Roya Maboudian (Advisor)

Compared with single-component nanocrystals, core-shell nanocrystals show better performance in various areas, such as energy harvesting and storage, catalysis, sensing and functionalized targeted cell therapy. The solution-based fabrication process is the most common strategy for synthesizing core-shell structures. However, the complex and difficult-to-scale fabrication procedures severely reduce their practical applications. Besides, the thermodynamically driven process of the fabrication of core-shell nanostructures possesses several constraints on their size and geometry, the...

There remains a strong need for miniaturized, low power gas sensors that can be deployed in wireless applications for improved environmental protection, health and safety. Aerogels have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their extremely low density, high surface area, low thermal conductivity, weak dielectric permittivity, and high stability. For gas sensing applications, two-dimensional materials offer the highest possible surface area for gas interaction, leading to high sensitivity. However, when materials are integrated into a sensor device, the surface area...

Electrode surface structure and functional modification with higher catalytic response are of great interest in many technologies. This work aims at designing highly efficient nanostructured gold- based electrochemical catalyst. Using the calixarene-capped gold nanoclusters as the construction unit, we report on the formation of gold films with nanoporous structure via hydrogen-bubble templating under electrochemically reducing conditions. The resulting nanoporous gold (NPG) assembly possesses the highest aspect ratio (defined as the ratio of the pore size to the wall thickness)...

Dopamine (DA) plays a significant role in the central nervous system, the loss of which is linked to various problems, e.g., schizophrenia, drug addiction and Parkinsons disease. Accordingly, the development of sensitive and selective detection method for DA is of great interest. Electrochemical DA detection has gained increasing attention due to its operation simplicity and rapid response. Despite these advantages, electrochemical methods often lack...