Control of micromanipulation in the presence of van der waals force

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Bio-functionalization of Electrospun Nanofibre Scaffolds for Cell Culture Applications

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

ZnO Nanorods Grown on p-GaN Using Hydrothermal Synthesis and Its Optoelectronic Devices Application

The ZnO nanorods with the length of 1-1.5 μm were deposited on p-GaN by hydrothermal synthesis at low temperature 100°C. The structural and optical properties of the as-grown ZnO rods were investigated by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. After annealing treatment the as-grown films in air at 600°C, 30min, and the ZnO rods showed good crystallinity and optical properties with strong UV emission at 378 nm. In addition, a sharp UV emission peak at 369.45 nm with the FWHM 20 meV, which attributed to the bound exciton recombination, was also observed from the ZnO rods at 80K. Next, the e-beam evaporation method was used to deposit metal contact on n-ZnO and p-GaN. Here, we use Au and Ni/Au as metal contacts for n-ZnO and p-GaN, respectively. The current-voltage characteristics of the fabricated n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction revealed rectifying behavior with a leakage current of 10⁻⁸ A at -10V, a forward current 4x10⁻⁶ A at 10V bias. The heterojunction also showed a good photoresponse, with the change of the current – voltage characteristics under ultraviolet illumination. Under UV illumination, the forward turn on voltage changed to 7.5V. This result showed the ability to manipulate the electron transport in the ZnO based heterojunction devices.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Kinetic and reactor modelling of lipases catalyzed (R,S)-1-phenylethanol resolution

This study was focused on the development of a kinetic model and a reactor model for the enzymatic resolution of (R,S)-1-phenylethanol. The reaction progress curves catalyzed by immobilized lipases, ChiroCLEC-PC in batch stirred tank reactor were used to develop the kinetic model. The resolution followed Ping-Pong Bi-Bi mechanism with the inhibition of lauric acid, (R,S)-1-phenylethanol and water. The validity of the model was verified by fitting it to another experimental data catalyzed by immobilized lipases, Chirazyme L2, c.-f., C3, lyo at the same reaction conditions. The rate equation was then applied for the development of reactor model in a recirculated packed bed reactor system. The overall effectiveness factor and Peclet number were used to determine the mass transfer and axial dispersion limitation in the reactor performance. The reactor model was verified by fitting it to the larger scale reactor data with the correlation coefficient value more than 0.99

Characterization of ZnO Nanorods Grown on GaN Using Aqueous Solution Method

Uniformly distributed ZnO nanorods with diameter 70-100 nm and 1-2μm long have been successfully grown at low temperatures on GaN by using the inexpensive aqueous solution method. The formation of the ZnO nanorods and the growth parameters are controlled by reactant concentration, temperature and pH. No catalyst is required. The XRD studies show that the ZnO nanorods are single crystals and that they grow along the c axis of the crystal plane. The room temperature photoluminescence measurements have shown ultraviolet peaks at 388nm with high intensity, which are comparable to those found in high quality ZnO films. The mechanism of the nanorod growth in the aqueous solution is proposed. The dependence of the ZnO nanorods on the growth parameters was also investigated. While changing the growth temperature from 60°C to 150°C, the morphology of the ZnO nanorods changed from sharp tip (needle shape) to flat tip (rod shape). These kinds of structure are useful in laser and field emission application.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Growth of ZnO Nanorods on GaN Using Aqueous Solution Method

Uniformly distributed ZnO nanorods with diameter 80-120 nm and 1-2µm long have been successfully grown at low temperatures on GaN by using the inexpensive aqueous solution method. The formation of the ZnO nanorods and the growth parameters are controlled by reactant concentration, temperature and pH. No catalyst is required. The XRD studies show that the ZnO nanorods are single crystals and that they grow along the c axis of the crystal plane. The room temperature photoluminescence measurements have shown ultraviolet peaks at 388nm with high intensity, which are comparable to those found in high quality ZnO films. The mechanism of the nanorod growth in the aqueous solution is proposed. The dependence of the ZnO nanorods on the growth parameters was also investigated. While changing the growth temperature from 60°C to 150°C, the morphology of the ZnO nanorods changed from sharp tip with high aspect ratio to flat tip with smaller aspect ratio. These kinds of structure are useful in laser and field emission application.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Screening therapeutic EMT blocking agents in a three-dimensional microenvironment

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in the early stages of dissemination of carcinoma leading to metastatic tumors, which are responsible for over 90% of all cancer-related deaths. Current therapeutic regimens, however, have been ineffective in the cure of metastatic cancer, thus an urgent need exists to revisit existing protocols and to improve the efficacy of newly developed therapeutics. Strategies based on preventing EMT could potentially contribute to improving the outcome of advanced stage cancers. To achieve this goal new assays are needed to identify targeted drugs capable of interfering with EMT or to revert the mesenchymal-like phenotype of carcinoma to an epithelial-like state. Current assays are limited to examining the dispersion of carcinoma cells in isolation in conventional 2-dimensional (2D) microwell systems, an approach that fails to account for the 3-dimensional (3D) environment of the tumor or the essential interactions that occur with other nearby cell types in the tumor microenvironment. Here we present a microfluidic system that integrates tumor cell spheroids in a 3D hydrogel scaffold, in close co-culture with an endothelial monolayer. Drug candidates inhibiting receptor activation or signal transduction pathways implicated in EMT have been tested using dispersion of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cell spheroids as a metric of effectiveness. We demonstrate significant differences in response to drugs between 2D and 3D, and between monoculture and co-culture.Singapore. National Research Foundation (Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology's BioSystems and Micromechanics Inter-Disciplinary Research programme)National University of Singapore (Cancer Science Institute)Singapore. Agency for Science, Technology and ResearchSingapore. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB core funding A*STAR