Industrial processes heavily rely on catalysts to control product selectivity and lower energy barriers required for chemical transformations. Catalysts are most commonly solid heterogeneous catalysts that facilitate separations from reaction mixtures and enhance recyclability. Heterogeneous catalysts used in industrial processes exhibit efficacious results, but in certain instances drawing structure-function relationships...
The invention of GdIII-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probes substantially expanded the capability of MRI in visualizing details in tissue. Building upon the achievement of GdIII-based complexes, more ideal probes should feature contrast that is responsive to biomarkers, such as redox status and ion concentrations. The abnormality of these biomarkers...
In the design of efficient adsorbents for the sequestration of toxic molecules and the separation of volatile organic compounds, two important criteria are: high porosity and high density of sorptive sites. The work in this thesis showcases how metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be used as porous adsorbent templates where many...
The study of solid-state organic chromophores has been soaring in the last decade owing to their wide applications in organic photovoltaics. These organic chromophores can absorb light in the visible region and form free charge carriers with proper design in molecular structure and device fabrication. In solid state, chromophores are...
The translation of proteins as effective intracellular drug candidates is limited by the challenge of cellular entry and their vulnerability to degradation. To advance their therapeutic potential, cell-impermeable proteins can be readily transformed into protein spherical nucleic acids (ProSNAs) or encapsulated into liposomal spherical nucleic acids (L-SNAs), structures defined by...
Continuous and coordinated materials discovery efforts have amassed a wealth of knowledge concerning many general classes of materials. The number of known phases of all structure-types, however, is far less than number of possible materials dictated by the elements on the periodic table. Recently, with improved computational abilities and well-developed...
The discovery of abundant reserves of shale gas over this past decade has reshaped the world’s energy landscape. It has renewed interests in the activation and conversion of methane as well as other light alkanes. While the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) and oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane and propane...
Proteins are a class of nanoscale building block with remarkable chemical complexity and sophistication: their diverse functions, shapes and symmetry, and atomically monodisperse structures far surpass the range of nanoparticles that can be accessed synthetically. The chemical topology of proteins that drive their assembly into higher order materials are central...
Peptides consists of a series of amino acids connected via an amide type of covalent chemical bond. A diverse field of applications such as biosensors,2 catalysis,4 and biomedicine6 include the oligomeric forms of peptides due to their genuine features comparing to other biomacromolecules. Particularly, peptides in the field of biomedical...
Chemical modifications of oligonucleotides (ONs) have advanced these molecules towards clinical approvals. On their own, native ONs have poor pharmacokinetic properties, such as rapid degradation by nucleases and poor cell uptake, which limit their potential therapeutic applications. Chemical modifications of ONs can increase their stability, alter their interactions with cells,...