Search Results

Computational Development of Trimetallic Cyclotrimers for Gas-Filtration Applications through Non-Covalent Interactions

Description: Photophysical properties of an array of various polyaromatic hydrocarbons were benchmarked with B3LYP, M06 and B97D methods coupled with Pople and CEP-31G(d) basis sets. Results from the benchmark show the importance of diffuse basis sets when modeling the electronic properties of highly conjugated systems and provide qualitative reliable accuracy with certain levels of theory. B97D and M06 are applied to modeling pyrene adducts governed by non-covalent interactions in both gaseous and condense… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: December 2019
Creator: Williams, Christopher M.
open access

Semiconducting Aromatic Boron Carbide Films for Neutron Detection and Photovoltaic Applications

Description: Semiconducting aromatic-boron carbide composite/alloyed films formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from carborane and aromatic precursors have been demonstrated to be excellent detectors for thermal neutrons because of the large 10B cross section. The electronic properties of these films derived from XPS show that the properties of boron carbide can be tuned by co-deposition of aromatic compounds and carborane. Aromatic doping results in narrower indirect band gaps (1.1 - 1.7 eV … more
Date: December 2019
Creator: Oyelade, Adeola O
open access

Spectral, Electrochemical, Electron Transfer, and Photoelectrochemical Studies of Tetrapyrrole Derived Supramolecular Systems

Description: Energy- and electron-transfer processes in molecular and supramolecular donor-acceptor systems are of current interest in order to develop light-energy harvesting systems through designing covalently linked donor-acceptor systems or utilizing self-assembled donor-acceptor systems. The research presented in this dissertation deals with the electrochemical, anion binding, and photochemical studies of various oxoporphyrinogen (OxPs), porphyrin, corrole, and phenothiazine systems. The first chapter… more
Date: December 2019
Creator: Webre, Whitney Ann
open access

Synthesis and Characterization of β-Functionalized π-Extended Porphyrins

Description: Porphyrins with extended π-electronic networks are promising candidates for a wide range of applications from medicine to nanotechnology owing to their unique optical and electronic properties. This dissertation is focused on synthesis, characterization and application of β-functionalized π-extended porphyrins. This dissertation is comprised of seven chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the importance and objective of this work. Chapter 2 gives brief introduction to porphyrins and π-extended porphyri… more
Date: December 2019
Creator: Hu, Yi

Application-Focused Investigation of Monovalent Metal Complexes for Nanoparticle Synthesis

Description: Over the last 20 years, there has occurred an increase in the number, scope, and impact of nanomaterials projects. By leveraging the Surface Plasmon Resonance of metallic nanoparticles for labelling, sensing, and treatment, researchers have demonstrated the versatile utility of these nanomaterials in medicine. The literature provides evidence of use of simple, well-known chemistry for nanomaterials synthesis when the focus is new applications of nanomaterials. A case in point, is the synthes… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Kamras, Brian Leon

Electrochemical Deposition of Metal Organic-Modified-Ceramic Nanoparticles to Improve Corrosion and Mechanical Properties

Description: Corrosion is an unstoppable process that occurs spontaneously in many areas of industry, specially, oil and gas industries. Therefore, the need of developing protective coating to lower the cost of corrosion is very consistent. Among different methods, electrodeposition has been a popular method since it offer many advantages such as low cost, ability to control the surface and thickness of the coating, ability to perform at low temperature and pressure, and very convenience. Ceramic nanopartic… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Ngo, Ngan Kim

Ligand Effects in Gold(I) Acyclic Diaminocarbene Complexes and Their Influence on Regio- and Enantioselectivity of Homogeneous Gold(I) Catalysis

Description: This dissertation focuses on the computational investigation of gold(I) acyclic diaminocarbene (ADC) complexes and their application in homogeneous gold(I) catalysis. Chapter 2 is an in-depth computational investigation of the σ- and π-bonding interactions that make up the gold-carbene bond. Due to the inherent conformation flexibility of ADC ligands, distortions of the carbene plane can arise that disrupt orbital overlap between the lone pairs on the adjacent nitrogen atoms and the empty p-orb… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Ellison, Matthew Christopher

Method Development for Corrosion Testing of Carbon Steel and Ni-based Alloy Coatings Exposed to Gas Hydrate Formation Environments

Description: Gas hydrate formation and corrosion can cause serious safety and flow assurance problems in subsea environments. One aspect that has been given less attention is the corrosion behavior of materials in gas hydrate formation environment (GHFE). This work introduces a new technique/method for corrosion testing of materials exposed to low temperatures GHFEs. This technique allows pH monitoring, and control of test conditions like temperature. In this work, GHFE is defined as an environment that inc… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Ozigagu, Christopher E.
open access

Synthesis, Characterization, and Reactivity of Prochiral Ruthenium Clusters and Bimetallic Rhenium Complexes with an Unsymmetrical Diphosphine and Hard-Soft Donor Ligands

Description: The reaction of [BrRe(CO)₄]₂ with 2-(diphenylphosphino)pyridine (PN) and 6-(diphenylphosphino)-2-formylpyridine (PON) was investigated. The reactions were regiospecific and exclusively produced the phosphorus-coordinated products, BrRe(CO)₄(κᵖ-PN) and BrRe(CO)₄(κᴾ-PON). The kinetics for the chelate ring closure (κᴾ→ κᴾᴺ) in BrRe(CO)₄(κᴾ-PN) were confirmed to occur by dissociative CO loss. The reaction of [BrRe(CO)₄]₂ with 2-(diphenylphosphino)pyridine (PN) was modeled computationally by DFT cal… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Mayberry, Darrell D.
open access

Computational and Experimental Studies of the Photoluminescence, Reactivity and Structural Properties of d10 and d8 Metal Complexes

Description: Computational chemistry has gained interest as a characterization tool to predict photoluminescence, reactivity and structural properties of organic and transition metal complexes. With the rise of methods including relativity, these studies have been expanded to the accurate modeling of luminescence spectra of complexes with considerable spin-orbit splitting due to heavy metal centers as well as the reaction pathways for these complexes to produce natural products such as hydrogen gas. These a… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Otten, Brooke Michelle

Computational Studies of C-H Bond Activation and Ethylene Polymerization Using Transition Metal Complexes

Description: This work discusses the C-H bond activation by transition metal complexes using various computational methods. First, we performed a DFT study of oxidative addition of methane to Ta(OC2H4)3A (where A may act as an ancillary ligand) to understand how A may affect the propensity of the complex to undergo oxidative addition. Among the A groups studied, they can be a Lewis acid (B or Al), a saturated, electron-precise moiety (CH or SiH), a σ-donor (N), or a σ-donor/π-acid (P). By varying A, we seek… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Parveen, Riffat

Computational Studies of Catalysis Mediated by Transition Metal Complexes

Description: Computational methods were employed to investigate catalytic processes. First, DFT calculations predicted the important geometry metrics of a copper–nitrene complex. MCSCF calculations supported the open-shell singlet state as the ground state of a monomeric copper nitrene, which was consistent with the diamagnetic character deduced from experimental observations. The calculations predicted an elusive terminal copper nitrene intermediate. Second, DFT methods were carried out to investigate the … more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Jiang, Quan

Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Polymer and Protein Coated Hybrid Nanomaterials: Investigation of Prototypes for Antimicrobial and Anticancer Applications

Description: This work involves synthesis and characterization of isotropic and anisotropic noble metal nanoparticles for applications ranging from antimicrobial uses to anticancer applications. These nanomaterials are stabilized in genuinely benign biomaterials ranging from polymers to cross linked proteins for targeted cancer treatments. The nanoparticles are found to have tunable optical properties.
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Korir, Daniel Kiplangat

Development and Testing of Gold(I) and Europium(III) Based Sensors for Environmental Applications

Description: This dissertation focuses on the development, characterization, and analysis of luminescent materials and coatings for sensing applications, including CO2, heavy metals, and silver. Chapter 2 involves the use of a gold(I) pyrazolate trimer that is able to detect silver ions with an AgNP medium. Detection of silver is vital, because there is an influx of silver into our environment caused by the increased use of AgNP. Therefore, having a sensor that is able to differentiate between and detect on… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Benton, Erin Nicole
open access

Exploration of Transition Metal-Containing Catalytic Cycles via Computational Methods

Description: Styrene production by a (FlDAB)PdII(TFA)(η2-C2H4) complex was modeled using density functional theory (DFT). Benzene C-H activation by this complex was studied via five mechanisms: oxidative addition/reductive elimination, sigma-bond metathesis, concerted metalation deprotonation (CMD), CMD activation of ethylene, and benzene substitution of ethylene followed by CMD of the ligated benzene. Calculations provided evidence that conversion of benzene and ethylene to styrene was initiated by the fif… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Ceylan, Yavuz Selim

Praseodymium Oxide and Organic Modified Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Electrodeposition of Nickel-Ceramic Nanocomposites to Enhance Corrosion Protection and Mechanical Properties

Description: There is a consistent need in many industries, especially oil and gas, to develop coatings which have higher corrosion resistance and better hardness to extend the lifetime of equipment when it is exposed to hostile environments. Electrodeposition has been a favorable method in the synthesis of metal coatings because of its low cost, convenience, ability to work at low temperatures, and ability to control surface morphology and structure. The inclusion of ceramic nanoparticles in metal matrix c… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Sanders, Stephen

Preparing and Using Hydrophobic Fluorinated Polymers for Corrosion Protection on Aluminum Substrate

Description: Corrosion is one of the most expensive failures in industries that used metal components and other construction materials. In fact, corrosion is responsible for hundreds of billions-dollar loss in the US alone each year. In general, corrosion occurs when metal surfaces are exposed to water, oxygen, acids, bases, or salts. Therefore, metal substrates must be protected by using materials that act as barriers to avoid destructive corrosion attack. Aluminum is one of the most common metals used in … more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Yaseen, Waleed Khaleel

Synthesis and Characterization of π-Extended Benzoporphyrins

Description: Porphyrins offer a very synthetically flexible template which can be modified in numerous ways to synthesize molecules with very useful properties applicable in areas such as non-linear optical properties, photodynamic therapy, dye-sensitized solar cells, chemical sensors and organic electronic devices. β-Substituted π-extended porphyrins offer unique capabilities in tuning the properties of the molecule towards practical applications. Increased π-conjugation allows the HOMO-LUMO gap to decreas… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Kumar, Siddhartha
open access

Allowing Students to Have VOICES (Voluntary Options in Chemical Education Schedules) in General Chemistry I

Description: The purpose of this investigation (a quasi-experimental design called a non-equivalent design group (NEDG)) was to determine if allowing students in a science majors general Chemistry I course the choice in establishing the due dates that their homework was due to the instructor would improve course averages. This study covered two semesters with a total of 288 students participating with n = 158 in the fall and n = 130 in the spring. The students self-selected the homework group, VOICES, tha… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Ford, Robyn Lynn
open access

Silver(I) and Copper(I) Complexes from Homoleptic to Heteroleptic: Synthesis, Structure and Characterization

Description: A plethora of novel scientific phenomena and practical applications, such as solid-state molecular solar cells and other optoelectronic devices for energy harvesting and lighting technologies, have catalyzed us to synthesize novel compounds with tunable properties. Synthetic routes, single crystal structures, and spectral and materials properties are described. Reactions of Ag(I) and Cu(I) precursors with various types of ligands -- including the azolates, diimines, and diiphosphines -- lead to… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Almotawa, Ruaa Mohammed
open access

Applications of Metallic Clusters and Nanoparticles via Soft Landing Ion Mobility, from Reduced to Ambient Pressures

Description: Nanoparticles, simple yet groundbreaking objects have led to the discovery of invaluable information due to their physiological, chemical, and physical properties, have become a hot topic in various fields of study including but not limited to chemistry, biology, and physics. In the work presented here, demonstrations of various applications of chemical free nanoparticles are explored, from the determination of a non-invasive method for the study of the exposome via using soft-landing ion mobil… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Aguilar Ayala, Roberto
open access

High-Energy, Long-Lived Charge-Separated States via Molecular Engineering of Triplet State Donor-Acceptor Systems

Description: Molecular engineering of donor-acceptor dyads and multimodular systems to control the yield and lifetime of charge separation is one of the key goals of artificial photosynthesis for harvesting sustainably solar energy. The design of the donor-acceptor systems mimic a part of green plants and bacterial photosynthetic processes. The photochemical events in natural photosynthesis involve the capturing and funneling of solar energy by a group of well-organized chromophores referred to as an ‘anten… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Obondi, Christopher O
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
Back to Top of Screen