Department of Chemical Engineering Graduate Theses

Exploiting the Unique Plasmonic Phenomenon of Metallic Nanostructures for Sensing and Biosensing Applications

Nair, Srijit

Real-time, accurate sensing promoted by analytical sensors is extremely important for advances in drug discovery, disease diagnosis and for studying biological systems. In particular, label-free surface plasmon resonance ...

Modulating the Inflammatory Response of Macrophages on Biomaterial Surfaces

Comas, Rosa

The foreign body response is an inflammatory response to implanted materials and poses significant challenges for biomaterials-based medical applications, often leading to the degradation or fibrous encapsulation of an ...

An Efficient Process for the Cu(0)-Catalyzed Controlled Radical Synthesis and Subsequent Chain Extension of Poly(Methyl Acrylate) Macroinitiator

Shirali zadeh, Niloofar

Copper mediated polymerization is used to produce poly(methyl acrylate) with an average degree of polymerization of 10 (P(MA)10) and narrow distribution in both batch and continuous tubular reactors at ambient temperature. ...

Degradation and Crystallization Studies of Branched PLA Prepared by Reactive Extrusion

Simmons, Heather

This thesis proposes strategies to improve the crystallinity and mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and investigates the effects of these modifications on hydrolytic degradation. The effect of long-chain ...

Polymeric Ionic Liquid Compositions for In-Situ Product Removal Bioreactor Applications

Biro, Robert

Although the biosynthesis of n-butanol and succinic acid can afford renewable fuels, solvents, and chemical intermediates, these bioprocesses suffer from the cytotoxicity of their end products, leading to reduced production ...

An evaluation of hyaluronic acid and poly-L-lysine polyelectrolyte layers on alginate microspheres for use in protein-triggered drug release

Baldwin, Emily

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in developed countries in those 50 years of age and older. Increased expression of the protein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a ...

Investigation of Hydroisomerization Catalysts and Reaction Conditions to produce Branched-Chain Fatty Acids

Duff, Samantha

Fatty acids (FAs) from vegetable oils can be used as feed to produce renewable hydrocarbons and bio-lubricants. Naturally occurring FAs are, however, susceptible to oxidative attack and have operating temperature limitations ...

Modification of Polysaccharides and their Use as Pickering Emulsifiers in Oil/Water Emulsions, Miniemulsion, and Microsuspension Polymerization

Glasing, Joe

Emulsion and suspension systems are the basis for the formulation of a wide variety of products including pharmaceuticals, consumables such as food, personal care or cosmetics and commodity materials such as adhesives, ...

Radical Copolymerization of Hydroxy-Functional Monomers

Idowu, Loretta

Solvent-borne acrylic resins are commonly used in automotive coatings formulations due to the superior characteristics they provide to the final products. Hydroxyl-functionality, incorporated by selection of 2-hydroxyethyl ...

Improvement of Biofuel Fermentation Processes With Use of Poly(vinyldodecylimidazolium bromide) for In-situ Product Removal

Vincent, Rachel

The production of biofuels through fermentation has become increasingly important due to the need for sustainable energy sources. The fermentation processes of ethanol and n-butanol, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and ...

Mathematical Modeling of Nylon 6/6,6 Copolymerization

Liu, Fei

This thesis develops a mathematical model for the hydrolytic copolymerization of caprolactam with hexamethylene diamine (HMD) and adipic acid (ADA) in a batch reactor to produce nylon 6/6,6 copolymer. The reaction mechanism ...

Macromolecular Orientation of Rigid Dumbbells in Shear Flow

Jbara, Layal

We use molecular modeling to study the non-equilibrium behaviour of polymeric fluids. Specifically, we explore the macromolecular orientation induced by shear flow fields. We choose the simplest molecular model, the rigid ...

A New Approach to Make Starch Graft Copolymers via Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization

Fritz, Alexander

Starch is one of the most abundant polysaccharides worldwide next to cellulose. Starch bio-polymers are sustainable, biodegradable, and abundant, but are often chemically modified to improve the physical or chemical ...

The biological treatment of synthetic fracking fluid in an extractive membrane bioreactor: selective transport and biodegradation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic contaminants

Mullins, Nathan

Hydraulic fracturing involves the use of horizontal drilling techniques and high-pressure liquid injections to stimulate the production of natural gas through the resultant micro-fracturing networks in tight formations. ...

Nanoplasmonic Sensors Based on Chirped Crossed Surface Relief Gratings

Bdour, Yazan

This work presents a new type of nano-plasmonic sensor based on crossed surface relief gratings (CSRGs) with gradually varying pitch generated on top an azobenzene thin films using a 532 nm laser and a modified Lloyd mirror ...

The Effects of PMMA Surface Chemistry and Extracellular Traps on Macrophages, Lens Epithelial Cells and the Wound Healing Response

LeBlanc, Elissa

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a condition that affects 20-40% of patients that undergo cataract lens replacement surgery. The design of the replacement intraocular lens (IOL) (for instance material, shape, and ...