Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Synthesis Of Difluoromethyl And Monofluoromethyl Ketones For Biological Evaluation At The Gaba-B Receptor, Mallory Maier

Honors Theses

The central nervous system communicates using neurotransmitters. Most are excitatory neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin, but

Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Cannabinoid Receptor Ligands, Mariah Leigh Cole

Honors Theses

The cannabinoid receptors, members of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, have been implicated in numerous human physiological functions and diseases. These receptors, cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid type 2 (CB2), are most concentrated in the central nervous system and immune cells, respectively, and have each become a target of therapeutic interest. Dual CB1/CB2 agonists such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannbinol (THC) have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of nausea, pain, and glaucoma, but suffer from psychotropic effects mediated by CB1, motivating the search for CB2 selective therapeutic agents. Selective modulation of the CB2 receptor has therapeutic potential in human health disorders …

Reducing The Interfacial Tension Of Magnetic Surfactants In Magnetic Fields, Rachel Anne Stanhope

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the theory, experimental research methods, and findings of the effects that magnetic fields have on the interfacial tension of magnetic surfactant solutions. Analyzing how magnetic fields affect the properties of magnetic surfactants, including interfacial tension, is the first step to creating low energy, magnetic field induced separations to address the problem of growing energy demands for chemical and biological separations [1]. Surfactants are organic structures that contain both a hydrophilic head group and a hydrophobic tail, which aggregate toward the interface of solutions and decrease the interfacial tension until the critical micelle concentration is reached. Magnetic surfactants …

A Regional Study Of Wilcox Reservoirs In The Deepwater Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Margaret Elizabeth Dice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Deepwater Wilcox trend covers more than 34,000 mi2, extending from the northwestern block, Alaminos Canyon, to Keathley Canyon, and to the north-central block, Walker Ridge. The Wilcox trend is widely studied in the oil and gas industry as it has significant proven hydrocarbons, but has considerable economic challenges due to the reservoir characteristics. The purpose of this study is to provide a regional study of the Wilcox reservoir economics and quality. Great white field is the most successful Wilcox field located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and Jack and St. Malo are the most successful Wilcox fields located …

Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Composite Membrane For Co2 Capture, Pacharaporn Yaisanga

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Membrane gas absorption (MGA) was applied for carbon dioxide capture due to its unique potential, such as independent adjustment of gas and liquid, compact equipment installation, and sizable module. However, a major issue of MGA is membrane wetting, causing lower absorption efficiency and membrane damages. Hydrophobicity is one of the key parameters to improve membrane property for solving such problem. This thesis focused on using carbon nanotubes as the filler to composite with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PDVF) via a phase inversion technique to improve membranes hydrophobicity. In case of PAN, the results showed that the addition of CNT …

Novel Shape Memory Polymer From Bio-Based Polybenzoxazine/Bio-Based Epoxy Copolymers, Phakakrong Hombunma

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are known as smart polymer materials which can be deformed and fixed in a temporary shape and can recover to its original shape upon an external stimulus such as temperature which is the main stimulus for general SMPs. In this research, a renewable natural resource based on vanillin-furfurylamine benzoxazine (V-fa) and eugenol-furfurylamine benzoxazine (E-fa) are developed to substitute the use of petroleum based polybenzoxazine. The as-synthesized V-fa and E-fa show the degradation temperature at 5% weight loss to be as high as 343 and 310°C and char content to be 66 and 54%, respectively. Effects of …

Impacts Of Aplysina Red Band Syndrome On Secondary Metabolite Profiles And Antibacterial Activity Of The Caribbean Sponge Genus Aplysina, Mafie Claire Vickers

Honors Theses

Coral reef ecosystems continue to decline due to abiotic and biotic factors, including disease. Although much of the existing scientific literature has focused on coral diseases, reports of sponge diseases have been increasing. This is a cause for concern, as sponges are increasingly dominant components of coral reef communities, where they are responsible for a wide range of ecological functions. A sponge disease of particular interest is Aplysina Red Band Syndrome (ARBS), which impacts the Caribbean's most abundant genus of sponges, Aplysina. Three morphotypes of branching sponges within this genus are affected, including Aplysina fulva, and the thin and thick …

Effects Of Corrosion Inhibitor On The Corrosion Behavior Of Low Carbon Steel In Co2 Environment, Michael Harris

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The effectiveness of Benzalkonium chloride (C14) as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in an aqueous CO₂ environment was studied for dual use. It is a known biocide and currently untested corrosion inhibitor. Potentiodynamic polarization was used to determine the anodic and cathodic reaction kinetics through analysis of the potentiodynamic curves and the corrosion current densities. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was utilized to analyze the surface characteristics through analysis of the Nyquist and Bode plots. C1010 and C1018 mild steel were tested in a 200mL jacketed Gamery cell, and purged with CO₂ (99.9%). Temperature effects were studied and …

Evaluation Of Epoxy Coatings For Protecting Aluminum Alloy 2024 From Corrosion Caused By Aspergillus Niger, Kamshat Dukenbaeva

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The aim of this study was to assess the potentials of using epoxy coatings for the prevention of fungus-induced corrosion. The metal specimen of interest was the aluminum alloy AA 2024-T3. The main intent was to evaluate the behavior of the organic acid producing fungus, Aspergillus niger (A. niger), towards the epoxy-coated aluminum. Two different types of epoxy coatings were used: a two-part resin and a commercially-available Rust-Oleum Specialty Appliance Epoxy. Due to challenges encountered throughout the length of the project and time constraints, limited quantitative data was obtained. However, from optical and visual data it can be concluded that …

Controlled Humidity Chambers To Maintain Red Roses’ Freshness And Improve Their Shelf Life, Rima Vasudevan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Floriculture is the third largest agricultural crop in the United States of America. Flowers are usually transported in pots of mud or with the roots still submerged in water to increase their shelf life and ensure freshness during long hours of transport. This not only increases the weight of the transport materials but also makes the process expensive.

The research conducted provides the first stages of an alternative packaging material that can lower the weight of transport materials and maintain the freshness of the flowers. The experiments conducted in this work support the hypothesis that using controlled high (>60%) …

The Influence Of Light On The Electrochemical Characteristics Of Pure Aluminum, Hongbo M. Cong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this work was to study the influence of light (wave length ~ 460 nm) on the electrochemical characteristics of pure aluminum. The open circuit potential (OCP) measurements, potentiostatic polarization, cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and Zero Resistance Ammetry (ZRA) were performed in 0.1 M NaCl solution. It was observed that the incident light shifted the OCP in the noble direction by 100 mV. Furthermore, ZRA was performed to measure the galvanic current between illuminated and non-illuminated aluminum electrodes. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization tests revealed the influence of light on the pitting potential, passive current density, corrosion current density, and repassivation …

Design Of Rubber Extraction Process From Tks Dandelion, Trevor A. Cody

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A design was developed for a controlled environment agriculture 3D greenhouse to grow and harvest TKS dandelions, as well as a processing plant to extract natural rubber and inulin from the roots. The design capacity was scaled for both pilot- and full-scale production: 100 and 100,000 tonnes of natural rubber per year, respectively. The byproducts of the process were dandelion greens, inulin, cellulose, and glucose; all of these except for cellulose were able to be valorized. The greenhouse was designed based on existing 3D hydroponic growing environments, and the extraction process was designed based on the original TKS dandelion extraction …

Design Of Natural Rubber Extraction From Tks Dandelion, Jehad S. Alrawajfeh, Trevor Cody, Jason Pogozelski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A design was developed for a controlled environment agriculture 3D greenhouse to grow and harvest TKS dandelions, as well as a processing plant to extract natural rubber and inulin from the roots. The design capacity was scaled for both pilot- and full-scale production: 100 and 100,000 tonnes of natural rubber per year, respectively. The byproducts of the process were dandelion greens, inulin, cellulose, and glucose; all of these except for cellulose were able to be valorized. The greenhouse was designed based on existing 3D hydroponic growing environments, and the extraction process was designed based on the original TKS dandelion extraction …

Role Of Salt On Coating Failure, Kyle Krause

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important to understand the role of salt in the coating failure because it may influence the coating degradation mechanism that is related to coating performance. This project will study the role of salt on two types of organic coatings under two different immersion environment. The environment selected was 3.5% by weight sodium chloride solution and deionized (DI) water. The two coatings were Neorez 1080 (a waterborne polyurethane) and Joncryl 587-AC (a solvent borne polyurethane). Each coating was tested in each environment using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement which presented a total of four data sets. The equivalent circuit …

Characterization Of Polyurethane For Use As Substrate In Nanofiber Sensor For Biomedical Applications, Megan Theaker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project is to begin to determine properties of polymer nanocomposites that make a suitable substrate for nanofiber sensors. In this work, sensitivity of a sodium ion selective sensor constructed with polyurethane was used as a benchmark for comparison with sensors constructed with nylon-6. The sensors were characterized using contact angle and chronoamperometry. Using an ANOVA analysis, the results showed that the multi-walled carbon nanotube type was a significant factor on sensor response both with and without additional functionalization of the polymer by calixarene. The weight percentage of polyurethane in the electrospinning solution was also statistically significant …

Stability And Retention Enhancement Of Low Fouling Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid (Pss) And Polyethylene Glycol (Peg) Blend Films With Silane Coupling Agents, Sean Stybel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this research project was to apply silane coupling agents for enhanced stability and retention of a low fouling polymeric coating to an inorganic substrate. A blend of polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) was crosslinked in order to create a low fouling film. The film was prepared by spin coating a PSS-PEG solution on an inorganic substrate coated with a layer of a silane coupling agent (3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, APTES, solution), followed by thermal curing. The research was limited to less than one year and only used lab equipment available at the University of Akron. Stability and …

Platinum-Rhodium Alloy Electrocatalyst Activities In The Methanol Oxidation Reaction, William R. Sandorf

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study evaluates the electrochemical activity of several compositions of platinum-rhodium alloys on carbon support to identify potential replacements for the expensive platinum electrocatalysts currently used in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The electrochemical active surface areas (ECSAs) of each sample were determined using cyclic voltammetry (CV) in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution to normalize CV currents generated in the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The activity of five compositions was tested; Pt₃Rh, Pt₂Rh, PtRh, Pt₂Rh, and Pt₃Rh. 100 mg of each catalyst was synthesized at 10% by weight platinum …

Polarized Elastic Nanofiber Tubular Mat, Elizabeth Moore

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Abstract

The scope of this project is to find the optimal parameters to polarize a nanofiber membrane in a tubular geometry as spun on a metal spring. Several different recipes were tested for electrospinning and polarization. Some recipes proved unable to be electrospun. A polymer solution with 12 weight percent resulted in good fiber formation. The results from the polarization attempts proved inconclusive as the electrostatic surface charge did not appear to change. The readings were taken with an electrostatic field meter. As a future experiment a new measurement technique with a Faraday cage will be utilized.

Chemical Modification Of Crumb Rubber To Increase Its Bonding With Concrete, Mary T. Mccannon, Kendall J. Sweitzer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The hydrophilicity of crumb rubber was increased with wet chemical modification and added to concrete to increase its adhesion with concrete, consequently the compressive strength relative to that of concrete with untreated rubber. Other modification methods were tested on crumb rubber and rubber sheets to yield an increase in hydrophilicity. Certain tests were less reliable for powder testing or tedious and time consuming and concrete materials and rubber may not be homogeneous.

For wet chemical modification, several approaches were attempted. First, crumb rubber was soaked in 5% sodium hydroxide, 5% potassium permanganate and saturated sodium bisulfite, tested for hydrophilicity using …

Titanium Nanoparticles Synthesized Via Hydrothermal Reaction, Kyle W. Hodge

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The main goal of this project was to determine if increasing the time and temperature of a hydrothermally reacted titanium nanotube would increase the size of the nanotubes. Five experiments were conducted while varying the time and temperature of the reaction: 120°C for 24 hours, 120°C for 48 hours, 150°C for 24 hours, 180°C for 24 hours, and 180°C for 48 hours. Following the synthesis of all of these samples x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were performed. The XRD analysis revealed anatase titanium nanoparticles formed in the 120°C and 150°C samples, this could …