Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Organic Solar Cells: Electrodes, Performance Enhancement And Degradation Mechanisms, Reginald J. Bauld

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis I focus on a number of aspects associated with the fabrication and characterization of organic photovoltaics. Specifically, my work focuses on evaluating solution processed graphene electrodes for use in organic photovoltaics, improving the performance of indium tin oxide transparent contacts by coating them with Au nanoparticles, and understanding the degradation pathways of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl): Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) organic solar cells. In my work on graphene electrodes for organic solar cells I worked out a relationship between the sheet resistance and the film transmittance that is useful to optimize such electrodes. Investigation of organic solar cell degradation …

Photochromic Molecular Materials For The Controlled Organization Of Nanoparticles, Kristen Elise Snell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The displacement of polystyrene nanoparticles promoted by bulk azo mass transfer using interferential light illumination will be discussed. For this a variety of different push pull small azo molecules were synthesis and characterized, changing the polarity, hydrophobicity and bulky groups around the azo moiety. These small dyes appear to orientate quicker than similarly report azo polymers, of entanglement of the azobenzene group in the polymeric backbone. These dyes were used to form surface relief grating on the thin films due to the bulk mass transfer. This mass transfer was exploited to align polystyrene nanoparticles in the crests and troughs of …

The Development Of Metal-Organic Compounds For Use As Molecular Imaging Agents, Emily J. Simpson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Molecular imaging probes allow for the non-invasive diagnosis of many diseases through the use of a targeting entity for site specific delivery, as well as a signal for external visualization of probe accumulation in the body. This thesis will focus on the development of new approaches to synthesize targeting peptides and chelators for radionuclide incorporation towards the design of novel molecular imaging probes.

Histidine is a tridentate chelator that can be attached in a pendant fashion to a biomolecule in order to coordinate technetium-99m. Once coordinated, it forms a neutral complex that is capable of forming diastereomers with inverted stereochemistry …

Surface Functionalization And Bioconjugation Of Nanoparticles For Biomedical Applications, Longyan Chen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Colloidal inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have been attracting considerable interest in biomedicine, from drug and gene delivery to imaging, sensing and diagnostics. It is essential to modify the surface of nanoparticles to have enhanced biocompatibility and functionality for the in vitro and in vivo applications, especially in delivering locally and recognizing biomolecules. Herein, the goal of this research work is to develop advanced NPs with well-tailored surface functionalities and/or bio-functionality for the applications in cell tracking and analytes detection.

In the first project, quantum dots incorporating with gelatin nanoparticles (QDs-GNPs) have been developed for bioimaging applications. Two different approaches have been …