Sharif Digital Repository

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising candidates for high-resolution mass nanosensors owing to their unique vibrational behavior. The structural characteristic (e.g. defect type and density) and working temperature have a significant effect on the natural frequency of CNT-based sensors. Herein, a stochastic approach based on novel finite element and molecular mechanics simulations is implemented to model the effect of temperature and structural characteristics of single-wall CNTs including defects (vacancy defect with different densities) and chirality (zigzag and armchair) on their vibrational behavior. The results show that the vacancy defects exert a significant deterioration of the... 

In the present work, characterization of the surface trenches and vacancies with Amplitude Modulation AFM (AM-AFM) using Molecular Dynamics (MD) is simulated and the effects of the tip shape on the resulting images are investigated. The simulated system includes a recently developed gold coated AFM probe which interacts with a sample including a surface trench or a single-atom vacancy. In order to examine the behavior of the above system, including different transition metals, a Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation with Sutton-Chen (SC) interatomic potential is used. Special attention is dedicated to the study of tip geometry effects such as the tip apex radius, the tip cone angle, the probe... 

Because of the possibility of various types of vacancies in cementite due to its crystalline structure, the focus of this paper was only on vacancies. In this regard, the formation energies of single, two, three and four vacancies of over than 120 different cases were calculated using first-principles method. For the case of single vacancy, the results were in three values of ~1.63, 1.39 and 0.78 eV according to iron vacancies at general positions, iron vacancies located on mirror planes and carbon vacancies in the interstitial positions, respectively. The results for the case of two, three and four vacancies were between from 2.10 to 3.34 eV, from 3.92 to 5.10 eV and from 4.77 to 6.33 eV,... 

Novel ZnO-carbon and ZnO nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning of polymer precursor followed by subsequent annealing in nitrogen and air, respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated the smooth and beadless nanofibers with wurtzite crystal structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of oxygen vacancies (VO) and chemisorbed O2 on the surface of the samples. Band gap narrowing of the ZnO-carbon nanofibers in comparison to ZnO were measured by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Photo-degradation of azo dye under the UV and visible light was evaluated and ZnO-carbon showed an enhancement in... 

The two-sublattice nature of graphene lattice in conjunction with three-fold rotational symmetry, allows for the p-wave hybridization of the impurity state with the Bloch states of carbon atoms. Such an opportunity is not available in normal metals where the wave function is scalar. The p-wave hybridization function V (-k) appears when dealing with vacancies, substitutional adatoms and the hollow site impurities while the s-wave mixing on graphene lattice pertains only to the top site impurities. In this work, we compare the local moment formation in these two cases and find that the local moments formed by p-wave mixing compared to the s-wave one are robust against the changes in the... 

A mechanochemical method was applied to prepare bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) nanoplates using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate and potassium bromide for 15 (A15), 30 (A30) and 60 (A60) minutes. Scanning electron microscopy studies showed that all the products were comprised of nanoplates. Aggregated nanoplates along with microblocks were observed for A15 and A30 and the entire morphology was not homogenous. The morphology of A60 was uniform and consisted of thin and isolated nanoplates. Evaluation of the X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the purity and crystallinity of the products improved by increasing the milling time. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed the high purity of the... 

The formation and diffusion of a vacancy in a silver nanocluster are studied via a combination of first-principles and statistical mechanics simulations. A 38-atom truncated-octahedral (TO) arrangement and its homologue with 37 Ag atoms and one vacancy are considered, and density-functional calculations are performed to derive the energies of the local minima and the energy barriers connecting them. These data are then used as an input for a study of the system dynamics via a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm, evaluating site occupancies, diffusion coefficient and equilibration time. It is found that vacancy formation and diffusion represents a viable path for atom-atom exchange in these... 

Preparation of the defective TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) have been recently in particular interest for its outstanding applications in visible-light active photocatalysis. In order to make TiO2 visible-light absorber, optical band gap should be modified especially via introducing structural defects like oxygen vacancies as an effective pathway. In this research, we prepared defective rutile TiO2 NPs with highly efficient photocatalytic activity under visible light. The NPs were synthesized by electric arc discharge in water as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method with capability of defect formation which followed by heat treatment. The photocatalytic activity improvement... 

In this study, we explore resonance-enhanced optical absorption in Ta 3N5 photoanodes for water splitting. By using a reflecting Pt back-contact and appropriate Ta3N5 film thickness, the resonance frequency can be tuned to energies just above the bandgap, where the optical absorption is normally weak. The resonance results in a significant improvement in the photoanode's incident photon-to-current efficiency. The Ta3N5 films are made by high-temperature nitridation of Ta2O5. The nitridation time is found to be critical, as extended nitridation result in the formation of nitrogen vacancies through thermal reduction. These insights give important clues for the development of efficient... 

Single electron wavefunction of a vacancy in diamond lattice has been calculated in different symmetric configurations of the nearest neighbor (NN) atoms. We used ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) cluster methods. The variation of electron or spin localization on NN atoms have been investigated with respect to the lattice relaxation in the ground state of the neutral and negatively charged vacancy. Calculated variations are not symmetric with respect to the sign of the lattice relaxation. We obtain about 90% localization for electronic charge and spin density for the neutral and negatively charged vacancy, respectively. This is in good agreement... 

The paper deals with investigation of the effects of vacancy defects on the pull-in behaviors of the carbon nanotubes. The influences of single, double and triple vacancies in different peripheral and longitudinal positions are studied. The results reveal that the vacancy defects drastically reduce the pull-in charge because they weaken the nanostructure. Moreover, the effects of residual stresses on the pull-in and vibrational properties of the carbon nanotubes are scrutinized. The influences of the angular deviations from the parallel positions of the CNT and ground plate during the fabrication process are also reported. Copyright  

Recently, aluminum titanate (Al2TiO5)-based nanostructures have been proved to serve as an efficient photocatalytic material with satisfactory photodegradation capacity. In this study, the citrate sol–gel method was used to synthesize these nanostructures and inspect the significant impacts of nitrogen-doping-originated crystalline defects on their photocatalytic performance in some details for the first time. The results indicated that the penetration of nitrogen atoms into AT crystal lattice, depending on the nitriding time and temperature, can induce a great deal of the residual stress and result in propagating the existing cracks and breaking down the particles. The XPS and FTIR results... 

Providing solar hydrogen as a clean energy resource is one of the human challenges for future. Controlling oxygen vacancies as well as surface morphology in metal oxide semiconductors enables developing PEC H2production in some understood ways. Here, the influence of simple change in annealing atmosphere, air and pure oxygen, on photoresponse of nanocrystalline WO3has been studied completely. Results revealed that such slight change in annealing procedure increases effective surface interface and donor density by 77 and 72%, respectively. These effects and also retarding recombination of photogenerated electro-hole pair resulted in photocurrent enhancement under solar like illumination more... 

Titania thin film system containing noble metallic nanoparticles such as Au, Ag, and Cu have been prepared by utilizing radio frequency reactive magnetron cosputtering method. The structural and morphological properties of the thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Surface chemical composition of the films was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Optical properties of the TiO 2 annealed films containing Au, Ag, and Cu metallic nanoparticles were investigated by UV-visible spectrophotometry showing surface plasmon resonance of the metals. The photocatalytic activity of all synthesized samples annealed at 600 °C in an Ar +... 

Bismuth ferrite, BiFeO 3, is almost the only material that is simultaneously magnetic and a strong ferroelectric at room temperature. As a result it is the most investigated multiferroic material. In this study, bismuth ferrite thin films were deposited on silicon wafer (100) and glass by pulsed-laser deposition and their structural, optical, and electrical properties were measured. Our study indicates that Bi richness in these films can stimulate formation of oxygen vacancy in the system which in its turn leads to delocalization of carriers and a more intensified photoconductivity response. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed formation of BiFeO 3 (BFO), but it also showed formation of Bi 2O... 

A model has been proposed to capture the complex strain rate effect on dynamic precipitation of GP zones in an age-hardenable aluminum alloy. The contributions of vacancies and dislocations to dynamically formed GP zones have been specified in the model. It has been demonstrated that the proposed model is capable for predicting the contribution of each dynamic precipitation mechanisms, accurately, which are acting during deformation. Furthermore, the vacancy and dislocation evolutions during deformation have been considered in this modeling. The effect of strain rate by considering different mechanisms of dynamic precipitation of GP zones has been studied and confirmed by experimental data... 

In this paper, some important circuit parameters of a monolayer armchair graphene nanoribbon (GNR) field effect transistor (GNRFET) in different structures are studied. Also, these structures are Ideal with no defect, 1SVGNRFET with one single vacancy defect, and 3SVsGNRFET with three SV defects. Moreover, the circuit parameters are extracted based on Semi Classical Top of Barrier Modeling (SCTOBM) method. The I-V characteristics simulations of Ideal GNRFET, 1SVGNRFET and 3SVsGNRFET are used for comparing with SCTOBM method. These simulations are solved with Poisson-Schrodinger equation self-consistently by using Non- Equilibrium Green Function (NEGF) and in the real space approach. The...