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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Polyorganosiloxanes: Molecular Nanoparticles, Nanocomposites And Interfaces, Daniel H. Flagg Nov 2017

Polyorganosiloxanes: Molecular Nanoparticles, Nanocomposites And Interfaces, Daniel H. Flagg

Doctoral Dissertations

Five research projects described. First, a reproducible, lab-scale synthesis of MQ silicone copolymers is presented. MQ copolymers are commercially important materials that have been ignored by the academic community. One possible reason for this is the difficulty of controlling and reproducing the preparative copolymerizations that have been reported. A reproducible method for lab-scale preparation was developed that controls molecular weight by splitting the copolymerization into the discrete steps of sol growth from silicate precursor and end-capping by trimethylsiloxy groups. Characterization of MQ products implicates that they are composed of highly condensed, polycyclic structures. The MQ copolymers prepared in the first …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Imidazole-Containing Conjugated Polymers, Jared D. Harris Nov 2017

Synthesis And Characterization Of Imidazole-Containing Conjugated Polymers, Jared D. Harris

Doctoral Dissertations

Semiconducting conjugated polymers hold tremendous promise as active layers for transformative electronic devices. This materials class benefits from the structural variety provided by organic chemistry such that highly tunable band structures are attainable for as-synthesized polymers. This dissertation describes the synthesis and characterization of novel imidazole-containing conjugated polymers for the purposes of (de)protonating the as-synthesized materials gaining conjugated poly(ionomer)s. (De)protonation easily enables band structure modification through manipulation of the materials’ ionization potential and electron affinity. Controlled exposure to acids and bases led to reversible (de)protonation observable via UV-visible and photoluminescence spectroscopies. (De)protonation’s effects on polymeric band structures was empirically and …


Influence Of Biomimetic Chelating Packaging On Natural Antimicrobial Efficacy, Paul Castrale Oct 2017

Influence Of Biomimetic Chelating Packaging On Natural Antimicrobial Efficacy, Paul Castrale

Masters Theses

The iron chelating molecule, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is used in food applications for the preservation of oxidation prone ingredients. Research has suggested that EDTA is also capable of enhancing the antimicrobial effectiveness of various compounds including naturally-derived antimicrobials. With consumer demand for cleaner food labels, there remains an opportunity to introduce new chelating technology to replace synthetically-derived EDTA. Through photographting and chemical conversion, hydroxamic acid ligands were covalently bound to polypropylene films resulting in polypropylene-graft-poly(hydroxamic acid) (PP-g-PHA). The resulting films demonstrated an ability to chelate 64 nmol/cm2 from an iron saturated environment or 163 nmol/cm …


Stimuli Responsive Polymeric Nanogels For Hydrophobics & Hydrophilics Delivery, Kishore Raghupathi Jul 2017

Stimuli Responsive Polymeric Nanogels For Hydrophobics & Hydrophilics Delivery, Kishore Raghupathi

Doctoral Dissertations

Stimuli responsive nanoparticles have gained significant interest in the drug delivery research. The essential goal of drug delivery is to improve the efficacy of drugs by increasing their stability and bioavailability. Small molecule hydrophobic drugs face limited bioavailability due to their poor water solubility. Biologic drugs on the other hand, lack bioavailability because of their degradation by various enzymes encountered during blood circulation. For a systemic delivery approach, depending on site of drug action, delivery vehicles must pass through several contrasting micro environments before delivering the cargo selectively at the target site. Therefore, it is essential that a delivery vehicle …


Thiol-Ene Chemistry As An Enabler Of New Polymer Structures And Architectures, Joel M. Sarapas Mar 2017

Thiol-Ene Chemistry As An Enabler Of New Polymer Structures And Architectures, Joel M. Sarapas

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on two distinct projects: the synthesis and design of novel cell penetrating peptides mimics (CPPMs), and the implementation of the thiol-ene click reaction to generate new polymer architectures and chemistries. Guanidinium-rich CPPMs were generated through both ROMP and RAFT polymerizations, allowing for a comparison to be made across polymer backbone chemistries with respect to both siRNA and protein cellular internalization. A particularly effective methacrylate derived block copolymer was able to deliver siRNA to nearly an entire Jurkat T cell population. The thiol-ene reaction was implemented initially within the context of improving material design for solid polymer electrolytes …