Sharif Digital Repository

Here we analyze the effect of two relevant aspects related to cell preparation on quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) performance: the architecture of the TiO 2 nanostructured electrode and the growth method of quantum dots (QD). Particular attention is given to the effect on the photovoltage, V oc, since this parameter conveys the main current limitation of QDSCs. We have analyzed electrodes directly sensitized with CdSe QDs grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD) and successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR). We have carried out a systematic study comprising structural, optical, photophysical and photoelectrochemical characterization in order to correlate the material... 

In this study, tungsten oxide films were synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The as-deposited films were annealed at a temperature of 250 and 350°C in air for 1 h. The surface morphology, microstructure, crystalline phase and chemical composition of the as-prepared and annealed films were characterized by SEM, XRD and XPS techniques, respectively. Deposition of Pd nanoparticles onto the tungsten oxide surface was performed by hydrogen reduction of a drop-drying PdCl 2 solution onto a WO 3 surface at 60°C. The influence of the annealing temperature on microstructure and gasochromic performance as well as the effect of operating temperature is presented in this work. Results... 

Hierarchical submicrometer TiO 2 hollow spheres with outer diameter of 300-700 nm and shell thickness of 200 nm are synthesized by liquid phase deposition of TiO 2 over carbon microspheres as sacrificial templates. The final TiO 2 hollow spheres are applied as a scattering layer on top of a transparent nanocrystalline TiO 2 film, serving as the photoanode of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). In addition to efficient light scattering, the mesoporous structure of TiO 2 hollow spheres provides a high surface area, 74 m 2/g, which allows for higher dye loading. This dual functioning suggests that TiO 2 hollow spheres may be good replacements for conventional TiO 2 spheres as scatterers in DSCs.... 

Particle transport and deposition in a channel flow with elliptic obstruction is studied. Numerical simulation of fluid flow is performed using two-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method, while one-way coupling Lagrangian method for particle tracking is used. Standard particles are injected in the inlet of the channel. Gravity, Drag force, Brownian forces, and the Saffman lift are considered in equation of particle motion. The influence of geometrical parameter, ellipse aspect ratio, is studied on dispersion and deposition of particles as well as the flow parameters, such as Reynolds number. In addition, the effect of particles size -particles of 0.01-10μm in diameter- on dispersion and... 

A new unbreakable solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating based on aniline-silica nanocomposite was electrodeposited on a stainless steel wire. The electropolymerization process was carried out at a constant deposition potential, applied to the corresponding aqueous electrolyte containing aniline and silica nanoparticles. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed the non-smooth and the porous surface structure of the prepared nanocomposite. The applicability of the new fiber coating was examined by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) of some environmentally important polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as model compounds, from aqueous samples.... 

In this work, ultraviolet photodetectors based on electrodeposited ZnO sheet thin films were fabricated on a glass substrate. Before electrodeposition, a thin buffer layer of ZnO was deposited on the glass by pulsed laser deposition method. This layer not only acted as a nucleation site for ZnO sheet growth, but also made it possible to use cheap glass substrate instead of conventional fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. Our results showed that photoresponse properties of the photodetectors strongly depend on the sheet sizes. The smaller sheets exhibited enhanced photosensitivity, shortened fall times and decreased gain compared to larger ones. We showed that photodetectors based on... 

In this work successful synthesis of multiwall carbon nanotube (CNT) using solution combustion and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods are reported. Ceramic nanocomposite samples of (Al 2-xFe xO 3)-(y)ZrO 2 formula with x = 0.017, 0.034 and 0.17 and y = 0.15 were initially prepared. These were then subjected to CVD process during which the in situ reduction of iron oxide to metallic iron (Fe/Fe 3C) phase/s provided the necessary catalyst for the CNT formation. The formation of long flexible filaments with a smooth and regular surface bridging between alumina-zirconia (AZ) grains could be detected. The diameters of the formed filaments were in the range of ∼70 to ∼320 nm and length of the... 

Graphene oxide nanowalls with extremely sharp edges and preferred vertical orientation were deposited on a graphite electrode by using electrophoretic deposition in an Mg 2+-GO electrolyte. Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), reduced graphene nanowalls (RGNWs) were applied for the first time, in developing an ultra-high-resolution electrochemical biosensor for detection of the four bases of DNA (G, A, T, and C) by monitoring the oxidation signals of the individual nucleotide bases. The extremely enhanced electrochemical reactivity of the four free bases of DNA, single-stranded DNA, and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) at the surface of the RGNW electrode was compared to electrochemical... 

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a fast, solvent-free technique, which, since its introduction in the 1990s, has been increasingly applied to sample preparation in analytical chemistry. Conventional SPME fibers are fabricated by making a physical bond between the usual silica substrate and the polymeric coatings. However, some applications are limited, as the lifetime and the stability of conventional SPME fibers cannot meet the demands of analyzing relatively non-volatile compounds with more polar moieties. There have been attempts to analyze less volatile compounds by increasing the thermal, physical and chemical stability of the fibers. In this review, we present some new... 

The morphological characteristics and electronic structure of the BaTiO 3 films grown by pulsed-laser deposition technique have been investigated. AFM and FE-SEM images reveal columnar growth characteristic of these films. Utilizing spectrophotometer, optical band gap of the films were reckoned to be about 3.76 eV. Both dα/dE and PL vs. E plots reveal numerous luminance states in the gap. Despite the presence of many luminance faults in the gap, cations manage to preserve their electronic states  

Layers of cobalt and manganese oxides were co-deposited or deposited on top of each other or next to each other by potentiostatic method onto stainless steel substrate. Deposition potentials of 1 and -1 V for the anodic and cathodic depositions were employed. Specific capacitance values in the range of 38.5-78 F g -1 were found with cobalt oxide on top of manganese oxide having the lowest and manganese oxide on top of cobalt oxide having the highest capacitances. The usefulness of the electrodes was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, charge-discharge cycling, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 2 M NaOH electrolyte for redox supercapacitor applications. The latter presented the... 

The immiscible process appears to be one of the first feasible methods for the extraction of oil reserves. However, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of how fracture geometrical characteristics control the efficiency of oil recovery in this type of enhanced oil recovery technique. In this article, a series of experiments were conducted whereby the distilled water displaced n-decane in strongly oil wet glass micro-models having different fracture geometries. Breakthrough time, as a function of injected pore volume of distilled water, was measured using image analysis of the provided pictures. It has been observed that when the fractures' length is increased, the breakthrough time... 

Changes in thermodynamic properties such as pressure, temperature, and composition may result in asphaltene precipitation and deposition in porous media. In addition, asphaltene deposition can cause wettability alteration, permeability reduction, and ultimately a decrease in the productivity of a reservoir. Natural depletion is one of the most common processes of asphaltene deposition in which pressure changes destabilize the dissolved asphaltene in the oil and settle them onto the rock surface. In this work, natural depletion experiments in consolidated core samples were performed under simulated reservoir conditions to obtain reliable data and analyze the asphaltene deposition mechanisms.... 

Carbon dioxide miscible flooding has become a popular method for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) because it not only efficiently enhances oil recovery but also considerably reduces green house gas emissions. However, it can significantly cause asphaltene deposition, which leads to serious production problems such as wettability alteration, plugging of the reservoir formation, blocking the transportation pipelines, etc. It is crucial to investigate the effects of different factors on asphaltene deposition. A novel experimental setup was prepared to employ a high-pressure visual cell for investigation of asphaltene deposition on a model rock under typical reservoir conditions. The evolution of... 

In this study the effect of deposition temperature and thickness on the physical properties of carbon films deposited by magnetron sputtering PVD was investigated. The results of Raman spectra and grazing incidence XRD (GIXRD) patterns show that the graphitization increases by increasing the deposition temperature. There is a change in deposition mechanism at 400 °C from amorphous carbon deposition to nano-structured graphite deposition. Also by increasing substrate temperature the electrical resistance of carbon films reduces significantly up to 300 °C and then remains largely constant. High intrinsic compressive stress in low temperature deposited carbon films causes cracks and... 

Zeolite-based Ag/AgBr and Ag/AgBr/TiO 2 photocatalysts were prepared by sol-gel and deposition methods and were characterized. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by inactivation of Escherichia (E.) coli and the photodegradation of Acid Blue 92 and potassium permanganate. The composites containing Ag/AgBr showed the antibacterial activity in the dark by releasing Ag ions into the medium. The results for inactivation of E. coli indicated that Ag/AgBr/TiO 2 modified photocatalyst had better antibacterial activity than Ag/AgBr/zeolite, while zeolite and TiO 2/zeolite did not show any antibacterial activity under visible light and dark conditions. Photodecolarization rate was affected... 

Turbidity currents containing kaolin particles were studied experimentally in a channel and the velocity and concentration profiles were measured using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. These experiments were performed to investigate the depositional behaviour of turbidity currents. The suspended sediment flux was evaluated by experimental and analytical methods and the results of these two methods were in a good agreement. To evaluate the suspended sediment flux, it was necessary to recognize the suspended sediment zone from the upper shear layer region and near the bed depositional area as well. The method of determination of these areas is discussed. The effects of important parameters... 

This fact is well known that during any scenario of production, asphaltene deposition in porous media has a substantial effect on oil flow. But a clear understanding of asphaltene deposition mechanisms can help to minimize asphaltenic problem in oil-bearing formations. In this study, the experimental results of three dynamic CO 2 miscible injection tests were investigated. Regarding the effects of adsorption, mechanical entrapment, and sweeping mechanisms on permeability behavior, a mathematical mass and permeability variation model were developed. According to the experimental results asphaltene deposition causes a 70% loss of sand stone initial permeability while the loss is significantly... 

Considerable researches have been focused on zinc-iron (Zn-Fe) alloy coatings due to their superior characteristics among zinc alloy electrodeposits in recent years. The corrosion behavior of these coatings depends on the phase structure and morphology of the Zn-Fe deposits. In this work the effects of pulse plating variables such as current density, off-time, frequency and pulse modes on the morphology and phase structure of Zn-Fe deposits was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analysis. The corrosion behavior of these coatings was measured by means of polarization curves and Neutral salt spray tests. It was shown... 

A sensitive glutamate biosensor is prepared based on glutamate dehydrogenase/vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (GLDH, VACNTs). Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were grown on a silicon substrate by direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DC-PECVD) method. The electrochemical behavior of the synthesized VACNTs was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic methods. Glutamate dehydrogenase covalently attached on tip of VACNTs. The electrochemical performance of the electrode for detection of glutamate was investigated by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry. Differential pulse voltammetric determinations of glutamate are performed...