This work presents a novel means of producing thin-film light-emitting devices, functioning according to the principle of electroluminescence, using an inkjet printing technique. This study represents the first report of a light-emitting device deposited completely by inkjet printing. An electroluminescent species, doped zinc sulfide, was incorporated into a polymeric matrix and deposited by piezoelectric inkjet printing. The layer was printed over other printed layers including electrodes composed of the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), doped with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and single-walled carbon nanotubes, and in certain device structures, an insulating species, barium titanate, in an insulating polymer binder. The materials used were all suitable for deposition and curing at low to moderate (<150°C) temperatures and atmospheric pressure, allowing for the use of polymers or paper as supportive substrates for the devices, and greatly facilitating the fabrication process. The deposition of a completely inkjet-printed light-emitting device has hitherto been unreported. When ZnS has been used as the emitter, solution-processed layers have been prepared by spin-coating, and never by inkjet printing. Furthermore, the utilization of the low-temperature-processed PEDOT:PSS/nanotube composite for both electrodes has not yet been reported. Device performance was compromised compared to conventionally prepared devices. This was partially due to the relatively high roughness of the printed films. It was also caused by energy level misalignment due to quantization (bandgap widening) of the small (<10 nm) nanoparticles, and the use of high work function cathode materials (Al and PEDOT:PSS). Regardless of their reduced performance, inkjet printing as a deposition technique for these devices presents unique advantages, the most notable of which are rapidity of fabrication and patterning, substrate flexibility, avoidance of material wastage by using drop-on-demand technology, and the need for only one main unit operation to produce an entire device.

The production of biogas through the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure and its subsequent use in the generation of electricity on large Ontario farms is currently economically attractive. While larger farms have advantages of scale, there are substantially more small farms for which individually designed and engineered biogas systems are prohibitively expensive. Although biogas has numerous benefits, it contains hydrogen sulfide, an odourous, poisonous and corrosive gas, which emits sulfur oxides upon combustion. Larger systems can afford to use specialized biogas engines which tolerate some levels of hydrogen sulfide. For smaller scale systems to be financially attractive the hydrogen sulfide needs to be removed inexpensively, allowing for more flexibility in engine choice for electricity generation. In this work, the solid by-products from the anaerobic digestion process were used to create activated carbon, which has a high capacity for hydrogen sulfide. Not only does the carbon adsorb hydrogen sulfide, it allows for the surface oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur and sulfate. Since the sulfur is in a beneficial form for fertilizer use, and there are no chemicals added to create the carbon, the spent sulfur-containing carbon can be land applied, eliminating any spent carbon disposal costs.

Physical property data was used to test two hypotheses pertaining to the impact of a chemical pre-treatment on the qualities of low consistency refined pulp. The first objective was to determine whether the addition of a chemical treatment would effectively accelerate the refining process when compared to a regular pulp. This involved the measurement of the physical property data and how it changed with increased refining energy. The second objective was to determine how the chemical treatment affected fibre development during refining, and whether its implementation could result in enhancement of inter-fibre bondability. Theoretical models for the physical properties of paper were used to study the fibre-to-fibre bonding properties of the tested paper samples. Additionally, SEM images were obtained to study the deferences in morphology of the tested pulp samples.

Ice crystals in clouds frequently form upon a subset of aerosol particles called ice nuclei (IN). IN influence cloud ice crystal concentrations, consequently affecting cloud lifetime and reflectivity. The present understanding of these effects on climate is hindered by limited data on the global distribution of IN. This thesis presents measurements of deposition-mode IN concentrations under conditions relevant to mid-level clouds, 238 K and 138% RHi. at two Canadian sites: Toronto, a major city, and Whistler, a pristine coniferous rainforest. In Toronto, chemically-resolved surface areas were estimated by single-particle mass spectrometry and regressed against IN concentrations to identify a significant relationship between IN concentrations and both carbonaceous aerosols (EC and/or OC) and dust. In Whistler, IN concentrations during a biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) event did not increase from background levels (0.1 /L), suggesting that biogenic SOA particles do not nucleate ice under these conditions.

The fortification of salt with iron may reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency globally, but fortification is complicated by iron-iodiate interactions. To minimize this interaction, a spray dry microencapsulation system was developed. This study evaluated the creation and use of this system, and produced engineered iron premixes for integration into coarse iodized salt. Bioavailable ferrous fumarate powders were encapsulated to produce small particles (<20μm). Feed systems containing both suspended and dissolved ferrous fumarate were compared to find optimal conditions. The premixes were blended into iodized salt at 1000ppmiron and stored at 40C, ~60%RH. The salt was sampled periodically for 6 months to evaluate iodine stability. All encapsulated samples showed increased stability. The capsules ability to adhere to the salt as well as its colour and apparent bioavailability were evaluated. The evaluated samples indicate that stable double-fortified salt based on inexpensive, coarse, unrefined salt may be obtained economically by this approach.

Micronutrient poor diets around the globe and in particular in the developing world cause deficiencies in iron and folic acid. This may be rectified by the incorporation of these micronutrients into currently running salt iodization processes. The objective of this project was to develop folic acid and iodine spray solutions to be ready for pilot scale testing and to investigate the stability of triple fortified salt containing iodine, folic acid and microencapsulated ferrous fumarate. The optimal spray solutions were buffered to pH 9 with a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer to stabilize folic acid and contained 1%-2% w/v folic acid and 1%-3% w/v iodine (as KIO3). They remained in solution and retained ≥80% of both micronutrients after 5 months of storage at 25ºC and 45ºC. Double fortified salt produced using these spray solutions retained 100% of both folic acid and iodine over a 5 month period when stored at ambient conditions. Unfortunately triple fortified salt did not sufficiently retain the micronutrients due to excess moisture absorption and inadequate encapsulation of iron.

KB-1 is an anaerobic Dehalococcoides-containing microbial culture used industrially to bioremediate sites impacted with chlorinated solvents. The culture is typically grown at pH 7. However, lower pH is often encountered and therefore the effect of pH was investigated. Both sudden and stepwise decreases in pH from 7 to 6 and 5.5 were investigated over a period of 450 days. An electron balance was also calculated to look at the flow of electrons for dechlorination. More than 95% of the reducing equivalents went towards methanogenesis and acetogenesis. Select microorganisms were compared by quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction. It was found that lower rates of dechlorination correspond to low Dehalococcoides numbers and that different methanogens were enriched on different electron donors.

Bioremediation of chlorinated contaminants in groundwater can be achieved by reductive dechlorination by anaerobic dechlorinating cultures. However, at sites impacted with multiple different chlorinated contaminants, reductive dechlorination is often inhibited by co-contaminants. The inhibitory effects of trichloroethene, cis-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride on chloroform dechlorination were studied using a Dehalobacter-containing chloroform dechlorinating mixed culture (ACT-3). The inhibitory effect of chloroform on chlorinated ethene dechlorination was studied in a Dehalococcoides-containing trichloroethene dechlorinating mixed culture (KB-1). Vinyl chloride was found to be the strongest inhibitor of chloroform in ACT-3. Chloroform exerted a complex and strong inhibitory effect on chlorinated ethene dechlorination in KB-1. The potential for microbial reductive defluorination was also examined in the enrichment cultures. Quantifying the substrates and substrate interactions in dechlorinating cultures is necessary to most efficiently use these cultures to remediate contaminated sites.

Two types of protein isolates were prepared from de-hulled yellow mustard flour by aqueous extraction, membrane processing and acid precipitation of proteins at the isoelectric point (IEP 5.5). Their electrophoretic, main functional properties and protein composition were determined. The precipitated and acid soluble protein isolates had 83.0 and 96.0% protein content on a moisture and oil free basis, respectively. The acid soluble protein isolate had comparable functional properties to those of commercially available soybean and other protein isolates. The precipitated protein isolate exhibited less desirable functionality than the soluble isolate, due to its high lipid content (~25%); however, it was still comparable to soybean isolates. Storage temperature had limited effect on lipid oxidation, and hence the stability of the precipitated protein isolate at 25-45ºC. Taste and texture of wieners and bologna prepared with 1-2% of this isolate as binder were comparable to those prepared with soy protein isolates.

Thermodiffusion is one of the mechanisms in transport phenomena in which molecules are transported in a multicomponent mixture driven by temperature gradients. Thermodiffusion in associating mixtures presents a larger degree of complexity than non-associating mixtures, since the direction of flow in associating mixtures may change with variations in composition and temperature. In this study a new activation energy model is proposed for predicting the ratio of evaporation energy to activation energy. The new model has been implemented for prediction of thermodiffusion for acetone-water, ethanol-water and isopropanol-water mixtures. In particular, a sign change in the thermodiffusion factor for associating mixtures has been predicted, which is a major step forward in modeling of thermodiffusion for associating mixtures. In addition, a new model for the prediction of thermodiffusion coefficients for linear chain hydrocarbon binary mixtures is proposed using the theory of irreversible thermodynamics and a kinetics approach. The model predicts the net amount of heat transported based on an available volume for each molecule. This model has been found to be the most reliable and represents a significant improvement over the earlier models. Also a new approach to predicting the Soret coefficient in binary mixtures of linear chain and aromatic hydrocarbons using the thermodynamics of irreversible processes is presented. This approach is based on a free volume theory which explains the diffusivity in diffusion-limited systems. The proposed model combined with the Shukla and Firoozabadi model has been applied to predict the Soret coefficient for binary mixtures of toluene and n-hexane, and benzene and n-heptane. Comparisons of theoretical results with experimental data show a good agreement. The proposed model has also been applied to estimate thermodiffusion coefficients of binary mixtures of n-butane & carbon dioxide and n-dodecane & carbon dioxide at different temperature. The results have also been incorporated into CFD software FLUENT for 3-dimensional simulations of thermodiffusion and convection in porous media. The predictions show the thermodiffuison phenomenon is dominant at low permeabilities (0.0001 to 0.01), but as the permeability increases convection plays an important role in establishing a concentration distribution. Finally, the activation energy in Eyring’s viscosity theory is examined for associating mixtures. Several methods are used to estimate the activation energy of pure components and then extended to mixtures of linear hydrocarbon chains. The activation energy model based on alternative forms of Eyring’s viscosity theory is implemented to estimate the thermodiffusion coefficient for hydrocarbon binary mixtures. Comparisons of theoretical results with the available thermodiffusion coefficient data have shown a good performance of the activation energy model.