Sharif Digital Repository

The purpose of this study is to investigate separation performance of poly(ether-b-amide6) (Pebax1657)/glycerol triacetate (GTA) gel membranes for CO2 removal from H2, N2 and CH4. GTA as a low molecular weight and highly CO2-phill compound was added to membrane structure at various weight fractions, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% of Pebax, to fabricate a new high solubility selective membrane with improved performance. Permeation of pure gases was studied at different temperatures from 25 to 65°C and pressures from 4 to 24bar and ideal selectivities were calculated. Results indicated enhancement in permeation for all tested gases. For example, at a pressure of 4bar and a temperature of 25°C, membrane... 

Gold nanotubes/nanowires (GNT/NW) were synthesized by using the template-assisted electrodeposition technique and mixed with castor oil-polyethylene glycol based polyurethane (PU) to fabricate porous composite scaffolds for biomedical application. 100 and 50 ppm of GNT/NW were used to synthesize composites. The composite scaffolds were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. Cell attachment on polyurethane-GNT/NW composites was investigated using fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Addition of 50 or 100 ppm GNT/NW had significant effects on thermal, mechanical, and cell... 

The renal capsule tissue of lamb was irradiated with ultraviolet-C light and the treated samples were analyzed by uniaxial tensile test, dynamic mechanical analysis, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. It was shown that the skin cross-linking is dominant in low doses in accordance with the contact angle assessment. Conversely, the strong bulk degradation takes place at high doses. Similarly, the bulk cross-linking affects the mechanical tests as to enhance the stiffness at low doses, whereas strong degradation occurs at high doses that mainly arises from the strong bulk chain scission  

A new photocatalyst (Ag-S/PEG/TiO2) was synthesized by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) to an efficient Ag-S/TiO2 photocatalyst, to obtain a photocatalyst that is highly active under visible light. In addition to Ag-S/PEG/TiO2, Ag-S/TiO2 and pure TiO2 were prepared to compare their properties and activities. Specifically, the morphologies and microstructures of the nanophotocatalysts were characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy,... 

Graphene oxide (GO) sheets were synthesized through a modified Hummers' method. Using high resolution transmission electron microscopy the thickness of the GO sheets in a multilayer structure of stacked GO sheets was found ∼0.8 nm. A nanosecond pulsed laser (with wavelength of 532 nm and average power of 0.3 W) was applied for effective and environment friendly reduction of the GO sheets in an ammonia solution (pH ∼9) at room temperature conditions. The deoxygenation of the GO sheets by the pulsed laser reduction method was confirmed by using UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermo gravimetric analysis. Based on XPS analysis, the O/C ratio of... 

Recently, an approximate boundary condition [Opt. Lett. 38, 3009 (2013)] was proposed for fast analysis of onedimensional periodic arrays of graphene ribbons by using the Fourier modal method (FMM). Correct factorization rules are applicable to this approximate boundary condition where graphene is modeled as surface conductivity. We extend this approach to obtain the optical properties of two-dimensional periodic arrays of graphene. In this work, optical absorption of graphene squares in a checkerboard pattern and graphene nanodisks in a hexagonal lattice are calculated by the proposed formalism. The achieved results are compared with the conventional FMM, in which graphene is modeled as a... 

2,4,6,8,10,12-Hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) as one of the high energy cage nitramines has been used in various propellants and explosive formulations. The performance of energetic materials depends on its particle size and shape. Therefore, in this research, microemulsion method has been applied for the preparation of CL-20 nanoparticles via oil in water (O/W) microemulsions. The optimized formulation contains water 45%, n-butyl acetate 20.5%, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, as anionic surfactant) 6.5% and 2-propanol (as co-surfactant) 26.5%. CL-20 nanoparticles that were obtained by microemulsion method are spherical with an average diameter of 25 nm, based on TEM image.... 

Design and development of FGMs as the heat treatable materials for high-temperature environments with thermal protection require understanding of exact temperature and thermal stress distribution in the transient state. This information is primary tool in the design and optimization of the devices for failure prevention. Frequently FGMs are used in many applications that presumably produce thermal energy transport via wave propagation. In this study, transient non-Fourier temperature and associated thermal stresses in a functionally graded slab symmetrically heated on both sides are determined. Hyperbolic heat conduction equation in terms of heat flux is used for obtaining temperature... 

The synergistic effect of nano titanium dioxide (10 and 30 nm) and nano silver (10 nm) as antibacterial agents were investigated on UV curable clear coating. Antibacterial and physical-mechanical properties of coating were optimized using experimental design in response surface method. Twenty different samples of nano Ag and nano TiO2 were prepared in this method. Antibacterial properties on Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) were investigated. The results revealed that using equal amounts of two sizes of nano TiO2 promote the antibacterial activity of nano Ag. So, the coating shows strong activity against E. coli. Physical-mechanical properties such as surface hardness, abrasion... 

Carbon nanotubes with unique physical and mechanical properties have shown great potential for biological applications, including tissue engineering and mimicking the structure and properties of human bones. In the present work, sol-gel synthesized nanocomposite powder of multi-wall carbon nanotube/hydroxyapatite characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and thermal analyses. The results show homogenous dispersion of nanotube in well-crystallized hydroxyapatite ceramic matrix. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope observations show the sodium... 

In this study, biodegradation of corn starch/glycerol/Na-MMT nanocomposites by soil burial tests were carried out for up to 6 months. Films were prepared by casting method according to central composite design and response surface methodology was applied for analysis of the results. The effects of formulation on the water solubility, contact angle and tensile strength of starch films were investigated. Increasing in Na-MMT content decreased biodegradability; while presence of glycerol, increased it. The effect of nanoparticles content might have been attributed to interactions between starch and Na-MMT that further prevented enzymatic attack on the biopolymer. In addition, the films with... 

Surface modified magnetic nanoparticles (M-NPs) were synthetized and stabilized in poly (vinylalcohol) solution. The solutions with various magnetic nanoparticles contents were gammairradiated and magnetic poly (vinyl-alcohol) (M-PVA) hydrogels were synthesized. The magnetic hydrogels and also the un-irradiated magnetic poly (vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mechanical measurement. The M-NPs were uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix due to a strong interaction between the surface-modified M-NPs and polymer matrix.... 

This paper presents a digital hardware implementation of a frequency adaptive Hopf oscillator along with investigation on systematic behavior when they are coupled in a population. The mathematical models of the oscillator are introduced and compared in sense of dynamical behavior by using system-level simulations based on which a piecewise-linear model is developed. It is shown that the model is capable to be implemented digitally with high efficiency. Behavior of the oscillators in different network structures to be used for dynamic Fourier analysis is studied and a structure with more precise operation which is also more efficient for FPGA-based implementation is implemented. Conceptual... 

Background: The seminal plasma is an excellent source for noninvasive detection of spermatogenesis. The seminal plasma of normospermic and azoospermic men has been analyzed for detection of spermatogenesis. Methods: Optical spectroscopy (Attenuated Total Reflectance-Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) has been used to analyze the seminal plasma and the metabolome of seminal plasma for detection of spermatogenesis. Results The seminal plasma of normospermic and azoospermic men has been analyzed by ATR-IR. The results show that there is a pattern variation in the azoospermic men compared to normospermic men. However, the seminal plasma is too... 

Consideration is given to the buoyancy effects on the fully developed gaseous slip flow in a vertical rectangular microduct. Two different cases of the thermal boundary conditions are considered, namely uniform temperature at two facing duct walls with different temperatures and adiabatic other walls (case A) and uniform heat flux at two walls and uniform temperature at other walls (case B). The rarefaction effects are treated using the firstorder slip boundary conditions. By means of finite Fourier transform method, analytical solutions are obtained for the velocity and temperature distributions as well as the Poiseuille number. Furthermore, the threshold value of the mixed convection... 

Despite brilliant properties of glass ionomer cement (GIC), its weak mechanical property poses an obstacle for its use in medical applications. The present research aims to formulate hydroxyapatite/yttria-stabilized zirconia (HA/YSZ) in the composition of GIC to enhance mechanical properties and to improve fluoride release of GIC. HA/YSZ was synthesized via a sol-gel method and characterized by applying X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy (XPS) and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) along with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. The synthesized nanocomposite was mixed with GIC at a fixed composition of 5.... 

Mixed-mode fracture mechanics analysis of an embedded arbitrarily oriented crack in a two-dimensional functionally graded material using plane elasticity theory is considered. The material properties are assumed to vary exponentially in two planar directions. Then, employing Fourier integral transforms with singular integral equation technique, the problem is solved. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) at the crack tips are calculated under in-plane mechanical loads. Finally, the effects of crack orientation, material non-homogeneity, and other parameters are discussed on the value of SIF in mode I and mode II fracture  

A solution of polyamide (PA) containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a side low-molecular-weight polymer was electrospun. After synthesizing the PA-PEG nanofibers, the constituent was subsequently removed (modified PA) and confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The scanning electron microscopy images showed an average diameter of 640 and 148 nm for PA and PA-PEG coatings, respectively, while the latter coating structure was more homogeneous and porous. The extraction efficiencies of PA, PA-PEG, and the modified PA fiber coatings were assayed by headspace solid-phase microextraction of a number of chlorophenols from real water samples followed by their determination by gas... 

Background For decades, contrast agents have been used to reduce longitudinal (T1) or transverse (T2) relaxation times. High toxicity of gadolinium-based contrast agents leads researchers to new T1 contrast agents. Manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticle (NP) with the lower peril and good enough signal change ability has been offered as a new possibility for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods The synthesized NPs were investigated for physicochemical and biological properties by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering (DLS), inductively coupled plasma, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and 3 T magnetic resonance... 

An efficient method for scattering analysis from slightly rough surfaces is introduced. This method can be used in ray tracing algorithm where the computational efficiency is important due to the complexity and size of problems. In this method, the Kirchhoff approach is used for a periodic extension of the finite surface, which is approximated by strong harmonics of its Fourier series. Typical asphalt surfaces are analyzed by this method in millimeter-wave band and validated with the method of moments. The dominant scattering angles and ray widths of the scattered field can be easily used in ray tracing algorithm. The computation time and accuracy of results show that this method can be used...