by Lin Jun. / "Nov. 28, 2000." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Metastable b-Ti alloys are titanium alloys with sufficient b stabilizer alloying additions such that it's possible to retain single b phase at room temperature. These alloys are of great advantage compared to a/b alloys since they are easily cold rolled, strip produced and can attain excellent mechanical properties upon age hardening. Beta 21S, a relatively new b titanium alloy in addition to these general advantages is known to possess excellent oxidation and corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures. A homogeneous distribution of fine sized a precipitates in the parent b matrix is known to provide good combination of strength, ductility and fracture toughness. The current work focuses on a study of different mechanisms to engineer homogeneously distributed fine sized a precipitates in the b matrix. The precipitation of metastable phases upon low temperature aging and their influence on a precipitation is studied in detail. The precipitation sequence on direct aging above the w solvus temperature is also assessed. The structural and compositional evolution of precipitate phase is determined using multiple characterization tools. The possibility of occurrence of other non-classical precipitation mechanisms that do not require heterogeneous nucleation sites are also analyzed. Lastly, the influence of interstitial element, oxygen on a precipitation during the oxidation of Beta 21S has been determined. The ingress of oxygen and its influence on microstructure have also been correlated to measured mechanical properties.

Another study was to prepare hierarchically mesoporous titania materials with well-defined grape-like morphology in the presence of a triblock copolymer using bubbling-mediated hydrolysis approach. The effects of bubbling time and calcination temperature on both physicochemical and photocatalytic properties were investigated. / Furthermore, thermally stable ordered mesoporous CeO2/TiO 2 visible photocatalysts were prepared by the evaporation-induced self-assembly method. Introducing highly dispersed CeO2 species into the mesoporous TiO2 framework could effectively extend the response of TiO 2 to visible light region and improve the thermal stability of the mesoporous TiO2. / In addition, visible-light-driven mesoporous TiO2-xN x photocatalysts were developed via in-situ pyrolysis of the product from a chelation reaction between TiCl4 and ethylenediamine under sonication. The effects of ultrasound bombardment on the physicochemical properties and photoactivity of mesoporous TiO2-xNx were discussed. / Part I. Ordered and well crystallized cubic Im 3¯ m mesoporous Cr-TiO2 photocatalysts were fabricated through EISA (evaporation induced self assembly) process. The as prepared photoactalysts exhibited very strong photoactivity in the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation owing to the excitation of 3d electron of Cr3+ to the conduction band of TiO2. / Part II. New approaches have been developed for the fabrication of visible light photocatalysts, BiVO4 and Bi 2WO6. In the case of BiVO4, ordered mesoporous bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) crystals were synthesized via nanocasting method. Compared to the conventional BiVO4, the product exhibited superior photocatalytic performance in the photochemical degradation of methylene blue and photocatalytic oxidation of NO gas in air under visible-light irradiation. In addition, hierarchical flower-like Bi2WO6 was synthesized via microwave-assisted route. Compared to the samples prepared by the hydrothermal method, the products exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities of degrading methylene blue and photocatalytic oxidation of NO gas in air under visible light irradiation. The effects of microwave irradiation on both physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of the as prepared products were investigated. / Two different types of porous visible light photocatalysts were studied in this thesis. The first part reports on the improvement of photocatalytic performance of porous TiO2 through metal/nonmetal doping and morphology controlling. The second part describes the fabrication of porous non-TiO2 photocatalysts including BiVO4 and Bi2WO6. / . / Adviser: Jimmy C. Yu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3527. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

The purpose of these studies was to determine if results similar to those of Fleischmann and Pons could be obtained using a titanium cathode instead of palladium in an electrolysis in a heavy water cell. The electrolyte consists of D20 and H2S04• Two experiments have been performed to examine the features of this electrolysis. As titanium shows the same properties to attract hydrogen, it seemed possible that excess heat could be produced. Radiation was monitored, and the surface of the titanium cathode was examined before and after electrolysis for any changes in the morphology and composition, hoping to discover new elements that can be created only by fusion reactions in the cell, i.e. by transmutation. The heat and radiation effects have been evaluated in comparison to a control cell, using the same electrolyte and current. The only difference was the cathode, which was of platinum. It appears that excess heat is produced during electrolyses of heavy water with a titanium cathode. The amount of this excess heat was 750 cal in a one hour period, an energy gain of 44%. No significant emission of any of the products associated with a "classical" deuterium-deuterium fusion was observed during either experiment, i.e. heat but no radiation. Unexpected elements were found in both experiments, i.e. K. Cr, Fe, Ni and Zn. Remarkable is the fact that the new elements always occur very close in the periodic table to an impurity element, i.e. Cu and Zn.

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electromechanical Engineering

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No description available.

Additions of boron in modified titanium alloys and Ti-B composites result in the in situ formation during high temperature processing of TiB reinforcement phases that improve the mechanical properties and wear resistance of unreinforced titanium alloys, while still utilizing the high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance of titanium. Several boron-modified titanium alloys and Ti-B composites in a Ti-6Al-4V matrix have been investigated to determine the effect of processing parameters on the TiB reinforcement phases and resultant microstructures and mechanical properties. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, conventional characterization techniques, and newly developed methodologies for three-dimensional visualization, the microstructures of these Ti-B materials have been studied. Observations included a similar anisotropic whisker morphology with roughly hexagonal cross-sections among all TiB phases; alignment of all TiB phases with extrusion, with the extent of alignment affected by thermomechanical processing parameters; brittle fracture behavior of TiB whiskers, with fracture down the length of whiskers not aligned in the tensile direction and across the width of whiskers aligned in the tensile direction; and discoveries of the anisotropic morphologies of the coarse primary TiB phase and the sub-micron precipitated TiB phase. It has been observed that extruded boron-modified alloys with compositions in the hypoeutectic regime of the quaternary system of titanium, alloying elements aluminum and vanadium, and boron, containing a unimodal size distribution of eutectic TiB whiskers, significantly improve the strength and stiffness compared to unreinforced Ti-6Al-4V alloy while also demonstrating tensile elongation to failure within the fracture-critical limits required for aerospace structural applications. Materials design methodologies have been developed using Ti-B materials, and they show promise for predicting the effects of processing parameters and the resultant microstructures and mechanical properties for boron-modified titanium alloys and Ti-B composites optimized for a variety of commercial and industrial applications.

Perchlorate is a threat to public health through water but also food. However, there is no effective chemical treatment process which can destroy perchlorate found in groundwater and surface water. Thus, there is growing interest in developing effective technologies, especially chemical treatments, to completely destroy trace levels of perchlorate present in drinking and groundwater. The research on perchlorate reduction by zero-valent titanium (Ti(0)) showed that perchlorate was effectively reduced to chloride using electrochemically developed pitting corrosion on Ti(0). Perchlorate reduction was believed to be caused by an active reductant (dissolved Ti(II)) during the pitting corrosion of Ti(0). The rate of perchlorate reduction was independent on the imposed potential as long as the potential was maintained above the pitting potential of Ti(0), but it was proportional to the applied current. The perchlorate reduction on the pitting developed Ti(0) was inhibited by the presence of chloride and bromide. Inhibition mechanism of perchlorate reduction inhibition was believed to be caused either by competitive adsorption of aggressive anions on bare Ti(0) surface or Ti(II) consumption by electrochemically produced chlorine. Kinetic models were developed based surface coverage of aggressive anions on bare Ti(0) and Ti(II) oxidation by chlorine. These kinetic models supported the perchlorate concentration change in the solution, but Ti(II) consumption model was not able to predict chloride concentration due to insufficient information describing complex nature of pitting on Ti(0). These results shown in this research demonstrate that pitting corrosion developed Ti(0) has the capability to chemically reduce perchlorate present in natural water and engineered systems as well as possible problems associated with electric input. This research may be a starting point for development of a new treatment process that applies titanium or titanium metal ions as a chemical reductant to abate contaminants present in natural and engineering systems. Further developments can be achieved by alloying titanium metal with other metals such as iron and aluminum, and finding a methodology producing stable Ti(II) in ambient conditions.

The photovoltaic energy conversion system (PV cells or solar cells) has been researched over the last few decades, and new technologies have been proposed. At the same time, the synthesis of nano-scale materials has been investigated intensively from the 1990s. These new types of materials encourage the development of new PV technologies with extensive research. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be a part of these efforts. Since first presented in 1991, DSSCs have become the center of attention due to their great advantages to the traditional silicon solar cells. However, it remains a challenge to develop better performing DSSCs since the efficiency of DSSCs is still much lower than that of high performance solar cells. To meet this challenge, the different types of TiO2 nanostructures in DSSCs have been studied. This thesis presents the synthesis of TiO2 hetero-structures. These structures can achieve two important factors in DSSCs. One is the electron pathway for high electron transport rate, and the other is the large surface area for the dye absorption. TiO2 hetero-structures were successfully synthesized by using a simple thermal annealing method. The synthesis method required neither a high reaction temperature nor complicated reaction processes and produced dense TiO2 nanowires and incorporating TiO2 nanoparticles with relatively short reaction time. The key parameters of growing 1-D TiO2 nanostructures were the Cu eutectic catalyst, the reaction temperatures, and the annealing time. The repetition time and the reaction temperatures were important factors for incorporating TiO2 nanoparticles. The structure and composition of as-grown samples were analyzed using an x-ray diffractometer, a scanning electron microscope, a field emission scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope and an ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The results showed they were crystalline structures in rutile phase of TiO2. From this research, we can utilize hetero-structures as an electrode of DSSCs. We also expect that our simple and effective synthesis method can be used for growing other kinds of metal oxide nanostructures, especially for those melting temperature are high.