Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sulfurization Of Nanostructured Cobalt Oxide For Energy Storage Applications, Samiyah Fahad Aloqayli

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Development of energy storage devices with high energy performance, power density, fast charge-discharge capability and long cyclability is needed to meet the increasing demand for energy, power and environmental protection in our daily life. Supercapacitors have great potential in future energy storage devices with magnificent properties. Recently, researchers have shown great progress for the improvement of supercapacitor performance by fabrication of nanostructured transition metal chalcogenides materials. One of the main objectives of this thesis is to synthesize nanostructured cobalt oxide and then converte them to cobalt sulfide using a facile hydrothermal method. The synthesized cobalt oxide and cobalt sulfide were …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Molybdenum Sulfide And For Hydrogen Evolution Reaction And Supercapacitor Applications, Zhuo Wang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

To meet the constantly rising requirement of energy other than traditional fossil fuel and environment protection, it is a perfect time to development low cost, and efficient materials for clean energy production. Hydrogen generation by water splitting is one of the cleanest ways to produce cheaper energy. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is one of the key steps in water splitting process. Ideally, the thermodynamic potential for HER should be at 0 V (vs. SHE). However, without an efficient catalyst, this reaction occurred at higher potential, called overpotential. A good HER catalyst is needed to lower the overpotential and hence to …

In The Tristate Area Consisting Of Kansas, Missouri, And Oklahoma, A Local And State Level Comparison Of High School Chemistry Prerequisites, High School Chemistry Instructor Preparation, And The Readiness Of A High School Student For College Chemistry, Greg Howard

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to create an awareness among secondary and post-secondary instructors as to the student’s preparation in high school Chemistry I and the student’s readiness for General Chemistry I in college for a tristate area consisting of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Student preparation in this research included chemistry I course prerequisites, high school chemistry teacher qualifications including preparation, and student exposure to rigorous science and math course patterns in high school as these relate to college readiness.

Data was gathered from a local cohort group consisting of high schools in Southeast Kansas (SEK), Southwest Missouri (SWM), …

Use Of Decahydrodecaborate As Flame Retardants In Polyurethanes, Austin W. Bailey

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

There is a growing need for non-halogenated flame retardants due to the toxicity and environmental impacts that are exhibited by current ones. The polyurethane industry is one that has expressed a need for flame retardants in many of its industrial and commercial applications. For these reasons, two different decaborate compounds, tetramethyl and tetrabutyl ammonium decahydrodecaborate, were synthesized and incorporated into polyurethane films for testing. The compounds were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Proton-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy, Carbon-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹³C-NMR) spectroscopy, and Boron-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹¹B-NMR) spectroscopy. The compounds were incorporated …

Graphene Nanoribbons And Their Polymeric Nanocomposites: Controlled Synthesis, Characterization And Applications, Nada M. Aljehany

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Carbon based materials are very promising as electrode materials energy generation and storage devices. They have been used for fuel cells, supercapacitors and solar cells. Among the carbon-based materials, graphene is very attractive due to its unique properties such as high electrical conductivity, good mechanical flexibility, large theoretical surface area (2630 m²/g), and high thermal and chemical stability. These unique properties make them very suitable for energy storage applications particularly for supercapacitors. The performance of the graphene as energy storage material could be further improved by growing them in nanoribbon form by unzipping carbon nanotubes. In this thesis, …

Facile Synthesis And Characterization Of Graphene Nanoribbons/Polypyrrole Nanocomposite, Johara A. Al Dream

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Carbon is present in various forms such as coal, carbon nanotubes, graphene, diamond etc. Among various forms, carbon nanotubes and graphene have attracted considerable research attention due to their high thermal stability, high mechanical strength and electrical conduction. These properties largely depend on synthesis procedure. In this work, we synthesized graphene nanoribbons using carbon nanotubes for nanocomposites with polypyrrole. Chemical oxidation was used to unzip the carbon nanotubes. These graphene nanoribbons were used to fabricate nanocomposites with polypyrrole for energy storage applications. The synthesized nanocomposites were structurally and electrochemically characterized.

The structural characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, SEM, …

Molecularly Targeted Nanomedicine: Role Of Hsp90 Inhibitor And Sophorolipids In The Treatment Of Lung Cancer, Shuguftha Naz Ms

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Lactonic sophorolipids (LSL) are a class of enzymatically modified glycolipids known to have HDAC inhibition activity and anticancer properties. Ganetespib (GT), an Hsp90 inhibitor, is known for its superior antitumor activity in several K-RAS mutant Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) cells. In this study, a new anti-oxidant nanoplatform is formulated using the combination of these two drugs, LSL and GT, in order to target both HDAC inhibition and Hsp90 signaling pathways in NSCLC. Nanoceria (NC) is an excellent redox platform will be specifically used to supplement the therapeutic potency of these drugs in the effective treatment of NSCLC. We hypothesized that …

One-Pot Syntheses And Characterizations Of “Click-Able” Polyester Polymers For Potential Biomedical Applications, James F. Beach Ii

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a synthetic polyester polymer was designed using polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, glutaric acid and 4-pentynoic acid as monomers. The synthesis was carried out using standard melt polymerization technique and catalyzed by Novozyme-435, an enzyme suitable for polyesterification of biocompatible compounds. The progress of the reaction was monitored with respect to time and vacuum exposure, with samples being subjected to standard characterization protocols. Polymers with high molecular weight and water solubility were chosen for further modification into folate-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. This was achieved by employing a solvent diffusion method, wherein the polymer …

Biowaste Derived Rigid Polyurethane Foams And Supercapacitors: A Renewable And Sustainable Alternative For Petrochemicals, Charith K. R. Akurana Gamaralalage

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Bio-based polyol for rigid polyurethane (PU) foams and porous structured carbon as an electrode material for supercapacitors were synthesized from readily available biowaste precursor (orange peel) as an alternative to currently used petroleum-based starting materials. Synthesized bio-based polyols were characterized using FTIR, GPC, hydroxyl number, and viscosity measurements. These analyses indicated that intended bio-based polyol was obtained via thiol-ene chemistry with a high yield. Rigid PU foams prepared from bio-based polyol exhibited density around 35 kg/m³, maintained a regular cell structure with uniform cell distribution, closed cell content over 90%, and excellent compressive strength of ~230 kPa, suggesting …

Effects Of Processing Parameters On Properties Of Novel Silica-Filled Polysiloxane Materials, Kyle W. Schwenker

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Polysiloxanes are a class of materials that possess high temperature stability and the ability to remain flexible at extremely low temperatures. Their elastomers generally exhibit low strength and have poor mechanical properties unless reinforced with fillers. Reinforcement can be accomplished by compounding reinforcing silica fillers with polysiloxanes via twin-screw extrusion compounding that vigorously mixes the fillers into a polymer matrix. In this thesis, a lab-scale twin-screw extruder was utilized to compound thermoplastic materials to determine the effects of processing on thermoplastics material properties, as well as to determine the extruder’s compounding effectiveness. Processing via lab-scale twin-screw extrusion did not negatively …