<p>Controlling the properties of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is the major challenge toward their future applications. This dissertation describes several contributions to this chanllenge. </p><p>This dissertation begins with the brief review on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including discovery, structure, properties, challenges, synthesis and applications. The remaining parts can be divided into three sections. They demonstrate the control of SWNT properties as well as their devices by direct synthesis and metal decoration. </p><p>Two studies are described on the control of SWNT properties by direct synthesis. The first demonstrates the controlled synthesis of SWNTs in terms of their diameter, uniformity, and density by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The approaches employed include using uniform nanoparticles with specific sizes as catalysts to grow different diameter SWNTs, specially small diameter tubes less than 1 nm; using laser irradiation to grow uniform and high quality SWNTs; and changing the gas flow pattern to obtain different density. The second study demonstrates the growth of aligned SWNTs by flow and substrate guidance. Horizontally aligned ultralong nanotubes are synthesized on Si substrate by both high flow and low flow. The guided growth by the quartz substrate is shown by a large variety of metal catalysts to further the understanding of the growth mechanism. Moreover, top gated FETs have been explored for the selective growth of purely semiconducting, horizontally aligned SWNTs grown on quartz by a ethanol/methanol mixture. </p><p>The control of SWNT device performance is also described, in particular, the correlation between the SWNT field effect transistor (FET) configuration and its gate dependence response. The effects of FET channel length, nanotube density and diameter on the device performance are demonstrated. A model has been constructed in order to simulate the electronic behavior. An interesting metallic behavior has been observed. </p><p>Finally, control of SWNT properties by Palladium decoration after growth is used to manipulate their properties. Moreover, two novel applications including improvement of carbon nanotube film conductivity and catalysis of nanostructure growth are developed.</p> / Dissertation

Increasing prices of crude oil derived transportation fuels ascended the researches on seeking alternative fuels, in last decades. Moreover, the increasing rate of global warming, because of high greenhouse gas emissions initiated new research for environment-friendly clean alternative fuels. Due to its low NOx emission, good burning characteristics and high cetane number, dimethyl ether (DME) attracted major attention as a transportation fuel alternative. Two possible pathways have been proposed for DME production. One of these pathways is DME synthesis through conventional methanol dehydration. More recently, direct DME synthesis in a single step has attracted significant attention of researchers and fuel producers. Catalysts having two active sites are required for direct DME synthesis from synthesis gas. The aim of this work was to synthesize novel bifunctional direct DME synthesis catalysts and test their activity in a high pressure fixed bed flow reactor. Bifunctional mesoporous catalysts were synthesized by using one-pot hydrothermal synthesis, impregnation and physical mixing methods. These materials were characterized by XRD, EDS, SEM, N2 physisorption and diffuse reflectance FT-IR (DRIFTS) techniques. Characterization results of the catalysts synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal synthesis procedures in basic and acidic routes showed that pH value of the synthesis solution was highly effective on the final physical structure and chemical nature of the catalysts. Increase in the pH value promoted the incorporation of Cu, Zn and Al into the mesoporous MCM-41 structure. Also, effects of Na2CO3 addition on the catalyst structure during the hydrothermal synthesis procedure were investigated. The characterization results showed that metals were incorporated into the catalyst structure successfully. However, surface area results showed that loaded metals blocked the pores of MCM-41 and decreased the surface area of the catalysts. Effects of zirconium (Zr) metal with different weight ratios were also investigated. Results showed that Zr loading increased the surface area of the catalyst. A high pressure fixed bed flow reactor was built and the catalyst testing experiments were performed between the temperature range of 200-400&deg / C, at 50 bars. The activity results of the catalyst synthesized by impregnation method showed that no DME was formed over this catalyst / however it showed promising results for production of methanol and ethanol. Selectivity values of these alcohols were between 0.35 and 0.2. Formation of methane and CO2 indicated the occurrence of reverse dry reforming reaction. Incorporation of Zr into the catalyst structure at neutral synthesis condition caused significant activity enhancement, giving CO conversion values of about 40% at 400&deg / C. Product distribution obtained with this catalyst indicated the formation of DME, ethanol, methanol as well as CH4 and CO2. Highest DME selectivity (60%) was observed with the catalyst prepared by physical mixing of commercial methanol reforming catalyst with silicotungstic acid incorporated methanol dehydration catalyst having W/Si ratio of 0.4.

Excessive use of fossil fuels shall result in the significant energy problems in the coming century and causes global warming by CO2 emission. Use of petroleum in transportation constitutes the dominant part of total petroleum use. Researches on non-petroleum based, environmentally friendly alternative fuels have been ascended in last decades. Among the alternative fuels, DME has been considered as an attractive fuel alternate due to high cetane number, low PM (particulate matter) and low NOx emission. Synthesis of DME is possible with gasification of biowastes or coal and steam reforming of natural gas. DME is produced in two different methods. In the first method, methanol is formed from the synthesis gas, followed by methanol dehydration to DME. In the second method, called as direct synthesis of DME from synthesis gas, methanol formation and dehydration occurs simultaneously at the same location within the reactor. For the direct synthesis of DME, bi-functional catalysts must be used / one site is responsible for methanol synthesis and other site is responsible for methanol dehydration. Throughout this thesis work, several catalysts were prepared to be used as methanol synthesis component or methanol dehydration component of bi-functional direct DME synthesis catalyst and bi-functional catalysts were also prepared for the direct synthesis of DME from synthesis gas. Materials were characterized by XRD, EDS, SEM, N2 physisorption, and DRIFTS characterization techniques. Activity tests were conducted in a high pressure, fixed bed flow reactor at 50 bar and for the feed gas compositions of H2:CO=50:50 and H2:CO: CO2=50:40:10. Addition of zirconia and alumina promoters, long aging time, calcination temperature of 550 &deg / C and reduction at 250 &deg / C were found to be beneficial in methanol synthesis from the equimolar composition of CO and H2. Precipitated catalysts were usually active and selective to methanol. However, bi-functional co-precipitated catalyst was not successful in situ conversion of methanol into dimethyl ether. Furthermore, tungstosilisic acid impregnated SBA-15 was physically mixed with commercial methanol reforming catalyst and activity results revealed that high DME yield and selectivity were obtained. By physically mixing commercial methanol synthesis and reforming catalysts with &gamma / -Al2O3 and TRC-75(L) in appropriate proportions or by preparing the reactor bed in a sequential arrangement, very high DME yields were obtained and superiority of direct synthesis to conventional two step synthesis was proven. Presence of CO2 in the feed stream not only enhanced the catalytic activity but also utilization of the most important greenhouse gas was accomplished. It was seen that synthesized catalysts are very promising in the direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from synthesis gas.

L'objectif de ce travail est de développer de nouveaux matériaux carbonés dont la structure poreuse est contrôlée en taille et en morphologie dès l'étape de synthèse. Nous nous sommes tout d'abord intéressés à la technique de nanomoulage. Nous avons, tout d'abord, cherché à optimiser les conditions de synthèse de la réplique carbonée de la zéolithe EMC-2 (EMT) qui a l'avantage de conduire à un diagramme de diffraction bien résolu. Ensuite, différentes zéolithes ont été utilisées comme moule en s'appuyant sur les conditions optimales définies par la première étude. Dans un troisième temps, nous avons étudié la capacité d'adsorption et de séparation de gaz à température ambiante de la réplique carbonée de la zéolithe Y (FAU). L'inconvénient de cette technique est qu'elle est multi-étapes et de grandes quantités ne peuvent être obtenues. Aussi, nous avons cherché à développer d'autres méthodes d'obtention de carbones poreux. Nous nous sommes alors intéressés à la synthèse basée sur l'auto-assemblage entre un tensioactif structurant et un polymère précurseur de carbone. Nous avons cherché à comprendre le mécanisme de formation de ces matériaux et l'influence des différents paramètres de synthèse. Ce type de synthèse permet également l'obtention de composites silice/carbone mésoporeux lorsqu'un précurseur silicique est ajouté au milieu de synthèse. En outre, nous avons étudié la synthèse et la caractérisation de composites obtenus par « tapissage » des pores d'un matériau silicique par une couche de carbone. Les matériaux obtenus présenteraient alors des pores de plus petits diamètres dont la surface aurait des caractéristiques proches de celles de matériaux carbonés. / The aim of this work is to develop new carbon materials with controlled pore structure and to control the size and the morphology of pore structure during the synthesis step. First we interested to the nanocasting technique and to optimise the synthesis conditions in order to obtain the carbon replica of zeolite EMC-2 (EMT). The use of this zeolite allow to obtain well resolved X-ray diffraction pattern. Then carbon replicas have been obtained by using various zeolites as mould and the optimal conditions defined during the first study. The adsorption and separation capacities of carbon replica of zeolite Y (FAU) have been studied. But this technique is multi-step and it is not possible to obtain large quantities. Also other methods in order to obtain porous carbons have been developped. We interested to the synthesis by self-assembly between surfactant as structuring agent and polymer as carbon precursor. We tried to understand the formation mechanism and the inflence of synthesis parameters. Theses types of synthesis allows to obtain mesoporous silica/carbon composite if silicic precursor is added. Moreover, we studied the synthesis and the characterization of carbon-coated porous silica. The obtained materials have pores with smaller diameters but their surfaces have the same characterics than carbon materials.

No presente trabalho foi realizado um estudo de alguns aspectos da reação de obtenção de dimetildiclorosilano a partir da reação entre silícios grau químico (SiGQ) ou de elevada pureza (99,999%) e cloreto de metila catalisada por cobre e promotores em reator de leito fluidizado. Foram estudados os efeitos da temperatura sobre o processo de ativação e sobre a reação com o fim de obter um valor aproximado da energia aparente de ativação para cada uma dessas etapas; o efeito do tamanho médio das partículas de silício e do catalisador sobre os parâmetros de desempenho da reação e o de contaminantes usuais do SiGQ, a saber Ca, Fe e Al, sobre silício de elevada pureza (99,999%). Uma discussão sobre o efeito de compensação característico da reação direta foi realizada sendo proposta uma explicação da origem desse efeito, que aparentemente se deve ao caracter anisotrópico da reação, e uma explicação complementar com relação ao papel dos promotores na reação. Os resultados mostraram que a energia aparente de ativação obtida por meio dos experimentos realizados neste estudo encontram-se em valores próximos ao normalmente encontrado na literatura. Aparentemente existe uma variação da seletividade com a variação do tamanho de partícula tanto do silício quanto do catalisador, que se deve ao grau de cobertura da superfície do silício pelo catalisador. Observou-se ainda que os parâmetros de desempenho se correlacionam melhor com a área geométrica do que com a área específica medida pelo método de adsorsão de N2 (BET). Os elementos Ca, Al e Fe, na forma que foram adicionados, mostraram algum efeito sobre os parâmetros de desempenho da reação, porém verificou-se que o efeito das impurezas é maior se estas estiverem presentes originalmente no silício. / Some important aspects of dimethyldichlorosilane direct synthesis from methyl chloride and both chemical grade silicon and high purity silicon (99.999%) catalyzed by copper and promoters in a fluidized bed reactor was studied. The effects of temperature on the activation process and on the reaction were studied to obtain an estimate of the apparent activation energy for each process step. The influence of average particle diameter of silicon and of catalyst and the effect of Ca, Al and Fe additions in the catalyst system were also evaluated. A discussion about the so-called isokinetic compensation behavior which is observed in the direct synthesis is presented. The proposed explanation about the origin of this phenomena is based on the anisotropic character of the reaction. A complementary explanation about the mechanism of promoters action was also proposed. The obtained values of apparent activation energies are within the range reported in the literature. Selectivity and activity showed some variation with both catalyst and silicon particle sizes. This behavior was explained in terms of silicon particle coverage by the catalyst system. The performance parameters show better correlation with the geometric area measured by laser diffraction than with the BET area obtained by N2 adsorption. The promoters Ca, Fe and Al have shown effect over the reaction, however these effects were more proeminent if they are originally present in silicon structure.

No presente trabalho foi realizado um estudo de alguns aspectos da reação de obtenção de dimetildiclorosilano a partir da reação entre silícios grau químico (SiGQ) ou de elevada pureza (99,999%) e cloreto de metila catalisada por cobre e promotores em reator de leito fluidizado. Foram estudados os efeitos da temperatura sobre o processo de ativação e sobre a reação com o fim de obter um valor aproximado da energia aparente de ativação para cada uma dessas etapas; o efeito do tamanho médio das partículas de silício e do catalisador sobre os parâmetros de desempenho da reação e o de contaminantes usuais do SiGQ, a saber Ca, Fe e Al, sobre silício de elevada pureza (99,999%). Uma discussão sobre o efeito de compensação característico da reação direta foi realizada sendo proposta uma explicação da origem desse efeito, que aparentemente se deve ao caracter anisotrópico da reação, e uma explicação complementar com relação ao papel dos promotores na reação. Os resultados mostraram que a energia aparente de ativação obtida por meio dos experimentos realizados neste estudo encontram-se em valores próximos ao normalmente encontrado na literatura. Aparentemente existe uma variação da seletividade com a variação do tamanho de partícula tanto do silício quanto do catalisador, que se deve ao grau de cobertura da superfície do silício pelo catalisador. Observou-se ainda que os parâmetros de desempenho se correlacionam melhor com a área geométrica do que com a área específica medida pelo método de adsorsão de N2 (BET). Os elementos Ca, Al e Fe, na forma que foram adicionados, mostraram algum efeito sobre os parâmetros de desempenho da reação, porém verificou-se que o efeito das impurezas é maior se estas estiverem presentes originalmente no silício. / Some important aspects of dimethyldichlorosilane direct synthesis from methyl chloride and both chemical grade silicon and high purity silicon (99.999%) catalyzed by copper and promoters in a fluidized bed reactor was studied. The effects of temperature on the activation process and on the reaction were studied to obtain an estimate of the apparent activation energy for each process step. The influence of average particle diameter of silicon and of catalyst and the effect of Ca, Al and Fe additions in the catalyst system were also evaluated. A discussion about the so-called isokinetic compensation behavior which is observed in the direct synthesis is presented. The proposed explanation about the origin of this phenomena is based on the anisotropic character of the reaction. A complementary explanation about the mechanism of promoters action was also proposed. The obtained values of apparent activation energies are within the range reported in the literature. Selectivity and activity showed some variation with both catalyst and silicon particle sizes. This behavior was explained in terms of silicon particle coverage by the catalyst system. The performance parameters show better correlation with the geometric area measured by laser diffraction than with the BET area obtained by N2 adsorption. The promoters Ca, Fe and Al have shown effect over the reaction, however these effects were more proeminent if they are originally present in silicon structure.

Project Magnetotherapeutic device for Child Neurology in his forepart paies medical use of Pulsatile Magnetic Field. Summaries a therapeutic effects of field which is interacting with biotic issue and determines which of those effects are acceptable for treatment of Infantile Paralysis. Below it describes single Bio-Parametres of Pulsatile Magnetic Field and analyses reasons and effects of Infantile Paralysis. In second part is described a block diagram of magnetotherapeutic device for treatment of Infantile Paralysis. Described is principle of function of blocks. In third part is defined circuit solving of controlling, supervisory and generating part of magnetotherapeutic device. Function and wiring of components is described in detail. There is also created a Printed Circuit Board. Device is controlled by three microcontrollers, therefore there are described flowcharts and controlling programs for microcontrollers.