Engineering Commons^™

Genetically Engineered Polypeptides As Biomimetic Light Harvesting Optical Antenna, Jason P. Seeley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Natural resources useful for the generation of energy are limited. The development of efficient materials capable of utilizing the abundant free solar radiation is of considerable interest. Utilization of otherwise wasted energy sources, including solar radiation, is a progressive step in the quest for sustainable energy. Solar radiation incident upon the earth’s surface exceeds current energy requirements and motivates scientists to investigate and develop functional devices and nanomaterials including light harvesting complexes (LHC) capable of capturing solar radiation for energy conversion and storage.

Degradation And Exciton Energy Transfer Studies In Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Bundles, Abhishek Gottipati

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) due to their unique optical behavior, large surface area, robust mechanical strength and electrical properties make them one of the ideal candidates for sensing and opto-electronic applications. In this work, we explore the energy transfer (exciton energy transfer-EET) phenomena occurring between nanotubes in bundles, using resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Computational Simulation Of Mass Transport And Energy Transfer In The Microbial Fuel Cell System, Shiqi Ou

Doctoral Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation introduces the research in the computational modeling and simulation for the microbial fuel cell (MFC) system which is a bio-electrochemical system that drives a current by using bacteria and mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature. The numerical methods, research approaches and simulation comparison with the experiments in the microbial fuel cells are described; the analysis and evaluation for the model methods and results that I have achieved are presented in this dissertation.

The development of the renewable energy has been a hot topic, and scientists have been focusing on the microbial fuel cell, which is an environmentally-friendly …

2d & 3d Nanomaterial Fabrication With Biological Molecular Frameworks, Kristina Ivana Fabijanic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Recently, there has been a heightened amount of work done in the field of biomineralization. By taking inspiration from natures' phenomenonal individualities as a means to develop new and interesting nanostructures of varying sizes and dimensions, there is a newly developed design, namely Biomimetic Crystallization Nanolithography (BCN). With this method, the simultaneous nano-patterning and crystallization has been achieved using urease as the nucleation point and the hydrolysis of urea to obtain patterns of oxide semiconductor material, namely zinc oxide, at room temperature and aqueous solvent. The new and interesting characteristic of BCN involves the construction of amorphous inks of ZnO …

Heat Transfer In Outdoor Aquaculture Ponds, Jonathan Lamoureux

LSU Master's Theses

An energy balance was developed for heated and unheated earthen aquaculture ponds to 1) determine the relative importance of energy transfer mechanism affecting pond temperature; 2) predict pond temperatures; 3) estimate the energy required to control pond temperatures, and 4) recommend efficient heating and cooling methods. PHATR (Pond Heating and Temperature Regulation), a computer program using 4th order Runge-Kutta numerical method was developed to solve the energy balance using weather, flow rate and pond temperature data. By comparing measured and modeled pond temperatures, the average difference (the average bias) was 0.5°C for unheated ponds and 2.4°C for heated ponds. The …

Spectroscopic And Vibrational Energy Transfer Studies In Molecular Bromine, Courtney D. Holmberg

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrational transfer and electronic quenching in the lower vibrational levels (v' < 3) of the B³π(0_u⁺) state of ⁷⁹Br₂ were investigated using spectrally resolved, temporally resolved laser induced fluorescence techniques. Spectrally resolved emissions from collisionally populated Br₂(B) vibrational levels were observed for Br₂ and rare gas collision partners. Vibrational transfer was efficient in the non-predissociative vibrational levels and was adequately described by the Montroll-Shuler model for harmonic oscillators. A single fundamental rate coefficient for vibrational transfer from v' = 1 to v' = 0, k_v(1,0), characterizes vibrational relaxation. For Br₂, the …

Excited Atomic Bromine Energy Transfer And Quenching Mechanisms, Ray O. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Pulsed and steady-state photolysis experiments have been conducted to determine the rate coefficients for collisional deactivation of the spin-orbit excited state of atomic bromine, Br(²p_1/2). Pulsed lifetime studies for quenching by Br₂ and CO₂, established absolute rate coefficients at room temperature of k_Br2 = 1.2 ± 0.1 x 10^-12 and k_CO2 = 1.5 ± 0.2 x 10^-11 cm³/molecule-s. Steady-state photolysis methods were used to determine the quenching rates for the rare gases, N₂, 0₂, H₂, D₂, NO, …

Influence Of Nonequilibrium Radiation And Shape Change On The Flowfield Of A Jupiter Probe With Ablation And Mass Injection, Sundaresa Venkata Subramanian

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The influence of nonequilibrium radiative energy transfer and the effect of probe configuration changes on the flow phenomena around a Jovian entry body is investigated. The radiating shock-layer flow is assumed to be axisymmetric, viscous, laminar and in chemical equilibrium. The radiative transfer equations are derived under nonequilibrium conditions which include multi-level energy transitions. The equilibrium radiative transfer is calculated with an existing nongray radiation model which accounts for molecular band, atomic line and continuum transitions. The nonequilibrium results are obtained with and without ablation injection in the shock layer. The nonequilibrium results are found to be influenced greatly by …