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Spring 2019
Inspired by nature, structured interfaces have been shown to enhance adhesion by trapping crack propagation along the interface. To propagate the trapped crack, more energy input is required externally and therefore the effective fracture toughness is increased. In many applications, directional...
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Fall 2011
High aspect ratio microelectromechanical structures have been found, in the literature, to collapse due to capillary forces of liquids. In this dissertation, mathematical models are developed to study (i) the collapse of a microstructure represented by a double cantilevered beam (DCB) with a free...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Spring 2023
Bio-based composites made from bio-renewable and biodegradable constituents have been proposed as alternatives to petroleum-based composites for a variety of applications. However, studies have shown that in many cases, these bio-based composites are hydrophilic, and their viscoelasticity can be...
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Spring 2018
Shape memory polymers (SMPs) can be used in many critical applications, including biomedical and aerospace fields, due to their ability to recover their original/permanent shape from a deformed/temporary shape upon application of a stimulus. SMPs are subjected to bending in a large number of...
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Characterizing the Performance of a Single-layer Fabric System through a Heat and Mass Transfer Model
DownloadSpring 2010
A mathematical model is developed to study the coupled heat and moisture transfer through a fabric system that consists of a single layer of fabric and an air gap. Properties of air and moisture are sensitive to temperature and hence are assumed to be functions of local temperature. Therefore the...
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Charged Entities Interacting with Electronically Responsive Structures with Implications for the Modeling of Interactions between Carbon Nanotubes and DNA
DownloadFall 2011
Understanding interactions between charged entities with electronically responsive structures embedded in an electrolytic environment is important because of the diverse range of practical applications. This study was motivated by the technique where single stranded DNA was used to separate...