Sodium hydroxide | EPFL Graph Search

Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base and alkali that decomposes lipids and proteins at ambient temperatures and may cause severe chemical burns. It is highly soluble in water, and readily absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide from the air. It forms a series of hydrates . The monohydrate crystallizes from water solutions between 12.3 and 61.8 °C. The commercially available "sodium hydroxide" is often this monohydrate, and published data may refer to it instead of the anhydrous compound. As one of the simplest hydroxides, sodium hydroxide is frequently used alongside neutral water and acidic hydrochloric acid to demonstrate the pH scale to chemistry students. Sodium hydroxide is used in many industries: in the making of wood pulp and paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps

Stability and physical properties of alkylsilane and alkylphosphonate self-assembled monolayer (SAM) films on metal oxide substrates characterized at the micro- and nanoscale

Enamul Hoque

Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) films have attracted immense attention for both fundamental and applied research. A SAM is composed of a large number of molecules with a head group that chemisorbs onto a substrate, a tail group that interacts with the outer surface of the film, and a spacer (backbone) chain group that connects the head and tail groups resulting in a coating. Interactions between spacer groups of different molecules, such as van der Waals forces and/or hydrogen bonding, hasten SAM film formation and contribute to its stability. In this dissertation, SAM and thin films have been formed onto copper and aluminum oxide surfaces by reaction with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyldimethylchlorosilane (PFMS), 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PFTS), 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecylphosphonic acid (PFDP), octylphosphonic acid (OP), decylphosphonic acid (DP), and octadecylphosphonic acid (ODP). The properties and stability of the films were investigated employing complementary surface analysis techniques: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), friction force microscopy (FFM), a derivative of AFM, contact angle measurements (CAMs), and Fourier transform infrared reflection/absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS). The perfluoroalkylsilane SAM on Cu is found to be extremely hydrophobic typically having sessile drop static contact angles of more than 130° for pure water and a surface energy of 14 mJ/m2 (mN/m). FFM showed a significant reduction in the adhesive force and friction coefficient of PFMS modified Cu (PFMS/Cu) compared to unmodified Cu. Treatment by exposure to harsh conditions showed that PFMS/Cu SAM can withstand boiling nitric acid (pH=1.8), boiling water, and warm sodium hydroxide (pH=12, 60 °C) solutions for at least 30 minutes. Furthermore, no SAM degradation was observed when PFMS/Cu was exposed to warm nitric acid solution for up to 70 min at 60 °C or 50 min at 80 °C. XPS and FT-IRRAS data reveal a coordination of the PFMS silicon (Si) atom with a cuprate (CuO) molecule present on the oxidized copper substrate. The data give good evidence that the stability of the SAM film on the PFMS modified oxidized Cu surface is largely due to the formation of a siloxy-copper (-Si-O-Cu-) bond via a condensation reaction between silanol (-Si-OH) and copper hydroxide (CuOH). For a PFTS modified Cu surface (PFTS/Cu), the sessile drop static contact angle of pure water has been measured to be more than 125° and the surface energy to be typically less than 16 mJ/m2. Stability tests show that the PFTS/Cu film can survive in boiling pure water for one hour, boiling nitric acid (pH 1.5 or 1.8) for 30 minutes, sodium hydroxide solution (pH 12, 70 °C) for 30 minutes, and autoclave conditions (steam at 134 °C and 3 atmospheres) for 15 minutes. The more commonly used self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modifications of Cu surfaces, e.g. thiol compounds, are significantly less stable than PFTS/Cu. Extremely hydrophobic (low surface energy) and stable PFMS/Cu SAMs and PFTS/Cu films could be useful as corrosion inhibitors in micro/nanoelectronic devices and/or as promoters for anti-wetting, low adhesion surfaces or drop-wise condensation on heat exchange surfaces. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of perfluorinated and non-perfluorinated alkylphosphonate molecules on the PFDP, DP, and ODP SAMs deposited at the aluminum oxide coated silicon (Al/Si) surfaces. The sessile drop static contact angle of pure water on PFDP SAMs was typically more than 130° and on DP and ODP typically more than 125° indicating that the phosphonic acid SAMs reacted with Al samples were very hydrophobic. The surface roughness for PFDP/Al, DP/Al, ODP/Al, and bare Al was approximately 35 nm, as determined by AFM. The surface energy for PFDP/Al was determined to be approximately 11 mJ/m2 by the Zisman plot method compared to 21 mJ/m2 and 20 mJ/m2 for DP/Al and ODP/Al, respectively. PFDP/Al gave the lowest adhesion and friction force while bare Al gave the highest. The adhesion and friction forces for ODP/Al and DP/Al SAMs were in between. ODP, DP, and OP SAMs have been studied in detail on relatively flat aluminum oxide surfaces. The rms surface roughness for ODP/Al, DP/Al, OP/Al, and bare Al was less than 15 nm, as determined by AFM. The sessile drop static contact angle of pure water on ODP/Al and DP/Al was typically more than 115° and on OP/Al typically less than 105°. The surface energy for ODP/Al and DP/Al was determined to be approximately 21 mJ/m2 and 22 mJ/m2, respectively, compared to 26 mJ/m2 for OP/Al. ODP/Al and OP/Al were studied by FFM to better understand their micro-/nano-tribological properties. ODP/Al gave the lowest coefficient of friction values while bare Al gave the highest. The adhesion forces for ODP/Al and OP/Al were comparable. The chemical stability of ODP/Al, PFDP/Al, DP/Al, OP/Al, and PFMS/Al SAMs has been inspected by exposure to warm nitric acid (pH 1.8, 30 min, 60-95 °C). The XPS data and stability against harsh chemical conditions indicate that a type of bond forms between a phosphonic acid (PA) or silane molecule and the oxidized Al surface. Stability tests using warm nitric acid (pH 1.8, 30 min, 60-95 °C) show ODP/Al SAMs to be most stable followed by PFDP/Al, DP/Al, PFMS/Al, and OP/Al SAMs. For PFTS/Al, stability tests demonstrate that modified aluminum is able to survive exposure to warm nitric acid (pH = 1.8, 60 °C, 30 min) indicating some degree of robustness. Hydrophobic, low adhesion, and robust aluminum surfaces have useful applications for micro/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), such as digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs). These studies are expected to aid in the design and selection of proper lubricants for MEMS/NEMS.

EPFL2007

Aluminium and alkali uptake in calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H)

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) is the main hydrate phase in Portland cements. Its composition varies depending on the Ca/Si ratio and on the presence of other ions such as aluminium (called CA- S-H) or alkalis. This thesis aimed to study the composition and the structure of C-S-H. An experimental data base was realised on the effect of different Ca/Si and Al/Si ratios, alkali concentrations (potassium and sodium hydroxide) and of different temperatures on C-S-H after equilibration times up to 1 year. The composition of the solid phases was analysed by TGA, XRD/Rietveld analysis and 29Si and 27Al MAS NMR. The solutions were analysed by ionic chromatography and pH measurements. In the absence of alkali, only C-A-S-H is formed at Al/Si ≤ 0.1. At higher Al/Si ratios, katoite, stratlingite and/or AH3 precipitate in addition to C-A-S-H, such that a part of the aluminium is consumed and limits the Al/Si ratio in C-S-H to 0.15±0.05 regardless of the Ca/Si ratios. A strong correlation between the aqueous aluminium concentration and the aluminium uptake in the solid phase is observed. Aluminium in C-S-H is observed mainly as tetrahedrally, Al(IV) or octahedrally coordinated, Al(VI) aluminium. At high Ca/Si ratios, Al(VI) is favoured and the aluminium uptake in C-S-H increases with the aqueous aluminium concentration. At low Ca/Si ratio (≤ 0.8), aluminium is observed mainly as Al(IV) and the low aqueous aluminium concentrations (below detection limit) indicate a higher affinity of aluminium towards C-S-H. The uptake of aluminium increases slightly the mean basal spacing slightly at low Ca/Si ratio and up to ≈2Å at higher Ca/Si ratios due to incorporation of aluminium and calcium in the interlayer. The presence of alkali hydroxide increases the pH leading (i) to a destabilisation of stratlingite and (ii) to higher aqueous silicon and aluminium concentrations and to lower calcium concentrations. As the aluminium uptake in C-S-H is strongly related to the aqueous aluminium concentrations, the aluminium uptake in the C-S-H increases significantly in the presence of alkali hydroxides, as aluminium is more soluble at higher pH. The increase of the temperature from 7 to 80 °C increases the phase-purity and long-range order of the C-S-H. The mean chain length remains stable up to 50°C, while at 80°C chain length increases and crosslinking is observed in the presence of aluminium. At all temperatures studied, the presence of aluminium has little effect on the calculated solubility of C(-A)-S-H. The incorporation of alkali ions in C-S-H increases with the initial concentration of alkali and with the decrease of Ca/Si ratio. The aqueous calcium concentration play a dominant role in alkali uptake, as calcium competes with the alkali ions to charge balance the negatively charged silanol groups of the C-S-H. A low concentration of calcium favours the alkali uptake in C-S-H. The uptake of alkali ions shortens the silica chain length as calcium is redistributed from the interlayer to the main sheet. The alkali uptake is not significantly influenced by the presence of aluminium in C-S-H, the hydration time or the type of cation (sodium or potassium).

EPFL2014

Effect of alkali, aluminium and equilibration time on calcium-silicate-hydrates

Yu Yan

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) is the main hydration product in Portland and blended cements, and greatly affects durability and mechanical properties of the hydrated cement. In the presence of Al-rich supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), C-(A-)S-H can contain more Al than C-S-H in plain Portland cements. The use of SCMs in cementitious system not only lowers CO2 emission, but may also enhance the mechanical properties in the long term, its durability and can help to suppress alkali silica reaction. However, important questions regarding the effect of Al, alkali and equilibration time on C-A-S-H structure and solubility are still not fully understood. This thesis focuses on the interplay between aluminium, alkali hydroxides in solution, the structure of C-A-S-H and aluminium, alkali uptake by C-A-S-H and kinetics of C-A-S-H formation. For aluminium free C-S-H, KOH and NaOH have a similar effect, they increase pH values and silicon concentrations, and decrease calcium concentrations. At higher alkali hydroxide concentrations, more portlandite precipitates, while amorphous silica dissolves. This increases the Ca/SiC-S-H at low Ca/Sitarget but lowers the maximum Ca/SiC-S-H from 1.5 to 1.2 in 1 M KOH/NaOH. The amount of alkalis bound in C-S-H increases with increasing alkali hydroxide concentrations and is higher at low Ca/SiC-S-H. KOH/NaOH lead to a structural rearrangement in C-S-H, increasing the interlayer distance, number of layers stacked in c direction and shortening the silica chains. Comparison with the independently developed CASH+ thermodynamic model showed a good agreement between the observed and modelled changes, including the shortening of the MCL.For C-A-S-H with Ca/Si=1, the presence of Al led to higher amounts of secondary phases, larger interlayer distance, longer silicate chain, higher dissolved Al and Si, and lower Ca concentrations. The amount of secondary phases is reduced at higher pH; strätlingite and Al(OH)3 dominate at lower pH, and katoite at higher pH values. High pH is also associated with shortened silicate chain length, increased Al and Si concentrations, maximum Al/SiC-S-H and lower Ca concentrations. The Al uptake in C-A-S-H increased with aluminum concentration in solution, indicating the predominance of a common Al sorption mechanism independent of dissolved Al concentration or pH values. XANES data showed the presence of both Al(IV) and Al(VI) with different chemical environments in C-S-H.The effect of equilibration time on C-A-S-H was investigated from 6 hours to 3 years. Rapid changes within the first day were observed in both the solid phase and the aqueous phase. Portlandite was formed in all samples with different Ca/Si and its amount decreased rapidly within the first day and remained stable after more than 7 days. Gismondine-P1 precipitated between 1 and 3 years and destabilized the C-A-S-H phases at target Ca/Si 0.6. In the solid phase, the Al migration from secondary phases to C-A-S-H and an increasing fraction of Al(V) and Al(VI) in C-S-H were observed with longer equilibration time. The Ca/Si ratio of C-S-H played an important role on the extent of changes in aqueous concentration: an increasing of Al concentrations with time was observed in C-A-S-H with Ca/Sitarget=0.6, while a decrease was observed for C-A-S-H with Ca/Sitarget=1.0. The uptake of Al and Na in C-A-S-H was observed to decrease after 4 days and 1 day separately, which indicates a rearrangement of C-A-S-H with time.

EPFL2022