Date of Award

5-29-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Applied Science

First Advisor

Noureen Siraj

Abstract

Materials is a crucial area of science which encompasses the design, synthesis, and application of various chemicals or other materials. Determining the relationship between materials’ physical, chemical, and photophysical properties on their performance is crucial to design the most optimal materials. This dissertation is focused on two types of materials: ionic liquids and heteroatom doped carbons as well as their various applications. Part A of this dissertation is focused on the development of various frozen ionic liquids (ionic materials, IMs) and nanoparticles derived from IMs as cancer therapeutics. The effect of various counterions on the photophysical and cytotoxic properties of the drug are discussed. The simplistic IMs approach can provide greater specificity, enhanced photophysical properties, and improved efficacy towards tumor cells. Moreover, the mechanism of enhanced toxicity of these materials is investigated by determining their cellular uptake, subcellular localization, and cell death mechanism. Part B is focused on the synthesis of heteroatom doped carbons with tunable properties. By varying the synthetic precursors as carbon sources, their surface properties (surface area, porosity, elemental composition) are optimized. After thorough physical characterization, these materials are then applied as supercapacitor electrodes, sodium ion-battery anodes, and as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in fuel cells. The doped carbon materials are also investigated as adsorbent for dye adsorption from wastewater. The material performances in various applications are optimized by selectively tuning their surface chemistry using different doping agent.

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