Plasmonic nanostructures are capable of trapping and confining light at the nanoscale, leading to interesting optical phenomena involving enhanced light-matter interactions. These responses arise in two forms: surface plasmon polaritons propagating on the surface of metal films and localized surface plasmons confined to the surface of metal nanoparticles. Plasmonic modes...
The projected increase in the use of nanomaterials raises concerns about adverse impacts new technologies utilizing these materials may have on the environment. These concerns can be addressed from a chemical perspective by studying how emerging nanomaterials interact with biological systems. Fundamentally, the key interactions for nanomaterial uptake into a...
This project is comprised of primary source research on the field of semiconductor microscopy. We were interested in determining a more interdisciplinary application of this technology, as the most frequently cited applications are for defense purposes such as drug screening or infrared imaging. When we researched, we found that these...
The assembly of nanoscale building blocks into larger ensembles with well-defined architecture has the potential to create entirely new classes of designer photonic and plasmonic metamaterials with unique properties not found in nature. Electromagnetic metasurfaces, or 2D metamaterials, operating at optical wavelengths are of particular interest due to ease of...
Graphene oxide (GO), a product of oxidative exfoliation of graphite powders, has received significant attention due to its excellent solution dispersibility, rich functionality, and ease of conversion to chemically modified graphene (also known as œreduced graphene oxide or œr-GO). These properties make GO an attractive building block for constructing various...
Over the past decade significant advancements have been made across the field of cancer biology resulting in transformative new therapies. Despite these advancements, treatments for metastatic cancer remain relatively ineffective. Metastasis is coordinated by various types of “healthy†stromal cells in addition to the tumor cells themselves. This requires a...
X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XFM) is a useful technique for study of biological samples. XFM was used to map and quantify endogenous biological elements as well as exogenous materials in biological samples, such as the distribution of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles. TiO2 nanoparticles are produced for many different purposes, including development...