published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study investigated the applicability of various analytical tools for the qualitative and quantitative characterization of nanophase electrocatalysts.

<p> Organic chemistry used to augment nanoparticles and nanotubes, as well as more traditional materials, is a subject of great interest across multiple fields of applied chemistry. Herein we present an example of both nanoparticle and nanotube augmentation with organic small molecules to achieve an enhanced or otherwise infeasible application. The first chapter discusses the modification of two different types of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) anode brush bristle fibers with positive surface charge increasing moieties to increase quantitative bacterial adhesion to these bristle fibers, and therefore overall MFC electrogenicity. Type-1 brush bristles, comprised of polyacrylonitrile, were modified via the electrostatic attachment of 1-pyrenemethylamine hydrochloride. Type-2 brush bristles, comprised of nylon, were modified via the covalent attachment of ethylenediamine. Both modified brush types were immersed in an <i>E. Coli</i> broth for 1 hour, stained with SYTO^&reg; 9 Green Fluorescent Nucleic Acid Stain from ThermoFisher Scientific (SYTO-9), and examined under a Biotek Citation 3 fluorescent microscope to visually assess differences in bacterial adherence. In both trials, a clear increase in amount of bacterial adhesion to the modified bristles was observed over that of the control. The second chapter demonstrates a potential biomedical technology application wherein a polymerizable carbocyanine-type dye was synthesized and bound to a chitosan backbone to produce a water-soluble photothermal nanoparticle. Laser stimulation of both free and NP-conjugated aqueous solutions of the carbocyanine dye with Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectrum Radiation showed an increase in temperature directly correlated with the concentration of the dye which was more pronounced in the free particle solutions.</p>

Light chain amyloidosis (AL) is associated with high mortality, especially in patients with advanced cardiovascular involvement. It is caused by toxicity of misfolded light chain proteins (LC) in vascular, cardiac, and other tissues. There is no treatment to reverse LC tissue toxicity. We tested the hypothesis that nanoliposomes composed of monosialoganglioside, phosphatidylcholine, and cholesterol (GM1 ganglioside-containing nanoliposomes [NLGM1]) can protect against LC-induced human microvascular dysfunction and assess mechanisms behind the protective effect.

<p> The 21st century is witnessing a tremendous demand for transistors. Life amenities have incorporated the transistor in every aspect of daily life, ranging from toys to rocket science. Day by day, scaling down the transistor is becoming an imperious necessity. However, it is not a straightforward process; instead, it faces overwhelming challenges. Due to these scaling changes, new technologies, such as FinFETs for example, have emerged as alternatives to the conventional bulk-CMOS technology. FinFET has more control over the channel, therefore, leakage current is reduced. FinFET could bridge the gap between silicon devices and non-silicon devices. The semiconductor industry is now incorporating FinFETs in systems and subsystems. For example, Intel has been using them in their newest processors, delivering potential saving powers and increased speeds to memory circuits. Memory sub-systems are considered a vital component in the digital era. In memory, few rows are read or written at a time, while the most rows are static; hence, reducing leakage current increases the performance. However, as a transistor shrinks, it becomes more vulnerable to the effects from radioactive particle strikes. If a particle hits a node in a memory cell, the content might flip; consequently, leading to corrupting stored data. Critical fields, such as medical and aerospace, where there are no second chances and cannot even afford to operate at 99.99% accuracy, has induced me to find a rigid circuit in a radiated working environment. This research focuses on a wide spectrum of memories such as 6T SRAM, 8T SRAM, and DICE memory cells using FinFET technology and finding the best platform in terms of Read and Write delay, susceptibility level of SNM, RSNM, leakage current, energy consumption, and Single Event Upsets (SEUs). This research has shown that the SEU tolerance that 6T and 8T FinFET SRAMs provide may not be acceptable in medical and aerospace applications where there is a very high likelihood of SEUs. Consequently, FinFET DICE memory can be a good candidate due to its high ability to tolerate SEUs of different amplitudes and long periods for both read and hold operations.</p>

M.Sc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / In this work, the primary investigation has been on the development of the laser pyrolysis setup and its optimization for the synthesis of nano-size VO2-x films. More specifically the focus was on making VO2-x depositions using various laser pyrolysis parameters and establish in this way (1) an optimum laser wavelength threshold for the photon induced dissociation of the molecular precursors while the thermal contribution was kept minimal by using low power density (laser energy of 30 W) and (2) the lower threshold for pure thermal contributions by working with wavelengths far from resonance in order to minimize pure photon induced contributions. The interest in synthesizing nano-size VO2-x materials stems from the low metal-insulator transition temperature at near room temperature with opto-electronic and thermo-electronic properties that can be used in specialised applications. A large number of samples were synthesized under various conditions and annealed under argon atmosphere for 17 hours. XRD analysis identified the VO2 (B) and/or β-V2O5 vanadium oxide phases characteristic for certain samples grown under optimum conditions. Raman spectroscopy also confirmed these vanadium oxide phases with bands observed at 175, 228, 261, 303, 422 and 532 cm-1. SEM analysis revealed a plethora of different nanostructures of various size and shapes. The particles have a range of sizes between 55 nm to 185 nm in diameter. The particles showed morphologies which included nano-rods, nanospheres and nano-slabs. An interesting phenomenon was observed on the samples synthesized with high power density, which was observed and reported by Donev iii et al. EDS analysis on the particles was also used to probe the elemental composition of the sample. Optical studies were performed on the samples which showed transitions in the visible and infrared region in accordance with the ones observed in the international literature using different nano-synthesis methods.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Chemistry. Johannesburg, 31 October 2017. / Nanotechnology has been instrumental in finding strategies of combating some of the world’s grand challenges. Water scarcity and the growing industrialization have made it an imperative to find ways of cleaning water. Photocatalysis is a promising method for water purification personified by the use of solar energy as well as nanomaterials with tailored properties. Colloidal synthesis has made it possible to synthesize new materials with tailored properties, in particular the single-source precursor method has been found to be a useful method in synthesizing nanomaterials with high purity. In the synthesis of metal chalcogenides, the single-source precursor method has an advantage of the precursor having the desired metal-chalcogenide bond hence eliminating the possible formation of side products particularly metal oxides. Herein, acylthiourea (ATU) and thiourea (TU) zinc complexes were used as precursors for the synthesis of ZnS nanoparticles. Bis(N,N-diethyl-N’-benzoylthiourea)Zn(II) [Zn(ATU)2] and bis(diaminomethylthio)Zn(II) chloride [Zn(TU)2Cl2] complexes were synthesized using a conventional method and characterized with elemental analysis, 1H NMR , 2D NMR, COSY, FTIR, mass spectrometry and X-Ray crystallography. The resultant precursors, Zn(ATU)2 and Zn(TU)2Cl2 complexes were then thermolyzed to yield ZnS nanocrystals and characterized fully. Reaction parameters that included the synthetic time, temperature, concentration and capping agents were optimized for each single-source precursor in an attempt to control the nanoparticles yielded hence their properties. Time and temperature studies generally demonstrated the most pronounced effect and with an increase, they showed increasing particle sizes through the Ostwald ripening effect. Also visible from the TEM was that the temperature had an effect on the morphology of the nanoparticles. Increasing the precursor concentration resulted in the agglomeration of nanoparticles, while using different capping agents yielded similar nanoparticles with different degrees of agglomeration. Evident from the results the ATU precursor behaved similar to the TU precursor and generally the particles obtained from the two precursors regardless of the reaction condition were very small. Preliminary investigations into the use of the synthesized nanoparticles obtained from the two precursors revealed potential in photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye in water. While smaller particles were obtained from the synthesized nanoparticles, the degradation efficiencies were lower than the commercial ZnO and TiO2. This is due to the presence of the long-chained capping agents on the synthesized particles blocking the interaction of the core ZnS and the light. / LG2018

Thesis (MTech (Chemistry))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / The synthesis of water soluble CdTe, CdTe/CdSe and CdTe/CdSe/ZnSe nanoparticles (NPs) and their optical, cytotoxicity as well as imaging properties are presented. The synthesis was carried out under ambient conditions in the absence of an inert environment and involved the use of potassium tellurite (K2TeO3) and sodium selenosulphate (Na2SeSO4) as a stable tellurium and selenium precursor respectively, while mercaptopropanoic acid (MPA) was used as capping agents. In this method, the CdTe NPs were prepared by the addition of tellurium source solution to MPA-cadmium complex solution at different pH while keeping other parameters constant. The formation of the shell (CdSe) and multi shell (CdSe/ZnSe) were achieved by adding desired precursors to the growing CdTe core NPs at one hour interval. The temporal evolution of the optical properties and stability of the growing nanocrystals was monitored in detail by varying the refluxing time, pH and storing the NPs under ambient condition for several days. The as-prepared NPs were characterised using UV-Vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The formation of the shells was indicated by an immediate change in the colour of the reaction solutions after the addition of the desired precursor and the shift in the absorption wavelength towards red-region. The optical analyses showed an enhancement in the fluorescent intensity after the addition of the shell solution accompanied by red-shifting of the absorption and emission maximum. The stability study revealed an increase in the emission intensity as the ageing days increased. The stability study of the NPs in air at room temperature show highly improved stability of the core-shell NPs than the core. The TEM analysis showed that the materials are small, monodispersed, spherical and highly crystalline. The cytotoxicity of the NPs was investigated on LM 8 and KM-Luc/ GFP cell line using an MTT protocol at different concentrations. The cell viability show significant improvement after the shell formation with CdTe/CdSe/ZnSe core multi shell NPs having the highest cell viability at higher concentration (60 μg/mL). Furthermore a decrease in cytotoxicity is revealed with increase in reaction time, thus NPs prepared at longer (7 h) reaction time showed lower cytotoxicity compared with those prepared at shorter (0.5 h) reaction time. The confocal laser microscope image of the cells after the addition of the as-synthesised NPs confirmed the transfection of the NPs by KM-Luc/GFP cell line, indicating that the NPs have been endocytosis. This study demonstrates the great potential of the as-synthesised core-multi shell nanoparticles for biological and any applications that require efficiency, high fluorescence intensity and stability.

共振是自然界一個基本物理過程。特別是，在納米尺度上的光頻電磁諧振產生顯著的場增強，提供了一種手段來影響和控制光與物質的相互作用。例如，巨大的場增強使表面增強拉曼散射具有探測單個分子的靈敏度。此外，場增強可以使發光二極體具有更高亮度高，但輸入功率更低。雖然場增強在一些關鍵技術領域大有前途，有許多挑戰仍有待解決。由於場增強是如此強烈地依賴系統的幾可形狀即使稍作修改可以導致大的結果變化，因此理解幾何結構如何影響場增強和可重複的製造這些車前壽是最重要的。因此本論文致力於設計，製造和貴金屬如銀或金的一維結構的表面上生成的場增強特性。 / 首先對s-偏振下一維金屬光栅產生的場增強使用嚴格購合波分析(RCWA) 進行了設計和優化。優化後，在514nm 波長最強的增強因數是9.7 。製作了一維光栅並進行角度相關的反射率測量，實驗結果與理論計算相符。 / 對一種新型利用表面等離子激元的呻吟加強電場的單縫桔構進行了研究。首先利用用衰減全反射搞合在50 納米厚的金屬薄膜上產生sp恥，隨後利用spps 驅動這一狹縫。結果發現縫內場增強至少3 倍於狹縫附近的等離子激元背景。其增強機理用數值和分析的方法進行理論研究。 / 提出了兩種新型的製造高深寬比納米縫隙的簡便方法。一個是在飯有金膜的薄玻璃上製造裂紋，獲得了寬度小於5nm 具有一定平整度的抗縫，通過掃描電子顯微鏡圖像和共焦雙光子發射(CTPE) 光譜和時間域有限差分模擬的對比得到了確認。另一種是對鍍有金膜的柔性基底進行疲勞彎折，獲得了大量狹縫。觀察到CTPE 和二次諧波產生從這些縫中產生。 / 採用電子束光刻製作了納米縫並使用CTPE 進行了表徵。提出一種新方法對激發波長和發射波長的增強因數進行了分解。發現脈衝錯射能調整EBL 樣品的共振波長到錯射波長。提出了一種機制解釋這一現像。進一步實驗表明這是一種製造任意共振波長場增強熱點的有用方法。 / Resonance may be one of the most fundamental rules of nature. Electromagnetic resonance at nanometer scale could produce a giant field enhancement at optical frequency, providing a way to measure and control the process of atoms and molecules at single molecule scale. For example, the giant field enhancement would provide single molecule sensitivity for Raman scattering, which provides unique tools in measuring the quantity in extremely low concentration. In addition, light-emitting diodes could have high brightness but low input power that would be revolutionary in the optoelectronic industry. Although light enhancement is promising in several key technology areas, there are several challenges remain to be tackled. In particular, since the field enhancement is so strongly geometry dependent that slight modification of the geometry can lead to large variations in the outcome, a thorough understanding in how the geometry of the structure affects the field enhancement and creating proper methods to fabricate these structures reproducibly is of most importance. This thesis is devoted to design, fabrication and characterization of field enhancement generated on the surface of noble metals such as silver or gold with 1D structure. / The s-polarized field enhancement arISIng from one-dimensional metal gratings IS designed and optimized by using Rigorous Coupling Wave Analysis (RCWA). After optimization, the strongest enhancement factor is found to be 9.7 for 514nm wavelength light. The theoretical results are confirmed by angle-dependent reflectivity measurements and the experimental results are found to support the theory. / A novel single slit structure employing sUlface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) for enhancing the electric field is studied. SPPs are first generated on a 50 nm thick metal film using attenuated total reflection coupling, and they are subsequently coupled to the cavity mode induced by the single slit. As a result, the field enhancement is found at least 3 times the surface plasmon background adjacent to the slit, as predicted by using RCWA. The mechanism for enhancement is theoretically studied both numerically and analytically. / Two novel convenient methods for fabricating nanoslits with high aspect ratio are proposed. One is creating nanoslits by cracking the thin glass substrates with metal film. Sub-Snm wide slits with fair uniformity are created, as confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy images and comparing the Confocal Two Photon Emission (CTPE) spectroscopy with finite difference in time domain simulations. The other is creating slits by fatiguing the metal film on a flexible substrate. Enhanced CTPE and second harmonic generation are observed arising from these less than 20nm wide slits. / Nanoslits fabricated using Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) are characterized using CTPE. The overall emission enhancement of excitation and collection wavelengths is separated by a proposed method. It is surprisingly found that the pulsing laser can tune the resonant wavelength of the EBL samples to the laser wavelength. A mechanism is proposed for this phenomenon. It is shown this can be developed into a tool to fabricate field enhancement hot spots. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Liu, Benliang = 用貴金屬結構增強場強 / 劉本良. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-137). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Liu, Benliang = Yong gui jin shu jie gou zeng qiang chang qiang / Liu Benliang. / Acknowledgement --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘要 --- p.iv / List of figures --- p.1 / Chapter 1 --- Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Applications of field enhancement --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Surface enhanced Raman scattering --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Enhanced luminescence --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Fundamentals of field enhancement --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- The Maxwell's equations --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Boundary conditions --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Phase matching condition --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Dipole --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.5 --- Purcell factor --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3.6 --- Mode and mode interaction --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.7 --- Surface plasmon resonance --- p.14 / Chapter 1.3.8 --- Fabry-Perot cavity resonance --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4 --- Overview of the nanofabrication methods of metal structures for field enhancement --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Photolithography --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Electron Beam Lithography --- p.20 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Focused ion beam --- p.21 / Chapter 1.4.4 --- Summary --- p.21 / Chapter 2 --- Methods of simulation --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1 --- Rigorous coupled wave analysis framework --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- FormulaofRCWA --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Expression ofMaxwell's equations in Fourier space --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Numerical shooting method --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Reflection efficiency, transmission efficiency and absorption --- p.32 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Convergence test of the RCWA simulation --- p.33 / Chapter 2.2 --- Finite difference in time domain --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Formulations of FDTD --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Dispersion of dielectric constant --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Boundary conditions and excitation sources --- p.37 / Chapter 3 --- Investigation of s-polarized resonance on 1D grating --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2 --- Theoretical results of the s-polarized resonance in the 1D grating --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3 --- Discussion of the theoretical results --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Origination of the s-polarized resonance modes --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Position discrepancy between absorption peaks and reflection dips --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Absorption beyond the cutoff wavelength of reflectance --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Absorption wavelength dependency on the periodicity --- p.50 / Chapter 3.4 --- Effects of parameters on absorption and electric field --- p.50 / Chapter 3.5 --- Optimization the s-polarized resonance for field enhancement --- p.54 / Chapter 3.6 --- Angle dependency of the optimized resonant mode --- p.55 / Chapter 3.7 --- Grating preparation and characterization --- p.57 / Chapter 3.8 --- Experimental results and discussion --- p.59 / Chapter 3.9 --- Summary --- p.73 / Reference --- p.74 / Chapter 4 --- Fabricating and characterizing nanoslit-shaped resonant cavity --- p.75 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2 --- Confocal two photon emission measurement --- p.78 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Background --- p.78 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Polarization dependence of the confocal system --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3 --- Decomposition of excitation and collection TPL enhancement --- p.81 / Chapter 4.4 --- Fabrication and characterization of slits by cracking glass substrate --- p.83 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Fabrication of nanoslits by cracking glass --- p.83 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Characterization of the nanoslits by cracking glass substrates --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4.2.1 --- Two-photon emission from rough slits 86 / Chapter 4.4.2.2 --- Location dependence of the two-photon emission --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4.2.3 --- Relation between reflection and two-photon emission --- p.88 / Chapter 4.4.2.4 --- Wavelength dependence ofTPLfrom the slits by cracking glass --- p.89 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Discussion --- p.97 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Summary --- p.98 / Chapter 4.5 --- Fabrication and characterization of nanoslits by fatigue --- p.98 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Fabrication ofnanoslits by fatigue --- p.98 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Characterization ofnanoslits by fatigue --- p.100 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Discussion --- p.105 / Chapter 4.6 --- Two photon emission from nanoslits by EBL --- p.106 / Chapter 4.6.1 --- Sample preparation --- p.107 / Chapter 4.6.2 --- Characterization of the slits made by Electron Beam Lithography --- p.109 / Chapter 4.6.2.1 --- Reflected light extinction and two photon emission --- p.109 / Chapter 4.6.2.2 --- Wavelength dependence of TPL enhancement --- p.120 / Chapter 4.6.2.3 --- Laser modification of resonant wavelength of the cavity --- p.124 / Chapter 4.6.2.4 --- Discussion --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.3 --- Summary --- p.132 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.138

<p> An increasing demand exists for the treatment of hypersaline industrial wastewaters such as those from the shale gas industry, seawater desalination plants, and thermoelectric power-generating facilities. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging thermal-based desalination process, which can potentially treat hypersaline industrial wastewaters by exploiting low-grade or waste heat. High performance MD membranes are the key to the advancement and further commercialization of this emerging desalination technology. This research aims at (i) developing novel MD membranes with special surface wettability using advanced materials and surface engineering techniques and (ii) gaining fundamental understanding of the scaling and fouling mechanisms of the newly developed MD membranes.</p><p> Engineering the wettability of materials and interfaces can effectively be leveraged to membrane fabrication. Omniphobic membranes that resist wetting from both water and oil can extend MD applications for desalination of emerging high-salinity wastewaters containing diverse low surface tension contaminants. Fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena and relating such knowledge to membrane surface wettability are crucial to improving omniphobic MD membrane design and performance. This work elucidates the factors that determine surface omniphobicity of microporous membranes and evaluates the potential application of these membranes in desalination of low surface tension wastewaters by membrane distillation. Specifically, the effects of surface morphology and surface energy on membrane surface omniphobicity were systematically investigated by modifying a prototype glass fiber substrate with silica nanoparticles and fluoroalkylsilane. A re-entrant structure, defined as a nanoscale architecture with increased air to solid ratio, developed by the spherical silica nanoparticles was found to play a critical role in rendering the membrane surface omniphobic, </p><p> Electrospinning is a promising and versatile technique to fabricate omniphobic membranes, because electrospun nanofibers with cylindrical shape feature a re-entrant structure and could be further engineered for additional levels of re-entrant structures. This work presents a facile approach to fabricate a robust omniphobic membrane by exploiting the versatility of electrospinning, which allows the preparation of a nanofiber scaffold with targeted physical and chemical properties. The fabricated electrospun omniphobic MD membranes were evaluated in terms of wetting resistance to various low surface tension liquids and desalination performance with feed solutions of varying surface tensions. </p><p> Microporous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes have been widely used for MD applications because of their hydrophobic nature, excellent chemical compatibility, and facile processability. However, application of conventional hydrophobic PVDF membranes in MD is limited due to their susceptibility to wetting and fouling by low surface tension contaminants. This study presents scalable surface engineering of a conventional hydrophobic PVDF microporous substrate to produce an omniphobic membrane. Desalination performance of the fabricated omniphobic membrane was evaluated in direct contact membrane distillation with synthetic wastewaters containing low surface tension contaminants, including surfactants and mineral oil. The performance of the fabricated omniphobic membrane with produced water from the shale gas industry was further examined to highlight its potential application in desalinating complex, high salinity industrial wastewaters.</p><p> The performance of MD systems is hampered by fouling and inorganic scaling, particularly when a system treats hypersaline industrial wastewaters with high levels of total dissolved solids and organic matter. This dissertation research investigated fouling and scaling mechanisms of omniphobic membranes, focusing on the impact of surface chemistry. The omniphobic membranes were fouled by hydrophobic, low surface tension contaminants via attractive interactions, but further adsorption into the pores was prevented by a thermodynamic barrier created by a re-entrant structure, which sustains a metastable non-wetting condition. Also, the non-adhesive and slippery surface nature of the omniphobic membrane was shown to delay both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, demonstrating its potential for a high recovery MD system to treat hypersaline industrial wastewaters.</p><p> This work presents pioneering advances in the development of novel MD membranes with special wettability for extended MD applications. The fundamental understanding of the interfacial phenomena, advanced materials, and surface engineering techniques as well as fouling and scaling mechanisms will shed light on the design parameters for high membrane performance and efficient process operation. These important insights can inform the realization of emerging membrane-based technologies for sustainable treatment of challenging industrial wastewaters. The implications of the results in this dissertation are potentially far-reaching; we anticipate that they will shape the discussion of next generation desalination technologies.</p><p>