US-Jordan Cooperative Research: Experimental and Modeling Studies of Surface Growth on TiO2 Particles

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH

Investigators

Abstract

0137689 Morrison Description: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Professor Philip Morrison, Department of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio and Dr. Lua'y Zeatoun, Department of Chemical Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Irbid, Jordan. In recent work at Case Western, a piston compression method was used to study high partial pressure kinetics of TiCl4 oxidation, and by analyzing the data a model was developed for predicting the fractional conversion of TiCl4. This work does not take into account heterogeneous reactions that will occur on the surfaces of the TiO2 particles as they nucleate. In this research the collaborating scientists plan to study the role of surface reactions in TiO2 formation by conducting experimental and modeling research. Dr. Morrison's team at Case Western will measure experimentally the surface reaction rate by seeding the reactive gas with TiO2 particles and performing compression experiments. Dr. Zeatoun's team at JUST will perform numerical simulations of the diffusion-reaction process occurring in both the gas phase and on the surface reactions. Scope: The two collaborators plan to combine their expertise in experimental work and in mathematical modeling in dealing with an interesting scientific problem. The PI has considerable experience and has access to extensive facility at Case Western. The Jordanian scientist has experience in modeling. This research should improve our understanding of the process of formation of TiO2b particles and should be especially useful in applications of nano-scale. The project meets INT criteria for support of cooperative projects that are mutually beneficial. Support for this project is provided by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems.