Ion exchange resins, commonly used in water treatment, demonstrate promise for the production of biodiesel from biomass feedstocks. The goal of this presented PhD research is to investigate novel uses of ion exchange resins for processing biodiesel feedstocks. Specifically, this research explored using ion exchange resins to remove free fatty acids (FFA) from soybean and waste cooking oils, catalyze transesterification of soybean oil, and catalyze in-situ conversion of dried algal biomass to biodiesel and other recoverable organics. The effect of temperature, moisture content, mixing rate, and resin drying on deacidification of soybean oil with 5% oleic acid feedstock was explored using Dowex Monosphere MR-450 UPW within a batch reactor. The resins were observed to remove up to 83 +/- 1.3% of FFA from soybean oil with less than 5% moisture content while operated at a 20% resin loading at 50 degrees C while mixing at 550 rpm. Once operation characteristics impacting deacidification were evaluated, a series of experiments were carried out to demonstrate the use of mixed bed resin to remove FFA from waste cooking oils. An investigation of wash solutions capable of regenerating the resins was also carried out. Using methanol to regenerate the resins resulted in more than 40% FFA removal over three regeneration cycles, highlighting the utility of resin regeneration as a cost saving measure. Transesterification of soybean oil on Amberlyst A26-OH, a basic ion exchange resin, in the presence of excess methanol was carried out to determine the mechanism of the reaction occurring on the surface. A batch reactor approach was used and reactions were carried out with and without FFA present in the soybean oil feed stock at a 20% resin loading at 50 degrees C while mixing at 550 rpm. When FFA was present in the feedstock and methanol is present in excess, the rate constant for methanol consumption increased. Based upon model fitting, the rate constant of methanol consumption was determined to be 2.08 x 10^-7 /sec with FFA absent and 5.39 x 10^-4/sec when FFA is present when the Eley-Rideal model was used to fit the data. In-situ conversion of dried algal biomass to biodiesel and other recoverable organics was investigated using a batch reaction system with 1 gram of algae. The system was operated with 40:60 methanol:hexane as the solvent system operated at 50 degrees C while mixing at 550 rpm over a range of catalyst loadings. The highest observed ester yield, approximately 60% yield (37 mg_ester/g_algae), was observed when air dried algae was reacted with a 20% resin. An evaluation of the reaction products showed a mixture of esters, phytol, alcohols, and ketones; highlighting the complexity of the reactions occurring during in-situ biomass conversion.

Visible light-driven photocatalysis has shown considerable potential in the area of clean and renewable energy, as well as in wastewater treatment. This thesis describes the synthesis, characterization and applicability of a visible-light active photocatalyst, bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr). The photocatalytic activity of BiOBr was investigated through its preparation via hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis routes under various conditions. Hydrothermal catalyst was prepared using non template based method while for solvothermal synthesis CTAB was used as a template. Parameters of temperature and time of thermal treatment were optimized for each synthesis method and overall tests for catalyst dosage and recyclability were performed. An overall optimal route leading to high photocatalytic performance was also proposed based on the obtained results. Studies were also conducted to examine the applicability of optimally synthesized BiOBr in drinking water applications by studying catalyst-mediated disinfection of E. coli and degradation of phenol. Favourable results were obtained, confirming the prospective application of BiOBr as a viable photocatalyst for disinfection. Furthermore, the potential of enhancing BiOBr to further improve its performance is described through synthesis of a novel PdCl2/BiOBr based photocatalyst. Overall, the performance of BiOBr under various conditions in this study establishes its potential as a holistic photocatalyst and merits further development.

Acid treatments have predominantly been conducted using HCl for its availability, high rock dissolving power and soluble reaction products. At high temperatures, rapid spending of the acid with carbonates prevents deeper penetration distance into the formations. Alternative fluids such as acetic and formic acid have lent themselves to retarded reaction rates, low corrosivity and reduced tendency to form acid/oil sludge in asphaltene-rich crudes but for high reaction rate problems. Chelating agents, with the added advantage of complexing with alkali-earth metals in carbonates to form water-soluble products that are thermally stable at high temperature, have been introduced as stimulation fluids. Glutamic acid diacetic acid (GLDA) ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and hydroxyethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA) are aminopolycarboxylic acids that were studied. To predict the spending of chelating agents relative to simple organic acids at temperatures between 150 and 250˚F, the chemical kinetics of dolomite dissolution in these acid solutions were investigated over different reaction conditions in a rotating disk apparatus. Samples of the reacted acids from the reactor were collected and then analyzed with inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Analyses of the experimental data were carried out to determine kinetic parameters of the heterogeneous reactions needed for matrix stimulation of dolomitic reservoirs. Experimental results indicated that dolomite dissolution rates increased in all the acid solutions as the disk rotational speeds increased at 150, 200, and 250˚F. The dissolution of dolomite in 0.886 M GLDA was found to be surface-reaction limited at lower temperatures and mass-transfer limited at highest temperature. GLDA with the lowest reaction rates and relative diffusion coefficient demonstrated retardation before spending with deeper penetration capability for productivity and injectivity improvement.

Visible light-driven photocatalysis has shown considerable potential in the area of clean and renewable energy, as well as in wastewater treatment. This thesis describes the synthesis, characterization and applicability of a visible-light active photocatalyst, bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr). The photocatalytic activity of BiOBr was investigated through its preparation via hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis routes under various conditions. Hydrothermal catalyst was prepared using non template based method while for solvothermal synthesis CTAB was used as a template. Parameters of temperature and time of thermal treatment were optimized for each synthesis method and overall tests for catalyst dosage and recyclability were performed. An overall optimal route leading to high photocatalytic performance was also proposed based on the obtained results. Studies were also conducted to examine the applicability of optimally synthesized BiOBr in drinking water applications by studying catalyst-mediated disinfection of E. coli and degradation of phenol. Favourable results were obtained, confirming the prospective application of BiOBr as a viable photocatalyst for disinfection. Furthermore, the potential of enhancing BiOBr to further improve its performance is described through synthesis of a novel PdCl2/BiOBr based photocatalyst. Overall, the performance of BiOBr under various conditions in this study establishes its potential as a holistic photocatalyst and merits further development.

Ce travail présente les études, par microscopie à effet tunnel (STM) sous ultravide, d’une part de la formation de réseaux supramoléculaires, résultant de l’auto-assemblage des précurseurs organiques sur les surfaces Cu(111), Au(111), Si(111)-B et HOPG, et d’autre part, de l’étude de réactions chimiques sur les surfaces Cu(111), Au(111) et HOPG. Le premier chapitre décrit l’état de l’art des réseaux supramoléculaires ainsi que les réactions chimiques sur les surfaces. Le deuxième chapitre présente le dispositif expérimental et les théories sous-jacentes, ainsi que les préparations des substrats, de la pointe et la méthode de déposition des molécules.Le troisième chapitre présente les réseaux supramoléculaires formés par les dépositions des molécules fonctionnalisées par des atomes de brome ou d’azote sur les surfaces Cu(111) et Si(111)-B. Dans tous les cas, le rôle de la surface est prédominant lors de la formation des réseaux. Sur Cu(111), deux réseaux linéaires sont stabilisés par des interactions organométalliques entre les adatomes de Cu et les molécules organiques. Sur Si(111)-B, les réseaux formés sont commensurables avec la reconstruction √3 × √3 de la surface. En fonction de la compétition entre les interactions intermoléculaires et molécule-surface, les réseaux peuvent être 2D ou 1D.Le quatrième chapitre présent le premier exemple de polymérisation radicalaire sur une surface. Pour ce faire, quatre molécules de type arylalkyléthers et deux molécules arylalkanes furent synthétisées et déposées sur les surfaces de Cu (111), Au (111) et HOPG. Le mécanisme proposé pour cette réaction débute par une étape d’initialisation grâce à un processus de transfert inélastique d’électron tunnel (IET), générant des radicaux libres qui peuvent ensuite polymérisés par voie radicalaire sur la surface. / This work deals with the investigation, by means of scanning tunneling microscopy under ultra-high vacuum, of supramolecular networks resulting from the self-assembly of organic precursors on surfaces such as Cu(111), Au(111), Si(111)-B and HOPG, but also the investigation of on-surface reactions. The first chapter describes the state-of-the-art of supramolecular networks and on-surface reactions on surfaces. The second chapter presents the experimental setup and theoretical concepts, as well as the preparations of the substrates, the probe tip and the method of molecular deposition.The third chapter presents the supramolecular networks formed by the depositions of molecules functionalized by bromine atoms or nitrogen atoms on the Cu(111) and Si(111)-B surfaces. For both cases, the surface plays a key role in the formation of networks: on Cu(111), the two linear networks are stabilized by metal-organic interactions between the Cu adatoms and the organic molecules; on Si(111)-B, the nanoarchitectures are commensurable with the reconstruction √3 × √3 of the surface. As function of the competition between the intramolecular and intermolecular interactions, the networks could be 2D or 1D.The fourth chapter presents the first example of on-surface radical polymerization, which is developed by the tandem synthetic method. For this end, four arylalkylether molecules and two arylalkane molecules are synthetized and deposited on different types of surfaces such as Cu (111), Au (111) and HOPG. The proposed mechanism suggests that this reaction is initialized by the inelastic electron tunneling (IET) process, which provides the free and stable radicals for the further on surface radical polymerization.

Eine Studie zur kovalenten Immobilisierung einiger Porphyrinderivate und einer p-Maleimidophenyl-Spezies (p-MP) auf der Si(111)-Oberfläche wird vorgestellt. Hierbei lag der Schwerpunkt auf der Untersuchung des Einflusses von Reaktionsparametern auf die Abscheidung und die Qualität organischer Schichten. Die dünnen Schichten werden mittels nasschemischer Methoden abgeschieden. Die hergestellten Strukturen werden mit einer Vielzahl oberflächensensitiver Messtechniken wie der IR-Ellipsometrie, der XPS-, der SEIRA- und der IR-Reflexionsspektroskopie analysiert. Alle Abscheidungen in dieser Arbeit werden in situ durchgeführt, zusätzlich zu den ex situ Reaktionen, um das Verständnis der Filmwachstums- und Depositionsgeschwindigkeiten zu erhalten. Bei der Untersuchung der Porphyrin-Dünnschichten lag der Fokus auf den synthetische Bedingungen der Materialabscheidung. Die Lösungsreaktionen zeigen, dass die Reaktion mit dem voraktivierten Porphyrinderivat zu einer besseren Ausbeute führt als mit dem in situ aktivierten Porphyrin. Wenn diese Reaktion jedoch unter Verwendung des Schicht-für-Schicht-Abscheidungsprinzips auf die Oberfläche übertragen wird, findet die Reaktion mit den oberflächengebundenen Aminosilanmolekülen mit einer viel langsameren Geschwindigkeit statt als die gleiche Reaktion in Lösung. Es wird ein alternativer Syntheseansatz vorgeschlagen, bei dem das Produkt in Lösung hergestellt und dann auf dem oxidierten Si-Substrat abgeschieden wird. Eine weitere in situ-Studie zum p-MP-Elektropfropfen auf der H-terminierten Si(111)-Oberfläche liefert Details zur Dünnschichtbildung im monolagigen und im sub-monolagigen Bereich. Die spontane Pfropfung von p-MP wird ebenfalls in situ überwacht. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die Bildung einer Monoschicht während der stromlosen Abscheidung länger dauert als bei einer elektrochemischen Abscheidung. Als Alternative zum Radikalmechanismus wird ein kationischer Mechanismus vorgeschlagen. / A study on the covalent immobilization of a couple of porphyrin derivatives and a p-maleimidophenyl species (p-MP) on Si(111) surface is presented to investigate how do reaction parameters influence the deposition and the quality of organic layers. The thin films are deposited with “wet chemistry” methods. The prepared structures are analyzed with a variety of surface sensitive techniques, namely, IR ellipsometry, XPS, SEIRA, and IR reflection spectroscopy. All depositions in this work are conducted in situ, in addition to the ex situ reactions, to gain an understanding of the film growth and deposition rates. The study on porphyrin thin films focused on the synthetic conditions of material deposition. Solution reactions indicate that the reaction with the pre-activated porphyrin derivative leads to a better yield than with the in situ-activated porphyrin. However, when this reaction is transferred to the surface by using the layer-by-layer deposition approach, the reaction with the surface-bound aminosilanes molecules takes place at a much slower rate than the same reaction in solution. An alternative synthetic approach, where the product is prepared in solution and then deposited on the oxidized Si substrate, is proposed. A parallel in situ study on p-MP electrografting on the H-terminated Si(111) surface provides details on the thin film formation in a monolayer and a sub-monolayer regime. The spontaneous grafting of p-MP is also monitored in situ. It was found that the formation of a monolayer during the electroless deposition takes longer than an electrochemical deposition. A cationic mechanism is proposed as an alternative to a radical mechanism.

No description available.

This work aims at modelling and evaluating a new type of photocatalytic reactors, named fixed-bed photocatalytic membrane reactor (FPMR). Such reactors are based on the deposition of a thin layer of photocatalysts on a permeable substrate by filtration. This layer serves as a photocatalytic membrane, named fixed-bed photocatalytic mem-brane (FPM), which is perpendicularly passed by the reactant solution and illuminated by a suitable light source. One advantage of FPMs is their renewability. The model, which was developed for this reactor, relates the overall reaction rate in the FPM with the intrinsic reaction kinetic at the catalyst surface and accounts for light intensity, structural and optical layer properties as well as the mass transfer in the pores. The concept of FPMR was realised by using a flat sheet membrane cell. It facilitated principal investigations into the reactor performance and the validity of the model. For this purpose, the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds, such as meth-ylene blue and diclofenac sodium, was conducted at varying conditions. Pyrogenic ti-tania was used as a photocatalyst. The experimental data support the developed mod-el. They also indicate a significant impact of the flow conditions on the overall photo-catalytic activity, even though the Reynolds number in the FPM was very small; the to-tal mass transfer rate in the FPM amounted to more than 1.0 s−1. The experiments also showed a sufficient structural strength of the FPM and photocatalytic stability. In addi-tion, the renewal and regeneration of FPMs was successfully demonstrated. Furthermore, another FPMR was designed by means of submerged ceramic mem-branes. This reactor was mainly used to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of FPMRs at the example of the photocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid. The correspond-ing reactor was run closed loop and in continuous mode. The effectiveness of the reac-tor was evaluated based on common descriptors, such as apparent quantum yield, photocatalytic space-time yield and light energy consumption. The results showed that the FPMR based on submerged ceramic membrane had a higher efficiency than other reported photocatalytic reactors. The comparison of the different modes of operation revealed that the closed loop FPMR is most efficient with regard to light energy con-sumption. Finally, this work discusses the up-scaling of FPMRs for industrial applications and proposes a solution, which can e.g. be employed for wastewater treatment or CO2 conversion.:Abstract iii Kurzfassung v Acknowledgment vii Contents ix Nomenclature xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation 1 1.2 Aim and objectives of the work 3 1.3 Thesis outline 3 2 Heterogeneous photocatalytic reactors 5 2.1 Introduction to photocatalysis 5 2.2 Processes in heterogeneous photocatalysis 6 2.2.1 Optical phenomena 7 2.2.2 Mass transfer 8 2.2.3 Adsorption and desorption 9 2.2.4 Photocatalytic reactions 10 2.2.5 Factors affecting heterogeneous photocatalysis 12 2.3 Photocatalytic reactor systems towards water treatment 16 2.3.1 Introduction to photocatalytic reactors 16 2.3.2 Development of photocatalytic reactor designs 17 2.3.3 Quantitative criteria for evaluating photocatalytic reactor designs 21 2.4 Cake layer formation in membrane microfiltration 22 2.4.1 Suspension preparation 22 2.4.2 Cake layer formation 23 2.5 Fluid flow through a fixed bed of particles 25 2.5.1 Pressure drop through a fixed-bed 25 2.5.2 Liquid-solid mass transfer correlation in fixed-bed 25 3 Concept and mathematical modelling of FPMRs 29 3.1 Concept of fixed-bed photocatalytic membrane reactors 29 3.2 Modelling of fixed-bed photocatalytic membrane reactors 31 3.3 Model sensitivity analysis 37 3.4 Chapter summary 39 4 FPMR realised with flat sheet polymeric membrane 41 4.1 Introduction 41 4.2 Materials and set-up 41 4.2.1 Materials 41 4.2.2 Experimental set-up 43 4.3 Experiments and methods 48 4.3.1 Formation of fixed-bed photocatalytic membrane 48 4.3.2 Reactor performance 50 4.3.3 Parameters study and model verification 53 4.3.4 Catalyst layer characterisation 56 4.3.5 Measurement and evaluation of photocatalytic activity of FPM 59 4.4 Results and model verification 60 4.4.1 Reactor performance 60 4.4.2 Influence parameters 71 4.4.3 Model verification 79 5 FPMR realised with submerged ceramic membrane 92 5.1 Introduction 92 5.2 Materials and reactor set-up 93 5.2.1 Reactor set-up 93 5.2.2 Chemicals 97 5.3 Experiments and methods 97 5.3.1 Formation of fixed-bed photocatalytic membranes 97 5.3.2 Photocatalytic performance 97 5.3.3 Parameter study 98 5.3.4 Reactor model for calculating reaction rate constant of FPM 99 5.3.5 Comparison of different reactor schemes 102 5.4 Results and discussions 105 5.4.1 Reactor performance 105 5.4.2 Consistency of CPMR and LPMR data 107 5.4.3 Influence of catalyst loading 108 5.4.4 Influence of permeate flux and light intensity 109 5.4.5 Reactor efficiency 111 5.4.6 Comparison of different reactor schemes 113 5.5 Proposed up-scaled FPMR systems 113 5.6 Concluding remarks 116 6 Conclusion and outlook 118 6.1 Summary of thesis contributions 118 6.2 Discussion and outlook 120 References 122 List of Figures 134 List of Tables 138 Appendix A Calibration 139 A.1 Distribution of light intensity on the surface of catalyst layer 139 A.2 Concentration and absorbance of diclofenac 141 A.3 TOC concentration and electrical conductivity of oxalic acid 141 A.4 Concentration and absorbance of methylene blue 142 Appendix B Mathematical modelling 143 B.1 Influence of axial dispersion on the reaction rate 143 B.2 Special case 146 Appendix C Comparison the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 and ZnO 147 Appendix D Mathematical validation of model for LPMR and CPMR 148 D.1 Model for LPMR (cf. Eq. (5 12)):148 D.2 Model for CPMR (cf. Eq. (5 17)) 149 Appendix E Particle size distribution 151

Dans cette thèse, nous présentons des travaux complémentaires conduits à ICARE-CNRS (Orléans), partie A et à l’Université de Fudan (Shanghai), partie B. Partie A : les 2-et 3-carène sont deux composés organiques volatils biogéniques importants présents dans l’atmosphère dont les voies de dégradation sont encore mal connues. Afin de déterminer les constantes de vitesse des réactions de ces espèces avec l’ozone, nous avons utilisé trois systèmes expérimentaux complémentaires : des chambres de simulation d’ICARE de 7300L et 80000L (HELIOS) et un réacteur à flux laminaire. Les rendements de certains produits de réactions, le radical hydroxyle (OH), le formaldéhyde (HCHO) et le monoxyde de carbone (CO) ont aussi été déterminés. D’autre part, pour avoir une meilleure compréhension d’intermédiaires de réaction formés lors de l’ozonolyse, appelés intermédiaires de Criegee, un réacteur à flux laminaire à deux étages a été mis en place pour mesurer leurs constantes de vitesse de réaction avec SO2, NO2 et O3. Partie B : les impacts du “black carbon (BC)” et du “brown carbon (BrC)” constituent une incertitude majeure dans les modèles climatiques actuels. Des rapports récents indiquent que la morphologie et l’évolution des BC et BrC dans l’atmosphère jouent un rôle important sur la capacité d’absorption de ces particules. Afin d’étudier leurs comportements, des mélanges de particules (BC-BrC) ont été exposés en chambre de simulation atmosphérique à l'acide sulfurique, au mélange ammoniac / triéthylamine, et à la vapeur d'eau de manière séquentielle. / In this thesis, we present a complementary work conducted at ICARE-CNRS (Orléans), Part A and at Fudan University (Shanghai), Part B. Part A: 2-and 3-carene are two important biogenic volatile organic compounds present in the atmosphere. The knowledge on their degradation pathways and the corresponding products are still poor. Using complementary reaction systems-ICARE 7300 L and HELIOS 80000 L simulation chambers, vertical laminar flow reactor, their kinetic rate constants for reaction with ozone were determined. Additionally, important product formation yields, hydroxyl radical (OH), formaldehyde (HCHO) and carbon monoxide (CO) have been determined with indication to their corresponding formation routes from the ozonolysis of carene. To have a better understanding on reactions of Criegee intermediates (CIs) generated through ozonolysis in the atmosphere, a horizontal 2-stage laminar flow reactor was set up to measure the rate constants of CIs with SO2, NO2 and O3. Part B: Radiative forcing of black carbon (BC) in the atmosphere, as well as that of brown carbon (BrC), remains to be a major uncertainty in current climate models. Recent reports indicate that the absorption enhancement of BC and BrC particles is determined by evolution of morphology and mixing state during the atmospheric processing. Laboratory-generated BC-BrC mixture particles (BC-BrC) were exposed to sulfuric acid, ammonia/triethylamine, and water vapor sequentially to investigate the alternation in light absorption, morphology and mixing state during simulated atmospheric processing.

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(A)(2) 課題番号:15206012 研究代表者:後藤 俊夫 研究期間:2003-2004年度