Engineering Commons^™

Optics Of Two-Dimensional Materials Used As Substrates For Nanoparticle-Based Devices, Reagan Newman

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Synthetic Lethality In Pediatric Brain Cancer Cells By Optimized Plga Nanoparticles And Drug Combinations, Megan Ruckman, Megan Otte, Forrest Kievit

UCARE Research Products

Here we test drugs effectiveness to inhibit various DNA repair pathways with the purpose of sensitizing cancer cells to radiotherapy. We work on optimizing delivery of DNA repair pathway inhibiting drugs by the use of PLGA nanoparticles.

Assessment Of Nanoparticle Accumulation With Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Hunter Miller

Biological Systems Engineering--Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nanoparticle (NP)-based therapeutics promise to improve medicine in multiple areas by increasing target engagement. To date, most research has focused on cancer, aiming to increase uptake using the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Despite pre-clinical success in proof-of-concept studies, understanding of the fundamental interactions between NP and biological systems that govern outcomes remains incomplete. To realize the potential of NPs for cancer therapeutics, and to expand their application into other diseases, the roles physicochemical properties play in NP uptake must be better understood. Some investigations have been performed into the effects of size and surface charge on uptake ...

Nanoparticle Treatment To Counter Reactive Oxygen Species After Traumatic Brain Injury, Brandon Mcdonald, Forrest Kievit

UCARE Research Products

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as damage to the brain, resulting from an external mechanical force, such as an impact to the head (Kievit et. al, 2016).There are several examples that could result in a potential TBI; such as falling with contact to the head, car accidents and even physical activities including football, wrestling, and boxing. Because of the several different scenarios that an individual could impact their head, TBI’s have become an all too common aspect of everyday life. TBI is currently the leading cause of death and disability in children and adults under the age ...

Tunable Luminescence Of Rare Earth Doped Nanophosphors Via Adaptive Optical Properties Of Transition Metals, Pragathi Darapaneni

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past decades, the development of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to produce a wide range of wavelengths has revolutionized the solid-state lighting industry due to their higher energy efficiency and operational lifetimes. These LEDs employ rare earth (RE) doped phosphors due to their stable emission wavelengths which can be amplified when sensitized by other RE dopants (Yb, Ce) or shell layer passivation. However, there has been a push to replace the RE elements in LEDs due to increased socioeconomic issues. One proposed alternative, transition metal (TM) dopants, is typically avoided due to their susceptibility to the local crystal environment resulting ...

The Surface Termination Of Cspbbr3 Perovskite Quantum Dots Determined By Solid-State Nmr Spectroscopy, Yunhua Chen, Sara R. Smock, Anne H. Flintgruber, Frederic A. Perras, Richard L. Brutchey, Aaron J. Rossini

Chemistry Publications

Cesium lead halide perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have gained significant attention as next-generation optoelectronic materials; however, their properties are highly dependent on their surface chemistry. The surfaces of cuboidal CsPbBr3 QDs have been intensively studied by both theoretical and experimental techniques, but fundamental questions still remain about the atomic termination of the QDs. The binding sites and modes of ligands at the surface remain unproven. Herein, we demonstrate that solid-state NMR spectroscopy allows the unambiguous assignments of organic surface ligands via 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR. Surface-selective 133Cs solid-state NMR spectra show the presence of an additional 133Cs NMR signal ...

Extracellular Matrix Nanoparticles Effects On The Lung In Vivo, Brittaney E. Ritchie

Theses and Dissertations

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition that causes diffuse alveolar damage and a loss of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This leads to pulmonary edema and lung function deterioration. Our lab has created decellularized porcine lung, electrosprayed ECM nanoparticles that have been previously shown to have pro-regenerative capabilities in vitro.

In this study, the ECM nanoparticle effects on young murine lungs were tested in vivo. An ECM nanoparticle suspension, previously used for the in vitro studies, was aerosolized intratracheally into the lungs using a microsprayer. 24 hours later, the lung mechanics, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and histology were ...

The Effect Of Processing Conditions On The Size And Polydispersity Of Polymer Nanoparticles Prepared With Impingement Jets Mixing, Okkar Min

Honors Theses

Biodegradable polymer nanoparticles are considered for controlled drug delivery because they are small enough to diffuse through tissues, target specific tissues, and penetrate through cell membranes to deliver drugs more locally, mitigating side effects seen with intravenous injection. There are still difficulties in producing polymer nanoparticles at scale and in a size range (60 nm to 80 nm in diameter) that are large enough to avoid many of the biological barriers and yet small enough to have reasonable diffusion rates through tissue. In this work, the effects of process parameters (Reynolds number, amount of surfactant, location of surfactant, quench volume ...

Liver Cancer: Current And Future Trends Using Biomaterials, Sue Anne Chew, Stefania Moscato, Sachin George, Bahareh Azimi, Serena Danti

Health and Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common type of cancer diagnosed and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Despite advancement in current treatments for HCC, the prognosis for this cancer is still unfavorable. This comprehensive review article focuses on all the current technology that applies biomaterials to treat and study liver cancer, thus showing the versatility of biomaterials to be used as smart tools in this complex pathologic scenario. Specifically, after introducing the liver anatomy and pathology by focusing on the available treatments for HCC, this review summarizes the current biomaterial-based approaches for systemic delivery and implantable tools ...

Erratum: "Imaging The Three‐Dimensional Orientation And Rotational Mobility Of Fluorescent Emitters Using The Tri‐Spot Point Spread Function", Oumeng Zhang, Jin Lu, Tianben Ding, Matthew D. Lew

Electrical & Systems Engineering Publications and Presentations

In the original paper, a calibration error exists in the image-formation model used to analyze experimental images taken by our microscope, causing a bias in the orientation measurements in Figs. 2 and 3. The updated measurements are shown in Fig. E1. We have also updated the supplementary material for the original article to discuss the revised PSF model and estimation algorithms (supplementary material 2) and show the revised model and measurements (Figs. S1, S3, S7, S8, and S10–S13).

Shape Effects Of Gold Coated Silica Nanoparticles For Localized Plasmonic Resonance Based Biosensing, Russell Beckerman

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

Gold coated silica (Au@SiO₂) nanoparticles are promising optical transducers for biosensors due to localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) sensitivity to changes in refractive index. This study investigates the effects of shape, size, and structure on LSPR sensitivity of Au@SiO₂ nanoparticles of spherical, rod, and ellipsoid geometries. Finite-difference time domain simulations in CST were used to examine these key parameters of interest and guided particle synthesis. Simulation and experiments show rod-shaped Au@SiO₂ nanoparticles had maximum sensitivity of 969nm/RIU, an improvement over most particles in current literature. This study examines a method for enhanced LSPR-biosensors ...

A Ph-Sensitive Delivery System For The Prevention Of Dental Caries Using Salivary Proteins, Yi Zhu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dental caries remains one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide. Salivary proteins such as histatins have demonstrated biological functions directly related to tooth homeostasis and prevention of dental caries. However, histatins are susceptible to the high proteolytic activities in the oral environment. Therefore, pH-sensitive chitosan nanoparticles (CNs) have been proposed as potential carriers to target major oral diseases that occur under acidic conditions (e.g. dental caries and dental erosion). Four different types of chitosan polymers were investigated and the optimized CNs successfully loaded histatin 3 and released it selectively under acidic conditions. Through loading the survival time of ...

Metabolon-Inspired Design Of Multi-Modal Catalytic Cascade, Madelaine Seow Chavez

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Developing hybrid catalytic systems has been researched for the past decade in an effort to efficiently incorporate catalysts of different modalities in catalytic cascades. It has become imperative to design a cascade system where the catalysts are spatially organized to control the delivery of precursors, intermediates, and products. In this work, we have shown that a molecular catalyst, biocatalyst, and metallic catalyst can be co-localized using a carbonaceous support to create a hybrid catalytic system and complete the oxidation of oxalic acid to create a microchemical reactor. The molecular, pyrene-TEMPO catalyst oxidizes glyoxalic acid to oxalic acid. The enzyme oxalate ...

Green Synthesis Nanocomposite Membranes, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Vasile Smuleac, Rajender S. Varma, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A nanocomposite membrane includes a macroporous polymer membrane having a plurality of pores. A plurality of metal nanoparticles are synthesized and immobilized within those plurality of pores. The nanoparticles are reduced and capped with a green reducing and capping agent such as green tea extract.

Magnesium Nanocomposites: An Overview On Time-Dependent Plastic (Creep) Deformation, Meysem Haghshenas, Manoj Gupta

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Magnesium (Mg) nanocomposites are created when nano-size particles are embedded into the Mg (or Mg alloy) matrix. The Mg nanocomposites, cited as high-strength energy-saving materials of future, are a group of emerging materials with excellent combination of strength and ductility and superior specific strength property (strength-to-weight ratio). Having said this, Mg nanocomposites are considered as promising replacement for other structural alloys (i.e. aluminum and titanium) wherever low density and high strength are required, i.e. transportation, aerospace, defense, etc. To be able to apply this group of materials for real components, different failure mechanisms at ambient and elevated temperatures ...

Gd5si4-Pvdf Nanocomposite Films And Their Potential For Triboelectric Energy Harvesting Applications, S. M. Harstad, P. Zhao, N. Soin, A. A. El-Gendy, Shalabh Gupta, Vitalij K. Pecharsky, J. Luo, Ravi L. Hadimani

Ames Laboratory Accepted Manuscripts

The triboelectric energy generators prepared using the combination of self-polarized, high beta-phase nanocomposite films of Gd5Si4-PVDF and polyamide-6 (PA-6) films have generated significantly higher voltage of 425 V, short-circuit current density of 30 mA/m(2) and a charge density of similar to 116.7 C/m(2) as compared to corresponding values of 300 V, 30 mA/m(2) and 94.7 mu C/m(2), respectively for the pristine PVDF-(PA-6) combination. The magnetic measurements of the Gd5Si4-PVDF films display a ferromagnetic behavior as compared to diamagnetic nature of pristine PVDF. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles in the ...

Gadolinium Silicide (Gd5si4) Nanoparticles For Tuneable Broad Band Microwave Absorption, Pritom J. Bora, S. M. Harstad, Shalabh Gupta, Vitalij K. Pecharsky, K. J. Vinoy, Praveen C. Ramamurthy, Ravi L. Hadimani

Ames Laboratory Accepted Manuscripts

Soft magnetic Gd5Si4 nanoparticles exhibit excellent microwave absorption in the Ku-band (12.4-18 GHz) when dispersed in poly (dimethyl siloxane), PDMS. The minimum experimentally recorded reflection loss (RL) of Gd5Si4-PDMS nanocomposite is −69 dB, with a large bandwidth for a single 6 mm-thick layer. The bandwidth can be further extended by using a novel design where 1 mm-thick layers of the nanocomposite are arranged into a modified pyramid-shaped absorber. Standard electromagnetic (EM) simulations confirm experimental results.

Solution Phase Synthesis Of Lead-Free Perovskite And Perovskite-Inspired Materials, Rainie Dean Nelson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a broad overview of research in the field of lead-free perovskite

inspired materials. While lead halide perovskites have promising properties, we sought to

investigate non-toxic alternatives – typically ones containing bismuth halides. We looked

into the flexibility of this element to be produced on different length scales, fabricating films

from bulk material, synthesizing nanocrystals, and growing crystals of 2D layered double

perovskites. We discovered that due to complexation with a solvent, bismuth iodide films can

be morphology controlled through use of solvent additives. During our synthesis of Cs3Bi2X9

nanocrystals, we found that BiX3 precursors possessed photoluminescence and that ...

Form Stable Phase-Change Materials, Russell Dent, Marjan Kashfipour, Nitin Mehra, Jiahua Zhu

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This work investigates the use of two different polyols, xylitol (Xyl) and erythritol (Ery), in conjunction with boron nitride (BN) aerogels, for the purpose of creating thermally conductive composites. While the BN filler in Xyl composites achieved a high anisotropic thermal conductivity of up to 4.53 W/m-K at 18.2 weight percent filler loading, they do not exhibit good phase-change material qualities due to a low solidification enthalpy even at low cooling rates. Alternatively, the BN-Ery composites have shown promising results with a solidification enthalpy of 225.14 J/g and a melting enthalpy of 385.84 J ...

Polymer Infiltration Under Extreme Confinement, David Ring

Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations

Polymer nanocomposites with high nanoparticle loadings are ubiquitous in nature but difficult to replicate synthetically. A simple technique to create such polymer nanocomposites is to form a bi-layer of a nanoparticle thin film atop a polymer thin film and anneal above the polymer glass transition temperature to induce wicking. This Capillary Rise Infiltration (CaRI) of polymers into nanoparticle thin films is a promising method to create interesting biomimetic composites with enhanced material properties, but also raises important theoretical questions about confinement, capillarity, and polymer dynamics. Therefore, I use molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and continuum theory to understand the impact of ...

Synthesis Of Drug Encapsulated Chitosan-Heparin Based Nanoparticles And Release Study, Trent Richwine

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The main objective of this honor’s project is to encapsulate drugs with different molecular weights inside of chitosan-heparin based nanoparticles (Cs-Hep NPs). Three different drugs with low (NNC), medium (IFN-γ), and large (BSA) molecular weights were chosen in order to compare all types of drugs and how they react with the nanoparticles. Analysis of particle size, zeta potential, and a release study was performed. The release took place over a 168-hour time period and liquid samples were taken throughout. The hypothesis was that the molecular weight of the drug will correlate to the physical properties of the nanoparticles. The ...

Rapid, Single-Step Protein Encapsulation Via Flash Nanoprecipitation, Shani L. Levit, Rebecca C. Walker, Christina Tang

Chemical and Life Science Engineering Publications

Flash NanoPrecipitation (FNP) is a rapid method for encapsulating hydrophobic materials in polymer nanoparticles with high loading capacity. Encapsulating biologics such as proteins remains a challenge due to their low hydrophobicity (logP < 6) and current methods require multiple processing steps. In this work, we report rapid, single-step protein encapsulation via FNP using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. Nanoparticle formation involves complexation and precipitation of protein with tannic acid and stabilization with a cationic polyelectrolyte. Nanoparticle self-assembly is driven by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. Using this approach, high encapsulation efficiency (up to ~80%) of protein can be achieved. The resulting nanoparticles are stable at physiological pH and ionic strength. Overall, FNP is a rapid, efficient platform for encapsulating proteins for various applications.

Anisotropy And Aggregation In Self-Assembled Polymer Nanocomposites, Benjamin Joseph Lindsay

Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations

Polymer nanocomposites (PNC) are an exciting class of materials with a wide array of applications. Whether the desired application involves isotropic or anisotropic polymer and particle structures, controlling aggregation and/or anisotropy in PNCs remains crucial to engineering composites with desired properties. Many methods have been developed to address these challenges. Three methods of interest include 1) the inclusion of anisotropic particles in the PNC, 2) block copolymers used as anisotropic templates to pattern particles, and 3) particle surface chemistry modification to increase dispersion. Significant experimental progress has been made in all three of these methods, but deeper fundamental understanding ...

Structure Prediction Of Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Superlattices, Nathan Robert Horst

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, the self-assembly of nanoparticle superlattices is studied through the development of theoretical models and computational techniques that elucidate the interactions of constituents during the self-assembly process. Specifically, configurational characteristics of various core-shell nanoparticle morphologies are explored with models of increasing complexity, aided by the implementation of molecular dynamics simulations and dynamic lattice theory.

Charge Storage In Wo³ Polymorphs And Their Application As Supercapacitor Electrode Material, Vaibhav Lokhande, Abhishek Lokhande, Gon Namkoong, Jin Hyeok Kim, Taeksoo Ji

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Tungsten oxide is a versatile material with different applications. It has many polymorphs with varying performance in energy storage application. We report simple and facile way to synthesize four phases of tungsten oxide from same precursor materials only by changing the pH and temperature values. Monoclinic, hexagonal, orthorhombic and tetragonal phase obtained, were analyzed and tested for supercapacitor application. The electrochemical analysis of four phases indicates that the hexagonal phase is best-suited electrode material for supercapacitor. The hexagonal phase exhibits higher specific capacitance (377.5 Fg^-1 at 2 mVs^-1), higher surface capacitive contribution (75%), better stability and rate ...

Dual Effects Of Tisio4composite Nanoparticles On Dispersionstability And Lubrication Performance Of Vegetable Oil‐In‐Water Emulsions, Reza Taheri, Buyung Kosasih, Hongtao Zhu, Anh Kiet Tieu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Vegetable oil-in-water emulsions are potential metal-working lubricants. These emulsions are susceptible to oil-water phase separation due to the oil droplets' coalescence. In this study, we enhance the dispersion stability and lubricity of such emulsions with TiSiO4 nanoparticles (NPs). With 1 vol% soybean oil, stable emulsions are obtained with 0.25 to 0.75 wt% NPs, attributed to formation of shielding layers of NPs around the droplets. Lowest friction and wear are obtained without and with 0.25 wt% NPs, respectively. With increasing the NPs' mass fraction, NP-shielded droplets become less attracted to metal surfaces. Association of NPs within boundary film ...

Interactions Of Environmental And Therapeutic Particles With The Airway Microenvironment, Benjamin Michael King

Theses and Dissertations

Particles that deposit in the respiratory airways can come from many sources, such as environmental pollution, particles created in the workplace, and inhalers that are designed to deliver medicines to the lungs. Once these particles deposit in the respiratory airways, they can interact in a variety of ways. Some particles are toxic and can cause damage to lung tissues, others may have little to no effect on health, and some may provide some benefit or therapy. Once particles land in the respiratory airways, the interactions they have with proteins can impact where they go and how they behave.

This thesis ...

Experimental Evaluation Of Surfactant-Based Nanofluids On Wettability Alteration And Oil Recovery, Mohammad Foad Haeri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Economic concerns about chemical flooding could be taken as opportunities to develop new cost-effective technologies that lead to high recoveries. Application of surfactants to lower oil-water interfacial tension has never been an economically attractive EOR method due to the high amount of adsorption. However, the use of inexpensive surfactants in low concentrations or combination of diluted surfactants with other low-cost chemicals to change the wettability of the system could play a major role in reducing the residual oil saturation and consequently improving oil recovery. This experimental study aims at investigating the potential of nanoparticles to improve the ability of surfactants ...

Carbon-Supported Transition Metal Nanoparticles For Catalytic And Electromagnetic Applications, Kavita Meduri

Dissertations and Theses

Recently, there has been growing interest in using transition metals (TM) for catalytic and electromagnetic applications, due to the ability of TMs to form stable compounds in multiple oxidation states. In this research, the focus has been on the synthesis and characterization of carbon-supported TM nanoparticles (NPs), specifically palladium (Pd) and gold (Au) NPs, for catalytic applications, and transition metal oxides (TMO) NPs, specifically Fe₃O₄ NPs for electromagnetic applications. Carbon supports have several advantages, such as enabling even distribution of particles, offering large specific surface area with excellent electron conductivity, and relative chemical inertness.

In this dissertation ...

Engineering Viscoelastic Behavior Of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites With Nanoparticles For Controlling Deployment Of Aerospace Structures, Mark Scherbarth

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

The United States Air Force is focused on reducing mass and power consumption of spacecraft to increase their capabilities for space missions. Low mass and power consumption can be achieved by using composites with low density and high stiffness and utilizing few satellite components. One way to achieve reduced mass is by eliminating attendant deployment mechanisms consuming valuable power and mass allocations on spacecraft with deployable structures. Secondary systems are typically used to assist deployable space structures to ensure 100% success. A passively deployed space structure would be of great value to the Department of Defense and the commercial marketplace ...