Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Nanostructured Lithium Iron Silicate/Carbon Composites As Cathode Material For Next Generation Of Lithium-Ion Batteries, Ajay Kumar

Wayne State University Dissertations

Lithium iron silicate (Li2FeSiO4) has the potential as cathode material for next generation lithium ion batteries because of its high specific theoretical capacity (330 mA h g-1), low cost, environmental benignity, and improved safety. However, itsintrinsically poor electronic conductivity and slow lithium ion diffusion in the solid phase limits its applications. To address these issues, we studied mesoporous Li2FeSiO4/C composites synthesized by sol-gel (SG) and solvothermal (ST) methods using tri-block copolymer (P123) as carbon source and structure directing agent. The Li2FeSiO4/C (ST) composites show improved electrochemical performance compared to Li2FeSiO4/C (SG). At C/30 rate, Li2FeSiO4/C (ST) delivered the discharge capacity …

Nonlinear Dynamic Studies Of Pattern-Forming And Biomedical Systems, Doaa Taha

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nonlinear phenomena are ubiquitous in nature and in almost every discipline of science. Various nonlinear dynamic theories are being developed to investigate a wide range of complex nonlinear systems. In this work, we study two types of nonlinear phenomena. The first type involves understanding and controlling the properties and dynamics of two-dimensional (2D) material systems. We develop a binary phase field crystal (PFC) model which simultaneously addresses diffusive dynamics of large-scale systems and resolves material microstructures, and apply the model to the study of two material systems. (1) We use this PFC model to investigate the self assembly of 2D …

How Geometric Distortions Scatter Electronic Excitations In Conjugated Macromolecules: Towards Photoinduced Relaxation And Energy Transfer, Tian Shi

Wayne State University Dissertations

The exciton scattering (ES) approach has been developed to study electronic excitations in large branched conjugated molecules. It attributes excited states to standing waves in the quasi-one-dimensional system by assuming a quasi-particle picture of optical excitations. Tight binding models extend capability of the ES approach to investigate the exciton-phonon coupling.

The topological counting method plays a substantial role in constructing tight binding models. It depicts the ES equations as a topological intersection problem. Then, by applying the index theorem, we can get the total number of excited states, which is equal to the number of repeat units plus topological charges …

Electronic Transport In Two-Dimensional Systems In The Quantum Hall Regime, Vinicio Tarquini

Wayne State University Dissertations

The integer and the fractional quantum Hall effects are essential to the exploration of quantum matters characterized by topological phases. A quantum Hall system hosts one-dimensional (1D) chiral edge channels that manifest zero magnetoresistance, dissipationless due to the broken time reversal symmetry, and quantized Hall resistance v h e^2 with v being the topological invariant (or Chern number). The 1-1 correspondence between the conducting gapless edge channels to the gapped incompressible bulk states is a defining character of a topological insulator (TI). Understanding this correspondence in real systems, especially the origin of its robustness (in terms of the limit of …

Multiferroicity In Iron Vanadate, Magnetite And Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanocomposite Films, Ehab Hamdy Abdelmonaim Abdelhamid

Wayne State University Dissertations

With the increasing demand on cheaper and better performance multifunctional materials for different applications, it is becoming more crucial to have a better understanding of the physics needed to tailor more devices and materials to fit better in every day’s technological needs. Materials which show more than one ferroic order simultaneously –namely, multiferroics– are of particular importance for their potential applications as multiple state memory elements, transducers and electrically tunable microwave devices.

In this work, we studied FeVO4 single crystals as an example on low symmetry multiferroics. We focused on the anisotropy in those crystals in an attempt to nail …

Investigation Of Temperature Dependent Magnetic Hyperthermia In Fe3o4 Ferrofluids, Humeshkar Bhaskar Nemala

Wayne State University Dissertations

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of Fe3O4 and gamma-Fe2O3 have been exploited in the biomedical fields for imaging, targeted drug delivery and magnetic hyperthermia. Magnetic hyperthermia (MHT), the production of heat using ferrofluids, colloidal suspensions of MNPs, in an external AC magnetic field (amplitude, 100-500 Oe and frequency 50 kHz -1MHz), has been explored by many researchers, both in vitro and in vivo, as an alternative viable option to treat cancer. The heat energy generated by Néel and Brownian relaxation processes of the internal magnetic spins could be used to elevate local tissue temperature to about 46 ˚C to arrest cancerous growth. …

Nanostrucured Lithium Iron Phosphate As Cathode Material For Lithium Ion-Batteries, Khadije Bazzi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Lithium-ion batteries are the power source of choice for portable electronics, power tools and electric-based transportation. This outstanding commercial success has spawned great international interest in applying this technology to systems that demand higher power, such as the electric component of hybrid, extended range, and electric vehicles. This would require new electrode materials that are less expensive, more energetic, and more environmentally friendly than the present ones. Of particular interest is the olivine-structured LiFePO4 cathode developed by Goodenough and co-workers, which offers several appealing features, such as a high, flat voltage profile and relatively high theoretical specific capacity (170 mAhg−1), …

Low Energy Positron Interactions With Biological Molecules, Indika Lasantha Wanniarachchi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Calculations of the positron density distribution which can be used for positrons bound to midsize and larger molecules have been tested for smaller molecules and subsequently applied to investigate the most likely e+e- annihilation sites for positrons interacting with biological molecules containing C, H, O, and N. In order to allow consideration of positrons bound to extended molecules with regions of different character and no particular symmetry, atom-centered positron basis sets of Gaussian-type functions were developed for positrons bound to molecules containing O, N, C, H, Li, Na, and Be. Testing shows that there is no need to scale the …

Diffusion Of Gold Nanoparticles In Synthetic And Biopolymer Solutions, Indermeet Kohli

Wayne State University Dissertations

Soft matter systems of colloidal particles, polymers, amphiphiles and liquid crystals are ubiquitous in our everyday life. Food, plastics, soap and even human body is comprised of soft materials. Research conducted to understand the behavior of these soft matter systems at molecular level is essential for many interdisciplinary fields of study as well as important for many technological applications.

We used gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to investigate the length-scale dependent dynamics in semidilute poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-water, bovine serum albumin (BSA)-phosphate buffer, dextran and particulate solutions. In case of PEG-water solutions, fluctuation correlation spectroscopy was used to measure the diffusion coefficients …

Raman Spectroscopy And Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy For Diagnosis Of Human Cancer And Acanthosis Nigricans, Suneetha Devpura

Wayne State University Dissertations

Cancer and diabetes are common chronic diseases in today's world causing numerous deaths in adults as well as children. Most common types of cancers in adults include prostate, lung, breast, colorectal and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, while among children; leukemia, and brain and central nervous system cancers are quite common. In each of these cases, early detection of the cancer or disease dramatically increases the chances of successful treatment. In recent years, there has been much interest in using Raman spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy as analytical optical spectroscopic methods for early diagnosis of diseases. Raman spectroscopy can …

Effects Of Transition Metal Doping On Multiferroic Ordering In Ni3v2o8 And Fevo4, Akila Deeghayu Kumarasiri

Wayne State University Dissertations

We have studied the effects of doping both non-magnetic and magnetic ions on the phase transitions and multiferroic ordering in two multiferroic oxides; Ni3V2O8 and FeVO4. Magnetic, dielectric, specific heat, polarization and AC susceptibility measurements were used to track changes in phase transition temperatures. We found that the two higher temperature magnetic transitions in Ni3V2O8; TH = 9.1 K and TL = 6.3 K are suppressed to lower temperatures with all transition metal dopants. For Zn doping, the rates of the suppression of both TH and TL with dopant fraction are consistent with simple site dilution for two-dimensional spin systems, …

A Novel Integrated Platform Combining Atomic Force Microscopy And Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, Venkatesh Subba Rao

Wayne State University Dissertations

At the nanoscale near an interface, the discrete nature of liquids is expected to influence various properties, such as density, viscosity or diffusion constants. Understanding interfacial properties of liquids is important for the development of nanotechnology, especially for the fields of nano-rheology and nano-tribology, and also for understanding various mechanisms in biological systems at the molecular level, such as protein folding or the self-assembly of lipid vesicles, which invariably involve liquids. Atomic force microscope (AFM) and fluorescence correlation spectroscope (FCS) are two complimentary techniques that are commonly employed investigate mechanics and dynamics of liquids at interfaces. In this thesis, the …

Dynamics Of Nanoparticles In Complex Fluids., Rami Ahmad Saleh Omari

Wayne State University Dissertations

Soft matter is a subfield of condensed matter including polymers, colloidal dispersions, surfactants, and liquid crystals. These materials are familiar from our everyday life- glues, paints, soaps, and plastics are examples of soft materials. Many phenomena in these systems have the same underlying physical mechanics. Moreover, it has been recognized that combinations of these systems, like for example polymers and colloids, exhibit new properties which are found in each system separately. These mixed systems have a higher degree of complexity than the separate systems. In order to understand their behavior, knowledge from each subfields of soft matter has to be …

The Study Of Weak Ferromagnetism By Andreev Reflection Spin Spectroscopy And Development Of Bimorph Electro-Thermal Actuators, Pushkal Thapa

Wayne State University Dissertations

It is well accepted that spin polarization of materials has a major role in spintronics to improve the efficiency of spintronic devices. Point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) spectroscopy, one of the most popular and reliable techniques, was used to obtain the conductance and by analyzing them by modified BTK model, spin polarizations of various materials, generally with low ferromagnetism, were extracted in order to understand the transport properties of spin polarized current and find the relation of spin polarization with other parameters such as saturation magnetization or the Curie temperature so that better spintronic materials can be identified and developed. …

Measuring The Nanomechanics Of Nanoconfined Water Layers, Shah Haidar Khan

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nanoconfined water has been the subject of special interest due to its applications in various fields such as biology, geology, medicine, and engineering tribology. While there is a general agreement on the layering of water molecules along atomically smooth surfaces, the behavior and properties of nanoconfined water is still poorly understood. A significant controversy exists whether there is a phase transformation imposed by confinement. We have measured the stiffness and damping coefficient of nanoconfined water using a small amplitude (0.5-1 Å) atomic force microscope. The results were analyzed with the help of two viscoelastic models, the Kelvin model and the …

Electro-Optic And Magneto-Dielectric Properties Of Multifunctional Nitride And Oxide Materials, Ambesh Dixit

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Materials that simultaneously exhibit different physical properties provide a rich area of research leading to the development of new devices. For example, materials having a strong coupling between charge and spin degrees of freedom are essential to realizing a new class of devices referred to generally as spintronics. However, these multifunctional systems pose new scientific challenges in understanding the origin and mechanisms for cross-control of different functionalities. The core of this Ph.D. dissertation deals with multifunctional nitride and oxide compound semiconductors as well as multiferroic magnetic oxide systems by investigating structural, optical, electrical, magnetic, magnetodielectric and magnetoelectric properties.

Thin …

Harmonic Sputtering Theory, Zhu Lin Zhang

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

HARMONIC SPUTTERING THEORY

By

ZHU LIN ZHANG

February 2010

Advisor: Dr. Karur R. Padmanabhan

Major: Physics

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Based on the standard Botzmann equation in Classical Statistics Mechanics, we have derived a variety of Linear Transport Equations appeared in Sputtering Theory for a random, infinite multi-components medium. The pertinent relations among these Linear Transport Equations have been studied in detail. We have introduced exact classical scattering cross-sections of power potential interaction collision into these Transport Equations and solved them asymptotically by using Laplace Transformation for both isotropic term and anisotropic term. A pool of analytical asymptotic solutions …

A Study Of Structure-Property Correlation In V2o5 And Tio2 Based Thin Films As Functional Materials, Chandra Thapa

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

A STUDY OF STRUCTURE-PROPERTY CORRELATION IN V2O5 AND TiO2 BASED THIN FILMS AS FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS

by

CHANDRA THAPA

June 2010

Advisor: Dr. Ratna Naik

Co-Advisor: Dr. K. R. Padmanabhan

Major: Physics (Condensed Matter)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The focus of this thesis is to study the structure-property correlation in thin films of V2O5 and TiO2 based transition metal oxides as functional materials. V2O5 is investigated as a cathode material for lithium ion battery and TiO2 as a high-K dielectric material.

We studied V2O5 thin films prepared by spin coating using three different types of precursors, MOD precursor, sol-gel organic …

Optical And Electron-Paramagnetic Resonance Studies Of Sodium-Fluoride, Ronald Allen Andrews

Wayne State University Dissertations

No abstract provided.