Nanocarriers, structures with at least one dimension on the nanoscale (1-1000 nm), have been engineered for delivery of various cargoes. The shape and flexibility of nanocarriers are important parameters that influence their biological performance. Self-assembling polymeric filamentous nanocarriers, known as filomicelles (FM), are of great interest to nanomedicine due to...
Nucleic acids such as DNA or RNA of various lengths and structures have a wide scope of functions as therapeutic entities compared to conventional drugs. For instance, native and modified forms of nucleic acids can be used for gene silencing, genome editing, gene replacement, immune system modulation, and theranostics. While...
Nanoparticle synthesis is capable of producing particles with any combination of structure, chemistry, size, shape, and surface. All of the different combinations of these physical properties can produce nanoparticles with almost countless materials properties suited for many applications. Given this interest in using nanoparticles in so many different fields, including...
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...
Bio-inspired materials have a distinct advantage over other materials by virtue of their mimicry of nature’s own products, which have been subjected to the inimitable tests of time and evolutionary pressure. Here we have taken instruction from natural nanostructures that are ubiquitous across the animal kingdom, namely high-density lipoproteins (HDL)....
Melanin is a functional biopolymer most commonly associated with human skin pigmentation, where it serves as a radiation protection agent, shielding us from the harmful effects of UV radiation. However, melanin is also present in human ears, eyes, hair, and brains, serving a variety of functions. In fact, melanin...
The unique ability of plasmonic nanoparticles to localize and enhance resonant electromagnetic fields has enabled a wealth of discoveries from enhanced spectroscopies to driving chemical reactions on the nanoscale. In this thesis, we strive to both drive and observe chemistry on plasmonic surfaces. First, we examine the possibility of driving...
Extensive study of nanomaterial chemical and optical properties has enabled their integration into a variety of applications. However, less thoroughly investigated are the heat generation and dissipation processes of nanomaterials following optical excitation. These phenomena are of immense importance as thermal energy can distort a material’s structure, which has profound...
Composites of metal nanoparticles encapsulated by metal-organic frameworks (NP@MOFs) have recently emerged as intriguing heterogeneous catalysts for regioselective reactions. Sharing qualities of both zeolites and enzymes, these catalysts employ the pore system of a MOF to direct reactant access to the surface of nanoparticles. This dissertation seeks to better understand...
The work presented in this dissertation is centered on experimental efforts to maximize the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) toward their application in ultrasensitive nanoscale chemical analysis. The work focuses on fundamental studies of the plasmonic properties of silver nanostructures, and how those properties...
