Sharif Digital Repository

Crystal-size distribution (CSD) is one of the most important parameters in sugar production. The objective is to grow crystals of uniform sizes or narrow CSD. CSD appears to be determined by the growth-rate history of the crystals and the relative supersaturation (SS) of the solution from which crystals growth takes place. Three methods for preparation of nucleation seeds were described and used for industrial crystallization of raw and white sugars; these are wet milling filtered sugar (ML), agitating saturated solution (AS) and powdered sugars (PD). Rosin-Rammler (RR) and mathematical models were adopted to investigate CSD and the uniformity of the produced crystals. Higher uniformity... 

MIL-101(Cr) metal–organic framework samples were successfully synthesized through the conventional electrical heating (CE), ultrasound (US), and microwave (MW) synthetic methods at three different temperatures and various synthesis times. These were done with the aim of understudying the crystallization kinetics of these complex MIL's structures. The nucleation and crystal growth steps were thus, quantified through measuring the relative crystallinity of the prepared MIL-101(Cr) utilizing the PXRD and FESEM analysis under various synthesis conditions. In addition, the textural properties of the fully crystallized samples measured through the N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K. The... 

A 3D continuum code coupled with a kinetic Monte Carlo module has been developed for the simulation of Ni electrocrystallization in the initial stages of nucleation and growth. Mass transfer in solution was controlled by a finite-difference code which is distributed over an irregular nanoscale grid system in vertical direction to the substrate. Deposition events such as surface diffusion, chemisorption and crystallization in the system were considered in a KMC module that processes the output of a diffusion-controlled scheme in probability functions to model electrodeposition process on surface. Electrochemical data of this simulation was simultaneously generated according to analytical... 

Controlled growth of atomic monolayers of IV-VII transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has provided unprecedented opportunities to fabricate modern optoelectronic nanodevices. However, synthesis of large-area and high quality two-dimensional TMDs is still challenging. We have synthesized WS2 and MoS2 nanosheets by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) at wide-range of processing conditions. The nanostructures were analyzed by optical and confocal microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction to determine the thickness, lateral size and structure of the deposits. Through designing and performing of a set of controlled experiments as well as... 

The early stages of nucleation and growth of nanostructures can control the shape and final size of the fabricated nanostructure. Therefore, the study of the nucleation and growth mechanism of nanostructures is of great importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the nucleation and growth mechanism of nickel nanocones from a chloride-based bath containing ethylene ammonium dichloride as a crystal modifier. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and chronoamperometry tests were employed to investigate the nucleation and growth mechanism and also the mechanism of crystal modifier performance on the growth of nanocones. Electrochemical studies revealed... 

Design of nanoparticle synthesis by inert-gas condensation process was studied according to the mechanisms and kinetics of nucleation and growth in the vapor phase. The effect of process parameters, e.g., source temperature, evaporation rate, and the inert-gas pressure, on the particle size and particle shape was examined at the example for silver and copper-tin alloy. The synthesized nanopowders had near spherical shape with particle size range from 10 to 60 nm dependent on the processing condition. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) analyses showed that the crystallites are subunits of larger agglomerate particles, and relatively large particles display crystal... 

Anodic aluminium oxide films were fabricated by well known two-step anodizing process in oxalic acid electrolyte. The ordering characteristics (ordered pore domains, average pore diameter size and through-pore arrangement) of anodic aluminium oxide films, obtained in different growth sequences, were identified by microscopic analysis such as ex situ contact-mode atomic force microcopy and scanning electron microscopy. Flattened areas in which some pits are seen mostly cover the electropolished surface of aluminium. Single anodizing of aluminium produces a broad distribution of nanopore size, whereas induces a highly ordered hemispherical pattern, which plays the ordered nucleation sites for... 

CoTiO3 nanocrystallites with an average diameter of 50 nm were synthesized successfully by the sonochemical method without a calcination step and using C10H16N2O8 (EDTA) as the chelating agent. To reach an in-depth understanding of the scientific basis of the proposed process, an in-detail analysis was carried out for characterization of nanoscale CoTiO3 particles via XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The crystallite size, average particle size and band gap are found to be 10.7 nm, in the range of 50 nm and 4.64 eV, respectively. The mechanism and the formation process of CoTiO3 in the sonochemical process were proposed. It was found that nanocrystals were... 

In this letter a simple procedure to synthesize sodium tungsten oxide nano-thick plates from WO 3 films has been reported. WO 3 films were grown by pulsed-laser deposition method and then heat treated at temperatures up to 560 °C and times up to 120 min. Slide glass was used as both substrate and sodium source simultaneously. XRD analysis revealed presence of an amorphous structure for as-deposited WO 3 films. On the other hand, XRD showed formation of a monoclinic WO 3 structure with annealing in lower temperatures and a triclinic Na 0.5WO 3.25 structure with annealing at higher temperatures. Intensity of the triclinic phase peaks enhanced drastically by rising annealing temperature and... 

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 antisolvent method has been used extensively to induce the growth of high-quality perovskite layers for efficient solar cells. However, uncontrollable nucleation and crystallization increases the risk of formation of undesirable defects. Here, we report a facile way to control the nucleation and crystallization stages in perovskite formation by changing the temperature of chlorobenzene (CB) in the antisolvent method. When CB is injected on the spinning substrate with a precursor solution, CB temperature affects the nucleation process as well as the crystallization process. As the CB temperature increases, nuclei increase in size, leading to the formation of larger perovskite crystals... 

In this study, TiO 2-SiO 2 nanocomposite films with different amounts of SiO 2 were prepared by sol-gel process and were coated onto stainless steel 316L. The effect of addition of various amount of SiO 2 in the precursor solution on the photocatalysis, photo-generated hydrophilicity and self-cleaning property of TiO 2 thin films was investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water contact angle measurements and UV spectroscopy. In the tested ranges of SiO 2 content and sintering temperature, the highest photocatalytic activity and self-cleaning property were observed in the 15 mol% SiO 2 sample sintered at 750 °C. Addition of less than 30 mol% SiO 2 had a... 

Zero discharge desalination process is the most promising technology to prevent salinity and thermal shocks to ecosystem by effluent streams of desalination unit drained into the sea. Pretreatment, solar pond and forced circulation crystallizer are the major steps of one option to provide the purposes of zero discharge desalination process. Reduction of total hardness of wastewater occurs in pretreatment unit and the solar pond is proposed for effluent concentrated brine wastewater of pretreatment unit which seeks production of potable water and concentrated brine. The effluent stream from solar pond is conveyed to one forced circulation evaporator in order to produce salt and distilled... 

Highly active unsupported MoO3 and Co -MoO3 catalysts were prepared by a simple solution reaction method in the presence of different organic additives. Catalysts were characterized by the XRD, BET surface area measurement, SEM and TEM techniques. Results suggested that utilizing different additives produced different morphologies OfMoO3 microstructures. Optimizing reaction conditions was found to produce more active molybdenum oxide nanoparticles when urea and PEG200 additives were utilized. XRD and TEM results indicated crystal growth restriction after cobalt incorporation. Catalytic activities of prepared materials were evaluated in the hydrodesulfurization reaction of Naphtha. Products... 

Nanocrystalline nickel titanate (NiTiO3) thin films and powders with mesoporous structure were produced at the low temperature of 500 °C by a straightforward particulate sol-gel route. The sols were prepared in various Ni:Ti molar ratios. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the powders contained mixtures of the NiTiO 3 and NiO phases, as well as the anatase-TiO2 and the rutile-TiO2 depending on the annealing temperature and Ni:Ti molar ratio. Moreover, it was found that Ni:Ti molar ratio influences the preferable orientation growth of the nickel titanate, being on (202) planes for the nickel dominant powders (Ni:Ti ≥ 75:25) and on (104) planes for the... 

Superstrate configuration CuInS2 (CIS) solar cells are fabricated using a spray pyrolysis method. We avoided selenization process, cyanide etching and CdS buffer layer, to keep the process 'green'. CIS layers are formed by spray pyrolysis of an aqueous precursor ink containing metal chloride salts and thiourea at 350 °C. We investigated the effect of intentional Zn doping on structural, morphological and photovoltaic response of the fabricated CIS films by dissolving ZnCl2 in aqueous precursor solution. At a zinc doping level ranging between 0.25 and 1.00 mol%, Zn doping is found to improve the CIS crystal growth and surface morphology of CIS films. Compared with the performance of the... 

Electrochemical deposition of aluminum and manganese from basic and acidic molten AlCl3-NaCl-KCl mixture on an aluminum electrode at 180 °C was studied by the methods of voltammetry, and potential and current transient. The deposition of aluminum was found to proceed via a nucleation/growth mechanism in basic melt, while the deposition of manganese was found to be diffusion controlled in basic melt. The diffusion coefficient of Mn2+ ions in basic melt, as derived by voltammetry was in agreement with the deductions of transient methods. Analysis of the chronoamperograms indicates that the deposition of manganese on Al was controlled by 3D diffusion controlled nucleation and growth. The... 

Electrochemical deposition of aluminum and lead from basic molten AlCl3-NaCl-KCl mixture on an aluminum electrode at 180 °C was studied by the methods of voltammetry, potential and current transient and constant current deposition. The deposition of aluminum was found to proceed via a nucleation/growth mechanism, while the deposition of lead was found to be diffusion controlled. The diffusion coefficient calculated for Pb2+ ions in basic melt by voltammetry was in agreement with the deductions of transient method. The analysis of the chronoamperograms indicates that the deposition process of lead on Al substrates was controlled by 3D diffusion control, nucleation and growth. The processes... 

In this study, accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process was carried out on an AA1100 aluminum sheet up to 10 cycles. Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) method was utilized to investigate the microstructural evolution during the ARB process. It was observed that the ARB is a promising process for fabricating ultra-fine grained structures in aluminum sheets. The results indicate that several mechanisms are responsible for the microstructural changes at different levels of strain during this process. Grain subdivision as well as the development of sub-grains are the major mechanisms at the early stages of ARB. Strain induced transition of low angle to high angle grain boundaries and the...