Gold nanorods grown from HgTe nanoparticles directly on various surfaces

Gold nanorods (NRs) are nucleated by HgTe semiconductor nanoparticles. Growth of ~200 X 50 nm2 NRs directly on various surfaces is achieved by using an intermediary polyelectrolyte layer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the deposition of gold. An increase in the intensity of the Au NR plasmon resonance is observed with optical extinction spectroscopy. This seeding technique, amenable to many different surfaces, suggests a simple synthetic route to composite materials with interesting electronic and optical properties.Peer reviewedPhysicsChemistr

Burnt and Blossoming: Material Mysticism in Trilogy and Four Quartets

This paper brings two WWII poems into dialogue: H.D.'s Trilogy and Eliot's Four Quartets. Both poems express a creative response to the destruction of war. My reading of Trilogy suggests a material mysticism in which vision and renewal are situated within the natural world, rituals and bodily experience. Bringing this understanding of mysticism to bear on Four Quartets reveals tension between transcendence and materiality. For Eliot, redemption comes through time and location, while for H.D., redemption lies within material particularity. Four Quartets oscillates between an apophatic discourse that seeks to transcend desire and history and an emphasis on material particularities