In this dissertation, the primary objective is to discover more sustainable electrode materials and study new reaction mechanisms using aqueous electrolytes. The first study conducted reveals a reversible conversion reaction from copper to Cu2CO3(OH)2. The reaction mechanism uses OH- and CO32- as charge carriers at the cathode. The results open...
The concept of reducing laboratory operations into microfluidic devices has been an attractive area of research for several decades. Due to several advantages of porous-media microfluidic devices including low mass, portability, power-free fluid transport, and the ability to store dried reagents in the porous structures, these devices show great promise...
Metal-oxo clusters can be described as soluble pieces of metal-oxide frameworks. Metal-oxo clusters are also the building blocks for the Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers. A better knowledge of metal-oxo clusters helps fundamentally understand geosciences, molecular engineering, catalysis, single-molecule magnetism, and MOFs for synthesis, design, and modification of these...
In Dual-ion Batteries, anions as charge carriers might be a potential technique of energy storage. While fluoride anion has been selected as a promising charge carrier for energy storage due to its high charge/mass ratio and small ionic radius, carbonate anion has never been reported as a charge carrier for...
Metal-organic frameworks are promising novel materials for gas storage and separations because of their extremely high internal surface area and their modular structures based on metal nodes and organic linker molecules. Due to their modular design, it is possible to finely tune a structure for optimal storage of a specific...
Global interest in reducing carbon emissions by use of alternative energy sources makes nuclear energy production and the impacts of the nuclear energy cycle relevant. Studying the aqueous speciation of tetravalent metals commonly used for nuclear energy (uranium, thorium, plutonium) can inform us of general metal properties and their behavior...
The total kinetic energy (TKE) in the fast neutron induced fission of 237Np was measured for neutron energies from En = 2.6 – 45.7 MeV at the LANSCE- WNR facility. The postTKE release decreases non-linearly with increasing incident neutron energy and can be represented as TKE(MeV) = (169.365 ± 1.551)...
Uranyl peroxide clusters are the newest family of polyoxometalates, discovered in 2015. Although this family is new, over 70 topologies have been reported. However, we lack the fundamental understanding of assembly mechanisms, particularly the role of the alkali countercations. Here, we use a wide range of solution and solid-state characterization...
A present abundance of biomass and a decreasing supply of petroleum signal the need for efficient pathways from renewable feedstocks to high value chemicals. One such class of chemicals is oleofurans, molecules comprised of a furan ring and carbon chain which can be used to make powerful hard water surfactants....
Polyoxoniobates (PONbs) are attracting great attention in recent years due to its novelty as well as a variety of geometrical presentations in different pH conditions. In this paper we are reporting the reaction of tetramethyl-decaniobate ([(CH3)4N]6[Nb10O28]) with alkaline carbonates to observe the periodic trend of alkaline ions interacting with the...