One of the first official decisions that Donald Trump made after his
inauguration was to withdraw US support for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP). Mr Trump argued throughout the election that the
pact, and many other global trade deals, was harmful to American
companies and American workers and that he would...
The Republican party has for years sought to reform an American tax code
widely viewed as uncompetitive, expressing their ambitious goal as simply
making the tax system “that looks like someone designed it on purpose.”
Last November, when the party gained control of both chambers of
Congress and the White...
This past week saw Germany hold federal elections for the Bundestag, the
national parliament. The center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU)
gained 33% of the vote, essentially securing Angela Merkel’s fourth term
as chancellor. The Social Democrats (SPD) secured 20.5% votes, retaining
their position as the Bundestag’s second largest party. However,...
When watching this year’s Golden Globes, Grammy Awards and other
shows honoring the past year’s best in entertainment, it was hard to miss
the rows of matching dress. Behind the black attire and parade of white
roses, stretched the industry stood unified after the myriad allegations and
confessions that have...
As American tech companies contend with strict scrutiny from Congress
in the wake of the 2016 election, several have already been harassed by
European regulators. During the past year, Amazon and Google were
slapped with massive fines, continuing a trend of EU hostility toward
major American tech companies.
Welcome to the second issue of Politica Northwestern, the academic
journal of Northwestern University’s Politics & Policy (P&P). P&P analyzes
the world in terms of impactful events. Political events occur constantly,
but their impacts are by no means equal. We distill major events to
determine how they will change the...
The intention of this research was to investigate
the ink diffusion that takes place in
dip-pen nanolithography in order to better
understand how to enhance the possibilities
of nano fountain probes. Varying concentrations
of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid in
ethanol were used as ink in dip-pen nanolithography,
and the relationships between
contact...
Monolayers on H-Si(111) were formed thermally
using decene and 10-bromodecene.
Samples were subjected to 100 percent
humidity in order to induce oxidation for
upwards of three weeks. The ability of
bromine to bind to the Si(111) and inhibit
oxidation through steric hindrance was
intended to be analyzed. Atomic force
microscopy...
In this study liquid-phase nanolithography
(LPN) techniques using conductive atomic
force microscopy are investigated in order
to study properties of nano-patterned
organic molecules covalently bound to a
silicon substrate. Previous work has shown
that LPN in the inert organic solvent hexadecane
forms patterned features on
hydrogen-passivated Si(111). Due to hexadecane’s...
The purpose of this study was to select an
alloy with a low driving force for nucleation
for a more in-depth study of the nucleation
of γ’-precipitates. To do this, three Ni-Cr-Al
alloys were chosen close to the solvus line
of a Ni-Cr-Al phase diagram, ensuring low
supersaturation and therefore...
In this study attention was focused on a
templated fabrication of Au nanotubular
structures that could carry a highly magnetic
entity such as cobalt. In brief, experimentation
was performed to create Co@Au
core-shell nanorods of different lengths. The
preliminary core-shell structures were first
characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD),
scanning electron...
This project focused on the growth of Cu2O
nanocubes in microwells from nanoparticle
“seeds.” The seeds were first formed by the
reduction of copper sulfate with ascorbic
acid in the presence of the surfactant
poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Upon reaction
within the microwell, the seed solution
formed a larger single crystal....
The performance of mixed-phase TiO2 was observed in an effort to test its practical use as
a semiconductor photocatalyst. Synthesis of mixed-phase TiO2, characterization using xray
diffraction analysis, monitoring testing using the gas chromatography-FID, and
testing gas phase reactor were four techniques used in this research to evaluate mixedphase
TiO2....
Chemical vapor deposition was used to
synthesize CdS nanowires via the vaporliquid-solid
growth mechanism. After Ti/Au
contacts were patterned to the nanowires
using electron beam lithography, photoresponse
studies were conducted. A significant
response was observed when the
wires were exposed to visible light; this
occurred as electrons in the nanowires...
This paper explores the various approaches
to time-resolved single nanoparticle spectroscopy.
Due to the novelty of these types
of experiments, several difficulties arise in
creating a feasible physical setup capable
of imaging single nanoparticles less than
100 nm in size. The various difficulties in
setup and their attempted resolutions will...
The optical properties of spherical gold
nanoparticles are calculated using classical
electrodynamics. The wavelength corresponding
to maximum extinction shifts to
longer wavelengths as the size of the
nanoparticle is increased. The influence of
higher-order multipoles is evident for large
nanoparticles, making the spectra more
complex. When the shell thickness of...
Every year millions of Americans go to the
emergency room with symptoms of a heart
attack. More than half a million Americans
die each year of myocardial infarctions (MI)
caused by coronary heart disease (CHD).
CHD detection is currently limited to EKG
analyses of electrical signals generated by
the heart...
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive
mental disorder that affects 23 million people
worldwide. It is pathologically characterized
by amyloid plaques and tau tangles that
form in the brain. The hard, insoluble amyloid
plaques develop from the naturally
secreted amyloid beta peptide, which can
also assemble into toxic oligomeric forms...
Electron transfer theory predicts reorganization energy to be one factor that determines the electrochemical potential of a metal ion. This paper describes part of a study that aims to increase understanding of solvent reorganization energy in noncovalent systems by systematically varying the environment around a metal ion, specifically ruthenium. The...