abstract: Titanium oxide (TiO2), an abundant material with high photocatalytic activity and chemical stability is an important candidate for photocatalytic applications. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 varies with its phase. In the current project, phase and morphology changes in TiO2 nanotubes were studied using ex-situ and in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies were also performed to understand the phase and morphology of the nanotubes. As prepared TiO2 nanotubes supported on Ti metal substrate were amorphous, during the heat treatment in the ex-situ furnace nanotubes transform to anatase at 450 oC and transformed to rutile when heated to 800 oC. TiO2 nanotubes that were heat treated in an in-situ environmental TEM, transformed to anatase at 400 oC and remain anatase even up to 800 oC. In both ex-situ an in-situ case, the morphology of the nanotubes drastically changed from a continuous tubular structure to aggregates of individual nanoparticles. The difference between the ex-situ an in-situ treatments and their effect on the phase transformation is discussed. Metal doping is one of the effective ways to improve the photocatalytic performance. Several approaches were performed to get metal loading on to the TiO2 nanotubes. Mono-dispersed platinum nanoparticles were deposited on the TiO2 nanopowder and nanotubes using photoreduction method. Photo reduction for Ag and Pt bimetallic nanoparticles were also performed on the TiO2 powders. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Materials Science and Engineering 2014

Nos últimos anos, óxidos metálicos têm sido amplamente estudados para uma série de aplicações na indústria eletrônica e metalúrgica, sendo empregados em revestimentos anticorrosivos, sensores químicos, em dispositivos optoeletrônicos sensíveis, entre outros. Dentre os óxidos metálicos, o TiO2 (óxido de Titânio) tem enorme potencial em aplicações como sensor de gás, sensor de pH e em dispositivos fotossensíveis como células solares sensibilizadas por corante e para degradação fotocatalítica de compostos orgânicos. Há várias morfologias que podem ser obtidas para o TiO2, porém a de maior interesse atualmente é a de arranjos ordenados de nanotubos de TiO2 produzidos pelo processo de anodização do Ti, que por terem maior área superficial que outras morfologias como por exemplo, filmes finos, nanopilares e nanobastões, apresenta também maior sensibilidade à presença dos gases e/ou soluções a serem analisados, assim como maior absorção de fótons, além de uma menor recombinação de pares elétron-lacuna no material. Apesar destas várias vantagens, a atividade fotocatalítica do TiO2 é limitada por absorver apenas radiação ultravioleta devido a seu largo gap de aproximadamente 3,2 eV. Assim, neste trabalho foram produzidos nanotubos de TiO2 pelo processo de oxidação anódica do Ti, com diferentes parâmetros, correlacionando-os com a morfologia resultante. Com isso foi possível observar que o comprimento e diâmetro externo dos nanotubos de TiO2 crescem proporcionalmente com o aumento da tensão, sendo aproximadamente linear até um dado valor de saturação. A exceção a isto refere-se a nanotubos de TiO2 crescidos a partir de Ti depositado e substratos de vidro, no qual, há uma limitação de Ti a ser anodizado, de modo que após a conversão total do Ti em óxido não há mais o crescimento de nanotubos, porém os diâmetros gerados respeitam os mesmos valores para os casos em que não há essa limitação. Os nanotubos de TiO2 crescidos foram submetidos a processos de nitretação em um reator de deposição química a vapor assistida por plasma e os parâmetros foram avaliados com o intuito de encontrar as melhores condições para diminuição de seu gap, afim de aumentar sua atividade fotocatalítica. Pressão e potência de rádio frequência foram variados de 0,66 a 2,66 mBar (0,50 a 2,00 Torr) e 0,22 a 3,51 W/cm2 respectivamente. A maior diminuição no valor do gap, para 2,80 eV, foi obtida usando-se a pressão de 1,33 mBar (1,00 Torr), 1,75 W/cm2 de potência de rádio frequência durante um processo de 2 h a 320 °C, levando a uma diminuição de 14% no valor do gap e a um aumento de 25% na atividade fotocatalítica (redução de Azul de Metileno). Essa diminuição no valor do gap óptico dobra a abrangência de absorção de fótons de 5% para 10% do espectro solar. Os nanotubos de TiO2 nitretados produzidos com gap de 2,80 eV foram facilmente integrados a um microcanal de polidimetilsiloxano, produzindo um dispositivo fotocatalítico para estudo na fotodegradação de compostos orgânicos, podendo ser usado inclusive para redução de poluentes. O dispositivo fotocatalítico reduziu completamente 5 µL de solução de Azul de Metileno em cerca de 12 min, com uma taxa aproximadamente linear de 130 µM/h, enquanto os nanotubos de TiO2 como preparados apresentaram taxa de cerca de 115 µM/h. Logo, o dispositivo com nanotubos de TiO2 nitretados teve um aumento de 13% em sua eficiência de redução. / In recent years, metal oxides have been widely studied for a number of applications in the electronics and metallurgical industry, being used in anticorrosive coatings, chemical sensors, sensitive optoelectronic devices, among others. Among the metal oxides, TiO2 (titanium oxide) has enormous potential in applications such as gas sensor, pH sensor and in photosensitive devices such as dye sensitized solar cells and for photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds. There are several morphologies that can be obtained for TiO2, but the most interesting one today is ordered arrangements of TiO2 nanotubes produced by the Ti anodization process, which have a larger surface area than other morphologies such as thin films, nanopillars and nanobastones, also presents greater sensitivity to the presence of the gases and/or solutions to be analyzed, as well as greater absorption of photons, besides a smaller recombination of electron-hole pairs in the material. Despite these several advantages, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is limited by absorbing only ultraviolet radiation due to its wide gap of approximately 3.2 eV. Thus, in this work, TiO2 nanotubes were produced by the anodic oxidation process of Ti, with different parameters, correlating them with the resulting morphology. With this, it was possible to observe that the length and external diameter of the TiO2 nanotubes grow proportionally with the increase of the voltage, being approximately linear up to a given value of saturation. The exception to this relates to TiO2 nanotubes grown from Ti deposited and glass substrates, in which, there is a limitation of Ti to be anodized, so that after the total conversion of Ti to oxide, there is no longer growth of nanotubes, but the diameters generated respect the same values for cases in which there is no such limitation. The as grown TiO2 nanotubes were submitted to nitriding processes in a plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition reactor and the parameters were evaluated in order to find the best conditions to decrease their gap in order to increase their photocatalytic activity. Pressure and radio frequency power were varied from 0.66 to 2.66 mBar (0.50 to 2.00 Torr) and 0.22 to 3.51 W/cm2 respectively. The largest decrease in the gap value, to 2.80 eV, was obtained using the pressure of 1.33 mbar (1.00 Torr), 1.57 W/cm2 of radio frequency power during a process of 2 h in 320 °C, leading to a 14% decrease in gap value and a 25% increase in photocatalytic activity (reduction of Methylene Blue). This decrease in the value of the optical gap doubles the absorption range of photons from 5% to 10% of the solar spectrum. The nitrided TiO2 nanotubes produced with a gap of 2.80 eV were easily integrated into a microchannel of polydimethylsiloxane, producing a photocatalytic device for the study of photodegradation of organic compounds, and could be used to reduce pollutants. The photocatalytic device completely reduced 5 µL of Methylene Blue solution in about 12 min, with an approximately linear rate of 130 µM/h, whereas the TiO2 nanotubes as grown presented a rate of about 115 µM/h. Therefore, the device with nitrided TiO2 nanotubes had a 13% increase in its reduction efficiency.

Orientadores: Elizabete Jordão, Carlos Augusto de Moraes Pires / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T09:13:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paschoalino_FlaviaCristinaSertori_M.pdf: 5135552 bytes, checksum: e4bb125b1c8aa2e74689b42ad19d43bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: O fenol e seus derivados estão presentes em efluentes de diversos processos industriais como refino de petróleo e indústria farmacêutica. Devido à sua característica recalcitrante e sua toxicidade, são poucos os processos biológicos capazes de degradá-lo adequadamente sem que uma grande diluição seja realizada, o que o direciona muitas vezes a tecnologias mais caras como a incineração ou o uso de reagentes oxidantes. Uma alternativa a estes métodos é a fotocatálise heterogênea, que é baseada na irradiação (UV) de um catalisador, promovendo a geração de radicais hidroxila ( OH) altamente reativos. Neste trabalho desenvolveu-se um fotoreator confeccionado em vidro PyrexTM, utilizando-se uma lâmpada de vapor de Hg de 250 W em seu centro, o qual era resfriado por uma camisa de vidro concêntrica a uma câmara externa de 290 mL reservada à passagem do efluente a ser tratado. O fotoreator foi acoplado a um recipiente de 500 mL, utilizando-se uma bomba para recirculação do efluente, tornando-o um reator em batelada com recirculação. A eficiência do reator foi avaliada utilizando-se TiO2 e ZnO como fotocatalisadores em suspensão aquosa de 0,5 ou 1,0 g L-1, e fenol a 100 ou 200 mg L-1 como solução-teste. A concentração de fenol foi medida em intervalos de tempo pré-determinados utilizando-se cromatógrafo a gás com detector por ionização em chama. O sistema demonstrou-se muito eficiente, pois atingiu em pouco tempo (135 min), independentemente do catalisador utilizado, a degradação quase que total de fenol para a solução-teste de 100 mg L-1, que é superior às concentrações normalmente utilizadas em trabalhos similares. Para as soluções de 200 mg L-1 a cinética foi mais lenta, mas o processo fotocatalítico foi mais eficiente do que os controles de fotólise e adsorção em todas as combinações testadas. / Abstract: Phenol and its derivatives are present in effluents from various industrial processes like oil refining and pharmaceutical industry. Due its recalcitrant character and toxicity, few biological processes are capable to degrade it properly, requiring expensive technologies such incineration or the use of oxidants. An alternative to these methods is the heterogeneous photocatalysis, which is based on irradiation (UV) of a catalyst, promoting the generation of hydroxyl radicals ( OH) highly reactive. In this work it was developed a photoreactor made in a PyrexTM glass, using a 250 W Hg vapor lamp at its center, which was cooled by a water flux that was concentric to a 290 mL irradiated chamber glass. The photoreactor was attached to a container of 500 mL, using a recirculation pump, making it in a batch reactor with recirculation. The efficiency of the reactor was evaluated by using TiO2 and ZnO as photocatalysis in 0,5 or 1,0 g L-1 slurries, and phenol at 100 or 200 mg L-1 as a solution-test. The concentration of phenol was measured at pre-determined time intervals by using a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector. The system proved to be very efficient, because reached in a short time (135 minutes), regardless of the catalyst used, the almost total degradation to the solution of phenol-test of 100 mg L-1, which is higher than the concentrations usually used in similar work. For solutions of 200 mg L-1 the kinetics was slower, but the photocatalytic process was more efficient than the controls of photolysis and adsorption in all combinations tested. / Mestrado / Sistemas de Processos Quimicos e Informatica / Mestre em Engenharia Química

Anatase TiO2 has attracted a lot of attention due to its applications as a photocatalyst in water and air treatment technologies. However, its large band gap energy (⁓3.2 eV) limits its application only to UV light. Also, anatase TiO2 suffers from high electron/hole recombination, which diminishes its photocatalytic activity. Therefore, different methods have been employed to decrease its band gap energy and reduce the recombination of the charge carriers. One of the methods is to incorporate impurities as dopants in its crystal lattice. Different metal and non-metal dopants have been studied for this aim. Among the different choices, Fe3+ has showed a great potential to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 under visible light irradiation. Firstly, the d orbitals of Fe3+ interact with the 3d orbitals of Ti4+ generating intermediate band gap energy levels to facilitate excitation of electrons under visible light by a red shift in the absorption of light. Secondly, Fe3+ can interact with both electrons and holes to produce Fe2+ and Fe4+ trapping the charge carriers and reducing their recombination rate. Fe2+ and Fe4+ can release the electron and hole and revert back to the Fe3+. The released charge carriers migrate to the surface of the nanoparticles to initiate the photocatalytic reactions. However, it was found that the photocatalytic activity of Fe-TiO2 is not as high as expected. Therefore, in this research study I investigated the cause for its low photocatalytic activity and found methods to improve it. The Fe-TiO2 was synthesized using a facile sol-gel method and its structure and properties were characterized by different instrumental techniques. Using TEM and HRTEM an amorphous layer was seen on the surface of the nanoparticles. This layer characterized using XPS and EDX was composed of iron oxide layers. This layer was contaminating the surface of the nanoparticles where the photocatalytic reactions take place. Moreover, the contamination layer was acting as a recombination center for the electrons and holes. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study was conducted to investigate the effect of an iron oxide contamination layer on the photocatalytic activity of Fe-TiO2 nanoparticles. This layer was removed using a concentrated HCl solution confirmed using HRTEM and XPS. Also, using DRS it was shown that its removal does not effect the optical properties of the Fe-TiO2 confirming that the acid treatment process did not influence the doped Fe3+ in the TiO2 crystal lattice. The degradation of methelyne orange (MO), a representative pollutant, was increased from 25% to 98% under visible light irradiation. Also, in order to achieve the highest performance of the photocatalyst, it was necessary to study the parameters of the photocatalytic activity and the degradation efficiency. Therefore, experiments using a phenol solution, another representative pollutant, were conducted to investigate and optimize the effects of the catalyst load, reaction time, initial concentrating of the pollutant and pH. The degradation efficiency of the phenol solution was found to increase from 31% to 57% by the removal of the contamination layer and by controlling the pH of the solution. / Graduate

Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, which has shown to possess an enhanced capability to remove a wide range of contaminants. It involves the use of a semiconductor photocatalyst and a photon source. Photocatalysis has several advantages such as mild reaction conditions like ambient temperature and pressure, good control over the reaction and faster reaction kinetics. Semiconductor photocatalysts such as TiO2, ZnO, Fe2O3, CdS, ZnS, etc. absorbs light of energy greater than or equal to its band gap and the electron in the valence band gets excited to conduction band leaving behind the hole in valence band. These charge carrier pair results in the formation of various reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals which results in the degradation of chemical contaminants and inactivation of microorganisms. TiO2 is the most widely used catalyst in photocatalytic studies because of its high photocatalytic activity, non-toxicity and wide availability. Anatase phase TiO2 has been reported to possess higher photocatalytic activity than the rutile phase. Although there are several methods to synthesize TiO2, solution combustion synthesis is a single step process to produce pure anatase phase TiO2. The catalyst produced by this method has been shown to be superior to the commercially available Degussa P-25 catalyst for the degradation of various chemical contaminants. The present investigation focuses on the use of combustion synthesized catalyst for the inactivation of microorganisms. The photocatalytic activity was compared with commercial Degussa P-25 catalyst. The various aspects of photocatalytic inactivation reactions studied in this dissertation are: i) photocatalytic inactivation of microorganisms in presence of UV light, ii) effect of various parameters on the inactivation, iii) photocatalytic inactivation in presence of visible light, iv) use of immobilized catalyst for the photocatalytic inactivation, v) understanding of mechanism and kinetics of inactivation. Combustion synthesized TiO2 (CS-TiO2), combustion synthesized 1% Ag substituted TiO2 (Ag/TiO2 (Sub)) and 1% Ag impregnated CS-TiO2 (Ag/TiO2 (Imp)) were used as photocatalysts. The catalysts were characterized by powder XRD, TEM, BET surface area, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TGA and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic inactivation experiments were carried out using E. coli (K-12 MG 1655), a bacterial strain and P. pastoris (X-33), a yeast strain, as model microorganisms. The results demonstrate higher photocatalytic activity of all the combustion synthesized catalysts than commercial Degussa P-25 catalyst. The optimum catalyst concentration was 0.25 g/L and the maximum inactivation was observed in the presence of Ag/TiO2 (Imp) catalyst. Rapid and complete inactivation of the microorganisms was observed at lower initial cell concentrations. A reduced photocatalytic inactivation was observed in presence of various anions (HCO3¯ , SO4 2¯ , Cl¯ and NO3¯ ) and cations (Na, K, Caand Mg). Even a small addition of H2O2 was observed to improve the photocatalytic inactivation. At higher dosage of H2O2, a 2 min exposure was sufficient to result in a complete inactivation. Changing the initial pH of the solution was observed to have no significant effect on the photocatalytic inactivation. All the combustion synthesized catalysts showed higher activity as compared to those obtained with commercial Degussa P-25 TiO2 in presence of visible light. The higher photocatalytic activity of combustion synthesized TiO2 can be attributed to the lesser crystallite size, higher surface area, large amount of hydroxyl groups and decreased band-gap energy of the catalyst. The present study demonstrates the potential use of catalyst immobilized thin films for the photocatalytic inactivation of E. coli in the presence of UV light. The CS-TiO2 catalyst was immobilized on glass substrate by LbL deposition technique. The performance of immobilized CS-TiO2 was compared to commercial Degussa Aeroxide TiO2 P-25 (Aeroxide) catalyst. The effect of various operating parameters like catalyst loading, surface area and number of bilayers on inactivation has been investigated. It was observed that increasing the number of bilayers and the concentration did not influence the inactivation but increased surface area led to an increase in inactivation. It was observed that the catalyst immobilized on glass slides can be used for repeated experimental cycles with the same efficiency. It was observed that the inactivation process can be studied in continuous mode by using catalyst immobilized on glass beads. The work also focused attention towards understanding the microorganism inactivation mechanism and kinetic aspects. Various microscopy techniques such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to study the inactivation mechanism. From the images obtained, it was suggested that the inactivation is caused due to rupture of cell wall. The mechanism was also examined by carrying out degradation experiments on cell component such as protein and media component such as dextrose. UV alone was observed to degrade protein and the presence of catalyst showed no additional effect. On the other hand, dextrose does not respond to photocatalytic degradation even at a lower concentration. The photocatalytic degradation of Orange G dye was reduced by addition of dextrose sugar or protein which shows a possibility of competitive degradation. The kinetics of inactivation was studied by various models available in literature such as the power-law model, Chick-Watson model, modified Hom model, GInaFIT tool and a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type model. It was observed that power-law based kinetic model showed good agreement with the experimental data. A mechanistic Langmuir-Hinshelwood type model was also observed to model the inactivation reactions with certain assumptions.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of dinitrogen to nitrate, NO3 and/or nitrite, no2 using peroxy species of titanium (IV) in aqueous suspensions has been investigated. The photocatalysts used were titanium peroxide and Degussa p25 TiO2 pretreated with H2O2. These photocatalysts were investigated by SEM and FTIR spectroscopy.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an abundant, inexpensive and non-toxic material that is most commonly used as a white pigment in paints. Since the discovery by Fujishima and Honda in 1972 that water splits into hydrogen and oxygen gas at the surface of TiO2 on exposure to sunlight, there has been a massive research effort into understanding and improving the photoactivity of TiO2. One aspect of this is the characterisation of so-called ‘model’ surfaces, i.e. very large single crystal faces with low levels of contamination at ultra high vacuum (UHV) pressures, allowing the study of a single structure with a minimum of unknown variables effecting experimental results. Two techniques that are used to probe surface structure, amongst many, are Surface X-ray Diffraction (SXRD) and Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES). SXRD allows quantitative determination of surface structure with high precision, and PES reveals surface chemical composition. In the context of this thesis both of these techniques were exploited at synchrotron radiation sources, which produce light of high brightness. In addition, the development of routines for extraction of SXRD data from 2D detectors to allow SXRD analysis is described. SXRD is employed to probe the structure of anatase-TiO2(101) both in UHV and following immersion in water vapour. The optimum UHV structure is largely in agreement with that previously predicted computationally, although there are some discrepancies in terms of atomic displacements. Water immersion leads to a H2O/OH terminated surface. The surface structure of a rutile-TiO2(110)(1x1) surface, that had been prepared under non-UHV conditions, using a wet chemical preparation technique, is also determined with SXRD. The studied surface, which was highly hydrophilic, has a similar substrate termination to UHV-prepared rutile-TiO2(110)(1x1) but with adsorbed surface H2O/OH species. Finally, PES is used to gain insight into the O1s signature of surface bridging oxygens on rutile-TiO2(110), as well as those (if any) of oxygen adatoms. Concerning bridging oxygens, it is demonstrated that there is no discernable shift in the O1s core level for these atoms away from the bulk oxide peak. Regarding oxygen adatoms, no conclusive evidence of a distinct emission signal in the O1s core level or valence band spectra can be discerned, due to interference from carbon contamination.

The presences of heavy metals, organic contaminants and natural toxins in natural water bodies pose a serious threat to the environment and the health of living organisms. Therefore, there is a critical need to identify sustainable and environmentally friendly water treatment processes. In this dissertation, I focus on the fundamental studies of advanced oxidation processes and magnetic nano-materials as promising new technologies for water treatments. Advanced oxidation processes employ reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can lead to the mineralization of a number of pollutants and toxins. The rates of formation, steady-state concentrations, and kinetic parameters of hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen produced by various TiO2 photocatalysts under UV or visible irradiations were measured using selective chemical probes. Hydroxyl radical is the dominant ROS, and its generation is dependent on experimental conditions. The optimal condition for generation of hydroxyl radical by of TiO2 coated glass microspheres is studied by response surface methodology, and the optimal conditions are applied for the degradation of dimethyl phthalate. Singlet oxygen (1O2) also plays an important role for advanced processes, so the degradation of microcystin-LR by rose bengal, an 1O2 sensitizer was studied. The measured bimolecular reaction rate constant between MC-LR and 1O2 is ~ 106 M-1 s-1 based on competition kinetics with furfuryl alcohol. The typical adsorbent needs separation after the treatment, while magnetic iron oxides can be easily removed by a magnetic field. Maghemite and humic acid coated magnetite (HA-Fe3O4) were synthesized, characterized and applied for chromium(VI) removal. The adsorption of chromium(VI) by maghemite and HA-Fe3O4 follow a pseudo-second-order kinetic process. The adsorption of chromium(VI) by maghemite is accurately modeled using adsorption isotherms, and solution pH and presence of humic acid influence adsorption. Humic acid coated magnetite can adsorb and reduce chromium(VI) to non-toxic chromium (III), and the reaction is not highly dependent on solution pH. The functional groups associated with humic acid act as ligands lead to the Cr(III) complex via a coupled reduction-complexation mechanism. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy demonstrates the Cr(III) in the Cr-loaded HA-Fe3O4 materials has six neighboring oxygen atoms in an octahedral geometry with average bond lengths of 1.98 Å.

This work deals with issues of electrochromism and making active electrochromic film of titanium dioxide. By using various precursors consisting titanium element active film was electrodeposited on glass substrates covered with transparent conductive thin-film In2O3:Sn (ITO). Electrochromic characteristics of these substrates that were electrodeposited for different times and with different voltage have been studied. Than there has been studied the impact of various annealing temperatures on electrochromic characteristics.

The exponential advancements in the field of electronics and power generation have resulted in increased pressure on the thermal management of these systems where the desire for enhanced heat transfer is prevalent. A technique for enhancing heat transfer that has gained sufficient attention over the past two decades is to suspend nano-sized metallic particles in a base fluid in order to enhance its thermophysical properties. Fluids produced in such a manner are commonly termed nanofluids. Due to the promising heat transfer capabilities of nanofluids, many industrial applications are beginning to implement these fluids in their thermal practices. One of the potential applications where nanofluids may be used which has received a great deal of research attention is jet-impingement heat transfer. Concerning the existing publications on nanofluid jet impingement, most works within the steady state regime are limited to the cooling of Al2O3-water nanofluids, while transient studies do not account for cooling without the effects of boiling phenomena and for surfaces other than steel. In this study, six particle volume fractions of TiO2-water ranging between 0.025 and 1% were prepared and characterised for appropriate cooling tests. The study was conducted within both the steady and transient state with the main objective of evaluating the thermal performance of the selected nanofluid and to determine the optimum particle concentration for jet-impingement cooling applications. Therefore, an experimental rig was designed and manufactured where a copper target surface of 42 mm was impinged upon by a 1.65 mm orifice nozzle at a non-dimensional nozzle-to-target height of 4. The results indicated that the use of nanofluids in impingement applications produced adverse effects, depending on the particle fraction considered. With respect to the steady-state cooling tests, the copper surface was subjected to a constant heat flux of 145 watt and cooled by the different fluids at Reynolds numbers ranging between approximately 10 000 and 30 000. A maximum enhancement of 14.75% was observed in the measured Nusselt numbers, which occurred at a particle volume concentration of 0.05%. When increasing the volume fraction above 0.1%, unfavourable effects were observed for the heat transfer of the system in comparison with the base case tests of DI-water. Such trends were characterised by the trade-off between the enhancement in thermal conductivity and viscosity, both of which were increased with an increase in particle concentration. As for the effect of Reynolds number on the resulting thermal performance, a directly proportional relation was shown and could be described by the forced convection effect. The transient impingement tests showed that particle concentrations less than 0.1% produced an enhancement in cooling efficiency, while those of higher volume fractions showed negative effects. According to these tests the maximum enhancement was also obtained at a volume fraction of 0.05% and produced an average cooling efficiency enhancement of 16%. The results of the investigation clearly showed that the use of TiO2-water nanofluids in jet-impingement cooling applications produced thermal enhancement depending on the selected particle concentration. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / NRF / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted