Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Steerable Acoustically Powered Starfish-Inspired Microrobot, Cornel Dillinger, Justin Knipper, Nitesh Nama, Daniel Ahmed

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Soft polymeric microrobots that can be loaded with nanocargoes and driven via external field stimuli can provide innovative solutions in various fields, including precise microscale assembly, targeted therapeutics, microsurgery, and the capture and degradation of unwanted wastewater fragments. However, in aquatic environments, it remains challenging to operate with microrobotic devices due to the predominant viscous resistances and the robots’ limited actuation and sensing capabilities attributed to their miniaturization. The miniature size prevents the incorporation of onboard batteries that can provide sufficient power for propulsion and navigation, necessitating a wireless power supply. Current research examines untethered microrobot manipulation using external magnetic, …

Transepithelial Electrical Impedance Increase Following Porous Substrate Electroporation Enables Label-Free Delivery, Justin R. Brooks, Tyler C. Heiman, Sawyer R. Lorenzen, Ikhlaas Mungloo, Siamak Mirfendereski, Jae Sung Park, Ruiguo Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Porous substrate electroporation (PSEP) is a promising new method for delivering molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids into cells for biomedical research. Although many applications have been demonstrated, fundamentals of the PSEP delivery process are not yet well understood, partly because most PSEP studies rely solely on fluorescent imaging for evaluating delivery and quantifying successful outcomes. Although effective, only utilizing imaging alone limits our understanding of the intermediate processes leading to intracellular delivery. Since PSEP is an electrical process, electrical impedance measurements are a natural addition to fluorescent imaging for PSEP characterization. In this study, we developed an integrated …

Increased Ductility Of Ti-6al-4v By Interlayer Milling During Directed Energy Deposition, Rakeshkumar Karunakaran, Luz D. Sotelo, Hitarth Maharaja, Calsey Nez, Monsuru Ramoni, Scott Halliday, Sushil Mishra, Joseph A. Turner, Michael P. Sealy

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Additive manufacturing (AM) often results in high strength but poor ductility in titanium alloys. Hybrid AM is a solution capable of improving both ductility and strength. In this study, hybrid AM of Ti-6Al-4V was achieved by coupling directed energy deposition with interlayer machining. The microstructure, residual stress, and microhardness were examined to explain how interlayer machining caused a 63% improvement in ductility while retaining an equivalent strength to as-printed samples. Interlayer machining introduced recurrent interruptions in printing that allowed for slow cooling-induced coarsening of acicular α laths at the machined interfaces. The coarse α laths on the selectively machined layers …

Acoustophoresis Around An Elastic Scatterer In A Standing Wave Field, Khemraj Gautam Kshetri, Nitesh Nama

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Acoustofluidic systems often employ prefabricated acoustic scatterers that perturb the imposed acoustic field to realize the acoustophoresis of immersed microparticles. We present a numerical study to investigate the timeaveraged streaming and radiation force fields around a scatterer. Based on the streaming and radiation force field, we obtain the trajectories of the immersed microparticles with varying sizes and identify a critical transition size at which the motion of immersed microparticles in the vicinity of a prefabricated scatterer shifts from being streaming dominated to radiation dominated. We consider a range of acoustic frequencies to reveal that the critical transition size decreases with …

Overview Of Various Components Of Lateral Flow Immunochromatography Assay For The Detection Of Mycotoxins And Limit Of Detection In Food Samples: A Systematic Review, Vinayak Sharma, Thasmin Shahjahan, Bilal Javed, Furong Tian

Articles

The detection of aflatoxins is essential for the food industry to ensure the safety and quality of food products before their release to the market. The lateral-flow immunochromatography assay (LFIA) is a simple technique that allows the rapid on-site detection of aflatoxins. The purpose of this review is to evaluate and compare the limits of detection reported in the most recent research articles, published between the years of 2015 and 2023. The limits of detection (LODs) were compared against the particle type and particle size, as well as other variables, to identify trends and correlations among the parameters. A growing …

Interfacial Thermomechanical Behavior Of Hybrid Carbon Fibers, Sriraj Srihari

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The carbon fiber/epoxy interface is of great importance in composite design due to its load transfer mechanisms from the weak epoxy to the stronger fiber. Improving the strength of the interface reduces the risk of failure at the interface and improves the load transfer to the fiber. In this study, two types of nano-species ZnO nanowires and nickel-based metal organic frameworks were grown on carbon fibers to improve the interfaces. The interfacial mechanics of the enhanced fibers are evaluated using nanoindentation studies. Composite samples with Aeropoxy matrix and vertically aligned fibers are fabricated for this purpose. A Bruker TI-980 TriboIndenter …

Study Of All-Group-Iv Sigesn Mid-Ir Lasers With Dual Wavelength Emission, Grey Abernathy, Solomon Ojo, Abdulla Said, Joshua M. Grant, Yiyin Zhou, Hryhorii Stanchu, Wei Du, Baohua Li, Shui-Qing Yu

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Direct band gap GeSn alloys have recently emerged as promising lasing source materials for monolithic integration on Si substrate. In this work, optically pumped mid-infrared GeSn lasers were studied with the observation of dual-wavelength lasing at 2187 nm and 2460 nm. Two simultaneous lasing regions include a GeSn buffer layer (bulk) and a SiGeSn/GeSn multiple quantum well structure that were grown seamlessly using a chemical vapor deposition reactor. The onset of dual lasing occurs at 420 kW/cm². The wider bandgap SiGeSn partitioning barrier enables the independent operation of two gain regions. While the better performance device in terms …

Investigation Of Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields (Nspef) Induced Anti-Cancer Mechanism And Enhanced B16f10 Melanoma Cancer Treatment, Kamal Asadipour

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The use of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) has emerged as a promising area of research with vast implications across various scientific disciplines. The ability to generate ultra-short, high-voltage electric pulses has paved the way for numerous applications, ranging from fundamental investigations of biological phenomena to the development of innovative medical therapies. The aim of this thesis is to highlight the importance of nsPEF in two critical areas: 1) Understanding the impact of subtle postpulse waveforms through a comprehensive analysis of two common pulse generators and 2) using this knowledge to advance melanoma treatment by enhancing the therapeutic effect of …

Engineered Exosomes For The Multimodal Imaging Directed Photo-Immunotherapy Of Colorectal Cancer, Deepak S. Chauhan, Meena Jaggi, Subhash C. Chauhan, Murali M. Yallapu

Research Symposium

Background: Rio Grande Valley experience severe cancer health disparity. A novel therapeutic modality may serve as better therapeutic option. Nanohybrids endowed with multifunctionality, longer circulation time, large surface area have emerged as an active preference for cancer research. However, rising concern of nanomaterials toxicity and scalability issues has slowed their translation to clinics. Exosomes (Exo) are endogenous endocytic origin 40-100 nm vesicles found in various body fluids, which in comparison to synthetic nanoparticles, are biodegradable, highly biocompatible as well as immunocompatible in nature. Although bulk isolation of exosomes from human body fluids is still a problem and engineering of exosomes …

Biocidal Properties Of Hybrid Nanonanomaterial, Chandrasekaran Karthikeyan, Kokkarachedu Varaprasad

Research Symposium

Background: Cancer is one of the essential unpredictable diseases worldwide; simultaneously, complicated issues created are by the human health system. Especially, breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women and is increasing remarkably in developing countries. It is a leading cause of cancer death in women, and breast cancer incidence rates are growing globally. To diagnose and treat cancer cells, different methods such as Radiation Therapy, Surgery, and Chemotherapy. These methods are high risk, more side effects, and high costs. The advanced healthcare material was developed to overcome this problem, inexpensive tools, and diagnosis of less-toxic drugs with …

The Role Of Nanofluids In Renewable Energy Engineering, M. M. Bhatti, K. Vafai, Sara I. Abdelsalam

Basic Science Engineering

No abstract provided.

L(D)-Tyrosine-Mediated One-Step Chiral Graphene Production For Chirality-Dependent Sensing, Fnu Pranav, Ali Ashraf, Meena Jaggi, Subhash C. Chauhan, Murali M. Yallapu

Research Symposium

Background: Chirality has been the most iconic phenomenon that occurred in nature. The idea of mirror-image asymmetry associated with the biological entity is still unsolved The emergence of 2D layered nanomaterials which have already shown amazing properties and a wide range of applications, especially in the areas of sensing.Amino acids enantiomers have similar physical and chemical properties however their physiological responses get changed based on the enantiomers. For example, L from amino acids helps body in protein formation, and generation of biological signals etc. whereas the D-form may cause toxic effects. We have developed a novel and facile synthesis method …

Asymmetric Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces For High-Performance Rechargeable Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Jia Chou, Ya-Hui Wang, Wen-Peng Wang, Sen Xin, Yu-Guo Guo

Journal of Electrochemistry

With a high cell-level specific energy and a low cost, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery has been intensively studied as one of the most promising candidates for competing the next-generation energy storage campaign. Currently, the practical use of Li-S battery is hindered by the rapidly declined storage performance during battery operation, as caused by irreversible loss of electroactive sulfide species at the cathode, dendrite formation at the anode and parasitic reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface due to unfavorable cathode-anode crosstalk. In this perspective, we propose to stabilize the Li-S electrochemistry, and improve the storage performance of battery by designing asymmetric electrode-electrolyte interfaces …

Stomatal Opening Efficiency Is Controlled By Cell Wall Organization In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Sedighe Keynia, Leila Jaafar, You Zhou, Charles T. Anderson, Joseph A. Turner

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Stomatal function in plants is regulated by the nanoscale architecture of the cell wall and turgor pressure, which together control stomatal pore size to facilitate gas exchange and photosynthesis. The mechanical properties of the cell wall and cell geometry are critical determinants of stomatal dynamics. However, the specific biomechanical functions of wall constituents, for example, cellulose and pectins, and their impact on the work required to open or close the stomatal pore are unclear. Here, we use nanoindentation in normal and lateral directions, computational modeling, and microscopic imaging of cells from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate the precise …

Quantifying Temperature-, Pressure-, And Nuclear Quantum Effects On Hydrophobic And Hydrophilic Water-Mediated Interactions, Justin T. Engstler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Water-mediated interactions (WMIs) are responsible for diverse processes in aqueous solutions, including protein folding and nanoparticle aggregation. WMI may be affected by changes in temperature and pressure, and hence, they can alter chemical/physical processes that occur in aqueous environments. Traditionally, attention has been focused on hydrophobic interactions while, in comparison, the role of hydrophilic and hybrid (hydrophobic–hydrophilic) interactions have been mostly overlooked. Here, we study the role of T and P on the WMI between nanoscale (i) hydrophobic–hydrophobic, (ii) hydrophilic–hydrophilic, and (iii) hydrophilic–hydrophobic pairs of (hydroxylated/non-hydroxylated) graphene-based surfaces. We find that hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and hybrid interactions are all sensitive to …

Guar-Based Injectable Hydrogel For Drug Delivery And In Vitro Bone Cell Growth, Humandra Poudel, Ambar R. Rangumagar, Pooja Singh, Adeolu Oluremi, Nawab Ali, Fumiya Watanabe, Joseph Batta-Mpouma, Jin-Woo Kim, Ahona Ghosh, Anindya Ghosh

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Injectable hydrogels offer numerous advantages in various areas, which include tissue engineering and drug delivery because of their unique properties such as tunability, excellent carrier properties, and biocompatibility. These hydrogels can be administered with minimal invasiveness. In this study, we synthesized an injectable hydrogel by rehydrating lyophilized mixtures of guar adamantane (Guar-ADI) and poly-β-cyclodextrin (p-βCD) in a solution of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) maintained at pH 7.4. The hydrogel was formed via host-guest interaction between modified guar (Guar-ADI), obtained by reacting guar gum with 1-adamantyl isocyanate (ADI) and p-βCD. Comprehensive characterization of all synthesized materials, including the hydrogel, was performed using …

Construction And Performance Optimization Of Bioconjugated Nanosensors For Early Detection Of Breast Cancer And Pro-Inflammatory Diseases, Pooja Gaikwad

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years, nanosensors have emerged as a tool with strong potential in medical diagnostics. Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based optical nanosensors have notably garnered interest due to the unique characteristics of their near-infrared fluorescence emission, including tissue transparency, photostability, and various chiralities with discrete absorption and fluorescence emission bands. Additionally, the optoelectronic properties of SWCNT are sensitive to the surrounding environment, which makes them suitable for in vitro and in vivo biosensing. Single-stranded (ss) DNA-wrapped SWCNTs have been reported as optical nanosensors for cancers and metabolic diseases. Breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of death …

Tunable Linear And Nonlinear Metasurfaces Based On Hybrid Gold-Graphene Plasmons, Matthew Feinstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Optical Metasurfaces are planar structures that are patterned with subwavelength structures and are very thin compared to the wavelength of light. Despite their thinness, these structured materials can strongly interact with incident light to effect the functionalities of conventional optical components, such as rotation of the polarization state, beam steering, lensing, spectral filtering, and holography, to name a few. Metasurfaces can also facilitate nonlinear optical effects, such as the mixing of beams at different frequencies to generate a beam at a new frequency.

The ability to alter the behavior of a metasurface during operation is highly desired for applications such …

A Review Of Nano And Microscale Heat Transfer: An Experimental And Molecular Dynamics Perspective, Samyabrata Chatterjee, Paras, Han Hu, Monojit Chakraborty

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Significant progress in the development of micro and nanoscale devices has been observed for the past three decades. The thermal transportation in these small-length scales varies significantly, and it is difficult to explain the underlying physics using the pre-existing theoretical formulations. When the bulk dimension of a system is comparable to or smaller than the mean free path (MFP) of the thermal carriers, classical theories, such as Fourier’s Law of heat conduction, are unable to accurately explain the system energy dynamics. The phenomena of energy transit and conversion at the micro to nanoscale is an interesting topic of research due …

Synergistic Effect Of Air Sparging In Separation Via Nano-Carbon Immobilized Membrane Distillation Process And Optimization, Mitun Chandra Bhoumick

Dissertations

Membrane distillation (MD) has gained significant popularity as a separation and purification technique in diverse domains, such as saline/brackish water treatment, organic recovery, and wastewater treatment. The objective of this research is to advance MD by developing a novel air sparged membrane distillation in treating saline water, recovering solvents, and achieving preconcentration. To optimize the flux and selectivity in membrane distillation, the study also employed a response surface method based on a central composite rotatable design.

In this study, a novel air-sparged membrane distillation (ASMD) is introduced for the treatment of saline water, utilizing a nanocarbon immobilized membrane. The performance …