The world’s future energy needs will almost certainly require extensive use of renewable sources of energy. Organic photovoltaics are a particularly lucrative source of energy due to their cheap materials and ease of production compared to inorganic solar cells. However, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) currently suffer several drawbacks: they have an efficiency of, at most, around 10% and they are unstable – they may begin to degrade within five to seven years. This project aims to alleviate these defects by gaining a greater understanding of the chemical interaction between interfaces within the solar cell. This project is a comprehensive study of the interactions between phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and calcium. PCBM is an extensively researched molecule which acts as an electron acceptor in OPV devices. PCBM is typically paired with an electron donor such as poly-(3-hexylthiophene) in a working device, and calcium has energetic properties which allow for very good electron transfer at the cathode of such a device. We use adsorption micro-calorimetry under ultra-high vacuum conditions to study the reaction at the interface between calcium and PCBM, and surface analytical techniques to determine growth modes and chemical binding of calcium and PCBM. These experiments will elucidate the mechanisms of interface formation of this understudied but important OPV system.

All organisms require the pyridine nucleotides NAD(P)(H) to perform various cellular functions, but their role in methylotrophy is not well understood. Methylotrophic organisms are able to use organic substrates without carbon-carbon as a sole source of energy and carbon. In metabolism, pyridine nucleotides provide reducing power for the cell to perform redox reactions in catabolic and anabolic processes. In contrast to energy-limited modes of growth, methylotrophy is predicted to be reducing power-limited as the oxidation of methanol or methylamine is coupled to phosphorylation of ATP and energy production. Furthermore, internal concentrations of NAD(P)(H) are predicted to be saturating so the balance between catabolic and anabolic charge ratios may be of greater importance than the relative concentrations. Consistent with these predictions, fluctuations in NADPH levels are observed during as an immediate response when the facultative methylotroph Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is transitioned from multi- to single-carbon substrates. Known mechanisms to recycle pyridine nucleotides include the decoupling of NAD(P)H using NAD(P) kinases/phosphatases or transhydrogenases and the use of enzymes with dual specificity or isoenzymes. We propose a transhydrogenation cycle between the EMC and PHB pathway to be an important mechanism to maintain redox homeostasis in M. extorquens AM1. To demonstrate this, I will use select OMIC approaches to analyze wild-type strains during succinate to methanol transitions and compare wild type to an mtdB mutant, a strain without a functional methylene-H₄MPT dehydrogenase B (MtdB). In this mutant, the assimilatory blocks on methanol and methylamine are presumably due to the disruption of a key pyridine-nucleotide producing step. These results will provide increased understanding of the mechanisms used to balance production with consumption of redox equivalents and re-distribute carbon flux in M. extorquens AM1. Insight from this work has implications for engineering methylotrophs for biotechnological applications including the production of biofuels and value-added chemicals.

The development of simple and affordable diagnostics is critical to the diagnosis, monitoring, and management of disease. Nucleic acid amplification has become the gold standard for many diagnostic applications due to its high sensitivity, specificity, and low limit of detection. Fluorescent dyes typically detect the success of amplification, but require expensive optical equipment including lasers and filters. A cheap and visually distinctive method for detecting nucleic acid amplification will simplify and lower the cost of molecular diagnostics. This research project aims to develop a simple colorimetric reaction for detection of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reactions. LAMP produces large amounts of pyrophosphate by-product during amplification. Pyrophosphate complexes many metals and can displace dyes bound to metals in solution to create color changes. Our goal is to identify a set of chemicals consisting of colored dye and metal ions that will present an unambiguous color change denoting success (or lack thereof) of amplification. Using knowledge of metal-ligand formation constants, we have determined a group of metal-dye complexes that may be viable candidates for detection and are currently testing them in the laboratory. One example is indigo carmine dye. In the presence of pyrophosphate, the dye stays blue (a positive test), while the lack of pyrophosphate will turn the dye clear (a negative test). We are in the process of fully understanding the chemistry of this reaction and further optimizing the process to improve its viability. Exploration of other metal-dye complexes, as well as continuing investigation of the literature, will be conducted to improve the present results. This colorimetric reaction has the potential to simplify and lower the cost of DNA detection.

 The purpose of this study is to determine structure-solvent property relationships in organic photovoltaic polymers, with the overarching goal of increasing the efficiency of organic solar cells (OPVs). OPVs are of great interest due to their flexibility, low environmental impact, and modest cost. Additionally, OPVs can be dissolved in organic solvents and printed using roll-to-roll, high-throughput processing – a feature that lends them a large advantage in the photovoltaic industry. Unfortunately, OPVs fall short within the realm of efficiency; the ~10% efficiency of OPVs can hardly rival the ~40% efficiency of inorganic photovoltaic technology. Improving the efficiency of OPVs is an important obstacle in producing low-area, economically viable solar cells. This project aims to use computational models to study the role of organic solvents in mediating the self-assembly of polythiophenes, a commonly studied class of OPV polymers. These models are generated in GROMACS, a program that uses an empirical potential energy function for the polymer, solvent, and polymer-solvent interactions to predict the molecule’s time-dependent behavior with classical molecular dynamics. In particular, these simulations can predict how physical properties such as the free energy of the polymers change as the torsional angles between monomers are varied throughout the simulation. Moreover, changes in the preferred conformations of the polymer are primarily signified by the lowest free-energy states. If we do discover changes in the preferred conformations of the polymer, simulations can be used to test whether these changes are predominantly due to the solvent or the structure of the polymer. This yields information about the equilibrium and self-assembly of the polymer, which can eventually improve the efficiency of OPVs by allowing more control over the polymer nanostructure during high throughput manufacturing processes such as roll-to-roll printing.

Methylotrophs are bacteria that utilize one-carbon compounds like methane, methanol or methylamine for growth, and play an important role in the carbon cycling of aquatic ecosystems. In particular, bacterial communities investigated in Lake Washington have proven the significance of methylotrophs in methane and methanol rich environments. From these communities, individual strains of bacteria are cultivated, and their genomes are sequenced. Genomic sequencing enables taxonomic classification, which differentiates these novel strains into different classes. By cultivating these strains on selective media and observing their properties under various conditions, these novel strains can be classified further by their phenotypes. Additionally, the phylogenetic relationships between these strains rely on the analysis of their shared proteins. Through the study of an array of alpha- and betaproteobacteria, we can track the divergence of each of these strains in their key methylotrophy metabolic pathways. These subtle gene differences are a testament to the metabolic variety and ingenuity of these bacteria. Phenotypic differences among these strains also imply the variety of roles each organism has within their community and alludes to partnerships between these bacteria in their natural environment.

Planet earth has been experiencing droughts of devastating proportions. With these droughts becoming more frequent and widespread, many areas of the world are unequipped to deal with the economic and agricultural impacts. About 44 percent of the world’s population resides in and around coastal regions. Thus, resorting to the oceans for clean drinking water is an obvious solution. Zwitterions are environmentally friendly molecules that maintain a positive and negative charge simultaneously. Research has shown that these types of molecules possess non-fouling or fouling release capabilities in a variety of marine applications due to their hydrophilic properties. Therefore, using zwitterionic polymer coatings in an effort to eliminate the membrane fouling issue that plagues ocean water reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants is promising. Currently, harmful chemicals are added to the water to reduce membrane fouling, but this approach merely suppresses the issue. RO membrane fouling has prevented ocean desalination from emerging as a viable source of fresh water due to high maintenance and operation costs. Most commercially available RO membranes are comprised of either cellulose acetate or aromatic polyamide, and both are susceptible to fouling. I will synthesize two zwitterionic polymers, poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (pSBMA) and poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA), that will be grafted to the membrane surface. I will then expose the coated membranes to solutions of fluorescently tagged protein and compare the non-fouling performance to an uncoated membrane by measuring the fluorescent light intensity of the surface binding proteins. In addition, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) will be used to quantify the surface protein binding. Utilizing the zwitterionic coatings to eliminate the fouling issues experienced by desalination plants will reduce the monetary and environmental costs. This action will further prevent the addition of harmful chemicals that are released into the environment.

Cancer diagnostic immunoassays are widely used for the detection of disease in vitro, but low antigen concentrations may not be detected in an early stage or confused for baseline noise, leading to false negative or positive diagnoses. Poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (PCB) is a zwitterionic polymer that strongly resists biofouling while allowing simple functionalization and effective bioconjugation to proteins. Coating this polymer on iron oxide nanoparticles via a DOPA attachment group allows for easy antibody immobilization, to realize low nonspecific binding and high signal-to-noise ratio in one platform. Methods for nanoparticle construction include synthesis of MNPs (magnetic nanoparticles) coated with PCB-DOPA and PCB-DOPA2. The coated particles are functionalized with FITC-BSA and FITC-streptavidin using EDC/NHS chemistry to optimize conjugation parameters. A model antibody (ALCAM antibody) is then conjugated to test the platform’s sensitivity for immunoassays. The functionalized nanoparticles are characterized with Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), fluorescence spectroscopy, flow cytometry, and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). Control groups with bare beads, functionalized beads with no polymer coating, or no functionalization are also processed in the experiment to compare with experimental groups. In preliminary tests, the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles have a high level of immobilization of each tested protein or antibody (FITC-BSA, FITC-streptavidin, and ALCAM antibody). In the plasma stability test, the PCB-coated and beads show low nonspecific binding even with high levels of functionalization. The experimental immunoassay can detect a low concentration of the ALCAM cancer biomarker in bovine serum, with less baseline noise than a commercial immunoassay (Luminex MagPlex®). The functionalized magnetic nanoparticles have a low detection limit to an early-stage cancer biomarker and a high signal-to-noise ratio due to reduced nonspecific binding. This platform could be extended to many clinical immunoassays in which either false negative or false positive diagnostic readings are problem.

This research focuses on optimizing the functionalization of cationic gold nanoparticles for use in plasmonic emulsions for treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease. This condition affects approximately 12 million people in United States. Plasmonic emulsions are prepared by self-assembly through the adsorption of functionalized gold nanoparticles in deionized water on the surface of perfluorohexane oil droplets. When irradiated with a near infrared laser, the emulsion is vaporized creating a mechanical pressure wave that can be used in breaking up plaque formation in the arteries. Cationic gold nanoparticles are introduced to produce the emulsion due to opposite charge attraction between the nanoparticles and the anionic perfluorohexane-water interface. In this research, a method of synthesizing cationic gold nanoparticles is explored. First, the gold synthesis is performed in a biphasic system consisting of toluene and water. Once the particle synthesis is complete, mercaptoundecyl-trimethylammonium bromide is added to the gold nanoparticles to form a cationic thiol monolayer over the gold nanoparticles. The cationic gold nanoparticles are then separated by centrifugation and the supernatant is discharged. The nanoparticles are dried and stored until use in emulsification. Preliminary results showed that the average diameter of cationic gold nanoparticles ranged from 4nm to 6nm. The dried nanoparticles were also found to be redispersible in water or alcohol, i.e, methanol and ethanol. These advances create a pathway for the study of spontaneous emulsification with cationic gold nanoparticles and for their use in medical technologies. In future work, the particle size distribution needs to be narrowed for use in plasmonic emulsion operated in vivo where renal clearance requires sizes less than 5.5 nm.

Currently, there is a huge waste of natural gas being vented or flared off all over the world resulting in large amounts of lost energy while the demand for liquid fuel continues to rise. This loss of energy can be reduced through the use of methanotrophs to converts natural gas to liquid fuel, also known as biological gas-to-liquid fuel conversion. This project is broken down into three areas: Strain Improvement, Process Optimization, and Recovery. My portion of the project is to help gather base-line fermentation data for the purpose of strain improvement. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop efficient fermentation process for the production of high lipid biomass. The methanotrophic bacteria strain is Methylomicrobium buryatense (5GB1). Each fermentation run is done in a 1L bioreactor (fermentor). Different mixed gases are used for each fermentation run. Optical density is used to monitor bacterial growth, and the produced gas is analyzed using a Gas Chromotography System. The different conditions tested are oxygen limited, methane limited, and methanol with a control set up of unlimited growth. Unlimited growth is found to have the fastest growth rate with a doubling time of 3 hours. Oxygen limited and lethane limited have a slower growth rate when compared to unlimited growth, which follows the expected bacteria behavior under limiting conditions. Methanol causes the bacteria to go through a longer phase of lag time and has a slower doubling time compared to unlimited growth as well. After testing the growth rates under these conditions, the produced biomass is tested for the amount of lipids in the cells. The final results are then compared to find the optimal intersection between lipid biomass production and bacteria growth rate.

This research has investigated the aggregation of surfactants in solvents with dielectric constants in the range of 20-35. These surfactant aggregates are called micelles. Previous work has focused on aqueous systems with dielectric constants on the order of 80, or on alkane systems with dielectric constants less than two. These systems give rise to normal and inverse micelles, respectively; the immediate purpose of this research has been to determine what processes occur between those extremes. For any given solvent there is a specific concentration of surfactant at which micelles begin to form, called the critical micelle concentration or CMC. Because certain system properties, like surface tension and conductivity, have clearly different functional dependencies on surfactant concentration with and without micelles, measurement of these properties provides a direct means to investigate micellization. In order to investigate solvents with a range of dielectric constants, both pure components and mixtures have been used. The data from these systems show regions at high and low solvent dielectric constants where the CMC changes with dielectric constant, as well as an intermediate region with no clear micelle formation. This data, coupled with past research, suggests that, in general, as the solvent dielectric constant increases from 0 there is an initial inverse micellization regime, followed by a range where no micelles form, followed by a normal micellization regime. This finding helps shed light on the fundamental mechanisms of micellization, as well as provide a valuable basic research starting point for practical applications.

Emulsions of oil droplets decorated with gold nanoparticles can be used to enhance contrast in ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging. Plasmon resonance in the gold nanoparticles enables absorption of near infra-red (NIR) light, which can penetrate two to three centimeters below the skin in the human body. Upon irradiation with a NIR laser, oil droplets with a shell of gold nanoparticles will heat and vaporize as the gold absorbs the light. The vaporization of the oil creates a microbubble, providing contrast enhancement in imaging as well as a mechanical pressure wave which could be used to deliver mechanical forces inside the body. If the gold nanoparticles are functionalized with ligands that are designed to target specific areas or threats inside the body, the process could also be used to deliver targeted therapy. Emulsions are thermodynamically unstable and will coalesce over time without external stabilization. We utilize gold nanoparticle surfactants to stabilize the oil-water interface. We investigated a charge based stabilization of perfluorohexane emulsions with cationic gold nanoparticles. Size is characterized by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Successful adsorption of the cationic gold nanoparticles to the oil-water interface is represented by zeta potential, which approximates surface charge. Emulsions of oil have a negative surface charge and the presence of cationic gold at the interface will result in a positive charge. Ultra-Violet Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) is used to measure the NIR absorbance of the emulsions, which should be maximized to enable rapid heating of the gold nanoparticles and subsequent oil vaporization. Stability over time is determined by changes in the DLS and UV-Vis curves. The results of the investigation are analyzed in terms of size, stability, and NIR absorbance in order to determine the potential effectiveness of a charge based stabilization mechanism in creating plasmonic emulsions for contrast agents and therapeutics.

The purpose of this study is to improve biomass processes that utilize renewable feedstock to produce value added chemicals. While much research has been conducted into biomass processing over the last decade, the conversion to small molecules for production of fuels and value-added chemicals is not economically viable and must be improved. Chemical processing is hindered by the robust structure, composed of cellulose and lignin and its resistance to breakdown, which results in expensive treatment methods. In the last several years, ionic liquids have shown by experiment to dissolve recalcitrant biomass allowing for more efficient chemical conversion. Ionic liquids are a class of solvents composed of ions that are liquid at near room temperature. There are a countless number of solvents considered ionic liquids and many have potential to improve biomass processing. The optimal ionic liquid is unknown, and the determination of one is not inspired by molecular scale design principles. My project focuses on providing fundamental knowledge to understand the dissolution of biomass in ionic liquids by using molecular dynamics (MD) in combination with enhanced sampling techniques. Enhanced sampling allows the efficient exploration of the free energy landscape of a system by modifying MD algorithms and without such methods, MD cannot reasonably make conclusions about the effect of ionic liquids. The enhanced sampling method that I employed in this work is Parallel Tempering Metadynamics which is used to explore the conformational free energy of cellulose oligomers. The conformational free energy of short cellulose chains can provide insight to the mechanism of dissolution and eventually optimize biomass processing.

Kesterite structured semiconductors copper zinc tin sulfide, selenide and sulfoselenide semiconductors (Cu₂ZnSnS₄, Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ and Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ respectively) have great potential for the next generation of photovoltaic devices. The bandgap of the sulfoselenide can be tuned from 1.5eV to 1.0eV by varying to ratio of S/(S+Se) from pure sulfide to selenide. Contrary to crystalline silicon solar cells that have dominated the market, this family of semiconductors are made from nontoxic earth abundant elements that allow for the potential to scale up to terawatt production levels. These thin film photovoltaics have a drastically lower cost of manufacturing as they require a smaller initial energy input and less raw material. This work explores the chemistry behind the formation of these semiconductor materials. The molecular precursor solutions were made using Cu₂(tu)₆Cl₂ for the copper source, as the copper is already in the 1+ oxidation state in addition to being coordinated by thiourea. This was then dissolved using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent. Using this as a basis, a total of six solutions were made by varying both the tin and zinc compounds added including tin (II) and tin (IV) chlorides and acetates, zinc (II) chloride and a zinc thiourea complex, Zn(tu)₂Cl₂. These solutions were then spin coated onto molybdenum coated soda lime glass to form CZTS films under thermal and further annealed in selenium vapor to form CZTSSe. In some cases, a thin cadmium sulfide (CdS) layer was deposited onto the CZTSSe film via chemical bath deposition to protect the film from photoluminescence measurement. In between each step, samples were collected and characterized using x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence to determine the film’s composition and detect possible binary or ternary impurities. Results from the six solutions are compared and CZTSSe formation mechanisms are discussed.

With the ever growing global population, demand for new abundant sources of energy is on the rise. Solar power is one such source, and despite technology dating back several decades, it has failed to gain major traction due to both the cost of materials and processing of silicon semiconductors, which currently dominate the market. One promising replacement for silicon is copper tin zinc sulfide (CZTS), and its selenated derivatives, CZTSSe, and CZTSe. The bandgap of these materials is adjustable by varying the ratio of sulfur and selenium, S/(S+Se), and lies between 1.0 and 1.5 eV, an ideal range for photovolatics (PV). CZTS solar cells consist of earth abundant materials which are inexpensive to process. One such method, the molecular precursor route, involves making solutions of the precursor materials, including copper (I), zinc (II), tin (IV), thiourea (tu) as a sulfur source, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Once the solution forms, thin films are spin coated onto molybdenum (Mo) coated substrate and thermally annealed at 500°C to form the CZTS crystal structure and absorber layer before subsequent processing steps. In this solution, metal-thiourea, metal-DMSO and metal-thiourea-DMSO complexes of various geometries and constitution are formed. Using density functional theory (DFT), the stability of these complexes has been probed to determine their relative stability in order to understand the contents of the solution and to optimize the precursor solution to improve the efficiency of CZTS. By choosing precursor chemicals which form complexes of varying stability, the CZTS molecular ink formulation can be modified and CZTS absorber material quality can be improved. Complexes such as Zn(DMSO)₂Cl₂, Zn(tu)₂Cl₂, and Sn(DMSO)₆ have been investigated using DFT calculation methods within Gaussian. Both the vacuum and solvated energies have been investigated and compared to gain insight into what complexes are present in the molecular precursor solution.

Tension variations are caused principally by composition (and sometimes temperature) variations from point to point on the interface. Unbalanced tension in the interface propels it into motion directed from the region of low tension toward the region of higher tension. The variations in interface composition and/or temperature leading to the Marangoni effect may develop in two different ways: either through the self-amplification of small disturbances (instability) or from macroscopic asymmetry in the system. In the presence of a surfactant, the disturbances in the adjoining bulk phases are resisted. The resulting elastic-like behavior is referred to as “Gibbs elasticity.” The mass transfer of acetic acid was examined in isobutanol-water and toluene-water systems. Also, the macroscopic asymmetry in a propanol-water system was observed. Finally, different concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate were examined to maximize the observation of Gibbs elasticity. To observe this phenomenon the schlieren system was utilized. The schlieren method of observation takes advantages of the variations in refractive index accompanying mass transfer to render visible flow patterns. The systems under study were placed in a capillary slit and observed with the schlieren system. Marangoni convection occurred in the mass transfer of isobutanol and toluene to water. However, it was not observed in the mass transfer of acetic acid in water to toluene and isobutanol. At 35 vol% isopropanol in water, “wine tears” formed. The tears formed due to Marangoni convection in the macroscopic asymmetries of the system. However, at 95 vol% isopropanol in water, the Marangoni effect was not observed. This was due to the azeotropic behavior of isopropanol and water. At higher concentrations of isopropanol, water is more volatile. Due to its higher surface tension, Marangoni convection does not occur. Due to contamination, Gibbs elasticity was not observed with sodium dodecyl sulfate.

Novel cancer therapies using genetically engineered T-cells are currently undergoing clinical trials at research institutions such as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC). The cell-based cancer therapies involve introducing novel genes into a patient’s T cells to express high-affinity tumor targeting receptors called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Several tumor associated molecules (tumor antigens) have already been identified and are targetable by CARs, such as CD19, which is expressed in B-cell lymphomas and leukemia. The manufacture of these patient specific CAR T-cell therapies can be very costly requiring a considerable amount of time and labor as well as raw materials that are both expensive and limited in their availability. The overall objective of the process development group at FHCRC is to improve the manufacturability and commercial potential of the CAR T-cells while maintaining their effectiveness in killing the intended targets. The goal of this work focuses on optimizing the cell culture conditions in which the T-cells are grown and, specifically, characterizing the role of glucose and human serum on process performance. Experiments were initiated by first stimulating T-cell growth using anti-CD3/CD28 antibody coated microbeads followed by lentivirus transduction to express a high affinity CD19 CAR. The cells were cultured using a range of glucose and human serum concentrations while monitoring cell growth rate and viability using a hemocytometer. The phenotype distribution of the T-cell populations was also followed using a flow cytometer. Finally, T-cell target killing was assessed using a chromium release method whereby the expanded T-cells were co-culturing with CD19 positive B-cells that were primed to release intracellular Cr51 when killed. A strong positive correlation between the concentrations of both human serum and glucose on the growth rates of the T-cells was observed. Interestingly, increased glucose concentrations also correlated with decreased T-cell target cytotoxicity. Additional work is required to fully characterize and understand the role of glucose and the other culture conditions on the T-cell expansion process and their resulting target killing activity.

Approximately one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. One key aspect of searching for the cure for breast cancer is to understand the metastasis of breast cancer cells, or the movement of cancer cells from one organ of origin to a distal site. In addition, the recent identification of subpopulations of cancer cells that have stem cell-like properties, termed cancer stem cells, point to a very important area of study in order to eradicate breast cancer in the body. Breast cancer cells with high cell surface protein CD44 and low cell surface protein CD24 levels are known cancer stem cells. In this study, we first validated and then employed an in vitro scratch assay to track the migration of breast cancer cells. A micrometer pipette tip was used to create a gap in a monolayer of breast cancer cells that had been stimulated with different Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands and other controls. The gap width was measured over 24-hour time points to determine the rate of cell migration. These ligands were tested at varying concentrations and in both soluble and particle-encapsulated form. To differentiate the effect of cell migration from proliferation on gap width measurements, the rate of proliferation of the breast cancer cells after stimulation with TLR ligands was analyzed. Our results suggest that TLR ligands slow the migration of the cancer cells to varying degrees with particle encapsulated Poly(I:C) being the most effective. In addition, our experiments suggest that Poly(I:C) loaded in particles slows the migration of CD44+/CD24- BT-20 cells, known cancer stem cells. Overall, this research will allow for a better understanding of the migratory effects of various TLR ligands and, hopefully, aid in the research of breast cancer metastasis, especially the metastasis of breast cancer stem cells.

Defect characterization of a completed solar cell is an important and often tricky step of improving the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. There are many well documented and useful techniques that already exist for doing this. Examples of more prominent techniques include photocurrent vs voltage (JV) and External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) measurements. In general however when preforming these measurements the cell is taken to be homogenous over the area of the cell. Cells tend to be more and less efficient in certain regions however. Laser Beam Induced Current (LBIC) is a method where a local photocurrent is generated in the cell with a laser beam. Using this method of local excitation a high density LBIC map can be generated to give insight into the non-homogenous features of the cell by taking a large number of LBIC measurements and recording the XY position that each point was taken at. Depending on the wavelength of laser used to generate the LBIC map different layers of the cell may also be probed. LBIC can be used to figure out what layers, where in fabrication, and possible after-fabrication damages that lead to drops in efficiency in certain regions of the cell. This knowledge can be applied in future fabrications to increase the overall efficiency of the cell.