This dissertation seeks to explore how physical forces, notably through the use of magnetic nanoparticles and applied fields, can influence the structural outcomes of colloidal crystals engineered with DNA. Chapter 1 describes how both DNA and magnetic fields can direct the assembly of nanoparticles into periodic and sometimes crystalline materials....
Proteins are known to have diverse biomedical functions and excellent catalytic performance; however, they are also fragile outside living cells, challenging their use in industrial applications. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous crystalline materials that consist of metal cluster nodes and organic linkers. With their rigid structures, MOFs can effectively...
Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) have shown promise as imaging agents, drug delivery platforms, and plasmonic sensors. Anisotropic gold NPs, such as gold nanostars, have particularly received attention due to their shape-dependent optical and spectral properties. With their 3D anisotropic structure with branches protruding into different directions and high surface areas,...
Recent progress in the field of nanomaterials has enabled significant advances in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, photocatalysts, and sensors. Nanoparticles feature superior optical and electronic properties that arise from quantum confinement and therefore cannot be attained used bulk materials. However, further developments in the field of...
Metallic conductivity and broken inversion symmetry were long thought to be contraindicated properties, under the assumption that long-range Coulombic interactions (screened by free charge carriers) were necessary for coordinated polar displacements. Within the past decade, the discovery of polar metals has prompted a rethinking of the relationship between metallicity and...
Two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of crystalline polymer networks that polymerize and crystallize into layered structures, characterized by their atomically precise structure, permanent porosity and high modularity. Imine-linked COFs are one of the most important and promising classes of macromolecular sheets, which form by the condensation...
This thesis describes the synthesis and photophysical characterization of low-dimensionalmaterials—including thin-film semiconductors, colloidal quantum dots, and molecules—with the
broader motivation of integrating them into mixed-dimensional heterostructures with novel
responses to external stimuli. Due to their high surface area to volume ratio and incomplete
dielectric screening, mixed-dimensional heterostructures have high sensitivity...
Label-free assays, and particularly those based on the combination of mass spectroscopy with surface chemistries, enable high-throughput experiments of a broad range of reactions. However, these methods can still require the incorporation of functional groups that allow immobilization of reactants and products to surfaces prior to analysis. In this thesis,...
While Li-ion batteries are currently the preferred energy storage technology, multivalent alternatives such as Mg should be considered. Magnesium metal has a high volumetric capacity and has been shown to cycle with no dendrite formation. However, the highly charged Mg2+ ion cannot easily diffuse into the oxide cathodes favored in...
Nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as attractive drug carriers in therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The physiochemical properties of NPs, such as particle size, shape, and surface chemistry, play important roles in the functions of engineered nanoconstructs−NP cores with surface ligands. Recent work has screened these properties by monitoring cellular uptake and/or...