Search results for: aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD)

Authors: Shu-Chuan Liao, Chia-Ti Chang, Ko-Shao Chen

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Titanium and its alloy are widely used in many fields such as dentistry or orthopaedics. Due to their high strength low elastic modulus that chemical inertness and bio inert. The micro-arc oxidation used to formation a micro porous ceramic oxide layer film on Titanium surface and also to improve the resistance corrosion. For improving the biocompatibility, micro-arc oxidation surfaces bio-inert need to introduce reactive group. We introduced boundary layer by used plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and organic active layer by UV light graft reactive monomer acrylic acid (AAc) therefore we can immobilize Chondroitin sulphate on surface easily by crosslinking EDC/NHS. The surface properties and composition of the modified layer were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and water contact angle. Water contact angle of the plasma-treated Ti surface decreases from 60° to 38°, which is an indication of hydrophilicity. The results of electrochemical polarization analysis showed that the sample plasma treated at micro-arc oxidation after plasma treatment has the best corrosion resistance. The result showed that we can immobilize chondroitin sulfate successful by a series of modification and MTT assay indicated the biocompatibility has been improved in this study.

Keywords: MAO, plasma, graft polymerization, biomedical application

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Authors: Sima Shakoorjavan, Dawid Stawski, Somaye Akbari

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In this study, the adsorption-desorption behavior of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) as a polycation and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) as a polyanion deposited on aminolyzed-PLA nonwoven through layer-by-layer technique (lbl) was studied. The adsorption-desorption behavior was monitored by UV adsorbance spectroscopy and turbidity tests of the waste polyelectrolytes after each deposition. Also, the drying between each deposition step was performed to study the effect of drying on adsorption-desorption behavior. According to UV adsorbance spectroscopy of the waste polyelectrolyte after each deposition, it was revealed that drying has a great effect on the deposition behavior of the next layer. Regarding the deposition of the second layer, drying caused more desorption and removal of the previously deposited layer since the turbidity and the absorbance of the waste increased in comparison to pure polyelectrolyte. To deposit the third layer, the same scenario occurred and drying caused more removal of the previously deposited layer. However, the deposition of the fourth layer drying after the deposition of the third layer did not affect the adsorption-desorption behavior. Since the adsorbance and turbidity of the samples that were dried and those that were not dried were the same. As a result, it seemed that deposition of the fourth layer could be the starting point where lbl reached its constant state. The decrease in adsorbance and remaining turbidity of the waste same as a pure polyelectrolyte can indicate that most portion of the polyelectrolyte was adsorbed onto the substrate rather than complex formation in the bath as the subsequence of the previous layer removal.

Keywords: Adsorption-desorption behavior, lbl technique, poly(amidoamine), poly (acrylic acid), weak polyelectrolytes

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Authors: Thien X. Dinh, Peter Witt

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A one-dimensional model for the simulation of condensation and solidification of a metallurgical vapor in the mixture of gas during supersonic expansion is presented. In the model, condensation is based on critical nucleation and drop-growth theory. When the temperature falls below the supercooling point, all the formed liquid droplets in the condensation phase are assumed to solidify at an infinite rate. The model was verified with a Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation of magnesium vapor condensation and solidification. The obtained results are in reasonable agreement with CFD data. Therefore, the model is a promising, efficient tool for use in the design process for supersonic nozzles applied in mineral processes since it is faster than the CFD counterpart by an order of magnitude.

Keywords: condensation, metallurgical flow, solidification, supersonic expansion

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Authors: Deb Kumar Shah, M. Shaheer Akhtar, Ha Ryeon Lee, O-Bong Yang, Chong Yeal Kim

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The crystalline silicon (Si) solar cells are highly renowned photovoltaic technology and well-established as the commercial solar technology. Most of the solar panels are globally installed with the crystalline Si solar modules. At the present scenario, the major photovoltaic (PV) market is shared by c-Si solar cells, but the cost of c-Si panels are still very high as compared with the other PV technology. In order to reduce the cost of Si solar panels, few necessary steps such as low-cost Si manufacturing, cheap antireflection coating materials, inexpensive solar panel manufacturing are to be considered. It is known that the antireflection (AR) layer in c-Si solar cell is an important component to reduce Fresnel reflection for improving the overall conversion efficiency. Generally, Si wafer exhibits the 30% reflection because it normally poses the two major intrinsic drawbacks such as; the spectral mismatch loss and the high Fresnel reflection loss due to the high contrast of refractive indices between air and silicon wafer. In recent years, researchers and scientists are highly devoted to a lot of researches in the field of searching effective and low-cost AR materials. Silicon nitride (SiNx) is well-known AR materials in commercial c-Si solar cells due to its good deposition and interaction with passivated Si surfaces. However, the deposition of SiNx AR is usually performed by expensive plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process which could have several demerits like difficult handling and damaging the Si substrate by plasma when secondary electrons collide with the wafer surface for AR coating. It is very important to explore new, low cost and effective AR deposition process to cut the manufacturing cost of c-Si solar cells. One can also be realized that a nano-texturing process like the growth of nanowires, nanorods, nanopyramids, nanopillars, etc. on Si wafer can provide a low reflection on the surface of Si wafer based solar cells. The above nanostructures might be enhanced the antireflection property which provides the larger surface area and effective light trapping. In this work, we report on the development of crystalline Si solar cells without using the AR layer. The Silicon wafer was modified by growing nanowires like Si nanostructures using the wet controlled etching method and directly used for the fabrication of Si solar cell without AR. The nanostructures over Si wafer were optimized in terms of sizes, lengths, and densities by changing the etching conditions. Well-defined and aligned wires like structures were achieved when the etching time is 20 to 30 min. The prepared Si nanostructured displayed the minimum reflectance ~1.64% at 850 nm with the average reflectance of ~2.25% in the wavelength range from 400-1000 nm. The nanostructured Si wafer based solar cells achieved the comparable power conversion efficiency in comparison with c-Si solar cells with SiNx AR layer. From this study, it is confirmed that the reported method (controlled wet etching) is an easy, facile method for preparation of nanostructured like wires on Si wafer with low reflectance in the whole visible region, which has greater prospects in developing c-Si solar cells without AR layer at low cost.

Keywords: chemical etching, conversion efficiency, silicon nanostructures, silicon solar cells, surface modification

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Authors: Antoine Dumont, Weiji Hong, Zheng-Hong Lu

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Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are steadily becoming the new standard for luminescent display devices because of their energy efficiency and relatively low cost, and the purity of the light they emit. Our research focuses on the optical properties of the lead halide perovskite CsPbBr₃ and its family that is showing steadily improving performances in LEDs and solar cells. The objective of this work is to investigate CsPbBr₃ as an emitting layer made by physical vapor deposition instead of the usual solution-processed perovskites, for use in LEDs. The deposition in vacuum eliminates any risk of contaminants as well as the necessity for the use of chemical ligands in the synthesis of quantum dots. Initial results show the versatility of the dual-source evaporation method, which allowed us to create different phases in bulk form by altering the mole ratio or deposition rate of CsBr and PbBr₂. The distinct phases Cs₄PbBr₆, CsPbBr₃ and CsPb₂Br₅ – confirmed through XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and X-ray diffraction analysis – have different optical properties and morphologies that can be used for specific applications in optoelectronics. We are particularly focused on the blue shift expected from quantum dots (QDs) and the stability of the perovskite in this form. We already obtained proof of the formation of QDs through our dual source evaporation method with electron microscope imaging and photoluminescence testing, which we understand is a first in the community. We also incorporated the QDs in an LED structure to test the electroluminescence and the effect on performance and have already observed a significant wavelength shift. The goal is to reach 480nm after shifting from the original 528nm bulk emission. The hole transport layer (HTL) material onto which the CsPbBr₃ is evaporated is a critical part of this study as the surface energy interaction dictates the behaviour of the QD growth. A thorough study to determine the optimal HTL is in progress. A strong blue shift for a typically green emitting material like CsPbBr₃ would eliminate the necessity of using blue emitting Cl-based perovskite compounds and could prove to be more stable in a QD structure. The final aim is to make a perovskite QD LED with strong blue luminescence, fabricated through a dual-source evaporation technique that could be scalable to industry level, making this device a viable and cost-effective alternative to current commercial LEDs.

Keywords: material physics, perovskite, light emitting diode, quantum dots, high vacuum deposition, thin film processing

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Authors: Diana Rymuszka, Konrad Terpiłowski, Lucyna Hołysz, Elena Goncharuk, Iryna Sulym

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Superhydrophobic surfaces exhibit extremely high water repellency. The commonly accepted basic criterion for such surfaces is a water contact angle larger than 150°, low contact angle hysteresis and low sliding angle. These surfaces are of special interest, because properties such as anti-sticking, anti-contamination and self-cleaning are expected. These properties are attractive for many applications such as anti-sticking of snow for antennas and windows, anti-biofouling paints for boats, waterproof clothing, self-cleaning windshields for automobiles, dust-free coatings or metal refining. The various methods for the preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces since last two decades have been reported, such as phase separation, electrochemical deposition, template method, plasma method, chemical vapor deposition, wet chemical reaction, sol-gel processing, lithography and so on. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of modified colloidal silica, used as a filler, on the hydrophobicity of the polymer film deposited on the glass support activated with plasma. On prepared surfaces water advancing (ӨA) and receding (ӨR) contact angles were measured and then their total apparent surface free energy was determined using the contact angle hysteresis approach (CAH). The structures of deposited films were observed with the help of an optical microscope. Topographies of selected films were also determined using an optical profilometer. It was found that plasma treatment influence glass surface wetting and energetic properties that is observed in higher adhesion between polymer/filler film and glass support. Using the colloidal silica particles as a filler for the polymer thin film deposited on the glass support, it is possible to produce strongly adhering layers of superhydrophobic properties. The best superhydrophobic properties were obtained for surfaces of the film glass/polimer + modified silica covered in 89 and 100%. The advancing contact angle measured on these surfaces amounts above 150° that leads to under 2 mJ/m2 value of the apparent surface free energy. Such films may have many practical applications, among others, as dust-free coatings or anticorrosion protection.

Keywords: contact angle, plasma, superhydrophobic, surface free energy

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Authors: Abbas Nasir, Xiong Zhang, Sohail Ahmad, Yiping Cui

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Non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayers of high structural quality have been grown on r-sapphire substrate by using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer with variable aluminium concentration was used to improve the structural quality of the non-polar a-plane AlGaN epilayer. The characterisations were carried out by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Hall effect measurement. The XRD and AFM results demonstrate that the Al-composition-graded non-polar AlGaN buffer layer significantly improved the crystalline quality and the surface morphology of the top layer. A low root mean square roughness 1.52 nm is obtained from AFM, and relatively low background carrier concentration down to 3.9×  cm^-3 is obtained from Hall effect measurement.

Keywords: non-polar AlGaN epilayer, Al composition-graded AlGaN layer, root mean square, background carrier concentration

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Authors: Xianglei Yin, Shen Wang, Baoyi Wang, Laihong Shen

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Chemical looping partial oxidation of methane (CLPOM) is a novel technology to produce high-quality syngas with an auto-thermic process and low equipment investment. The development of oxygen carriers is important for the improvement of the CLPOM performance. In this work, the effect of the nickel-substitution proportion on the performance of LaMn₁₋ᵧNiᵧO₃₊δ perovskites for CLPOM was studied in the aspect of reactivity, syngas selectivity, resistance towards carbon deposition and thermal stability in cyclic redox process. The LaMn₁₋ₓNiₓO₃ perovskite oxides with x = 0, 0.1, 0.2 were prepared by the sol-gel method. The performance of LaMn₁₋ᵧNiᵧO₃₊δ perovskites for CLPOM was investigated through the characterization of XRD, H₂-TPR, XPS, and fixed-bed experiments. The characterization and test results suggest that the doping of nickel enhances the generation rate of syngas, leading to high syngas yield, methane conversion, and syngas selectivity. This is attributed to the that the introduction of nickel provides active sites to promote the methane activation on the surface and causes the addition of oxygen vacancies to accelerate the migration of oxygen anion in the bulk of oxygen carrier particles. On the other hand, the introduction of nickel causes carbon deposition to occur earlier. The best substitution proportion of nickel is y=0.1 and LaMn₀.₉Ni₀.₁O₃₊δ could produce high-quality syngas with a yield of 3.54 mmol·g⁻¹, methane conversion of 80.7%, and CO selectivity of 84.8% at 850℃. In addition, the LaMn₀.₉Ni₀.₁O₃₊δ oxygen carrier exhibits superior and stable performance in the cyclic redox process.

Keywords: chemical looping partial oxidation of methane, LaMnO₃₊δ, Ni doping, syngas, carbon deposition

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Authors: Yang Xiao-Jun, Yu Tian-Hao, Hu Ying-Qi

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Breathing in foreign objects during the operation of the aircraft engine, impurities in the aircraft fuel and products of incomplete combustion can produce deposits on the surface of the turbine blades. These deposits reduce not only the turbine's operating efficiency but also the life of the turbine blades. Based on the small open wind tunnel, the simulation of deposits on the leading edge of the turbine has been carried out in this work. The effect of film cooling on particulate deposition was investigated. Based on the analysis, the adhesive mechanism for the molten pollutants’ reaching to the turbine surface was simulated by matching the Stokes number, TSP (a dimensionless number characterizing particle phase transition) and Biot number of the test facility and that of the real engine. The thickness distribution and growth trend of the deposits have been observed by high power microscope and infrared camera under different temperature of the main flow, the solidification temperature of the particulate objects, and the blowing ratio. The experimental results from the leading edge particulate deposition demonstrate that the thickness of the deposition increases with time until a quasi-stable thickness is reached, showing a striking effect of the blowing ratio on the deposition. Under different blowing ratios, there exists a large difference in the thickness distribution of the deposition, and the deposition is minimal at the specific blow ratio. In addition, the temperature of main flow and the solidification temperature of the particulate have a great influence on the deposition.

Keywords: deposition, experiment, film cooling, leading edge, paraffin particles

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Authors: Zhen Cao, Yu Zhu, Junxue Fu

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Immunoassay, i.e., antigen-antibody reaction, is crucial for disease diagnostics. To achieve the adequate signal of the antigen protein detection, a large amount of sample and long incubation time is needed. However, the amount of protein is usually small at the early stage, which makes it difficult to detect. Unlike cells and DNAs, no valid chemical method exists for protein amplification. Thus, an alternative way to improve the signal is through particle manipulation techniques to concentrate proteins, among which dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an effective one. DEP is a technique that concentrates particles to the designated region through a force created by the gradient in a non-uniform electric field. Since DEP force is proportional to the cube of particle size and square of electric field gradient, it is relatively easy to capture larger particles such as cells. For smaller ones like proteins, a super high gradient is then required. In this work, three-dimensional Ag/SiO2 nanorods arrays, fabricated by an easy physical vapor deposition technique called as oblique angle deposition, have been integrated with a DEP device and created the field gradient as high as of 2.6×10²⁴ V²/m³. The nanorods based DEP device is able to enrich bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein by 1800-fold and the rate has reached 180-fold/s when only applying 5 V electric potential. Based on the above nanorods integrated DEP platform, an immunoassay of mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) proteins has been performed. Briefly, specific antibodies are immobilized onto nanorods, then IgG proteins are concentrated and captured, and finally, the signal from fluorescence-labelled antibodies are detected. The limit of detection (LoD) is measured as 275.3 fg/mL (~1.8 fM), which is a 20,000-fold enhancement compared with identical assays performed on blank glass plates. Further, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is a cancer biomarker for diagnosis of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy, is also quantified with a LoD as low as 2.6 pg/mL. The time to signal saturation has been significantly reduced to one minute. In summary, together with an easy nanorod fabrication and integration method, this nanorods based DEP platform has demonstrated highly sensitive immunoassay performance and thus poses great potentials in applications for early point-of-care diagnostics.

Keywords: dielectrophoresis, immunoassay, oblique angle deposition, protein concentration

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Authors: Janella Salamania, Marcedon Fernandez, Matthew Villanueva Henry Ramos

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Titanium nitrite (TiN) a popular functional and decorative coating because of its golden yellow color, high hardness and superior wear resistance. It is also being studied as a diffusion barrier in integrated circuits due to its known chemical stability and low resistivity. While there have been numerous deposition methods done for TiN, most required the heating of substrates at high temperatures. In this work, TiN films are deposited on silicon (111) and (100) substrates without substrate heating using a patented magnetized sheet plasma source. Films were successfully deposited without substrate heating at various target bias, while maintaining a constant 25% N2 to Ar ratio, and deposition of time of 30 minutes. The resulting films exhibited a golden yellow color which is characteristic of TiN. X-ray diffraction patterns show the formation of TiN predominantly oriented in the (111) direction regardless of substrate used. EDX data also confirms the 1:1 stoichiometry of titanium an nitrogen. Ellipsometry measurements estimate the thickness to range from 28 nm to 33 nm. SEM images were also taken to observe the morphology of the film.

Keywords: coatings, nitrides, coatings, reactive magnetron sputtering, thin films

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Authors: Ali Zazi, Ouiza Cherifi

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Natural gas currently represents a raw material of choice for the manufacture of a wide range of chemical products via synthesis gas, among the routes of transformation of methane into synthesis gas The reaction of the oxidation of methane by gas vapor 'water. This work focuses on the study of the effect of cerieum on the nickel-based catalyst supported by silica for the methane vapor reforming reaction, with a variation of certain parameters of the reaction. The reaction temperature, the H₂O / CH₄ ratio and the flow rate of the reaction mixture (CH₄-H₂O). Two catalysts were prepared by impregnation of Degussa silica with a solution of nickel nitrates and a solution of cerium nitrates [Ni (NO₃) 2 6H₂O and Ce (NO₃) 3 6H₂O] so as to obtain the 1.5% nickel concentrations. For both catalysts and plus 1% cerium for the second catalyst. These Catalysts have been characterized by physical and chemical analysis techniques: BET technique, Atomic Absorption, IR Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction. These characterizations indicated that the nitrates had impregnated the silica. And that the NiO and Ce₂O3 phases are present and Ni°(after reaction). The BET surface of the silica decreases without being affected. The catalytic tests carried out on the two catalysts for the steam reforming reactions show that the addition of cerium to the nickel improves the catalytic performances of the nickel. And that these performances also depend on the parameters of the reaction, namely the temperature, the rate of the reaction mixture, and the ratio (H₂O / CH₄).

Keywords: heterogeneous catalysis, steam reforming, Methane, Nickel, Cerium, synthesis gas, hydrogen

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Authors: Wilman Septina, Rajiv R. Prabhakar, Thomas Moehl, David Tilley

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Cupric oxide (CuO) is a promising absorber material for the fabrication of scalable, low cost solar energy conversion devices, due to the high abundance and low toxicity of copper. It is a p-type semiconductor with a band gap of around 1.5 eV, absorbing a significant portion of the solar spectrum. One of the main challenges in using CuO as solar absorber in an aqueous system is its tendency towards photocorrosion, generating Cu2O and metallic Cu. Although there have been several reports of CuO as a photocathode for hydrogen production, it is unclear how much of the observed current actually corresponds to H2 evolution, as the inevitability of photocorrosion is usually not addressed. In this research, we investigated the effect of the deposition of overlayers onto CuO thin films for the purpose of enhancing its photostability as well as performance for water splitting applications. CuO thin film was fabricated by galvanic electrodeposition of metallic copper onto gold-coated FTO substrates, followed by annealing in air at 600 °C. Photoelectrochemical measurement of the bare CuO film using 1 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.9) under simulated AM 1.5 sunlight showed a current density of ca. 1.5 mA cm-2 (at 0.4 VRHE), which photocorroded to Cu metal upon prolonged illumination. This photocorrosion could be suppressed by deposition of 50 nm-thick TiO2, deposited by atomic layer deposition. In addition, we found that insertion of an n-type CdS layer, deposited by chemical bath deposition, between the CuO and TiO2 layers was able to enhance significantly the photocurrent compared to without the CdS layer. A photocurrent of over 2 mA cm-2 (at 0 VRHE) was observed using the photocathode stack FTO/Au/CuO/CdS/TiO2/Pt. Structural, electrochemical, and photostability characterizations of the photocathode as well as results on various overlayers will be presented.

Keywords: CuO, hydrogen, photoelectrochemical, photostability, water splitting

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Authors: Kalpana Rajouriya, Ajay Taneja

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The objective of the present study is to investigate the regional and lobar deposition of size-segregated PM in respiratory tract of human body. PM in different fractions is monitored using the Grimm portable environmental dust monitor during winter season in Firozabad; a Glass city of India. PM10 concentration (200.817g/m³) was 4.46 and 2.0 times higher than the limits prescribed by WHO (45g/m⁻³) and NAAQS (100g/m⁻³) government agencies. PM2.5 concentration (83.538 g/m3) was 5.56 and 1.39 times higher from WHO (15g/m-3) and NAAQS (60g/m⁻³) limits. Results inferred that PM10 and PM2.5 was highest deposited in head region (0.3477-0.5622 & 0.366-0.4704) followed by pulmonary region, especially in the 9-21year old persons. The variation in deposition percentage in our study is mainly due to the airway geometry, PM size, and its deposition mechanisms. The coarse fraction, due to its large size, cannot follow the airway path and mostly gets deposited by inertial impaction in the head region and its bifurcations. The present study results inferred that Coarse and fine PM deposition was highly visualized in 9 (8.45610⁻⁴ g, 2.91110⁻⁴g) year and 3 (1.49610⁻⁴ g, 8.59310⁻⁵g) month age category. So, the 9year children and 3month infants category have high level of health risk.

Keywords: particulate matter, MPPD model, regional deposition, lobar deposition, health risk

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Authors: Esam I. Jassim

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The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the prediction of the model capability of predicting the nucleation process, the growth rate, and the deposition potential of second phase particles in gas flowlines. The primary objective of the research is to predict the risk hazards involved in the marine transportation of compressed natural gas. However, the proposed model can be equally used for other applications including production and transportation of natural gas in any high-pressure flow-line. The proposed model employs the following three main components to approach the problem: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique is used to configure the flow field; the nucleation model is developed and incorporated in the simulation to predict the incipient hydrate particles size and growth rate; and the deposition of the gas/particle flow is proposed using the concept of the particle deposition velocity. These components are integrated in a comprehended model to locate the hydrate deposition in natural gas flowlines. The present research is prepared to foresee the deposition location of solid particles that could occur in a real application in Compressed Natural Gas loading and offloading. A pipeline with 120 m length and different sizes carried a natural gas is taken in the study. The location of particle deposition formed as a result of restriction is determined based on the procedure mentioned earlier and the effect of water content and downstream pressure is studied. The critical flow speed that prevents such particle to accumulate in the certain pipe length is also addressed.

Keywords: hydrate deposition, compressed natural gas, marine transportation, oceanography

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Authors: M. M. Moharam, E. M. Elsayed, M. M. Rashad

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Single phase Cu₂O films have been prepared via an electrodeposition technique onto ITO glass substrates at room temperature. Likewise, Cu₂O films were deposited using a potentiostatic process from an alkaline electrolyte containing copper (II) nitrate and 1M sodium citrate. Single phase Cu₂O films were electrodeposited at a cathodic deposition potential of 500mV for a reaction period of 90 min, and pH of 12 to yield a film thickness of 0.49 µm. The mechanism for nucleation of Cu₂O films was found to vary with deposition potential. Applying the Scharifker and Hills model at -500 and -600 mV to describe the mechanism of nucleation for the electrochemical reaction, the nucleation mechanism consisted of a mix between instantaneous and progressive growth mechanisms at -500 mV, while above -600 mV the growth mechanism was instantaneous. Using deposition times from 30 to 90 min at -500 mV deposition potential, pure Cu2O films with different microstructures were electrodeposited. Changing the deposition time from 30 to 90 min varied the microstructure from cubic to more complex polyhedra. The transmittance of electrodeposited Cu₂O films ranged from 20-70% in visible range, and samples exhibited a 2.4 eV band gap. The electrical resistivity for electrodeposited Cu₂O films was found to decrease with increasing deposition time from 0.854 x 105 Ω-cm at 30 min to 0.221 x 105 Ω-cm at 90 min without any thermal treatment following the electrodeposition process.

Keywords: Cu₂O, electrodeposition, film thickness, characterization, optical properties

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Authors: S. Forel, F. Bouanis, L. Catala, I. Florea, V. Huc, F. Fossard, A. Loiseau, C. Cojocaru

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Single wall carbon nanotubes are seen as excellent candidate for application on nanoelectronic devices because of their remarkable electronic and mechanical properties. These unique properties are highly dependent on their chiral structures and the diameter. Therefore, structure controlled growth of SWNTs, especially directly on final device’s substrate surface, are highly desired for the fabrication of SWNT-based electronics. In this work, we present a new approach to control the diameter of SWNTs and eventually their chirality. Because of their potential to control the SWNT’s chirality, bi-metalics nanoparticles are used to prepare alloy nanoclusters with specific structure. The catalyst nanoparticles are pre-formed following a previously described process. Briefly, the oxide surface is first covered with a SAM (self-assembled monolayer) of a pyridine-functionalized silane. Then, bi-metallic (Fe-Ru, Co-Ru and Ni-Ru) complexes are assembled by coordination bonds on the pre-formed organic SAM. The resultant alloy nanoclusters were then used to catalyze SWNTs growth on SiO2/Si substrates via CH4/H2 double hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (d-HFCVD). The microscopy and spectroscopy analysis demonstrate the high quality of SWNTs that were furthermore integrated into high-quality SWNT-FET.

Keywords: nanotube, CVD, device, transistor

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Authors: Kirill D. Semavin, Norbert S. Chilingarov, Eugene.V. Skokan

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The ionic liquids (ILs) based on imidazolium cation are well known nowadays. The changing anions and substituents in imidazolium ring may lead to different physical and chemical properties of ILs. It is important that such ILs with halogen as anion are characterized by a low thermal stability. The data about thermal stability of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride are ambiguous. In the works of last years, thermal stability of this IL was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and obtained results are contradictory. Moreover, in the last study, it was shown that the observed temperature of the beginning of decomposition significantly depends on the experimental conditions, for example, the heating rate of the sample. The vapor pressure of this IL is not presented at the literature. In this study, the vapor pressure of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride was obtained by Knudsen effusion mass-spectrometry (KEMS). The samples of [ЕMIm]Cl (purity > 98%) were supplied by Sigma–Aldrich and were additionally dried at dynamic vacuum (T = 60 0C). Preliminary procedures with Il were derived into glove box. The evaporation studies of [ЕMIm]Cl were carried out by KEMS with using original research equipment based on commercial MI1201 magnetic mass spectrometer. The stainless steel effusion cell had an effective evaporation/effusion area ratio of more than 6000. The cell temperature, measured by a Pt/Pt−Rh (10%) thermocouple, was controlled by a Termodat 128K5 device with an accuracy of ±1 K. In first step of this study, the optimal temperature of experiment and heating rate of samples were customized: 449 K and 5 K/min, respectively. In these conditions the sample is decomposed, but the experimental measurements of the vapor pressures are possible. The thermodynamic activity of [ЕMIm]Cl is close to 1 and products of decomposition don’t affect it at firstly 50 hours of experiment. Therefore, it lets to determine the saturated vapor pressure of IL. The electronic ionization mass-spectra shows that the decomposition of [ЕMIm]Cl proceeds with two ways. Nonetheless, the MALDI mass spectra of the starting sample and residue in the cell were similar. It means that the main decomposition products are gaseous under experimental conditions. This result allows us to obtain information about the kinetics of [ЕMIm]Cl decomposition. Thus, the original KEMS-based procedure made it possible to determine the IL vapor pressure under decomposition conditions. Also, the loss of sample mass due to the evaporation was obtained.

Keywords: ionic liquids, Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry, thermal stability, vapor pressure

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Authors: S. Yakut, D. Deger, K. Ulutas, D. Bozoglu

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Plasma poly(ethylene oxide) (pPEO) thin films were deposited between Aluminum (Al) electrodes on glass substrates by plasma assisted physical vapor deposition (PAPVD). The deposition was operated inside Argon plasma under 10⁻³ Torr and the thicknesses of samples were determined as 20, 100, 250, 500 nm. The plasma was produced at 5 W by magnetron connected to RF power supply. The capacitance C and dielectric loss factor tan δ were measured by Novovontrol Alpha-A high frequency empedance analyzer at freqquency and temperature intervals of 0,1 Hz and 1MHz, 193-353K, respectively. AC conductivity was derived from these values. AC conductivity results exhibited three different conductivity regions except for 20 nm. These regions can be classified as low, mid and high frequency regions. Low frequency region is observed at around 10 Hz and 300 K while mid frequency region is observed at around 1 kHz and 300 K. The last one, high frequency region, is observed at around 1 kHz and 200 K. There are some coinciding definitions for conduction regions, because these regions shift depending on temperature. Low frequency region behaves as DC-like conductivity while mid and high frequency regions show conductivities corresponding to mechanisms such as classical hopping, tunneling, etc. which are observed for amorphous materials. Unlike other thicknesses, for 20 nm sample low frequency region can not be detected in the investigated freuency range. It is thought that this is arised because of the presence of dead layer behavior.

Keywords: plasma polymers, dead layer, dielectric spectroscopy, AC conductivity

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Authors: Byeong-Sam Kim, Kyoungwoo Park

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This research analyzes structure of flat panel display (FPD) such as LCD as quantitative through CFD analysis and modeling change to minimize the badness rate and rate of production decrease by damage of large scale plater at wafer heating chamber at semi-conductor manufacturing process. This glass panel and wafer device with atmospheric pressure or chemical vapor deposition equipment for transporting and transferring wafers, robot hands carry these longer and wider wafers can also be easily handled. As a contact handling system composed of several problems in increased potential for fracture or warping. A non-contact handling system is required to solve this problem. The panel and wafer warping makes it difficult to carry out conventional contact to analysis. We propose a new non-contact transportation system with combining air suction and blowout. The numerical analysis and experimental is, therefore, should be performed to obtain compared to results achieved with non-contact solutions. This wafer panel noncontact handler shows its strength in maintaining high cleanliness levels for semiconductor production processes.

Keywords: flat panel display, non contact transportation, heat treatment process, CFD analysis

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Authors: Imane Benghalia, Mohammed Zamoum, Rachid Boucetta

Abstract:

Hydrodynamic cavitation is a complex physical phenomenon that appears in hydraulic systems (pumps, turbines, valves, Venturi tubes, etc.) when the fluid pressure decreases below the saturated vapor pressure. The works carried out in this study aimed to get a better understanding of the cavitating flow phenomena. For this, we have numerically studied a cavitating bubbly flow through a Venturi nozzle. The cavitation model is selected and solved using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The obtained results show the effect of the inlet pressure (10, 7, 5, and 2 bars) of the Venturi on pressure, the velocity of the fluid flow, and the vapor fraction. We found that the inlet pressure of the Venturi strongly affects the evolution of the pressure, velocity, and vapor fraction formation in the cavitating flow.

Keywords: cavitating flow, CFD, phase change, venturi

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Authors: Farid Amidi Fazli

Abstract:

Replacement of plastics used in the food industry seems to be a serious issue to overcome mainly the environmental problems in recent years. This study investigates the hydrophilicity and permeability properties of starch biopolymer which ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) (0-10%) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) (1 -15%) were used to enhance its properties. Starch -EVOH nanocomposites were prepared by casting method in different formulations. NCC production by acid hydrolysis was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Solubility, water vapor permeability, water vapor transmission rate and moisture absorbance were measured on each of the nanocomposites. The results were analyzed by SAS software. The lowest moisture absorbance was measured in pure starch nanocomposite containing 8% NCC. The lowest permeability to water vapor belongs to starch nanocomposite containing 8% NCC and the sample containing 7.8% EVOH and 13% NCC. Also, the lowest solubility was observed in the composite contains the highest amount of EVOH. Applied Process resulted in production of bio films which have good resistance to water vapor permeability and solubility in water. The use of NCC and EVOH leads to reduced moisture absorbance property of the biofilms.

Keywords: starch, EVOH, nanocrystalline cellulose, hydrophilicity

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Authors: Vikas Chawla, Buta Singh Sidhu, Amita Rani, Amit Handa

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The main objective of the present work is microstructural and mechanical characterization of the conventional and nanostructured TiAlN and AlCrN coatings deposited on T-11 boiler steel. In case of conventional coatings, Al-Cr and Ti-Al metallic powders were deposited using plasma spray process followed by gas nitriding of the surface which was done in the lab with optimized parameters after conducting several trials on plasma-sprayed coated specimens. The physical vapor deposition process (PAPVD) was employed for depositing nanostructured TiAlN and AlCrN coatings. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) attachment, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis and the X-Ray mapping analysis techniques have been used to study surface and cross-sectional morphology of the coatings. The surface roughness and micro-hardness were also measured. A good adhesion of the conventional thick TiAlN and AlCrN coatings was found. The coatings under study are recommended for the applications to super-heater and re-heater tubes of the boilers based upon the outcomes of the research work.

Keywords: nanostructure, physical vapour deposition, oxides, thin films, electron microscopy

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Authors: Lanka Dinushke Weerasiri, Subrat Das, Daniel Fabijanic, William Yang

Abstract:

Fluidization at vacuum pressure has been a topic that is of growing research interest. Several industrial applications (such as drying, extractive metallurgy, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD)) can potentially take advantage of vacuum pressure fluidization. Particularly, the fine chemical industry requires processing under safe conditions for thermolabile substances, and reduced pressure fluidized beds offer an alternative. Fluidized beds under vacuum conditions provide optimal conditions for treatment of granular materials where the reduced gas pressure maintains an operational environment outside of flammability conditions. The fluidization at low-pressure is markedly different from the usual gas flow patterns of atmospheric fluidization. The different flow regimes can be characterized by the dimensionless Knudsen number. Nevertheless, hydrodynamics of bubbling vacuum fluidized beds has not been investigated to author’s best knowledge. In this work, the two-fluid numerical method was used to determine the impact of reduced pressure on the fundamental properties of a fluidized bed. The slip flow model implemented by Ansys Fluent User Defined Functions (UDF) was used to determine the interphase momentum exchange coefficient. A wide range of operating pressures was investigated (1.01, 0.5, 0.25, 0.1 and 0.03 Bar). The gas was supplied by a uniform inlet at 1.5U_mf and 2U_mf. The predicted minimum fluidization velocity (U_mf) shows excellent agreement with the experimental data. The results show that the operating pressure has a notable impact on the bed properties and its hydrodynamics. Furthermore, it also shows that the existing Gorosko correlation that predicts bed expansion is not applicable under reduced pressure conditions.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, fluidized bed, gas-solid flow, vacuum pressure, slip flow, minimum fluidization velocity

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Authors: Amine Mezni, Merfat Algethami, Ali Aldalbahi, Arwa Alrooqi, Abel Santos, Dusan Losic, Sarah Alharthi, Tariq Altalhi

Abstract:

In situ synthesis of carbon nanotubes featuring different diameters (10-200 nm), lengths (1 to 100 µm) and periodically nanostructured shape was performed in a custom designed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system using nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) under different conditions. The morphology of the resulting CNTs/NAA composites and free-standing CNTs were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results confirm that highly ordered arrays of CNTs with precise control of nanotube dimensions in the range 20-200 nm with tube length in the range < 1 µm to > 100 μm and with periodically shaped morphology can be fabricated using nanostructured NAA templates prepared by anodization. This technique allows us to obtain tubes open at one / both ends with a uniform diameter along the pore length without using any metal catalyst. Our finding suggests that this fabrication strategy for designing new CNTs membranes and structures can be significant for emerging applications as molecular separation/transport, optical biosensing, and drug delivery.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, CVD approach, composites membrane, nanoporous anodic alumina

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Authors: Karima Benfadel, Lamia Talbi, Sabiha Anas Boussaa, Afaf Brik, Assia Boukezzata, Yahia Ouadah, Samira Kaci

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In order to prevent global warming, which is mainly caused by the increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, it is interesting to produce renewable energy in the form of chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide into alternative fuels and other energy-dense products. Photoelectrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to value-added products and fuels is a promising and current method. The objective of our study is to develop Cu₂S-based photoélectrodes, in which Cu₂S is used as a CO₂ photoelectrocatalyst deposited on nanostructured silicon substrates. Cu₂S thin layers were deposited using the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. Silicon nanowires and nanopyramids were obtained by alkaline etching. SEM and UV-visible spectroscopy was used to analyse the morphology and optical characteristics. By using a potentiostat station, we characterized the photoelectrochemical properties. We performed cyclic voltammetry in the presence and without CO₂ purging as well as linear voltammetry (LSV) in the dark and under white light irradiation. We perform chronoamperometry to study the stability of our photocathodes. The quality of the nanowires and nanopyramids was visible in the SEM images, and after Cu₂S deposition, we could see how the deposition was distributed over the textured surfaces. The inclusion of the Cu₂S layer applied on textured substrates significantly reduces the reflectance (R%). The catalytic performance towards CO₂ conversion of Cu₂S/Si-based photocathodes revealed that the texturing of the silicon surface with nanowires and pyramids has a better photoelectrochemical behavior than those without surface modifications.

Keywords: CO₂ conversion, Cu₂S photocathode, silicone nanostructured, electrochemistry

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Authors: Mr. Liju Elias, A. Chitharanjan Hegde

Abstract:

Ni-W alloy coatings have been developed galvanostatically on copper substrate from tri-sodium citrate bath, using glycerol as the additive. The deposition conditions for production of Ni-W coatings have been optimized for peak performance of their electrocatalytic activity, namely hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The corrosion behavior of the coatings were tested under working conditions of electrocatalysis (1M KOH). Electrocatalytic behaviours were tested by cyclic voltammetry and chrono-potentiometry techniques. Experimental results demonstrated that Ni-W coatings at low and high current densities (c. d.) showing superior performance for OER and HER respectively. The increased electrocatalytic activity for HER with increase of deposition c. d. was attributed to the phase structure, surface morphology and chemical composition of the coatings, confirmed by XRD, SEM and EDX analysis, respectively. The dependency of hardness and thickness of the coatings on HER and OER were examined, and results were discussed.

Keywords: electrocatalytic behavior, HER, Ni-W alloy, OER

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Authors: Mechri hanane, Azzaz Mohammed

Abstract:

Polycrystalline CuFe thin film was prepared by thermal evaporation process (Physical vapor deposition), using the nanocrystalline CuFe powder obtained by mechanical alloying After 24 h of milling elemental powders. The microscopic study of nanocrystalline powder and the thin film of Cu70Fe30 binary alloy were examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The cross-sectional TEM images showed that the obtained CuFe layer was polycrystalline film of about 20 nm thick and composed of grains of different size ranging from 4 nm to 18 nm.

Keywords: nanomaterials, thin films, TEM, SEM

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Authors: J. Y. Tan, L. C. Lum, M. G. Lee, S. Mansouri, K. Hapgood, X. D. Chen, M. W. Woo

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Folic acid (FA) is known to be an important supplement to prevent neural tube defect (NTD) in pregnant women. Similar to some commercial formulations, sodium bicarbonate solution is used as a solvent for FA. This work uses the antisolvent vapor precipitation (AVP), incorporating ethanol vapor as the convective drying medium in place of air to produce branch-like micro-structure FA particles. Interestingly, the dissolution rate of the resultant particle is 2-3 times better than the particle produce from conventional air drying due to the higher surface area of particles produced. The higher dissolution rate could possibly improve the delivery and absorption of FA in human body. This application could potentially be extended to other commercial products, particularly in less soluble drugs to improve its solubility.

Keywords: absorption, antisolvent vapor precipitation, dissolution rate, folic acid

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Authors: Justin Reverdi, Sixin Zhang, Saïd Aoues, Fabrice Gamboa, Serge Gratton, Thomas Pellegrini

Abstract:

In vapor cycle systems, the mass flow sensor plays a key role for different monitoring and control purposes. However, physical sensors can be inaccurate, heavy, cumbersome, expensive, or highly sensitive to vibrations, which is especially problematic when embedded into an aircraft. The conception of a virtual sensor, based on other standard sensors, is a good alternative. This paper has two main objectives. Firstly, a data-driven model using a convolutional neural network is proposed to estimate the mass flow of the compressor. We show that it significantly outperforms the standard polynomial regression model (thermodynamic maps) in terms of the standard MSE metric and engineer performance metrics. Secondly, a semi-automatic segmentation method is proposed to compute the engineer performance metrics for real datasets, as the standard MSE metric may pose risks in analyzing the dynamic behavior of vapor cycle systems.

Keywords: deep learning, convolutional neural network, vapor cycle system, virtual sensor

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