Surfactant selection as a strategy for tailoring the structure and properties of UCT manganese oxides

B. Deljoo; T. Jafari; R. Miao; M.-P. Nieh; S.L. Suib; M. Aindow

Materials & Design (Oct 2019)

Surfactant selection as a strategy for tailoring the structure and properties of UCT manganese oxides

B. Deljoo,
T. Jafari,
R. Miao,
M.-P. Nieh,
S.L. Suib,
M. Aindow

Affiliations

B. Deljoo: Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
T. Jafari: Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
R. Miao: Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
M.-P. Nieh: Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
S.L. Suib: Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Dept. of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
M. Aindow: Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Corresponding author at: Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 180

Abstract

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Mesoporous manganese oxides were synthesized using the UCT inverse micelle templating method with four different Pluronic surfactants to investigate the effects on the morphology, microstructure and desulfurization behavior of these materials. All of the as-synthesized samples exhibited similar hierarchical microstructures, but the size and shape of the primary nanoparticles for each sample was different. The primary nanoparticle sizes for these samples vary between 2.3 and 7.0 nm. Most of the samples are crystalline and are composed of a mixture of Mn3O4 and Mn5O8 phases. The adsorption behavior of these samples was tested using a fixed bed reactor at a temperature of 200 °C. Microstructural analysis of the samples after the desulfurization tests revealed a transformation of the mesoporous manganese oxide to a dense manganese sulfide phase; this involves a volumetric expansion of the crystal, leading to densification and a rapid decay in the sorption capacity after the breakthrough point. The variation in the structure and properties of these materials is related to ratio of the PEO and PPO chain segment lengths in the Pluronic surfactants used. This indicates that the ratio must dictate the volume, shape and assembly of the inverse micelles in the UCT synthesis. Keywords: UCT, Mesoporous materials, Manganese oxide, Surfactant, Desulfurization

Published in Materials & Design

ISSN: 0264-1275 (Print); 1873-4197 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-and-design

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