Synthesis of nanocrystals is one of the most rapidly advancing areas of nanoscience, and today nanocrystals can be produced with impressive control over their composition, size, shape, polydispersity, and surface chemistry. As such, they are ideal building blocks for fabricating hierarchical architectures with tailorable functionality on every level of the hierarchy. Here an evaporation-driven, template-assisted nanocrystal assembly (ETNA) technique is developed, providing a novel and general approach to fabricating freestanding, 3D, functional architectures using diverse combinations of colloidal nanocrystal species and porous templates of arbitrary geometry. Colloidal PbS (photoluminescent) and CoFe2O4 (superparamagnetic) nanocrystals are template-assembled to fabricate freestanding nanorods and inverse opals, which retain the size-dependent properties of their constituent building blocks while replicating the geometry and preserving the functionality of the templates. Further multifunctionality is demonstrated through mixed-nanocrystal architectures which exhibit the aggregate functionality of their building blocks.

Human face detection and recognition techniques play an important role in applica- tions like face recognition, video surveillance, human computer interface and face image databases. Using color information in images is one of the various possible techniques used for face detection. The novel technique used in this project was the combination of various techniques such as skin color detection, template matching, gradient face de- tection to achieve high accuracy of face detection in frontal faces. The objective in this work was to determine the best rotation angle to achieve optimal detection. Also eye and mouse template matching have been put to test for feature detection.

We present a novel method for building 3D models from a user sketch. Given a 2D sketch as input, the approach aligns and deforms a chosen 3D template model to match the sketch. This is guided by a set of user-specified correspondences and an algorithm that deforms the 3D model to match the sketched profile. Our primary contribution is related to fitting the 3D deformable geometry to the 2D user sketch. We demonstrate our technique on several examples.

Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diplomarb., 2002.

University, Diss., 2004--Potsdam.

Brandenburgische Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--Cottbus.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Dresden.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2002--Jena.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Kiel.

Materiais naturais nanoestruturados, tipo smectita, têm sido amplamente usados em nanocompósitos poliméricos, com ganhos expressivos em muitas propriedades. Porém, devido a sua natureza polar, seu uso em nanocompósitos de poliolefinas apresenta uma série de problemas. Entre esses problemas está a dificuldade de esfoliação na matriz, o que geralmente resulta um sistema não nano-estruturado e, por conseqüência, com pouco ou nenhum ganho em propriedades. Para tentar resolver esse problema, materiais tipo esmectita têm sido modificados com sais de amônio quartenário. Esses, por sua vez, possuem características tóxicas, impedindo seu uso em embalagens de alimentos. Com o objetivo de estudar uma nova alternativa que contorne esses problemas, dois materiais lamelares nano-estruturados, tipo esmectita, contendo grupos alquila ligados por ligação sigma com a rede inorgânica, foram sintetizados. Ambos apresentaram excelente ordem mesoestrutural. Um dos materiais sintetizados, formado por um Alsilsesquioxano lamelar, contendo alto teor de cadeia alquila entre as lamelas inorgânicas, foi usado na formação de compósito de polietileno. Comparativamente, uma argila natural, modificada com sais de amônio quaternário (Cloisite 15A), foi usada para fins comparativos. Os compósitos, então obtidos, foram caracterizados para avaliar diferenças microestruturais, morfológicas e mudanças em suas propriedades mecânicas e reológicas. Comparativamente à argila comercial Cloisite 15A, os compósitos contendo os materiais sintéticos apresentaram reologia diferenciada, melhor resistência ao impacto e ao Tensofissuramento Acelerado pelo Ambiente (ESCR). / Nanostructured natural materials, as smectites, have been widely used in polymeric nanocomposites, with significant gains in many properties. However, due to its polar nature, the use in nanocomposites of polyolefins presents a series of drawbacks. Among these problems, its difficulty exfoliation in the matrix, which generally results in a system not nanostructured and, consequently, with little or no gain on properties. To try to resolve this problem, materials type smectite have been modified with quaternary ammonium salts. These salts, in turn, have toxic characteristics, preventing its use in food packaging. In order to study a new alternative that bypasses these problems, two lamellar nanostructured materials, like smectite, with alkyl groups containing sigma links connected to lamellar inorganic network, were synthesized. Both materials had excellent mesostructural order. One of the synthesized materials, formed by a lamellar Al-silsesquioxane, containing high levels of alkyl chain between the inorganic lamella, was used in the formation of a polyethylene composite. Commercial natural clay, modified with quaternary ammonium salts (Cloisite 15A), was used for comparative purposes. The composites then obtained, were characterized to assess microstructural differences, morphological change, and its mechanical and rheological properties. Comparatively to commercial clay (Cloisite 15A), the composites containing synthetic materials, showed differented rheologics properties, better impact resistance and better Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance (ESCR).