Browsing Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Nanotechnology"
Now showing items 1-20 of 36
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A Multiscale Model of the Enhanced Heat Transfer in a CNT-Nanofluid System
(2011)Over the last decade, much research has been done to understand the role of nanoparticles in heat transfer fluids. While experimental results have shown "anomalous" thermal enhancements and non-linear behavior with respect ... -
A Numerical Resistor Network Model for the Determination of Electrical Properties of Nanocomposites
(2011)This thesis introduces a comprehensive numerical model for the determination of the electrical properties of carbon nanotube reinforced polymer composites. Procedures of this model are based on a new spanning network ... -
Addition of a Magnetite Layer onto a Polysulfone Water Treatment Membrane to Enhance Virus Removal
(2012)The applicability of low-pressure membranes systems in distributed (point of use) water treatment is hindered by, among other things, their inability to remove potentially harmful viruses and ions via size exclusion. ... -
Assessing Photocatalytic Oxidation Using Modified TiO2 Nanomaterials for Virus Inactivation in Drinking Water: Mechanisms and Application
(2013-06-05)Photocatalytic oxidation is an alternative water treatment method under consideration for disinfecting water. Chlorine disinfection can form harmful byproducts, and some viruses (e.g. adenoviruses) are resistant to other ... -
Bilayer Approaches for Nanoparticle Phase Transfer
(2012)Nanoparticles (NPs) are often synthesized in organic solvents due to advantages of superior size and shape control obtainable in a non-polar environment. However, many applications featuring NPs require them to be in aqueous ... -
Biodistribution of Cadmium Selenide/Zinc Sulfide Quantum Dots in Aquatic Organisms
(2011)This thesis investigates the biodistribution and toxicological effects of amphiphilic polymer coated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) in two aquatic species, Daphnia magna (daphnia) and Danio rerio (zebrafish). The use of QDs ... -
Carbon Nanomaterials for Detection, Assessment and Purification of Oil and Natural Gas
(2014-04-21)This thesis studies several carbon nanomaterials. Their synthesis and characterization are studied as well as their potential applications to the oil industry. The carbon nanomaterials studied here include mesoporous carbon ... -
Carbon nanotube based hybrid nanostructures: Synthesis and applications
(2010)Hybrid nanostructures are fascinating materials for their promising applications in future nanoelectronics, electrical interconnects and energy storage devices. Practical ways of connecting individual carbon nanotubes to ... -
Catalytic processes simulated at nano-scale: Growth of graphitic structures and functionalized graphene explained
(2011)Key dynamic processes at nano-scale, such as graphene hydrogenation and fluorination, and carbon nanotube (CNT) growth, cannot be observed in situ in real time. Nevertheless, such processes can be studied through complementary ... -
Charge regulation in lipid membranes due to lipid mobility
(2010)Lipid bilayer membranes are ubiquitous in biology and electrostatics play a key role in their functionality. The interfacial electrostatics of lipid bilayers involves interplay between the surface potential and charge ... -
Chemical and Physical Graphene Modifications
(2013-07-11)This dissertation is inspired by recent progress in the chemistry, physics, and nanotechnology of graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms. Studying and controllably modifying the ... -
Cisplatin@US-tube Carbon Nanocapsules for Enhanced
(2014-02-28)The use of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer therapy is often limited by problems with administration such as insolubility, inefficient biodistribution, lack of selectivelty, and inability of the drug to cross cellular ... -
Coated Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Fibers: Synthesis and Applications
(2011)Carbon nanotubes have been of great interest given their unique electronic and mechanical properties. Scholars have focused on the addition of carbon nanotubes to various matrices in order to develop novel materials. These ... -
Developing Novel Protein-based Materials using Ultrabithorax: Production, Characterization, and Functionalization
(2011)Compared to 'conventional' materials made from metal, glass, or ceramics, protein-based materials have unique mechanical properties. Furthermore, the morphology, mechanical properties, and functionality of protein-based ... -
Dimension Controlled Self-Assembly of Perylene Based Molecules
(2011)Recent advances in the self-assembly of highly organized structures of organic semiconducting molecules by controlled non-covalent interactions has opened avenues for creating materials with unique optical and electrical ... -
Electromechanical Investigation of Low Dimensional Nanomaterials for NEMS Applications
(2011)Successful operation of Nano-ElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS) critically depends on their working environment and component materials' electromechanical properties. It is equally important that ambient or liquid environment ... -
Functionalized Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
(2013-09-16)Functionalization of nanoparticles often control the extent of their usage. With this in mind, I have explored methods of creating highly functionalized exfoliated graphite, by way of the Billups-Birch reduction, that can ... -
Gold nanoshells for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and drug delivery
(2012)Gold nanoshells are tunable plasmonic nanostructures consisting of spherical silica cores wrapped with thin layer of Au. Based on the size of the Au layer with respect to the silica core, gold nanoshells can resonantly ... -
Imaging and manipulating organometallic molecules by scanning tunneling microscopy
(2012)Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) we have explored complex surface adsorbed molecules, nanocars, on Au(111) and the parameters related to the direct translation of these molecules by the STM tip. Specifically, the ... -
In Situ Quantitative Mechanical Characterization and Integration of One Dimensional Metallic Nanostructures
(2011)One dimensional (1-D) metallic nanostructures (e.g. nanowires, nanorods) have stimulated great interest recently as important building blocks for future nanoscale electronic and electromechanical devices. In this thesis ...
