Sharif Digital Repository

A generalized Hubbard model based on a molecular approach is used to calculate many electron wavefunctions of diamond vacancies. We have calculated the oscillator strength of the dipole transition rates from the ground states of the neutral and negatively charged vacancies. The ratio of the oscillator strengths is in very good quantitative agreement with the reported optical spectroscopic data. Electronic configurations in the ground and dipole allowed excited states are presented. With the proposed picture, the much larger oscillator strength of the negatively charged vacancy with respect to other experimentally investigated color centers N-V, H3, X3 and H4 is explained  

The results are presented for the investigations of sulfur removal from coal by a mixed culture of microorganisms. Optimal conditions of the process are established (pH, size of coal particles, pulp density, temperature, etc.). They make it possible to reduce the content of pyrite and total sulfur by 91.84 and 53.5%, respectively. The decrease in ash content of coal under its leaching is noted. © 2004 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc  

Asphaltene precipitation and deposition is one of the main problems in some of the oil fields. The deposited asphaltene results in partial or total blockage of the wellstring and reducing or completely seizing oil production. Asphaltene deposition problems have been experienced in the field for a long time. Although, the asphaltene precipitation has been studied thoroughly and different parameters that effects this process has been investigated but little work has been carried out in the asphaltene deposition across the production system of flowing oil well. This paper introduces a new comprehensive model for description of asphaltene deposition behavior in wellstring. The mechanisms of... 

Perovskite materials with ABX3 structure (A: organic, B: metal, and X: halides) have attracted tremendous attention due to their outstanding optoelectronic properties. Herein, a novel approach is developed using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), i.e., metal alloying of halide-perovskite domain via ion-transfer (MAHDI) for the growth of high-quality perovskite films, grown directly from a metal precursor. This technique easily enables us to replace the toxic Pb metal (B site) with other metals using alloying approach. Using the proposed approach, we fabricated stable and efficient Pb–In perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.2%, which is more... 

Natural gas hydrate, a crystalline solid existing under high-pressure and low-temperature conditions, has been regarded as a potential alternative energy resource. It is globally widespread and occurs mainly inside the pores of deepwater sediments and sediments under permafrost area. Hydrate production via well depressurization is deemed well-suited to existing technology, in which the pore pressure is lowered, the natural gas hydrate is dissociated into water and gas, and the water and gas are produced from well. This method triggers multiphysics processes such as fluid flow, heat transfer, energy adsorption, chemical reaction and sediment deformation, all of which are dependent on the... 

This manuscript describes the implementation of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DC-PECVD) and vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) techniques to fabricate a yolk-shell SnO2@Void@C nanowire (NW) structure. SnO2 nanowires have been synthesized on the stainless steel mesh substrate through the VLS method. The PECVD-assisted growth of carbon nanolayer on the SnO2 and SiO2 coated SnO2 NWs has been performed to fabricate SnO2@C core-shell and SnO2@SiO2@C yolk-shell structures, respectively. A consequent silica etching process converted the SnO2@SiO2@C into SnO2@Void@C structure. The electrochemical performance of bare SnO2 NWs, SnO2 NWs @ C, and SnO2 @Void @ C coaxial NWs structures have been... 

Developing a uniform polymer-based composite filament is a critical factor for a successful 3D printing process. In this regard, a novel technique for the fabrication of PLA-graphite filament with the potential to be applied to other PLA-based composite filaments was proposed and compared to the solvent casting method. This modified mixing technique involves partial dissolution of the PLA pellets surface by dichloromethane (DCM), which creates a sticky surface for the strong adhesion of reinforcement powders. The manufactured composite filament by this method exhibited excellent structural features, while the solvent casting method yielded a heterogeneous filament with a non-uniform diameter... 

With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), the development of self-powered sensors has received much attention. Introducing triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as a power source that converts mechanical movement into electrical signals has been admired recently. Moreover, the monitoring of humidity has become enormously essential in several technological contexts from environment monitoring to biomedical applications, thus joining these two subjects provides a huge benefit in achieving self-powered humidity sensors. Here, in this research, facile, low-priced and self-powered humidity sensors are fabricated utilizing transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMD) nanosheets. Semi-vertical SnS2... 

Tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine have held great promises for the repair and regeneration of damaged tissues and organs. Additive manufacturing has recently appeared as a versatile technology in TE strategies that enables the production of objects through layered printing. By applying 3D printing and bioprinting, it is now possible to make tissue-engineered constructs according to desired thickness, shape, and size that resemble the native structure of lost tissues. Up to now, several organic and inorganic materials were used as raw materials for 3D printing; bioactive glasses (BGs) are among the most hopeful substances regarding their excellent properties (e.g., bioactivity... 

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have proved promising as biodegradable candidates for the repair of bone tissue. Despite the encouraging bio-related properties of Mg, its high corrosion rate in contact with body fluids still presents a major challenge. An efficient approach to address this issue is to provide a protective coating on Mg. The present research evaluates, for the first time, in vitro bioactivity and biocompatibility of a novel multifunctional composite coating based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) biopolymer and bioactive glass (BG) particles on Mg-based implant. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was utilized to obtain this coating from a bi-component suspension. Coatings’... 

Exploiting localized heat-generation density and the resulting enhanced temperature-rise for controlled growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is reported, and its potentials for batch-production of high-quality CNT probes are demonstrated. Optical near field chemical vapor deposition (ONF-CVD) benchtop fabrication schemes are developed for the localized integration of individual well-aligned carbon nanotubes without bending/buckling exactly at desired nanoscale sites. It is demonstrated that generating self-aligned catalyst nanoparticles superimposed on top of silicon nanotips, along with near-field induced absorption confinement, provide the ability to localize the generated heat at the... 

Laser-directed energy deposition is a fast-growing method for manufacturing complex geometries and materials that are hard to shape with conventional manufacturing methods. However, there are some aspects of this process that need more researches and experiments to be completely understood. Two of these are laser attenuation and laser intensity distribution on the workpiece surface. In this paper, a new method is proposed for calculating laser attenuation without simplification applied in previous works. Despite other studies that consider a predefined powder distribution, the result of a developed 3D CFD model of the powder stream is utilized for defining the position of particles in the... 

Polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds produced by the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method have biocompatibility, close Young's modulus to that of bone, and the ability to make complex shapes. However, PLA has some drawbacks like brittleness, inappropriate mechanical strength and hydrophobicity, and a low degradation rate. In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG) (5 and 10 wt%) by solving method and titanium (Ti) particles (5 wt%) by two different methods were mixed with PLA to address the mentioned problems. Extruded filaments were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Surface morphology of the produced filaments... 

Plastic packaging is causing a serious environmental concern owing to its difficulty in degrading and micro-particulates' emissions. Developing biodegradable films has gained research attention to overcome ecological and health issues associated with plastic based packaging. One alternative substitute for petroleum-based plastic is nanocellulose based films, having distinguishing characteristics such as biodegradability, renewability, and non-toxicity. Nanocellulose is classified into three major types, i.e., cellulose nanofibril, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial nanocellulose. However, the scope of this review is limited to cellulose nanofibril (CNF) because this is the only one of... 

In this contribution, NiO-MgO-SiO2 catalysts containing 3 wt. % of CeO2, La2O3, Y2O3, and Zr2O3 were examined for propane dry reforming at 550-750 °C. The samples were synthesized by a co-precipitation route, followed by a hydrothermal treatment, and characterized by BET, XRD and TPX analyses. The results indicated that the addition of promoters enhanced the metal-support interaction and basic characteristics, while the acidic nature of the promoted catalyst was changed in a different way. The highest propane conversion of 39.6% was observed over Ce-promoter sample, while the un-promoted catalyst possessed a value of 36.8% at 700 °C. Nevertheless, La and Y-promoted catalysts possessed a... 

In thin-film solar cells, deposition of pinhole and the crack-free absorber layer, with the right chemical stoichiometry is highly important for high-performance solar cell devices. In solution-based CIGS solar cell technology, a nanoparticle ink approach provides phase stability of the final chalcogenide absorber layer. However, the sintering of small nanoparticles to form large grains with reduced grain boundaries is an important challenge in the fabrication process. This is usually realized by annealing in the Se atmosphere, i.e. selenization process. However, the presence of Ga in CIGS films leads to pinholes after selenization. In this study, the synthesis and deposition of high-quality... 

Simultaneous enhancement of osseointegration and bacterial infection prohibition through surface modifications is a challenging but promising approach to achieve durable implantation. To that end, we present a multifunctional surface coating composed of graphene nanolayers and hierarchical well-aligned TiO2 nanotubes with a nanoporous top layer (cRTNT). FESEM studies reveal tunable increasing island morphologies of graphene nanolayers (G) on cRTNT by a cyclic voltammetry process. XPS analysis shows that the enhanced interface chemistry is due to TiO2-carbon bonding. The roughness of the sample containing a medium amount of graphene, cRTNT-75%GO, was calculated ∼289 nm, which was 543% higher... 

In the metal deposition process, the performance of the nozzle is crucial to the quality of clad. Continuous coaxial nozzles are broadly used in this process for repairing two- and three-dimensional parts, because it can create a homogeneous distribution of powder particles. In addition, an inert gas can be applied using this type of nozzles which shields powder particles and laser interaction zone, and prevents the surface from oxidizing at high process temperatures. However, when this type of nozzle is tilted from the vertical axis for cladding non-horizontal surfaces, the effect of gravity on powder particles affects the uniformity of powder distribution at the nozzle outlet. This matter... 

The fabrication of supported noble metal nanocrystals (NCs) with well-controlled morphologies have been attracted considerable interests due to their merits in a wide variety of applications. Photodeposition is a facile and effective method to load metals over semiconductors in a simple slurry reactor under irradiation. By optimizing the photodeposition process, the size, chemical states, and the geometrical distribution of metal NCs have been successfully tuned. However, metal NCs with well-controlled shapes through the photodeposition process have not been reported until now. Here, we report our important advances in the controlled photodeposition process to load regular noble metal NCs.... 

The main drawback of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries which leads to a short lifetime, is the shuttle effect during the battery operation. One of the solutions to mitigate the shuttle effect is the utilization of interlayers. Herein, graphene oxide (GO) paper as an interlayer has been implemented between the sulfur cathode fabricated by the vapor deposition process as a binder-free electrode and a separator in a Li-S battery in order to gain a sufficient capacity. The morphological characteristics and electrochemical performance of the fabricated electrode have been investigated. The fabricated battery demonstrates an initial discharge capacity of 1265.46 mAh g-1 at the current density of 100...