Nanotechnology is blossoming into one of the premiere technologies of this century, but the key to its progress lies in developing more efficient nanosynthesis methods. Variations in synthetic technique, however, can cause variations in size, structure, and surface characteristics, thereby altering the physical properties and functionality of the particles. Careful structural characterizations are thus essential for understanding the properties and appropriate applications for particles produced by new synthetic techniques.In this work, a new ‘solvent-deficient’ method is presented for the synthesis of an unprecedentedly wide range of metal oxide nanomaterials including at least one metal oxide from each group in Groups 3-4, 6-15, and the Lanthanides. XRD, BET, and TEM structural characterizations as well as chemical purity analyses of the products are given. The intermediates associated with the method are also investigated, allowing the reaction parameters to be rationalized and culminating in a proposed mechanism for the reaction. Several of the reaction intermediates are themselves useful products, expanding the range of this already versatile method. Optimized synthesis parameters as well as structural characterizations are presented for one such intermediate product, the iron oxyhydroxide called ferrihydrite.The Al2O3 nanoparticles produced by the new method show promise in catalyst support applications, and the synthesis and structural analysis (XRD, X-ray PDF, 27Al NMR, TG/DTA-MS) of these nanoparticles is provided. The XRD, PDF, and NMR analyses reveal that the initial boehmite-like phase transforms to the catalytically useful gamma-Al2O3 phase at unusually low temperatures (300-400°C), but boehmite-like local structure defects remain which heal slowly with increasing temperature up to 800°C. The ‘pure’ gamma-Al2O3 may still contain randomized, non-cubic, local structure distortions, and it transforms directly to alpha-Al2O3 at ~1050°C. To rationalize the local structure and the absence of the delta- and theta-Al2O3 phases during the alpha-phase transition, relationships between the many Al2O3 phases are presented via innovative symmetry-mode analyses, revealing a potential quazi-topotactic mechanism for the gamma-to-alpha transition.To stabilize the gamma-Al2O3 phase to higher temperatures for catalyst applications, 3 wt% of a lanthanum dopant was added via a new, 1-pot process based on the new solvent-deficient method. This process is described and X-ray PDF, TEM, 27Al NMR, and EXAFS analyses of the La-doped gamma-Al2O3 nanoparticles reveal that the dopant resides as isolated, adsorbed atoms on the gamma-Al2O3 surface. The first coordination shell of the isolated La is increasingly La2O3-like as calcination temperature increases but changes drastically to be more LaAlO3-like after the alpha-phase transition, which is delayed ~100°C by the La dopant. Combining the EXAFS, PDF, NMR, and symmetry-mode analyses, we provide new insight into the mechanism of stabilization provided by the La dopant.

Pollution from automobile exhaust is one of the most major environmental problems because of increasing usage of engine technologies. Diesel and lean burn gasoline engines operate under oxygen rich (lean) conditions and they emit harmfull gases to the atmosphere (CO,CO2, NO, NO2). The control of NOx emission from exhaust has become a challenging issue in engine industry because of the worldwide environmental regulations. Therefore lean-burn NOx emission control technologies have been developed to reduce emission of harmfull gases from exhausts, and the NOx storage/reduction (NSR) catalysts is one of the most promising candidates to reduce the pollution caused by lean-burn engines. In NSR systems, NO from the emission is first oxidized to NO2 over noble metal sites (Pt, Rh, Pd) during lean-burn engine operation. After that NO2 is stored as nitrites and nitrates in alkali earth oxides (BaO,MgO, CaO) particles or monolayer which is well dispersed on a substrate (Gamma-Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2). Finally, stored NOx compound are broken into N2 and O2 on noble metal sites. The Pt/BaO/Gamma-Al2O3 system is one of the most popular subjects in literature both experimentally and theoretically since this system is known to be catalytically more active and ecient in interactions between NOx and Pt-BaO components are still not clearly explained. For this reason, in this thesis, the interaction between catalytic redox components, Pt and Rh, and the support material Gamma-Al2O3 and the eects of Pt and Rh in atomic and diatomic clusters forms on the adsorption of the NO2 molecule on the Gamma-Al2O3(100) surface have been investigated by using density functional theory (DFT).