Exchange interference for a range of partially deuterated hydrocarbons using a GC-EI-MSD.

Industrial catalyst processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, produce a vast array of products from syngas (H2 /CO), such as jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, synthetic rubbers, monomers for plastics industries, and other oil/wax materials for specific purposes such as cosmetics. Multitudes of publications since the discovery of the FT process in 1925 have been composed, attempting to elucidate the mechanism. Many of these publications attempt to investigate the mechanism of FT by the utilization of specific deuterium experimentation through the switching of the syngas from H2 /CO to D2 /CO. Results from this switching indicated that hydrogen was involved in the rate-limited step; the overall process conversion produced an inverse kinetic isotope effect. To confirm that results were not hindered by the physical switch of the hydrogen isotopes, further experimentation was performed using equal molar of each isotope competitively (equal molar H2 /D2 )/CO. Complications arose from this competitive work as it generated fully exchanged products, i.e. all partially deuterated hydrocarbons that could not be separated by chromatography. These compounds could no longer be separated by the chromatography and required a further separation by mass. The overall scope for this work was to determine if a range of partially deuterated paraffin compounds, generated by FT, can be analyzed using an EI-MSD without interinstrumental H/D exchange. Results indicate that no real exchange occurs in the EI MSD for a carbon range from about C6 to C16 . Even though the materials cannot be separated chromatographically, they can be further separated and analyzed to determine the overall H/D content for these specific chain lengths.

From Dose to Response: In Vivo Nanoparticle Processing and Potential Toxicity.

Adverse human health impacts due to occupational and environmental exposures to manufactured nanoparticles are of concern and pose a potential threat to the continued industrial use and integration of nanomaterials into commercial products. This chapter addresses the inter-relationship between dose and response and will elucidate on how the dynamic chemical and physical transformation and breakdown of the nanoparticles at the cellular and subcellular levels can lead to the in vivo formation of new reaction products. The dose-response relationship is complicated by the continuous physicochemical transformations in the nanoparticles induced by the dynamics of the biological system, where dose, bio-processing, and response are related in a non-linear manner. Nanoscale alterations are monitored using high-resolution imaging combined with in situ elemental analysis and emphasis is placed on the importance of the precision of characterization. The result is an in-depth understanding of the starting particles, the particle transformation in a biological environment, and the physiological response.

In Vivo Processing of Ceria Nanoparticles inside Liver: Impact on Free-Radical Scavenging Activity and Oxidative Stress.

The cytotoxicity of ceria ultimately lies in its electronic structure, which is defined by the crystal structure, composition, and size. Despite previous studies focused on ceria uptake, distribution, biopersistance, and cellular effects, little is known about its chemical and structural stability and solubility once sequestered inside the liver. Mechanisms will be presented that elucidate the in vivo transformation in the liver. In vivo processed ceria reveals a particle-size effect towards the formation of ultrafines, which represent a second generation of ceria. A measurable change in the valence reduction of the second-generation ceria can be linked to an increased free-radical scavenging potential. The in vivo processing of the ceria nanoparticles in the liver occurs in temporal relation to the brain cellular and protein clearance responses that stem from the ceria uptake. This information is critical to establish a possible link between cellular processes and the observed in vivo transformation of ceria. The temporal linkage between the reversal of the pro-oxidant effect (brain) and ceria transformation (liver) suggests a cause-effect relationship.

Mixed-phase oxide catalyst based on Mn-mullite (Sm, Gd)Mn2O5 for NO oxidation in diesel exhaust.

Oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) for subsequent efficient reduction in selective catalytic reduction or lean NO(x) trap devices continues to be a challenge in diesel engines because of the low efficiency and high cost of the currently used platinum (Pt)-based catalysts. We show that mixed-phase oxide materials based on Mn-mullite (Sm, Gd)Mn(2)O(5) are an efficient substitute for the current commercial Pt-based catalysts. Under laboratory-simulated diesel exhaust conditions, this mixed-phase oxide material was superior to Pt in terms of cost, thermal durability, and catalytic activity for NO oxidation. This oxide material is active at temperatures as low as 120°C with conversion maxima of ~45% higher than that achieved with Pt. Density functional theory and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy provide insights into the NO-to-NO(2) reaction mechanism on catalytically active Mn-Mn sites via the intermediate nitrate species.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: study of the promotion of Pt on the reduction property of Co/Al2O3 catalysts by in situ EXAFS of Co K and Pt LIII edges and XPS.

The addition of platinum metal to cobalt/alumina-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalysts increases both the reduction rate and, consequently, the density of active cobalt sites. Platinum also lowers the temperature of the two-step conversion of cobalt oxide to cobalt metal observed in temperature programmed reduction (TPR) as Co3O4 to CoO and CoO to Co0. The interaction of the alumina support with cobalt oxide ultimately determines the active site density of the catalyst surface. This interaction can be controlled by varying the cobalt loading and dispersion, selecting supports with differing surface areas or pore sizes, or changing the noble metal promoter. However, the active site density is observed to depend primarily on the cluster size and extent of reduction, and there is a direct relationship between site density and FTS rate. In this work, in situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) at the LIII edge of Pt was used to show that isolated Pt atoms interact with supported cobalt clusters without forming observable Pt--Pt bonds. K-edge EXAFS was also used to verify that the cobalt cluster size increases slightly for those systems with Pt promotion. X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) was used to examine the remaining cobalt clusters after the first stage of TPR, and it revealed that the species were almost entirely cobalt (II) oxide. After the second stage of TPR to form cobalt metal, a residual oxide persists in the sample, and this oxide has been identified as cobalt (II) aluminate using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Sequential in situ reduction of promoted and unpromoted systems was also monitored through XPS, and Pt was seen to increase the extent of cobalt reduction by a factor of two.