Engineering Commons^™

Predicting The Mechanical Properties Of Nanocomposites Reinforced With 1-D, 2-D And 3-D Nanomaterials, Scott Edward Muller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Materials with features at the nanoscale can provide unique mechanical properties and increased functionality when included as part of a nanocomposite. This dissertation utilizes computational methods at multiple scales, including molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT), and the coupled atomistic and discrete dislocation multiscale method (CADD), to predict the mechanical properties of nanocomposites possessing nanomaterials that are either 1-D (carbyne chains), 2-D (graphene sheets), or 3-D (Al/amorphous-Si core-shell nanorod).

The MD method is used to model Ni-graphene nanocomposites. The strength of a Ni-graphene nanocomposite is found to improve by increasing the gap between the graphene sheet and a …

Nonlinear Coupled Effects In Nanomaterials, Sia Bhowmick

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Materials at the nanoscale have different chemical, structural, and optoelectrical properties compared to their bulk counterparts. As a result, such materials, called nanomaterials, exhibit observable differences in certain physical phenomena. One such resulting phenomenon called the piezoelectric effect has played a crucial role in miniature self-powering electronic devices called nanogenerators which are fabricated by using nanostructures, such as nanowires, nanorods, and nanofilms. These devices are capable of harvesting electrical energy by inducing mechanical strain on the individual nanostructures. Electrical energy created in this manner does not have environmental limitations. In this thesis, important coupled effects, such as the nonlinear piezoelectric …

Novel Bimetallic Plasmonic Nanomaterials, Ritesh Sachan

Doctoral Dissertations

Plasmonic nanomaterials have attracted a lot of attention recently due to their application in various fields such as chemical and biological sensing, catalysis, energy harvesting and optical devices. However, there is a need to address several outstanding issues with these materials, including cost-effective synthesis, tunability in plasmonic characteristics, and long term stability. In this thesis, we have focused on bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) of Ag and Co due to their immiscibility as well as their individual properties. First, a pulsed laser induced dewetting route was used to synthesize Ag-Co bimetallic plasmonic NPs. An synthesis parameter space was derived to show the …