Engineering Commons^™

The Role Of Environmental Dynamics In The Emergence Of Autocatalytic Networks, Joe Fusion

Dissertations and Theses

For life to arise from non-life, a metabolism must emerge and maintain itself, distinct from its environment. One line of research seeking to understand this emergence has focused on models of autocatalytic reaction networks (ARNs) and the conditions that allow them to approximate metabolic behavior. These models have identified reaction parameters from which a proto-metabolism might emerge given an adequate matter-energy flow through the system. This dissertation extends that research by answering the question: can dynamically structured interactions with the environment promote the emergence of ARNs? This question was inspired by theories that place the origin of life in contexts …

A Metal-Free Approach To Biaryl Compounds: Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation From Diaryliodonium Salts And Aryl Triolborates, Kuruppu Lilanthi Jayatissa

Dissertations and Theses

Biaryl moieties are important structural motifs in many industries, including pharmaceutical, agrochemical, energy and technology. The development of novel and efficient methods to synthesize these carbon-carbon bonds is at the forefront of synthetic methodology. Since Ullmann’s first report of stoichiometric Cu-mediated homo-coupling of aryl halides, there has been a dramatic evolution in transition metal catalyzed biaryl cross-coupling reactions.

Our work focuses on the discovery and development of an unprecedented reagent combination for metal-free cross-coupling. It is hypothesized that direct carbon-carbon bond formation occurs via a triaryl-λ³-iodane and that electrophile/nucleophile pairing is critical for success in the reaction. Proof-of-concept …

A Study On The Heavy Crude Oil Viscosity Reduction With The Dissolution Of Nitrogen And Carbon Dioxide, Abdurahman Ajumobi

Dissertations and Theses

World's energy challenges would be greatly improved upon if half of the world's heavy oil and extra heavy oil could be made to ow in pipelines. Viscosity reduction of heavy oils is the key to solving this problem. In this study, aside from injecting pure nitrogen and pure carbon dioxide separately into the oil, two different compositions of the mixture of the two gases were also injected. In the first mixture, varied quantities of the two gases were used; 62:5%, 82:2% and 86:4% of the mixture was nitrogen while 37:5%, 17:8% and 13:6% was carbon dioxide at total test pressures …

Development Of Super Hydrophobic Surfaces Using Silica Nanoparticles, Muhammad Salman Saleem

Dissertations and Theses

The development of surfaces that have high water contact angles and hysteresis has always been of great importance in industrial applications. Various methods and techniques have been introduced to fabricate surfaces at nano-scale to support super hydrophobicity. Some of these techniques are expensive, some are very complex, most can be used for selective materials and substrate and some form surfaces with very poor wear resistance. This document represents a systematic study on fabrication of super hydrophobic surfaces on glass substrate (SiO2) using the functionalized silica (SiO2) nano particles. SU8, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Methyphenyl Resin SR355 polymer are being used as …