Thesiss

Crystal Engineering is the design of crystalline material using non-covalent synthesis. Co-crystals are multi-component crystals which are constructed from complementary intermolecular interactions, they are also known as supramolecular complexes. Design of such materials utilis…

Chromium metallacrowns have been proposed for many applications from a potential qubit, a molecular building block, a lithographic resist, to a host for different solvent molecules. The chemical variety and versatility of these molecules are what makes them a multifunctional pla…

In this work, X-ray and neutron powder diffraction experiments and complementary solid-state NMR spectroscopy are used to characterise NaNbO₃-based perovskite phases. Samples of NaNbO₃, KₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ and LiₓNa₁₋ₓNbO₃ are synthesised using a variety of techniques and subsequently c…

A novel geometry for powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), termed ‘focal construct geometry’ (FCG) is introduced and developed with both non-ideal samples and non-ideal sample conditions. FCG utilises an annular beam that has the unique feature of ‘focusing’ scattering maxima at singl…

The structure of molten Au0.81Si0.19, Au0.72Ge0.28 and Ag0.74Ge0.26 alloys with a composition at or near to the eutectic was investigated by using neutron diffraction (ND). The results suggest that the Au-Au distance in the alloys is similar to that of liquid Au, there is a pref…

A nondestructive high energy (60 keV ) x-ray diffraction method to measure the internal strain depth-profile in materials was developed using a standard 320 kV p laboratory x-ray source. Traditional x-ray strain measurements are limited to few microns of depth due to the limited…

Needle-based intervention insertion is one of the common surgical techniques used in many diagnostic and therapeutic percutaneous procedures. The success of such procedures highly depends on the accuracy of needle placement at target locations. An active needle has the potential…

Advanced manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing (AM) have poised themselves to revolutionize metal manufacturing. A wide range of AM techniques are capable of manufacturing metal components with unique, complex geometries and hastening the scientific-engineering-de…

Throughout history, methodological innovations have resulted in breakthroughs in our understanding of biology. Methods for determining static protein structures, as well as those for probing protein dynamics, are well-established. Nonetheless, visualizing molecules as dynamic en…