Sharif Digital Repository

Metal oxide semiconductors are promising materials for photovoltaic systems, because they are chemically stable, almost non-toxic and abundant. These materials are cheap and have low cost fabrication process. Cu2O is the most popular metal oxide semiconductor to absorb light in Photovoltaic (PV) applications, and photocathode in the photoelectrochemical systems.In this project, thermal oxide and electrodeposition methods, both interesting and cheap, were applied for preparing Cu2O films. As inexpensive materials results in low-minority carrier diffusion length, we report on surface engineering of bulk Cu2O photocathode thorough employing nanorods of copper oxide with the average lengths of... 

In this research, initially, thin film of TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNA) was deposited on Titanium foil (Ti), using anodization technique under an optimized applied voltage of 60 V, for 200 minutes. Highly smooth and ordered TNA formed by effective two-step anodization method. The TNA synthesized by this procedure, showed a better surface smoothness and tube order as compared with the TNA prepared in one-step anodization process. The electrolyte which was utilized for the anodization process, contained 90% of Ethylene Glycol (EG) in volume, 10% de-ionized water (DI) in volume, 0.1M Ammonium Fluoride (NH4F), and 0.5 ml Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) 1M in order to adjust the pH about 5.6. Moreover, the... 

Herein, cupric oxide (CuO)/graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is synthesized under microwave irradiation for enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance and photostability. A facile, one-pot method was utilized to directly deposit the nanocomposite onto FTO from a solution containing copper precursor and urea. Possible mechanisms of CuO/g-C3N4 formation and PEC performance improvement were examined via XRD, FTIR, FESEM, XPS, UV-Vis, and PL. Controlled amounts of urea determined the morphological evolution of CuO and the formation of a protective carbon layer, while its excess quantity converted to g-C3N4 in the presence of CuO. Through heat treatment of the nanocomposite, carbon-doped... 

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Copper oxide on the microstructure, properties, and grain growth kinetic in Tin oxide- Based varistors. Copper oxide was mixed in Tin oxide with different concentration, including 0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mol% and the samples were sintered at 1250, 1300, and 1350 oC. Then, phase and microstructural characterization was investigated and consequently, electrical properties were evaluated. According to results, Copper Oxide with forming the liquid phase through the sintering process, accelerated grain growth. It was found that, by increasing concentration of CuO, mean grain size was increased from 2.6 µm in 1250 oC and 5 hours to 17.1 µm... 

Plants and aquatic creatures growth on the surface of human made structures is a typical phenomena. One of the approaches to prevent algae and moss to grow is using paint coatings including biocides. In this research project, anti-moss paints containing Copper Oxide as the major biocide and Zinc Oxide as the minor biocide have been synthesized. The effects of different parameters like the type of resin, biocide concentration, biocide grain sizes, dip time, and the coating layer thickness on the release rate which is the most important factor to prevent moss growth, have been investigated. Then, the experiment has been conducted on the specimens in algae growth and flustered sea water... 

Azo dyes that are the most common dyes in textile industries, are toxic and stable complex compounds. Release of this dyes in environment disturb the ecosystem and endanger human health. So selection of an appropriate method for treatment of them is a sensitive work. photocatalytic degradation is one of the best promising methods because of its perfect mineralization, middle condition and lack of creating the secondary pollutant. In this research CuO/CNT nanocomposite was synthesized and used as a photocatalyst. The surface features of CuO/CNT were surveyed by using Fourier transform infrared(FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Photocatalytic efficiency of... 

Textile industrial wastewaters are one of the most important sources of environmental contaminants. In the recent years, use of advanced oxidation processes, by producing highly active and reactive components such as hydroxyl radicals has been proposed. The aim of this research is oxidative degradation of methylene blue dye using Cu-nanoparticles immobilized on a polymer support with H2O2 as an oxidant reagent.In general, oxidative degradation of methylene blue with hydrogen proxide in the presence of immobilized CuO nanoparticles on a polymer support as the catalyst was studied. We used polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer as the polymer support for nanoparticles. fourth generation of PAMAM was... 

Emission of aromatic and aliphatic compounds to atmosphere is a major environmental concern for many urban societies. Catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is an efficient and low operating cost technology for reduction of air pollution.
First, dispersed copper oxide nano-catalysts supported on almond shell-based activated carbon were prepared for catalytic oxidation of toluene in air. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to express the catalyst removal efficiency in terms of catalyst metal loading and calcination temperature. Calcination temperature had a significant effect on the catalyst activity only at high metal loadings (upper 8% wt.). Two different... 

Volatile organic materials are amongst the most important air pollutants that presence of the moisture in polluted air during oxidation process are the most difficult to remove volatile contaminants using catalysts. In this study, nano-copper oxide catalyst on nano-alumina for complete oxidation of toluene in the presence of moisture at different temperatures and atmospheric pressure were examined. Alumina basic using co-precipitation and sol-gel methods have been synthesized, which is for the first time that alumina tri-second-butyl pre-manufacturer have been used for gamma-nano-alumina by sole gel method was used. Surface properties of synthesized nano-alumina have been studies by various... 

Water Gas Shift (WGS) reaction is an old reaction in which syngas is used for producing Hydrogen. At the present time, the major application of this reaction is in fuel cells, since the necessary Hydrogen for these cells is provided by this reaction.
The present study investigate the influence of different preparation methods on properties of Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst for water gas shift (WGS) reaction, which is now known as the Commercial catalyst for low temperature WGS, and its influence on performance of Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst to derive an optimal Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst for water gas shift (WGS) reaction. Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts was synthesized by CP, DP, DP-Ultra, IWI , CP-Urea, and... 

Nowadays, replacement of traditional cast iron shoes with composite brake blocks is a main project in railway systems. The main purpose of this replacement is noise reduction( for example by about 10dB for a 100km/h freight train). One of the main sources of noise emission is the rolling sound of the wheel on the rail. The rougher and more out-of-round wheel surface, the greater the noise produced. Cast iron brake shoes, still widely used on freight wagons, make the wheel surface much rougher than composite brake blocks due to the fusing of minute metal particles into the tread surface during braking. It is therefore necessary to replace the current cast iron brake shoe with a synthetic... 

The purpose of this project is to construct a gas sensor based on one-dimensional nanostructured electrodes of copper oxide. By creating of these nanostructures, can be reduced breakdown voltage of gases, including flammable, to a few hundred volts. The CuO nanowires were grown by thermal oxidation on copper substrate to form self-assembled. In this method, by heating the copper foil,Cu2O also was formed on substrate. Effects of surface tension of substrate and oxidation temperature on surface density and structure of the nanowires were studied. SEM images taken from the samples showed that the surface tensions increases the density of nanowires and increasing the oxidation temperature leads... 

The aim of this research is preparation of tungsten trioxide nanoparticles film for hydrogen sulfide gas sensing. These nanoparticles were made by simple and inexpensive sol-gel method. To improve gas sensing properties, various precursors of copper and copper oxides were added to the sol. This solution was coated on alumina substrate by spin coating method. After annealing, sensing properties of samples were studied by measuring the electrical resistance. Best precursor and its molar percentage of copper to tungsten were selected (WO3-Cu2O (1%)). All tests for this sample were done in temperatures below 100 °C and gas concentration lower than 10 ppm. Sensitivity of WO3-Cu2O (1%) to 1 ppm... 

In this study, CoFe2O4/CuO nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method and utilized for removal of metronidazole in electro-Fenton process. Nanocomposite was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, VSM and BET methods. The Results of XRD patterns confirmed the monoclinic structure formation for copper(Ⅱ) oxide and the spinel structure for CoFe2O4. The FE-SEM images displayed the formation of CuO nanosheets for copper(Ⅱ) oxide and the decoration of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles on the surface of CuO nanosheets. Measurement of the surface area of nanocatalysts using BET isotherm represented the high surface area for CuO nanosheets and the increase of surface area of nanocomposite in... 

The present work was aimed to account a green and eco-friendly synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using Salvia hispanica extracts for the first time.The synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles were fully characterized using FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, EDX, TEM and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. The average particle size of copper oxide nanoparticles is around 35 nm and shape of nanoparticles are spherical. Biological activity of the synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated in terms of antibacterial assessments against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In the following, the potential antibacterial activity against gram positive (S.aureus) and gram negative (E.coli) bacteria’s were... 

In the first work, a novel voltammetric biosensor basedon TiO2-nafion-carbon nanoparticles modified glassy carbon electrode (TiO2/N/CNP/GCE) was developed for the determination of DBA. The electrochemical performance of the modified electrode was investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV), different pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Characterization of the surface morphology and properties of TiO2/N/CNP was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Effective experimental variables, such as scan rate, pH of the supporting electrolyte, drop size of the cast modifier suspension and accumulation...