Nanodiamond-Supported Composite
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NANODIAMOND-SUPPORTED COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR CATALYSIS by Arthur Daniel Quast A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Chemistry The University of Utah August 2017 Copyright © Arthur Daniel Quast 2017 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Arthur Daniel Quast has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Jennifer S. Shumaker-Parry , Chair June 1, 2017 Date Approved Ilya Zharov , Member June 1, 2017 Date Approved John C. Conboy , Member June 1, 2017 Date Approved Janis Louie , Member June 1, 2017 Date Approved Sivaraman Guruswamy , Member June 1, 2017 Date Approved and by Cynthia J. Burrows , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Chemistry and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT Nanomaterials are the focus of intense research efforts in a variety of fields because of dramatic differences in properties when compared to the corresponding bulk materials. Catalysis is one material property that can become more pronounced at the nanoscale. By lowering energy requirements for chemical reactions, catalysts reduce production costs in diverse sectors of the economy, including medicine, transportation, environmental protection, oil and gas, food, and synthetic materials. Transition metals are an important class of catalysts capable of facilitating reduction and oxidation of molecular species. Since the discovery of transition metal catalysts nearly 200 years ago, certain metals were considered more active as catalysts (i.e., Pt, Pd, and Ru), while others (Au) appeared to have negligible catalytic activity as bulk materials. In recent years, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have become a fast-growing field of research owing to their unexpected catalytic properties not present in the bulk material. However, unsupported AuNPs are highly prone to flocculation and subsequent reduced catalytic activity. The choice of an appropriate aggregation-resistant stabilizing ligand for these nanoparticles is an important part of maintaining nanoscale catalytic properties. Additional stability is provided by anchoring AuNPs to support materials, allowing for dramatic improvements in catalyst lifetimes. This work discusses the development of novel diamond support materials for improving the stability of catalytically active AuNPs. Synthetic nanodiamond is a widely available, inexpensive, and robust material that has found applications in a wide range of commercial abrasives, lubricants, and composite materials. By exploiting the rich surface chemistry of nanodiamond, we have developed versatile catalyst support materials that offer unrivaled chemical and mechanical stability. Various nanodiamond surface modifications are readily prepared using a combination of chemical vapor deposition, photo-active polymer chemistry, and synthetic organic chemistry techniques. Control over the surface chemistry and properties of the resulting nanodiamond allow for increased stability of AuNPs via surface anchored thiol and amine moieties. The use of diamond as a support material should allow a wide variety of noble and nonprecious metal composite materials to be used as catalysts in harsh chemical environments not suitable for existing support materials. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... xi Chapters 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 1.1 Catalysis .............................................................................................................1 1.2 Heterogeneous Catalysis ....................................................................................1 1.3 Mechanisms: Langmuir-Hinshelwood vs. Eley-Rideal .....................................3 1.4 Catalytic Reduction of Nitroarenes ....................................................................4 1.5 Unusual Catalytic Activity of Gold Nanoparticles ............................................6 1.6 Supported vs. Unsupported Gold Nanoparticle Catalysts..................................8 1.7 Diamond Nanoparticles as Catalyst Support Materials .....................................9 1.8 Dissertation Outline .........................................................................................11 1.8.1 Exploiting Intrinsic Impurities of HPHT Diamond for Catalysis ...........11 1.8.2 Direct Modification of Nanodiamond Powders ......................................11 1.8.3 Thiol-Ene Polymer-Coated Nanodiamond-Supported NP Catalysts ......12 1.9 References ........................................................................................................17 2 EXPLOITING INTRINSIC IMPURITIES OF HPHT DIAMOND FOR CATALYSIS................................................................................................................21 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................21 2.2 Materials and Methods .....................................................................................23 2.2.1 Reagents ..................................................................................................23 2.2.2 UV-Vis Absorption Analysis ..................................................................24 2.2.3 Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) Analysis ...............................................25 2.2.4 Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP- OES) ...........................................................................................................25 2.2.5 Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) ............................................25 2.3 Results and Discussion ....................................................................................26 2.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................................30 2.5 References ........................................................................................................35 3 DIRECT FUNCTIONALIZATION OF DIAMOND NANOPOWDERS .....................38 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................38 3.2 Materials and Methods .....................................................................................40 3.2.1 Materials .................................................................................................40 3.2.2 Preparation of NH2-ND...........................................................................40 3.2.3 Preparation of Initiator-ND .....................................................................41 3.2.4 Preparation of HEMA-ND ......................................................................42 3.2.5 Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) ........................................................42 3.2.6 Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) ...................................................................................................42 3.2.7 Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA).......................................................43 3.2.8 X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) .............................................43 3.2.9 Zeta Potential ..........................................................................................43 3.3 Results and Discussion ....................................................................................43 3.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................................49 3.5 References ........................................................................................................58 4 ROBUST POLYMER-COATED NANODIAMOND SUPPORTS FOR NOBLE METAL NANOPARTICLE CATALYSTS ................................................................61 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................61 4.2 Materials and Methods .....................................................................................62 4.2.1 Reagents ..................................................................................................62 4.2.2 Preparation of Polymer-Coated Diamond-Supported AuNPs ................63 4.2.3 UV Irradiation .........................................................................................64 4.2.4 PNP Reduction Conditions for Polymer/ND-Supported Materials ........64 4.2.5 Synthesis of TPP-AuNPs ........................................................................65 4.2.6 Preparation of Silica-Supported AuNPs .................................................65 4.2.7 Preparation of Bare Diamond-Supported AuNPs ...................................66 4.2.8 Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA).......................................................66 4.2.9 Fluorescent Tagging and Imaging ..........................................................66 4.2.10 X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy