Sharif Digital Repository

TiO2/ZnO and ZnO/TiO2 nanolayer thin films were synthesized using sol-gel method. Optical analysis revealed high transmittance of the films in the visible range with almost the same bandgap energy for the both systems. XPS technique shows stoichiometric formation of TiO2 and ZnO on the surface of TiO2/ZnO and ZnO/TiO2 layers, respectively. According to AFM observations and its data analysis, the TiO2/ZnO films exhibited a higher surface roughness and more effective interfaces with electrolyte during redox reactions. Based on photoelectrochemical measurements, TiO2/ZnO nanolayer photoanode possesses a lower charge transfer resistance and higher transient time for charge carriers (e- and h+)... 

The morphological manipulation and structural characterisation of TiO 2-MgO binary system by an aqueous particulate sol-gel route were reported. Different crystal structures including pure MgTiO 3, mixtures of MgTiO 3 and TiO 2 and mixtures of MgTiO 3 and Mg 2TiO 4 were tailored by controlling Mg:Ti molar ratio and annealing temperatures as the processing parameters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that all compounds crystallised at the low temperature of 500 °C. Furthermore, it was found that the average crystallite size of the compounds depends upon the Mg:Ti molar ratio as well as the annealing temperature, being in the range 3-5 nm at... 

The low temperature perovskite-type strontium titanate (SrTiO 3) thin films and powders with nanocrystalline and mesoporous structure were prepared by a straightforward particulate sol-gel route. The prepared sol had a narrow particle size distribution with hydrodynamic diameter of about 17 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that the synthesized powders had a perovskite-SrTiO 3 structure with preferable orientation growth along the (1 0 0) direction. TEM images showed that the average crystallite size of the powders annealed in the range 300-800°C was around 8 nm. FE-SEM analysis and AFM images revealed that the deposited thin films had mesoporous and nanocrystalline structure with the... 

Nanocrystalline TiO2-AgO thin films and powders were prepared by an aqueous particulate sol-gel route at the low temperature of 573 K (300 °C). Titanium tetraisopropoxide and silver nitrate were used as precursors, hydroxypropyl cellulose was used as a polymeric fugitive agent in order to increase the specific surface area. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that the phase composition of the mixed oxide depends upon the annealing temperature, being a mixture of TiO2 and AgO in the range 573 K to 773 K (300 °C to 500 °C) and a mixture of TiO2, AgO, Ag2O at 973 K (700 °C). Furthermore, one of the smallest crystallite sizes was obtained for TiO... 

Atomic force microscopes (AFM) are widely used for feature detection and scanning surface topography of different materials. Contrast of topography images is significantly influenced by the sensitivity of AFM micro cantilever which means enhancement of sensitivity leads to increase of topography images resolution So, in the last years numerous scientists interested in studying the effects of different parameters such as geometric one on the sensitivity of AFM micro cantilevers. V-shape micro cantilever types of AFMs probe are widely used to scan various types of surfaces. In V-shape micro cantilevers, there are many geometric and design parameters which influence the flexural sensitivity of... 

In this research study, chaos control of continuous time systems has been performed by using dynamic programming technique. In the first step by crossing the response orbits with a selected Poincare section and subsequently applying linear regression method, the continuous time system is converted to a discrete type. Then, by solving the Riccati equation a sub-optimal algorithm has been devised for the obtained discrete chaotic systems. In the next step, by implementing the acquired algorithm on the quantized continuous time system, the chaos has been suppressed in the Rossler and AFM systems as some case studies  

With the rapid progression of bionanorobotics, manipulation of nano-scale biosamples is becoming increasingly attractive for different biological purposes. Nevertheless, the interaction between a robotic probe and a biological sample is poorly understood and the conditions for appropriate handling is not well-known. Here, we use the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method to investigate the manipulation process when a nanoprobe tries to move a biosample on a substrate. For this purpose, we have used Ubiquitin (UBQ) as the biomolecule, a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) as the manipulation probe, and a double-layered graphene sheets as the substrate. A series of simulations were... 

In this paper, utilizing the non-local theory, the resonant frequency and sensitivity of an AFM microcantilever are investigated. To that end, the governing equation of motion and corresponding boundary conditions are obtained using the variational approach. Afterwards, the resonant frequency and sensitivity of the AFM microcantilever are derived analytically and depicted in some figures versus the contact stiffness of the sampling surface. The results of the current model are compared to those of the classical theory. The comparison shows that the difference between the results of the non-local theory and those of the classical theory is significant when the non-local parameter is high but... 

The process of imaging a biomolecule by atomic force microscope (AFM) is modeled using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Since the large normal force exerted by the tip on the biosample in contact and tapping modes may damage the sample structure and produce irreversible deformation, the noncontact mode of AFM (NC-AFM) is employed as the operating mode. The biosample is scanned using a carbon nanotube (CNT) as the AFM probe. CNTs because of their small diameter, high aspect ratio and high mechanical resistance attract many attentions for imaging purposes. The tip-sample interaction is simulated by the MD method. The protein, which has been considered as the biomolecule, is ubiquitin and a... 

This paper is devoted to investigate the nonlinear behaviors of a V-shaped microcantilever of an atomic force microscope (AFM) operating in its two major modes: amplitude modulation and frequency modulation. The nonlinear behavior of the AFM is due to the nonlinear nature of the AFM tip-sample interaction caused by the Van der Waals attraction/repulsion force. Considering the V-shaped microcantilever as a flexible continuous system, the resonant frequencies, mode shapes, governing nonlinear partial and ordinary differential equations (PDE and ODE) of motion, boundary conditions, frequency and time responses, potential function and phase-plane of the system are obtained analytically. The... 

The resonant frequencies and torsional sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP) are studied. This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension which makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top-surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears which consequently leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension... 

The resonant frequencies and flexural sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) assembled cantilever probe which comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension are studied. This probe makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top-surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears which leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension from clamped end of the... 

The resonant frequencies and flexural sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP) are studied. This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension, which makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears, which consequently leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension... 

In this study, using analytical method, the torsional resonant frequency and torsional sensitivity of the first four modes of an AFM cantilever with sidewall probe including a horizontal cantilever and a vertical extension is analyzed and a closed form for torsional sensitivity of the probe is derived. In addition, the effect of relative parameters such as ratio of vertical extension length to horizontal cantilever length is investigated. According to this study, the results show that as contact stiffness increases, the resonant frequencies of all vibration modes increases until they reach constant values at very high values of contact stiffness. It is also can be found that low-order modes... 

In this study, using analytical method, the torsional resonant frequency and torsional sensitivity of the first four modes of an AFM cantilever with sidewall probe including a horizontal cantilever and a vertical extension is analyzed and a closed form for torsional sensitivity of the probe is derived. In addition, the effect of relative parameters such as ratio of vertical extension length to horizontal cantilever length is investigated. According to this study, the results show that as contact stiffness increases, the resonant frequencies of all vibration modes increases until they reach constant values at very high values of contact stiffness. It is also can be found that low-order modes... 

In order to improve its biological properties, graphene oxide can be modified with hydrophilic polymers. Therefore, in this study, the surface of graphene oxide was modified with polyethylene glycol and albumin by covalent methods. In the subsequent step, paclitaxel which is a hydrophobic anticancer drug was loaded onto the surface of the functionalized graphene by π-π interactions. The synthesis of the nanocarrier and its interaction with paclitaxel were evaluated by FT-IR, CD, TEM, UV, AFM, DLS and fluorescence experiments. Release of the loaded drug from albumin-graphene conjugate was investigated at pH 5.4, 6.8 and 7.4  

The present research work aims to employ plasma focus in order to deposit molybdenum (Mo) on the 304 stainless steel substrate. The processing parameters were shot numbers as well as the distance of substrate from the anode tip. Stereo, atom force microscopy (AFM) and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to study the deposited coatings. Microhardness measurements were also performed on the coatings. Results indicated that the plasma focus can be successfully applied to deposit Mo anode on the stainless steel substrate. The coatings contained discrete pores with sizes varying by processing parameters. The... 

The inhibition of mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M sulphuric acid by the symmetrical acetylenic alcohol 2- butyne-1,4-diol is investigated. Weight loss and electrochemical impedance data consistently indicate inhibition efficiencies up to 98%. Short-term impedance measurements reveal that the interfacial inhibition is a function of the exposure time, and that full performance is achieved faster as inhibitor concentration and temperature are higher. An infrared study of the surface film provides evidence that the film does not achieve its final state but after several hours. Atomic force Microscopy has been used for investigation the surface topography of metallic electrode. © 2009 by ESG  

We have calculated the electronic structure of SrRu1-xMn xO3 using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method by LSDA and LSDAU. The antiparallel alignment between the Mn and Ru ions are consistent with the competition between ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism in the low Mn-doped polycrystalline samples. This is in contrast to the appearance of quantum critical point and FM and AFM transitions in the single crystal measurement. Our results show that the discrepancy between different experimental phase diagrams is related to the conditions of sample preparation and also the difference between the degree of magnetic interactions between the Mn and Ru moments. The DOS and the... 

Hexagonal array of Cu@CuO core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) on the a-C:H thin film was prepared by codeposition of RF-sputtering and RF-PECVD. The trace of hexagonal NPs supperlattice was recognized by AFM image and XRD result. On the basis of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of core-shell NPs, the prepared array detected a low flow rate of CO gas at room temperature. XPS results indicate that the surface of Cu@CuO core-shell NPs have no chemical reaction with CO molecule. The physical absorption of CO molecule on the surface of Cu@CuO core-shell NPs increases the LSPR absorbance and causes a red shift in LSPR wavelength. These experimental results are in agreement with Mie theory...