Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Ergonomichandle And Articulating Laparoscopictool, M. Susan Hallbeck, Dmitry Oleynikov, Kathryn Done, Tim Judkins, Allison Dimartino, Jonathan Morse, Lawton N. Verner

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention relates to a laparoscopic apparatus. The apparatus includes a handle having a body portion, a top surface, opposite bottom surface, a proximal and distal end. The top surface of the base is contoured to compliment the natural curve of the palm. The apparatus further includes a shaft projecting from the distal end of the handle. The shaft has a proximal and distal end. A control sphere is located on the handle. The control sphere can be moved by one or more of a user's fingers to indicate direction. An end effector is located at the distal end …

Scalar Differential Equation For Slowly-Varying Thickness-Shear Modes In At-Cut Quartz Resonators With Surface Impedance For Acoustic Wave Sensor Application, Huijing He, Jiashi Yang, John A. Kosinski

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

For time-harmonic motions, we generalize a 2-D scalar differential equation derived previously by Tiersten for slowly-varying thickness-shear vibrations of AT-cut quartz resonators. The purpose of the generalization is to include the effects of surface acoustic impedance from, e.g., mass layers or fluids for sensor applications. In addition to the variation of fields along the plate thickness, which is considered in the usual 1-D acoustic wave sensor models, the equation obtained also describes in-plane variations of the fields, and therefore can be used to study the vibrations of finite plate sensors with edge effects. The equation is compared with the theory …

Nitroxide-Functionalized Graphene Oxide From Graphite Oxide, Yazmin I. Avila-Vega, Cesar C. Leyva-Porras, Marcela Mireles, Manuel Quevedo-Lopez, Javier Macossay-Torres, Jose Bonilla-Cruz

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

A facile method for preparing functionalized graphene oxide single layers with nitroxide groups is reported herein. Highly oxidized graphite oxide (GO=90.6%) was obtained, slightly modifying an improved Hummer’s method. Oxoammonium salts (OS) were investigated to introduce nitroxide groups to GO, resulting in a one-step functionalization and exfoliation. The mechanisms of functionalization/exfoliation are proposed, where the oxidation of aromatic alcohols to ketone groups, and the formation of alkoxyamine species are suggested. Two kinds of functionalized graphene oxide layers (GOFT1 and GOFT2) were obtained by controlling the amount of OS added. GOFT1 and GOFT2 exhibited a high interlayer spacing (d0001 = 1.12nm), …

Synthesis Of Pani/Nihcf Nanocomposite Particles And Eqcm Measurement Of Ion Exchange Properties In Solutions Containing Cd2+, Yu-Jiao Yang, Xiao-Gang Hao, Xu-Li Ma, Zhong-De Wang, Zhong-Lin Zhang, Nian-Chen Han

Journal of Electrochemistry

The PANI/NiHCF nanocomposite particles were synthesized on the CNTs-modified Pt substrate by one-step co-polymerization using cyclic voltammetry. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) technique was adopted to investigate the polymerization process of the nanocomposite particles and the mechanism of ion exchange in aqueous solution containing Cd²⁺． The morphology and structure of the as-prepared composite particles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Combined with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), the electrochemical behavior and the mechanism of ion exchange were also investigated in electrolytes of Cd^{2+ …}

Applications Of Spectroscopic Ellipsometry In Corrosion Investigation, Ling-Jie Li, Yu-Ling He, Jing-Lei Lei, Sheng Tao Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

As a highly-sensitive and non-destructive in situ technique, spectroscopic ellipsometry has been widely applied in corrosion investigation to acquire the dynamic information of the “electrode-medium” interface during corrosion. This paper lays out some representative demonstrations in several established optical models used to interpret data obtained with spectroscopic ellipsometry in corrosion investigation. In addition, the latest trends in development of this technique are analyzed.

An Investigation Of Thin Films Formed On Zinc By Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Juan Zuo, Ying Chen, Chang-Jian Lin, Andreas Erbe

Journal of Electrochemistry

The formation of natural oxide films on polycrystalline zinc surface, the growth of natural oxide films in different atmospheres, as well as the electrochemical process of metal zinc in alkaline carbonate solution, studied recently by using spectroscopic ellipsometry in our group, are introduced. The objective of this paper is to outline that the optical, electrical properties, the change and growth kinetics of zinc metal oxide film on the surface can be investigated by in-situ and ex-situ ellipsometry, which makes significant sense to evaluate the overall performance of zinc oxide layer.

Elementary Studies Of Twisted Bilayer Graphene, Branden P. Burns, Yong P. Chen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In the nanotechnology field, some existing materials and applications are harmful to the environment, not efficient for certain tasks, or too expensive to be fully utilized. Graphene is a strong and cheap material that can be used to improve current nanotechnologies for more practical uses in society. Twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) is an orientation of graphene layers that exhibit different properties than regular bilayer graphene. It is made by placing a single layer of graphene on top of another at an angle with respect to the other lattice orientation. Understanding the characteristics of TBG is important to uncover more physics …

Thin Electrical Double Layer Simulation Of Micro-Electrochemical Supercapacitors, Kaitlyn Fisher, Guoping Xiong, Timothy S. Fisher

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The deteriorating state of the environment has drawn many people to hybrid electric vehicles. Electrochemical micro-supercapacitors are of interest in this field because of their high power density relative to other micro-power sources. However, little is known about how the properties of the electrolyte used affect the performance of such devices. The first step of this investigation was to use thermoreflectance microscopy to measure the temperature change of the electrodes while charging and discharging supercapacitor samples. The components of these samples were graphitic petal electrodes with a Ti/Au covering (for enhanced light reflectance) on a SiO₂ base, with a …

Prism - Materials Simulation Tool, Ryan Widjaja, Marisol Koslowski

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

MEMS (Micro-electromechanical System) is a combined electrical and mechanical nano-scaled device with rapidly growing applications. We have developed a contacting radio frequency capacitive MEMS that is commonly used as capacitive switches and contact actuators in PRISM (Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems) lab at Purdue University. Our research team has focused on creating a simulation of MEMS’s survivability towards crazing and cracking. Our particular objective in this project is to create a tool that can help users perform complex quantitative calculations regarding the properties of different materials. This tool will generate various plots visualizing the properties, such as …

Crystalline Cellulose – Atomistic Modeling Toolkit, Mateo Gomez, Pablo Zavattieri Dr.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nature has created efficient strategies to make materials with hierarchical internal structure that often exhibit exceptional mechanical properties. One such example is found in cellulose, in fact it is eight times stronger than stainless steel and advantage is that cellulose incredibly cheap, because processing is obtained from purified wood pulp (it is environmental friendly). The most prevalent modeling technique to study the fundamental mechanical behavior of the crystalline cellulose has been Molecular Dynamics (MD). As a predictive tool, MD allows us to study the behavior of crystalline cellulose at the atomic level, and as such, it accurately predicts the crystalline …

Phase-Field Dislocation Dynamics Code Optimization, Jaime A. Perez, Marisol Koslowski

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The importance of the study of nanocrystalline materials has gained a huge amount of attention these years due to its extraordinary mechanical, electrical and chemical properties. One significant way to progress in this field is by simulating the behavior of the particles in nano scale, which is not only a need but a challenge due to massive interactions that occur there. The phase-field dislocation dynamics (PFDD) method has been successfully employed in the modeling of plastic deformation, creep and grain boundary sliding. In PFDD, the plastic strain and the energy are functions of phase fields that obey a set of …

Dna Based Carbon Nanotube Porphyrin Nanohybrids Molecular Recognization And Regeneration, Molly M. Riccitelli, Hanyu Zhang, Jong Hyun Choi

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In the search to improve solar cells, scientists are exploring new materials that will provide better current transfer. One material that has emerged as a strong contender is the single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT). Current DNA-SWNT based films combined with chromophores have poor operational lifetimes compared to commercial solar cells. Once exposed to light the chromophore begins to degrade, eventually rendering the solar cell unusable. To solve this problem, we used a method involving multiple steps. First we found which DNA sequences formed structures around the SWNT that could hold the most chromophores by using a spectrophotometer to test the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Nucleic Acid-Functionalized Nanomaterials, Brianna S. Carroll, Jong Hyun Choi

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Motor proteins such as kinesin move along microtubules in order to transport cellular cargos throughout the cell by obtaining energy from RNA hydrolysis which allows the cell to complete the tasks needed to stay alive. In this work, we developed synthetic molecular motors using DNA enzymes (DNAzyme) and fluorescent nanomaterials which mimic the functions and structures of motor proteins. A DNAzyme-capped CdS nanoparticle and a RNA-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) were used as a walker and a track in the motor platform, respectively. As a walking mechanism, the DNAzyme cleaved the RNA substrates in the presence of metal cations. The …

Synthesizing Bismuth Telluride Nanowires In A Large Scale And Investigating The Energy Filtering Effect By Blending Bismuth Telluride Nanowires And Silver Nanoparticle In Thermoelectrics, Henka Darsono, Haiyu Fang, Yue Wu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

More than 50% of the energy sources becomes “waste” energy generally dissipated to the atmosphere in the form of heat. Thermoelectric effect is a conversion of temperature difference to electric voltage and can be used to convert the wasted heat to useful work. Nanomaterials have great potentials in the field of thermoelectric effect since they have properties that can allow higher efficiency in converting this wasted heat to electricity as compared to bulk materials. The purpose of this project is to develop a method to synthesize bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) nanowires on a large scale and incorporate …

Assessing The Mvs Model For Nanotransistors, Siyang Liu, Xingshu Sun, Mark S. Lundstrom

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

A simple semi-empirical compact MOSFET model has been developed, which is called MIT virtual source (MVS) model. Compare to other model used in industry, MVS model requires only a few parameters, most of which can be directly obtained from experiment, and produce accurate results. One aim of this paper is to test the applicability of the MVS model to transistor made from MoS₂ rather than silicon. Another target is to determine the sustainability of the MVS model under different transistor tests. To achieve these goals, the MVS model will be used to fit the experimental data on MoS_{2 …}

Pulsed Laser Coating Of Bioceramic (Hap) And Niti Nanoparticles On Metallic Implants, Aayush Goswami, Gary J. Cheng

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

This research deals with increasing the biocompatibility of the bio implants which have a global market valued more than $94.1 billion . The surface of the metal alloys used for the bone implants need to be coated with bio compatible materials like HAp(Hydroxyapatite), graphene, etc. in order to promote the growth of cells(osteoblasts) on the surface of the implants. Various techniques like plasma spray coating, ion beam sputter coating, etc. have been used before to coat such materials on a substrate, however these have faced problems of coating quality. In order to perfect this coating, that is make it more …

Real-Time Substrate Transport Control For Stable And Efficient Thin-Film-Based Roll-To-Roll (R2r) Micro-Nanomanufacturing, Wencheng Wang, Guoao Sun, Liang Pan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The commercialization of electronic devices requires the high efficiency and stable mirco-nanomanufacturing processes that allow frequent design upgrades. R2R Nano is a gateway to science and engineering research that aims to impact the widespread adoption of R2R technologies for low-cost, high-volume production of high technology products on flexible substrates. However, there are lots of the mechanical and chemical factors influencing the system performance when fabricating nano-scale structures. Thus, feedback control system is increasingly playing a great role in improving the R2R performance.

The aim of the project is to design a feedback control system for enhancing the performance of the …

Developing A Crystal Viewer Tool For Nanohub, Osiris V. Ntarugera, Gerhard Klimeck

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Most materials found in nature have their atoms arranged in a regular and repeated pattern known as crystalline structure; this is particularly true for metals. It is very important to understand the crystal structure of materials in order to predict their properties such as the electric conductivity, heat transfer, and more. Particularly, students and scholars in the field of material science need a way to visualize the different crystal structures. Atomic structures of elements are not visible to the naked eye. In that context, a computer based tool can be used to simulate and to visualize the crystal structures of …

Microfluidic Platform For Immobilizing Cells To Surfaces, Sze Yung Li, Arvind Raman

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is an advanced nanotechnology tool for image mapping and cell properties measuring. One of the major challenges presented to the scientists in the field is the procedure for sample preparation. In order for a cell or virus to be measured by the AFM, it has to be firmly attached to the surface. Existing methods including chemical functionalization of surface for cells binding are often very slow process which hinders the possibility of high throughput measurement. Therefore, we propose a new method that utilizes a fluid circulation system to immobilize cells of interest to designated area to …

Mechanical Design Of Real-Time Substrate Transport Control For Stable And Efficient Thin-Film-Based Roll-To-Roll (R2r) Micro-Nanomanufacturing, Guoao Sun, Liang Pan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The commercialization of electronic devices requires the high efficiency and stable mirco-nanomanufacturing processes that allow frequent design upgrades. R2R Nano is a gateway to science and engineering research that aims to impact the widespread adoption of R2R technologies for low-cost, high-volume production of high technology products on flexible substrates. However, there are lots of the mechanical and chemical factors influencing the system performance when fabricating nano-scale structures. Thus, feedback control system is increasingly playing a great role in improving the R2R performance.

The aim of my work of the project is more related to design mechanical section of the whole …

Micro Solar Thermal Energy Development And Use For Mems Power Applications, Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

Doctoral Dissertations

Increasing focus on alternative energy sources has produced significant progress across a wide variety of research areas. One particular area of interest has been solar energy. The sun represents sustainable and renewable energy source capable of meeting present energy needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Energy from the sun can be utilized in multiple ways. Direct rise in modern power generation typically involves either photovoltaic systems or large-scale solar thermal energy installations. While large-scale solar thermal energy generation is well advanced, there has been comparatively little research on smaller scale thermal energy collection and application. …

Hybrid Opto-Electrokinetic Technique For Micro/Nanomanipulation: Towards Application Of A Novel Non-Invasive Manipulation Technique In Microbiological Assay, Jae-Sung Kwon

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation explores various physical mechanisms of the Rapid Electrokinetic Patterning (REP) technique suggested for rapid and precise on-chip manipulation of colloids and fluids, and bio-compatibility of the technique for biological applications. REP is a hybrid opto-electrokinetic technique that is driven by the simultaneous application of an AC electric field and a heating source. It can not only effectively transport and manipulate a fluid but also concentrate and pattern particles suspended in the fluid through the combined effect of an electrohydrodynamic flow, electrostatic colloidal interactions and an electrothermal microfluidic flow. These capabilities make REP a promising tool which can provide …

Solar Cell Temperature Dependent Efficiency And Very High Temperature Efficiency Limits, John Robert Wilcox

Open Access Dissertations

Clean renewable solar energy is and will continue to be a critically important source of electrical energy. Solar energy has the potential of meeting all of the world's energy needs, and has seen substantial growth in recent years. Solar cells can convert sun light directly into electrical energy, and much progress has been made in making them less expensive and more efficient. Solar cells are often characterized and modeled at 25 °C, which is significantly lower than their peak operating temperature. In some thermal concentrating systems, solar cells operate above 300 °C. Since increasing the temperature drastically affects the terminal …

Development Of A Multiscale Atomistic Code To Investigate Self-Organized Pattern Formation Induced By Ion Irradiation, Zhangcan Yang

Open Access Dissertations

Various self-organized patterns including ripples and quantum dots can be induced by ion beam sputtering (IBS). For the past decades, the understanding of such phenomenon has been mainly relied on the Bradley-Harper theory that attributes the formation of self-organized patterns to the interplay between roughening by curvature dependence of erosion and smoothening by surface diffusion. Recently, the development of the crater function theory has overturned this erosion-based paradigm to a redistribution-based paradigm. The theory has proved that erosion is irrelevant and negligible in the pattern formation at low and intermediate incidence angles. Despite the success, there are still some questions …

Graphene Decorated Substrates And Their Interfacial Characteristics, Anurag Kumar

Open Access Dissertations

Carbon nanotubes and graphene have been extensively studied for their excellent properties. As research on carbon expands, two major issues face the scientific community: (i) Expanding the scale of synthesis and (ii) Integration of different carbon structures for improved functionality. While significant advancements have been made in large-scale synthesis, room for improvement remains. As the scale of production increases, issues such as time, cost and energy that may otherwise not be very significant, begin to play greater roles. Thus, in order to effectively transition from laboratory prototypes to industrial products, a synthesis method that can address these issues is strongly …

Multiscale Modeling Of The Hierarchical Structure Of Cellulose Nanocrystals, Fernando Luis Dri

Open Access Dissertations

Cellulose constitutes the most abundant renewable polymeric resource available today. It considered an almost inexhaustible source of raw material, and holds great promise in meeting increasing demands for environmentally friendly and biocompatible products. Key future applications are currently under development for the automotive, aerospace and textile industries. When cellulose fibers are subjected to acid hydrolysis, the fibers yield rod-like, highly crystalline residues called cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). These particles show remarkable mechanical and chemical properties (e.g. Young Modulus ~200 GPa) within the range of other synthetically-developed reinforcement materials. Critical to the design of these materials are fundamental material properties, many of …

Non-Silicon Mosfets And Circuits With Atomic Layer Deposited Higher-K Dielectrics, Lin Dong

Open Access Dissertations

The quest for technologies beyond 14nm node complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices has now called for research on higher-k gate dielectrics integration with high mobility channel materials such as III-V semiconductors and germanium. Ternary oxides, such as La2-xYxO3 and LaAlO3, have been considered as strong candidates due to their high dielectric constants and good thermal stability. Meanwhile, the unique abilities of delivering large area uniform thin film, excellent controlling of composition and thickness to an atomic level, which are keys to ultra-scaled devices, have made atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique an excellent choice.

In this thesis, we systematically study the atomic …

Negotiating The Inclusion Of Nanoscience Content And Technology In Science Curriculum: An Examination Of Secondary Teachers' Thinking In A Professional Development Project, Jennifer Gayle Wells

Dissertations and Theses

The Next Generation Science Standards represent a significant challenge for K-12 school reform in the United States in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines (NSTA, 2012). One important difference between the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) and the Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve, 2013) is the more extensive inclusion of nanoscale science and technology. Teacher PD is a key vehicle for implementing this STEM education reform effort (NRC, 2012; Smith, 2001).

The context of this dissertation study is Project Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Outreach (NANO), a secondary level professional development program for teachers that provides a summer workshop, …

A New Angle On Microscopic Suspension Feeders Near Boundaries, Rachel E. Pepper, Marcus Roper, Sangjin Ryu, Nobuyoshi Matsumoto, Moeto Nagai, Howard A. Stone

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Microscopic sessile suspension feeders are a critical component in aquatic ecosystems, acting as an intermediate trophic stage between bacteria and higher eukaryotic taxa. Because they live attached to boundaries, it has long been thought that recirculation of the feeding currents produced by sessile suspension feeders inhibits their ability to access fresh fluid. However, previous models for the feeding flows of these organisms assume that they feed by pushing fluid perpendicular to surfaces they live upon, whereas we observe that sessile suspension feeders often feed at an angle to these boundaries. Using experiments and calculations, we show that living suspension feeders …

Near Sputter-Threshold Gasb Nanopatterning, Osman El-Atwani, Sean Gonderman, Jean Paul Allain

Birck and NCN Publications

Nanopatterning at sputter-threshold energies with Ar irradiation of GaSb (100) surfaces is presented. Comparison with high-energy irradiations up to 1000 eV is conducted measuring in-situ the composition evolution over irradiation time at early stages (e. g., < 10(17) cm(-2)) and up to nanostructure saturation (e. g., similar to 10(18) cm(-2)). Low-energy irradiation is conducted for energies between 15-100 eV and a low-aspect ratio nanostructured dot formation is found. Furthermore, the role of oxide on GaSb is found to delay nanostructure formation and this is predominant at energies below 100 eV. In-situ quartz crystal microbalance measurements collect sputtered particles yielding the sputter rate at threshold energies indicating a correlation between erosion and surface composition consistent with recent theoretical models. Ion-induced segregation is also found and indicated by both compositional measurements of both the surface and the sputtered plume. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.