PNNL

Abstract

Aluminum oxide nanofibers have been generated by an electrospinning process, creating fibers with diameters on the nanometer scale and aspect ratios greater than a thousand. These nanofibers have the potential of providing enhanced catalytic properties, due to their large surface area and controllable compositions. Solid-state NMR is being used to investigate both the bulk and surface properties of these materials. 27Al NMR has shown that no chemistry occurs during the electrospinning process, even though potentials in excess of 20 kV are applied to the sample. Thermal treatment of the fibers to convert them to alumina results in the formation of different phases, with the phases identified by the relative populations of 4-, 5-, and 6-coordinate alumina sites. Heating to 525°C or 1200°C produces a species similar to the catalytically active gamma-phase or conversion of the nanofibers into the thermodynamically stable ?-alumina phase, respectively. 1H-27Al CP/MAS has shown that the ?-alumina phase has a low population of surface hydroxyls, whereas the “gamma-alumina” form has a much higher fraction of 5-coordinate sites, compared to materials synthesized by traditional techniques. Organophosphates are being used as molecular probes in the characterization of the nanofiber surfaces. 31P CP/MAS data has revealed the presence of mono-, bi- and tri-denate bound phosphate groups on the surface, with the onset of surface alumina dissolution with sample heating. The application of 1H-31P HETCOR shows that the three different types of bound organophosphates are intermixed, rather than there being separate domains for each type. 31P-27Al CP is also being used to distinguish the types of surface alumina sites bound to the phosphate species.