Engineering Commons^™

Synthesis And Assessment Of Radiotherapy-Enhancing Nanoparticles, Hayden Winter

Dissertations and Theses

Radiation Therapy (RT) is a common treatment for cancerous lesions that acts by ionizing matter in the affected tissue, causing cell death. The disadvantage of RT is that it is most often delivered via an external beam of radiation which must pass through healthy tissues to reach the target site, ionizing matter within healthy tissues as well. To address this drawback, techniques are being developed for increasing RT-induced cell death in a target tissue while minimizing cell death in surrounding tissues. This effect is known as radiation dose enhancement or RT enhancement.

The approach to RT enhancement studied in this …

Scanning Electron Microscopy (Sem) Investigation Of Morphology Changes In The Reduction Of Silica Nanoparticles To Elemental Silicon, Allison M. Cairns

University Honors Theses

The application of silicon nanoparticles varies from energy storage materials, to drug-delivery, and molecular recognition. Various chemical and physical properties of the Si nanoparticles arise from their morphology. This paper aims to reveal the morphology of Si nanoparticles following magnesiothermic reduction of silica (SiO₂) nanoparticles. Two sets of SiO₂ nanoparticles were used, commercially available NanoXact nanoparticles and laboratory-synthesized Stöber nanoparticles. A Zeiss Sigma VP FEG SEM was used to examine the morphology. Following the magnesiothermic reduction, the nanoparticles were etched with HF. Ten sets of images were taken of both Stöber and NanoXact nanoparticles: 1,2: the SiO …