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Full-Text Articles in Materials Science and Engineering

Multidentate Resorcinarene Surfactants For The Phase Transfer Of Metal Nanoparticles And Nanodiamonds: Applications In Catalysis And Diamond Film Growth, Vara Prasad Sheela Jul 2012

Multidentate Resorcinarene Surfactants For The Phase Transfer Of Metal Nanoparticles And Nanodiamonds: Applications In Catalysis And Diamond Film Growth, Vara Prasad Sheela

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

One main objective of the present work is to functionalize cuboctahedral platinum nanoparticles with various multidentate resorcinarene surfactants and study their influence in determining their catalytic activity. We hypothesized that catalytically active and recyclable catalysts can be achieved by incomplete yet strong passivation of the nanoparticle surfaces by using multidentate resorcinarene surfactants. We have developed phase transfer protocols for functionalizing cuboctahedral platinum nanoparticles with resorcinarene thiol or amine. Fluorescence assay confirmed that both these nanoparticles contained almost comparable unpassivated metal area. The activity of such phase transferred nanoparticles was tested in the catalytic hydrogenation of allyl alcohol. The conversion of …


The Synthesis And Characterization Of Gold And Silver Nanoparticles In Formal And Informal Settings, Mathew Wynn Jun 2012

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Gold And Silver Nanoparticles In Formal And Informal Settings, Mathew Wynn

Materials Engineering

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized through the reduction of AgNO3 using NaBH4. The borohydride anions were adsorbed onto silver nanoparticles. The repelling forces of the borohydride anions prevented the aggregation of particles, but the addition of an electrolyte or agitation induced aggregation. A yellow hue was given off by the silver nanoparticle sol that, using a spectrophotometer, had plasmon resonance at 386 nm. The silver nanoparticles were estimated to be 10 to 20 nm in diameter. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized through the reduction of HAuCl4 using Na3C6H5O7. The gold nanoparticle sol gave off a red hue that had plasmon resonance at …


The Effects Of Concentration, Stir Rate, And Processing Temperature On The Iridescence Of Polymethyl Methacrylate Nanoparticles, David Baruela Jun 2012

The Effects Of Concentration, Stir Rate, And Processing Temperature On The Iridescence Of Polymethyl Methacrylate Nanoparticles, David Baruela

Materials Engineering

Synthetic opals were synthesized by creating polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) nanospheres in order to determine which conditions would create the best iridescent samples. The factors affecting the iridescence were nanosphere concentration, stir rate, and processing temperature. PMMA solutions were made by adding 17 mg of granular azobis to a solution of 16 mL of distilled water with 3 mL of methyl methacrylate (MMA). The solution was stirred at different rates, slow and fast, and different temperatures, 70 °C and 90 °C, under a constant flow of nitrogen gas for 40 minutes until the polymerization reaction was complete. Glass substrates were prepared …


Nanoparticles In Solution-Derived Chalcogenide Glass Films, Spencer Novak May 2012

Nanoparticles In Solution-Derived Chalcogenide Glass Films, Spencer Novak

All Theses

The results in this thesis are from our efforts to modify the optical properties of solution-derived chalcogenide glass films by the incorporation of nanomaterials. First, the composition Ge23Sb7S70 was selected as the appropriate glass matrix for testing because solution-derived films of this composition have been well-studied in our group. Additionally, this composition was found to be less sensitive to certain processing parameters than As2S3, another well-studied, candidate chalcogenide glass composition, making Ge23Sb7S70 more suitable for the addition of nanomaterials. Optimization of film process parameters was performed to obtain high-quality films appropriate for doping with nanomaterials. This consisted of determining the …


Structural Dna Origami: Engineering Supermolecular Self-Assembly For Nanodevice Fabrication, Craig Marshal Onodera May 2012

Structural Dna Origami: Engineering Supermolecular Self-Assembly For Nanodevice Fabrication, Craig Marshal Onodera

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Two challenges encountered in nanotechnology are the ability to create nanostructures inexpensively and the ability to arrange nanomaterials with a precision commensurate with their size. In nature, nanostructures are created using a bottom-up approach, whereby molecules hierarchically self-assemble into larger systems. Similarly, structural DNA nanotechnology harnesses the programmability, specificity, and structural integrity of DNA to engineer synthetic, self-assembled materials. For example, during scaffolded DNA origami, a long single stranded DNA polymer is artificially folded into nanostructures using short oligonucleotides. Once folded, two- and three-dimensional nanostructures may be decorated with proteins, metallic nanoparticles, and semiconductor quantum dots. Using gold nanoparticles and …