The adsorption and reaction properties of zirconium hydroxide [Zr(OH)<sub>4</sub>], especially in the presence of water, make it a useful solid for the decomposition of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals. A combination of microreactor and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) adsorption cell experiments allow us to characterize zirconium hydroxide’s adsorption properties and surface interactions with isopropanol, a commonly-used probe molecule to examine gas/solid interactions. A controlled mass delivery system for isopropanol can be used to gravimetrically determine the adsorption capacity of zirconium hydroxide in the microreactor system as a function of its pretreatment temperature. FT-IR spectra from the DRIFTS reaction cell further allow us to characterize the surface interactions that occur when isopropanol is adsorbed onto the zirconium hydroxide surface. Differences between chemisorbed and physiosorbed isopropanol can be identified by monitoring peak absorbances as a function of time. Combining the microreactor and DRIFTS cell results enable the qualitative and quantitative determination of the number of terminal and bridging hydroxyl groups present in zirconium hydroxide, which will be used to determine its reactivity for different toxic chemicals at different pretreament temperatures. Computational chemistry calculations will be done to model the differences between gas-phase and adsorbed isopropanol vibrational frequencies. Overall, the capacity, composition, and surface interactions of zirconium hydroxide with isopropanol will be characterized.

Characterization of the adsorption properties of zirconium hydroxide

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