NR 20140805

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Insight into the effects of isothermal and non-isothermal annealing on bi-metallic thin film is important for material synthesis and application in everyday use. The effects of isothermal annealing on bi-metallic thin films has long been studied using various heating methods from a resistively heated filaments, by transferring heat via conduction, convection and irradiation. The effect of each method have been widely reported in literature. The diffusion coefficient and activation energies of the constituent atoms can calculated for each annealing method. On the other hand, the effects of non-isothermal annealing on bi-metallic thin films has not been comprehensively studied, and there are areas of this annealing regime that need further investigation. In this study a femtosecond laser with a 1064 nm central wavelength was used to anneal bi-metallic thin films of Zinc-Tin (Zn-Sn) on a substrate.

Exploiting the functional diversity of proteins for fundamental research and biotechnological applications requires their functional organization into micro- and nanostructures while preserving their functional integrity to the highest possible level. My PhD research aimed to establish generic techniques based on photolithography which could be used to control the spatial as well as temporal organization of recombinantly expressed proteins on surfaces. My thesis describes in detail four strategies that I developed for achieving this goal. In the first approach a photo-induced Fenton reaction was used to selectively destroy tris(nitrilotriacetic acid) (tris-NTA) moieties on a surface. UV-irradiation through a photomask allowed localized photo-destruction and targeting of His-tagged proteins to non-irradiated regions. Photo-destruction could also be achieved by scanning selected regions with the UV laser of a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) thus allowing flexible creation and modification of protein patterns. The second strategy was based on the photosensitive nitroveratryloxycarbonyl (NVOC) protection group, which was used to cage amine groups on a surface. Sequential uncaging by UV-irradiation through a photomask followed by reactions with biotin and coenzyme A was used to pattern streptavidin and ybbR-tagged proteins into microstructures. In the third approach a photo-fragmentable Histidine peptide was used to block tris-NTA surfaces against binding of His-tagged proteins. UV-irradiation through a photomask or by using a UV laser in a CLSM cleaved the peptide into short fragments which quickly dissociated from the surface due to loss in multivalency. His-tagged proteins could be efficiently targeted into irradiated regions even from a complex cell lysate. Sequential uncaging and immobilization allowed the construction of multiplexed protein patterns with a high degree of temporal control. The fourth strategy used combined peptide tags comprising of a His-tag as well as a Halo- or ybbR-tag to achieve rapid covalent immobilization of recombinant fusion proteins on surfaces functionalized with specific ligands. In combination with a photo-fragmentable histidine peptide as described above, stable spatio-temporal organization of proteins carrying these combined tags was possible. The techniques developed in this thesis enabled the photolithographical micropatterning of recombinant proteins carrying specific peptide or protein tags on surfaces in a functional manner. Owing to the generic nature of immobilization strategies, coupled with the ease of patterning, highly versatile applications of these methods both in fundamental research as well as bio-technological and analytical applications can be envisioned.

This research focused on the use of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) to remediate trinitrotoluene (TNT). Zero-valent iron has demonstrated effective degradation of TNT, however, these particles themselves have significant problems in treating sorbed phase TNT in the aerobic environment. This research was comprised of four areas: degradation studies of neat nano-iron with aqueous TNT, degradation studies of nanoiron emulsion with aqueous TNT, characterization of TNT in Vieques, Puerto Rico sediment, and Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) technique interface with HPLC. Both neat and emulsion NZVI studies showed TNT degradation. More degradation was seen in studies using fresher iron. The results from our characterization study in Vieques, PR showed no presence of TNT within our detection limits of 0.0625ppm. Also, SPME is a new extraction solvent saving technique being explored because of its reproducible extractions in water. This work also gives a brief history of SPME and possible uses with TNT.

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In spite of the stablility (lack of reactivity) of diamond powder, I have developed a method for tethering alkyl chains and polymers to deuterium/hydrogen-terminated diamond. One method is through ether linkages via thermolysis of di-tert-amyl peroxide (DTAP). This reaction with DTAP has also been applied to grow polymers on the diamond surface. The other method is atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), which was applied to grow polystyrene at the surface of diamond. Both polystyrene-modified diamond and sulfonated polystyrene-modified diamond can be prepared by either method, and can be used for solid phase extraction. Diamond stationary phases are stable under basic conditions, which is not the case for silica-based stationary phases. Surface characterization was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT). While the main focus of my graduate research has been the surface modification of diamond, I also describe other projects on which I have worked. The use of radical-based processes for modifying diamond is related to a different radical-based synthesis of monolayers or polymers I performed by scribing silicon (Siscr). After preparation of homogeneous olefin-terminated monolayers on scribed silicon made from 1,9-decadiene and chemisorption of Grubbs' catalyst, ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene was demonstrated. These surfaces were characterized by XPS and ToF-SIMS. I also investigated the extent of PDMS oligomers transfer onto different surfaces with a wide range of hydrophobicities, using an uninked, unpatterned PDMS stamp. The effect of surface free energy on PDMS transfer in microcontact printing was investigated and the relationship between the amount of PDMS in ToF-SIMS spectra and the surface tensions of initial surfaces was revealed. Therefore, PDMS transfer can be applied as a probe of surface free energies using ToF-SIMS, where PDMS preferentially transfers onto more hydrophilic surface features during stamping, with little transfer onto very hydrophobic surface features. In much of my thesis work, I performed multivariate analysis of my data, especially of my ToF-SIMS data. Such chemometrics methods include principle components analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS) cluster analysis, and multivariate curve resolution (MCR). I also applied these tools to analyze electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry data from a lipidomics study.