Search
Skip to Search Results-
Fall 2016
Local surface force density and total surface force induced by a single point charge embedded in a three-layered homogeneous dielectric system with infinite planar interfaces are calculated using the Maxwell Stress Tensor formulation. The tensor is expressed in terms of the electric field which...
-
Spring 2019
A bacterial colony constitutes a complex microcosm which is equipped with a wide range of defensive adaptations that allow the colony to survive adverse environmental conditions and predation. The extreme resilience of bacteria in colonies has been a subject of continued research for nearly two...
-
Spring 2013
The aggregation of DNA molecules induced by cationic polymers is of importance to applications in gene delivery. In this work, we performed a series of umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the potential of mean force (PMF) between two DNA molecules in the presence of...
-
Spring 2021
Asphaltenes are the heaviest and most polar group of molecules in crude oil. Colloidal behaviors of asphaltenes, including the aggregation and interfacial behaviors, have impacts on many petroleum production processes. For example, the aggregation of asphaltenes can lead to problems such as...
-
Spring 2016
Hybrids formed by biological entities and human-made nano-structures have been intensively studied in recent years due to their very interesting properties and applications. DNA-carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid is one such material and the motivation of this PhD study. The interaction of DNA building...
-
Molecular Dynamics Study of Clay-Polymer Interactions in the Treatment of Mature Fine Tailings
DownloadFall 2021
In this dissertation, all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to study the mechanisms of clay-polymer interactions and the effects of solution chemistry in the treatment of mature fine tailings (MFT). The fine solids in MFT were mainly clay particles such as montmorillonite...
-
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Polyethylenimine Mediated Nucleic Acid Complexation with Implications for Non-viral Gene Delivery
DownloadSpring 2013
Gene therapy is a promising therapeutic technique that involves delivering nucleic acids into cells. Polycations have evolved into a major category of gene carriers. Polyethylenimine (PEI) is one of the most effective polycationic carriers. Furthermore, modifying PEI with certain lipophilic...
-
Fall 2013
Recently there has been great research interest in small soft particles because of their significance in both biology and industry. The term ‘particle’ here is defined as a deformable object with size in the range of nano- to micrometers. Many experimental efforts have been spent on investigating...
-
Fall 2015
Drop transfer from one solid surface to another through stretching liquid bridges between them is important for many industrial applications. Due to the different dominate forces, three possible regimes exist: Quasi-static Regime, where the transfer process is only dominated by surface forces;...
-
Manufacturing and characterization of blended PVDF/PVDF-TrFE polymers: a study towards future sensor applications
DownloadSpring 2022
Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers received increasing attention due to their electroactive properties and lower processing cost in comparison to the conventional piezoelectric ceramic materials, which are widely used in electronics, energy harvesting, biochemistry, and sensor...