Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

New Models For Estimating Minimum Miscibility Pressure Of Pure And Impure Carbon Dioxide Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques, Attia Attia, Ahmed Ashraf Soliman Eng., John Shahat Eng., Sayed Gomaa Prof., Fares Ashraf El Salamony Prof.

Petroleum Engineering and Gas

CO2 miscible flooding stands out as one of the most-commonly employed and promising processes in enhanced oil recovery. The key factor for ensuring success in designing and executing CO2 injection projects lies in the precise determination of the Minimum Miscibility Pressure (MMP). Despite significant research endeavors in measuring and predicting the MMP through the use of empirical, analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches, the need for a comprehensive, accurate, efficient, and easy-to-use model remains. In response to this gap, our study developed various predictive models with 205 datasets, including well-established ones such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), and …

Nanoparticles For Applications In Specific Diagnostics And Precision Medicine, Naxhije Berisha

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Heterogeneity is common in the expression of cancer and treatment response. Precision medicine enables healthcare providers to tailor medical care to an individual's distinct genetic and environmental makeup. This customization has the potential to result in more efficient treatments while minimizing side effects. We believe that by studying the interface of nanotechnology and cancer medicine we can elucidate innovative solutions that address the challenges of disease heterogeneity. This includes advancements in drug delivery, formulations development, and diagnostic sensing. We highlight three studies that use nanotechnology for applications in precision medicine. In Chapter 2, we highlight design optimization of drug formulations …

Rational Design Of Heterostructured Nanomaterials For Accelerating Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Kinetics In Alkaline Media, Hai-Bin Ma, Xiao-Yan Zhou, Jia-Yi Li, Hong-Fei Cheng, Ji-Wei Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Owing to the merits of high energy density, as well as clean and sustainable properties, hydrogen has been deemed to be a prominent alternative energy to traditional fossil fuels. Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been considered to be mostly promising for achieving green hydrogen production, and has been widely studied in acidic and alkaline solutions. In particular, HER in alkaline media has high potential to achieve large-scale hydrogen production because of the increased durability of electrode materials. However, for the currently most prominent catalyst Pt, its HER kinetics in an alkaline solution is generally 2–3 orders lower than that …

Monodispersed Cu-Tcpp/Cu2O Hybrid Microspheres: A Superior Cascade Electrocatalyst Toward Co2 Reduction To C2 Products, Zi-Xuan Wan, Aidar Kuchkaev, Dmitry Yakhvarov, Xiong-Wu Kang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable chemicals is a feasible way to mitigate the negative impacts of overmuch CO₂ emissions. Porphyrin-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are expected to be used for selective and efficient electrochemical CO₂ reduction (ECR) with porous structure and ordered active sites. Herein, we report the synthesis of a monodispersed and spherical organic/inorganic hybrid Cu-TCPP@Cu₂O electrocatalyst composed of Cu-TCPP (TCPP=tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin) and Cu₂O, where TCPP plays significant roles in regulating the morphology. In-situ formed Cu during ECR process in combination with Cu-TCPP (Cu-TCPP@Cu) can suppress …

Type-B Energetic Processes: Introduction And Invitation To Special Issue Of Energies, James Weifu Lee, Daniel P. Sheehan

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Currently, there is substantial scientific evidence for the existence of Type-B energetic processes on Earth, such as the naturally occurring transmembrane-electrostatically localized protons (TELP) thermotrophic properties in life [1]. A number of groundbreaking human-made Type-B energetic processes, including (but not limited to) “asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity production” [2], “epicatalysis generating a temperature difference between catalysis-asymmetric filaments” [3], “artificially made asymmetric membrane concentration cell” [4,5], “Fu’s experiment on heat–electric conversion using surface electron emission under a static magnetic field” [6], and the “dynamic processes in superconductors indicating Type-B energetic process” [7,8,9] have been invented and/or experimentally demonstrated. The innovative …

Nanoparticle Stabilized Interfaces And Their Effect On Foam Stability, Nicole T. Donovan

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Surface Modifications Of Lini0.96Co0.02Mn0.02O2 With Tungsten Oxide And Phosphotungstic Acid, Gang Zhao, Zheng-Liang Gong, Yi-Xiao Li, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

With the rapid development of electric vehicles, enormous demands are made for higher energy density, better cycling performance and lower cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). As an important high capacity cathode material for LIBs, the high nickel layered oxide material LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂(NCM811) can reach an energy density of 760 Wh·kg^-1. The ultra-high nickel ternary positive electrode material (LiNi_1-x-yCo_xMn_yO₂, x ≥ 0.90) has a specific capacity of more than 210 mAh·g^-1, and can realize higher energy density. Besides, an ultra-high nickel material …

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 …

Band Alignments Of Metal/Oxides-Water Interfaces Using Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics, Yong-Bin Zhuang, Jun Cheng

Journal of Electrochemistry

Band alignments of electrode-water interfaces are of crucial importance for understanding electrochemical interfaces. In the scenario of electrocatalysis, applied potentials are equivalent to the Fermi levels of metals in the electrochemical cells; in the scenario of photo(electro)catalysis, semiconducting oxides under illumination have chemical reactivities toward redox reactions if the redox potentials of the reactions straddle the conduction band minimums (CBMs) or valence band maximums (VBMs) of the oxides. Computational band alignments allow us to obtain the Fermi level of metals, as well as the CBM and VBM of semiconducting oxides with respect to reference electrodes. In this tutorial, we describe …

From Waste To Energy: The Electrochemical Reduction Of Co2 Using Recycled Nanostructured Catalysts, Ibrahim Badawy

Theses and Dissertations

The reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) using electrochemistry is a promising solution for the burgeoning global energy crisis. The overall vision of its implementation relies on renewable energy sources to power the reaction creating carbon neutral products and effectively closing the carbon cycle. Research in this field has come a long way since its inception in the mid-1900s. However, there remain significant hurdles and important considerations to overcome in order to reach full commercialization. Most electrocatalysts tested for CO₂RR have been designed solely for maximum performance while ignoring the environmental consequences if such a material were …

High Flux Novel Polymeric Membrane For Renal Applications, Christa N. Hestekin, Efecan Pakkaner, Jamie Hestekin, Leticia Santos De Souza, Partha Pratim Chowdhury, Juliana Louzada Marçal, John Moore, Sarah A. Hesse, Christopher J. Takacs, Christopher J. Tassone, Soma Shekar Dachavaram, Peter A. Crooks, Kate Williams, Ira Kurtz

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Biocompatibility and the ability to mediate the appropriate flux of ions, urea, and uremic toxins between blood and dialysate components are key parameters for membranes used in dialysis. Oxone-mediated TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanomaterials have been demonstrated to be excellent additives in the production and tunability of ultrafiltration and dialysis membranes. In the present study, nanocellulose ionic liquid membranes (NC-ILMs) were tested in vitro and ex vivo. An increase in flux of up to two orders of magnitude was observed with increased rejection (about 99.6%) of key proteins compared to that of polysulfone (PSf) and other commercial membranes. NC-ILMs have a sharper …

Development Of Novel Nanocarbon Based Materials And Membranes With Enhanced Biocidal Capabilities For Clean Water Generation, Indrani Gupta

Dissertations

Water scarcity is one of the major challenges facing humanity today, driven by population growth, economic development, and dietary shifts towards more water-intensive animal products. To address this issue, efficient water resource management and recycling of wastewater are essential. However, around 80% of wastewater globally is discharged into water bodies without treatment, posing a risk to ecosystems and human health. Pathogens, or harmful microorganisms, are a primary cause of water impairment and the transmission of waterborne diseases, leading to increased mortality rates. Traditional methods of treating pathogens involve the use of radiation or chemical disinfectants. Nonetheless, these methods have drawbacks, …

Fe Nanoparticles Encapsulated In N-Doped Porous Carbon For Efficient Oxygen Reduction In Alkaline Media, Chun-Yan Li, Rui Zhang, Xiao-Jie Ba, Xiao-Le Jiang, Yao-Yue Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Rational design and synthesis of non-precious-metal catalyst plays an important role in improving the activity and stability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) but remains a major challenge. In this work, we used a facile approach to synthesize iron nanoparticles encapsulated in nitrogen-doped porous carbon materials (Fe@N-C) from functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs, MET-6). Embedding Fe nanoparticles into the carbon skeleton increases the graphitization degree and the proportion of graphitic N as well as promotes the formation of mesopores in the catalyst. The Fe@N-C-30 catalyst showed the excellent ORR activity in alkaline solutions (E₀ = 0.97 V vs. RHE, E_{1/2 …}

Deep Euteceic Solvents-Assisted Synthesis Of Novel Network Nanostructures For Accelerating Formic Acid Electrooxidation, Jun-Ming Zhang, Xiao-Jie Zhang, Yao Chen, Ying-Jian Fan, You-Jun Fan, Jian-Feng Jia

Journal of Electrochemistry

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been reported as a type of solvent for the controllable synthesis of metal nanostructures. Interestingly, flower-like palladium (Pd) nanoparticles composed of staggered nanosheets and nanospheres are spontaneously transformed into three-dimensional (3D) network nanostructures in choline chloride-urea DESs using ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. Systematic studies have been carried out to explore the formation mechanism, in which DESs itself acts as a solvent and soft template for the formation of 3D flower-like network nanostructures (FNNs). The amounts of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and sodium hydroxide also play a crucial role in the anisotropic growth and …

Antimicrobial Activity And Mechanism Of Amyloid Proteins And Synthetic Conjugated Polyelectrolytes, Fahimeh Maghsoodi

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Although the exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is still unknown, it is widely considered that the accumulation of amyloid plaques composed of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in the brain is linked to neurodegeneration. Co-localization of viral DNA with Aβ plaques, the association of brain infection and AD, and research indicating the protective effect of Aβ against bacteria and fungi in mice and human cells have led to the hypothesis that Aβ expression and deposition may be central to its function as an antimicrobial peptide (AMP). In my thesis research, we seek to elucidate how Aβ functions as an AMP …

Interactions And Phenomena Between Disodium Cromoglycate And Polyelectrolytes, Brandon Tipton

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The interactions between polyelectrolytes and oppositely charged macroions have been widely studied, but few reports have been made on the interaction between chromonic mesogens and polyelectrolytes. Here, we report on the formation of liquid crystalline coacervates achieved by the liquid-liquid phase separation of an aqueous solution of negatively charged liquid crystal and polycations. As well as the occurrence of tactoids that form in the absence of these interactions. The liquid crystal that is experimented with is disodium cromoglycate, better known as DSCG. This acts as a negative charge that is paired with a variety of positively charged polyelectrolytes. The first …

Highly Dispersed Pt Nanoparticles Root In Single-Atom Fe Sites In Ldhs Toward Efficient Methanol Oxidation, Qing-Cheng Meng, Lin-Bo Jin, Meng-Ze Ma, Xue-Qing Gao, Ai-Bing Chen, Dao-Jin Zhou, Xiao-Ming Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Active and durable electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction are of critical importance to the commercial viability of direct methanol fuel cell, which has already attracted growing popularities. However, current methanol oxidation electrocatalysts fall far short of expectations and suffer from excessive use of noble metal, mediocre activity, and rapid decay. Here we report the Pt anchored on NiFe-LDHs surface hybrid for stable methanol oxidation in alkaline media. Based on the high intrinsic methanol oxidation activity of Pt nanoparticles, the substrates NiFe-LDHs further enhanced anti-poisoning ability and maintained unaffected stability after 200,000 s cycle test compared to commercial Pt/C catalyst. The …

Non-Equilibrium Colloidal Phenomena In Magnetic Fields And Photoillumination: From Controlling Living Microbots To Understanding Microplastics, Ahmed Al Harraq

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Colloids are a ubiquitous class of materials composed of microscopic particles suspended in a continuous phase which are found in everyday products and in nature. Colloids are also useful models for studying the spontaneous arrangement of matter from individual building blocks to mesophases. Standard treatment of colloid science is based on the assumption of equilibrium conditions, as defined in traditional thermodynamics. However, novel assembly mechanisms and motility are unlocked by pushing colloids away from equilibrium using external energy. In addition, many colloids in nature and in industrial applications exchange energy and mass with the surrounding environment thus behaving in a …

Synthesis Of Quasi-Freestanding Graphene Films Using Radical Species Formed In Cold Plasmas, Michael A. Mathews Jr.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

For over a decade, the Stinespring laboratory has investigated scalable, plasma assisted synthesis (PAS) methods for the growth of graphene films on silicon carbide (SiC). These typically utilized CF₄-based inductively coupled plasma (ICP) with reactive ion etching (RIE) to selectively etch silicon from the SiC lattice. This yielded a halogenated carbon-rich surface layer which was then annealed to produce the graphene layers. The thickness of the films was controlled by the plasma parameters, and overall, the process was readily scalable to the diameter of the SiC wafer.

The PAS process reproducibly yielded two- to three-layer thick graphene films …

Faceted Nanomaterial Synthesis, Characterizations And Applications In Reactive Electrochemical Membrane Filtration, Qingquan Ma

Dissertations

Facet engineering of nanomaterials, especially metals and metal oxides has become an important strategy for tuning catalytic properties and functions from heterogeneous catalysis to electrochemical catalysis, photocatalysis, biomedicine, fuel cells, and gas sensors. The catalytic properties are highly related to the surface electronic structures, surface electron transport characteristics, and active center structures of catalysts, which can be tailored by surface facet control. The aim of this doctoral dissertation research is to study the facet-dependent properties of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles using multiple advanced characterization techniques. Specifically, the novel atomic force microscope-scanning electrochemical microscope (AFM-SECM) and density functional theory (DFT) …

Carbon Fibers From Bio-Based Precursors Derived From Renewable Sources, Sagar Kanhere

All Dissertations

Carbon fibers have the highest strength and modulus among all known fibers and are used as reinforcements in high-performance composites [1]. Carbon fibers also have a very low density relative to metals. Therefore, carbon fibers possess ultrahigh specific strength and modulus, which make them desirable for high-performance light-weight composites. A vast majority of commercial carbon fibers are produced from PAN precursors that are expensive, which limits the use of PAN-derived carbon fibers to aerospace applications (e.g., airplanes). However, for costsensitive applications, there is a need for low-cost, moderate performance carbon fibers. Lignin is a low-cost by-product of pulping and biorefining …

Insight Into The Effects Of Cation Disorder And Surface Chemical Residues On The Initial Coulombic Efficiency Of Layered Oxide Cathode, Jin-Li Liu, Han-Feng Wu, Zhi-Bei Liu, Ying-Qiang Wu, Li Wang, Feng-Li Bei, Xiang-Ming He

Journal of Electrochemistry

Lithium layered oxide LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ (NCM622) is one of the most promising cathode materials in high-energy lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. However, one drawback for NCM622 is that its initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) is only about 87%, which is at least 6% lower than that of LiCoO₂ or LiFePO₄. In this work, we investigated the effects of surface chemical residues (e.g., LiOH and Li₂CO₃) and Li/Ni cation disorder resulted during the sintering on the ICE. We found that the ICE of the as-prepared samples could be boosted …

Electrochemical Syntheses Of Nanomaterials And Small Molecules For Electrolytic Hydrogen Production, Jia-Qi Wei, Xiao-Dong Chen, Shu-Zhou Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Hydrogen is a clean, efficient, renewable energy resource and the most promising alternative to fossil fuels for future carbon-neutral energy supply. Therefore, sustainable hydrogen production is highly attractive and urgently demanded, especially via water electrolysis that has clean, abundant precursors and zero emission. However, current water electrolysis is hindered by the sluggish kinetics and low cost/energy efficiency of both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this regard, electrochemical synthesis offers prospects to raise the efficiency and benefit of water electrolysis by fabricating advanced electrocatalysts and providing more efficient/value-adding co-electrolysis alternatives. It is an eco-friendly and facile …

Surface Structure Engineering Of Feni-Based Pre-Catalyst For Oxygen Evolution Reaction: A Mini Review, Jia-Xin Li, Li-Gang Feng

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nitrite, a widespread raw material, is harmful to human health for long-term consumption. At present, the detection methods of nitrite mainly include chemical analysis, fluorescence, ultraviolet spectrophotometry and chromatography. These methods have ideal sensitivity and selectivity, but also have some characteristics: cumbersome operation, expensive equipment and professional personnel. Therefore, the development of a simple and sensitive nitrite assay is of great significance. In this paper, the Au/rGO/FeOOH composite materials, which revealed good synergistic catalytic performance among the three elements in the composite, were prepared by simple hydrothermal method and reduction method for the first time with large specific surface area …

Synthesis And Consolidation Of Metal Oxide Nanocrystals Via Nonthermal Plasma, Austin Cendejas

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Nonthermal plasmas offer a unique nonequilibrium environment that has been leveraged in a wide variety of applications in the fields of material processing, lighting, and waste management to name a few. In all of these cases, the plasma serves as a source of high energy electrons, ions, reactive gas species, and radicals that interact in several ways with surfaces brought into contact with the plasma. Specifically, nonthermal plasmas have been shown to be very successful in achieving continuous, high-throughput, monodisperse nanocrystals of a wide variety of materials. The crystallinity of nanoparticles synthesized in nonthermal plasmas can be attributed to the …

Nano-Bio Interactions: Implications And Applications, Anushree Ghosh

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Rapid expansion of technology development at the nanoscale has underpinned a promising industry. Towards this, there remain significant information gaps which are critical with regard to decision making processes and ultimate industrial sustainability. From an implication point of view, understanding how common biological macromolecules, including glycolipids and/or biopolymers produced by bacteria and fungi, which are ubiquitous in the environment, is fundamental to predicting the behavior of released/produced nanoparticles. Conversely, other bio-based tailored macromolecules, including mussel foot protein (MFP), have significant potential as functional material coatings for advanced applications.This PhD thesis is focused on interfacial processes related to superparamagnetic iron oxide …

Augmented Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation At A Co-Electrodeposited Pd/Au Nanoparticle Catalyst, Yaser M. Asal, Ahmad M. Mohammad, Sayed S. Abd El Rehim, Islam M. Al-Akraa

Chemical Engineering

In this study, the formic acid electro-oxidation reaction (FAEOR) was catalyzed on a Pd-Au co-electrodeposited binary catalyst. The kinetics of FAEOR were intensively impacted by changing the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio in the deposition medium. The Pd1-Au1 catalyst (for which the Pd2+:Au3+ molar ratio was 1:1) acquired the highest activity with a peak current density for the direct FAEOR (Ip) of 4.14 mA cm−2 (ca. 13- times higher than that (ca. 0.33 mA cm−2) of the pristine Pd1-Au0 catalyst). It also retained the highest stability that was denoted in fulfilling ca. 0.292 mA cm−2 (ca. 19-times higher than 0.015 …

Electrocatalytic "Volcano-Type" Effect Of Nano-Tio2 (A)/(R) Phase Content In Pt/Tio2-CnX Catalyst, Ai-Lin Cui, Yang Bai, Hong-Ying Yu, Hui-Min Meng

Journal of Electrochemistry

The relationship between the electrochemical activity of fuel cell catalysts and Pt particle size, as well as the catalyst support and co-catalyst is still unclear. In this work, FESEM, XRD, BET, TEM and CV techniques were adopted to investigate the effects of TiO₂ anatase (A)/rutile (R) phases content on the electrochemical activity of Pt electrocatalyst. The results showed that the anatase-rutile phase transformation occurred during the heat treatment of TiO₂ at 700 ~ 900 ^oC accompanied by the growth of two-phase crystalline size, and anatase was completely transformed into rutile at 900 ^oC. TEM results revealed …

Controlling The Emission Of Volatile Platinum Oxides To The Vapor Phase In Diesel Oxidation Catalysts, Arnab Ghosh

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Pt-based catalysts are used for the treatment of emissions from vehicles, particularly in Diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs). Three-way catalysts are treated at temperatures ranging from 950℃-1050℃ while DOCs are aged at 800℃ for 50 hrs. At 800°C, Pt reacts with O₂ to form PtO₂ which has a high vapor pressure and can be transported through the vapor phase. These accelerated aging conditions lead to the formation of large Pt particles causing a loss of catalytic activity. In this thesis, we used model thin-film catalysts that made it possible to quantify the emission of Pt to the vapor phase …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Organic Contaminants By Titania Particles Produced By Flame Spray Pyrolysis, Noah Babik

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced oxidation of organic pollutants with TiO2 photocatalysts is limited due to the wide bandgap of TiO2, 3.2 eV, which requires ultraviolet (UV) radiation. When nanosized TiO2 is modified by carbon doping, charge recombination is inhibited and the bandgap is narrowed, allowing for efficient photodegradation under visible light. Here, we propose a flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) technique to create TiO2. The facile process of FSP has been successful in preparing highly crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles. Using the same procedure to deposit TiO2 onto biochar, the photocatalyst was doped by the carbonaceous material. The morphology, crystalline and electronic structure of the FSP …