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Fundamental Insights into Catalyst Design: Energetics of Metal Atom Adsorption and Nanoparticle Adhesion on Oxide Surfaces
Heterogeneous catalysts consisting of transition metal nanoparticles dispersed on high surface area oxide supports are ubiquitous in industrial-scale chemistry and alternative energy technology. Despite their importance, our fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical properties that make these systems catalytically ...
Insight into Biological Small-Molecule Activation from Enzymes, Model Complexes, and X-ray Spectroscopy
This dissertation covers the investigation of biological strategies for activating inert small molecules. Chapters 1 and 2 respectively present an introduction to some notable biological systems of interest and the X-ray spectroscopic techniques used in their study. Chapter 3 focuses on the application of X-ray spectroscopy ...
Sterol-phospholipid interactions in model lipid membranes
Cell membranes feature complex intermolecular interactions between phospholipids and sterols. In this dissertation, I discuss how the accessibility (a measure of chemical activity) of cholesterol in a lipid bilayer varies as a function of bilayer composition. By using the two complementary cyclodextrins (methyl-beta and ...
Adsorption and adhesion energies of metal films and nanoparticles studied by adsorption calorimetry: understanding catalytic systems
Metal nanoparticles dispersed across solid surfaces form the basis of many important technologies such as heterogeneous catalysts, electrocatalysts, chemical sensors, microelectronics, and fuel cells. Understanding energetics of chemical bonding between the metal and oxide in these systems is important for the development ...
Adsorption and Thin-Film Adhesion on Single-Crystalline Surfaces: Enthalpies, Entropies, and Kinetic Prefactors for Surface Reactions
(2014-02-24)
Chemical bonding at solid surfaces and interfaces is influential in a wide range of important technological applications including catalysis, fuel cells, batteries, chemical sensors, and device fabrication for microelectronics, computers, solar cells, and all variety of coatings. Adsorption and adhesion energetics are key ...
Application and Development of 2D IR Spectroscopy for the Study of Complex Biological Systems
(2014-02-24)
One of the many applications of 2D IR spectroscopy is in the study of structure/function relationships in proteins. While this technique can be used for structural characterization, the power of this tool is with its ability to provide timescales for the structural dynamics of a system in solution with picosecond time ...
Interrogating the Electronic Structure and Photochemistry of Molecules with Transient X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
A detailed understanding of photochemical processes in molecules and materials is necessary for understanding natural phenomena and engineering new technologies. In this thesis, light-induced changes in spin states, rearrangements of electron densities, and proton transfer events are considered. X-ray absorption (XA) ...
Electrocatalytic and Fundamental Properties of Nanoscale Materials and Development of New Nanoscale Electrochemical Methods
This dissertation mainly discusses the fundamental properties and electrocatalytic activity of single, isolated nanomaterial structures, such as nanowires, nanoparticles and graphene. It also discusses the development of new nanoscale electrochemical techniques to investigate various aspects of heterogeneous catalysis and ...
Examining the Vibrational Couplings and Dynamics in Cyanide-Bridged Transition Metal Mixed Valence Complexes Using Ultrafast Nonlinear Infrared Spectroscopy
Charge transfer processes are essential to any number of functions that are necessary for everyday life. Photosynthesis, respiration, and obtaining energy from solar cells are just a small sample of functions that rely on moving electrons around. Cyanide-bridged mixed valence complexes serve as useful models to study the ...
Towards Efficient and Accurate Description of Many-Electron Problems: Developments of Static and Time-Dependent Electronic Structure Methods
Understanding electronic behavior in molecular and nano-scale systems is fundamental to the development and design of novel technologies and materials for application in a variety of scientific contexts from fundamental research to energy conversion. This dissertation aims to provide insights into this goal by developing novel ...