Mechanism and modelling of aluminium nanoparticle oxidation coupled with crystallisation of amorphous Al2O3 shell

The oxidation of aluminium nanoparticles coupled with crystallisation of amorphous alumina shell is investigated through the thermogravimetric analyser and differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC) and the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The thermogravimetric (TG) curves show stepwise shapes with temperature increase and could be divided into four stages. The reaction at the second stage is complex, including the simultaneous crystallisation of amorphous alumina (am-Al₂O₃) and Al oxidation. The crystallisation of am-Al₂O₃ promotes the reaction through generating fast diffusion channels, like micro-cracks and grain boundaries in the oxide shell to accelerate the ionic diffusion. An enhancement factor (f_react), which follows a power-law formula with the crystallisation rate, is introduced to quantify the impact of crystallisation on reaction. With heating rate increase, the second stage of TG curves shifts to the high temperature regime and the total weight gain at the second stage decreases slowly. A crystallisation-reaction model is constructed to fit and predict the weight gain after derivation of diffusivities and crystallisation kinetics. Modelling indicates that with heating rate rise, the mass increment at the second stage of TG curves decreases owing to the reduced reaction time, although the reaction is accelerated. The shift of TG curve to higher temperature is due to the polymorphic phase transition. Actually the derived kinetics of the crystallisation of amorphous alumina indicates that the polymorphic phase transformation mechanism works mainly below the heating rate of 3 K s^–1. At higher heating rate, the melting of Al takes place firstly and the crystallisation of am-Al₂O₃ follows to enhance the ionic diffusion. Therefore, when the heating rate is fast during ignition or combustion, the Al nanoparticles undergo both the melting of Al and the polymorphic phase transition of am-Al₂O₃ to accelerate the reaction.     

Pressure effects on aluminium oxidation kinetics using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis

The effects of water vapour pressure on oxidation kinetics of aluminium have been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and three-way parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). While the first technique is a powerful experimental tool for surface oxidation studies, the PARAFAC technique is a sophisticated analytical tool for analysing XPS data. The XPS Al(2p) and O(1s) core level have been used to follow the oxide film growth on clean surfaces at room temperature as a function of oxidation time (ranging from 1 to 60 min) and pressure of water vapour (ranging from 2.0×10⁻⁶ to 6.5×10⁻⁴ Pa). The growth of thin oxide films on aluminium surfaces has been found to follow the Cabrera–Mott inverse logarithmic law in all pressure ranges studied. The pressure effects have shown that the defect formation reaction at the oxide film/gas interface is the rate determining process in the aluminium oxidation. The pressure dependence of oxidation kinetics can be explained on the basis of metal vacancies in the defect structure of thin aluminium oxide films.     

Kinetic aspects of aluminium titanate layer formation on titanium alloys by plasma electrolytic oxidation

The paper reports on a systematic investigation into the effects of process parameters on the growth kinetics and associated changes in the structure, phase composition and mechanical properties of surface layers formed on Ti–6Al–4V alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) treatment in 0.05–0.2 mol l⁻¹ solutions of sodium aluminate. Methods of gravimetric, SEM and XRD analysis, as well as microhardness and scratch testing, are employed to investigate mass transfer and phase-structure transformations in the surface layer. The probable mechanisms of layer formation are discussed, which comprise electrochemical oxidation of the Ti-electrode by OH⁻ anions, complimented by chemical precipitation of Al(OH)₃ and plasma-induced transformations in the surface discharges. Running with a total yield efficiency of 20–30%, these processes lead to the formation of predominantly the Al₂TiO₅ phase with heterogeneous precipitation of Al₂TiO₅·TiO₂ and 3Al₂TiO₅·Al₂O₃ eutectics. Al- and Ti-enriched constituents of this structure show hardnesses of 1050–1480 and 300–845 H_K, 0.02, respectively. The layer growth rate increases with increasing electrolyte concentration, providing a maximum thickness of over 60 μm and a surface roughness (R_a) of 3–4 μm. Increasing the electrolyte pH from 12.0 to 12.8 results in smoothing and thickening of the surface layer but a lower sample weight gain, associated with an enhancement of the Ti electro-oxidation process. Morphological changes during PEO formation of the surface layer include gradual transformation of the original fine grained but porous structure into a dense, fused morphology which is adversely affected by discharge-induced thermal stresses, causing a degradation of the layer adhesion strength.     

Effect of polymorphic phase transformations in alumina layer on ignition of aluminium particles

The mechanism of aluminium oxidation is quantified and a simplified ignition model is developed. The model describes ignition of an aluminium particle inserted in a hot oxygenated gas environment: a scenario similar to the particle ignition in a reflected shock in a shock tube experiment. The model treats heterogeneous oxidation as an exothermic process leading to ignition. The ignition is assumed to occur when the particle's temperature exceeds the alumina melting point. The model analyses processes of simultaneous growth and phase transformations in the oxide scale. Kinetic parameters for both direct oxidative growth and phase transformations are determined from thermal analysis. Additional assumptions about oxidation rates are made to account for discontinuities produced in the oxide scale as a result of increase in its density caused by the polymorphic phase changes. The model predicts that particles of different sizes ignite at different environment temperatures. Generally, finer particles ignite at lower temperatures. The model consistently interprets a wide range of the previously published experimental data describing aluminium ignition.     

铜基MOF的CO氧化机理

利用第一原理密度泛函理论,研究了CO在铜基MOF(CuBTC)上氧化的反应机理.研究显示CO和O2弱吸附在轮形Cu2构筑单元铜的顶位上,并且电子从O2和CO转移到Cu,通过两个机理(Eley-Rideal机理和Langmuir-Hinshelwood机理)的研究,揭示了CO在CuBTC的氧化是准Langmuir-Hinshelwood机理,先在铜上吸附的CO和氧气先越过1.8eV的能垒形成OOCO的中间体,然后分解成CO2,同时有活性氧吸附在Cu位,活性氧与第二个CO反应生成CO2.总的来说,研究有助于理解CO在铜基MOFs的氧化.     

Catalytic soot oxidation in microscale experiments: Simulation of interactions between co-deposited graphitic nanoparticle agglomerates and platinum nanoparticles

Continuously regenerating catalytic soot traps are under development to reduce particulate emissions from diesel exhaust. A good understanding of the processes that take place during soot oxidation is needed to optimize diesel soot trap performance. To gain insight into these processes from the perspective of nanoparticle technology, the effects of catalyst particle size and the interparticle distance between soot and catalyst particles were measured. A model catalyst was prepared by depositing Pt nanoparticles on a SiO/SiO₂-coated transmission electron microscope (TEM) grid. A soot surrogate composed of graphitic nanoparticle agglomerates generated by laser ablation was deposited on the same surface. This system simulates, morphologically, catalytic soot traps used in practice. The reaction was carried out in a tubular flow reactor in which the gas phase simulated diesel exhaust gas, composed of a mixture of 10% O₂ and 1000 ppm NO with the remainder N₂. The progress of the carbon nanoparticle oxidation was monitored off-line by analysis of electron microscopy images of the agglomerates before and after reaction. This experimental method permitted the correlation of reaction rate with particle sizes and separation distances as well as catalyst surface area in the direct environs of the soot particles. The experimental results revealed no effect of Pt catalyst particle size in the range 7–31 nm on the rate of reaction. Also observed were a decrease in the rate of reaction with increasing distance between carbon agglomerates and catalyst particles and a linear dependence of the reaction rate on the fractional catalyst surface area coverage.     

Surface nature of nanoparticle zinc-titanium oxide aerogel catalysts

Nanoparticle zinc-titanium oxide materials were prepared by the aerogel approach. Their structure, surface state and reactivity were investigated. Zinc titanate powders formed at higher zinc loadings possessed a higher surface area and smaller particle size. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed a stronger electronic interaction between Zn and Ti atoms in the mixed oxide structure and showed the formation of oxygen vacancy due to zinc doping into titania or zinc titanate matrices. The 8-45 nm aerogel particles were evaluated as catalysts for methanol oxidation in an ambient flow reactor. Carbon dioxide was favorably produced on the oxides with anion defects. Titanium based oxides exhibited a high selectivity to dimethyl ether, so that a strong Lewis acidic character suggested for the catalysts was associated primarily with the Ti⁴⁺ center. Both methanol conversion and dimethyl ether formation rates increased with increasing the zinc content added to the oxide support. Results demonstrate that cubic zinc titanate phases produce new Lewis acid sites having also a higher reactivity and that the nature of the catalytic surface transforms from Lewis acidic to basic characters due to the presence of reactive oxygen vacancies.     

Oxidation study of silicon nanoparticle thin films on HOPG

Thin films of silicon nanoparticles (diameter 5-10 nm) were deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by low-pressure DC magnetron sputtering. The effect of different room-temperature oxidation techniques was investigated using XPS sputter-depth profiling. Both oxygen treatment during deposition (using an argon-oxygen mixture in the sputter gas) as well as post-deposition oxidation techniques (exposure to oxygen plasma beam, ambient air conditions) were studied. In all cases oxidation was found to involve the whole film down to the film/substrate interface, indicating a network of open pores. Depending on the type of oxidation between 15 and 25 at% of oxygen, mostly associated with low oxidation states of silicon, were detected in the interior of the film and attributed to oxidized surfaces of the individual silicon nanoparticles. The highest oxygen concentrations were found at the very film surface, reaching levels of 25-30% for films exposed to air or prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering. For the oxygen plasma-treated films even oxygen surface concentrations around 45% and fully oxidized silicon (i.e., SiO₂) were achieved. At the Si/HOPG interface formation of silicon carbide was observed due to intermixing induced by Ar-ion beam used for sputter-depth profiling.     

Comprehensive evolution mechanism of SOx formation during pyrite oxidation

Pyrite (FeS₂) oxidation during coal combustion is one of the main sources of harmful SO₂ emission from coal-fired power plants. Density functional theory (DFT) study was performed to uncover the evolution mechanism of SO_x formation during pyrite oxidation. The results show that chemisorption mechanism is responsible for O₂, SO₂ and SO₃ adsorption on FeS₂ surface. The presence of formed oxidation layer (Fe₂O₃) weakens the interaction between O₂ molecule and FeS₂ surface. The adsorbed O₂ molecule easily dissociates into active surface O atom for SO_x formation. The dissociation reaction of O₂ is activated by 77.38?kJ/mol, and exothermic by 138.46?kJ/mol. Compared to the further oxidation of SO₂ into SO₃, SO₂ prefers to desorb from FeS₂ surface. The dominant reaction pathway of SO₂ formation from the oxidation of the outermost FeS₂ surface layer is a three-step process: surface lattice S oxidation, SO₂ desorption and replenishment of S vacancy by activated surface O atom. The elementary reaction of surface lattice S oxidation has an activation energy barrier of 197.96?kJ/mol, and is identified as the rate-limiting step. SO₂ formation from the further oxidation of bulk FeS₂ layer is controlled by a four-step process: bulk lattice S migration, lattice S oxidation, SO₂ desorption and surface O atom deposition. Migration of lattice S from bulk position to the outermost surface shows a high activation energy barrier of 175.83?kJ/mol. The deposition process of surface O atom is a relatively easy step, and is activated by 21.05?kJ/mol.     

Forced bursting and transition mechanism in CO oxidation with three time scales

The mathematical model of CO oxidation with three time scales on platinum group metals is investigated, in which order gaps between the time scales related to external perturbation and the rates associated with different chemical reaction steps exist. Forced bursters, such as point-point type forced bursting and point-cycle type forced bursting, are presented. The bifurcation mechanism of forced bursting is novel, and the phenomenon where two different kinds of spiking states coexist in point-cycle type forced bursting has not been reported in previous work. A double-parameter bifurcation set of the fast subsystem is explored to reveal the transition mechanisms of different forced bursters with parameter variation.     

Effects of duty ratio at low frequency on growth mechanism of micro-plasma oxidation ceramic coatings on Ti alloy

The aim of this work is to study the effects of duty ratio on the growth mechanism of the ceramic coatings on Ti-6Al-4V alloy prepared by pulsed single-polar MPO at 50 Hz in NaAlO₂ solution. The phase composition of the coatings was studied by X-ray diffraction, and the morphology and the element distribution in the coating were examined through scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The thickness of the coatings was measured by eddy current coating thickness gauge. The corrosion resistance of the coated samples was examined by linear sweep voltammetry technique in 3.5% NaCl solution. The changes of the duty ratio (D) of the anode process led to the changes of the mode of the spark discharge during the pulsed single-polar MPO process, which further influenced the structure and the morphology of the ceramic coatings. The coatings prepared at D = 10% were composed of a large amount of Al₂TiO₅ and a little γ-Al₂O₃ while the coatings prepared at D = 45% were mainly composed of α-Al₂O₃ and γ-Al₂O₃. The coating thickness and the roughness were both increased with the increasing D due to the formation of Al₂O₃. The formation of Al₂TiO₅ resulted from the spark discharge due to the breakdown of the oxide film, while the formation of Al₂O₃ resulted from the spark discharge due to the breakdown of the vapor envelope. The ceramic coatings improved the corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. And the surface morphology and the coating thickness determined the corrosion resistance of the coated samples prepared at D = 45% was better than that of the coated samples prepared at D = 10%.     

Nb-Al合金高温氧化机理

通过自编软件建立了铝氧化膜与基体铌界面的原子集团模型,用递归法计算了合金的原子埋置能、原子结合能等电子参数,从电子层面分析铌合金高温氧化机理.研究表明:铝通过晶界扩散偏聚在合金表面,并与氧结合生成致密的Al2O3氧化膜,阻挡氧向铌基体扩散.晶界和稀土元素能提高氧化膜与基体间的原子结合能,增加其界面的结合强度,加强氧化膜与基体铌间的黏附性.因此,通过在合金中添加稀土元素或细化合金晶粒均能提高铌合金的抗高温氧化性能.     

Kinetics and mechanism for the oxidation of anilines by ClO2: a combined experimental and computational study

The oxidation of para‐substituted anilines (X–C₆H₄NH₂, X = –CH₃, –H, –Cl, –NO₂) with chlorine dioxide was studied as a means of eliminating these pollutants. The oxidation rate decreases from that for 4‐methylaniline to that for 4‐nitroanilinem in agreement with the Hammett plot; the oxidation kinetics is second order in aniline and first order in ClO₂, for which a possible mechanism is proposed. Liquid chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectrometry results show that benzoquinone is formed as the major intermediate in aniline/ClO₂ oxidation, and the reaction is pH‐dependent as the rate constant increases with increasing pH. To further support our proposed mechanism, Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations at both B3LYP/6‐311 + G(d,p) level with the polarizable continuum model with an integral equation formalism solvation model (i.e., with water) were carried out, showing that activation energy barriers predict the same reactivity trend as shown by the kinetics experiments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Initial oxidation of duplex stainless steel

Three different techniques were used to produce thin oxide layers on polished and sputter-cleaned duplex stainless-steel samples. These samples were exposed to 10⁻⁵ mbar of pure oxygen inside the vacuum chamber, exposed to ambient conditions for 24 h, and plasma oxidized. The oxide layers thus produced were analysed using XPS depth profiling in order to determine the oxide layers’ compositions with depth. We found that all the techniques produce oxide layers with different traces of metallic components and with the maximum concentration of chromium oxide shifted towards the oxide-layer-bulk-metal interface. A common characteristic of all the oxide layers investigated is a double-oxide stratification, with regions closer to the surface exhibiting higher concentrations of iron oxide and those more in-depth exhibiting higher concentrations of chromium oxide. A simple non-destructive Thickogram procedure was used to corroborate the thickness estimates for the thinnest oxide layers.     

Sensitivity of styrene oxidation reaction to the catalyst structure of silver nanoparticles

This study shows how different morphologies of silver nanoparticles affect the selective oxidation of styrene in the gas phase using oxygen as oxidant. Silver nanoparticles (nanowires and nanopolyhedra), prepared using the polyol process, were supported on α-Al₂O₃. For comparison, a conventional catalyst obtained by wet impregnation was also prepared. Phenylacetaldehyde (Phe) and styrene oxide (SO) were the main products for nanoparticles catalysts. The promotion effect on the catalytic activity of potassium and cesium on the silver nanowires catalysts was also studied. At 573 K, the styrene conversion and selectivity to styrene oxide with the silver nanowires catalyst were 57.6 and 42.5%, respectively. Silver nanopolyhedra catalyst showed 57.5% conversion and 30.8% selectivity to styrene oxide. The promotion by cesium played an important role in improving the epoxidation of styrene. The samples were structurally characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) were applied to characterize the oxygen species detected (O_β, O_γ) on the silver surface.     

Improved synthesis of aluminium nanoparticles using ultrasound assisted approach and subsequent dispersion studies in di-octyl adipate

The present work reports on an efficient and simple one pot synthetic approach for aluminium nanoflakes and nanoparticles based on the intensification using ultrasound and provides a comparison with the conventional approach to establish the cutting edge process benefits. In situ passivation of aluminium particles with oleic acid was used as the method of synthesis in both the conventional and ultrasound assisted approaches. The aluminium nanoflakes prepared using the ultrasound assisted approach were subsequently dispersed in di-octyl adipate (DOA) and it was demonstrated that a stable dispersion of aluminium nanoflakes into di-octyl adipate (DOA) is achieved. The morphology of the synthesized material was established using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and the obtained results confirmed the metal state and nano size range of the obtained aluminium nanoflakes and particles. The stability of the aluminium nanoflakes obtained using ultrasound assisted approach and nanoparticles using conventional approach were characterized using the zeta potential analysis and the obtained values were in the range of −50 to +50 mV and −100 to +30 mV respectively. The obtained samples from both the approaches were also characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size analysis (PSA) to establish the crystallite size and particle distribution. It was observed that the particle size of the aluminium nanoflakes obtained using ultrasound assisted approach was in the range of 7–11 nm whereas the size of aluminium nanoparticles obtained using conventional approach was much higher in the range of 1000–3000 nm. Overall it was demonstrated that the aluminium nanoflakes obtained using the ultrasound assisted approach showed excellent morphological characteristics and dispersion stability in DOA showing promise for the high energy applications.     

The influence of treatment duration on multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized by H2SO4/HNO3 oxidation

Variation in the nature of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) subjected to different degrees of oxidation was investigated. The microstructure was determined by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods, and the surface chemistry was evaluated in terms of the functional groups determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermal analysis-mass spectroscopy (TA-MS). In addition, TGA was used to indicate the thermal stability of the nanotubes. Results demonstrate that the graphitic structure of nanotubes oxidized with a mild mixture of H₂SO₄/HNO₃ was preserved. Decrease in the degree of crystallinity started with widening of the C(0 0 2) XRD diffraction peak, followed by this peak shifting towards lower angles. The oxygen content increased with increasing treatment time. A defect peak incorporated in deconvolution of XPS C1s spectra was helpful for detecting the generation of defect sites. The predominant surface functionalities of the nanotubes have been changed from basic to acidic groups after treatment for one day. The samples oxidized for two days had the most abundant surface -COOH and the highest oxidation resistance. The oxidation mechanism of MWCNTs in mild H₂SO₄/HNO₃ mixture was proposed, which was a successive and iterative process, including the initial attack on active sites, and next the hexagon electrophilic attack generating new defects and introducing more oxygen, and then the tubes becoming thinner and shorter.     

A study on the law of oxidation rate in GaAs-based VCSELs

In order to accurately control the oxidation aperture in high power vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), the selective oxidation process is studied with experiments. Selective oxidation experiments are carried out upon the simulate wafer of VCSELs at different temperature. Oxidation products are examined at different oxidation depths of oxidation layer and each component content is analyzed. The results of the experiments are analyzed with the kinetics of thermal diffusion. The analyzed results show that the concentration of oxidant is e exponentially declined with increasing depth of oxidation in high-power VCSELs. The oxidation depth stability and precision can be improved by lowering the oxidation temperature and prolonging the oxidation time.     

Heterogeneous reaction mechanism of elemental mercury oxidation by oxygen species over MnO2 catalyst

MnO₂-based catalysts have attracted great attention in the field of elemental mercury (Hg⁰) catalytic oxidation because of their superior catalytic performance and wide temperature window. Quantum chemistry calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) combined with periodic slab models were carried out to investigate the heterogeneous mechanism of Hg⁰ oxidation by oxygen species (gas-phase O₂, chemisorbed oxygen, and lattice oxygen) on MnO₂ surface. The results indicate that Hg⁰ and HgO are chemically adsorbed on MnO₂ surface with the adsorption energies of ?69.50 and ?226.48?kJ/mol, respectively. The adsorption of O₂ on MnO₂ surface belongs to chemisorption. O₂ can decompose on MnO₂ surface with an energy barrier of 97.46?kJ/mol to produce two atomic adsorbed oxygen. The perpendicular adsorbed O₂ and dissociative adsorbed O₂ are more favorable for Hg⁰ catalytic oxidation than lattice oxygen, and perpendicular adsorbed O₂ is the most active oxygen for Hg⁰ oxidation. The reaction pathway of Hg⁰ oxidation by perpendicular adsorbed O₂ includes three reaction steps: Hg⁰?→?Hg(ads)?→?HgO(ads)?→?HgO. The third step (HgO(ads)?→?HgO) is endothermic by 168.17?kJ/mol with an energy barrier of 179.48?kJ/mol, and it is the rate-limiting step of the whole Hg⁰ oxidation reaction.