A carbon powder containing carbon nanocones was used as an anode material in lithium ion batteries. The powder was also treated in different ways, chemically, with microwaves, and with heat. The carbon powder was tape casted onto copper before being assembled into batteries with lithium metal as the counter electrode. The batteries were characterized by measuring the capacity during cycling. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the powders and casts. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was done to both the carbon powder and the used anode material.The solid electrolyte interface (SEI) was characterized and found to contain components like ce{(CH2OCO2Li)2}, ce{Li2CO3}, and ce{ROCO2Li}. These are in accordance with what would be expected from results in the literature. SEM was used to find surface orientation of the basal and edge planes, and XRD was used to find the crystallinity.parThese results showed that more graphitized powders were better with emphasis on irreversible capacity. The treated carbon nanocone powders had higher capacity than the graphitized ones, but also higher irreversible capacity.

In this report, 10 at% lanthanum was introduced to the perovskite structure of bismuth ferrite at the expense of bismuth through a modified Pechini wet chemical method. Green body powders were calcined at several temperatures, and the lattice parameters for each size were found by Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction data. The parameters displayed strong size-dependent properties, and the rhombohedral distortion from the cubic structure was reduced by decreased particle size. With decreasing crystallite size, the Néel temperature decreased and the cooperative cationic displacement (s - t) showed size dependence at crystallite sizes below 30 nm. A size-dependency was also observed in the Curie temperature.

Interest in renewable energy resources has increased in recent years, and solar cells are one of the areas that have been subject to intensive research. For solar energy to develop into a competitive alternative to fossil fuels, the ratio between cost and efficiency has to be reduced. One of the reasons for low efficiency is the optical losses due to reflection and poor absorption of the red and infrared segment of the light spectrum. Applying more ideal anti-reflection structures and a back-side diffraction layer to increase the path length of light would certainly constitute steps in the right direction. Diatoms, a type of algae, are one of nature's most efficient light harvesting structures. It is suggested that their nano- and microporous silica shell (frustule) possess optical properties that make them attractive options for increasing the efficiency of solar cells. This project aimed at studying the structural and optical properties of selected diatom species and investigating the potential for efficiency enhancements in solar cells through the incorporation of diatoms. Two different species,emph{Coscinodiscus wailesii} and emph{Coscinodiscus sp.}, were investigated through the use of a scanning electron microscope. They were found to have different structures, with the frustule of emph{Coscinodiscus sp.} as having a more regular pore pattern and a more complex structure consisting of several silica layers. The emph{Coscinodiscus sp.} structure was chosen as the foundation for modelling a diffraction grating in GD-Calc, a Matlab implemented simulation software based on rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The diffraction simulations were carried out both on the grating in air and on the grating incorporated in solar cell-like setups. The simulations demonstrated that the diatom structure diffracted light efficiently to higher orders. It was also shown that the anti-reflection structure provided low levels of reflection for a given set of geometric combinations. The back-side diffraction grating reflected light with efficiencies of 0.9, however, the level of diffraction to higher orders was below 0.1. This study shows that that diatom frustule exhibits interesting diffraction grating properties which should be investigated further, both for solar cell schemes and for other applications.

The discoveries and subsequent developments within the field of metamaterials have opened up for novel light-matter interactions towards the engineering of light behavior. The astonishing phenomenon of negative refraction remains challenging to realize for visible frequencies, and non-magnetic gain metamaterials have been proposed towards this end. This thesis pursues this idea by presenting a conceptual framework for which to understand the requirements and possibilities emerging from the causal behavior of the dielectric response. This results in clear and concrete instructions on how the dielectric response must be designed towards negative refraction. These are offered in terms of a novel perspective employing zero- and pole placements in rational functions and analysis of the dielectric function in its complex plane. A number of negative index systems are evaluated including two component media and low gain negative index media. Negative index concepts are introduced to the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency system. A strategy towards design and realization of arbitrary dielectric responses in terms of Krein and Nudel'man causal extrapolation is also presented.

Experimental and simulation studies of nucleic acid transport through nanosized channels, both biological and synthetic, has become a rapidly growing research area over the last decade. While the utilization of the alpha-hemolysin channel as a sequencing device is soon to be realized, other biological nanochannels may hold advantages that are yet unknown. Motivated by this, the first reported molecular dynamics simulations of DNA translocation through a connexon 26 channel were accomplished, for single-strandeed DNA with a length of 24 nucleotides and with a sequence containing only adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine bases. Transmembrane voltages between 40 mV and 8.4 V were applied for up to ~2 ns, and the minimum voltage needed for translocation was found to be at 2.4 V. Higher voltages led to shorter translocation times in most cases. Non-translocation or slow translocation events were normally the result of a high degree of foldedness at the entrance of the “funnel” region, the narrowest part of the connexon channel. Distinct differences were seen between the bases, in particular through slower translocations for the purines than for the pyrimidines. Comparison with published literature of alpha-hemolysin translocation found that some of the results were on the same order of magnitude for translocation through connexon channels subject to constraints. It was concluded that to characterize the translocation mechanisms, further investigations should be carried out; both by the use of experiments as well as more simulation studies.

Ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy is a powerful technique for measuring decay times for an optically excited system, e.g. a semiconductor, on the pico- to femtosecond time scale. We present both a classical approach and a quantum mechanical density matrix approach to simulate the pump-probe signal and compare the two. The main features of a typical pump-probe experiment are explained and the "coherent artifact" is accounted for. With a three-level density matrix approach we explain some experimental features from pump-probe studies of gallium arsenide (GaAs). A simple model for simulating pump-probe of semiconductors is introduced, and the relation to the density matrix approach is derived. We also show how the semiconductor model reproduces the main features of experimental data from pump-probe studies of GaAs.

The effect of optical coatings on the longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect response from 10 nm thin films of permalloy (Ni84Fe16) has been studied. Enhancement of the magneto-optic Kerr effect signal contrast of a factor 1.76 has been observed for P- polarized incident light on a trilayer configuration of aluminium, magnesium fluoride, and permalloy. A quadrilayer structure where the trilayer is overcoated with zinc sulphide enhances the signal contrast by a factor 4.05 for P-polarized light. The enhancement is also observed for S-polarized light, and is shown to be reproducible using nickel as the magnetic material and gold instead of aluminium.The experimental data are compared to a simplified theoretical model where the electric field components are calculated using a 4 x 4 matrix algorithm. The model is found to be inadequate in predicting the longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect response from complex multilayer structures. This is believed to be due to a simplification in the model disregarding the phase factors of the different components reflected off the multilayered samples.

The differential scattering cross section for diffuse scattering of X-rays from thinfilm structures is discussed within the framework of the distorted wave Born ap-proximation (DWBA). In contrast to the standard Born approximation (BA), thedistorted wave approach succeeds in calculating scattering from surfaces near thecritical angle of reflection. The method is particularly useful for studying averagesurface properties.Compromises made in the derivation of the model substantially simplify thefinal expression, but also limit its range of validity, which depends on the surfaceroot mean square roughness &#963; and the momentum transfer between the incidentand scattered X-rays perpendicular to the surface, Qz . The approximation is validso long as (Qz x &#963;) << 1.However, this is also the only regime where it is necessary togo beyond the simpler Born approximation.A computer simulation software based on the DWBA is implemented in Python.The implemented DWBA depends on the fractal dimension of the surface featuresthrough a parameter h (D = 3 &#8722; h) and an in-plane correlation cut off length &#950;.The various effects of changing key model parameters, among them &#950; and h, isdemonstrated. Comparison between experimental data and the DWBA modellooks promising although there are some challenges in relation to determiningthe fractal dimension.Finally, the feasibility of implementing the DWBA model in a multi-parameterfitting algorithm is discussed.

RGD-functionalized and non-functionalized oil-in-water nanoemulsions of approximately 100 nm containing DSPC, PEGylated DSPE, cholesterol and Gd-DTPA-DSA at a molar ratio of 1.1/0.15/1/0.75 were prepared. In vitro uptake and trafficking in HUVECs of the nanoemulsions was characterized using confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry. The RGD peptide recognizes &amp;#945;v&amp;#946;3 and &amp;#945;v&amp;#946;5 integrin receptors, which play central roles in angiogenesis. Moreover, the &amp;#945;v&amp;#946;3 integrin receptor is overexpressed in the endothelium of angiogenic tumor vasculature. It was found that the RGD-emulsion showed a remarkably high uptake in HUVECs expressing &amp;#945;v&amp;#946;3 integrins compared to its non-conjugated control version. Furthermore, the RGD-emulsion was able to evade the lysosomes at least within the first 3 hours of incubation, while the control-emulsion was not. The uptake of both emulsions was mainly facilitated by caveolae-mediated endocytosis, but also to a lesser extent by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and other un- known mechanisms. It was shown that RGD and control-emulsions were internalized or sorted into distinct vesicles. Both emulsions bypassed the early endosomes, and it was hypothesized that they were mainly trafficked to caveosomes before subsequent traffick- ing of control-emulsion to late endosomes/lysosomes and of RGD-emulsion to cis-Golgi or endoplasmatic reticulum. The results suggest that the RGD-emulsion has promising feasibility as a site-specific targetable delivery system.

An increasingly important part of food technology is nanotechnology. Inorganic nanoparticles are added directly or indirectly to food in order to create new tastes, appetizing looks or to preserve it longer. Exposure to these nanoparticles is fairly unknown, and there is a need to evaluate the dose that humans are exposed to. In this master thesis, two inorganic substances have been chosen. The first one is silver nanoparticles, commonly known as an antimicrobial agent and added to plastic food containers to preserve food. The second is the food colour E171, titanium dioxide. This is not defined as a nanoparticle because of an average particle size of 200-300 nm, but it is assumed that the size distribution may include nanoparticles. In both cases the intention has been to create an exposure model. For silver, experiments were performed to evaluate the leaching from the food containers to food simulant. The experiments show that first time use of the plastic container will give a concentration in the food simulant of up to a total of 30 ng Ag/g. However, after some use the concentration will be lower than 1 ng Ag/g. The silver experiments show that usage of silver doped food containers will not result in an increase in silver exposure and in general the food containers will not have the claimed antimicrobial effect. However, disposable packaging containing silver may be of concern as the dose of silver leaching from this may be larger.Titanium dioxide data is based on a literature review. Analysis of an E171 sample, showed that up to 50 % of the particles were nanoparticles with a size smaller than 100 nm. Modeling of the exposure to titanium dioxide (TiO2) shows that exposure is diet dependent with an average of 1-3 mg/day/kgbw. The modeling shows that children consume a larger dose than adults, and are more exposed to dietary products containing TiO2. For TiO2 the average dose is larger than the background of 5 mg/day, but lack of an effect threshold makes it difficult to conclude whether this is a unsafe or safe dose.Exposure to inorganic nanoparticles through food will be very dependent on the way of distribution. If added to consumer products the exposure is likely to be less than nanoparticles added directly to the food. Some of the results in this project have been unexpected, like the lack of silver leaching from the plastic containers and a large fraction of nanoparticles in E171. The project only includes two substances and further research into human exposure to other inorganic materials is recommended.