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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Tuning the Kinetic Water Stability and Adsorption Interactions of Mg-MOF-74 by Partial Substitution with Co or Ni

Varying amounts of Co and Ni were substituted into the metal–organic framework Mg-MOF-74 via a one-pot solvothermal reaction, and the effects of these substitutions on CO 2 adsorption and kinetic water stability properties were examined. Based on elemental analyses, Co and Ni are more favorably incorporated into the MOF-74 framework from solution than Mg. In addition, reaction temperature more strongly impacts the final metal composition in these mixed-metal (MM) MOF-74 structures than does the reaction solvent composition. Single-component CO 2 adsorption isotherms were measured for the MM-MOF-74 systems at 5, 25, and 45 °C, and isosteric heats of adsorption were calculated. These results suggest that CO 2 adsorption properties can be adjusted by partial metal substitution. Water adsorption isotherms were also measured for the MM-MOF-74 samples, with powder X-ray diffraction patterns and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas measured both before and after water exposure. Results show that Mg-MOF-74 can gain partial kinetic water stability by the incorporation of Ni 2+ or Co 2+ metal ions that are less vulnerable to hydrolysis than Mg 2+ . Finally, of particular note, Mg–Ni-MM-MOF-74 shows a significant increase in water stability when incorporating as little as 16 mol % Ni into the Mg-MOF-74 structure.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fundamental Understanding of the Interaction of Acid Gases with CeO 2 : From Surface Science to Practical Catalysis

Acid gases including CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x are ubiquitous in large-scale energy applications including heterogeneous catalysis. The adverse environmental and health effects of these acid gases have resulted in high interest in the research and development of technologies to remove or convert these acid gases. The main challenge for the development of these technologies is to develop catalysts that are highly efficient, stable, and cost-effective, and many catalysts have been reported in this regard. CeO 2 and CeO 2 -based catalysts have gained prominence in the removal and conversion of CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x because of their structural robustness and redox and acid–base properties. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the application of CeO 2 and CeO 2 -based catalysts for the removal of CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x gases with an emphasis on the fundamental understanding of the interactions of these acid gases with CeO 2 . The studies summarized in this review range from surface science using single crystals and thin films with precise crystallographic planes to practical catalysis applications of nanocrystalline and polycrystalline CeO 2 materials with defects and dopants. After an introduction to the properties of CeO 2 surfaces, their catalytic properties for conversions of different acid gases are reviewed and discussed. Lastly, we find that the surface atomic structure, oxygen vacancies, and surface acid–base properties of CeO 2 play vital roles in the surface chemistry and structure evolution during the interactions of acid gases with CeO 2 and CeO 2 -based catalysts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Properties of Cerium Hydroxides from Matrix Infrared Spectra and Electronic Structure Calculations

Reactions of laser ablated cerium atoms with hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen and oxygen mixtures diluted in argon and condensed at 4 K produced the Ce(OH) 3 and Ce(OH) 2 molecules and Ce(OH) 2 + cation as major products. Additional minor products were identified as the Ce(OH) 4 , HCeO, and OCeOH molecules. These new species were identified from their matrix infrared spectra with D 2 O 2 , D 2 , and 18 O 2 isotopic substitution and correlating observed frequencies with values calculated by density functional theory. We find that the amounts of Ce(OH) 3 and of the Ce(OH) 2 + cation increase on UV ($λ$ > 220 nm) photolysis, while Ce(OH) 2 , Ce(OH) 4 , and HCeO are photosensitive. The observed major species for Ce are in the +III or +II oxidation state, and the minor product, Ce(OH) 4 , is in the +IV oxidation state. The calculations for the vibrational frequencies with the B3LYP functional agree well with the experiment. The NBO analysis shows significant backbonding to the metal 4f and 5d orbitals for the closed shell species. Most open shell species have the excess spin in the 4f with paired spin in the 5d due to backbonding. The heats of formation of the observed species were derived from the available data from experiment and the calculated reaction energies. The major products in this study are different from similar reactions for Th where the tetrahydroxide was the major species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Segregation and Migration of the Oxygen Vacancies in the 3 (111) Tilt Grain Boundaries of Ceria

In nanocrystalline materials, defect-grain boundary (GB) interaction plays a key role in determining the structure stability, as well as size-dependent ionic, electronic, magnetic and chemical properties. In this study, we systematically investigated using density functional theory segregation and migration of oxygen vacancies at the Σ3 [110] / (111) grain boundary of ceria. Three oxygen layers near the GB are predicted to be segregation sites for oxygen vacancies. Moreover, the presence of oxygen vacancies stabilizes this tilt GB at a low Fermi level and/or oxygen poor conditions. An atomic strain model was proposed to rationalize layer dependency of the relaxation energy for +2 charged oxygen vacancy. The structural origin of large relaxation energies at layers 1 and 2 was determined to be free-volume space that induces ion relaxation towards the GB. Our results not only pave the way for improving the oxygen transport near GBs of ceria, but also provide important insights into engineering the GB structure for better ionic, magnetic and chemical properties of nanocrystalline ceria.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Investigation of Silica-Supported Vanadium Oxide Catalysts by High-Field 51 V Magic-Angle Spinning NMR

Supported V2O5/SiO2 catalysts were studied using solid state 51V MAS NMR at a sample spinning rate of 36 kHz and at a magnetic field of 19.975 T for a better understanding of the coordination of the vanadium oxide as a function of environmental conditions . Structural transformations of the supported vanadium oxide species between the catalyst in the dehydrated state and hydrated state under an ambient environment were revisited to examine the degree of oligomerization and the effect of water. The experimental results indicate the existence of a single dehydrated surface vanadium oxide species that resonates at -675 ppm and two vanadium oxide species under ambient conditions that resonate at -566 and -610 ppm, respectively. No detectable structural difference was found as a function of vanadium oxide loading on SiO2 (3% V2O5/SiO2 and 8% V2O5/SiO2). Quantum chemistry simulations of the 51V NMR chemical shifts on predicted surface structures were used as an aide in understanding potential surface vanadium oxide species on the silica support. The results suggest the formation of isolated surface VO4 units for the dehydrated catalysts with the possibility of dimer and cyclic trimer presence. The absence of bridging V-O-V vibrations (~200-300 cm-1) in the Raman spectra [Gao et al. J. Phys. Chem. B 1998, 102, 10842-10852], however, indicates that the isolated surface VO4 sites are the dominant dehydrated surface vanadia species on silica. Upon exposure to water, hydrolysis of the bridging V-O-Si bonds is most likely responsible for the decreased electron shielding experienced by vanadium. No indicators for the presence of hydrated decavanadate clusters or hydrated vanadia gels previously proposed in the literature were detected in this study.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2018

Structure and Vibrational Properties of Potassium-Promoted Tungsten Oxide Catalyst Monomeric Sites Supported on Alumina (K 2 O/WO 3 /Al 2 O 3 ) Characterized Using Periodic Density Functional Theory

Al 2 O 3 -supported tungsten oxide catalysts have been instrumental in many industrially relevant reactions and their reactivity is controlled by their molecular structure. In turn, their molecular structure has primarily been derived via Raman measurements with assignments made using model compounds of known local (molecular) coordination. Here, the structure and simulated Raman spectra of unpromoted and K + -promoted tungsten oxide catalyst monomeric sites supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 (110) (K 2 O/WO x /γ-Al 2 O 3 (110)) were studied using periodic DFT methods. Two different WO x -grafted monomers on the γ-Al 2 O 3 (110) surface were identified with a total energy difference of 0.17 eV between both structures. Importantly, both structures showed the presence of W═O and W–OH moieties, thus providing additional insights into experimental Raman data, which typically describe only W═O moieties. The grafted WO 3 species were stabilized when the present W–OH groups were oriented toward the alumina surface leading to the formation of H-bonds, calculated at 1039 cm –1 , for example in the vicinity of the W═O vibrations. The W═O bond length was altered in the presence of K + , as shown experimentally and theoretically in blue shifting of the Raman band corresponding to W═O. The W vibrations were well localized in the calculated spectra, and little shifts were observed upon the different WO x molecular geometry, explaining why a single Raman peak is mostly observed experimentally. The acidity of the lowest energy catalyst structures was investigated by simulated NH 3 adsorption vibrational frequency and binding energy calculations. Results suggested that NH 3 prefers to bind in a Lewis-like structure with no proton donation from either W–OH or Al–OH moiety. This challenged some of the literature observations where Brønsted acid sites have been suggested to exist on near-monolayer coverage WO x species on γ-Al 2 O 3 prepared by calcining at moderate (400 °C) to high temperatures (700 °C). Finally, this work provided new insights into the molecular structure of WO x /γ-Al 2 O 3 and K 2 O/WO x /γ-Al 2 O 3 catalysts not immediately available from experimental measurements alone.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Stability of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks in NO 2

The use of nanoporous zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) in separation processes is promising, but the presence of acid gases such as SO x or NO x in process streams can have detrimental results. Although we have recently developed a mechanistic picture of SO x –ZIF interactions, here we describe the remarkably different effects of NO 2 on ZIFs. ZIFs with a representative range of SO x stabilities are all unstable—as defined by loss of crystallinity and porosity—in dry and humid NO 2 , whereas most ZIFs are stable in dry SO x and some even in humid SO x . A detailed mechanism is developed based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. H-abstraction by free radical NO 2 and subsequent acidic species formation are the major degradation pathways, while adsorbed HNO 3 formation in humid conditions is an additional pathway in hydrophilic ZIFs. These findings strongly suggest that new strategies to stabilize ZIFs/metal–organic frameworks toward NO 2 attack are required.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Insights into Azetidine Polymerization for the Preparation of Poly(propylenimine)-Based CO 2 Adsorbents

The cationic ring-opening polymerization of azetidine to form branched poly(propylenimine) (PPI) is investigated for the purpose of evaluating the utility of PPI/silica composite adsorbents for CO 2 capture. The polymerization kinetics and primary:secondary:tertiary amine distribution are monitored with 1H NMR during reaction with varied synthesis conditions (i.e., reaction time 20–150 h), temperature (343–353 K), and monomer to acid initiator (here, HClO 4 ) ratio. It is found that primary amines are converted to tertiary amines with increased polymerization time, while the addition of monomer over the first 6 h of polymerization increases the primary amine content. This suggests a mechanism where the monomer is rapidly consumed, leaving dimers or small oligomers that still contain rings as key reaction centers. The synthesized polymer is neutralized with either NH 4 OH or a basic resin and impregnated into mesoporous silica (SBA-15). The CO 2 capture properties of these composite adsorbents are investigated, giving information about the effectiveness of the acid neutralization processes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Anderson Localization of Thermal Phonons Leads to a Thermal Conductivity Maximum

Our elastic model of ErAs disordered GaAs/AlAs superlattices exhibits a local thermal conductivity maximum as a function of length due to exponentially suppressed Anderson-localized phonons. By analyzing the sample-to-sample fluctuations in the dimensionless conductance, g, the transition from diffusive to localized transport is identified as the crossover from the multichannel to single-channel transport regime g ≈ 1. Single parameter scaling is shown to hold in this crossover regime through the universality of the probability distribution of g that is independent of system size and disorder strength.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Synergy between Ceria Oxygen Vacancies and Cu Nanoparticles Facilitates the Catalytic Conversion of CO 2 to CO under Mild Conditions

The performance of supported metal catalysts can depend on many factors, including metal particle size and dispersion and metal–support interactions, and differentiation of these effects is challenging because of their interwoven relationship. Copper/ceria catalysts are well-known redox catalysts studied in the conversion of CO and CO 2 via oxidation and/or reduction pathways. The redox behaviors of each species, Cu-CuO and CeO x -CeO 2 , are often suggested to be interlinked, allowing ceria-supported copper domains to outperform copper species on other, nonredox active supports. In this work, the catalytic activity of nanosized Cu supported on either cerium oxide or mesoporous silica is explored using samples where the Cu weight loading, particle size, and dispersion of Cu are held constant to highlight the impact of the two supports on catalytic performance without additional influencing factors. The Cu/CeO 2 catalysts are synthesized via a space-confined method to limit the growth of CeO 2 particles and to achieve a high dispersion of Cu. Through in situ XRD and XAS, it is shown that the presence of Cu nanoparticles on the CeO 2 support lowers the reduction temperature of CeO 2 , allowing formation of oxygen vacancies at low temperatures <300 °C. The Cu/CeO x catalyst demonstrates 100% CO selectivity in the low temperature (300 °C) and ambient pressure conversion of CO 2 to CO, even when approaching equilibrium conversion. Moreover, this catalyst is approximately 4 times more active than the corresponding Cu/SiO 2 catalyst with otherwise similar structural attributes. The potential reaction pathways are probed by in situ FTIR and in situ XAS at various temperatures, identifying Cu + -CO species and oxygen vacancies forming under some conditions. The collected experimental evidence also suggests a reaction sequence for CO 2 hydrogenation over Cu/CeO x catalysts, consistent with DFT reports in the literature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of Different Acid Initiators on Branched Poly(propylenimine) Synthesis and CO 2 Sorption Performance

Branched poly(propylenimine) (PPI) provides an alternative to the prototypical amine polymer, commercially available branched poly(ethylenimine) (PEI), in composite adsorbents for CO 2 capture. Herein, we investigate the synthesis of PPI via cationic ring opening polymerization of azetidine using various acid initiators (HBr, HClO 4 , HCl, CH 3 SO 3 H) and polymerization times, impacting the molecular weight and CO 2 sorption behavior. The polymerization kinetics and the amine distribution (i.e., primary:secondary:tertiary ratios) are monitored with 1 H NMR during polymerization, and a basic ion-exchange resin is used to neutralize charged amine centers and to remove unreacted acid. The polymers are impregnated into the model porous oxide support, mesoporous silica SBA-15, and the CO 2 capacities under both simulated ambient air and flue gas conditions are elucidated. In parallel, the oxidative stability of the PPI-based sorbents is assessed and compared with the prototypical PEI sorbents. Sorbents with 30 wt % polymers synthesized using HBr and HClO 4 exhibit higher CO 2 capacities than those made with HCl or CH 3 SO 3 H. Sorbents from HBr polymers only lost 24% of their CO 2 capacity after 12 h of oxidation in air at 383 K. Even trace amounts of residual ClO 4 – anions in HClO 4 initiated polymers, though, accelerated oxidation (decreased CO 2 capacity by 64%). In conclusion, extended resin treatments were needed to leave undetectable Cl content in these polymers, which resulted in sorbents that are much more oxidatively stable.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Study of the Thermoelectric Properties of Lead Selenide Doped with Boron, Gallium, Indium, or Thallium

Group IIIA elements (B, Ga, In, and Tl) have been doped into PbSe for enhancement of thermoelectric properties. The electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity were systematically studied. Room-temperature Hall measurements showed an effective increase in the electron concentration upon both Ga and In doping and the hole concentration upon Tl doping to 7 × 10{sup 19} cm{sup –3}. No resonant doping phenomenon was observed when PbSe was doped with B, Ga, or In. The highest room-temperature power factor 2.5 × 10{sup –3} W m{sup –1} K{sup –2} was obtained for PbSe doped with 2 atom % B. However, the power factor in B-doped samples decreased with increasing temperature, opposite to the trend for the other dopants. A figure of merit (ZT) of 1.2 at 873 K was achieved in PbSe doped with 0.5 atom % Ga or In. With Tl doping, modification of the band structure around the Fermi level helped to increase the Seebeck coefficient, and the lattice thermal conductivity decreased, probably as a result of effective phonon scattering by both the heavy Tl{sup 3+} ions and the increased grain boundary density after ball milling. The highest p-type ZT value was 1.0 at 723 K.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

The “Missing” Bicarbonate in CO 2 Chemisorption Reactions on Solid Amine Sorbents

We have identified a hydrated bicarbonate formed by chemisorption of 13 CO 2 on both dimethylaminopropylsilane (DMAPS) and aminopropylsilane (APS) pendant molecules grafted on SBA-15 mesoporous silica. The most commonly used sequence in solid-state NMR, 13 C CPMAS, failed to detect bicarbonate in these solid amine sorbent samples; here, we have employed a Bloch decay (“pulse-acquire”) sequence (with 1 H decoupling) to detect such species. The water that is present contributes to the dynamic motion of the bicarbonate product, thwarting CPMAS but enabling direct 13 C detection by shortening the spin–lattice relaxation time. Since solid-state NMR plays a major role in characterizing chemisorption reactions, these new insights that allow for the routine detection of previously elusive bicarbonate species (which are also challenging to observe in IR spectroscopy) represent an important advance. We note that employing this straightforward NMR technique can reveal the presence of bicarbonate that has often otherwise been overlooked, as demonstrated in APS, that has been thought to only contain adsorbed CO 2 as carbamate and carbamic acid species. As in other systems (e.g., proteins), dynamic species that sample multiple environments tend to broaden as their motion is frozen out. In this paper, we show two distinct bicarbonate species upon freezing, and coupling to different protons is shown through preliminary 13 C– 1 H HETCOR measurements. This work demonstrates that bicarbonates have likely been formed in the presence of water but have gone unobserved by NMR due to the nature of the experiments most routinely employed, a perspective that will transform the way the sorption community will view CO 2 capture by amines.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗