Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Chemistry

Major Professor

John Z. Larese

Committee Members

Ziling Xue, Robert J. Hinde

Abstract

A MATLAB program was written to calculate the hindered rotational energies of the hydrogen and deuterium molecules interacting with an anisotropic potential, which may be thought of as a potential energy surface of a metal oxide substrate. It was found that an increase in the hindering potential of the rotation about the azimuthal angle lifted the degeneracy of the j = 1,mj [magnetic quantum number] = plus or minus 1 states. A better understanding of how the rotational states of these systems change as a function of the hindering potential can help to explain features in rotational inelastic neutron scattering spectra of hydrogen on ZnO. An attempt to produce single morphology zinc and magnesium oxide nanoparticles using a patented method by Larese and Kunnmann is discussed. The synthesis of magnesium oxide consistently produced single morphology MgO nanocubes. Zinc oxide synthesis produced a mixture of morphologies consisting of tetrapods, kites, and hexagonal pillars. The contents of the production cell w re modified using a 50/50 graphite powder to chip ratio to decrease the diffusion rate of the metal vapor. Qualitative results suggest an increase in tetrapod concentration was realized via this modification.

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