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This dissertation combines an assemblage theory ontology of urban sociology with the concept of Bauman's 'liquid modernity' (2000, 2012). It subsequently incorporates the nascent "liquid" constructs of liquid retail, liquid legitimacy, and liquid community to analyze consumers, community, and retailscapes in a violent and impoverished inner city area that has experienced constant and dramatic change. Through this lens, ethnographic fieldwork reveals a construct called consumption lifelines, which explains how consumers and communities use market-facing resources to find and create relative stability in the midst of turbulence, whether they choose to enter, stay in or leave a highly territorialized community with contested boundaries. The study adds complexity to Bauman's concept of liquidity and the construct of urban assemblages, and it has implications for other inner city communities that are similarly affected by changing times and challenging circumstances.

We were unable to verify the existence of ion mobility discontinuities in either superfluid helium at 1 K or liquid nitrogen. The velocity-field dependence in helium was described by an increased interaction with the normal fluid, due to an increase in the roton number density close to the ion surface. The mobility results in nitrogen were interpreted as being due to liquid motion, following a theory by Kopylov. The D.C. results showed that the effect of a grid on the transmission of an ion beam could be described by a field dependent grid transmission coefficient, independent of the ion velocity. The vortex ring transmission through a grid was a complex function of vorticity being captured by the grid, the capture and escape probabilities of the bare ions by vorticity, and the onset for vorticity propagating throughout the ion cell.

This thesis involves a study of the thermodynamics of liquid mixtures containing N-methyl-2pyrrolidone (NMP) and hydrocarbons or ethers. NMP is a polar liquid which is used in liquid extraction procedures for the separation of polar and nonpolar hydrocarbons. It was considered important enough to devote an entire thesis to the properties of NMP related to its interactions with simple hydrocarbons and ethers. The thesis consists of four parts: Part one is devoted to liquid-liquid equilibria. Experimental results at 298.2 K, are presented for the mixtures: NMP + an aromatic hydrocarbon + an n-alkane. Firstly, the effect increasing the chain length of the alkane has on the liquid-liquid equilibria was investigated, by studying mixtures of the type: an n-alkane + toluene + NMP; where the n-alkane refers to n-hexane or n-nonane or n-tetradecane or n-hexadecane. Secondly, the effect of substitution on the benzene ring on the equilibria was studied by measuring the liquid-liquid equilibria for the mixtures: n-hexadecane + an aromatic hydrocarbon + NMP; where the aromatic hydrocarbon refers to toluene or o-xylene or m-xylene or p-xylene or mesitylene or ethyl benzene. The chain length of the n-alkane had a significant effect on the liquid-liquid equilibria. Methyl substitution on the benzene ring had a small effect on the liquid-liquid equilibria. Part two is devoted to activity coefficients at infinite dilution. Experimental results at 298,15 K, determined using gas-liquid chromatography, are presented for the mixtures: NMP (solvent) + n-pentane or n-hexane or n-heptane or n-octane or cyclopentane or cyclohexane or cycloheptane or I-hexene or 1-heptene or l-octene or diethyl ether or diisopropyl ether. The magnitudes of the infinite dilution activity coefficients had the following order: n-alkanes > cycloalkanes > l-alkenes > ethers. Part three is devoted to excess molar enthalpies. Experimental results at 298.15 K are presented for the mixtures: NMP + an aromatic hydrocarbon. Here, an aromatic hydrocarbon refers to one of benzene or toluene or o-xylene or m-xylene or p-xylene or mesitylene or ethyl benzene. Isothermal flow microcalorimetry was used to determine the excess molar enthalpies. Increased methyl substitution on the' benzene ring manifests itself as a reduction in the association between NMP and the aromatic hydrocarbon. Part four is devoted to excess molar volumes. Experimental results at 298.15 K are presented for the mixtures: NMP + an aromatic hydrocarbon. Here, an aromatic hydrocarbon refers to one of benzene or toluene or o-xylene or m-xylene or p-xylene or mesitylene or ethyl benzene. Densitometry was used to determine the excess molar volumes. The excess molar volumes were negative for all the mixtures. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1997.

Flexoelectricity in liquid crystals is thought to be due to a coupling between dielectric properties and shape anisotropy of the molecules and described by the fiexoelectric coefficients el and e3. Two experiments are needed to measure el and e3 and it is usual to measure the difference (el - e3) and the sum (el + e3) and then calculate el and e3· The first experiment to measure the difference (el - e3) uses a TN structure with an in-plane applied electric field. Due to the dielectric coupling, the director aligns with the electric field and due to the fiexoelectric effect, the director tilts out of plane. This tilt is measured optically using two laser beams at oblique incidence, e.g. 45°. Using a theoretical model the experimental data is fitted and the difference (el - e3) extracted. The second experiment to measure the sum (el + e3) uses a Pi cell. Applying an ac voltage the transmission through the device is a repeating oscillating signal which contains 1st and 2nd harmonics. The 1st harmonic corresponds to the fiexoelectric effect and the 2nd harmonic to the dielectric effect. Using a lock-in amplifier, the harmonics were measured and the sum (el + e3) extracted using a theoretical model to fit the experimental data. Unfortunately, the data proved the experiment to be unreliable and another method was developed, which uses a BAN cell. The third experiment uses simple pulses in a BAN cell and also measures the sum (el + e3). The big disadvantage of the BAN cell is an internal voltage, which is created by the homeotropic alignment layer and the fiexoelectric polarisation. The internal voltage has the same effect on the director profile as the fiexoelectric effect, which is a big problem in measuring fiexoelectricity. Using a material, which is non ionic and has no fiexoelectricity, the internal bias could be measured and taken into account. Applying short de pulses of opposite sign, the fiexoelectric effect can be observed by the optical response and can be measured. Using these experiments, a number of investigation are being carried out such as the correlation between fiexoelectricity and the molecular structure, ions, elastic properties, molecular orientation, dielectric anisotropy 6E, and order parameter S. The results showed that fiexoelectricity only depends on ions and dielectric properties which was very interesting and surprising at the same time.

The first part of this thesis is concerned with the synthesis, characterisation and applications of surface functionalised carbon nanoparticles. Synthetic techniques are used to modify the existing surface architecture of carbon nanoparticles towards high surface area modified electrodes and pH sensing applications. Electrochemical and synthetic techniques have been used to study triple phase boundaries and enhance their properties towards a bulk synthetic technique, in which an electrolyte phase and redox probe phase are held separate. A salt matrix, ultrasound, high shear force and a carbon fibre membrane have all been used to form unique triple phase boundary environments in which electron and ion transfer processes can be studied and enhanced towards analytical and electrosynthetic applications. A number of electro-reduction reactions have been shown to be feasible using the triple phase boundary methodology. Alkenes, aldehydes and imines have all been successfully electro-reduced, analysed and optimised to elucidate the synthetic triple phase boundary mechanism.

In this thesis, the adsorption of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at the liquid/liquid interface, and the subsequent electrochemical investigation of the electrical properties of the adsorbed nanotubes have been studied. Prior to the adsorption of the nanotube, the stability of dispersion of SWCNTs in non-aqueous solvents was assessed by determining the onset of aggregation of the SWCNTs when organic electrolyte was introduced. It was found that electrostatic repulsion between the SWCNTs contributes significantly to the stability of the SWCNTs in non-aqueous solvents. Similar result was also found when the aggregation kinetics of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) dispersion in non-aqueous media was studied using the same organic electrolyte. The formation of nanomaterial-polymer composites by deliberate electrochemical oxidation of pyrrole and the sonochemical polymerisation of the organic solvent was also studied. Electrolyte addition was shown to be a promising way to separate the 2D material from the sonopolymer.

Materials on the nanoscale have very interesting properties. Hence, they are commonly used for a variety of applications such as drug delivery, bio-imaging and sensing devices. Moreover, coating these particles with other materials forming core@shell or Janus particles can further enhance their properties. However, for the particles to be used in medical and electronic devices, their properties such as size, shape and composition need to be precisely controlled. In this PhD., an emulsification technique was chosen to investigate the synthesis of nanoparticles; it is a simple process, does not require any harsh chemicals or temperature and is fast. Emulsification occurs when two or more immiscible liquids and surfactants are mixed. Here, emulsion droplets were produced using a microfluidic device which allowed for the creation of uniform droplets. These were employed as templates to synthesise and assemble nanomaterials. The main aim of the Ph.D. was to develop a droplet based synthesis process to generate nanoparticles and then assemble them into core@shell particles. This Ph.D., starts by synthesising Fe3O4 nanoparticles (~ 12 nm) and assembling them into microparticles (~ 1µm 2µm) using emulsion droplets as microreactors. By tuning the surfactant, droplet size and evaporation rate of the dispersed phase, microparticles of varying shapes and sizes, such as spherical or crumbled shapes, were produced. When these particles are compared with the commercially available particles, the magnetic content of the in-house particles, or sometimes referred to as Loughborough University Enterprises Ltd. (LUEL), are much higher and more uniform, hence resulting in faster separation when used for extraction of analytes. LUEL particles were supplied as part of commercial collaboration. The use of Pickering emulsions were then explored to create core@shell particles using gold nanoparticles instead of a surfactant to produce gold shells and the addition of pre-synthesised Fe3O4 nanoparticles results in Fe3O4@Au core@shell particles. This is the first time Pickering emulsions were used to produce Fe3O4@Au core@shell particles (~ 1.5 µm) within a microfluidic device. However, the shells were not uniform in thickness. In order to improve the coverage, nanoparticles were synthesised in situ at the droplet interface. By placing the gold chloride (AuCl4-) in the continuous phase and by varying the concentration of the electron donor in hexane droplet, single crystal gold nanoparticles and platelets were formed. The reaction is spontaneous at room temperature, creating gold nanoparticles at the interface of the emulsion droplet. The size and shape of the gold nanoparticles were controlled by varying the concentration of the reactants and the size of the droplets. By adding pre-synthesised particles (Fe3O4 nanoparticles) to the droplet, Au@Fe3O4 core@shell particles were formed with an approximate size of 250 nm. The same concept of forming core@shell particles using gold nanoparticles was further expanded by using other metal ions; palladium and silver. Unlike gold, palladium and silver only formed spherical nanoparticles, no platelets were observed. The addition of preformed iron oxide nanoparticles to the palladium results in core@shell particles. However, in the case of silver, no core@shell particles were formed. The study of the rate of reaction was conducted to understand the details of the mechanism. Overall, the process developed in this Ph.D. study allows for the facile synthesis of core@shell particles in a rapid, high throughput reaction. In the future, it is believed it could be scaled up for commercial purposes.

The question of identity in music composition is interrelated with the condition of musical material and form and the qualities which make musical ideas traceable. The mechanisms for creating musical identity during much of the modern period were based on the elements of pitch, rhythm, harmony and form. Until the twentieth century musical identities were regulated according to traditional systems. The advent of modernism in music was marked by the new solid identities, timbre and texture to the foreground as significant identity-bearing musical elements, and at the same time saw blurring of the traditional concepts of identity. The avant-garde movements of the post-World-War-II period in particular challenged the established identity concepts by liquefying the very essence of the musical work. The modern conceptual tools need to be replaced with new ones in order to address the current state of precariousness of musical material and form. In my original composition for sinfonietta entitled rh, I propose liquid identity as a new concept of musical identity. Liquid identity is based on a new image of musical sound which embodies the internal difference of sound in a self-existing conceptual model. In a state of liquidity all hierarchies flatten and the concept of development is rendered obsolete. The composer then writes constantly “in the middle” and compositional decisions are taken here and now. Consequently, the process of composition becomes a creative anarchic praxis without an end goal.