Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

An Improved Layer-By-Layer Self-Assembly Technique To Generate Biointerfaces For Platelet Adhesion Studies: Dynamic Lbl, Juan Manuel Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

Layer-by-layer self-assembly (LbL) is a technique that generates engineered nano-scale films, coatings, and particles. These nanoscale films have recently been used in multiple biomedical applications. Concurrently, microfabrication methods and advances in microfluidics are being developed and combined to create "Lab-on-a-Chip" technologies. The potential to perform complex biological assays in vitro as a first-line screening technique before moving on to animal models has made the concept of lab on a chip a valuable research tool.

Prior studies in the Biofluids Laboratory at Louisiana Tech have used layer-by-layer and in vitro biological assays to study thrombogenesis in a controlled, repeatable, engineered environment. …

Halloysite Clay Nanotubes For Controlled Delivery Of Chemically Active Agents, Elshard Abdullayev

Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we explored the capabilities of halloysite nanotubes as capsules for encapsulation and controlled delivery of the chemically and biologically active substances. Halloysite is a two-layered aluminosilicate which has a predominantly hollow tubular structure in the submicron range and is chemically similar to kaolinite [1, 2].

In the first section of this work, we analyzed the structure of the halloysite nanotubes as well as its capability to encapsulate and deliver biologically and chemically active agents, similarities and differences between release characteristics of different agents and how these differences relate with their chemical structure. Models were used to describe …

Intracellular Localisation, Geno- And Cytotoxic Response Of Poly N-Isopropylacrylamide (Pnipam) Nanoparticles To Human Keratinocyte (Hacat) And Colon Cells (Sw 480), Pratap Naha, Kunal Bhattacharya, Tiziana Tenuta, Kenneth Dawson, Iseult Lynch, Amaya Gracia, Fiona Lyng, Hugh Byrne

Articles

PNIPAM nanoparticles, with and without a covalentlylinked fluorescent label, were prepared by a free radical polymerisation technique. The cyto and genotoxicity of PNIPAM nanoparticles were analysed in two representative mammalian cell lines, SW480, a colon, and HaCaT, a dermal cell line. Physical characterisation in terms of particle size and zeta potential of the PNIPAM nanoparticles was carried out both in aqueous solution and in the appropriate cell culture media. Uptake and colocalisation of fluorescently labelled PNIPAM nanoparticles was monitored in both cell lines using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Genotoxicity analysis using the Comet assay was performed in both cell lines …

Coherent Electron Transport By Adiabatic Passage In An Imperfect Donor Chain, Rajib Rahman, Richard P. Muller, James E. Levy, Malcolm S. Carroll, Gerhard Klimeck, Andrew D. Greentree, Lloyd C. L. Hollenberg

Birck and NCN Publications

Coherent Tunneling Adiabatic Passage (CTAP) has been proposed as a long-range physical qubit transport mechanism in solid-state quantum computing architectures. Although the mechanism can be implemented in either a chain of quantum dots or donors, a 1D chain of donors in Si is of particular interest due to the natural confining potential of donors that can in principle help reduce the gate densities in solid-state quantum computing architectures. Using detailed atomistic modeling, we investigate CTAP in a more realistic triple donor system in the presence of inevitable fabrication imperfections. In particular, we investigate how an adiabatic pathway for CTAP is …

Uncertainty Quantification Study For A Comprehensive Electrostatic Mems Switch Model, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

This work presents an uncertainty analysis of a comprehensive model for an electrostatic MEMS switch. The goal is to elucidate the effects of parameter variations on certain performance characteristics. A sufficiently detailed model of an electrostatically actuated beam is developed. This model accounts for various physical effects, including the electrostatic fringing field, finite length of electrodes, squeeze film damping, and contact between the beam and the dielectric layer. The performance characteristics of immediate interest are the static and dynamic pull-in voltages for switch. Using Latin Hypercube and other sampling methods, the model is evaluated to find these performances characteristics when …

Providing A Theoretical Basis For Nanotoxicity Risk Analysis Departing From Traditional Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (Pbpk) Modeling, Dirk P. Yamamoto

Theses and Dissertations

The same novel properties of engineered nanoparticles that make them attractive may also present unique exposure risks. But, the traditional physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling assumption of instantaneous equilibration likely does not apply to nanoparticles. This simulation-based research begins with development of a model that includes diffusion, active transport, and carrier mediated transport. An eigenvalue analysis methodology was developed to examine model behavior to focus future research. Simulations using the physicochemical properties of size, shape, surface coating, and surface charge were performed and an equation was determined which estimates area under the curve for arterial blood concentration, which is a surrogate …

Negative Dielectrophoretic Capture Of Bacterial Spores In Food Matrices, Mehti Koklu, Seungkyung Park, Suresh D. Pillai, Ali Beskok

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A microfluidic device with planar square electrodes is developed for capturing particles from high conductivity media using negative dielectrophoresis (n-DEP). Specifically, Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium sporogenes spores, and polystyrene particles are tested in NaCl solution (0.05 and 0.225 S/m), apple juice (0.225 S/m), and milk (0.525 S/m). Depending on the conductivity of the medium, the Joule heating produces electrothermal flow (ETF), which continuously circulates and transports the particles to the DEP capture sites. Combination of the ETF and n-DEP results in different particle capture efficiencies as a function of the conductivity. Utilizing 20 μm height DEP chambers, “almost complete” and …

Dynamic Solidification In Nanoconfined Water Films, Peter M. Hoffmann, Shah H. Khan, George Matei, Shivprasad Patil

Publications

Mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers are still poorly understood and continue to create controversy, despite their importance for biology and nanotechnology. We report on dynamic nanomechanical measurements of water films compressed to a few single molecular layers. We show that the mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers change significantly with their dynamic state. In particular, we observed a sharp transition from viscous to elastic response even at extremely slow compression rates, indicating that mechanical relaxation times increase dramatically once water is compressed to less than 3–4 molecular layers.

The Mechanism Of 13CoAd/12Co Isotope Exchange At Pt Electrode,A Combined Study By Electrochemical In-Situ Infrared Spectroscopy And Dipole-Dipole Coupling Analysis, Sang-Zi Liang, Shao-Xiong Liu, Ling-Wen Liao, Qian Tao, Jing Kang, Yan-Xia Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this contribution,we have analyzed the IR spectra of saturated CO adlayer at rough Pt film electrode as a function of fractional surface coverage of ¹³CO_ad /¹²CO recorded during ¹³CO_ad /¹²CO isotope exchange process according to dipole-dipole coupling theory and coherent potential approximation. By properly choosing the parameters of adlayer structure and dipole-dipole coupling interaction under coherent potential approximation, we demonstrated that we can successfully simulate the IR spectra as a function of the surface coverage of CO adlayer at rough Pt film electrodes by assuming that CO_ad molecules with low …

An In Situ Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroelectrochemical Study On Alcohols Electrocatalytic Oxidation At Pd Electrode In Acidic Solution, Hai-Ping Huang, Lian-Qin Wang, Pei-Kang Shen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The methanol and ethylene glycol electrooxidation on palladium electrode in acidic solution has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroelectrochemistry. It shows that the oxidation of methanol and ethylene glycol at Pd electrode cannot proceed until over 1.5 V in acidic and neutral media. The overpotential decreases and the peak current density increases with the reduction in pH values. The formation of the oxygen-containing species significantly affects the alcohol oxidation on Pd electrode. The in situ FTIR spectroscopic measurements show that the oxidation products of ethylene glycol on Pd electrode are CO₂ and oxalic …

In-Situ Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Electrochemical Investigation Of 4-Aminoantipyrine On Silver Electrode, Li-Jun Zhang, Wei Song, Ling Chen, Zong-Rang Zhang, Hai-Feng Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, 4-AAP was self-assembled on silver surface to form monolayers. Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) was used to in-situ investigate the adsorption mechanism of the 4-aminoantipyrine(4-AAP) on silver surface dependent on shifting potentials and the effect of solution pH. Based on density functional theory(DFT) calculation of vibration modes,approximate assignment of 4-AAP SERS spectrum was conducted. In situ SERS spectral electrochemical experiments indicated that the 4-AAP monolayers experience a dynamic adsorption process from a tilted fashion to a more vertical mode for benzene ring and more parallel for pyrine ring with the potential applied toward more negative voltages. The complete …

The Sers Effect Of AuCore@PtShelL Nanoparticles With Different Pt Shell Thicknesses, Yan Zhong, Liang-Liang Yan, Gui-Shi Rao, Xiao-Cong Deng, Fei-Peng Wen, Jin-Long Xu, Qi-Ling Zhong

Journal of Electrochemistry

By using Au nanoparticles with a diameter of 55 nm as the core and ascorbic acid as the reductant, Au_core@ Pt_shell nanoparticles of controllable Pt shell thickness (0.3 ～ 6 nm) were synthesized by controlling the concentration of [PtCl₆]^2- ions. The ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrometry,scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) ,high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) , and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry were employed to determine surface morphology and structure of  Au_core@Pt_shell. With SCN^- ion as a probe,the effect of the thickness of the Pt shell on the SERS …

In Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopic Study Of Sulfur Adsorption On Polycrystalline Platinum Electrode Surface, Bolian Xu, In-Su Park, Ying Li, De-Jun Chen, Yuye J. Tong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The paper reports the first in situ surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroelectrochemistry study of sulfur adsorption and electro-oxidation on highly roughened polycrystalline Pt surface in both acidic and basic supporting electrolytes. The SERS spectra were taken at a constant electrode potential after accumulative electro-oxidation CVs of the Pt electrode with pre-adsorbed sulfur species and at different electrode potentials that were varied stepwise of the Pt electrode immersed in sulfur-containing electrolytes without pre-adsorbed sulfur species. In both cases,a dominant vibrational band at 299 cm^-1 in acidic electrolyte but at 310 cm^-1 in basic electrolyte was observed,which was assigned …

Preliminary Investigation Of Iron Protoporphyrin Sams On Platinum Electrodes By Surface Enhanced Vibrational Spectroscopies, Min Ma, Yao-Yue Yang, Han-Xuan Zhang, Wen-Bin Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

In situ SERS and ATR-SEIRAS were applied to investigate the electrochemical and structural properties of iron protoporphyrin IX (FePP) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Pt electrodes in 0. 1 mol· L -1 HClO₄. The potential dependent SERS spectra of the FePP SAM on a roughened Pt electrode with the enhancement factor of ca. 40 were acquired with the excitation line of 514 nm. Analyses of SERS data over the potential region from 0. 5 to -0. 3 V enabled to obtain potential dependent adsorption isotherms,from which the formal redox potential could be estimated to be ca. -0. 2 V. …

Density Functional Theory Studies Of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy In Electrochemical Interfaces, Liu-Bin Zhao, De-Yin Wu, Bin Ren, Zhong-Qun Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

Quantum chemical density functional theory and Raman scattering theory were used to study the bonding mechanism and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of pyridine adsorbed on transition metals (Ⅷ group) and coinage metals (IB group) . SERS studies of pyridine-metal systems have been reviewed. Chemical bonding mechanism as well as photo-driven charge transfer mechanism was considered to investigate the vibrational frequency shift and the enhancement of SERS intensity in electrochemical interfaces. Our theoretical results can be used to interpret the SERS phenomena dependent on metals,excitation wavelengths,and applied potentials.

Phenomena Characterization Of Energy Materials By X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Ming-Yao Cheng, Chun-Jen Pan, Ju-Hsiang Cheng, Bing-Joe Hwang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The aim of this review is to introduce the characterization of energy materials by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) . This technique allows us to probe changes in the valance state and the local environment of the targeted element in the active material; thereby,leading to a better understanding of its electrochemical behavior,and hopefully showing the way to improved performance. Here,electrocatalysts for fuel cells and active electrode materials for Li-ion batteries are taken as the examples that illustrate the capability of XAS and allow observation and theory to be correlated with electrochemical phenomena.

Comparative Study Of Nanoporous Pt, Ptru And Ptruir Catalysts Using Electrochemical Ftir Spectroscopy, M. Amussen Robert, Holt-Hindle Peter, Nigro Samantha, Aicheng Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In recent years much effort has been put towards developing efficient Pt-based electrocatalysts for applications in fuel cells. With the rising cost of precious metals such as Pt,the need to enhance the activity and to decrease the load of catalysts is prominent. Herein we report on the synthesis and comparative study of nanoporous Pt,PtRu and PtRuIr electrocatalysts. The nanoporous electrodes were fabricated using a hydrothermal method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) ,energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) ,X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) . The electrocatalytic activity of the fabricated nanopo- rous materials was evaluated using both CO …

Electrochemical Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy—Current Status And Perspective, Bin Ren, Jian-Feng Li, Yi-Fan Huang, Zhi-Cong Zeng, Zhong-Qun Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical interface is a very important interface closely related to various energy and life processes. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering was widely used in electrochemistry soon after its discovery to understand the surface bonding,configuration,and orientation of the surface species. In recent 10 years,the fast development of nanoscience and nanotechnology has offered SERS with abundant substrates and characterization methods,which has allowed impressive development of electrochemical SERS. This articles will follow the time line to make systematically overview of SERS on Au and Ag,thin-layer transition-metal SERS,pure transition metal SERS,core-shell SERS and those methods for studying single crystal surfaces,including gap-mode SERS, TERS and SHINERS. Emphasis …

Electrochemical Sers Studies On The Adsorption Of Benzoimidazole And Derivative In Nonaqueous Solution, Ya-Xian Yuan, Feng-Zhu Yang, Wei Liu, Ping-Jie Wei, Jian-Lin Yao, Ren-Ao Gu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The surface adsorption of benzoimidazole (BIMH) and 2-mercaptobenzimidazole(MBI) was investigated by electrochemical in-situ surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and direct electrochemical synthesis on Cu electrode. The influence of the neutral ligand of triphenylphosphine (pph₃) on the adsorption and surface coordination of BIMH and MBI were investigated respectively. BIMH interacted with metal surface by the neutral molecule to form chemical adlayer in the extremely negative potential,while it adsorbed onto metal surface through the N atoms to form a polymer film which may suppress the corrosion of the metal. The introduction of pph₃ destroyed the film formation of BIMH …

Studies Of Oxidation Processes Of Adsorbed And Solution Co On Pt(110) Electrode By Cyclic Voltammetry And In Situ Ftirs, Li Tian, Jun-Tao Li, Jin-Yu Ye, Chun-Hua Zhen, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation processes of adsorbed CO (COad) and solution phase CO (COsol) on Pt(110) electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. It has revealed that in comparison with COad on Pt(110) in a CO-free solution,the oxidation current peak of COsol in a CO-saturated solution is positively shifted ca. 168 mV,and the peak current density has been increased by 6. 70 times. Linear adsorbed CO (COL) is determined by in-situ FTIR spectroscopy as the main species,which is uniformly distributed on Pt (110) surface. In a CO-free solution,the onset potential of COL is measured by in-situ FTIRS ca. 0. …

Comprehensive Reduced-Order Models Of Electrostatically Actuated Mems Switches And Their Dynamics Including Impact And Bounce, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

As MEMS technology develops it is becoming better understood that MEMS designers must account for the large uncertainties characteristic of the relevant manufacturing processes. Uncertainty quantification tasks the designer with evaluating many different possible outcomes from the manufacturing process which creates a demand for models that are accurate and comprehensive, yet fast to evaluate. This work presents a comprehensive reduced-order model of electrostatically actuated switches incorporating a range of effects that are typically included only in FE modeling codes. Specifically, the model accounts for variable electrode geometry, stretching of centerline or large displacement effects, fringing field, squeeze film and rarefied …

Simulation Of Sub-Micron Thermal Transport In A Mosfet Using A, James Loy, Druv Singh, Jayathi Y. Murthy

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

Self-heating has emerged as a critical bottleneck to scaling in modern transistors. In simulating heat conduction in these devices, it is important to account for the granularity of phonon transport since electron-phonon scattering occurs preferentially to select phonon groups. However, a complete accounting for phonon dispersion, polarization and scattering is very expensive if the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is used. Moreover, difficulties with convergence are encountered when the phonon Knudsen number becomes small. In this paper we simulate a two-dimensional bulk MOSFET hotspot problem using a partially-implicit hybrid BTE-Fourier solver which is significantly less expensive than a full BTE solution, …

Eight-Channel Reconfigurable Microring Filters With Tunable Frequency, Extinction Ratio And Bandwidth, Hao Shen, Maroof H. Khan, Li Fan, Lin Zhao, Yi Xuan, Jing Ouyang, Leo T. Varghese, Minghao Qi

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate an eight-channel reconfigurable optical filter on a silicon chip. It consists of cascaded microring resonators and integrated compact heaters. With an embedded Mach-Zehnder (MZ) arm coupling to a microring resonator, the important parameters of a filter such as center frequency, extinction ratio and bandwidth can be controlled simultaneously for purposes of filtering, routing and spectral shaping. Thus our device could potentially be useful in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and radio frequency arbitrary waveform generation (RFAWG). Multichannel filter response was successfully tuned to match the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU) grid with 50, 100 and 200GHz in channel spacing. …

Acoustic Phonon Scattering In Bi2te3/Sb2te3 Superlattices, Yaguo Wang, Carl Liebig, Xianfan Xu, Rama Venkatasubramanian

Birck and NCN Publications

Ultrafast time-resolved measurements were conducted to investigate long-wavelength acoustic phonon scattering and velocity reduction in Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 superlattices. We show that both these phenomena suppress heat transfer process, with the phonon scattering contributing more in differentiating the lattice thermal conductivities among films with different periods. Measurements of reduction in the acoustic phonon amplitudes support the decrease in the thermal conductivity for certain superlattice periods, which is not predicted by acoustic mismatch theory. This study is a direct measurement of coherent acoustic phonons in superlattices which is of significant interest to thermoelectrics.

Iii-Nitride Nanopyramid Light Emitting Diodes Grown By Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy, Isaac Wildeson, Robert Colby, David Ewoldt, Zhiwen Liang, Dmitri Zakharov, Nestor J. Zaluzec, R. Edwin García, E A. Stach, Timothy D. Sands

Birck and NCN Publications

Nanopyramid light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been synthesized by selective area organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Self-organized porous anodic alumina is used to pattern the dielectric growth e templates via reactive ion etching, eliminating the need for lithographic processes. (In,Ga)N quantum well growth occurs primarily on the six {1 (1) over bar 01} semipolar facets of each of the nanopyramids, while coherent (In,Ga)N quantum dots with heights of up to similar to 20 nm are incorporated at the apex by controlling growth conditions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicates that the (In,Ga)N active regions of the nanopyramid heterostructures are completely dislocation-free. Temperature-dependent …

Metric Signature Transitions In Optical Metamaterials, Igor Smolyaninov, Evgenii Narimanov

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate that the extraordinary waves in indefinite metamaterials experience an (- - + +) effective metric signature. During a metric signature change transition in such a metamaterial, a Minkowski space-time is created together with a large number of particles populating the space-time. Such metamaterial models provide a tabletop realization of metric signature change events suggested to occur in Bose-Einstein condensates and quantum gravity theories.

Time Dependence Of Self-Assembly Process For The Formation Of Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Nanolayers, Alexandre Dhôtel

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is increasing interest in self-assembled materials for energy storage, flexible electronics and hydrophobic barriers. Inorganic/organic hybrid thin films and especially organosilane-based coatings already have demonstrated their ability to achieve those goals. However, some fundamental points of their formation process by molecular self-assembly remain unexplained. Although the literature widely reports the effect of temperature on the final nanostructure, until now, no one has taken into account the importance of time during their synthesis.

The main objective of this study was to improve and complete the understanding of mechanisms responsible for the self-organization of organic/inorganic molecules into a highly ordered, layered …

Fabrication, Characterization And Simulation Of Non-Lithographic Nanostructures And Their Potential Applications, Neelanjan Bhattacharya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The dissertation describes the formation of porous silicon through the pores of porous alumina on a silicon substrate. Porous silicon, by itself, is inherently a non-uniform material that has non-uniform optical and electronic properties. In addition, it is also mechanically fragile material requiring careful material handling. The porous silicon fabricated through the nanosized pores of porous alumina are expected to mitigate these problems, thereby enhancing commercial viability of the device. The porous silicon as well the porous alumina have been synthesized through anodisation for various parameters and also various types of anodizing electrolytes. The porous silicon, so obtained have been …

Macrophages Loaded With Gold Nanoshells For Photothermal Ablation Of Glioma: An In Vitro Model, Amani Riad Makkouk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current median survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common type of glioma, remains at 14.6 months despite multimodal treatments (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy). This research aims to study the feasibility of photothermal ablation of glioma using gold nanoshells that are heated upon laser irradiation at their resonance wavelength. The novelty of our approach lies in improving nanoshell tumor delivery by loading them in macrophages, which are known to be recruited to gliomas via tumor-released chemoattractive agents. Ferumoxides, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, are needed as an additional macrophage load in order to visualize macrophage accumulation in …

Microcantilever Dynamics In Liquid Environment Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy When Using Higher-Order Cantilever Eigenmodes, Daniel Kiracofe, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

Dynamic atomic force microscopy is currently evolving from a single to a multifrequency instrument for nanoscale imaging often employing higher-order microcantilever eigenmodes for improved resolution and force spectroscopy. In this work the authors study the fundamentals of cantilever dynamics and energy dissipation when soft cantilevers are driven at their second flexural eigenmode and interact with samples in liquid environments. Contrary to the conventional first eigenmode operation, second eigenmode operation in liquids is often dominated by a subharmonic response (e.g., one tap every four drive cycles) and there is an energy transfer to the first eigenmode creating a new channel of …