23 research outputs found
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Engineering Responsiveness in Nanostructured Materials
No full textStimuli-responsive nanomaterials are engineered nanostructures that change their properties in response to external stimuli, such as mechanical stress, electric and magnetic fields, temperature, and light. They have potential applications in sensors, actuators, smart windows, optical devices, and drug delivery. Introducing responsive features into nanomaterials requires advanced synthetic and post-synthetic techniques such as structural engineering, surface functionalization, chemical vapor deposition, and self-assembly. These methods are usually time-consuming, materials-specific, and lacking the controllability and rational-design of specific responsive-functionality. This dissertation discusses different strategies of responsiveness-engineering unrestricted to the nature of the nanomaterials comprising rationally-designed colloidal synthetic approaches. The dissertation starts with introducing the development of a rapid, reversible, and stable light-responsive system based on nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) nanocrystals. The synthetic method involves TiO2 structural engineering through nitrogen doping in a hydrolysis reaction and in-situ surface functionalization with organic glycols acting as sacrificial electron donors (SEDs). The photoreversible system showed excellent color-switching from white to black under light irradiation, corresponding to the surface self-reduction of Ti(IV) to Ti(III). Nitrogen doping and surface functionalization accelerated and stabilized the system responsive-coloration. This system was implemented as a rewritable paper showing a reversible color-switching that could retain writing for hours in ambient conditions without the need for redox dyes or chromic polymers. This functionalization strategy possesses vital advantages in its low cost, rapid response, and excellent reversibility and stability, that could be applied to several photo-responsive systems. In the second part, a rational-design strategy of synthesizing mechanically-responsive Au@Ag@void@TiO2 nanoparticles to fabricate a colorimetric stress sensor is introduced. The sensor changes color from yellow to dark orange/red under a mechanical force based on the deformation of the nanoparticles. The color-changing mechanism consists of shifting the plasmonic absorption of Au@Ag@void@TiO2 by changing the surrounding environment of Au@Ag nanostructures from air to TiO2 after deforming the outer particle shell by a mechanical force. The pressure sensor could be applied to static and impact forces, showing potentials as instantaneous impact detectors in sports and bicycle helmets, sports mouth guards, and automobile crash dummies. Increasing the thickness of the TiO2 outer shell enhanced the mechanical strength of the materials, thereby withstanding different pressure thresholds directly correlated with shell thickness. This pre-designed synthetic approach could be employed in the future developments of smart materials. Finally, the development of a universal magnetizing method of nanomaterials utilizing amorphous molybdenum sulfide (a-MoSx) as a transitional layer to anchor magnetic iron oxide particles is presented. The underlying mechanism relies on the strong bonding between molybdenum sulfide and iron oxide nanoparticles, which is found to occur through (Mo-O) interaction. The applicability and versatility of the magnetizing technique are endowed by developing a colloidal coating method of a-MoSx on silicon dioxide (SiO2) that could be induced on various nanostructured materials. The colloidal coating method consists of SiO2 surface modification with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), followed by the acidification of (NH4)2MoS4 to produce APTES-SiO2@a-MoSx nanostructures. The instantaneous attachment of iron oxide nanoparticles on APTES-SiO2@a-MoSx could be achieved by mixing both materials in polar solvents. The practicality and advantage of this technique were demonstrated by magnetizing Au microplates to fabricate a magnetically-tunable micromirror. The versatility, practicality, rapid functionalization, and low toxicity are crucial advantages in introducing magnetic-responsiveness in nanostructured materials, especially for biomedical applications
A Critical Analysis of the Legal Problems associated with Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards in Saudi Arabia: Will the New Saudi Arbitration Law (2012) Resolve the Main Legal Problems?
No full textThe thesis critically analyses the legal problems associated with the recognition and enforcement of domestic and foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia. The aim is to illuminate whether or not the new Saudi Arbitration Law 2012 (SAL) and the new Enforcement Law 2012 (SEL) will be able to resolve these problems.
In the thesis, we investigate the reasons for the problems with regard to the SAL 1983, and then discuss the SAL 2012 in terms of the possibility of resolving such problems. Moreover, the study includes a semi-comparative study in the light of Sharia Law and international practice. The thesis deals with Saudi judicial practices by looking at a significant number of Saudi judicial cases that relate to the enforcement of arbitral awards. This is what enhances the view that the thesis will make an effective contribution to the field of arbitration.
A number of legal problems, such as the lack of identification of the limited grounds for a challenge, the competent court to decide such a challenge, the arbitration having the authority of res judicata, and the potency of the competent court to review the merits of the dispute, should all be considered due to their negative impact on the enforcement process.
In this thesis, we have concluded that the new SAL 2012 and SEL 2012 can cope with and resolve many of the legal dilemmas associated with the matter of the enforcement of arbitral awards. These new pieces of legislation will be able, to some extent, to reassure and comfort national and international parties without violating Sharia law. However, some potential legal obstacles may emerge in terms of the enforcement process as it relates to arbitral awards. Therefore, the author of the thesis believes that the level of satisfaction may not be as much as is hoped for
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MoO 2 Cocatalytic Fe(II)/Fe(III) for the Activation of Peroxymonosulfate with Enhanced Oxidation Performance
No full textSpace‐Confined Seeded Growth of Cu Nanorods with Strong Surface Plasmon Resonance for Photothermal Actuation
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Space‐Confined Seeded Growth of Cu Nanorods with Strong Surface Plasmon Resonance for Photothermal Actuation
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