Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis, Characterization And Mechanistic Studies Of Biomolecules@Mesomofs, Yao Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Encapsulation of biomolecules is of great interest to research advances related to biology, physiology, immunology, and biochemistry, as well as industrial and biomedical applications such as drug delivery, biocatalysis, biofuel, food and cosmetics. Encapsulation provides functional characteristics that are not fulfilled by free biomolecules and stabilizes the fragile biomolecules. In terms of biocatalysis, solid support can often enhance the stability of enzymes, as well as facilitate separation and recovery for reuse while maintaining activity and selectivity. Various kinds of materials have been used for encapsulation of biomolecules, among which, porous materials are an important group. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted …

Analysis Of Critical Behavior In Magnetic Materials, Dustin David Belyea

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work contains a broad study of a variety of magnetic materials undergoing second order phase transitions. In general this leads to an overall increase in information and analytical methods to further the field of magnetocalorics. Specifically, critical aspects of magnetocaloric materials were compared within systems in relation to structure, stoichiometry, magnetic minority phases and magnetic contaminants. Detailed analyses were developed to quantify techniques which were in the past used mainly in a qualitative way, leading to a more complete understanding of how critical phenomena impacts the magnetocaloric response.

Homochiral Metal-Organic Materials: Design, Synthetic And Enantioseletive Separation, Shi-Yuan Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Owing to the growing demand for enantiopurity in biological and chemical processes, tremendous efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of homochiral metal-organic materials (MOMs) because of their potential applications in chiral separation and asymmetric catalysis. In this dissertation, the synthetic strategies for homochiral MOMs are discussed keeping the focus on their applications. Two distinct approaches have been taken to synthesize chiral structures with different topologies and accessible cavities. The chiral MOMs have been utilized in enantioselective separation of racemates.

Chiral variants of the prototypal metal-organic framework MOF-5, δ-CMOF-5 and [lambda]-CMOF-5, have been synthesized by preparing MOF-5 in the presence …

Investigation Of Energy Alignment Models At Polymer Interfaces, Wenfeng Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presented study investigated the Induced Density of Interface States (IDIS) model at different polymer interfaces by using photoemission spectroscopy in combination with electrospray deposition.

In recent years, organic electronics have attracted considerable attention due to their advantages of low-cost and easy-fabrication. The performance of such devices crucially depends on the energy barrier that controls the interface charge transfer. A significant effort has been made to explore the mechanisms that determine the direction and magnitude of charge transfer barriers in these devices. As a result of this effort, the IDIS model was developed to predict the energy alignment at metal/organic …

[M3(Μ3-O)(O2cr)6] And Related Trigonal Prisms: Versatile Molecular Building Blocks For 2-Step Crystal Engineering Of Functional Metal-Organic Materials, Alexander Schoedel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal-organic materials (MOMs) assembled from metal-based building blocks and organic linkers have attracted much interest due to their large pore dimensions and their enormous structural diversity. In comparison to their inorganic counterparts (zeolites), these crystalline materials can be easily modified to tailor pore dimensions and functionality for specifically targeted properties.

The work presented herein encompasses the development of a synthetic 2-step process for the construction of novel families of MOMs or 'platforms' and allow us exquisite design and control over the resulting network topologies. Examples of cationic mesoporous structures were initially exploited, containing carboxylate based centers connected by metal-pyridine bonds. …