Carbon nanomaterials, such as graphene and graphene oxide, have outstanding mechanical strength, stiffness, and toughness that surpass those of materials currently used to build structures. However, these properties are limited to the nanoscale and have not yet been attained in macroscopic composites containing carbon nanomaterials. To integrate the mechanical properties...
Proteins are the nanoscale building blocks of life. Their sophisticated but well-defined architectures result in complex biological functions, including ones involved in metabolism, photosynthesis, transcription, translation, and immunity. To study and improve upon the natural functions of proteins, it is desirable to develop methodology for organizing proteins into targeted architectures....
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made compounds containing multiple carbon–fluorine bonds. The unique properties of this strong bond simultaneously make PFAS useful for a number of industrial and consumer applications, toxic to living organisms, and difficult to remediate. Because the pervasive pollution of water sources with PFAS occurs at...
Organic photovoltaics offer an opportunity to make solar cells more affordable and widely accessible using cheap, solution-processable light-absorbing layers. In order to realize new technologies, a fundamental understanding of organic chromophore photophysics is required to overcome efficiency limitations. Throughout this doctoral work, I investigated the kinetic and physical characteristics of...
The construction of new C–C bonds remains a central facet of organic chemistry due to its critical role in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds and organic materials. Mild and selective methodologies are often required for efficient formation of these bonds in natural product total synthesis, medicinal chemistry campaigns, and more....
Triplet excited state chemistry has enabled a range of important organic transformations by accessing reaction pathways inaccessible to photoredox chemistry. Such photoreactions are triggered by triplet photosensitizers, which absorb visible-light photons and transfer the energy to the substrate or to a co-catalyst through triplet-triplet energy transfer (TT EnT). The most...
As the interest in rational synthesis for solid-state materials accelerates, there is an urgent need to understand the design principles concealed within these reactions. In situ material synthesis provides such an avenue to not only uncover these assembling rules, but also for finding new materials even in seemingly familiar phase...
Biomedical imaging is an essential part of medicine that enables the non-invasive observation of biological phenomena. This, in turn, allows for more accurate and earlier diagnoses, monitoring of therapies, and even fundamental research into biological processes. Molecular imaging, a fast-growing subdiscipline of biomedical imaging, seeks to image biochemical processes at...
This introductory chemistry textbook was compiled by Shelby Hatch at Northwestern University and is adapted from the following sources:
"Introductory Chemistry" by David W. Ball, The Saylor Foundation, Cleveland State University, is licensed
under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and is available at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introductory-chemistry ; "Chemistry of Cooking" by Sorangel Rodriguez-Velazquez, American...
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles are a class of highly abundant atmospheric constituents that represent a substantial fraction of carbon within the climate system. A subset of naturally-occurring SOA particles are formed through atmospheric oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), forming oxygenated products of lower volatility that can partition...