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The synthesis of the catenane components, a dithiol and a cyclophane, are described using previously reported methods. 1-3 The preparation techniques used to obtain a self-assembled dithiol monolayer and a self-assembled catenane monolayer from dilute solution onto a gold's surface are also reported. Grazing angle reflectance infrared spectroscopy was used to characterize the selfassembled dithiol and catenane monolayers. The infrared spectra revealed evidence for the existence of the dithiol monolayer and possible evidence for the existence of the catenane monolayer. A catenane transmission film spectrum was obtained to provide evidence for the existence of the catenane itself. When the transmission and the monolayer spectra were compared, shifts in a few of the absorption bands revealed some association between the dithiol and the cyclophane. / Department of Chemistry

Recently a new x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) called inverse partial fluorescence yield (IPFY) has been developed that is bulk sensitive and free of saturation effects, which also provides a direct measure of total absorption coefficient. However, IPFY was originally formulated for smooth bulk samples, but XAS is often performed on rough samples. To test the applicability of IPFY on rough surfaces, a model is presented and the calculations based on this model are compared to the experimental results measured on NdGaO3. It is shown that the correspondence between calculated and experimental intensities of IPFY is sufficient to corroborate this model a means of estimating the maximum allowable surface roughness size and the optimal detection geometry.

Electrospinning is a novel technique to fabricate non-woven fibers with sizes ranging from nano to micrometers. Polymers have been electrospun into nanofibers that can be developed into desirable materials with excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability for biomedical applications in wound healing and tissue regeneration. These nanofiber materials can be further functionalized to be loaded with bioactive molecules, including antibacterial agents, functional proteins that promote tissue reconstruction while protect host tissues from contamination. This study focuses on the development of multifunctional nanofibers that are incorporated with antibacterial drug(s) and immobilized with bioactive proteins. These nanofibers are potentially useful for wound care and tissue engineering scaffolding to provide both infection control and promotion of wound healing or tissue regenerations.

A frequency selective surface (FSS) based on switchable slots in the ground plane is presented. The switching is done using an actuating MEMS bridge over the slot. The intent is to demonstrate the control of the resonance frequency of the FSS by deflecting the bridge. It is shown that by applying a voltage between the bridge and the ground plane, the bridge displaces and changes the system capacitance which in turn changes the resonance frequency. Two analyses are presented; (1) Electromechanical analysis to show how the bridge deflects by the voltage, (2) Electromagnetic analysis to show how the resonance frequency changes by the bridge deflection. The device was fabricated and tested. The measurement results are presented for two up and down positions of the MEMS bridge to verify the correctness of the theory and design.

The main goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of nutrient transport and transformations in soil and its impact on groundwater on a large scale. This thesis specifically integrates the physical, chemical and biochemical nitrogen transport processes with a spatial and temporal Land Surface Scheme (LSS). Since the nitrogen biotransformation kinetics highly depends on soil moisture and soil temperature, a vertical soil nitrogen transport and transformations model was coupled with SABAE-HW. The model provides an improved interface for groundwater modeling to simulate soil moisture and soil temperature for a wide range of soil and vegetation. It is assumed that the main source of organic N is from animal manure. A-single-pool nitrogen transformation is designed to simulate nitrogen dynamics. Thus, the complete mathematical model (SABAE-HWS) is able to investigate the effects of nitrogen biochemical reactions in all seasons. This thesis reports the first field comparison of SABAE-HW using an extensive ten-year data set from BOREAS/BERMS project located in Saskatchewan, Canada. The performance of SABAE-HWS is calibrated and verified using 3 years (2002-2004) data from Carberry site in Canada, Manitoba. The effects of three rates of hog manure application, 2500, 5000, and 7500 gal/acre, was investigated to study the distribution of soil ammonium and soil nitrate within the 120 cm of soil profile. The results clearly showed that there is a good agreement between observed and simulated soil ammonium and nitrate for all treatment at the first two years of study. However, it was found a significant difference between observations and simulations at lower depths for 7500 gal/acre by the end of growing season of 2004. Also, 10 years climate data from OJP site was used to evaluate the effect of manure rates on the distribution of soil nitrate at Carberry site. The results indicated that to minimize the risk of nitrate leaching, the rate of manure application, accumulated soil nitrogen from earlier applications and the atmospheric conditions should be all taken into account at the same time. Comparing the results of SABAE-HWS and SHAW model also showed the importance of the crop growth model in simulating soil NH4-N and NO3-N.

Metal nanostructures, with their extraordinary optical properties, have attracted great attention in recent years. Subwavelength-scaled metal elements, without involving array effects, have the unique ability to confine or route light at the nano-scale. In this thesis, we provide three topics relating to the manipulation of light using metal nanostructures. We first present a theory to solve the end-face reflection of a subwavelength metal stripe, which is beneficial to the design of optical resonator antennas. Subsequently, we take the advantage of the destructive interference among triple nano-slits to sharpen the focus beam in the near-field at near-infrared wavelengths, which is of interest to the study of near-field optical phase imaging and lithography. Lastly, we demonstrate a rectangular subwavelength aperture quad to convert linearly polarized radiation to a radially polarized beam, which is useful to create a deep-subwavelength focus and for optical trapping. / Graduate