO reduction by CO over Pd/Al2O3 was also derived. With the methods employed, the mechanistic steps over the Pt-loaded zeolites and Pd/Al2O3-based catalysts could be derived quite precisely and easily for C3H6-SCR of NO. Reaction routes were determined to go via different formations of intermediates over the two catalysts, i.e. via organonitrogen and isocyanate routes, respectively. The IR techniques were discovered to be effective tools in applied engineering studies.

No description available.

Les piles à combustible, alimentée par de l’hydrogène, représentent une solution prometteuse pour limiter la pollution. L’une des alternatives économiques envisagées à court et moyen terme est de produire l’hydrogène à partir d’un carburant tel que le méthane ou le bio-éthanol. Cette transformation a pour objectif d’obtenir un mélange de gaz riche en hydrogène avec une très faible teneur en CO, ce dernier étant un poison pour les piles de type PEM. La réaction de Water-Gas Shift (WGS) est une étape clé du procédé ; elle convertit CO en CO2 par réaction avec l’eau et fournit une quantité d’hydrogène supplémentaire. Des catalyseurs métalliques (Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Au, Cu) supportés sur des oxydes (CeO2, TiO2, ZrO2, Fe2O3, CeO2/Al2O3) ont été comparés dans des conditions de WGS identiques en présence de CO2 et H2. Une étude cinétique a été réalisée sur les catalyseurs Pt/CeO2, Au/CeO2, Pt/TiO2 et Au/TiO2. Les énergies d’activation apparentes et les ordres de réaction ont été déterminés à partir d’un modèle de type loi de puissance. Un mécanisme réactionnel avec deux sites a été proposé pour décrire les différentes activités des 4 catalyseurs. Des expériences de désorption programmée en température ont été réalisées pour déterminer les paramètres cinétiques sur le support / The Fuel Cells are promising solution to reduce the air pollution. One of the cost-efficient alternatives is to produce hydrogen from another fuel such as methane or bio-ethanol. A hydrogen fuel processor consists in generating a hydrogen-rich mixture and reducing the carbon monoxide content, as PEM fuel cells are very low CO tolerance. One of these units is the water-gas shift reactor, which converts CO into CO2 by the reaction with water and provides additional hydrogen. Catalysts based on a metal (Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Au, Cu) supported on an oxide (CeO2, TiO2, ZrO2, Fe2O3, CeO2/Al2O3) were compared for the WGS reaction in the same conditions and in the presence of CO2 and H2. A kinetic study was conducted on catalysts Pt/CeO2, Au/CeO2, Pt/TiO2 and Au/TiO2. A power law rate model was used to determine apparent activation energies and reaction orders. A dual-site reaction mechanism was proposed to explain the different activities between the four catalysts. The sorption parameters of H2O and CO2 on the supports was quantitatively determined from temperature-programmed desorption experiments

The effect of soot on the catalytic properties of a diesel particulate filter coated with a catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia (SDPF) was studied by means of model-gas experiments. After loading of the SDPF with model soot from 0 to 10 g l-1, the NH3 storage as well as the catalytic DeNOx behavior of the standard SCR reaction was investigated. The model soot present in the filter was shown to have an NH3 storage capacity. The soot deposit inside the SDPF filter wall lead to a decreased NO conversion in SCR experiments of up to 20 %. The NH3 breakthrough was found to be shifted towards earlier time-on-stream during NH3 adsorption on soot loaded SDPF samples. Both effects could be attributed to a diffusive mass transport limitation of the gas species through the soot to reach at the chemically active sites inside SDPF filter wall. The self-diffusion coefficient of NH3 probe molecules within a soot layer could be measured using Pulsed Field Gradient-NMR technique. The unit collector model is capable of describing the backpressure upon soot loading with a depth filtered (inside filter wall) soot amount of 1 g l-1 and 0.36 g l-1, respectively, for both SDPF types under investigation. Based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) investigation a 1-D microscopic soot filter wall-model was set up. The model implies soot as diffusion barrier for mass transport. It was calibrated based on experimental observations and allows to conclude on the distribution of the soot within the filter wall. Thus, a high soot-coverage of the porous filter wall close to the inlet channel, a slightly covered middle part and a soot free zone close to the outlet explains the observed reduction in NO conversion as well as the NH3 breakthrough at earlier time-on-stream during NH3 adsorption experiments for SDPF samples loaded with soot. A modelled homogeneous soot distribution (0.6 µm soot layer on top of washcoat) within the whole SDPF was shown to result in NO conversion drop up to 45 %.

Growing concerns regarding chemical weapons and toxic chemicals require the development and testing of robust materials and methods to capture and destroy these harmful chemicals. This dissertation discusses the fundamental properties (e.g., structure, stability and activity) of metal oxyhydroxide based 3-dimensional porous materials, such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and their applications for gas capture and degradation, especially for toxic gases and chemical warfare agent simulants. We report and verify that the active sites in UiO-67 MOFs are the metal nodes (oxyhydroxides) and developed a paradigm which correlates the activities of the MOFs, the metal oxyhydroxides and their precursors. This new understanding can help researchers choose the optimum metal for the intended applications by avoiding the tedious and time-consuming procedures of MOF synthesis and purification. In addition, to characterize and understand the structures of active sites in UiO-67 MOFs, temperature programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPD-MS) and in situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were performed under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and revealed unconventional binding sites and assisted in the successful characterization of missing linker defects. Here, our research helped in identification of a new class of binding sites, via NH-π interactions, in UiO-67 MOFs will assist researchers working in the areas of gas storage/release in developing better materials. This study should facilitate the structural understanding of MOFs, their important attributes such as defects and their chemistry in the presence of toxic gases. After successful identification of active species in MOFs, with the ultimate goal of isolating andii depositing the active sites on porous carbonaceous materials, e.g., COFs, we have engineered a facile technique to synthesize robust nanoparticle-COF and evaluated the reasons for its improved catalytic properties over other materials. The discoveries and their implications discussed in this thesis address fundamental knowledge gaps and should aid the rational design of superior materials for in operando applications. / Chemistry

Manganese oxide catalysts supported on Al₂O₃, ZrO₂, TiO₂ and SiO₂ supports were used to study the effect of support on ozone decomposition kinetics. X-ray diffraction (XRD), in-situ laser Raman spectroscopy, temperature programmed oxygen desorption, surface area measurements, extended and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS and NEXAFS) showed that the manganese oxide was highly dispersed on the surface of the supports. EXAFS spectra suggest that the manganese active centers on all of the surfaces were surrounded by five oxygen atoms. These metal centers were of a mononuclear type for the Al₂O₃ supported catalyst and multinuclear for the other supports. NEXAFS spectra for the catalysts showed a chemical shift to lower energy and an intensity change in the L-edge features which followed the trend Al₂O₃ > ZrO₂ > TiO₂ > SiO₂. The trends provided insights into the positive role of available empty electronic states required in the reduction step of a redox reaction. The catalysts were tested for their ozone decomposition reactivity and reaction rates had a fractional order dependency (n < 1) with ozone partial pressure. The apparent activation energies for the reaction was low (3-15 kJ/mol). The support influenced the desorption step (a reduction step) and this effect manifested itself in the pre-exponential factor of the rate constant for desorption. Trends for this pre-exponential factor correlated with trends in NEXAFS features and reflected the ease of electron donation from the adsorbed species to the active center. / Ph. D.

A catalytic route to hydrogen production via thermochemical water splitting is highly desirable because it directly converts thermal energy into stored chemical energy in the form of hydrogen and oxygen. Recently, the Davis group at Caltech reported an innovative low-temperature (max 850°C) catalytic cycle for thermochemical water splitting based on sodium and manganese oxides (Xu, Bhawe and Davis, PNAS, 2012). The key steps are thought to be hydrogen evolution from a Na₂CO₃/MnO mixture, and oxygen evolution by thermal reduction of solids formed by Na⁺ extraction from NaMnO₂. Our work is aimed at understanding the fundamental chemical processes involved in the catalytic cycle, especially the hydrogen evolution from water. In this project, efforts are made to understand the interactions between the key components (Na, O₂, CO₂, and water) in the hydrogen evolution steps on a well-defined MnO(100) single crystal surface, utilizing x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). While some of the behavior of the catalytic system is observed with the model system developed in this work, hydrogen is only produced from water in the presence of metallic sodium, in contrast to the proposal of Xu et al. that water splitting occurs from the reaction of water with a mixture of Na₂CO₃ and MnO. These differences are discussed in light of the different operating conditions for the catalytic system and the surface science model developed in this work. / Ph. D.

L’usage des élastomères en tant que matériau ne peut se concevoir sans l’utilisation de certaines charges dites renforçantes. Bien qu’une variété plutôt large de minéraux en poudre puisse être associée aux élastomères, deux charges sont très majoritairement utilisées de par leur haute capacité renforçante, les noirs de carbone et les silices actives et hautement structurées. L’utilisation de la silice n’a été envisagée, à partir des années 1980, que grâce à un contrôle fin de sa chimie de surface, de ses silanols hydrophiles et de son traitement par silanes spécifiquement dessinés pour satisfaire une application précise. La preuve expérimentale quantifiant les interactions charge – polymère est grandement souhaitée. C’est précisément le premier but que cette thèse tente d’approcher. Pour tenter d’atteindre cet objectif, nous proposons d’étudier dans ce travail l’évaluation de l’adsorption d'un polymère, une série de HNBR, sur des charges, noir de carbone et silice traitée ou non par des silanes spécifiquement désignés, d’un point de vue énergétique et moléculaire au moyen de la microcalorimétrie à écoulement (FMC). L'application de cet outil, relativement connu dans le cadre des interactions petite molécule – charge est plutôt original dans l’étude des couples polymère – charge. Notre deuxième but est donc, et grâce à une connaissance fine de la chimie des surface d'une silice, de ses traitements par des silanes, et de l'adsorption du polymère sur sa surface, d'explorer la corrélation entre le traitement et les propriétés macroscopiques dans le but d'établir une relation de cause à effet. / Most actual uses of elastomers are not even conceivable without the assistance of reinforcing filler. In this field, "silane-technology" brought into evidence the necessity of monitoring the competition that routinely rises between two determinant factors: polymer-filler interactions and filler-filler interactions. As a result, an important database founded essentially on the characterization of the surfaces chemistry and surface energy of the two antagonist elements had to be gathered. However, the determination of the consequence of such characters on the factual polymer-filler interactions remains rudimentary, such as bound rubber gravimetric measurements. Experimental prove which is able to quantify such interactions is badly needed. This is, actually, the first objective that we tried to achieve. In order to do so, we propose in this work to study, from the energy point of view using flow micro calorimeter (FMC), the evolution of the adsorption of a series of HNBR on the surface of carbon black (CB) and silicas unmodified and modified by selected silanes. If the goal of the silane technology is to design coupling agents that are able to satisfy a specific application, especially those related to the energy dissipation, the mechanism through which such a process is achieved is not fully understood. Thus, and based on a fine knowledge of surface chemistry, surface treatments and polymer adsorption, our second objective is to explore the cause-to-effect links that ought to exist between filler surface treatments and blends macroscopic properties.

Στο πρώτο μέρος της παρούσας διατριβής παρουσιάζεται ο σχεδιασμός, η κατασκευή και η λειτουργία μιας τριοδικής SOFC με state-of-the-art υλικά ηλεκτροδίων. Η τριοδική λειτουργία ενίσχυσε την απόδοση της κυψέλης έως και 7.7% κάτω από μη-ευνοϊκές συνθήκες λειτουργίας. Το δεύτερο μέρος αφορά τη μαθηματική μοντελοποίηση των SOFC. H μοντελοποίηση μόνιμης κατάστασης περιγράφει τη λειτουργία των κεραμομεταλλικών ανόδων μέσω ενός παράγοντα αποτελεσματικότητας, η, ο οποίος σχετίζεται με το αδιάστατο ρεύμα, J, και έναν αδιάστατο ρυθμό αντίδρασης, Φ2. Η μοντελοποίηση λαμβάνει υπ’όψη αποκλειστικά την υπερχείλιση ιόντων οξυγόνου από τον ηλεκτρολύτη και αφορά διάφορες γεωμετρίες των καταλυτικών σωματίων. Το μοντέλο επιβεβαιώνεται ικανοποιητικά από πειραματικά αποτελέσματα σε state-of-the-art κυψέλη SOFC. Για τη μοντελοποίηση της απενεργοποίησης των κεραμομεταλλικών ανόδων προτείνεται ότι η αύξηση του μεγέθους των καταλυτικών σωματίων Ni της ανόδου υπακούει σε μία συνάρτηση εκθετικής αύξησης της ακτίνας. Με τη χρήση θεμελιωδών ηλεκτροχημικών εξισώσεων σχετίζεται ο ρυθμός υποβάθμισης με τη μεταβολή του μήκους ορίου τριών φάσεων, που υπολογίζεται από την συνάρτηση εκθετικής αύξησης της ακτίνας, και με δομικές και λειτουργικές παραμέτρους της ανόδου. Το μοντέλο επιβεβαιώνεται από πειραματικά δεδομένα συστοιχιών SOFC. Τέλος, μελετώνται οι ιδιότητες των κεραμομεταλλικών ανόδων με τη μέθοδο της Θερμοπρογραμματιζόμενης εκρόφησης. Με τη μέθοδο της αέριας ρόφησης αναγνωρίστηκαν τρία κύρια είδη κορυφών τα οποία είναι σε συμφωνία με κορυφές που έχουν παρατηρηθεί σε αντίστοιχα συστήματα. Εκτιμήθηκαν οι ενέργειες ενεργοποίησης της εκρόφησης των κορυφών. Με τη μέθοδο της ηλεκτροχημικής ρόφησης επιβεβαιώθηκε η ύπαρξη των κορυφών και παρατηρήθηκε μετατόπιση της κύριας κορυφής σε υψηλότερη θερμοκρασία εκρόφησης υποδηλώνοντας ισχυρότερη σύνδεση με τον καταλύτη, σε συμφωνία με τη βιβλιογραφία. / In the first part of the present dissertation the design, construction and operation of a triode SOFC with state-of-the-art electrode materials is presented. The triode operation led to an increased performance of the fuel cell up to 7.7% under unfavorable operating conditions. The second part of the dissertation regards the mathematical modeling of SOFC cermet anodes. Under steady state conditions the operation of the cermet anode is described via the use of an effectiveness factor, η, that is related to the dimensionless current of the anode, J, and a dimensionless reaction rate, Φ2. The modeling accounts explicitly for the migration of the oxygen spillover species from the electrolyte and examines various geometries of the catalytic particles. The model is in good agreement with experimental data obtained from state-of-the-art SOFC cells. For the anode degradation modeling it is proposed that the radius of the Ni particles of the follows an exponential growth function, to describe the sintering induced particle growth. Using fundamental electrochemical equations the degradation is linked to the three phase boundary length, that can be estimated from the exponentially growing radius, and operational and structural data of the anode. The model is validated using SOFC stack experimental data. The third part involves the study of SOFC cermet anodes with the use of Temperature Programmed Desorption. Using gaseous adsorption we identified three peaks that are in agreement with peaks observed in similar systems. The activation energies of the desorption peaks were calculated. Using electrochemical adsorption we verified the origin of the peaks. The shift of the main peak towards higher desorption temperature implies stronger bonding of the relevant species with the catalyst, in agreement with literature data.