Date of Graduation

Spring 5-26-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Chemistry

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Chemistry

First Advisor

Giovanni Meloni

Second Advisor

Ryan M. West

Third Advisor

Janet Yang

Abstract

This thesis has studied the oxidation behavior of different biofuels or additives, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-methylfuran, in combustion experiments at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline held at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. The oxidation of these fuels were initiated through O(3P) and the combustion experiments were analyzed using a multiplexed chemical kinetics photoionization mass spectrometer with tunable synchrotron radiation. Products of the different reactions were identified using kinetic profiles and further characterized using the photoionization spectra. The amount of each species was calculated using branching fractions.

Additionally, the unimolecular dissociation of the xylyl bromide isomers was studied using imaging and double imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy to obtain accurate thermochemical data. These experiments were conducted using the Swiss Light Source held at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland.

The importance of biofuels, fuel additives, and aromatic hydrocarbons is discussed in detail in Chapter 1 of this thesis. Further, the specific experimental components of the beamlines used at the ALS and the SLS are thoroughly explained in Chapter 2. The theory behind the experiments and the computational methods to analyze the substantial experimental findings from both experimental apparatuses are explained in Chapter 3. The two combustion systems, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-methylfuran with O(3P) are presented in Chapter 4 and 5. Lastly, the photodissociation dynamics of the xylyl bromide isomers is presented in Chapter 6, where a specific program, miniPEPICO, is used to determine the accurate appearance energy of the daughter ion and to calculate thermochemical data.

Comments

This thesis has studied the oxidation behavior of different biofuels or additives, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-methylfuran, in combustion experiments at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline held at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. The oxidation of these fuels were initiated through O(3P) and the combustion experiments were analyzed using a multiplexed chemical kinetics photoionization mass spectrometer with tunable synchrotron radiation. Products of the different reactions were identified using kinetic profiles and further characterized using the photoionization spectra. The amount of each species was calculated using branching fractions.

Additionally, the unimolecular dissociation of the xylyl bromide isomers was studied using imaging and double imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy to obtain accurate thermochemical data. These experiments were conducted using the Swiss Light Source held at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland.

The importance of biofuels, fuel additives, and aromatic hydrocarbons is discussed in detail in Chapter 1 of this thesis. Further, the specific experimental components of the beamlines used at the ALS and the SLS are thoroughly explained in Chapter 2. The theory behind the experiments and the computational methods to analyze the substantial experimental findings from both experimental apparatuses are explained in Chapter 3. The two combustion systems, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-methylfuran with O(3P) are presented in Chapter 4 and 5. Lastly, the photodissociation dynamics of the xylyl bromide isomers is presented in Chapter 6, where a specific program, miniPEPICO, is used to determine the accurate appearance energy of the daughter ion and to calculate thermochemical data.

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