Thesis (Ph. D., Neuroscience)--University of Idaho, October 2009. / Major professor: Deborah L. Stenkamp. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-213). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 19, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-83).

Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Wu, C. F. Jeff; Committee Co-Chair: Yuan, Ming; Committee Member: Huo, Xiaoming; Committee Member: Vengazhiyil, Roshan Joseph; Committee Member: Wang, Zhonglin. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Anodic alumina nanohoneycombs (AAO) have been widely used because of its convenient fabrication and controllable pores’ geometry. A lot of investigations have been conducted to study its physical and chemical properties. However, the mechanical properties, especially tribological properties, of such a popular nanomaterial still remain almost unknown. In this project, a series of scratch experiments were conducted on AAO films fabricated by a two-step anodisation method. The testing system is a G200 Nanoindenter provided by Agilent Corporation. A standard diamond Berkovich tip is used as the scratch tip. A scanning electron microscope was used to image the microstructure of the material deformation after scratching. Strengths of AAO domains with different pore regularities were compared by performing the scratch tests at constant normal loads crossing the boundaries separating these domains. Ramping load tests were carried out to show the effects of the normal load on the deformation and friction of the AAO. Scratch cycles and velocities were also varied to see their influence on friction and wear. The results show that the more ordered AAO structure has higher strength than disordered counterparts under scratch testing. The friction coefficient reduces rapidly on increasing normal load, and an explanation of this unusual behaviour is offered by considering the row-by-row deformation of the AAO structure. In multicycle scratch tests, the friction reaches a maximum at the fourth cycle. A step-like deformation behaviour was observed when the scratch velocity became extremely large, and this is probably due to the dynamic response of the instrument. / published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have drawn much attention due to their higher versatility and lower production cost compared to inorganic photovoltaics. The top performers of DSSC have achieved power conversion efficiency over 10%, which is comparable to amorphous silicon solar cells. In this work, new photosensitizers and nanostructure for improving the photovoltaic performance of DSSC were developed and evaluated. Two series of cyclometalated ruthenium(II) complex photosensitizer were presented and their photosensitizing properties in DSSC were studied. Eight cyclometalated ruthenium(II) terpyridine complexes with three carboxylic acid groups on the terpyridine ligand were synthesized. Series A (M1 to M4) consist of C,N,N’ ligands substituted with phenyl group whereas series B (M5 to M8) consist of C,N,N’ ligands substituted with m-fluorophenyl group. All of the complexes exhibited broad aborption spectra covering the whole visible spectrum. The complexes in series B generally showed better photovoltaic performance than those in series A in the DSSCs. DSSC fabricated from M7 achieved the highest Voc, Jsc and power conversion efficiency among other DSSC, which were 0.56 V, 7.30 mAcm-2 and 2.63 % respectively. Truxene-core donor--acceptor dyes were presented and their photosensitizing properties in DSSC were studied. Eight dyes with either one donor two acceptors system (T2, B2, T2R and B2R) or two donor one acceptor system (T1, B1, T1R and B1R) were synthesized. Dyes with two acceptors have high molar extinction coefficients originated from the charge-transfer transition band, which are almost two times higher than those with only one accceptors. Both the enhanced absorption and better anchoring geometry on TiO2 contribute to the better photovoltaic performance of the two acceptors dyes in the DSSCs. Devices fabricated from B2 and volatile solvent electrolyte exhibited the best photovoltaic performance among the truxene-core dyes. The Voc, Jsc, FF and power conversion efficiency of the device were 0.59 V, 9.69 mAcm-2, 0.63 and 3.62 % respectively. Dyes based on cyanoacrylic acid anchoring groups (T1, T2, B1 and B2) were found to perform better than those based on rhodanine-3-acetic acid dyes (T1R, T2R, B1R and B2R) in both donor--acceptor configurations. ITO nanorod/TiO2 nanoparticle composite films with the three different types of ITO nanorod with different length (150 nm, 600 nm and 1.5 μm) were fabricated on FTO glass substrate. The transmittance and sheet resistance of the ITO nanorod array on the FTO glass substrate were found decreased with increasing the length of the ITO nanorod. When the ITO nanorod/TiO2 nanoparticle composite films were applied as the anode in DSSCs, the device fabricated from 600 nm ITO nanorod with TiO2 ‘double layer‘ film showed enhanced photocurrent generation. The improved photocurrent generation is suggested to be due to an improved charge collection efficiency at the ITO nanorod back electrode. / published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy