{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124698"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124698","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Morphogenesis–morphology–function relationships of irregular nanomaterials using advanced electron microscopy and graph theory","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2026-05-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2026-05-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kalutantirige, Falon Christina"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Chen, Qian","Murphy, Catherine J","Leckband, Deborah E","Wang, Hua","Shen, Mei"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05","date_published":"2024-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Electron Microscopy","Electron Tomography","Liquid-phase Electron Tomography","3d Morphometry","3d Imaging","Polymer Membranes","Filtration","Irregular Morphology","Anisotropy","Structure Complexity","Graph Theory","Nanovoids"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2024 Falon Christina Kalutantirige"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124698","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Chen, Qian","Murphy, Catherine J","Leckband, Deborah E","Wang, Hua","Shen, Mei"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kalutantirige, Falon Christina"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2024-05","2024-04-26"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Electron Microscopy","Electron Tomography","Liquid-phase Electron Tomography","3d Morphometry","3d Imaging","Polymer Membranes","Filtration","Irregular Morphology","Anisotropy","Structure Complexity","Graph Theory","Nanovoids"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2024 Falon Christina Kalutantirige"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124698"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2026-05-01","The student, Falon Kalutantirige, accepted the attached license on 2024-04-24 at 00:17.","The student, Falon Kalutantirige, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-04-24 at 00:44.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-04-26 at 09:12.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20598 on 2024-09-16 at 00:50:21","Morphological irregularity, in the form of structural complexity, asymmetry and anisotropy, is ubiquitous in systems at all length scales. More interestingly, these irregular systems can be dynamic, showing morphological transformations with time. From the complex and irregular arrangement of celestial bodies, cosmic voids and extraterrestrial dust forming our Universe, to the size and shape of nanoparticles dictating their assemblies, morphological irregularity leads to unique properties and functions. Nanomaterials such as polymer membranes, biomaterials and nanoparticles often show three-dimensional irregular morphologies, and undergo dynamic changes in morphology. Unraveling the three-dimensional morphology in terms of formation, transformations, and functional relevance is challenging due to a lack of methodologies for imaging and quantifying these irregular nanomaterials with the needed temporal and nanometer spatial resolutions. This dissertation explores the quantitative relationships between the irregular, asymmetric and anisotropic morphology of nanomaterials, their morphogenesis mechanisms, and properties, using advanced electron microscopic techniques to capture the three-dimensional structure, coupled with quantitative morphometry and graph theory to discretize the nanoarchitecture. Firstly, the crumpled, void-containing nanomorphology of polyamide membranes is explored using three-dimensional nanostructure descriptors extracted from electron tomography at nanometer resolutions, revealing the mechanisms of nanomorphogenesis. The pore patterning and local thickness variations of the membranes uncover a Turing-like reaction diffusion instability leading to a coalescence and growth mechanism of morphogenesis. As polyamide membranes are commercially used in separation applications, local nanomorphology descriptors and graph theory are used to understand the relationship between the nanomorphology and properties. The experimental methanol permeance of polyamide membranes are theoretically modelled using nanomorphological parameters, such as local membrane thickness and nanovoid area, to provide accurate predictions of the separation properties. The irregular morphologies of polyamide membranes are quantified using three-dimensional structural skeletons from graph theory, to relate the nanomorphology to the mechanical properties in the form of the apparent modulus. Furthermore, using a volume-filled void reconstruction approach, the structural complexity of irregular and complex biological nanoparticles called brochosomes with anti-reflective and hydrophobic properties are explored. Beyond uncovering the morphology-function relationships, the evolution of morphology in bimetallic core-shell nanocubes with anisotropic etching behavior is studied using liquid-phase electron tomography. The symmetry-breaking, anisotropy evolution, and the stages of etching are revealed by structural skeleton graphs and graph theory. The dissertation highlights the interplay between morphology, emergence of structure and materials properties, to quantitatively elucidate the formation–structure–property relationships of nanomaterials."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Morphogenesis–morphology–function relationships of irregular nanomaterials using advanced electron microscopy and graph theory"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Chen, Qian","Murphy, Catherine J","Leckband, Deborah E","Wang, Hua","Shen, Mei"],"dc:creator":["Kalutantirige, Falon Christina"],"dc:date":["2024-05","2024-04-26"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2026-05-01","The student, Falon Kalutantirige, accepted the attached license on 2024-04-24 at 00:17.","The student, Falon Kalutantirige, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-04-24 at 00:44.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-04-26 at 09:12.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20598 on 2024-09-16 at 00:50:21","Morphological irregularity, in the form of structural complexity, asymmetry and anisotropy, is ubiquitous in systems at all length scales. More interestingly, these irregular systems can be dynamic, showing morphological transformations with time. From the complex and irregular arrangement of celestial bodies, cosmic voids and extraterrestrial dust forming our Universe, to the size and shape of nanoparticles dictating their assemblies, morphological irregularity leads to unique properties and functions. Nanomaterials such as polymer membranes, biomaterials and nanoparticles often show three-dimensional irregular morphologies, and undergo dynamic changes in morphology. Unraveling the three-dimensional morphology in terms of formation, transformations, and functional relevance is challenging due to a lack of methodologies for imaging and quantifying these irregular nanomaterials with the needed temporal and nanometer spatial resolutions. This dissertation explores the quantitative relationships between the irregular, asymmetric and anisotropic morphology of nanomaterials, their morphogenesis mechanisms, and properties, using advanced electron microscopic techniques to capture the three-dimensional structure, coupled with quantitative morphometry and graph theory to discretize the nanoarchitecture. Firstly, the crumpled, void-containing nanomorphology of polyamide membranes is explored using three-dimensional nanostructure descriptors extracted from electron tomography at nanometer resolutions, revealing the mechanisms of nanomorphogenesis. The pore patterning and local thickness variations of the membranes uncover a Turing-like reaction diffusion instability leading to a coalescence and growth mechanism of morphogenesis. As polyamide membranes are commercially used in separation applications, local nanomorphology descriptors and graph theory are used to understand the relationship between the nanomorphology and properties. The experimental methanol permeance of polyamide membranes are theoretically modelled using nanomorphological parameters, such as local membrane thickness and nanovoid area, to provide accurate predictions of the separation properties. The irregular morphologies of polyamide membranes are quantified using three-dimensional structural skeletons from graph theory, to relate the nanomorphology to the mechanical properties in the form of the apparent modulus. Furthermore, using a volume-filled void reconstruction approach, the structural complexity of irregular and complex biological nanoparticles called brochosomes with anti-reflective and hydrophobic properties are explored. Beyond uncovering the morphology-function relationships, the evolution of morphology in bimetallic core-shell nanocubes with anisotropic etching behavior is studied using liquid-phase electron tomography. The symmetry-breaking, anisotropy evolution, and the stages of etching are revealed by structural skeleton graphs and graph theory. The dissertation highlights the interplay between morphology, emergence of structure and materials properties, to quantitatively elucidate the formation–structure–property relationships of nanomaterials."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124698"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2024 Falon Christina Kalutantirige"],"dc:subject":["Electron Microscopy","Electron Tomography","Liquid-phase Electron Tomography","3d Morphometry","3d Imaging","Polymer Membranes","Filtration","Irregular Morphology","Anisotropy","Structure Complexity","Graph Theory","Nanovoids"],"dc:title":["Morphogenesis–morphology–function relationships of irregular nanomaterials using advanced electron microscopy and graph theory"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z"}