Sharif Digital Repository

We present fabrication, characterization, and experimental results describing electrical actuation and readout of the mechanical vibratory response of electrospun ZnO nanofibers. For a fiber with an approximate radius of 200 nm and a length of 70 ìm, a resonance frequency around 3.62 MHz with a quality factor (Q) of about 235 in air at ambient conditions is observed. It is shown that the measured frequency of the resonance is consistent with results from finite element simulations. Also, the measurements were performed in an enclosed chamber with controlled levels of ethanol vapor. The adsorption of ethanol causes a shift in the resonance frequency of the fibers, which can be related to the... 

CdS nanocrystals were thermochemically (thermally activated) synthesized thorough the reaction between CdSO4 and Na2S 2O3 in an aqueous solution. Thioglycolic Acid (TGA) was used as the capping agent and catalyst of the reaction. The method was based on heat activated dissociation of Na2S2O3 and controllable release of S and free electrons in the solution. CdS NCs were formed by heating the sample solution at 96 C for 1 h. The results of optical spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated round shape NCs with sizes about 3.0 nm. The nanocrystals were also luminescent and represented a broad emission with a peak located at 515 nm and FWHM of 160 nm. Several samples were... 

Y2 O3:Eu3+ nanostructures with bright red emitting phosphors have been synthesized by the combustion method using water and water/ethanol mixture as solvents. The effect of the solvents on nanostructure and luminescence properties of combustion synthesized Y2 O3:Eu3+ was explored. The synthesized nanostructures were calcined at 400 ° C and 1000 ° C to remove the organic phases and enhance the crystallinity. The crystal structures were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer and the particle size and morphology of the synthesized nanostructures were studies using a field emission scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope. We found that the solvent choice has a... 

In this study, a well-known Computational Fluid Dynamics software, so-called Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), has been used to simulate multiple ethanol pool fire scenarios. Influences and reciprocal impacts in terms of dynamics and growth of the pool fires have been investigated. Heat release rates temperature and flame shapes have been monitored as the main outputs of the simulations. Based on the simulation results, it can be concluded that the amounts of mass burning rate, the radiation energy and the pool fire flame height were significantly higher in multiple pool fires, when compared with the theoretical values obtained by the mere summation of single pool fires. Furthermore, the... 

The effective parameters such as particle size, temperature, pressure and extraction time on supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of cocoa butter form cocoa seed were studied in order to find the optimum conditions for extraction. Particle size from whole cocoa nibs to one millimeter diameter, extraction temperature from 35°C to 55°C, extraction time from 2 to 8 hours and extraction pressure from 5 to 20 MPa were investigated and optimized. The optimum results (according to the limitation of the apparatus) of 5.2% extraction efficiency, suggests that pure CO2 is not a suitable solvent for extraction of cocoa butter in the investigated range of parameters and therefore the use of a... 

In this study ethanol was produced without using expensive commercial enzymes from sugarcane bagasse. Alkali pretreatment was used to prepare biomass before enzymatic hydrolysis. The comparison between NaOH, KOH and Ca(OH)2 revealed that NaOH has been more effective on bagasse structure. The required enzymes for biomass hydrolysis were produced by bagasse solid state fermentation using three fungi: Trichoderma longibrachiatum, T. reesei and Aspergillus niger. Results indicated enzyme solution produced by A. niger has functioned better than the other two in cellulose conversion during sole hydrolysis. Ethanol was produced by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with on-site... 

In this research, submicron bioactive glass (BG) particles were synthesized by a sol-gel process and were then coated on a 316L stainless steel substrate using an electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique. Stable suspension of bioactive glass powders in ethanol solvent was prepared by addition of triethanol amine (TEA), which increased zeta potential from 16.5 ± 1.6 to 20.3 ± 1.4 (mv). Thickness, structure and electrochemical behavior of the coating were characterized. SEM studies showed that increasing EPD voltage leads to a coating with more agglomerated particles, augmented porosity and micro cracks. The results of Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed the adsorption... 

Nickel modified graphite electrodes (G/Ni) prepared by galvanostatic deposition were examined for their redox process and electrocatalytic activities towards the oxidation of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol and 2-propanol in alkaline solutions. The methods of cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed. In CV studies, the electrochemical response, peak current varied in the order of MeOH > EtOH > 1-PrOH > 2-PrOH. Under the CA regime, a higher catalytic rate constant obtained for methanol oxidation was in agreement with CV measurements. Lower charge transfer resistance was obtained for low carbon alcohols oxidation and significantly higher... 

The alcoholic suspensions of titania nano-particles were prepared using the methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and butanol as the solvents as well as triethanolamine (TEA) as an dispersant. The colloidal stability of suspensions, both in the absence as well as presence of TEA, was studied by measuring the zeta potential, sedimentation, pH and electrical conductivity of suspensions, dispersant adsorption and particles size distribution. Results showed that in the absence of TEA, the stability of the suspensions increases with the molecular size of alcohol (from methanol to butanol), while the zeta potential decreases. It was also observed that with the addition of TEA up to the optimum dosage (4... 

Integrally skinned asymmetric membranes for the separation of O 2 and N 2 were fabricated by the phase inversion technique from polysulfone, polyetherimide, and polyimide. Two types of surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs) including hydrophilic SMM (LSMM) and charged SMM (cSMM) were synthesized and blended with the casting solution to modify the membrane surface. The cast film was then immersed in the first coagulant alcohol (methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol) for a predetermined period, before being immersed in the second coagulant (water). The SMMs used in these experiments were laboratory synthesized by the two-step process of polyurethane prepolymer synthesis and end capping, before... 

Nickel modified NiOOH electrodes were used for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol in alkaline solutions. The electro-oxidation of ethanol in a 1 mol/L NaOH solution at different concentrations of ethanol was studied by ac impedance spectroscopy. Electrooxidation of ethanol on Ni shows negative resistance on impedance plots. The impedance shows different patterns at different applied anodic potential. The influence of the electrode potential on impedance was studied and a quantitative explanation for the impedance of ethanol oxidation was given by means of a proposed mathematical model. At potentials higher than 0.52 V(vs. Ag/AgCl), a pseudoinductive behavior was observed, but at those... 

In order to produce bioethanol from agricultural residues such as wheat straw, the decomposition lignocellulosic materials into soluble sugars is necessary. This work focused on the influence of dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment conditions on sugar removal and the enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on rotatable central composite design (RCCD) was used to optimise H 2SO 4-catalysed hydrothermal pretreatment of wheat straw, in respect to acid concentration (0.75-2.25%), treatment time (10-30min) and temperature (120-160°C). The pretreated wheat straw was hydrolysed by a standard blend of Cellusoft CR ®. Enzymatic hydrolysis was also measured to... 

CeO 2-TiO 2 nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel process using 2-hydroxylethylammonium formate as room-temperature ionic liquid and calcined at different temperatures (500-700°C). CeO 2-TiO 2-graphene nanocomposites were prepared by hydrothermal reaction of graphene oxide with CeO 2-TiO 2 nanoparticles in aqueous solution of ethanol. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, BET surface area, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared techniques. The results demonstrate that the room-temperature ionic liquid inhibits the anatase-rutile phase transformation. This effect was promoted by addition of CeO 2 to TiO 2.... 

Bioactive glass is coated on implant's surface to improve corrosion resistance and osseointegration, when placed in the body. Bioactive glass particles were synthesized through a sol-gel process and deposited along with chitosan to form a composite coating on a stainless steel substrate using electrophoretic deposition technique. Stable suspensions of chitosan-bioactive glass were prepared using bioactive glass particles (<1 μm) and 0.5 g/l chitosan solution. The influence of ethanol-water ratio on deposition yield was investigated. For all process conditions, best results were achieved with suspension of 30 vol% water in ethanol-water containing 2 g/l bioactive glass. FTIR studies showed... 

Zirconia/Hydroxyapatite composites containing 20-50 wt.% 8YSZ were prepared on Ti/TiO2 substrates by electrophoretic deposition (EPD)/micro-arc oxidation (MAO) process. Titania, as an inner layer, was grown on the Ti plates using MAO treatment in order to form a strong join between substrate and HAp. These composites were produced by EPD in ethanol containing ZrO2/HAp particles at 50, 100 and 150 V in 1 min. Asprepared samples were sintered at 900, 1100 and 1300 °C. HAp, β-TCP, CaZrO3 phases were identified using X-ray diffractometry analysis (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) utilized to study the surface morphology indicated a crack free microstructure at 1300 °C  

Rice bran is one of the most important co-products in the rice milling. In this research, antioxidant activity of two Iranian rice bran varieties, Fajr and Tarem, extracted by three different solvents (methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate) was evaluated. The order of antioxidant activity was evaluated by measurement of total phenolic content, antioxidant activity in linoleic acid system, reducing power and scavenging capacity by DPPH radical. The methanolic extract of Fajr rice bran showed a total phenolic content of 3.31 mg Gallic acid/gr rice bran and a DPPH free radical-scavenging activity of 93.91%, achieved at 50 mg/ml concentration, and a percent inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation... 

A steady-state equilibrium-stage model based on MESH equations was proposed to simulate saline extractive distillation columns. The interaction parameters between each component of water-CaCl 2 and ethanol-water were obtained from mean ionic activity coefficients and vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) experimental data. Additionally, the interaction coefficients for the ethanol-CaCl 2 pair were fitted to experimental VLE data which were reported by Nishi for the ethanol-water-CaCl 2 system. It should be noted that adjustable parameters between each pair were considered to be temperature dependent. The results confirmed that the proposed model could accurately predict the experimental... 

There are many fundamental problems with the injection of nano-zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles to create permeable reactive barrier (PRB) treatment zone. Among them the loss of medium porosity or pore blocking over time can be considered which leads to reduction of permeability and bypass of the flow and contaminant plume up-gradient of the PRB. Present study provides a solution for such problems by confining the target zone for injection to the gate in a funnel-and-gate configuration. A laboratory-scale experimental setup is used in this work. In the designed PRB gate, no additional material from porous media exists. NZVI (d 50 = 52 ± 5 nm) particles are synthesized in water mixed with... 

The suspension of titania nanoparticles in different alcohols (methanol, ethanol, and butanol) was prepared and triethanolamine (TEA) was used as a dispersant. The suspensions were characterized by different tests such as sedimentation, zeta potential, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was performed at various voltages and times. EPD from butanolic suspension (0.8 g/L TEA) showed the slowest kinetics, because of the low electrophoretic mobility of titania nanoparticles in it (2.40 × 10-5 cm2·(V·s)-1). Also, it was observed that at low voltages (5, 10, and 20 V), the EPD kinetics from methanolic suspension (0 g/L TEA) was the fastest; however,... 

In this work the application of a modified surface nano zero valent iron (NZVI) as bimetallic Fe/Cu particles to remove high concentration of NO3--N through packed sand column has been studied. Dispersed nano-Fe/Cu particles has been synthesized in water mixed ethanol solvent system (1:4v/v) and described by XRD pattern, TEM and SEM images and BET analyze. Batch experiments have been conducted to investigate the effect of percentage coating of Fe0 by Cu on the nitrate removal. Research on packed sand column (120cm length, 6.5cm inner diameter) has been done under conditions of Nano-Fe/Cu concentration (2, 5, and 8gl-1 of solution), high initial NO3--N concentration (100, 200, and 300mgl-1)...