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Synthesis And Characterization Of Nanoscale Polymer Films Grafted To Metal Surfaces, Yuriy Galabura
Synthesis And Characterization Of Nanoscale Polymer Films Grafted To Metal Surfaces, Yuriy Galabura
All Dissertations
Anchoring thin polymer films to metal surfaces allows us to alter, tune, and control their biocompatibility, lubrication, friction, wettability, and adhesion, while the unique properties of the underlying metallic substrates, such as magnetism and electrical conductivity, remain unaltered. This polymer/metal synergy creates significant opportunities to develop new hybrid platforms for a number of devices, actuators, and sensors. This present work focused on the synthesis and characterization of polymer layers grafted to the surface of metal objects. We report the development of a novel method for surface functionalization of arrays of high aspect ratio nickel nanowires/micronails. The polymer 'grafting to' technique …
Structure And Catalytic Properties Of Ultra-Small Ceria Nanoparticles, Xing Huang
Structure And Catalytic Properties Of Ultra-Small Ceria Nanoparticles, Xing Huang
Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering
Cerium dioxide (ceria) is an excellent catalytic material due to its ability to both facilitate oxidation/reduction reactions as well as store/release oxygen as an oxygen buffer. The traditional approach to assess and improve ceria's catalytic behavior focuses on how efficiently O-vacancies can be generated and/or annihilated within the material, and how to extend established understandings of "bulk" ceria to further explain the greatly enhanced catalytic behavior of ultra-small ceria nanoparticles (uCNPs) with sizes less than 10 nm. Here, using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we reexamine the atomic and electronic structures of uCNPs, especially their surface configurations. A unique picture …