Exploration of catalysis activation emergency as a function of gold nanoparticle surface morphology
Name
259121530-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
6.24 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
18711c730ba4268dcee2790b47b78e86
Author(s)
Stefanescu, Cristina F
Advisor(s)
Francesco Stellacci.
Date Issued
2008
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The application of rippled gold nanoparticles with bi-ligand surface morphology as a catalyst was tested. The hydrolysis of 2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate (DNPA) served as the catalytic reaction being analyzed and the bi-ligand composition used was 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid to imidazole thiol (MHA to IT). The influence of temperature on catalytic reaction of DNPA with the MHA: IT system was tested for ligand rations of 2:1, 1:2, and 1:1 by monitoring the catalytic system on a UV-VIS spectrometer. Catalytic rate constants were obtained and found to increase with increased temperature. The measured catalytic rate constants were greatest overall for the 1:1 system, followed by the 1:2 system, and lastly the 2:1 system. The activation energy for each ligand-ratio system was measured and found to be 22.17 kJ/mol for the 2:1 system, 14.7 kJ/mol for the 1:2 system, and 26.52 for the 1:1 system. The 2:1 and 1:2 systems followed the trend of lower activation energy values for systems with faster rates; however the 1:1 system did not fit this trend as it resulted in the highest activation energy value as well as the fastest reaction rates.
Description
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 45).
Subjects
Materials Science and Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
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