U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Sensing Oxides

描述：该奖项旨在支持俄亥俄哥伦布市俄亥俄州立大学材料科学与工程系Hendrik Verweij博士与埃及开罗国家研究中心陶瓷系Emad El-Meliegy博士之间的合作研究项目。他们的目标是通过溶胶-凝胶法合成纳米晶气敏氧化物，特别是掺杂的钛氧化物。氧化物的形态和微观结构将得到控制，以适应其作为内燃机废气传感器的用途。敏感氧化物将被用来确定尾气中的空燃比或氧/未燃烧或部分燃烧的碳氢化合物比率，以提高汽车的效率。所合成的纳米晶敏感氧化物有望达到1-100 nm量级。它们的纯度高，无团聚，粒度分布窄到均匀，可以烧结成理想的致密体，具有均匀的三维结构。研究人员计划解决由于内燃机废气中的严重条件而出现的传统传感器中的问题，如化学稳定性、机械冲击和破裂。此外，还将解决纳米晶敏感氧化物合成过程中出现的成本高、产率低、缺乏形貌控制(颗粒大小、形状和尺寸分布)、纳米粉末纯度、粉末团聚和环境安全性等问题，以优化合成条件。在传感器结构中使用具有新特性的纳米晶敏感氧化物有望极大地提高传感器的稳定性、灵敏度和选择性等基本性能参数。这项研究将解决纳米晶传感氧化物合成的需要，以及对这些氧化物的形态、微观结构和化学成分进行进一步详细分析的必要性。范围和广泛的影响：该项目有望带来有助于汽车工业减少汽车空气污染排放的传感设备。预计将开发出更稳定、更便宜的空气和其他气体传感器，可用于类似的应用。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金计划的支持，该计划为两国的科学家和工程师提供资助，以开展这些合作活动。

0413961VerweijDescription: This award is to support a cooperative research project between Dr. Hendrik Verweij, Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio and Dr. Emad El-Meliegy, Department of Ceramics, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. They aim to synthesize nanocrystalline gas sensing oxide, particularly doped titanium oxides via sol-gel route. The morphology and microstructure of oxides will be controlled to suit their use as a sensor for internal combustion engine exhaust gases. The sensing oxides will be used to determine the air/fuel ratio or the oxygen/unburned or partially burned hydrocarbon ratio in the exhaust emissions in order to improve the automobile efficiency. The synthesized nanocrystalline sensing oxides are expected to be on the order of 1-100 nm. They are expected to be of high purity and agglomerate free with narrow to uniform particle size distribution and can be sintered to ideal compact with uniform three-dimensional structure. The investigators plan to address problems in traditional sensors that occur as a result of the severe conditions in the internal combustion engine exhaust gases, such as chemical stability, mechanical shock, and cracking. Also, the problems that arise during the synthesis of nanocrystalline sensing oxides, such as high costs, low yield, lack of morphology control (grain size, shape and size distribution), purity of nanopowders, powder agglomeration and environmental safety, will be addressed to optimize synthesis conditions. Essential sensor performance parameters such as stability, sensitivity, and selectivity are expected to be greatly improved by the use of the nanocrystalline sensing oxides with novel characteristics in sensors construction. This research will address the need for synthesis of nanocrystalline sensing oxides and the need for further detailed analysis of the morphology, microstructure and chemistry of these oxides.Scope and broad impact: The project is expected to lead to sensing devices that will help the automobile industry cut air pollution emissions from automobiles. It is expected that more stable and less expensive sensors for air and other gases will be developed which can be used for similar applications. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.