Waste incineration and fuel oil burning produce fly ash, that contains trace amounts of metal oxide nanoparticles, such as nickel oxide (NiO) and copper oxide (CuO). Here NiO and CuO nanoparticles and NiO-CuO bimetallic nanoparticles are prepared on Cab-O-Sil (silica) surfaces as mimics of combustion-generated metal oxide nanoparticles in fly ash. The supported metal oxide nanoparticles are synthesized by impregnating silica with methanolic solutions of metal ion-dendrimer complexes with their subsequent calcination at 500 �C for 5 hours. Nanoparticles less than 5 nm in diameter are observed using transmission electron microscopy. The composition of individual bimetallic nanoparticles is determined using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy using Cliff-Lorimer factors. Bimetallic nanoparticles with different Ni:Cu weight% are observed when the Ni:Cu ratio was varied in the metal-dendrimer complexes. We report on the use of these nanoparticle surrogates as potential catalysts for the pyrolytic formation of dioxins from 1,2-dichlorobenzene.

Properties of NiO, CuO and NiO-CuO bimetallic nanoparticles as surrogates for combustion-generated nanoparticles

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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