The phases of transition alumina are scientifically interesting due to their high specific surface area, favorable acid/ base characteristics, and chemical and hydrothermal stability which make this metallic oxide a prime candidate for use as a support for metallic nanoparticles (NPs) in heterocatalysis. Interactions at alumina/Pt interfaces are important for...
There have been many attempts to characterize and mimic natural fluid-based adhesive systems. However, very few of these studies have examined surface or interfacial interactions between adhesive and substrate. Furthermore, until now no study has used a combination of surface analytical and kinematic techniques to determine the precise chemical mechanisms...
The electrical stability of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thinfilmtransistors (TFTs) is investigated for flat-panel display applications. Althoughproducts incorporating a-IGZO TFT backplanes are already commercially available,e.g., iMac with 5K retina display, technical challenges need to be addressed for nextgenerationapplications, e.g., active-matrix organic light-emitting diode displays.Device stability is one crucial issue. The...
Functional polymers and proteins at interfaces and surfaces are of fundamental importance for biomaterials, biocatalysis and microreactor applications. Candida antarctica lipase B immobilized on poly-DL-tryptophan tethers showed 30x higher
specific activity in aqueous and non-aqueous media than the same enzyme adsorbed or covalently bound directly to the surface. An excess...
Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) and dual-insulator MIM (MIIM) devices are used in rectennas, hot-electron transistors, single electron transistors, resistive random access memory (RRAM), and capacitors. The performance of these devices relies heavily on the energy barrier height at each metal-insulator interface. Thus, determination of the in-situ electron energy barrier at each interface...
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...
Uses for materials with a large surface area and high porosity have grown sig-nificantly in recent years. Porous materials have found usage in applications such as separation, gas storage, sensing, purification and more, prompting researchers to find and discover numerous new porous materials to suit a specific purpose. Hundreds of...
Harvesting energy from the environment for powering micro-power devices have been increasing in popularity. These types of devices can be used in embedded applications or in sensor networks where battery replacement is impractical. In this dissertation, different methods of energy harvesting from the environment are explored as alternative sources of...
The aim of this research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the dominant defect species and the relevant defect equilibrium conditions for bismuth-containing perovskites to help guide the development of these materials for emerging applications. This is of paramount importance for many demanding applications, because ultimately the defect equilibria...