Water-soluble quantum dots obtained through ligand exchange are widely applicable for biological imaging and marking, LEDs, and photovoltaics. Lipoic acid (LA) was reduced to dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) using 365-nm soft UV light in a process known as photoligation, and ligand exchange with dodecanethiol-capped CuInS₂-ZnS core-shell quantum dots occurred. The reaction...
Utilization of solar energy or wind energy for electricity production is inherently challenging due to the diurnal and seasonal variations and normal intermittency. Effective, high efficiency storage methods need to be developed for further advancing renewable energy utilization. Endothermic chemical processing and thermochemical energy storage can be both employed as...
Oxides are a versatile class of materials with a wide range of electronic, optical, and magnetic properties. This makes them ideal for use in a multitude of functional devices for oxide electronics, electrochemical conversion, and storage. The overall performance of these devices is governed by atomic scale charge and mass...
Many projects fail because employees and managers have different understandings of project "success" or "value". Other projects fail because managers are unable to effectively align organizational values with those of their employees. This problem is widely understood, but there is little empirical research that specifies the nature and effect of...
In this work, a hybrid thermochemistry compressed air energy storage (CAES) system is investigated. Following a review on chemical reactions investigated for use in thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems, from these chemistries, the conversion of magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, to magnesium oxide, MgO, and carbon dioxide, CO2, was further analyzed for...
Heterogeneous catalytic reactions in solvents are important for chemical processes like direct methanol fuels, biomass conversion to biofuels and electrochemical reduction of CO2 to fuels. Numerous experimental studies have shown that co-adsorbates and solvents affect the rate and selectivity of heterogeneous catalytic reaction, therefore fundamental understanding of how co-adsorbates and...
The primary purpose of the present study is to explore the effect of wearing the hijab in a Western society on Muslim women’s well-being, their motivation to wear it, and the different modifications that they have made on their hijabs. To investigate the relationship between the hijab and Muslim women’s...
A study of the effect of catalyst properties on the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is done in this thesis. Three different metal alloy catalysts, Fe/Ti, Ni/Ti, Co/Ti, have been studied. Various atomic concentrations and thicknesses were cosputter deposited on clean Si wafers using AJA Orion 4 RF Magnetron sputter...
The need for less toxic quantum dots (QDs) has led to a significant number of investigations related to copper indium sulfide (CIS) QDs. Lower toxicity and broad band absorbance width makes CIS QDs appealing for light emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, sensors, bio-imaging, solar cells, and computing. The optical and electronic...
As conventional energy sources begin to deplete, the need for alternative, renewable
energy becomes more necessary. Dimethyl ether (DME) fuel cells are a promising
energy source that could fulfill these demands. Compared to well-known fuel cell
fuels, such as methanol, DME has a low toxicity and high energy density.
Experimental...
Polystyrene thin film surfaces are commonly used to study the interactions of macromolecules, such as proteins, with surfaces. Polystyrene films oxidized in UV light become more hydrophilic, however these surfaces have a limited shelf life because they are reduced over time. Experiments were performed to determine the effect of radiation...
The work presented in this dissertation highlights the various techniques available to characterize the increasingly complex surfaces of engineered biomaterials. The methods used range from the simple measurement of a contact angle with a smartphone to a complex synchrotron technique like near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy to...
The rapid accumulation of plastic waste in landfill, waterways and oceans is becoming a critical problem, one that current recycling technologies are not capable of solving. Recent proposed approaches in the depolymerization of waste plastics employ an Olefin-Intermediate Process (OIP), where feedstocks like polyolefin plastics are ‘activated,’ producing an olefin...
Nanoparticles have become more prevalent from their use in sunscreen to antimicrobial agents in socks. In light of these applications, gaining a fundamental understanding of how NPs interact with humans is crucial for their future. Specifically, how cells interact with NPs and what factors drive the modes of cellular uptake....
Increased dependence on fossil fuels and concerns of anthropogenic climate change have led to increased interest in alternative energy sources. Liquid fuels derived from renewable raw materials have gained attention in recent years due to their similarity to petroleum-based fuels. Biofuels derived through hydrodeoxygenation have been found to be one...
Our society today is heavily dependent on fossil fuels such as coal and oil. However, growing environmental concerns and future fossil fuel supplies have led to interests in alternative fuels. Dimethyl Ether (DME) is an inexpensive, clean-burning, non-toxic, and potentially renewable fuel, making it a suitable choice as an alternative...
Dry reforming of methane to syngas using CO2 was performed in a solar-driven milli-scale reactor, which converts solar energy to chemical energy. The process aims to upgrade the energy content of the feed stream using sustainable energy. The effect of mean residence time, temperature and CO2:CH4 ratio on conversion and...
Expressive motion has been found to be a highly effective tool in communicating intent and motivation in single robot human-robot interaction, but work in exploring how groups of robots can use motion in interactions with humans is relatively nascent. There are many additional complexities to consider expanding from single robot...
Essential oils have numerous chemical and therapeutic applications. Some oil extraction methods, including steam distillation, require a large energy input. An alternative technique with a lower energy demand is the extraction of oils using supercritical liquid carbon dioxide (CO2), which extracts essential oils with minimal environmental impact. While this often...
In recent years, model-free Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) has become an increasingly popular alternative to more traditional model-based or optimization-based control methods in solving robotic legged locomotion. However, deploying RL in the real world can be a significant undertaking. Constructing reward functions which compel controllers to learn the desired behavior...
This thesis experimentally determines the feasibility to creating C4 to C10 hydrocarbons from CO2, CO, H2, H2O and CH4. This is done in two steps, the initial step is the formation of ethylene through DC electrical glow discharge at ambient pressure while the second step is through temperature pulse controlled...
Microscale reactors operate in sub millimeter space dimensions. Their small length scale enables process intensification of mass, heat and momentum transport that influence reaction rates. Hence it's possible to observe the true intrinsic reaction kinetics occurring for a set of reactions. In this work a novel microscale reactor for producing...
Exergy relates to thermodynamic value or usefulness in the universe. In this dissertation, three methods in the realm of "process intensification" are explored to reduce exergy destruction by equipment and processes that are used to convert and upgrade methane. Thermodynamic efficiency of a virtual heat exchanger is improved with a...
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...
The objective of this study is to investigate the dispersion of solute matter introduced into a fully developed laminar flow in a circular capillary tube under preasymptotic regimes. For this purpose, we have used the method of volume averaging to upscale microscale balance equations for the case of diffusion-convection transport...
The study outlined in this dissertation elucidate the thermal and structural properties of ZrB2 based ceramics as choice materials for high temperature applications. Thermal properties were investigated to improve understanding on aspects that are affected by point defects and impurities at nanoscale and electron level using a combination of lattice...
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...
Microtechnology was used to study the chemical reduction of dissolved carbon dioxide into useful products. A novel TiO₂ photocatalyst was used to activate the reaction under ultraviolet irradiation. CO₂ was dissolved in aqueous and 50% BMIM-BF₄ (ionic liquid) solutions. The introduction of an ionic liquid increased the solubility of CO₂...
This dissertation is separated into two parts according to the two major distinct research projects. In Part I, the full account of synthetic studies toward C10-functionalized lycopodium alkaloids is described. In Part II, the detailed discussion on the exploration of the Pummerer cyclization methodology and its application to the total...
Population growth driven sustainability issues, including the food resource issue, are pressing problems in need of attention. The goal of the present thesis is to examine the ability of an electric non-thermal plasma based microreactor to destroy ethylene, a known plant hormone responsible for losses in the range of 20%...
The corrosion and heat resistance properties of nickel alloys are hallmarks of their importance in infrastructure and industrial catalysis processes, but these properties are highly dependent on the chemical composition of the alloy surface. Density functional theory was used for analysis of surface oxidation of four combinations of chromium and...
Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in the United States and the sixth leading cause of death worldwide. Due to cancer’s variability in type, location, growth rates, and patient physiology, treatment models are based off of previous experimental and clinical work. This variability, however, can lead to...
A blood supply chain (BSC) deals with the collection, processing, storing, and distribution of blood collected from donors and delivered to patients at demand points (DPs) through a network of several temporary mobile blood units (MBUs) and permanent local blood centers (LBCs). In general, the strategic and tactical design of...
Transport phenomena specially the ones that occur in the various engineering disciplines such as tissue engineering and natural environment are often complex to analyze mostly due to the dynamic and geometric complexities; as such, they have been the subject of an active and intense area of research in past decades....
Despite the many advances in biotechnology and biomedical engineering, the need for long term organ and tissue storage remains among the unsolved problems in the field. Researchers are investigating several possible solutions to the issue that aim to maintain the function and integrity of the biological tissues during storage and...
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LineyArnadottir, representing College of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental
Engineering
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...
The catalyst support effect on NiMoS of bio-hydrogenated diesel production was investigated via density functional theory. The activity, stability and selectivity of catalyst on three widely used catalyst supports (Al2O3, TiO2 and SiO2) were studied and compared.
Catalyst-support interaction and Brønsted acidity strength of different catalyst supports were characterized, which...
Metal oxide clusters are promising inorganic photoresists in next generation nanomanufacturing because of their potential for high-resolution and low line-edge roughness patterning, and exceptional sensitivity to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. In EUV patterning, absorption of EUV radiation leads to electron emission that serve as a primary species for driving radiation...
The concept of reducing laboratory operations into microfluidic devices has been an attractive area of research for several decades. Due to several advantages of porous-media microfluidic devices including low mass, portability, power-free fluid transport, and the ability to store dried reagents in the porous structures, these devices show great promise...
Adsorbed molecules are involved in many reactions on solid surfaces that are of great technological
importance. As such, there has been tremendous effort worldwide to learn how to theoretically
predict rates for reactions involving adsorbed molecules. Theoretical calculations of rate constants
require knowing both their activation energy and prefactor. Recent...
In 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began requiring many hospitals in the United States to randomly survey patients who had stayed at least one night in the hospital. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey provides hospitals with valuable performance measurement data built...
The corrosion and passivity of iron (and carbon steel) in media with different alkalinity as well as iron depassivation have been studied extensively using electrochemical methods and nano-scale surface characterization studies. The electrochemical techniques provide valuable information about the average electrochemical behavior of relatively large metal surfaces, typically in centimeter-square...
Platinum and palladium surfaces are utilized as catalytic surfaces in the chemical industry. Understanding how hydrogen atoms interact with the metal surfaces will allow for further advancement in this area. Specifically, the interaction of hydrogen on the surface and subsurface of these metals was investigated using density functional theory calculations...
Heterogeneous catalysis modulates the rate and selectivity of reaction processes by
stabilizing a series of intermediate states on solid surfaces, facilitating the production
of many commodity chemicals modern society relies upon. Conventional, thermal
catalytic processes—conducted at elevated temperatures and pressures—source
thermal, mechanical, and chemical potential energy from carbon-hydrogen bonds—
combustion...
Advances in energy technologies and electronics have typically occurred through either heightened performance or cost reduction. This dissertation explores both routes through a series of fundamental material studies that may contribute to the enabling of next generation devices. Solution based syntheses and deposition of chemical products offer a low cost...
Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) is a potential solar material for thin film solar cells according to its suitable band gap in the visible light range, high absorption coefficient, low toxicity, good photostability and relative earth abundance of component elements. However, the production cost of this solar thin film material...
Flexible electronics processing techniques were applied to integrate a glucose sensor with a hormone-delivery catheter in order to create a cheap and minimally invasive method for patients with type 1 diabetes to continually monitor and control their blood sugar levels. Ultimately, this work intends to move toward the development of...
This study details the use of printing and other additive processes to fabricate a novel amperometric glucose sensor. The sensor was
fabricated using a Au coated 12.7 μm thick polyimide substrate as a starting material, where micro-contact printing, electrochemical
plating, chloridization, electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing, and spin coating were used...
In the face of a disruptive event or prolonged period of stress, resilient performance ischaracterized by preventative measures, effective response, and the integration of lessonslearned. In healthcare, resilience significantly affects patient safety. However, currentguidelines for healthcare performance assessment, such as the Triple Aim, do notconsider physician satisfaction and preventative measures...
Polyoxometalates are a rapidly growing class of discrete metal oxide clusters with a wide range of applications including functional materials. These anionic clusters of the group V and VI transition metals are inexpensive and non-toxic. Within group V polyoxometalates, niobium and tantalum chemistry has been underdeveloped owing to their unique...
Boiling heat transfer is studied for its ability to dissipate high fluxes and achieve heat transfer coefficients two orders of magnitude greater than single-phase heat transfer systems. Heater surface enhancement with increased surface area, varied geometry, wettability contrast and micro/nano-structures can further enhance boiling heat transfer performance through bubble nucleation...
This thesis presents an experimental study of radial porosity in a manually filled cylindrical container with glass spheres. The symmetric distribution of bead diameter allowed for normalization of container properties and porosity models. The aspect ratio of the container was approximately 3.9, with tube-to-particle-diameter ratio λ ≈ 24.6 and height-to-particle-diameter...
We present student perceptions of a new first-year engineering programming class that was designed by informed research practices. While the College of Engineering at Oregon State University saw a lot of major switching in the first year, there were not many students switching into computer science (CS). This could have...
This project explores the relationship between microsecond-timescale dynamic surface tension (DST) and measurable thermal inkjet printing parameters. Dynamic surface tension affects many aspects of printing, including printing speed and ink drop shape. In addition to this, DST is a physical input parameter for HP’s in-house computational fluid dynamics program. HP...
This study details the use of printing and other additive processes to fabricate a novel amperometric glucose sensor. The sensor was
fabricated using a Au coated 12.7 μm thick polyimide substrate as a starting material, where micro-contact printing, electrochemical
plating, chloridization, electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing, and spin coating were used...
Full Text:
Pholsena,a LíneyÁrnadóttir,a,* Jessica R. Castle,c Peter G. Jacobs,c,d Robert S. Cargill,c W. 4
Kenneth
This study details the use of printing and other additive processes to fabricate a novel amperometric glucose sensor. The sensor was
fabricated using a Au coated 12.7 μm thick polyimide substrate as a starting material, where micro-contact printing, electrochemical
plating, chloridization, electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing, and spin coating were used...
Full Text:
Xuebin Tan,b
Kovit Pholsena,a Lı́neyÁrnadóttir,a,∗ Jessica R. Castle,c Peter G. Jacobs,c,d
Robert S
Photoluminescence (PL) materials have attracted a lot of attention in last several decades. Recently PL materials, which can convert low-efficiency Ultraviolet (UV) or Infrared (IR) light to high-efficiency visible light, have been widely applied in the research of improving conversion efficiency of solar cell. As one of the most common...
High energy density ceramic capacitors with temperature stable permittivity across -150°C to 300°C are desired for a wide variety of electronic devices. Traditional dielectrics such as barium titanate provide a high permittivity but that permittivity is strongly temperature dependent over this specified temperature range. The goal of this work is...
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...
Recent studies have indicated that nickel gallium alloys can be effective for the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. To simplify the characterization of NiGa catalysts, we are developing model systems using NiGa thin films. We prepared NiGa thin films by RF magnetron sputtering using an equiatomic alloy target, followed...
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...
Fischer-Tropsh Synthesis is a chemical process that converts CO and H₂ (syngas) into long stable hydrocarbon chains to use as fuel. This process suffers from large product distribution that requires expensive post processing. In this study, the reaction mechanism of hydrocarbon chain growth on Co is investigated on different surface...
The corrosion and degradation of Ni and its alloys in supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO2) is an emerging issue for material selection and implementation of Sc-CO2 thermal cycles in industry. In this study, we apply density functional theory (DFT) to study the initial steps of carburization of the Ni (111) surface...
The constituent materials of concrete often contain chlorides. The presence of chlorides in sufficient amounts can disrupt the passive layer, also known as the passive film, that protects the reinforcing steel in concrete. This disruption can lead to premature corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete. To minimize the risk...
Steam distillation has been the common method of extraction of essential oils from plants for more than a century. The use of microwave energy has been suggested as an alternative distillation method that would: reduce water usage, dependence on non-renewable energy sources, and the carbon footprint. A byproduct of this...
Silicon based quantum computing is an attractive approach to large-scale quantum computation due to the significant success of the modern semiconductor fabrication industry. Despite many advances in silicon quantum computing since its inception in 1998, there remains no software for efficiently designing candidate silicon quantum computing devices. Such a development...
Global warming is becoming an increasingly important environmental concern and CO₂ is considered as the major cause of global warming. Creating useful applications for CO₂ would generate alternatives to merely venting CO₂ to the atmosphere, and decreasing the carbon intensity of human activities. Among various methods of CO₂ utilization, conversion...
Global warming problem is becoming an increasingly important environmental concern and CO₂ is considered as the major cause of global warming. Among various methods of CO₂ utilization, conversion of CO₂ to value added chemical products is the most attractive. In this study, a microscale-based corona reactor is introduced for reduction...
Pesticides benefit agriculture by increasing crop yield, quality, and security. However, pesticides may inadvertently harm bees, which are valuable as pollinators. Thus, candidate pesticides in development pipelines must be assessed for toxicity to bees.
Leveraging a data set of 382 molecules with toxicity labels from honey bee exposure experiments, we...
Worldwide production of natural gas has surged in the last few decades leading to an economic windfall for many communities, but sometimes these new sources of natural gas are located in geographically isolated locations. These areas are so remote that it isn’t economically feasible to transport this stranded gas to...
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...
Hafnium Oxide thin films has had growing attention due hafnium oxide being used as a gate dielectric for MOSFET transistors and a potential next generation photoresist for sub 20 nm patterns. Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography has been identified as the primary candidate technology for generation of sub-20 nm patterns. Current...
Surface characterization of materials is widely utilized over a range of disciplines and essential to the development of new materials, technology, or processes. Metal oxide nanoclusters have shown promise as potential new generation photoresist materials for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) nanolithography. Organotin clusters have been proposed as potential candidates for resist...
The advent of supercritical CO2 as a new heat-exchange medium has seen strong interest from the power industry and the energy research field recently. It is advan- tageous in comparison with other heat-exchange cycles, as it can be operated safely at much higher temperatures and pressures, thus increasing the thermal...
Copper antimony sulfide (CAS) is a ternary material that is of research interest for thin film photovoltaic applications due to its high absorption coefficient and tunable bandgap. The material is also ideal for sustainable manufacturing due the constituent elements being earth-abundant and less toxic than solar cell absorbers like gallium...
Burnout is a state of physical or emotional exhaustion and disconnectedness induced by continuous stress that affects various aspects of an individual’s life. Physicians experience burnout at a higher rate than other professions due to the highly stressful nature of their work. Consequently, physicians are at a higher risk of...
Medical professionals experience higher rates of burnout than other professions due to the highly stressful nature of their environment. In 2018, 94 percent of physicians reported experiencing burnout – characterized by emotional fatigue, and feelings of depersonalization and low personal accomplishment – at some point in their careers. As emotional...
Nonthermal plasmas generate high concentrations of excited species that can simultaneously exist at high energy and far from thermodynamic equilibrium, making them useful tools in chemistry and engineering. Microplasmas, roughly defined as plasmas that are generated within sub-millimeter dimensions, provide enhanced stability, improved excited species density, increased nonequilibrium properties, higher...
The interactions of chemical species with a solid surface play a role in many everyday applications such as heterogeneous catalysis, corrosion, and degradation reactions. Understanding the reaction kinetics and thermodynamics via rate constants and equilibrium constants, which require knowledge of the adsorbed species’ entropy, is essential for tuning these surface...
Naked (hull-less) barley has historically been grown for food, but interest in, and breeding efforts for, its use in malting and brewing have increased due to the potential benefits: reduced off-flavors, reduced spent grain, and higher malt extract. These benefits are offset by limiting factors such as high b-glucan and...
Nanoparticles (NPs), defined by their size (1-100 nm), are increasingly incorporated into commercial and industrial products due to their high surface area and unique properties. They can be designed for specific applications by manipulating composition, size, shape, and surface functionalization. As NP production and complexity increases, there is a need...
To address several challenges faced in healthcare, the Triple Aim (3A) was targeted by institutions to improve health outcomes and patient experience while reducing the costs of health. Process improvement techniques in manufacturing, such as Lean systems, were applied as tools to achieve the 3A framework. Unfortunately, the high level...
Suspensions of particles in fluids are everywhere in our life, such as paints, pharmacies, food, etc. Suspensions can exhibit properties that common fluids do not possess. For example, the paint needs to flow well when brushing so that it can be smeared on the wall, which is aided by the...