91 f. / Submitted by Ana Hilda Fonseca (anahilda@ufba.br) on 2013-04-08T12:13:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Diego Rodrigues de Carvalho.pdf: 2794055 bytes, checksum: cfc0af13bcf03c16764abe0783871d7a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Hilda Fonseca(anahilda@ufba.br) on 2013-06-06T14:47:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Diego Rodrigues de Carvalho.pdf: 2794055 bytes, checksum: cfc0af13bcf03c16764abe0783871d7a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-06T14:47:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Diego Rodrigues de Carvalho.pdf: 2794055 bytes, checksum: cfc0af13bcf03c16764abe0783871d7a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / CAPES / Apesar das zeólitas serem amplamente utilizadas como catalisadores em indústrias químicas e petroquímicas, elas apresentam a desvantagem de limitar a difusão de moléculas volumosas em seus canais. O transporte lento dos reagentes e produtos ao longo dos microporos das zeólitas resulta em um longo tempo de residência, o que favorece reações indesejáveis. Com o intuito de superar este problema, foi estudado neste trabalho o efeito do tipo de organossilanos (fenilaminopropil- trimetoxisilano, fenil-trimetoxisilano e aminopropil-trietoxissilano), bem como o efeito do tempo de pré-cristalização de sementes e de cristalização da zeólita, nas propriedades de zeólitas beta, a fim de obter um método de preparação eficiente para a obtenção desses sólidos. As amostras foram preparadas pela funcionalização de sementes da zeólita com organossilanos, a fim de diminuir ou prevenir o crescimento de cristais da zeólita beta. Dois grupos de amostras foram preparados: (i) variando o tempo de pré-cristalização das sementes e de cristalização da zeólita e (ii) alterando o tipo de organossilanos. As amostras foram caracterizadas por difração de raios X, espectroscopia no infravermelho com transformada de Fourier, área superficial específica e porosidade, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, espectroscopia de energia dispersiva de raios X e espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear de 27Al e 29Si. Notou-se que o tempo de pré-cristalização das sementes e de cristalização da zeólita não afeta significativamente o tamanho do cristal. Por outro lado, o menor tempo de précristalização das sementes levou à sólidos com a maior área superfícial específica e área microporos, mas com a menor quantidade de alumínio. Na amostra com o maior tempo de cristalização, não foi notada a adsorção do organossilano na zeólita. A funcionalização das sementes com organossilanos levou à produção de um sólido com menor tamanho de partícula e mais alumínio na rede zeolítica, em comparação com amostras não funcionalizadas. A amostra mais promissora foi sintetizada com o tempo de pré-cristalização de um dia e um período de cristalização de dois dias utilizando o fenil-aminopropil-trimetoxisilano, pois apresentou um menor tamanho de cristal, maior área de microporos e maior área externa. / Salvador

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Kenneth J. Klabunde / A new approach to synthesize nanosized strontium titanate (SrTiO3) and barium titanate (BaTiO3) has been developed. Nanocrystals of mixed metal oxide were synthesized by a modified aerogel procedure from alkoxides. The textural and surface characteristic properties were studied by nitrogen BET analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and powder XRD. The crystallite sizes of aerogel prepared powders can vary from 6 to 25 nm by the use of different solvents. A mixture of ethanol and toluene was found to be the best binary solvent for supercritical drying, which produced a SrTiO3 sample with a surface area of 159 m2/g and an average crystallite size of 8 nm, and a BaTiO3 sample with a surface area of 175 m2/g and an average crystallite size of 6 nm. These titanates have been studied for photocatalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) in particular. The big band gaps of the bulk (3.2 eV for SrTiO3 and 3.1 eV for BaTiO3) limit their application to a UV light region only. The modification of titanates by doping with transition metal ions (partial substitution of Ti ions with metal ions) creates a valence band or electron donor level inside of the band gap, narrows it, and increases the visible light absorption. The enhanced adsorption of visible light was achieved by the synthesis of nanosized SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 by incorporating Cr ions during the modified aerogel procedure. Gaseous acetaldehyde photooxidation has been studied on pure SrTiO3 and BaTiO3, and on chromium doped Cr-SrTiO3 and Cr-BaTiO3 under UV and visible light irradiation, and compared with the photoactivity of P25 TiO2. SrTiO3 doped with antimony/chromium shows absorption in visible light and show photocatalytic activity for CH3CHO oxidation. The reason for the codoping of SrTiO3 with Sb/Cr was to maintain the charge balance and to suppress oxygen defects in the lattice. This photocatalyst shows high photoactivity under visible light irradiation even after several continuous runs. The photoactivity under visible and UV light irradiation was almost identical for the Sb/Cr-SrTiO3 photocatalyst. Dielectric properties of aerogel prepared barium titanate samples have being studied and the bulk resistance values of AP-BaTiO3 were significantly lower than that of commercial BaTiO3, by several orders of magnitude.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Kenneth J. Klabunde / For solar environmental remediation, a new generation of nanosized (< 10 nm) titanium dioxide photocatalysts codoped with metals and nonmetals, or metals only were prepared by the xero-gel and aero-gel methods. For silver or cobalt-based xero-gel titanium dioxide photocatalysts, photoactivities tests revealed that codoping of titanium dioxide with a metal (1% Ag or 2% Co) and nonmetals (carbon and sulfur) is necessary to achieve high-activities for acetaldehyde degradation under visible light (wavelength > 420 nm). It was concluded that high visible-light-activities for acetaldehyde degradation over codoped titanium dioxide were attributed to an interplay of anatase crystallinity, high-surface area, reduced band-gap (< 3.0 eV), uniform dispersion of doped metal ions, and suppressed recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the nature and amount of codoped metals play a significant role in visible-light-induced photocatalysis. Metals (Al, Ga, and In) doped/codoped titanium dioxide photocatalysts were prepared by the aero-gel method. The photocatalytic studies showed that activities of metal doped/codoped photocatalysts under UV light (wavelength < 400 nm) were found to be dependent on pollutants. Indium demonstrated beneficial effects in both textural and photocatalytic properties. Gallium and indium codoped titanium dioxide photocatalysts displayed even better performance in the CO oxidation reaction under UV light. Notably, titanium dioxide codoped with Ga, In, and Pt, exhibited unique photoactivities for the CO oxidation under both UV and visible light irradiation, indicating that this system could have promise for the water-gas shift reaction for hydrogen production. Silver-based nanostructured titanium dioxide samples were developed for killing human pathogens (Escherichia coli cells and Bacillus subtilis spores). Biocidal tests revealed that silver, carbon, and sulfur codoped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (< 10 nm) possess very strong antimicrobial actions on both E. coli (logarithmic kill > 8) and B. subtilis spores (logarithmic kill > 5) for 30 minute exposures in dark conditions compared with Degussa P25. It was believed that the carbon and sulfur codoped titanium dioxide support and Ag species acted synergistically during deactivation of both E. coli and B. subtilis spores. Thus, titanium dioxide codoped with silver, carbon, sulfur can serve as a multifunctional generic biocide and a visible- light-active photocatalyst.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:06:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarcianoF.pdf: 4534279 bytes, checksum: c57f1201db2e0c16d64c992932b57fc3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-28 / Metal powder sintering appears to be promising option to achieve new physical and mechanical properties combining raw material with new processing improvements. It interest over many years and continue to gain wide industrial application. Stainless steel is a widely accepted material because high corrosion resistance. However stainless steels have poor sinterability and poor wear resistance due to their low hardness. Metal matrix composite (MMC) combining soft metallic matrix reinforced with carbides or oxides has attracted considerable attention for researchers to improve density and hardness in the bulk material. This thesis focuses on processing 316L stainless steel by addition of 3% wt niobium carbide to control grain growth and improve densification and hardness. The starting powder were water atomized stainless steel manufactured for H?gan?s (D 50 = 95.0 &#956;m) and NbC produced in the UFRN and supplied by Aesar Alpha Johnson Matthey Company with medium crystallite size 16.39 nm and 80.35 nm respectively. Samples with addition up to 3% of each NbC were mixed and mechanically milled by 3 routes. The route1 (R1) milled in planetary by 2 hours. The routes 2 (R2) and 3 (R3) milled in a conventional mill by 24 and 48 hours. Each milled samples and pure sample were cold compacted uniaxially in a cylindrical steel die (? 5 .0 mm) at 700 MPa, carried out in a vacuum furnace, heated at 1290?C, heating rate 20?C stand by 30 and 60 minutes. The samples containing NbC present higher densities and hardness than those without reinforcement. The results show that nanosized NbC particles precipitate on grain boundary. Thus, promote densification eliminating pores, control grain growth and increase the hardness values / O presente trabalho apresenta uma contribui??o ao estudo da sinteriza??o s?lida de um a?o inoxid?vel 316L, com o objetivo de aumentar a sua densidade e dureza atrav?s da inclus?o de part?culas nanom?tricas de Carbeto de Ni?bio - NbC. O a?o inoxid?vel 316L ? uma liga largamente utilizada pela sua propriedade de alta resist?ncia ? corros?o. Contudo, sua aplica??o ? limitada pela baixa resist?ncia ao desgaste, conseq??ncia da sua baixa dureza. Al?m disso, apresenta baixa sinterabilidade e n?o pode ser endurecido pelos m?todos tradicionais de tratamentos t?rmicos, devido a sua estrutura austen?tica, c?bica de face centrada, estabilizada principalmente pela presen?a do N?quel. Os materiais de partida empregados neste trabalho foram o a?o inoxid?vel, austen?tico 316L atomizado a ?gua, com tamanho de part?culas (D50) equivalente a 95&#956;m, e duas partidas diferentes de NbC, com tamanhos m?dios de cristalitos de 16,39 nm e 80,35 nm. Amostras de a?os adicionadas com 3% em peso de NbC (cada amostra com carbetos de partidas diferentes), seguiram rotas diferenciadas de moagem mec?nica. A rota 1 (R1) em um planet?rio por uma hora, a rota 2 (R2) e rota 3 (R3), em moinho convencional por 24 e 48 horas respectivamente. Cada uma das amostras resultantes, assim como amostras do a?o puro foram compactados a 700 MPa, a frio, sem nenhum aditivo, uniaxialmente, em uma matriz cil?ndrica de 5 mm de di?metro, em quantidade calculada para ter uma altura m?dia final do compactado de 5 mm. Posteriormente, foram sinterizadas em forno a v?cuo, em temperatura de at? 1290? C com incremento de 10 ?C por minuto, sendo mantidas neste patamar por 30 ou 60 minutos e resfriadas ? temperatura ambiente. As amostras sinterizadas foram submetidas aos ensaios para a medi??o da densidade e da micro-dureza. As amostras contendo o refor?o de NbC apresentaram maiores valores de densidade e um aumento significativo na sua dureza. As an?lises complementares no microsc?pio ?tico, no microsc?pio eletr?nico de varredura e no difrat?metro de raios-X, mostram que o NbC, na forma processada, contribuiu com o aumento da dureza, pela densifica??o, pela sua pr?pria dureza e pelo controle do crescimento dos gr?os da matriz met?lica, segregando-se nos seus contornos

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:07:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KarlaSMGS_partes_autorizadas_pelo_autor.pdf: 1248832 bytes, checksum: 6139c9f98f965322e719dfe4f7274a99 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-13 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The mixed metal oxides constitute an important class of catalytic materials widely investigated in different fields of applications. Studies of rare earth nickelates have been carried by several researchers in order to investigate the structural stability afforded by oxide formed and the existence of catalytic properties at room temperature. So, this study aims synthesize the nanosized catalyst of nickelate of lanthanum doped with strontium (La(1-x)SrxNiO4-d; x = 0,2 and 0,3), through the Pechini method and your characterization for subsequent application in the desulfurization of thiophene reaction. The precursor solutions were calcined at 300?C/2h for pyrolysis of polyester and later calcinations occurred at temperatures of 500 - 1000?C. The resulting powders were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG / DTG), surface area for adsorption of N2 by BET method, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (HR_SEM) and spectrometry dispersive energy (EDS). The results of XRD had show that the perovskites obtained consist of two phases (LSN and NiO) and from 700?C have crystalline structure. The results of SEM evidenced the obtainment of nanometric powders. The results of BET show that the powders have surface area within the range used in catalysis (5-50m2/g). The characterization of active sites was performed by reaction of desulfurization of thiophene at room temperature and 200?C, the relation F/W equal to 0,7 mol h-1mcat -1. The products of the reaction were separated by gas chromatography and identified by the selective detection PFPD sulfur. All samples had presented conversion above 95% / Os ?xidos met?licos mistos constituem uma importante classe de materiais catal?ticos mundialmente investigados em diferentes campos de aplica??es. Estudos envolvendo niquelatos de terras raras v?m sendo realizados por v?rios pesquisadores no intuito de investigar a estabilidade proporcionada pelo ?xido estrutural formado e a exist?ncia de propriedades catal?ticas, ? temperatura ambiente. Neste contexto, este trabalho tem como objetivo a s?ntese do catalisador nanom?trico de niquelato de lant?nio dopado com estr?ncio (La(1-x)SrxNiO4-d; x = 0,2 e 0,3), atrav?s do m?todo Pechini e caracteriza??o para posterior aplica??o em rea??o de dessulfuriza??o de tiofeno. As solu??es precursoras foram calcinadas a 300?C/2h, para pir?lise do poli?ster e posteriores calcina??es foram realizadas nas temperaturas entre 500 - 1000?C. Os p?s resultantes foram caracterizados por an?lise termogravim?trica (TG/DTG), ?rea superficial por adsor??o de N2 pelo m?todo BET, difra??o de raios x (DRX), microscopia eletr?nica de varredura de alta resolu??o (HR_MEV) e espectroscopia por energia dispersiva (EDS). Com os dados de an?lise t?rmica, foi poss?vel definir as temperaturas e calores envolvidos no processo de decomposi??o dos ?xidos finais. Os resultados de DRX mostraram que as perovisquitas obtidas s?o constitu?das de duas fases (LSN e NiO) e a partir de 700?C apresentaram estrutura cristalina. Os resultados de MEV evidenciaram a obten??o de p?s nanom?tricos. Os resultados de BET mostraram que os p?s obtidos apresentam ?rea superficial dentro da faixa utilizada em cat?lise (5-50m2/g). A caracteriza??o dos s?tios ativos foi realizada atrav?s da rea??o de dessulfuriza??o de tiofeno ? temperatura ambiente e a 200oC, com raz?o F/W igual a 0,7molh-1mcat -1. Os produtos da rea??o foram separados por cromatografia em fase gasosa e identificados por detec??o PFPD seletivo a enxofre. Todas as amostras apresentaram convers?o acima de 95%

Les performances de filtration d’un filtre à manche vis-à-vis de particules submicroniques et nanométriques ont été évaluées à l’échelle du laboratoire durant plusieurs cycles de colmatage/décolmatage. La distribution granulométrique des particules (aérosol de combustion) était représentative de celle rencontrée en incinération de nano-déchets en sortie de chambre de combustion à l’échelle du laboratoire. Le filtre à manche opérait en conditions réalistes, représentatives de celles rencontrées dans les lignes de traitement des fumées d’incinération de déchets en termes de température, humidité, vitesse de filtration, présence de réactifs et conditions de décolmatage. Le flux d’air et le filtre à manche étaient chauffés à 150°C, la teneur en eau était de 10-12% (soit 3% d’humidité relative HR), et la vitesse de filtration était fixée à 1,9 cm.s⁻¹. Un mélange de particules de taille submicronique de charbon actif et de bicarbonate de sodium, utilisées dans les lignes de traitement des fumées d’incinération pour l’abattement des dioxines/furanes et des gaz acides, était généré simultanément avec l’aérosol de combustion. L’étude s’est centrée sur les performances de filtration au début de la durée de vie du filtre à manche, avant stabilisation de la perte de charge résiduelle du filtre résultant des précédents cycles de filtration. La perte de charge maximale du filtre était fixée à 150 Pa pour tous les cycles de filtration avant décolmatage par rétro-soufflage à air comprimé. Les performances du filtre à manche ont été évaluées en termes d’évolution de sa perte de charge et de son efficacité de collecte (totale et fractionnelle) au cours des cycles de colmatage/décolmatage. De plus, des études expérimentales et théoriques ont été menées afin d’étudier l’influence de divers paramètres sur les performances de filtration du filtre en configuration manche ou plane, tels que l’humidité de l’air (3% HR versus 0% HR à 150°C), la température (150°C versus 24°C), la vitesse de filtration (1,9 cm.s⁻¹ versus 1,4 cm.s⁻¹) et l’influence de l’injection de réactifs. Les principaux résultats de cette étude sont : (i) importante efficacité de capture des particules du filtre à manche en conditions représentatives des lignes de traitement des fumées d’incinération : efficacité minimale de collecte de 98,5% mesurée pour des particules de taille 74 ± 15 nm (diamètre de mobilité électrique), (ii) influence du gâteau résiduel de particules au début de chaque cycle de filtration sur les performances de traitement, (iii) influence significative de l’humidité de l’air sur la structure du gâteau de particules probablement due à l’augmentation des forces d’adhésion entre les particules en présence d’humidité (150°C – 3% HR soit environ 100 g d’eau par kg d’air sec) ; augmentation plus rapide de la perte de charge du filtre à manche en présence d’humidité (150°C – 3% HR) qu’en conditions d’air sec (150°C – 0% HR). / Filtration performance of a pulse-jet bag filter was evaluated at the laboratory-scale regarding submicronic particles with a nanosized fraction during clogging/unclogging cycles. The particle size distribution was representative to those encountered at the outlet of a nano-waste incineration device at laboratory-scale. The bag filter was operated in conditions as similar as possible to those found in flue gas treatment of waste incineration plants, in terms of temperature, humidity, filtration velocity, injection of sorbent reagents and unclogging conditions. The air flow and the bag filter were heated to 150°C, the water content was maintained in the air flow in the range of 10-12% (3% of relative humidity RH), and filtration velocity throughout the bag filter was fixed at 1.9 cm.s⁻¹. A mixture of submicronic suspended particles of activated carbon and sodium bicarbonate, both used in flue gas treatment systems mainly for the removal of dioxins/furans and acid gases, was generated simultaneously with the aerosol representative of combustion emissions.The study focused on the filtration performance at the beginning of the bag filter’s lifetime filter for the 11 first clogging-unclogging cycles before stabilizing the residual pressure drop reached after pulse-jet unclogging. The maximum pressure drop was set at 150 Pa for all filtration cycles. Once the maximum pressure drop was reached, the filter was unclogged using the pulse-jet system. The performance of the bag filter was evaluated in terms of the evolution of pressure drop, fractional and total particle collection efficiencies, during the clogging/unclogging cycles.Moreover, an experimental and theoretical study was carried out on the influence of different parameters on the filtration performance of bag filter and flat filter, such as influence of humidity (3% RH versus 0% RH at 150°C), temperature (150°C versus 24°C), filtration velocity (1.9 cm.s⁻¹ versus 1.4 cm.s⁻¹) and the influence of the injection of sorbent reagents.The main results of this study are: (i) high collection efficiency of the bag filter in representative conditions of flue gas treatment of waste incineration: minimun particle collection efficiency of 98.5% for particle diameter of 74 ± 15 nm (electrical mobility diameter), (ii) influence of residual particle cake at the beginning of the filtration cycles on the bag filter performance, (iii) significant influence of humidity on the porosity of the particle cake due to the capillary condensation of water between the particles in presence of humidity (150°C - 3% RH i.e. almost 100 g of water per kg of dry air). Faster increase of bag filter pressure drop in presence of humidiy (150°C - 3% RH) as compared to the dry conditions (150°C - 0% RH).

The first part of this diploma thesis is dealing with conductivity of liquid electrolytes. The second part is about third generation gel electrolytes and thein conductivity. The electrolytes were inorganic salts LiClO4, LiBF4 and NaClO4 in an aprotic propylene carbonate (PC) -used as a solvent. Nanosized Al2O3 and TiO2 particles were, proportionally to the sample's volume, added to the both – blend and gel samples in an amount expressed by weight percentage (wt). Both liquid and gel electrolytes contained following amount on nanosorbent: 3,46% wt, 7,17% wt, 10,0% wt and 12,0% wt. The liquid electrolytes were gelled using commercially available precursor Superacryl (Spofa dental s.r.o.).

Übergangsmetallfluoridverbindungen sind sehr vielversprechende Kandidaten für die nächste Generation von Kathoden für Alkaliionenbatterien. Dennoch verhindern einige Nachteile dieser Materialklasse ihre Anwendung in Energiespeichermedien. Metallfluoride haben eine stark isolierende Wirkung, außerdem bewirken die Mechanismen beim Lade-/Entladevorgang, große Volumenänderungen und somit eine drastische Reorganisation des Materials, welche nur geringfügig umkehrbar ist. Um diese Nachteile zu reduzieren, werden in dieser Arbeit innovative Syntheserouten für die Umwandlung von Metallfluoridverbindungen sowie deren Anwendung in Alkaliionenbatterien vorgestellt. Im ersten Teil werden MFx Verbindungen (M = Co, Fe; x = 2 oder 3) untersucht. Diese Materialien zeigen eine hohe Ausgangskapazität aber nur bei sehr geringen C-Raten und zudem sehr geringe Zyklisierbarkeiten. Ex-situ-XRD und -TEM zeigen, dass die geringe Umkehrbarkeit der Prozesse hauptsächlich aus der Umwandlungsreaktion während des Be-/Entladens resultieren. Im zweiten Teil werden sowohl die Synthesen als auch die elektrochemischen Eigenschaften von Perowskiten aus Übergangsmetallfluoriden vorgestellt. NaFeF3 zeigt hierbei exzellente Leistungen und Reversibilitäten. Die Untersuchung der Mechansimen durch ex-situ und operando XRD während der Be- und Entladeprozesse hinsichtlich verschiedener Alkalisysteme zeigt, dass das kristalline Netzwerk über den Zyklus erhalten bleibt. Dies führt zur hohen Reversibilität und hohen Leistung selbst bei hohen C-Raten. Der Erhalt der Kristallstruktur wird durch elektrochemische Stabilisierung der kubischen Konformation von FeF3 ermöglicht, welche normalerweise erst bei hohen Temperaturen (400 °C) beobachtet wird und durch geringere Reorganisationen innerhalb des Kristallgerüsts erklärt werden kann. Ähnliche elektrochemische Eigenschaften können für KFeF3 und NH4FeF3 beobachtet werden, wobei erstmalig von Ammoniumionen als Ladungsträger in Alkaliionensystemen berichtet wird. / Metal fluoride compounds appear as very appealing candidates for the next generation of alkali-ion battery cathodes. However, many drawbacks prevent this family of compounds to be applicable to storage systems. Metal fluorides demonstrate a high insulating character, and the mechanisms involved during the discharge/charge processes atom engender large volume changes and a drastic reorganization of the material, which induces poor reversibility. In order to answer these problematics, the present thesis reports the elaboration of innovative synthesis routes for transition metal fluoride compounds and the application of these fluoride materials in alkali-ion battery systems. In a first part, MFx compounds (M = Co, Fe; x = 2 or 3) are studied. Those compounds exhibit high initial capacity but very poor cyclability and low C-rate capabilities. Ex-situ X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy demonstrate that the low reversibility of the processes is mainly due to the conversion reaction occurring during their discharge/charge. In the second part, the syntheses of transition metal fluoride perovskites are reported, as well as their electrochemical properties. NaFeF3 demonstrates excellent performances and reversibility. The study of the mechanisms occurring during its charge/discharge processes towards different alkali systems by ex-situ and operando X-ray diffraction reveals that its crystalline framework is maintained along the cycles, resulting in high reversibility and excellent C-rate performance. This retention of the crystal framework is possible by an electrochemical stabilization of a cubic conformation of FeF3, which is usually only observable at high temperature (400 °C), and can be explained by lower reorganizations within the crystal framework. Similar electrochemical properties could be observed for KFeF3 and NH4FeF3, where ammonium ions are reported for the first time as a charge carrier in alkali-ion systems.

This study was conducted to determine how the structure and surface chemistry of bulk CaCO3 differs from that of nanometer-sized CaCO3 and then to determine rate, extent and mechanisms of As adsorption on various synthetic CaCO3 materials. Additionally, we sought to devise a chemical CaCO3 precipitate that approximates biogenic CaCO3. The bulk CaCO3 precipitation was performed by using a solution that was highly oversaturated so that large CaCO3 precipitates rapidly form. Two different methods were employed for the synthesis of nanometer size CaCO3 i) an in situ deposition technique and ii) an interfacial reaction (water in oil emulsion). Mineral characterization of all CaCO3 precipitates was done with Nitrogen Porosimetry (Brunauer Emmett Teller method), particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared/ Fourier Transform Raman spectroscopy. The principal objective of the research was to assess the overall reactivity of As(III) and As(V) with different synthetic CaCO3 minerals. This was accomplished by i) running adsorption isotherms (varying As concentration), ii) measuring pH envelopes (varying pH at a fixed concentration) and iii) kinetic experiments (varying reaction time). Also, electrophoretic mobility experiments were performed in the presence of As(III) and As(V), and these studies revealed that As(III) forms stronger inner-sphere complexes with CaCO3 than As(V). Also, it was found that nanometer-sized CaCO3 prepared via deposition formed stronger inner-sphere complexes with As oxyanions (q = 5.26 µmol/m2) compared to either nano-sized CaCO3 from interfacial reactions (q = 4.51 µmol/m2) or bulk CaCO3 (q = 4.39 µmol/m2).<p> The PEG-based nano CaCO3 prepared by an in-situ deposition technique presents a novel and readily available synthesis route that can be used as proxy for the biogenic CaCO3 known to be present in many different environmental conditions. The results of this study suggest that CaCO3 can be used as a sorbent for As in groundwater.