Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Morphology And Conformation Of Polythiophene Derivatives In Anisotropic Core-Shell Nanocomposites And Solution, Neil Redeker

Master's Theses

Conjugated semiconducting polymers have garnered substantial interest in recent years due to the potential for use in various applications, particularly in the field of electronic devices such as photovoltaic cells and light emitting diodes. Conjugated polymers offer numerous advantages in these applications, including low cost and high flexibility, but electronic devices based on these materials are currently limited by poor performance. Because of these limitations, increased focus has been placed on improving conjugated polymers for use in commercially viable products. Here, a novel core shell hybrid nanocomposite based on anisotropic zinc oxide nanowires and a side-chain functionalized polythiophene is reported. …

Use Of Thermodynamic Models For Optimizing Fuel Treatment Processes, Shawn Pj Kirby, Andrew Guenthner

STAR Program Research Presentations

Dyes are often added to fuels for tax purposes, but they cause degradation of the fuels. It would be advantageous to remove the dyes prior to their use in critical aerospace applications. Current technologies vary in the efficiency with which they can remove unwanted dyes from fuel sources. We have used Hansen Solubility Parameters to develop an “ideal solvent” that can be used to extract these dyes from fuel. This will also be applied to removal of sulfur compounds from fuels. Sulfur compounds in fuels create sulfates during combustion, which in turn react with water to make sulfuric acid. Sulfuric …

Re-Healable Coating Based Upon Thermally Responsive Linkages, Dahlia Ningrum Amato

Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis was to design thermally responsive polyol resins that would be compatible with isocyanates. Two approaches were made to reach this goal, the first involved functionalizing soybean oil and the second involved post-polymerization modification of a methacrylate based resin.

A soybean based coating with thermally responsive Diels-Alder linkages has been prepared following an automotive two-component formulation. The resulting coatings displayed the capability to be healed following physical deformation by a thermal stimulus, and such a material has significant potential for end users. Various curing agents were employed, and resulted in variation of scratch resistance and re-healablity. …

Latent Cysteine Residues From Polymers Prepared Via Free And Controlled Radical Polymerizations, Douglas Vincent Amato

Master's Theses

One less commonly used “click” reaction is thiazolidine chemistry. Thiazolidine chemistry is a commonly used reaction used in biological systems because the reaction requires the presence of both cysteine (a common amino acid) and an aldehyde or ketone. If cysteine residues could be incorporated into a polymer then a variety of applications could be developed. Polymers containing free thiols (aka thiomers) have developed in the last decade to become great mucoadhesives. If there was a facile route to control the amount of free thiols along the polymer then more fine-tuned and potentially stronger adhesives could be made. For these reasons …