The rise of soft robots poses a promising revolution across a variety of fields, such as invasive surgical procedures or aquatic animal monitoring and sampling, by providing a softer solution to delicate problems. However, with their youth comes a need for growth, particularly in regard to increasing mobility in aquatic environments seeing as motion is often slow and belabored. Additionally, exit strategies in breaking the air-water interface are not thoroughly explored to date. To address these challenges, this study looks to bioinspiration for the answer in the form of Emperor Penguins. By utilizing microbubbles in their plumage to decrease drag forces on their bodies, Emperor Penguins are able to propel themselves out of the water to heights not theoretically achievable through buoyancy alone. Not only is the strategy highly effective, it lends well to the soft robotic field as pneumatic actuation is a commonly used mechanism of locomotion. To explore this behavior and simulate its effects, this study tests a hollow silicone ellipsoid with hole punctures applied to its surface for microbubble release. Bubble characteristics such as separation point, bubble diameter, and downstream bubble expansion were monitored when subjected to a fluid flow to determine ideal air pressure through the ellipsoid body. Drag reduction is tested by measuring the robot’s leap height out of the water.

The majority of the Earths surface is covered with water, and the air-water interface (AWI) acts as the natural boundary between the atmosphere and the water. The AWI is an important ecological zone in natural aquatic habitats that governs transport of material and energy between bodies of water and the atmosphere. Little is known about temperature profiles and biological transport across the boundary layers at the air-water interface, and how wind interactions at the AWI affects them. New technologies such as sensors and unmanned surface vehicles (USV) need to be developed and used to address this knowledge gap. The goal of the research is to study population densities of the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae below, at and above the AWI using USV equipped with specialized sensors. The first specific objective was to map temperature profiles and resolve the boundary layer at the AWI using high resolution distributed temperature sensing (HR-DTS) on board an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). Our second research objective was to sample microbes from the water with a USV at multiple depths and locations. Our third research objective was to sample microbes from the atmosphere with a USV at the AWI. Our fourth research objective was to track and localize hazardous agents (tracer dyes) using a USV in aqueous environments. / Ph. D.

Films of phospholipids and biologically relevant surfactants at the air-water interface provide a well-defined medium to study molecular alignment, phase behavior and interactions of biomembranes and lung surfactant with exogenous materials. Interactions between lung surfactant interfaces and solid particles are of particular interest due to the increased use of nanomaterials in industrial applications and the promise of polymeric particles in pulmonary drug delivery. Understanding such interactions is necessary to avoid potential adverse effects on surfactant function after exposure to particles. In this thesis, the mechanisms of surfactant inhibition after exposure to submicron particles via different routes were investigated. The effects of carboxyl-modified polystyrene particles (200 nm) on films of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and Infasurf (calf lung surfactant extract) were studied. Surfactants were exposed to different concentrations of particles in a Langmuir trough with symmetric surface compression and expansion. Surface tension, potential, microstructure and topology were examined to monitor particle effects on surfactant function. Several methods of surfactant exposure to particles were studied: particle injection into the subphase after spreading surfactant monolayers (subphase injection), mixing the particles with the subphase and spreading the surfactant on top (monolayer addition) and particle aerosolization onto surfactant films. Studies with DPPC monolayers revealed that particle-surfactant interactions are dependent on the particle introduction method. In the subphase injection method, particles did not penetrate the monolayer and no inhibitory effects on surfactant function were observed. However, in the monolayer addition method, particles caused a premature monolayer collapse and hindered surfactant respreading likely by penetrating into the DPPC monolayer. Finally, particle aerosolization on surfactant was performed to mimic the physiologically relevant route of surfactant exposure to particles. Particle aerosolization on DPPC monolayers significantly inhibited surfactant function in the lung-relevant surface tension range. When aerosolized on Infasurf, particles caused inhibitory effects as a function of time suggesting adsorption of surfactant components on particle surfaces as the main mechanism of interaction. This research will enhance understanding of the mechanisms of particle-induced surfactant dysfunction, thereby providing information for the safe design of polymeric particles for drug delivery and for developing guidelines for particles used in occupational settings.

The ultimate goal of this project has been to develop a computational model for quantifying the interactions between of a body of fluid and a fibrous surface. To achieve this goal, one has to develop a model to create virtual structures that resemble the morphology of a fibrous surface (Objective-1) as well as a model that can simulate the flow of a fluid over these virtual surfaces (Objective-2). To achieve the first objective, we treated fibers as an array of beads interconnected through viscoelastic elements (springs and dampers). The uniqueness of our algorithm lies in its ability to simulate the curvature of the fibers in terms of their rigidity, fiber diameter, and fiber orientation. Moving on to Objective-2, we considered woven screens for their geometric periodicity, as a starting point. We studied how fiber diameter, fiber spacing, and contact angle can affect the skin-friction drag of a submerged hydrophobic woven screen, and how such surfaces resist against water intrusion under elevated hydro-static pressures (a requirement for providing drag reduction benefits). We also studied the impact of surface geometry and wetting properties on droplet mobility over these surfaces. Laboratory experiment was conducted at various stages throughout this investigation, and good agreement was observed between the experimental data and the results from our numerical simulation.

Langmuir monolayers can be employed as simple model systems to study interactions at surfaces. Such investigations are important to fields ranging from biology to materials science. Herein, several aspects of these films and their associated water structure have been examined with vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS). This second order nonlinear optical spectroscopy is particularly well suited for simultaneous investigations of the monolayer and the associated water structure with unprecedented surface specificity. The structures of these systems were altered through the control of experimental parameters including monolayer pressure, subphase temperature, pH and ionic content. Thermodynamic information about structural changes in a fatty amine monolayer's hydrophobic region was obtained by observation of the pressure and temperature dependence of the monolayer's solid to liquid phase transition. Further studies used the coordination of divalent cations to acid monolayers to perturb the water layers nearest to the film which enabled a better understanding of the water related VSFS features from these hydrophilic interfaces. Information from both the monolayer and water structure was then combined in order to examine the role of water in mediating ion-biomaterial interactions, often expressed in terms of the Hofmeister series.

Langmuir monolayers can be employed as simple model systems to study interactions at surfaces. Such investigations are important to fields ranging from biology to materials science. Herein, several aspects of these films and their associated water structure have been examined with vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS). This second order nonlinear optical spectroscopy is particularly well suited for simultaneous investigations of the monolayer and the associated water structure with unprecedented surface specificity. The structures of these systems were altered through the control of experimental parameters including monolayer pressure, subphase temperature, pH and ionic content. Thermodynamic information about structural changes in a fatty amine monolayer's hydrophobic region was obtained by observation of the pressure and temperature dependence of the monolayer's solid to liquid phase transition. Further studies used the coordination of divalent cations to acid monolayers to perturb the water layers nearest to the film which enabled a better understanding of the water related VSFS features from these hydrophilic interfaces. Information from both the monolayer and water structure was then combined in order to examine the role of water in mediating ion-biomaterial interactions, often expressed in terms of the Hofmeister series.

Determining the presence of an analyte of interest, and finding the enantiomeric purity of chiral molecules are challenging tasks. This work in molecular recognition is carried out routinely by many different researchers, including both academic as well as industrial research groups. The following dissertation presents original research directed toward two different areas of interest to the molecular recognition community: enantioselective sensing in solution, and sensing at a defined interfacial environment. This work begins with a review of the non-chromatographic ways that the enantiomeric purity of chiral carboxylic acids is determined, presented in Chapter 1. Carboxylic acids are important functional groups, both for organic synthesis as well as pharmaceutical drug development. Chapter 2 presents efforts that have been made to rapidly assess both the enantiomeric purity and identity of chiral carboxylic acids, utilizing the technique of exciton-coupled circular dichroism (ECCD). A twist is imparted on a complex, and can be correlated with the absolute configuration of the stereocenter. The enantiomeric composition can be rapidly determined. After creating the assay, the focus of the work shifted toward applying this system to new classes of analytes. Chapter 3 covers chemo- and enantioselective differentiation of [mathematical symbol]-amino acids, and continues to discuss the expansion to [mathematical symbol]-homoamino acids. Then a synthetic substrates was tested, and a series of reactions screened to determine if any enantioselectivity had been imparted by a Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. Finally, the enantiomeric composition of a biaryl atropisomer, a compound lacking a stereocenter, was determined. The signal produced from this assay is at a relatively short wavelength, and efforts were undertaken to push this signal to longer wavelength. Chapter 4 is a compendium of the lessons that were learned upon attempting to create a self-assembled sensing system. The final chapter details work that was done in collaboration with Professor Katsuhiko Ariga at the National Institute of Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan. In this chapter, an indicator displacement assay was carried out for the first time at the air-water interface. This contribution opens the door for sensing to be carried out at defined regions, rather than free in bulk solution. / text

Interfacial partitioning tracer tests (IPTT) are one method available for measuring air-water interfacial area (A(ia)).This study used the standard approach comprising tracer injection under steady unsaturated-flow conditions with a uniform water-saturation distribution within the column. Sodium dodecylbezene sulfonate (SDBS) and pentafluorobenzoic acid (PFBA) were used as the partitioning and nonreactive tracers, respectively. Three types of porous media were used for the study: a sandy soil, a well-sorted sand, and glass beads. Initial water saturations, S(w), were approximately 80%, 80%, and 26 % for the soil, sand, and glass beads, respectively. Water saturation was monitored gravimetrically during the experiments. The maximum interfacial areas (A(ia)/(1-S(w))) calculated from the results of the experiments are compared among the three porous media used in this work, and compared to previous air-water interfacial area studies.

Glancing angle laser induced fluorescence was used to monitor the kinetics of the photodegradation of chlorophyll at the surface of various salt solutions. The loss was measured using varying wavelengths of actinic radiation in the presence and absence of gas phase ozone. The loss rate of illuminated chlorophyll was faster on salt water surfaces than fresh water surfaces, both in the presence and absence of ozone. On salt water surfaces, the dependence of the loss rate on [O3(g)] was different under illuminated conditions than in the dark. This was further investigated by measuring the excitation spectra and the dependence of chlorophyll loss on the concentration of salts at the salt water surface. The possible production of reactive halogen atoms is the likely reason for the observed enhancement. The following results provide evidence of photosensitized oxidation of halogen anions, in the UV-visible range of the spectrum, resulting in halogen atom release.

Glancing angle laser induced fluorescence was used to monitor the kinetics of the photodegradation of chlorophyll at the surface of various salt solutions. The loss was measured using varying wavelengths of actinic radiation in the presence and absence of gas phase ozone. The loss rate of illuminated chlorophyll was faster on salt water surfaces than fresh water surfaces, both in the presence and absence of ozone. On salt water surfaces, the dependence of the loss rate on [O3(g)] was different under illuminated conditions than in the dark. This was further investigated by measuring the excitation spectra and the dependence of chlorophyll loss on the concentration of salts at the salt water surface. The possible production of reactive halogen atoms is the likely reason for the observed enhancement. The following results provide evidence of photosensitized oxidation of halogen anions, in the UV-visible range of the spectrum, resulting in halogen atom release.