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PRECISE CONTROL OF CARBON NANOTUBE MEMBRANE STRUCTURE FOR ENZYME MIMETIC CATALYSIS

The ability to fabricate a charge-driven water pump is a crucial step toward mimicking the catalytic ability of natural enzyme systems. The first step towards making this water pump a reality is the ability to make a carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane with uniform, 0.8 nm pore diameter. Proposed in this work is a method for synthesizing these carbon nanotubes via VPI-5 zeolite templated, transition metal catalyzed pyrolysis. Using a membrane composed of these CNTs, it is possible to get water molecules to flow single file at a high flow rate, and to orient them in such a way that would maximize their ability to be catalyzed. Additionally, using the ability to plate a monolayer of precious metal catalyst molecules around the exit to the membrane, catalyst efficiency can be maximized by making every catalyst atom come into contact with a substrate molecule. In this work, we also demonstrate the ability to plate a monolayer of precious metal catalyst atoms onto an insulating, mesoporous, support material. By combining these two chemical processes, it is possible to mimic the catalytic efficiency of natural enzyme systems.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uky.edu/oai:uknowledge.uky.edu:cme_etds-1035
Date01 January 2014
CreatorsLinck, Nicholas W
PublisherUKnowledge
Source SetsUniversity of Kentucky
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

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