Polycrystalline films are used in a wide array of microand nano-scale devices, for electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photonic and chemical functions. Increasingly, the properties, performance, and reliability of films in these systems depend on nano-scale structure. In collaborative research with a number of SMA Fellows, Associates, and students, our group is carrying out research focused on pr...

background and aims. polymethyl methacrylate (pmma) is widely used for the fabrication of removable prostheses. silver nano-particles (agnps) have been added to pmma because of their antimicrobial properties, but their effect on the mechanical properties of pmma is unknown. the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of agnps on the tensile strength of pmma. materials and methods. for ...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used for visualization of a nano-oxidation technique performed on diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film. Experiments of the nano-oxidation technique of the DLC thin film include those on nano-oxidation points and nano-oxidation lines. The feature sizes of the DLC thin film, including surface morphology, depth, and width, were explored after application of a nano-...

The carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) is one of the top-selling commercial cut-flower crops worldwide, which is very susceptible to infections. Micro propagation is an advanced biotechnological system for producing free of pathogen colonies. Too many factors may limit micro propagation of plants, which the most important of them is contamination (e.g., fungal, bacterial and viral infections). T...

White rot, which is caused by Sclerotium cepivorum, is a lethal disease affecting green onions. Three different types of nano-silver liquid (WA-CV-WA13B, WA-AT-WB13R, and WA-PR-WB13R) were tested in several different concentrations on three types of media to assess their antifungal activities. Results from in vitro experiments showed that all three of the nano-silver liquids had more than 90% i...

Through full-vectorial simulations and analytical models, we investigate the role of radiation and surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in the optical interaction between a nano-slit and a parallel nano-groove on a metal surface. We quantitatively confirm the radiaton as the interaction mechanism in perfect electrical conductors (PEC), and verify the role of radiation and SPP in the slit-groove int...

This paper presents the optimization process in sol-gel technique to synthesize Titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films using in-house Nano-TiO2 powder. Nano-TiO2 powder was previously synthesized in our lab from ilmenite which is a tin mining byproduct using a modified hydrothermal method. By varying the mass of Nano-TiO2 powder and acetic acid (catalyst) concentration in the sol-gel process, highl...

Silver, both in the nano as well as in other forms, is used in many applications including antimicrobial textiles. Washing of such textiles has already been identified as an important process that results in the release of silver into wastewater. This study thus investigated the release of silver from eight different commercially available silver-textiles during a washing and rinsing cycle. The...