This dissertation demonstrated that the electrical properties of complex oxide-based perovskite materials could be controlled through the careful modification of both material composition and structure. This was first shown through the modification of lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3, PZT) solid solutions with bismuth indate (BiInO3, BI) where the relative stability of...
Part 1: A Diels-Alder Approach to the Synthesis of Novel Analogues of the Natural
Product Siamenol
Due to the prevalence of biaryl motifs in natural product synthesis, the Carter
research group has been exploring the utility of a Diels-Alder approach to biaryl
synthesis. The Diels-Alder approach involves a [4+2] cycloaddition...
Patterning of metal oxides typically involves a multi step process, involving
depositing a resist, patterning that resist with some form of lithography, etching the
oxide through the resist, and finally removing. This process can be simplified if the
resist is removed and replaced with a metal oxide that can be...
At Site-300, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), CA,
trichloroethene (TCE) is present along with tetraalkoxysilanes such as tetrabutoxysilane
(TBOS) and tetrakis(2-ethylbutoxy) silane (TKEBS), as subsurface contaminants.
Intrinsic transformation of TCE to cis-dichloroethene (c-DCE) was observed in the
groundwater at locations co-contaminated with TBOS or TKEBS. Attenuation of TBOS
and TKEBS...
Solid-state amorphous materials show amazing promise in thin-film electronics. The interface-to-bulk ratio of thin films makes interfacial chemistries of these systems of utmost importance. Thin films of amorphous metals, dielectrics and semiconductors have novel chemistries that are not only based upon their elemental constituent makeup, but also based upon the...
Fluorescence has proven to be a robust and powerful method of analysis in numerous fields: forensics, pharmaceutics, geology, food science, and environmental sciences have all developed a large collection of fluorescence instruments and methods to overcome application-specific challenges. Biological applications saw the same development of a fluorescence toolkit with methods...
Novel donor-type graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) containing tetra-n-alkylammonium (TAA) cations have been synthesized by using both ion-exchange and electrochemical methods. Structural and compositional data of the resulting TAA-GICs are investigated by using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), one-dimensional electron density calculations, thermogravimetric and elemental analyses, and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). A...
Crystals of an incongruent-melting compound, Ba₃MgSi₂O₈, were grown by the flux method and its structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Ba₃MgSi₂O₈ crystallizes in trigonal space group P-3[bar]m1 with a = 5.6123(3) Å, c = 7.2667(9) Å and Z = 1. Eu²⁺ ions prefer one crystallographic Ba site...
A scalable synthesis of the "flat" tridecameric inorganic cluster [Al₁₃(μ₃-OH)₆(μ-OH)₁₈(H₂O)₂₄]¹⁵⁺ has been realized by treating an aqueous aluminum nitrate solution with zinc-metal powder at room temperature. Single crystals and polycrystalline samples are readily obtained in yields exceeding 55% relative to the starting reagent Al(NO₃)₃. Products have been characterized by X-ray...
Oxide materials exhibit a wide variety of structures and properties. In particular, transition metal oxides tend to be highly stable while exhibiting a wide range of properties that can be used for numerous applications. This work focuses on investigating how the structures’ of 4d and 5d transition metal oxides influences...