Engineering Commons^™

Adhesion And Deformation Mechanisms Of Polydopamine And Polytetrafluoroethylene: A Multiscale Computational Study, Matthew Brownell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polydopamine (PDA) has been shown to bond via covalent bonding, van der Waals forces, and hydrogen bonding and is known to adhere strongly to almost any material. The application of PDA between a substrate and a PTFE surface coating has resulted in low friction and a greatly reduced wear rate. Previous research probing the capabilities and limitations of PDA/PTFE films have studied the wear and mechanical properties of the film, but the overall adhesive and deformation mechanisms remain unclear.

In this research, we investigate the tribological properties of PDA and PTFE molecules and composites from the atomic to the microscale …

Highly Transparent, Self-Cleaning, And Antireflective Nanoparticle Coatings, Corey Seth Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current solar panel technologies require a sheet of glass to serve as both mechanical support and to protect the cells from the environment. The reflection from the glass sheet can reflect up to 8% of the incident light, reducing the power output of the panel. Antireflective coatings can be used to allow more light to enter the panel to be converted into usable electricity. However, no solid thin film materials exhibit a low enough index of refraction to serve as antireflective coatings for common solar glass. The main goal of this research was to investigate the self-cleaning, antifogging, and antireflective …