Sharif Digital Repository

(ZnO)1-x(CdO)x nanofibers were fabricated via electrospinning of polymer precursor by subsequent annealing in air. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed the smooth and beadless nanofibers and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the ZnO hexagonal and the CdO cubic structure. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) showed the band gap energy reduction by increasing the amount of CdO in (ZnO)1-x(CdO)x nanofibers that resulted in the photocatalytic activity under the visible light for dye degradation. Under the UV light CdO acted as both electron and hole sink in the (ZnO) 1-x(CdO)x nanofibers and a possible photocatalytic activity... 

The fabrication of strong photocatalysts applied to the degradation of organic pollutants is necessary in environmental applications. In a single-stage method, acetate precursor and poly vinyl pyrolydine are used to produce ZnO nanostructures with various morphologies in annealing temperatures ranging from 300 °C to 900 oC. The physical properties of the prepared nanostructures were characterized by SEM, XRD and PL spectroscopy. The SEM images exhibit a variety of the as-prepared hexagonal zinc oxides including wires, rods, particles and porous network of welded particles of ZnO nanoparticles. The results of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue as an organic dye in aqueous... 

The stochastic behavior of a point reactor is modeled with a system of Ito stochastic differential equations. This new approach does not require computing the square root of a matrix which is a great computational advantage. Moreover, the derivation procedure clearly demonstrates the mathematical approximations involved in the final formulation. Three numerical benchmarks show the accuracy of this model in predicting the mean and variance of the neutron and precursor population in a point reactor  

This work aims to develop a chemically modified sol–gel synthesis pathway for obtaining various barium titanate nanostructures. The method is able to prepare different BaTiO3 nanostructures such as highly stable nanoparticle embedded colloids, highly transparent amorphous nanolayers, nanocrystalline BaTiO3 powders and ultrathin BaTiO3 nanostructured films directly from a precursor solution. All the products have been prepared at a lower temperature and in a more cost-effective way in contrast to other established sol–gel methods. The results show that the optical transparency of the thin films has been significantly improved in contrast to the similar researches. The deposited thin film is... 

Cobalt-based catalysts were prepared on different alumina supports, and their behaviour for different Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) conditions assessed. Although Co/γ-Al2O3 is a well-known FTS catalyst, its durability ought to be improved to make the industrial process economically feasible. Here calcination repetitions effects on the catalyst lifetime were examined utilising reactor tests and characterisation techniques including XRD, TPR, ICP and N2 porosimetry. Results revealed that fewer calcination repetitions improved catalyst activity and selectivity. Based upon the XRD results, these findings appeared to be due to the improved size of cobalt crystals on the pore surfaces. These... 

Tubular ceramic membranes were synthesized by depositing a dense layer of silica-alumina on top of a multilayer substrate using co-current chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The multilayer substrate was prepared by coating with a series of bohemite sols with certain particle sizes. Cross-sectional and surface images obtained from high resolution FESEM showed that the intermediate layer had a thickness of about 1μm and the top selective layer was uniform and dense with a thickness of less than 100nm. Permeance tests, which were carried out with H 2, CO 2, N 2 and CH 4 at a high temperature range of 923-1073K, indicated that gas permeation took place via different mechanisms through... 

The morphological manipulation, structural characterization, and optical properties of different cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanostructures are reported. Two different CdSe nanostructures, i.e., nanorods and nanoparticles, were grown by controlling the concentration of precursors (i.e., cadmium nitrate and selenium dioxide) in ethanolamine solvent. By manipulating the kinetic parameter of the process (i.e., growth rate) under constant growth driving force (i.e., degree of supersaturation), the morphology of CdSe nanostructures can be tailored from nanorods to nanoparticles. The optical properties of CdSe nanostructures were investigated using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The... 

Epitaxial cerium oxide (CeO2) buffer layer has been grown on lanthanum aluminate (LAO) single crystal substrates for fabrication of c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO). Precursor solution of cerium acetylacetonates with viscosity of 0.6 centipoises was spin coated on the 1×1 cm area LAO substrates. The calcination was carried out by very slow ramp (1°C per minute) until the final temperature of 500°C in oxygen flow to remove most of the organic compounds. The final heat treatment has been done at 780°C by a ramp of 20° per minute in gas flow of mixed argon-oxygen with 5 Pa partial pressure of oxygen. The thickness of the deposited CeO2 buffer layer was 20 nm. Then, 100 nm thick YBCO film was... 

To evaluate the selectivity and efficiency of solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coatings, synthesized by sol-gel technology, roles of precursors and coating polymers were extensively investigated. An on-line combination of capillary microextraction (CME) technique and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was set up to perform the investigation. Ten different fiber coatings were synthesized in which five of them contained only the precursor and the rests were prepared using both the precursor and coating polymer. All the coatings were chemically bonded to the inner surface of copper tubes, intended to be used as the CME device and already functionalized by self-assembly... 

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... 

Undoped and copper doped nanostructured zinc oxides were synthesized by using a series of synthetic layered material, undoped and copper doped zinc hydroxide nitrates at various molar percentages of copper (2-10) within the layers as precursors. The layered materials were heat-treated at 500 °C to produce zinc oxide nanostructures with crystallite sizes in the range of 23-35 nm. Optical studies of the nanostructured copper doped zinc oxides showed the decrease in band gap with increasing content of the doping agent, copper  

ZnO nano-architectures were produced with the aid of a fast, simple and low cost microwave-assisted synthesis method. Solid semispherical ZnO nanoparticles on the order of 600 nm in diameter along with rice-like ZnO nanorods 95 nm thick were produced from butanol, triethanolamine (TEA), and zinc acetate dihydrate. Solid spherical ZnO nano-architectures with an average diameter of 250 nm were produced from the same starting materials in addition to NaOH. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the ZnO nano-architectures as well as the precursor. This method is cheap, fast and simple; capable of producing large quantities... 

Soluble N-functionalized basic and cationic polysaccharides have been synthesized using polysaccharide phenyl carbonate as a precursor. The products and intermediates were thoroughly characterized by conventional methods. The quaternization of amino intermediates in various conditions was studied. Moreover, the potential of basic polymers as green and selective catalysts in Knoevenagel reaction was investigated. In all cases, only one isomer was obtained  

A novel glucose biosensor based on chromophore (silver nanoparticles) decolorizing for the photometric determination of glucose was developed. Silver nanoparticles are directly synthesized in the sol-gel matrix by a one-step method based on the reduction of the inorganic precursor AgNO3 and were used for the preparation, characterization and calibration of a highly sensitive and cost-effective localized surface plasmon resonance-based glucose biosensor. In the presence of glucose oxidase (GOx) and due to the enzyme-substrate (glucose) reaction, H2O2 was produced and silver nanoparticles in the sol-gel glass have the ability for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Due to the degradation... 

MCM-41 nanoparticles were prepared by in situ assembly of inorganic precursors and CTAB. The structure of nanoparticles was characterized by XRD, TEM, particle size analysis, N2 adsorption techniques. The surface modification of particles in order to perfect dispersion in polysulfone (PSf) matrix was performed by dimethyldichlorosilane (DMDCS) and aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) as new modification agents. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and SEM analysis were applied to investigate thermal stability, glass transition temperature and quality of distribution of particle in the nanocomposite membrane, respectively. The PDMS was used to coat the... 

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized in aqueous solutions containing FeCl2, FeCl3, FeSO4 and Fe2(SO4) 3. The effects of iron charge and the counter ions on the formation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were investigated. Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis indicated that carbon multilayer structures including CNTs and multishell graphite particles were formed in deionized (DI) water without the iron precursor. SWCNTs were also synthesized in the presence of the iron ions. It was also found that the mole ratio of [Fe2+]/[Fe3+] in the solution has a significant influence on the purity of CNTs and the process yield. The highest yield was... 

Tungsten trioxide has been prepared by using P-PTA as a precursor on alumina substrates by spin coating method. Palladium introduced on WO 3 film via electrolysis deposition by using palladium chloride as catalytic precursor. The catalytic precursor was introduced on the series of films with different morphologies. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and XPS were applied to analyze structure and morphology of the fabricated thin films. Then we measured variation of samples' electrical conductivity of pure and Pd added films in air and diluted hydrogen. Addition of Pd resulted in a remarkable improvement of the hydrogen sensing properties of WO 3 by detection of... 

Nanostructured CoTiO3 thin films and powders were prepared by a straightforward aqueous particulate sol–gel route. Titanium(IV) isopropoxide and cobalt chloride were used as titanium and cobalt precursors, respectively. Also, hydroxypropyl cellulose was used as a polymeric fugitive agent in order to increase the specific surface area. The effect of Co:Ti molar ratio and annealing temperature were studied on the crystallization behavior and chemical properties of the products. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the powders crystallized at the low annealing temperature of 300 °C for 1 h, containing anatase-TiO2,... 

Introduction: It is 23 years since carbon allotrope known as carbon nanotubes (CNT) was discovered by Iijima, who described them as "rolled graphite sheets inserted into each other". Since then, CNTs have been studied in nanoelectronic devices. However, CNTs also possess the versatility to act as drug- and gene-delivery vehicles.Areas covered: This review covers the synthesis, purification and functionalization of CNTs. Arc discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition are the principle synthesis methods. Non-covalent functionalization relies on attachment of biomolecules by coating the CNT with surfactants, synthetic polymers and biopolymers. Covalent functionalization often... 

Abstract In this study, aluminium titanate (AT) particles and nanofibers were synthesized through citrate sol gel and sol gel-assisted electrospinning methods in both nanostructured powder and nanofiber forms. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis showed that the synthetic products benefit a nanostructured nature with a grain size less than 70 nm. The optimal values for time and temperature at which a roughly pure AT is attained were determined as 2 h and 900 C, respectively. It was found that the sol gel precursor bears an amorphous structure till 700 C and begins to be crystallized to alumina, anatase and AT...