Energy independence requires that the nation reduce its dependence on foreign oil imports. This can be achieved through electrification of transportation vehicles if proper battery technology can be developed. In addition, the renewable energy...
Rising environmental concerns due to our rising population ad energy demand along with our excessive dependence on fossil fuels has created an urgent need to find clean, renewable and carbon free source of energy. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water...
This research was performed to establish the feasibility of using Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) technology to deposit nickel powder to a nickel substrate. The substrate is electrodeposited pure nickel, and the material to be deposited is Metco...
The thesis focuses on improving the flowrate of the Knudsen gas pump. The Knudsen pump uses thermal transpiration as the driving mechanism to pump gas. It is a motionless gas pump as the pump does not require any moving actuators for pumping. The...
Fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites (PMCs) using high-temperature thermoplastics as the matrix material represent a lightweight design solution for applications above 250°F. This is often required for aircraft structures subjected to...
Computer-aided minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has progressed significantly in the last decade and it has great potential in surgical planning and operations. To limit the damage to nearby healthy tissue, accurate modeling is required of the...
A potential source of fine grained suspended sediments in a stream system is the
upper hillslopes of the drainage. Quantifying the sediment produced and transported to a
stream from these hillslopes is challenging because of the complex nature of...
Microelectromechanical systems; Biotelemetry; Strains and stresses--Measurement
Lumbar arthrodesis or spinal fusion is usually performed to relieve back pain and regain functionality from ruptured discs, disc degenerative disease, trauma and scoliosis. Metal rods are often fixed to the spine with screws or hooks, while fusion...
Heat pipes; Solar heating--Passive systems; Solar heating--Research; Solar energy--Research
The one dimensional heat transfer, thermal diode effect of heat pipes makes
them ideal for passive solar applications. Gains in a heat pipe passive solar wall are not
lost during cloud cover or periods of low irradiation. An experimental model was...
Women in literature--History--19th century; Consumption (Economics) in literature; Materialism in literature; American literature--19th century--Social aspects
This dissertation examines American consumer culture and its influences on images of women created in art and literature at the turn of the twentieth century. It is divided into four substantive parts and uses the methods and theoretical approaches...
Within the Appalachian hills of eastern Kentucky, large-scale coal mining operations are directly altering the headwater landscape through the construction of hollow fills. These man-made landforms and their associated in-stream structures alter a...
This dissertation demonstrates an elegant method, known as 'micro-origami' or strain architecture to design and fabricate three-dimensional MEMS structures which are assembled using actuation of a metal-oxide bilayer with conventional planar...
Residential buildings account for a large portion of total energy consumption in the United States. Residential energy usage can be dramatically reduced by improving the efficiency of building envelope systems. One such method is to incorporate...
Iron oxide, Fe2O3, is a promising material for water splitting reaction using solar
energy due to its stability and optimal bandgap of 2 eV. Even the recent efforts, however,
using Fe2O3 thin film materials reported low efficiencies due to poor...
Mixing machinery; Production engineering--Case studies
A processing facility in Trenton, Ky owned by HydroSolutions is in need of modernization in order to increase efficiency in the mixing process, improve the safety of the facility, and give the facility the ability to expand in the future. The main...
Conducting polymers; Polymers in medicine; Myocardium
Hydrophilic and conductive characteristics in polymers are mutually exclusive of each other. Hydrophilic polymer properties allow absorption of water up to several magnitudes above their dry weight. However, due to their molecular structure, they...
Na,K-ATPase is essential for the regulation of cytoplasmic Na+ and K+ levels in lens cells. Insufficient Na,K-ATPase activity is associated with cataract formation. Based on earlier studies in which Src-tyrosine kinase inhibitors were found to...
Nanoscience is not about products becoming smaller and smaller, but about new material properties being exploited for new and enhanced product applications. Liquid crystalline materials are one branch of "nanomaterials" that has promise...
