Probing hydrogen-bonding in binary liquid mixtures with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy: a comparison of Debye and absorption analysis.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is used to explore hydrogen bonding structure and dynamics in binary liquid mixtures, spanning a range of protic-protic, protic-aprotic and aprotic-aprotic systems. A direct absorption coefficient analysis is compared against more complex Debye analysis and we observed good agreement of the two methods in determining the hydrogen bonding properties when at least one of the mixture components is protic. When both components are aprotic, we show that the trend in absorption coefficients match well with the theoretical trend in strength of hydrogen bond interactions predicted based on steric and electronic properties of the components.The authors would like to acknowledge funding provided by EPSRC Grant EP/G011397/1.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2015/CP/c4cp04477k#!divAbstract

A multi-technique approach to characterise acidic surface properties of microporous catalysts

Microporous catalysts belong to a class of materials that exhibit pore networks in the molecular dimension, that is, channel diameters less than 2 nm. The industrially most important microporous catalysts are zeolites, which are crystalline aluminosilicates and consist of interlinked alumina (AlO4) and silica (SiO4) tetrahedra forming pores and cavities of molecular dimensions. Zeolites can act as very strong solid acids and function as heterogeneous catalysts in various industrial processes used to obtain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). They are crucial for products with a significant market demand such as plastics used in bottles, packaging materials and household consumable goods as well as for coatings of pharmaceutical pills and detergents. Recently, zeolites have been found to have increased applications in aqueous and biphasic reactions that use reactants derived from biomass to arrive at petrochemical products. Thus, surface acidity in zeolites is crucial to understand to tune parameters such as activity and selectivity of zeolite catalysts to optimize product distributions. The objective of this dissertation was to validate the use of non-invasive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to characterise surface acidity in zeolites by benchmarking the NMR results to various more established zeolite characterisation techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Furthermore, the use of the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) to characterise internal and external acidity in zeolites was explored. IR and TPD techniques were used to assess important acidity parameters such as type, number, location and strength of acid sites of ZSM-5 zeolites with varying silica-alumina ratio (SAR = SiO2/Al2O3). The use of NMR relaxation time analysis of pyridine adsorbed in ZSM-5 was then explored as a model system to study surface acidity in microporous materials. Correlation with pyridine TPD results suggested that NMR relaxation time analysis probes the effective strength of pyridine adsorption sites, which varies with SAR. NMR relaxation time analysis was then further shown to be applicable to characterise non-acidic surface properties such as the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface character. Lastly, the NMR techniques developed at high magnetic field strength (300 MHz) were transferred to a portable, low-cost benchtop low-field (43 MHz) magnet and shown to be applicable for base probe molecules other than pyridine, that is, ammonia (NH3) as well as zeolite framework types other than ZSM-5, that is, chabazite (CHA)

Effect of Al content on the strength of terminal silanol species in ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts: a quantitative DRIFTS study without the use of molar extinction coefficients.

The strength of terminal hydroxyl Si-OH groups (silanols) in zeolites is important for many non-size-selective catalytic reactions occurring onto the external surface of the zeolite crystals and may often be responsible for catalyst deactivation, e.g., coke formation. A quantitative analysis of Si-OH strength and its link with the Al content, hence varying silica-to-alumina ratio (SAR = SiO2/Al2O3), has not been established yet. Various hypotheses have been proposed in the literature; nonetheless, the role of Al content in determining silanol strength remains still unclear and the object of speculation. In this work, we have systematically investigated the effect of the Al content on the strength of terminal silanol sites in ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts with varying SAR using Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) at variable temperatures without molar extinction coefficients. Two base probe molecules with different proton affinity values, pyridine and collidine, were used. To quantify the strength of terminal silanol sites the change of the terminal silanol peak in the OH stretching region, together with data on elemental analysis, was used. With this experimental protocol, unlike most IR studies, the use of molar extinction coefficients, often difficult to obtain, is not needed for quantification. The results reported here show for the first time that for ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts the fraction of occupied terminal silanol acid sites for both pyridine and collidine increases with increasing concentration of external Brønsted acid sites, hence establishing a clear link between the two types of acid sites. In summary, this work shows that the use of DRIFTS without molar extinction coefficients is able to quantitatively probe the strength of terminal silanol acid sites and establishes a link between the external Brønsted Al content and the strength of terminal silanol species in ZSM-5 zeolites with varying SAR at elevated temperatures

The ‘Ride’ Feeling during Running under Field Conditions—Objectified with a Single Inertial Measurement Unit

Foot rollover and the ‘ride’ feeling that occurs during heel–toe transition during running have been investigated mostly in laboratory settings due to the technical requirements of ‘golden standard’ measurement devices. Hence, the purpose of the current study was to investigate ‘ride’ and rollover with a heel cap-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU) when running under field conditions to get realistic results. Twenty athletes ran on a 1 km outdoor track with five different shoe conditions, only differing in their midsole bending stiffness. The peak angular velocity (PAV) in the sagittal plane of the shoe was analyzed. The subjective evaluation of the ‘ride’ perception during heel–toe transition was rated on a visual analogue scale. The results revealed that PAV and ‘ride’ varied for the different shoes. The regression analysis showed that PAV has a significant impact on the ‘ride’ rating (R2 = 0.952; p = 0.005). The shoe with a medium midsole bending stiffness had the lowest value for PAV (845.6 deg/s) and the best rating of perceived ‘ride’ on average. Our results show that IMU can be used as a low-cost method to investigate the heel–toe transition during field-running. In addition, we found that midsole bending stiffness influenced PAV and the subjective feeling of ‘ride’

Nuclear spin relaxation as a probe of zeolite acidity: a combined NMR and TPD investigation of pyridine in HZSM-5.

From PubMed via Jisc Publications RouterPublication status: aheadofprintThe relative surface affinities of pyridine within microporous HZSM-5 zeolites are explored using two-dimensional 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation time measurements. The dimensionless ratio of longitudinal-to-transverse nuclear spin relaxation times T1/T2 is shown to exhibit strong sensitivity to the silica/alumina ratio (SAR) of these zeolites, which is indicative of material acidity. This trend is interpreted in terms of increased pyridine surface affinity with decreasing SAR. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) analysis corroborates this observation, revealing a distinct increase in the heat of desorption associated with adsorbed pyridine as a function of decreasing SAR. A direct correlation between NMR and TPD data suggests NMR relaxation time analysis can be a valuable tool for the non-invasive characterisation of adsorption phenomena in microporous solids

Evolution of Microstructure and Hardness of the Nitrided Zone during Plasma Nitriding of High-Alloy Tool Steel

Plasma nitriding is widely used in various industrial applications to improve surface hardness and wear properties. Especially for tool steels, it is also used to improve the support and adhesion of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. The properties of the nitrided zone produced by plasma nitriding are influenced by the applied process parameter, in particular temperature and time. However, for high-alloy tool steels, a deeper understanding of the underlying diffusion processes of the nitrogen and the interaction with the existing microstructure, as well as the effects on the case depth is still lacking. Therefore, in this study, specimens of high-alloy tool steel X153CrMoV12 were plasma nitrided at varying temperatures (480 °C, 520 °C, 560 °C) and treatment times (2 h, 4 h, 16 h). The resulting nitrided zones were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy (OM and SEM), depth-dependent glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and hardness measurements to characterize their microstructure, chemical composition, and hardness depending on the process parameters. The distribution of carbides (M7C3), e.g., chromium carbides, affects the diffusion of the nitrogen and the layer growth. An increase of temperature and duration leads to an increased layer thickness. The composition of the compound layer is, e.g., influenced by the process parameters: ε nitrides (Fe2–3N) occurred preferentially at lower temperatures, while γ′ nitrides (Fe4N) appeared mostly at higher temperatures. In order to investigate the influence of the carbides of the high-alloy tool steel on the nitriding process, a new methodology was developed by means of finite element analysis (FE), which makes it possible to analyze this influence on the development of the nitrogen concentration profile. This methodology makes it possible for the first time to map the heterogeneous nitrogen evolution and distribution