Development and characterization of new materials for adsorption and catalysis applications

The development and application of pillared clay materials for adsorption and catalysis are dealt with in the first portion of this dissertation. Adsorption theory, including micropore size distribution model and isotherm prediction method, is the theme of the second portion.; Preparation and characterization of different metal oxide pillared clays have been performed first. Experimental results show that the physical and chemical properties of the material can be readily altered by controlling preparation conditions and methods.; The pore structure and surface properties of pillared clays have been further tailored through physical and chemical modification to achieve desired gas separation needs and to increase catalytic activity. Sorbent development is illustrated by CuCl monolayer dispersed TiO{dollar}{bsol}sb2{dollar}-PILC for olefin-paraffin separation, alkali cation exchanged pillared clays for air separation, and controlling pore size for CH{dollar}{bsol}sb4{dollar}/N{dollar}{bsol}sb2{dollar} separation. New catalyst is developed through impregnation of Fe{dollar}{bsol}rm{bsol}sb2O{bsol}sb3{dollar} and Cr{dollar}{bsol}rm{bsol}sb2O{bsol}sb3{dollar} on pillared clays for selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxides with ammonia for flue gas treatment.; With the rapid development of microporous material for gas separation, gas storage and high surface area catalysis applications, characterization of micropore size distribution has become increasingly important. Improvement on the widely used H-K micropore size distribution model has been made. Micropore size distribution obtained from the model reflects more accurately the stringent characteristic crystal structure of zeolites. Furthermore, the model has been extended to spherical geometry and shown to be particularly useful for characterization of zeolites containing spherical-shaped cavities where adsorption occurs.; The improved H-K equations are further applied to predict isotherms of the same adsorbate molecules at other temperatures, and to predict isotherms for other adsorbate molecules at the same temperature. Reasonable agreement is obtained between predictions and experimental data for gas-solid system that involves only dispersion forces.