Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe initial aims of the project were to study the heat capacity of polymeric electrolyte materials using adiabatic calorimetry and other techniques, in order to obtain more information about their structure and conduction. In addition, extended x-ray absorption fine structure (BXAFS) was to be used to probe the local structural changes that occur in cells of a copper ion conductor, cumoti (Copper> 4 methyl 1, 4 oxathianlumlodld) at different stages of discharge. A few studies were also made of films of the polymer electrolyte PEOnCala. There were two adiabatic calorimeters, one a single shield adiabatic calorimeter built by Hall^’’^ and the other a multishield adiabatic calorimeter built by Staveley. The single shield calorimeter was modified but a lengthy sequence of problems with both calorimeters led to their eventual abandonment before any results could be obtained from them. The EXAFS studies of the cumoti Cu K edge showed that the structure around copper changed from four iodides to three iodides and a sulphur, as the cumotl cells became discharged. The polymer electrolyte PEO4Cal2 Ca K edge result showed calcium surrounded by a first co-ordination shell of 10 oxygen atoms with no contribution from the iodide. The research was expanded to investigate the surface pressure vs area isotherms of monomolecular films at the air water Interface. The films studied were a ternary system consisting of heptadecanoic acid, hexadecanol and heptadecanenitrile on a subphase of 0. 01 mol dm3 HCl at 5, 15 and 25C. They were studied in order to investigate how the head groups Interact within the subphase. All the measurements were made on a Langmuir film balance in a class 100 clean room, The liquid compressed to solid transition pressure of the film was recorded against the mole fraction of the film. The interactions of the head groups is explained by Intermolecular forces and the orientation of the head groups in the surface.
Degree
thesis:*- Name dc:type.qualificationname
- PhD
- Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
- Doctoral
- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- De Montfort University
- Year dc:date.issued
- 1989
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Williams, Howard Mark