Department of Chemical Engineering Graduate Theses
Recent Submissions
-
The study of time representations for chemical production scheduling models
Optimal scheduling has been extensively investigated in the Process Systems Engineering (PSE) community. Most of the existing mathematical programming models for scheduling can be classified into two categories in terms ... -
Development of P(TMC)-Based Polymers for Sustained Delivery of Acid-Sensitive Drugs
Peptides are a quickly growing drug class, which continue to garner attention in pharmaceutical research due to their applications in the treatment of a variety of diseases. The major challenge when working with these ... -
DEVELOPMENT OF NANOPLASMONIC PLATFORMS FOR PORTABLE SENSING APPLICATIONS
In the last decade, the need for faster, real-time and highly sensitive methods to characterize biomolecular interactions has yielded tremendous progress in the development of label-free biosensor techniques. The rapid ... -
Solution Radical Polymerization of Methyl Acrylate and n-tert butylacrylamide under Batch and Semi-batch Operation
Free radical polymerisation is one of the most versatile methods to produce materials for diverse applications. With the world inclining towards sustainability, the industry is transitioning from the use of organic solvents ... -
Nitroxyl-Mediated Peroxide Modification of Polypropylene
The thermal stability of alkoxyamine derivatives of polypropylene (PP) is examined through studies of model hydrocarbon systems and atactic-PP substrates. Primary, secondary and tertiary alkoxyamines are integral to modern ... -
Liquid Phase Exfoliation of Graphite into Graphene Nanoplatelets using Graphene Oxide as Surfactant
In this study, graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) are prepared using graphene oxide (GO), a derivative of graphene, as the dispersing agent in the liquid phase exfoliation of raw fake graphite. Graphene oxide has similar properties ... -
Modelling and Parameter Estimation of a PO3G Polyether Process
This thesis focuses on developing advanced fundamental models for production of polytrimethylene ether glycol (PO3G) from bio-based 1,3 propanediol. These models describe the time-varying concentrations of monomer, oligomers, ... -
Electrochemical Deposition of Nanostructures on a Microelectrode Platform for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Applications
The demand for point-of-use sensors continues to increase as the dangers to human health and wellbeing from new bio-chemical hazards, illicit drugs and toxicants continue to rise. To allow for early, cost-effective and ... -
Polymer micelles for the protection and delivery of specialized pro-resolving meditators
Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) play a pivotal role in the resolution of acute inflammation events and have recently gained interest as a treatment for chronic inflammation. Polymer micelles are a promising ... -
An efficient process for the copper(0)-mediated controlled radical synthesis of acrylate-methacrylate block copolymers
Cu(0)-mediated polymerization using tris[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine (Me6TREN) as ligand is a promising method to polymerize acrylates at ambient temperature with fast reaction rates that also maintains the high chain-end ... -
BIOREACTOR-BASED STRATEGY FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF ADIPOSE-DERIVED STEM CELLS TOWARDS NUCLEUS PULPOSUS CELLS
Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) experienced by ~80% of worldwide population initiates in the nucleus pulposus (NP). This research aimed to establish a validated method for obtaining NP-like cells from adipose-derived ... -
Printing of Electrochemical Energy Storage Device Components
Materials printing is a versatile technology used in a wide range of industrial-scale manufacturing processes that require high-precision transfer of materials on different substrates. Despite the numerous studies available ... -
Energy Recovery from High Salinity Biomass
Phytoremediation is a biological remediation technique where plants take contaminants from the soil into their biological structure. This technique removes pollutants from the ground leaving the grown biomass requiring ... -
Toll-like receptor mediated responses to adsorbed damage-associated molecular patterns on biomaterial surfaces
The foreign body reaction is a chronic inflammatory response to an implanted biomaterial that ultimately leads to fibrous encapsulation of the implant. It is widely accepted that the host response to implanted biomaterials ... -
Electrodeposited Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrates for Point-of-Care Drug Checking
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an analytical technique that can provide ultra-sensitive chemical detection on a mobile platform when implemented on handheld Raman spectrometers. However, the large laser spot ... -
Evaluation of a Novel Polymeric Flocculant for Enhanced Water Recovery of Mature Fine Tailings
This thesis explores the feasibility of using a novel degradable cationic flocculant, poly(PLA4ChMA), for enhanced dewatering of mature fine tailings (MFT). Previous research indicated that this material provided improved ... -
Accelerated Monte-Carlo Techniques for Modeling of Chain Architecture and Semi-Batch Radical Polymerization Process Optimization
This thesis introduces a new strategy to develop a comprehensive stochastic polymerization simulation with the capacity of considering the secondary reactions attributed to the radical acrylate/methacrylate/styrene ... -
Fabrication of novel power sources for portable and wearable devices
Practical applications of portable and wearable electronics is linked with the development of power sources that address the physical requirements of these electronic devices, such as flexibility and a small footprint. In ... -
Development and characterization of thermoplastic biopolyester compounds and their processing by 3D bioplotting
The objective of this thesis is to improve the properties of thermoplastic biopolyesters by reactive modification and blending, and to develop thermoplastic biopolyester compounds with suitable rheological, thermal and ... -
Kinetics and Modeling of Radical Copolymerization of Water-Soluble Cationic Monomers
Polyelectrolytes (PELs) are a special class of charged water-soluble polymers utilized in both consumer and industrial applications such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, waste-water treatment, flocculating agents, oil drilling ...
RSS 1.0