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| 2. |
- Asfaw, Habtom Desta
(author)
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Multifunctional Carbon Foams by Emulsion Templating : Synthesis, Microstructure, and 3D Li-ion Microbatteries
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Carbon foams are among the existing electrode designs proposed for use in 3D Li-ion microbatteries. For such electrodes to find applications in practical microbatteries, however, their void sizes, specific surface areas and pore volumes need be optimized. This thesis concerns the synthesis of highly porous carbon foams and their multifunctional applications in 3D microbatteries. The carbon foams are derived from polymers that are obtained by polymerizing high internal phase water-in-oil emulsions (HIPEs).In general, the carbonization of the sulfonated polymers yielded hierarchically porous structures with void sizes ranging from 2 to 35 µm and a BET specific surface area as high as 630 m2 g-1. Thermogravimetric and spectroscopic evidence indicated that the sulfonic acid groups, introduced during sulfonation, transformed above 250 oC to thioether (-C-S-) crosslinks which were responsible for the thermal stability and charring tendency of the polymer precursors. Depending on the preparation of the HIPEs, the specific surface areas and void-size distributions were observed to vary considerably. In addition, the pyrolysis temperature could also affect the microstructures, the degree of graphitization, and the surface chemistry of the carbon foams.Various potential applications were explored for the bespoke carbon foams. First, their use as freestanding active materials in 3D microbatteries was studied. The carbon foams obtained at 700 to 1500 oC suffered from significant irreversible capacity loss during the initial discharge. In an effort to alleviate this drawback, the pyrolysis temperature was raised to 2200 oC. The resulting carbon foams were observed to deliver high, stable areal capacities over several cycles. Secondly, the possibility of using these structures as 3D current collectors for various active materials was investigated in-depth. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, positive active materials like polyaniline and LiFePO4 were deposited on the 3D architectures by means of electrodeposition and sol-gel approach, respectively. In both cases, the composite electrodes exhibited reasonably high cyclability and rate performance at different current densities. The syntheses of niobium and molybdenum oxides and their potential application as electrodes in microbatteries were also studied. In such applications, the carbon foams served dual purposes as 3D scaffolds and as reducing reactants in the carbothermal reduction process. Finally, a facile method of coating carbon substrates with oxide nanosheets was developed. The approach involved the exfoliation of crystalline VO2 to prepare dispersions of hydrated V2O5, which were subsequently cast onto CNT paper to form oxide films of different thicknesses.
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| 3. |
- Karlsson, Therese, 1987, et al.
(author)
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Hyperspectral imaging and data analysis for detecting and determining plastic contamination in seawater filtrates
- 2016
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In: Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy. - Chichester, England : SAGE Publications. - 0967-0335 .- 1751-6552. ; 24:2, s. 141-149
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One possible way of monitoring plastic particles in sea water is by imaging spectroscopic measurements on filtrates. The idea is that filters from seawater sampling can be imaged in many wavelengths and that a multivariate data analysis can give information on (1) spatial location of plastic material on the filter and (2) composition of the plastic materials. This paper reports on simulated samples with spiked reference plastic particles, and real seawater filtrates containing microplastic pollutants. These real samples were previously identified through visual examination in a microscope. The samples were imaged using three different imaging systems. The different wavelength ranges were 375–970nm, 960–1662nm and 1000–2500nm. Data files from all three imaging systems were analysed by hyperspectral image analysis. The method using the wavelength span 1000–2500nm was shown to be the most applicable to this specific type of samples and gave a 100% particle recognition on reference plastic, above 300 µm and an 84% pixel recognition on household polyethylene plastic. When applied to environmental samples the technique showed an increase in identified particles compared with visual investigations. These initial tests indicate a potential underestimation of microplastics in environmental samples. This is the first study to demonstrate that hyperspectral imaging techniques can be used to study microplastics down to 300µm, which is a common size limit used in microplastic surveys.
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| 4. |
- Kolavali, Reddysuresh, 1983, et al.
(author)
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The sorption of monovalent cations onto wood flour and holocelluloses of Norway spruce: molecular interactions during LiCl impregnation
- 2017
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In: Holzforschung. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 1437-434X .- 0018-3830. ; 71:5, s. 373-381
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Active functional groups and interactions involved in the sorption of Li+ ions from an aqueous LiCl solution onto the Norway spruce sapwood (sW) flour have been investigated. To this purpose, sW was delignified by peracetic acid (PAA) treatments and the resulting holocelluloses (HC6 h, HC24 h, HC51 h, HC72 h, where the lower case data indicate the PAA treatment time) with various lignin contents were immersed in aqueous solution of LiCl and the sorption effects were studied by flame atomic emission spectroscopy (FAES), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area increased from 1.5±0.0 m2g−1 to 2.4±0.1 m2g−1 for HC6 h, and from 1.6±0.03 m2g−1 to 2.7±0.6 m2g−1 for HC72 h upon LiCl treatment. It was found that Li+/Cl− retention occurs predominantly via O-containing functionalities and the carbohydrate-rich samples sorbed more Li+. Upon LiCl treatment, the mobility and accessibility of the wood matrix was enhanced, possibly by interference of the introduced ions with the existing intermolecular bonds.
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| 5. |
- Schuster, Erich, et al.
(author)
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Interplay between flow and diffusion in capillary alginate hydrogels
- 2016
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In: Soft Matter. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1744-683X .- 1744-6848. ; 12:17, s. 3897-3907
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alginate gels with naturally occurring macroscopic capillaries have been used as a model system to study the interplay between laminar flow and diffusion of nanometer-sized solutes in real time. Calcium alginate gels that contain homogeneously distributed parallel-aligned capillary structures were formed by external addition of crosslinking ions to an alginate sol. The effects of different flow rates (0, 1, 10, 50 and 100 μl min-1) and three different probes (fluorescein, 10 kDa and 500 kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran) on the diffusion rates of the solutes across the capillary wall and in the bulk gel in between the capillaries were investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The flow in the capillaries was produced using a syringe pump that was connected to the capillaries via a tube. Transmission electron microscopy revealed an open aggregated structure close to the capillary wall, followed by an aligned network layer and the isotropic network of the bulk gel. The most pronounced effect was observed for the 1 nm-diameter fluorescein probe, for which an increase in flow rate increased the mobility of the probe in the gel. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching confirmed increased mobility close to the channel, with increasing flow rate. Mobility maps derived using raster image correlation spectroscopy showed that the layer with the lowest mobility corresponded to the anisotropic layer of ordered network chains. The combination of microscopy techniques used in the present study elucidates the flow and diffusion behaviors visually, qualitatively and quantitatively, and represents a promising tool for future studies of mass transport in non-equilibrium systems.
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| 6. |
- Heydari, Golrokh, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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Temperature-Dependent Deicing Properties of ElectrostaticallyAnchored Branched Brush Layers of Poly(ethylene oxide)
- 2016
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In: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 32:17, s. 4194-4202
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The hydration water of hydrophilic polymersfreezes at subzero temperatures. The adsorption of suchpolymers will result in a hydrophilic surface layer that stronglybinds water. Provided this interfacial hydration water remainsliquidlike at subzero temperatures, its presence could possiblyreduce ice adhesion, in particular, if the liquidlike layer isthicker than or comparable to the surface roughness. Toexplore this idea, a diblock copolymer, having one branchedbottle-brush block of poly(ethylene oxide) and one linear cationic block, was electrostatically anchored on flat silica surfaces. Theshear ice adhesion strength on such polymer-coated surfaces was investigated down to −25 °C using a homebuilt device. Inaddition, the temperature dependence of the ice adhesion on surfaces coated with only the cationic block, only the branchedbottle-brush block, and with linear poly(ethylene oxide) was investigated. Significant ice adhesion reduction, in particular, attemperatures above −15 °C, was observed on silica surfaces coated with the electrostatically anchored diblock copolymer.Differential scanning calorimetry measurements on bulk polymer solutions demonstrate different thermal transitions of waterinteracting with branched and linear poly(ethylene oxide) (with hydration water melting points of about −18 and −10 °C,respectively). This difference is consistent with the low shear ice adhesion strength measured on surfaces carrying branchedbottle-brush structured poly(ethylene oxide) at −10 °C, whereas no significant adhesion reduction was obtained with linearpoly(ethylene oxide) at this temperature. We propose a lubrication effect of the hydration water bound to the branched bottlebrushstructured poly(ethylene oxide), which, in the bulk, does not freeze until −18 °C.
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| 7. |
- Bandara, T M W J, 1968, et al.
(author)
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Characterization of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) nanofiber membrane based quasi solid electrolytes and their application in a dye sensitized solar cell
- 2018
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In: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-4686. ; 266, s. 276-283
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The electrolyte plays a major role in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this work a quasi-solid state (gel) electrolyte has been formed by incorporating a liquid electrolyte made with KI dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) co-solvent in poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) co-polymer nanofiber membrane prepared by electrospinning. SEM images of the electrolyte membrane showed the formation of a three-dimensional network of polymer nanofibers with diameters between 100 and 300 nm and an average membrane thickness of 14 mu m. The electrolyte was characterized by FTIR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The DSSCs fabricated with this electrolyte were characterized by current-voltage and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. DSC thermograms revealed that the crystallinity of the PVdF-HFP nanofiber is 14% lower than that of the pure PVdF-HFP polymer while the FTIR spectra showed a reduced polymer-polymer interaction in the nano fiber based gel electrolyte. The DSSCs fabricated with nanofiber based gel electrolyte showed an energy conversion efficiency of 5.36% under 1.5 a. m. solar irradiation, whereas the efficiency of the DSSC made with the liquid electrolyte based cell was 6.01%. This shows the possibility of replacing the liquid electrolyte in DSSCs by electro-spun polymer nanofiber based gel electrolyte and thereby minimizing some major drawbacks associated with liquid electrolyte based solar cells while maintaining a reasonably high efficiency.
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| 8. |
- Vera, C. M., et al.
(author)
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A preliminary study on the selectivity of linear polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in SFC using phenyl-type stationary phases
- 2015
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In: Microchemical journal (Print). - : Elsevier. - 0026-265X .- 1095-9149. ; 121, s. 136-140
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The retention behaviour of a homologous series of polyaromatic hydrocarbons was evaluated on two phenyl-type stationary phases in reversed phase supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). These phases were the Synergi polar-RP phase and the Cosmosil 5PBB phase, both of which are polar end-capped and incorporate an ether in a propyl chain that tethers the phenyl ring to the silica surface. The Cosmosil 5PBB phase also has five bromine atoms on the phenyl ring. The retention capacity of the Cosmosil column was substantially greater than the Synergi column. However, selectivity on the Cosmosil column was effectively independent of the acetonitrile modifier composition in the CO2 mobile phase, whereas, selectivity on the Synergi column was greatly affected by the acetonitrile modifier in the CO2 mobile phase. The results from this study showed that selectivity and retention studies in HPLC cannot be used to predict selectivity and retention behaviour in SFC. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Bermejo-Velasco, Daniel, 1985-
(author)
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Insights into Covalent Chemistry for the Development of Biomaterials
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Covalent cross-linking chemistry is currently exploited in the preparation of biomaterial for biomedical applications. Choice of these chemistries for the preparation of biomaterials and bioconjugates strongly influences the biological output of these materials. Therefore, this thesis aims to develop novel bioconjugation strategies understanding their advantages and drawbacks. Our results provide new insight to adapt these chemical transformations for a specific application.The first part of this thesis points out the relevance of tuning different properties of biomaterials with specific emphasis on the development of hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels. The second part of the thesis describes how different chemical transformations including hydrazone formation (Paper I), thiazolidine formation (Paper II), cross-aldol addition reaction (Paper III) and disulfide formation (Paper IV) dictate material properties.This thesis explores both basic organic reaction mechanism and application of these reactions to influence material characteristics. The detailed study of the reaction conditions, kinetics, and stability of the products will help to understand the mechanical properties, hydrolytic stability, and degradability of the materials described here.Additionally, we performed degradation studies of gadolinium labeled HA hydrogels using magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, we also explored post-synthetic modification of hydrogels to link model fluorescent moieties as well as explored the tissue adhesive properties using Schiff-base formation.In summary, this thesis presents a selection of different covalent chemistries for the design of advanced biomaterials. The advantages and disadvantages of these chemistries are rigorously investigated. We believe, such an investigation provides a better understanding of the bioconjugation strategies for the preparation of biomaterials with potential clinical translation.
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| 10. |
- Benselfelt, Tobias, 1989-
(author)
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Design of Cellulose-based Materials by Supramolecular Assemblies
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Due to climate change and plastic pollution, there is an increasing demand for bio-based materials with similar properties to those of common plastics yet biodegradable. In this respect, cellulose is a strong candidate that is already being refined on a large industrial scale, but the properties differ significantly from those of common plastics in terms of shapeability and water-resilience.This thesis investigates how supramolecular interactions can be used to tailor the properties of cellulose-based materials by modifying cellulose surfaces or control the assembly of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Most of the work is a fundamental study on interactions in aqueous environments, but some material concepts are presented and potential applications are discussed.The first part deals with the modification of cellulose by the spontaneous adsorption of xyloglucan or polyelectrolytes. The results indicate that xyloglucan adsorbs to cellulose due to the increased entropy of water released from the surfaces, which is similar to the increased entropy of released counter-ions that drives polyelectrolyte adsorption. The polyelectrolyte adsorption depends on the charge of the cellulose up to a limit after which the charge density affects only the first adsorbed layer in a multilayer formation.Latex nanoparticles with polyelectrolyte coronas can be adsorbed onto cellulose in order to prepare hydrophobic cellulose surfaces with strong and ductile wet adhesion, provided the glass transition of the core is below the ambient temperature.The second part of the thesis seeks to explain the interactions between different types of cellulose nanofibrils in the presence of different ions, using a model consisting of ion-ion correlation and specific ion effects, which can be employed to rationally design water-resilient and transparent nanocellulose films. The addition of small amounts of alginate also creates interpenetrating double networks, and these networks lead to a synergy which improves both the stiffness and the ductility of the films in water.A network model has been developed to understand these materials, with the aim to explain the properties of fibril networks, based on parameters such as the aspect ratio of the fibrils, the solidity of the network, and the ion-induced interactions that increase the friction between fibrils. With the help of this network model and the model for ion-induced interactions, we have created films with wet-strengths surpassing those of common plastics, or a ductility suitable for hygroplastic forming into water-resilient and biodegradable packages. Due to their transparency, water content, and the biocompatibility of cellulose, these materials are also suitable for biomaterial or bioelectronics applications.
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