Structural Materials Commons^™

Carbon Oxidation At The Atomic Level: A Computational Study On Oxidative Graphene Etching And Pitting Of Graphitic Carbon Surfaces, Simon Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

In order to understand the oxidation of solid carbon materials by oxygen-containing gases, carbon oxidation has to be studied on the atomic level where the surface reactions occur. Graphene and graphite are etched by oxygen to form characteristic pits that are scattered across the material surface, and pitting in turn leads to microstructural changes that determine the macroscopic oxidation behavior. While this is a well-documented phenomenon, it is heretofore poorly understood due to the notorious difficulty of experiments and a lack of comprehensive computational studies. The main objective of the present work is the development of a computational framework from …

Computational Studies Of Structure–Function Relationships Of Supported And Unsupported Metal Nanoclusters, Hongbo Shi

Doctoral Dissertations

Fuel cells have been demonstrated to be promising power generation devices to address the current global energy and environmental challenges. One of the many barriers to commercialization is the cost of precious catalysts needed to achieve sufficient power output. Platinum-based materials play an important role as electrocatalysts in energy conversion technologies. In order to improve catalytic efficiency and facilitate rational design and development of new catalysts, structure–function relationships that underpin catalytic activity must be understood at a fundamental level. First, we present a systematic analysis of CO adsorption on Pt nanoclusters in the 0.2-1.5 nm size range with the aim …

Effect Of Interlayers On Mechanical Properties And Interfacial Stress Transfer Of 2d Layered Graphene-Polymer Nanocompsites, Colton C. Roach

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Graphene, a monolayer of sp²-hybridized carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) lattice, is one of the most important 2D nanomaterials and has attracted tremendous attentions due to its unique geometric characteristics and exceptional mechanical properties. One of the most promising applications of this 2D nanomaterial is in polymer nanocomposites, in which the ultra-stiff, ultra-thin graphene layers function as reinforcement fillers. However, two significant questions remain to be answered: (1) whether the mechanical behaviors of 2D graphene reinforced nanocomposites can be analyzed by the convention composite theory, which is developed primarily for one-dimensional (1D) fiber-type of fillers, and …

Large-Scale Graphene Film Deposition For Monolithic Device Fabrication, Khaled Al-Shurman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 1958, the concept of integrated circuit (IC) has achieved great technological developments and helped in shrinking electronic devices. Nowadays, an IC consists of more than a million of compacted transistors.

The majority of current ICs use silicon as a semiconductor material. According to Moore's law, the number of transistors built-in on a microchip can be double every two years. However, silicon device manufacturing reaches its physical limits. To explain, there is a new trend to shrinking circuitry to seven nanometers where a lot of unknown quantum effects such as tunneling effect can not be controlled. Hence, there is an …