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open access

Optoelectronically Active Metal-Inorganic Frameworks and Supramolecular Extended Solids

Description: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been intensely researched over the past 20 years. In this dissertation, metal-inorganic frameworks (MIFs), a new class of porous and nonporous materials using inorganic complexes as linkers, in lieu of traditional organic linkers in MOFs is reported. Besides novel MIF regimes, the previously described fluorous MOF "FMOF-1", is re-categorized herein as "F-MIF1". F-MIF-1 is comprised of [Ag4Tz6]2- (Tz = 3,5-bis-trifluoromethyl-1,2,4-triazolate) inorganic clust… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Ivy, Joshua F.
open access

Teaching First-Semester General Chemistry Using 3D Video Games following an Atoms First Approach to Chemistry

Description: The unified learning model (ULM) focuses on students' engagement, motivation, prior knowledge, and working memory. This study employs the use of video games to assess students' learning through a 3D chemistry gaming environment. In this human-subjects research, students carried out missions and applied reasoning to solve problems appropriate for general chemistry content. For learning to occur, students must be engaged and motivated as stated in the ULM. Learning cannot necessarily be accomplis… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Jenkins, Dave A
open access

Ultrafast Photoinduced Energy and Electron Transfer Studies in Closely Bound Molecular and Nanocarbon Donor-Acceptor Systems

Description: As part of the study, photosynthetic system constructs based on BF2-chelated dipyrromethene (BODIPY), BF2-chelated azadipyrromethene (AzaBODIPY), porphyrin, phthalocyanine, oxasmaragdyrin, polythiophene, fullerene (C60), single-walled carbon nanotube and graphene are investigated. Antenna systems of BODIPY dyads and oligomers having BODIPY as an excitation energy donor connected to different acceptors including BODIPY, azaBODIPY, oxasmaragdyrin and aluminum porphyrin are studied. Different synt… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Gobeze, Habtom Berhane
open access

Utilizing Rapid Mass Spectrometry Techniques to Profile Illicit Drugs from Start to Finish

Description: The increasingly complex world of illicit chemistry has created a need for rapid, selective means of determining the threat posed by new drugs as they are encountered by law enforcement personnel. To streamline this process, the entirety of the problem, from the production of illicit drugs all the way to the final analysis have been investigated. A series of N-alkylated phenethylamine analogues were synthesized in a shotgun method and subjected to direct-infusion analysis. A range of products w… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: McBride, Ethan
open access

Computational Investigation of DNA Repair Enzymes: Determination and Characterization of Cancer Biomarkers and Structural Features

Description: Genomic integrity is important for living cells' correct functioning and propagation. Deoxyribonucleic acid as a molecule is a subject to chemical reactions with agents that can come from environment as well as from internal metabolism processes. These reactions can induce damage to DNA and thus compromise the genetic information, and result in disease and death of an organism. To mitigate the damage to DNA, cells have evolved to have multiple DNA repair pathways. Presented here is a computat… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Silvestrov, Pavel
open access

Computational Simulations of Cancer and Disease-Related Enzymatic Systems Using Molecular Dynamics and Combined Quantum Methods

Description: This work discusses applications of computational simulations to enzymatic systems with a particular focus on the effects of various small perturbations on cancer and disease-related systems. First, we cover the development of carbohydrate-based PET imaging ligands for Galectin-3, which is a protein overexpressed in pancreatic cancer tumors. We uncover several structural features for the ligands that can be used to improve their binding and efficacy. Second, we discuss the AlkB family of enzym… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Walker, Alice Rachel
open access

Electrodeposition of Molybdenum-Based Coatings from Aqueous Alkaline Solutions for Enhanced Corrosion Resistance

Description: Zn-Mo coatings are very promising environment friendly anticorrosive coatings as replacement materials for cadmium and chromium (VI) based conversion layers. Electrodeposition has become a favorable technique in fabricating coatings due to its low cost, ease of use, and overall experimental control of coating quality. Very little research so far has been done for the electrodeposition of Zn-Mo coatings under alkaline conditions. In this work, Zn and Zn-Mo coatings were electrochemically deposit… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Zhou, Ting
open access

Using the Abraham Solvation Parameter Model to Predict Solute Transfer into Various Mono- and Multi-Functional Organic Solvents

Description: The Abraham Solvation Parameter Model (ASPM) is a linear, free-energy relationship that can be used to predict various solute properties based on solute-solvent interactions. The ASPM has been used to predict log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) values, as well as log (P or Cs,organic/Cs,water) values for solute transfer into the following organic solvents: 2-methoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-propoxyethanol, 2-isopropoxyethanol and 2-butoxyethanol. The derived log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) correlations… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Hart, Erin F
open access

Application of UV-Vis Spectroscopy to the Monitoring, Characterization and Analysis of Chemical Equilibria of Copper Etching Baths

Description: The continuously increasing demand for innovation in the miniaturization of microelectronics has driven the need for ever more precise fabrication strategies for device packaging, especially for printed circuit boards (PCBs). Subtractive copper etching is a fundamental step in the fabrication process, requiring very precise control of etch rate and etch factor. Changes in the etching chemical equilibrium have significant effects on etching behavior, and CuCl2 / HCl etching baths are typically m… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Lambert, Alexander S.
open access

Design, Synthesis and Optoelectronic Properties of Monovalent Coinage Metal-Based Functional Materials toward Potential Lighting, Display and Energy-Harvesting Devices

Description: Groundbreaking progress in molecule-based optoelectronic devices for lighting, display and energy-harvesting technologies demands highly efficient and easily processable functional materials with tunable properties governed by their molecular/supramolecular structure variations. To date, functional coordination compounds whose function is governed by non-covalent weak forces (e.g., metallophilic, dπ-acid/dπ-base stacking, halogen/halogen and/or d/π interactions) remain limited. This is unlike t… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Ghimire, Mukunda Mani
open access

Electrochemical Deposition of Nickel Nanocomposites in Acidic Solution for Increased Corrosion Resistance

Description: The optimal conditions for deposition of nickel coating and Ni-layered double hydroxide metal matrix composite coatings onto stainless steel discs in a modified all-sulfate solutions have been examined. Nickel films provide good general corrosion resistance and mechanical properties as a protective layer on many metallic substrates. In recent years, there has been interest in incorporation nano-dimensional ceramic materials, such as montemorillonite, into the metal matrices to improve upon the… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Daugherty, Ryan E.
open access

Kinetic Study of the Reactions of Chlorine Atoms with Fluoromethane and Fluoromethane-d3 in the Gas Phase

Description: The kinetics of the gas-phase reactions of chlorine atoms with fluoromethane (CH3F) and fluoromethane-d3(CD3F) were tested experimentally. The relative rate method was applied by using CH4 as the reference compound for fluoromethane (CH3F) and CH4 and CH3F as the reference compound for fluoromethane-d3(CD3F). The rate constants for H-abstraction from CH3F and D-abstraction from CD3F were measured at room temperature and a total pressure of 920 Torr using Ar as a diluent. The rate constants are … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Shao, Kejun
open access

MBE Growth and Characterization of Graphene on Well-Defined Cobalt Oxide Surfaces: Graphene Spintronics without Spin Injection

Description: The direct growth of graphene by scalable methods on magnetic insulators is important for industrial development of graphene-based spintronic devices, and a route towards substrate-induced spin polarization in graphene without spin injection. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction LEED, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) demonstrate the growth of Co3O4(111) and CoO(111) to thicknesses greater than 100 Å on Ru(0001) sur… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Olanipekun, Opeyemi B
open access

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Poly-Imine Ambipolar Ligands and Their Rhenium(I) Carbonyl Complexes

Description: The phenomenon luminescence rigidochromism has been reported since the 1970s in tricarbonyldiimine complexes with a general formula [R(CO)3LX] using conventional unipolar diimine ligands such as 2,2;-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline as L, and halogens or simple solvents as X. As a major part of this dissertation, microwave-assisted synthesis, purification, characterization and detailed photoluminescence studies of the complex fac-[ReCl(CO)3L], 1, where L = 4-[4,6-bis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Salazar Garza, Gustavo Adolfo
open access

Synthesis and Application of New Chiral Ligands for Enantioselectivity Tuning in Transition Metal Catalysis

Description: A set of five new C3-symmetric phosphites were synthesized and tested in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric Suzuki coupling. The observed reactivity and selectivity were dependent upon several factors. One of the phosphites was able to achieve some of the highest levels of enantioselectivity in asymmetric Suzuki couplings with specific substrates. Different hypotheses have been made for understanding the ligand effects and reaction selectivities, and those hypotheses were tested via various methods… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Kong, Fanji
open access

Design Considerations and Implementation of Portable Mass Spectrometers for Environmental Applications

Description: Portable mass spectrometers provide a unique opportunity to obtain in situ measurements. This minimizes need for sample collection or in laboratory analysis. Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) utilizing a semi permeable membrane for selective rapid introduction for analysis. Polydimethylsiloxane membranes have been proven to be robust in selecting for aromatic chemistries. Advances in front end design have allowed for increased sensitivity, rapid sample analysis, and on line measurements. … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Mach, Phillip M.
open access

Disease Tissue Imaging and Single Cell Analysis with Mass Spectrometry

Description: Cells have been found to have an inherent heterogeneity that has led to an increase in the development of single-cell analysis methods to characterize the extent of heterogeneity that can be found in seemingly identical cells. With an understanding of normal cellular variability, the identification of disease induced cellular changes, known as biomarkers, may become more apparent and readily detectable. Biomarker discovery in single-cells is challenging and needs to focus on molecules that ar… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Hamilton, Jason S.
open access

Elucidation of Photoinduced Energy and Electron Transfer Mechanisms in Multimodular Artificial Photosynthetic Systems

Description: Multimodular designs of electron donor-acceptor systems are the ultimate strategy in fabricating antenna-reaction center mimics for artificial photosynthetic applications. The studied photosystems clearly demonstrated efficient energy transfer from the antenna system to the primary electron donor, and charge stabilization of the radical ion pair achieved with the utilization of secondary electron donors that permits either electron migration or hole transfer. Moreover, the molecular arrangement… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Lim, Gary Lloyd
open access

Reductive Functionalization of 3D Metal-Methyl Complexes and Characterization of a Novel Dinitrogen Dicopper (I) Complex

Description: Reductive functionalization of methyl ligands by 3d metal catalysts and two possible side reactions has been studied. Selective oxidation of methane, which is the primary component of natural gas, to methanol (a more easily transportable liquid) using organometallic catalysis, has become more important due to the abundance of domestic natural gas. In this regard, reductive functionalization (RF) of methyl ligands in [M(diimine)2(CH3)(Cl)] (M: VII (d3) through CuII (d9)) complexes, has been stud… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Fallah, Hengameh
open access

Characterization of Aprotic Solutes and Solvents Using Abraham Model Correlations

Description: Experimental data were obtained for the computation of mole fraction solubilities of three dichloronitrobenzenes in organic solvents at 25oC, and solubility ratios were obtained from this data. Abraham model equations were developed for solutes in tributyl phosphate that describe experimental values to within 0.15 log units, and correlations were made to describe solute partitioning in systems that contain either "wet" or "dry" tributyl phosphate. Abraham model correlations have also been devel… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Brumfield, Michéla L.
open access

Chemical and Electronic Structure of Aromatic/Carborane Composite Films by PECVD for Neutron Detection

Description: Boron carbide-aromatic composites, formed by plasma-enhanced co-deposition of carboranes and aromatic precursors, present enhanced electron-hole separation as neutron detector. This is achieved by aromatic coordination to the carborane icosahedra and results in improved neutron detection efficiency. Photoemission (XPS) and FTIR suggest that chemical bonding between B atoms in icosahedra and aromatic contents with preservation of π system during plasma process. XPS, UPS, density functional theo… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Dong, Bin
open access

Analysis of Trace Amounts of Adulterants Found in Powders/Supplements Utilizing Direct Inject, Nanomanipulation, and Mass Spectrometry

Description: The regulations of many food products in the United States have been made and followed very well but unfortunately some products are not put under such rigorous standards as others. This leads to products being sold, that are thought to be healthy, but in reality contain unknown ingredients that may be hazardous to the consumers. With the use of several instrumentations and techniques the detection, characterization and identification of these unknown contaminates can be determined. Both the AZ… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Nnaji, Chinyere
open access

Direct Atomic Level Controlled Growth and Characterization of h-BN and Graphene Heterostructures on Magnetic Substrates for Spintronic Applications

Description: Epitaxial multilayer h-BN(0001) heterostructures and graphene/h-BN heterostructures have many potential applications in spintronics. The use of h-BN and graphene require atomically precise control and azimuthal alignment of the individual layers in the structure. These in turn require fabrication of devices by direct scalable methods rather than physical transfer of BN and graphene flakes, and such scalable methods are also critical for industrially compatible development of 2D devices. The … more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Beatty, John D.
open access

Quantum Chemistry Calculations of Energetic and Spectroscopic Properties of p- and f-Block Molecules

Description: Quantum chemical methods have been used to model a variety of p- and f-block chemical species to gain insight about their energetic and spectroscopic properties. As well, the studies have provided understanding about the utility of the quantum mechanical approaches employed for the third-row and lanthanide species. The multireference ab initio correlation consistent Composite Approach (MR-ccCA) was utilized to predict dissociation energies for main group third-row molecular species, achieving… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: South, Christopher James
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