Browsing by Author "Jones, Christopher Daniel"

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    Chemical control over ceramic porosity using carboxylate-alumoxanes
    (2005-08-30) Barron, Andrew R.; Bailey, Diane Amy; Wiesner, Mark Robert; Jones, Christopher Daniel; Callender, Rhonda Lynn; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    This invention relates generally to a method for controlling the pore size, pore size distribution and porosity of aluminum-oxide based ceramics through the choice of substituents on carboxylate-alumoxanes and aluminum-oxide nanoparticles. The method allows for the formation of intra-granular pores in the nanometer range to be created in alumina and aluminum oxide ceramic bodies. The control over pore size and pore size distribution is accomplished through the use of different chemical substituents on the carboxylate-alumoxanes and aluminum-oxide nanoparticles. The size and distribution of pores within the alumina-oxide ceramic are dependent on the identity of the carboxylate substituents. In particular the formation of intra-versus inter-granular porosity is dependent on the identity of the carboxylate substituents. The invention also provides methods for the manufacture of ceramic coatings on ceramic and carbon fibers for composite applications and ceramic membranes with nanometer sized pores. The pore size, pore size distribution and porosity, and hence the strength, permeability and surface adhesion, of the ceramic coating is controlled by the choice of substituent on the carboxylate-alumoxane. Thermolysis of self supporting spun layers of the carboxylate-alumoxanes results in disks of alumina with controlled pore size, pore size distribution and porosity. In an alternative method a porous substrate is dipped or coated with a solution of the carboxylate-alumoxane, followed by thermolysis to produce a composite membrane.
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    Controlled ceramic porosity and membrane fabrication via alumoxane nanoparticles
    (2000) Jones, Christopher Daniel; Barron, Andrew R.
    Carboxylate-alumoxanes, [Al(O)x(OH)y(O2CR) z]n, are organic substituted alumina nano-particles synthesized from boehmite in aqueous solution which are an inexpensive and environmentally-benign precursor for the fabrication of aluminum based ceramic bodies. The carboxylate-ligand on the alumoxane determines the morphology and the porosity of the derived alumina. Investigations of A-, MA-, MEA-, and MEEA-alumoxanes, were undertaken to determine the effects of these organic peripheries on the properties of the alumina at different sintering temperatures including the morphology, surface area, pore volume, pore size, pore size distribution, and crystal phase. The effects of physically or chemically mixing different carboxylate-alumoxanes were also investigated. The alumina derived from the thermolysis of the carboxylate-alumoxanes exhibits small pore diameters and narrow pore size distributions that are desirable for use in ceramic ultrafiltration membranes. In addition, it is possible to form alumina membranes with a range of pore sizes and porosity by changing the organic periphery. This lead to investigating the ability to produce asymmetric alumina filters with characteristics that at the lower end of the ultrafiltration range. The flux, permeability, molecular weight cut-off, roughness, and wettability of the asymmetric alumina membranes derived from carboxylate-alumoxanes are determined. Comparisons of these filters are made with commercially available filters. The ability to dope carboxylate-alumoxanes via a transmetallation reaction followed by thermolysis has previously shown to result in catalytically active alumina based materials. This lead to investigations into forming catalytically active membranes. Dip-coating aqueous solutions of the doped carboxylate-alumoxanes onto porous alumina supports, followed by thermolysis, resulted in the formation of doped-alumina asymmetric filters. In addition, a novel method to form surface-modified carboxylate-alumoxanes and their application as catalytic materials was determined.