Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Manufacturing Of Carbon-Based Hybrid Nanocomposites With Engineered Functionalities Via Laser Ablation Synthesis In Solution (Lasis) Techniques, Erick Leonardo Ribeiro

Doctoral Dissertations

Carbon-based composite materials have long been fabricated and extensively used in our daily lives. In the past decades, with rapid development of nanotechnology, these class of material have gained even more attention owing to their outstanding properties which directly results in their prospects to revolutionize technological development in many fields, ranging from medicine to electronics. Nevertheless, for certain applications, including electrochemical energy storage/conversion devices, the chemically inert nature of these materials creates obstacles and thus requires their coupling with other active species. This thesis explores the use of Laser Ablation Synthesis in Solution (LASiS) in tailoring promising strategies and pathways …

Nanostructured Metal Thin Films As Components Of Composite Membranes For Separations And Catalysis, Michael J. Detisch

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Novel metallic thin film composite membranes are synthesized and evaluated in this work for improved separations and catalysis capabilities. Advances in technology that allow for improved membrane performance in solvent separations are desirable for low molecular weight organic separation applications such as those in pharmaceutical industries. Additionally, the introduction of catalytic materials into membrane systems allow for optimization of complex processes in a single step. By adding a nanostructured metallic thin film to its surface, a polymer membrane may be modified to exhibit these improved properties. Using magnetron sputtering, thin metal films may be deposited on commercially available membranes to …

Engineering Nanomaterials For Imaging And Therapy Of Bacteria And Biofilm-Associated Infections, Akash Gupta

Doctoral Dissertations

Infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose a serious global burden of mortality, causing thousands of deaths each year. The “superbug” risk is further exacerbated by chronic infections generated from antibiotic-resistant biofilms that are highly resistant to available treatments. Synthetic macromolecules such as polymers and nanoparticles have emerged as promising antimicrobials. Moreover, ability to modulate nanomaterial interaction with bacterial cellular systems plays a pivotal role in improving the efficacy of the strategy. In the initial studies on engineering nanoparticle surface chemistry, I investigated the role played by surface ligands in determining the antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles. In further study, …

Electrocatalytic Nanomaterials For Reduction Of Hydrogen Peroxide As Potential Radioprotectors, Rui-Hong Jia, Jin-Xuan Zhang, Xiao-Dong Zhang, Mei-Xian Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nanomaterials have shown many potential application prospects in the biomedical field, such as medical imaging, drug delivery and biosensing due to their unique physical and chemical properties. In this review we focus on nanomaterials that have shown not only abilities of radiation protection, but also good electrocatalytic activities toward reduction reactions of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. We discuss the abilities of radiation protection of these nanomaterials that are ascribed to their enzyme-like activities because their catalytic properties provide an effective pathway for scavenging free radicals in vivo via rapid reactions with reactive oxygen species. We also provide insights into electrocatalytic …

Iron-Containing Nanoparticles For The Treatment Of Chrionic Biofilm Infections In Cystic Fibrosis, Leisha M. A. Martin

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic disease resulting in the morbidity and mortality of Caucasian children and adults worldwide. Due to a genetic mutation resulting in malfunction of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein, CF patients produce highly viscous mucus in their respiratory tract. This leads to impairment of the mucociliary clearance of inhaled microbes. In addition to reduced microbial clearance, anoxic environmental conditions in the lungs promote biofilm-mode growth of the pathogenic bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chronic infections of P. aeruginosa begin in early childhood and typically persist until respiratory failure and death result. The …

Recent Advances In Non-Noble Metal Nanomaterials For Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis, Dan-Dan Zhao, Nan Zhang, Ling-Zheng Bu, Qi Shao, Xiao-Qing Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Hydrogen is a kind of renewable energies with the merits of environmentally friendly, abundance and high weight energy density, which can replace the fossil energy. The electrolysis of water is regarded as the most effective way to generate hydrogen. Owing to the sluggish kinetics and large overpotential of the anode oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the efficiency of the cathode hydrogen evolution reaction is greatly limited. Therefore, it is highly desirable to explore efficient, stable and low cost electrocatalysts to reduce the overpotential of OER and improve the efficiency of hydrogen evolution. Based on the natural characteristics of non-noble metal catalysts …

Opto-Thermal Characterization Of Plasmon And Coupled Lattice Resonances In 2-D Metamaterial Arrays, Vinith Bejugam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Growing population and climate change inevitably requires longstanding dependency on sustainable sources of energy that are conducive to ecological balance, economies of scale and reduction of waste heat. Plasmonic-photonic systems are at the forefront of offering a promising path towards efficient light harvesting for enhanced optoelectronics, sensing, and chemical separations. Two-dimensional (2-D) metamaterial arrays of plasmonic nanoparticles arranged in polymer lattices developed herein support thermoplasmonic heating at off-resonances (near infrared, NIR) in addition to regular plasmonic resonances (visible), which extends their applicability compared to random dispersions. Especially, thermal responses of 2-D arrays at coupled lattice resonance (CLR) wavelengths were comparable …

Doped Tio2 Nanowires For Applications In Dye Sensitized Solar Cells And Sacrifical Hydrogen Production, Qasem Alsharari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores the synthesis of metal oxide 1-D nanowires using a sol-gel method in supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO₂), as an environmental friendly enabling solvent. Porous nanowires were synthesized and their performance was tested in dye sensitized solar cell and sacrifical hydrogen production. Titanium isopropoxide (TIP) was used as a precursor for titania synthesis while copper, bismuth and indium were examined as dopants, respectively. The sol-gel reactions were catalyzed by acetic acid in CO₂ at a temperature of 60 °C and pressure of 5000 psi. It was observed that acetic acid/monomer ratio > 4 produced nanowires while a …

Novel Nanostructured Materials For Solar Fuel Production And Advanced Rechargeable Batteries, Cunyu Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Non-renewable fossil fuels are the major sources to meet the energy, electricity and transportation demands of today's world. The over consumption of fossil fuels will lead to the increasing energy crisis and disastrous effects such as air pollution, global warming etc.

The primary greenhouse gas is CO2 mainly emits from the combustion of fossil fuels. Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 using sunlight as the energy input is a promising way to reduce CO2 level in the atmosphere and in the meantime produce alternative fuels such as CO, methane, methanol, etc. Among the various photocatalyst materials reported, nanomaterial TiO2 is the most …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Glucose On Nano Pt/C Electrode, Cui-Lian Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nano Pt/C electrocatalysts were prepared by intermittent microwave heating method.The electrooxidation of glucose on smooth Pt and～Pt/C electrodes has been studied and compared.The results showed that the electrochemical properties on nano Pt/C were improved due to the reduction of the overpotential and the increase in the kinetic rate.The surface area would be significantly increased when the particle size of the catalyst was reduced to nano-scale,resulting in the increase in the activity.The enhancement in the resistance to poisoning could be explained that the oxygen-containing species are easier to react with poisoning species on nano Pt/C and re-active the electrode.