Candidate
Collin Tittle
Title
Rapid Prototyping Technologies for Processing of Nanomaterials with Applications to Microfluidics and Nanoelectronics
Supervisor
Christopher Backhouse
Abstract
Two dimensional materials such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide are of great experimental interest due to their unique electrical and optical properties. Much of the existing literature has relied upon the use of low throughput, high cost processing and fabrication techniques. The objective of this thesis was to apply rapid prototyping technologies to the processing, device fabrication, and characterization of molybdenum disulfide. Substantial protocol and infrastructure development was achieved before the unexpected discovery of superhydrophobic behaviour present in graphene electrode structures. The properties of these surfaces were investigated and then the surfaces were applied to membrane distillation for the desalination of water.