The discovery of carbon nanotubes and subsequently graphene has led to an interest in carbon materials as sensing elements due to their unique properties. Graphene is a 2-dimensional material that has a large surface area that can be exposed to...
As more attention is focused toward carbon dioxide emissions into the environment, conversion of CO2 to useful chemicals can utilize the extra carbon dioxide captured from power plant stack gas, instead of sequestration. The mainstream method of...
Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs), Double Walled Carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) and C60@SWNT (peapods) are three of well-ordered all-carbon nanostructures. Peapods are SWNTs filled with C60 fullerene peas. At high temperatues, C60 molecules coalesce...
This thesis is based on experimental work on electrochemically mediated charge transfer effects on Single-walled carbon nanotube bundles. The study of these effects are very important towards understanding the sensitivity of gases on nanostructures...
The research in this dissertation describes a simple electrochemical approach for fabricating nanoscale (metal/metal) or molecular (metal/polymer or self assembled monolayer (SAM)/metal) junctions. The fabrication involves metal deposition on one...
In this dissertation, standardized methods for measuring electron emission (EE) from nanostructured materials are established. Design of an emitter array platform, synthesis and nanomanipulation of different types of are successfully conducted....
Nanoparticles; Drug delivery devices; Gene therapy
The properties and broad applications of nano-magnetic colloids have generated much interest in recent years. Specially, Fe304 nanoparticles have attracted a great deal of attention since their magnetic properties can be used for hyperthermia...
Nanoparticles are a class of materials that exhibit unique physical and chemical properties compared to those of the same material at the bulk scale. One method of enhancing the thermal conductivity, and hence the heat transfer coefficient, of 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...
Nanostructured materials; Nanotubes; Nanoparticles; Drug delivery systems; Diagnostic Imaging
Nanomaterials have many intriguing applications in biology and medicine. Unique properties such as enhanced electrical properties, increased chemical reactivity and resistance to degradation, novel optical properties and comparable size to that of...
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...
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...
Liquid gallium (Ga) spontaneously alloys with thin films of metals such as Ag, Au, Pt Al, and Cu at near or even below room temperature resulting in rapid self-assembly of nanostructures. In this dissertation, studies of the formation of these...
III-nitrides (InN, GaN, AlN) are some of the most promising materials for making blue light emitting diodes (LED), blue laser diodes (LD) and high power, high temperature field effect transistors (FET). Current techniques produce GaN films with...
Crystalline beta-Ga2O3 nanowires with two distinct morphologies have been synthesized through simple physical evaporation of Te doped GaAs powder in argon atmosphere. The structure of the nanowires was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, and raman...
Understanding the nucleation and early stage growth of crystals from the vapor phase is important for realizing large-area single-crystal quality films, controlled synthesis of nanocrystals, and the possible discovery of new phases of materials....
This dissertation deals with various imidazole compounds with emphasis on hydrogen bond interactions and weaker intermolecular forces. New amide functionalized polyimidazole metal binding pockets are able to form intramolecular six-membered...
This dissertation describes (1) size-dependent electrochemical oxidation/stripping of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs), (2) alloying of copper with gold nanoparticles at underpotential deposition potentials, (3) electrochemical characterization...
Cerium dioxide or ceria, CeO2, has been widely used in industry as catalyst for automotive exhaust controls, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries, and high temperature fuel cells because of its unique metal oxide properties. This well-known...