The Micralyne microfluidic toolkit (μTK) was an instrument built by Micralyne in the early 2000’s. It was built for electrophoresis and has a sensitive laser-induced fluorescence detection system. The updates to the system were upgrading the control GUI from running in LabVIEW 5 (Windows XP, 2000) to LabVIEW 2012 (Windows...
The effect of cosputtered catalyst on growth and alignment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was investigated. Aligned CNTs were observed using a cosputtered catalytic metal deposited directly on boro-aluminosilicate glass. Catalytic metal alloys were sputtered directly onto the substrate using magnetron sputtering. Deposition...
Having a series of excellent properties, the oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels provide promising solutions for the challenges of structural materials in nuclear energy, especially the development of future advanced nuclear fission and even fusion reactors. The current manufacturing route for ODS alloys includes mechanical alloying (MA) of master alloys or...
The intriguing size- and shape dependent properties of nanoparticles have garnered recent attention in many science and engineering areas. When the particle size is in the nanometer size range, the material exhibits very different properties such as surface plasmon resonance (of gold nanoparticles) and superparamagnetism (of iron oxide nanoparticles). The...
Metal-oxides are very important in industrial applications such as thermal barrier coatings, corrosion protection, and heterogeneous catalysis. The wide variety of applications for metal-oxides are derived from the array of properties of metal-oxides. It is, therefore, important to understand and predict the conditions of synthesis and operation to optimize the...
Cobalt germanides have been widely studied as semiconductor contact materials, but recent theoretical studies suggest that they may also be excellent catalysts for methane steam reforming with stabilities and activities comparable to noble metal catalysts. In order to study the catalytic activity of cobalt germanides, it is critical to first...
Carbon steel, which contains mostly iron, has been widely used as reinforcement in reinforced concrete. In the alkaline environment in reinforced concrete, a thin iron oxide film, called the passive film, forms on the surface of the steel, which protects the surface from active corrosion. The exact atomic structure of...
Cubic phase Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) is a promising solid electrolyte for all solid-state lithium-ion battery, due to its reasonable ionic conductivity, stable against metallic Li, wide chemical window, and thermal and chemical stability. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the influences of different synthesis methods on the structure...
Hydrogen is the green fuel that can be produced from water through electrolysis and used via hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity with zero carbon dioxide emission. The commercialization of electrolyzers and fuel cells is the critical step to achieving global carbon neutrality. However, it is severely hampered by the...
The dissertation focuses on the engineering of light-matter interaction using plasmonic nanoparticles and metamaterials to achieve enhanced luminescence and based on which to improve the performance of biosensing and light-emitting technologies. We designed and fabricated a spectrum of nanostructures to exhibit particular dispersion relations capable of controlling the spontaneous emission...