Modulation of Zirconium Hydroxide Defect Chemistry via Functionalized Polymers
Abstract
The reactivity of metal (hydr)oxides such as zirconium hydroxide (ZH) strongly depends on poorly-understood defect sites. The amorphous nature of ZH results in a highly defective crystal structure that has wide-ranging defect sites with differing stability and reactivity. Very little is known regarding how to control or modulate these defect sites, which has implications for a myriad of applications, including: catalysis, composite reactive materials, and energy storage. This work seeks to understand how variations in the electrical properties of acrylate-based polymers may modulate the surface defect speciation and reactivity (acidity/basicity) of ZH nanopowders within polymer matrixes. Simply combining the ZH nanopowder and polymer monomers enables the robust formation of polymer networks with minimal synthetic deviations. This platform facilitates the study of surface modified defect sites as a function of polymer moiety that can be extended to other systems such as metal organic frameworks, polyoxometallates, and other metal (hydr)oxides. These composite polymer matrixes are structurally and compositionally analyzed for surface defect speciation, modification of incorporated ZH surface acidity/basicity, and reactivity using existing in-house instrumentation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 21, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1092856
Entities
People
- Robert B Balow
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory