Sharif Digital Repository

A novel ultrasensitive modified electrode was fabricated with a graphene nanosheets and carbon nanospheres (GNS-CNS)-based nanocomposite film as a powerful platform. Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) were simply electrodeposited onto the GNS-CNS-coated glassy carbon electrode creating a PtNPs/GNS-CNS hybrid nanocomposite modified electrode. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) techniques were used for the characterization of the prepared modified electrode. The results of investigation of electrochemical response characteristics of cefepime (CP) revealed a considerable improvement in the oxidation peak current of CP on PtNPs/GNS-CNS/GCE... 

Operation of two different optical fiber sensor designs for distance measurements with a good sensitivity, resolution, and wide dynamic range is reported. Design is based on the intensity modulation due to reflectance measurement from a target surface. Two reported designs are fabricated with a triple-fiber assembly, in which one uses a double-transmitter, while another one uses a double-receiver fiber design. Reflection signals from different targets are tested with these sensors and results for the mirror and A4 paper surfaces are described. The response curve for both experiments starts from a near zero level, shows a maximum at a certain distance and gradually drops to the background... 

This paper presents a general method for real-time adaptation of wireless receivers according to the prevailing reception conditions. In order to maintain the desired signal quality at the minimum possible power dissipation, the method performs an optimal trade-off between noise, linearity, and power consumption in the building blocks of the receiver. This is achieved by continuously monitoring the signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) and accordingly tuning the adaptation parameters embedded in the receiver design. A prototype DVB-H receiver chip, implemented in a standard 0.18-μ m CMOS process, is used as the test vehicle. By properly trading noise with linearity in the receiver,... 

Next generation wideband and ultra-wideband radar antenna arrays need efficient true-time delay networks for array control. Optical beam-forming networks have been considered as a promising solution in such arrays. Performance analysis of optical beam-formers is thus quiet necessary. In this paper signal to noise ratio and dynamic range of simple optical beam-forming structures are investigated with a custom microwave CAD tool. Two structures with optical and RF power combining methods are discussed. With the proposed devices' parameters, the optical combining method shows better performance for low and moderate optical powers  

A new sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor was developed for determination of naltrexone (NAL) in pharmaceutical dosage form and human plasma. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist which is commonly used for the treatment of narcotic addiction and alcohol dependence. A voltammetric study of naltrexone has been carried out at the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with Nafion-doped carbon nanoparticles (CNPs). The electrochemical oxidation of naltrexone was investigated by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetric techniques. The dependence of peak currents and potentials on pH, concentration and the potential scan rate was investigated. The electrode characterization... 

Superhydrophobic materials have attracted many attentions in recent years while their application in sample preparation remained almost intact. In this project, a rough surface of melamine formaldehyde foam was silanized by chemical deposition of trichloromethylsilane to form a highly porous and superhydrophobic material, presumably a suitable medium for extracting non–polar compounds such as benzene and its methyl derivatives. The prepared sorbent was packed in a needle for the headspace needle–trap microextraction of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX). Major parameters associated with the extraction/desorption processes were considered for optimization. Under the optimized... 

A thin film microextraction method using elecrospun magnetic polybutylene terephthalate nanofibers is developed and implemented to isolate some selected triazines. Due to the high mechanical stability of these nanofibers, they are repeatedly used under harsh magnetic stirring and ultrasonic conditions without any damage and structure degradation. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles within the nanofiber structure increases the extraction efficiency while the fibers could be collected by an external magnet. The synthesized nanocomposite showed strong affinity toward the selected analytes. Apart from the concentration of magnetic nanoparticles within the nanocomposite network, the effect of... 

A 4th order, 5 MHz, lowpass Butterworth Gm-c filter has been combined with a low noise low-voltage amplifier to form a lowpass filter for video applications. In this filter an improved transconductor and a powerful method is used to adjust the transconductance gain for tuning application. A continuous variable gain current-to-current converter is used to tune the transconductor value. The THD of the filter is -77 dB for 1 Vppd input signal. Input referred noise is 40 nV/√Hz in the worst case. All the circuits are designed based on a 0.25 μm CMOS process technology with a single 1.8 V supply. © 2002 IEEE  

A 3rd order, 1.1 MHz, lowpass butterworth Gm-c filter has been combined with a low noise Variable Gain Amplifier to form the Variable Gain Filter (VGF). In this VGF an improved transconductor is used and a new method is used to adjust the transconductance gain for tuning application. A continuous variable gain current-to-current converter is used to tune the transconductor value. The THD of the VGF is -85 dB for 1 Vppd input signal and -50 dB for 3 Vppd input signal. VGF gain can be varied from 0 to 31 dB with 1 dB variation steps. Input referred noise is 20 nV/√Hz for maximum gain. All the circuits are designed based on a 0.25 μm CMOS process technology  

A new second order sigma delta modulator with the reduced number of op-amps, to decrease static power consumption and area, is presented for voice band applications such as codecs. This switched capacitor modulator uses reused capacitor technique to reduce the input thermal noise and circuit area. It improves the DR of modulator by almost 0.5 bit. The modulator shows 87 dB DR for voice band while consuming 125 μW from a 2.5 V supply. © 2003 IEEE  

The design of a power-efficient second-order Δ/∑ modulator for voice-band is presented. At system level, a new single-loop, single-stage modulator is proposed. The modulator employs only one class-AB op-amp to realize a second-order noise shaping for voice-band applications. The modulator is designed in a 0.25μm standard CMOS process, and exhibits 86 dB dynamic range (DR) for a 4 kHz voice-bandwidth. The proposed modulator consumes 125μW from a 2.5 V supply. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006  

The preparation and electrochemical performance of the carbon nanotube-paste electrode modified with salophen complexes of cobalt(III) perchlorate, with various substituents on the salophen ligand, as well as their electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is investigated. Several Schiff base complexes containing various nucleophilic and electrophilic functional groups were prepared, and their electrochemical characteristics for the electro-oxidation of NAC were evaluated using cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry (CV and DPV). The results revealed, the modified electrodes show an efficient and selective electrocatalytic activity toward the anodic... 

A modified carbon paste electrode was prepared by incorporating TiO2 nanoparticles with bis[bis(salicylidene-1,4-phenylenediamine)molybdenum(VI)]. A mixture of fine graphite powder with 4 wt% of TiO2 nanoparticles was applied for the preparation of the carbon paste (by dispersing in paraffin) and finally modified with a molybdenum (VI) complex. The electrocatalytic oxidation of guanine (G) was investigated on the surface of the molybdenum (VI) complex-TiO2 nanoparticle modified carbon paste electrode (MCTNMCPE) using cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), chronoamperometry (CHA) and chronocoloumetry (CHC). Using the modified electrode, the kinetics of G... 

A carbon paste electrode, modified with 2, 2″-[1,7- hepthandiylbis(nitriloethylidyne)]-bis-hydroquinone and TiO 2 nanoparticles, was used for the simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA), uric acid (UA), and l-cysteine. The study was carried out by using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques. Some kinetic parameters such as the electron transfer coefficient (α) and heterogeneous rate constant (k s) were also determined for the DA oxidation. A dynamic range of 8.0-1400 μM, with the detection limit of 8.4∈×∈10 -7 M for DA, was obtained using SWV (pH∈=∈7.0). The prepared electrode was successfully applied for the determination of DA, UA, and... 

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were immobilised with cobalt nanoparticles and analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. This modification procedure substantially improved colloidal dispersion of the immobilised MWCNTs in water and organic solvents, yielding uniform and stable thin films for modification of the glassy carbon electrode surface. The modified electrode showed an efficient catalytic role for the electrochemical oxidation of thioridazine (TR), leading to remarkable decrease in its oxidation overpotential of approximately 100 mV and enhancement of the kinetics of the electrode reaction, which can be confirmed by increasing in the peak current and sharpness of the peak.... 

Next generation wideband and ultra-wideband radar antenna arrays need efficient true-time delay networks for array control. Following the great interest for optical control of antenna array beam steering, performance analysis of optical beam-formers is a must. In this paper signal to noise ratio and dynamic range of simple optical beamforming structures with components off the shelf are investigated theoretically. Especially the effects of certain power combining components such as arrayed wave guide gratings, broadband passive optical combiners and microwave combiners inspected. It turns up that an efficient microwave combiner would surpass the optical combiners in both SNR and dynamic... 

This paper reports transistor-level design of a new continuous-time (CT), discrete-time (DT) cascaded sigma delta modulator (SDM). The combination of a CT first stage and a DT second stage was utilized to realize a high speed, high resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Power consumption of CT first stage is lowered by optimizing the gain coefficients of CT integrators in a feedforward topology. Moreover double sampling (CDS) was used in second stage integrators to further reduce power consumption. Proposed new SDM is simulated in 0.18μm CMOS technology and achieves 84dB dynamic range for a 10MHz signal bandwidth. Total analog power dissipation measured was 44mW  

A modified glassy carbon electrode, prepared by potentiostatic electrodeposition of platinum-ruthenium nanoparticles (Pt-RuNPs) onto a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) layer, offers dramatic improvements in the stability and sensitivity of voltammetric responses toward methyldopa (m-dopa) compared to glassy carbon electrodes individually coated with MWCNT or Pt-RuNPs. The surface morphology and nature of the hybrid film (Pt-RuNPs/MWCNT) deposited on glassy carbon electrodes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. A remarkable enhancement in the microscopic area of the electrode together...