Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Functional Bio-Nano Hybrids Through A Precise Control Of Interfacial Interactions At The Nanoscale, Sirimuvva Tadepalli

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During the course of evolution, proteins have evolved to perform exquisite functions including structural support, signal transduction, actuation, sensing, catalysis, trafficking, gating, light-harvesting, charge transfer, molecular recognition, self-assembly, self-organization, or combinations of two or more of these functions. A precise control and manipulation of the structure and function of proteins is conceivable with the advent of nanotechnology, which has facilitated the integration of nanomaterials with functional biomolecules to realize bio-nano hybrids with synergistically enhanced functionalities.

At the genesis of bionanotechnology, a paucity in the fundamental understanding of the bio-nano interfaces is a grave impediment to the progress of the field. …

Fabrication And Modification Of Titania Nanotube Arrays For Harvesting Solar Energy And Drug Delivery Applications, Ahmed El Ruby Abdel Rahman Mohamed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The fast diminishing of fossil fuels in the near future, as well as the global warming caused by increasing greenhouse gases have motivated the urgent quest to develop advanced materials as cost-effective photoanodes for solar light harvesting and many other photocatalytic applications. Recently, titania nanotube arrays (TNTAs) fabricated by anodization process has attracted great interest due to their excellent properties such as: high surface area, vertically oriented, highly organized, one-dimensional, nanotubular structure, photoactivity, chemical stability and biocompatibility. This unique combination of excellent properties makes TNTAs an excellent photoanode for solar light harvesting. However, the relatively wide band gap energy of …

Incorporation Of Catalytic Modalities For Forming Of A Catalytic Cascade, Albert T. Perry Iii

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

This dissertation investigates the novel incorporation of inorganic and enzymatic catalysts. There is little literature on inorganic catalysts operating at biologically relevant pHs and as such a significant amount of this dissertation focuses on determination of catalyst activity. Mn amino-anitpyrene (MnAAPyr), Pt, Pt alloys, Mn-N-C and Pd catalysts on 3D graphene supports(3D-GNS), were explored for activity towards glycerol intermediates: oxalic acid, mesoxalic acid, glyoxalic acid, and formic acid. MnAAPyr was designed to mimic the reaction center of oxalate decarboxylase and oxalate oxidaze, the natural catalyst towards oxalic acid. It showed high activity towards oxalic acid, with onset potentials of 0.714±0.002V …

Fundamental Characterization Of Oxygen Nanobubbles, John Hamlin, Yi Wen, Joseph Irudayaraj

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

A hypoxic environment is created by tumors’ incredible growth rate. Hypoxia provides radioresistance to the tumors, thus making radiation treatment less effective. The issue is that increasing the radiation leads to increased side effects in patients. Our goal for the oxygen-filled nanobubble is to deliver oxygen to the tumor to lessen radioresistance and make radiation treatment more efficient. However, we need preliminary research to understand and improve the nanobubbles before further research and implementation. To do this, we synthesized different batches of nanobubbles to optimize the production method and find the best container and temperature to store nanobubbles. We measured …

Bisphosphonate Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles For The Study And Treatment Of Osteoporotic Disease, Christopher Conners

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of nanoparticles for disease treatment is an increasingly popular area of research. The potential for multi-functionality allows nanoparticles to be used as transport and delivery vehicles for drugs and as diagnostic aides, among other applications, to address the unmet needs of many disease treatments. One such class of disease is osteoporosis including severe disorders, like Paget’s disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Legg Calve Perthes disease. In this dissertation, we discuss a nanoparticle system consisting of gold nanoparticles surface functionalized with primary amine bisphosphonates, which is a classification of pharmaceuticals that is common in the treatment of osteoporosis. Functionalized nanoparticles …

Method And Shear-Driven Micro-Fluidic Pump, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

United States Patent Application, Publication Number US 2017/0096990 A1, Publication Date April 6, 2017.

An example includes an apparatus to pump a fluid. The apparatus includes a housing extending along a length defining an elongate interior, an actuator in the housing, conforming to the elongate interior, the actuator including a plurality of lumens, each having a length extending substantially parallel to the elongate interior, each from around 10 to 200 micrometers across and an actuator configured to oscillate the actuator in the actuator housing along the length of the elongate interior with a rate differential between movement in a first …

Structural Mrsa Resistance Through Carbon-Infiltrated Carbon Nanotube Coating Of External Fixator Pins, Jaclyn Larsen, Stephanie Morco, Brian Jensen, Anton Bowden

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Nonlinear Model For The Prediction Of Response Times Of Glucose Affinity Sensors Using Concanavalin A And Dextran And The Development Of A Differential Osmotic Glucose Affinity Sensor, Louis G. Reis

Doctoral Dissertations

With the increasing prevalence of diabetes in the United States and worldwide, blood glucose monitoring must be accurate and reliable. Current enzymatic sensors have numerous disadvantages that make them unreliable and unfavorable among patients. Recent research in glucose affinity sensors correct some of the problems that enzymatic sensors experience. Dextran and concanavalin A are two of the more common components used in glucose affinity sensors. When these sensors were first explored, a model was derived to predict the response time of a glucose affinity sensor using concanavalin A and dextran. However, the model assumed the system was linear and fell …

Fabrication Of Flexible, Biofunctional Architectures From Silk Proteins, Ramendra K. Pal

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in the biomedical field require functional materials and processes that can lead to devices that are biocompatible, and biodegradable while maintaining high performance and mechanical conformability. In this context, a current shift in focus is towards natural polymers as not only the structural but also functional components of such devices. This poses material-specific functionalization and fabrication related questions in the design and fabrication of such systems. Silk protein biopolymers from the silkworm show tremendous promise in this regard due to intrinsic properties: mechanical performance, optical transparency, biocompatibility, biodegradability, processability, and the ability to entrap and stabilize biomolecules. The unique …