Sharif Digital Repository

Nickel oxide (NiOx) is a promising hole transport material in inverted organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells. However, its low intrinsic conductivity hinders its further improvement in device performance. Here, we employ a trimercapto-s-triazine trisodium salt (TTTS) as a chelating agent of Ni2+ in the NiOx layer to improve its conductivity. Due to the electron-deficient triazine ring, the TTTS complexes with Ni2+ in NiOx via a strong Ni2+-N coordination bond and increases the ratio of Ni3+:Ni2+. The increased Ni3+ concentration adjusts the band structure of NiOx, thus enhancing hole density and mobility, eventually improving the intrinsic conductivity of NiOx. As a result,... 

Electrochemical co-deposition approach was expanded to prepare composite bio-ceramic coating of hydroxyapatite (HA)/polyvinyl acetate on the surface of titanium. The role is to improve the bioactive and crystallization properties. The results of XRD, XPS, SEM and TEM characterization showed that by increasing amount of vinyl acetate in the composite bio-ceramic coating before and after immersing in the simulated body fluid (SBF), an oriented growth of HA planes on the (0 0 2) direction had been observed on titanium substrate. Also significant surface morphology changes were obtained  

Background: In nuclear medicine application often it is required to use computational methods for evaluation of organ absorbed dose. Monte Carlo simulation and phantoms have been used in many works before. The shape, size and volume in organs are varied, and this variation will produce error in dose calculation if no correction is applied. Materials and Methods: A computational framework for constructing individual phantom for dosimetry was performed on five liver CT scan data sets of Japanese normal individuals. The Zubal phantom was used as an original phantom to be adjusted by each individual data set. This registration was done by Spherical Harmonics (SH) and Thin-Plate Spline methods.... 

Although hematite (i.e., α-Fe2O3) has been widely investigated in photoelectrochemical water oxidation studies due to its high theoretical photocurrent density, it still suffers from serious surface charge recombination and low photoelectrochemical stability. Here we report an in situ electrochemical method to form a uniform and ultrathin (i.e., 3-5 nm) passivation layer all over the pores of an optimized ∼3.2% Ti-doped α-Fe2O3 photoanode. We unveil the amorphous and defective nature of the in situ derived layer assigned to a high concentration of oxygen vacancies and intercalated potassium atoms there, i.e., the formation of Ti/K co-doped defective α-Fe2O3−x. Owing to the efficient... 

Pesticides are widely used to increase agricultural productivity, however, weak adhesion and deposition lead to low efficient utilization. Herein, we prepare a nanopesticide formulation (tebuconazole nanopesticides) which is leaf-adhesive, and water-dispersed via a rapid nanoparticle precipitation method, flash nanoprecipitation, using temperature-responsive copolymers poly-(2-(dimethylamino)ethylmethylacrylate)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) as the carrier. Compared with commercial suspensions, the encapsulation by the polymer improves the deposition of TEB, and the contact angle on foliage is lowered by 40.0°. Due to the small size and strong van der Waals interactions, the anti-washing efficiency... 

Because of the compatibility with tandem devices and the ability to be manufactured at low temperatures, inverted perovskite solar cells have generated far-ranging interest for potential commercial applications. However, their efficiency remains inadequate owing to various traps in the perovskite film and the restricted hole blocking ability of the electron transport layer. Thus, in this work, a wide-bandgap n-type semiconductor, 4,6-bis(3,5-di(pyridin-4-yl)phenyl)-2-phenylpyrimidine (B4PyPPM), to modify a perovskite film via an anti-solvent method is introduced. The nitrogen sites of pyrimidine and pyridine rings in B4PyPPM exhibit strong interactions with the undercoordinated lead ions in... 

A computational framework is presented, based on statistical shape modelling, for construction of race-specific organ models for internal radionuclide dosimetry and other nuclear-medicine applications. This approach was applied to the construction of a Japanese liver phantom, using the liver of the digital Zubal phantom as the template and 35 liver computed tomography (CT) scans of male Japanese individuals as a training set. The first step was the automated object-space registration (to align all the liver surfaces in one orientation), using a coherent-point-drift maximum-likelihood alignment algorithm, of each CT scan-derived manually contoured liver surface and the template Zubal liver... 

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of two compatibilizers, namely maleated polypropylene (PP-g-MA) and maleic anhydride grafted poly (ethylene-co-octene) (EOC-g-MA), on the morphology and thus properties of ternary nanocomposites of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC)/clay nanocomposite. In this regard the nanocomposites and their neat polymer blend counterparts were processed twice using a twin screw extruder. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were utilized to characterize nanostructure and microstructure besides mechanical and rheological behaviors of the... 

This article focuses on the impact of waviness and aggregation of nanofillers on wave dispersion behavior of the nanocomposite curved beam strengthened with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). In fact, the aggregation phenomenon is an inevitable subject in the manufacturing process of strengthened nanocomposite materials. Furthermore, in reality, usage of straight nanoreinforcements is almost impossible. So, MWCNTs can be wavy. These noted topics can significantly affect mechanical behavior of reinforced nanocomposite structures. In the current investigation, aggregation and waviness factors are accounted for through a modified Halpin-Tsai micromechanical homogenization model. The... 

The treatment of refractory wastewater and energy utilization are challenging environmental issues. Carbonate as the most common anion abounds in the aquatic environment. Here, we proposed a novel method to degrade carbonate-containing wastewater and simultaneous electricity generation via the combined oxidation of CO3[rad]− and O2[rad]− radicals. The CO3[rad]− radical was produced by the photoelectrode of TiO2/Si photovoltaic cell with the rear Si photovoltaic cell providing external bias, and the O2[rad]− radical was produced from the generation of H2O2 on a gas diffusion electrode (GDE), and they were both further enhanced from the activation reaction of H2O2 with HCO3− electrolyte. The... 

A computational framework is presented for 3-D liver shape approximation and characterization in order to determine the accuracy of shape reconstruction via Spherical Harmonics expansion. Spherical Harmonics is a powerful mathematical tool for expanding the shape. But in medical domain, livers have very variation geometry, in shape, size, and volume. In this regards, we evaluated and optimized the Spherical Harmonics to create 3-D parametric surface of the liver from Computed Tomography (CT) imaging system which may useful for Shape modeling, surface representation, physical measurement of objects and mathematical model. We select randomly 5 livers from more 100 dataset. Mean Hausdorff... 

Several methods have been proposed to construct Statistical Shape Model (SSM) to aim image analysis using computer in field Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS), and other medical applications by providing a prior knowledge. The major challenge for liver shape model is a high variation in geometry such as size, shape and volume between livers. In this paper, we have presented a new technique for the automatic Multi-Scale Statistical Shape Model (MS-SSM) of three-dimensional (3-D) liver from volumetric segmented images data. The procedure included both building of Spherical Harmonics shape description and the Wavelet transform. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was... 

The huge volume change and unstable interface of the silicon anode usually result in the fracture of the active material and the disconnection with conducting agent/current collector, which would highly hinder the application of silicon in powering battery. Moreover, the un-uniform charge distribution at the surfaces of silicon would cause a degration of capacity at fast charging condition or low temperature. Thus, developing a stable interface with good mechanical stability to tolerate huge volume change of the silicon, and keep the robust adhesive property is one of the effective methods of resolving the above questions but a great challenge. Here, a molecular zipper fastened strategy is... 

Limited energy in each node is the major design constraint in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). To overcome this limit, wireless rechargeable sensor networks (WRSNs) have been proposed and studied extensively over the last few years. In a typical WRSN, batteries in sensor nodes can be replenished by a mobile charger that periodically travels along a certain trajectory in the sensing area. To maximize the charged energy in sensor nodes, one fundamental question is how to control the traveling velocity of the charger. In this paper, we first identify the optimal velocity control as a key design objective of mobile wireless charging in WRSNs. We then formulate the optimal charger velocity... 

Thin-film solar cells based on hybrid organo-halide lead perovskites achieve over 22% power conversion efficiency (PCE). A photovoltaic technology at such high performance is no longer limited by efficiency. Instead, lifetime and reliability become the decisive criteria for commercialization. This requires a standardized and scalable architecture which does fulfill all requirements for larger area solution processing. One of the most highly demanded technologies is a low temperature and printable conductive ink to substitute evaporated metal electrodes for the top contact. Importantly, that electrode technology must have higher environmental stability than, for instance, an evaporated silver... 

Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings were deposited on commercially pure titanium plates using a hydrothermal-electrochemical deposition method in an electrolyte containing calcium and phosphate ions. The deposition conditions used in this study were the followings: electrolyte temperature (33-80 °C), current density (1-8 mA/cm2), and deposition time (10-120 min). Needle-like and granular crystals of apatite coating were created with different concentrations of calcium (0.0021-0.042 M) and phosphate (0.00125-0.025 M) salts. The size of HA crystals of the coating was considerably changed with different concentration of calcium and phosphate salts, temperature of the electrolyte, and deposition time.... 

The controlled growth of metal oxide nanostructures within hierarchically porous conductive carbon-based frameworks is critically important to achieving high volumetric performance and appropriate channel size for energy storage applications. Herein, we grow cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoflakes, using a sequential-electrodeposition process, into spherically porous sponge-like few-layer partially reduced graphene oxide (SrGO) synthesized by template-directed ordered assembly. Maximum specific/volumetric capacitances of 1112 F gCo3O4-1 (at 3.3 A gCo3O4-1), 178 F cm-3 (at 2.6 A cm-2), and 406 F gtotal-1 (at 1 A gtotal-1) and sensible rate capability (80% retention by increasing the charge/discharge... 

Urea is a major source of nitrogen pollution in domestic sewage and its denitrification is difficult since it is very likely to be converted into ammonia or nitrate instead of expected N2. Herein, we propose an exhaustive denitrification method for urea via the oxidation of amine/ammonia-N with chlorine oxide radical, which induced from a bi-functional RuO2//WO3 anode, and the highly selective reduction of nitrate-N on cathode in photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). Under illumination, the WO3 photoanode side promotes the quantities hydroxyl and reactive chlorine radical, and these radicals are immediately combined to stronger chlorine oxide radical by RuO2 side, which obviously enhances the... 

We implement an optical tweezers technique to assess the effects of chemical agents on single bacterial cells. As a proof of principle, the viability of a trapped Escherichia coli bacterium is determined by monitoring its flagellar motility in the presence of varying concentrations of ethyl alcohol. We show that the “killing time” of the bacterium can be effectively identified from the correlation statistics of the positional time series recorded from the trap, while direct quantification from the time series or associated power spectra is intractable. Our results, which minimize the lethal effects of bacterial photodamage, are consistent with previous reports of ethanol toxicity that used... 

Perovskite solar cells have been constructed under ambient conditions by using 2,2',7,7'-Tetrakis-(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) mixed with a small quantity of soluble tetra-n-butyl substituted copper phthalocyanine as hole transporting material. The introduction of the phthalocyanine derivative resulted in an impressive increase of cell efficiency, which changed from 10.4% in the absence to 15.4% in the presence of phthalocyanine. This effect is related to the creation of deep traps in the hole transporting phase which block back-travelling electrons as well as to the improvement of the structural quality of the spiro-OMeTAD film in the presence of...