Sharif Digital Repository

A series of M-doped Pt[sbnd]MgO (M = Pd, Ir, Re, Ru, Rh and Cr) sheet-shaped nano-catalysts were synthesized by the controlled co-precipitation method. The effects of M-doping on both the physicochemical and the chemisorption characteristics of Pt[sbnd]MgO catalysts were examined. The performance of the catalysts for the aqueous phase reforming (APR) of glycerol was also investigated. The APR activity of Pt[sbnd]M[sbnd]MgO catalysts depended on the type of the M dopant used. The APR activity varied in the following order: Rh > Pd > Cr > Ir > undoped ≈ Ru > Re, with the Rh-promoted catalyst having an activity of about one order of magnitude higher than the Re-promoted catalyst at 250 °C. It... 

In this study, a new type of magnetite nanocomposite with a core-shell structure was synthesized using Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a core and polyaniline (PANI) as a shell. For this propose, the surface of Fe3O4 was chemically modified with hexamethylenediisocyanate (HMDI) to improve its compatibility and interphase interaction with the polymeric matrix. Thereafter, the PANI was reacted with modified Fe3O4 to anchor them to PANI by covalent bands which acted as a shell. In the second step, the poly (maleic acid-co-acrylic acid) (P(MAc-co-AA)) as polymeric dopant for the PANI was synthesized. Finally, the PANI anchored to Fe3O4 was immersed in an aqueous solution of poly (maleic... 

The X-ray photoemission (XPS) measurements of Cu1-xTlxBa2Ca2 Cu3-yZnyO10-δ (y = 0, 2.65) superconductors have been performed and compared. These studies revealed that the charge state of thallium in the Cu0.5Tl0.5Ba2O4-δ charge reservoir layer in Zn doped samples is Tl1+, while it is a mix of Tl1+ and Tl2+ in Zn free samples. The binding energy of Ba atoms in the Zn doped samples is shifted to higher energy, which when considered along with the presence of Tl1+ suggested that it more efficiently directed the carriers to ZnO2 and CuO2 planes. The evidence of improved inter-plane coupling witnessed in X-ray diffraction is also confirmed by XPS measurements of Ca atoms in the Zn doped samples.... 

Fabrication of high quality zinc oxide thin films and analysis on its physical, chemical properties have applications in opto-electronic devices, UV laser, microelectronics and micro-machining schemes. Highly textured ZnO thin film with a preferred (0 0 2) orientation was prepared by two-stage chemical deposition (TSCD) using an aqueous solution containing zinc complex on a soda-lime glass substrate. From the results obtained, it can be shown that the preferred orientations of the film microcrystal changes with the doping process. The film was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, EDAX, optical technique, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in order to qualify its... 

Tetragonal Gd1-xPrxBaSrCu3O 7-δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) polycrystalline samples have been prepared by the standard solid-state reaction, and characterized by XRD and SEM. Resistance measurements and XRD patterns show site mixing between rare earth R and Sr is less than R and Ca. Contrary to Gd1-xPrxBa 2Cu3O7-δ, a hump on the ρ(T) curve is observed at about 80 K. Based on the resistivity measurements, the effect of Pr substitution in the 1113 structure, in comparison with the 123 structure, on the increase of pseudogap temperature is investigated. The normal state resistivity has been analyzed by the two and three dimensional variable range hopping (2D-VRH and 3D-VRH) and Coulomb gap. For the low... 

The crystal and electronic structures of normal phase of Ba1-xKxFe2As2 for x = 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 have been studied by using pseudopotential Quantum Espresso code based on ab-initio density functional theory. Effects of K doping on the crystal structure and lattice parameters have been calculated and compared with the experimental and computational reported data for similar compounds. The metal-metal bonding scenario was used to explain the changes of lattice parameters by K doping. The electronic structure of this system including of density of states and band structure have been calculated and investigated by K doping. One of the interesting results is that a larger peak is appeared near the... 

Polyaniline fiber (PANI) was synthesized by chemical interfacial method and doped with para toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) through a sequential doping-dedoping-redoping process resulting in PANI-PTSA. The doped material was utilized to fabricate Vulcan-polyaniline composite of C-PANI-PTSA. Next, through reduction, Pt particles were deposited on to this composite to produce a Pt/C-PANI-PTSA electrocatalyst. To investigate the PANI-PTSA interaction with the carbon support as well as, to consider its effect upon the catalytic activity of Pt/C-PANI-PTSA, electrocatalysts with different ratios of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 wt% were synthesized and their activity was compared with the Pt/C (Electrochem).... 

Pechini process was used for preparation of three kinds of nanocrystalline powders of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ): doped with 1.5 mol% nickel oxide, doped with 15 mol% ceria, and doped with 1.5 mol% nickel oxide plus 15 mol% ceria. Zirconium chloride, yttrium nitrate, cerium nitrate, nickel nitrate, citric acid and ethylene glycol were polymerized at 80 °C to produce a gel. XRD, SEM and TEM analyses were used to investigate the crystalline phases and microstructures of obtained compounds. The results of XRD revealed the formation of nanocrystalline powder at 900 °C. Morphology of the powder calcined at 900 °C, examined with a scanning electron microscope, showed that the presence of... 

Ferrite nanocrystals are an interesting material due to their rich physical properties. Here we add nonmagnetic dopants Zn and Cu to nickel ferrite nanocrystals, Ni1-xMxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1, M = Cu, Zn), and study how relevant properties of the samples are modified accordingly. Basically, these dopings cause a rearrangement of Fe +3 ions into the two preexisting octahedral and tetrahedral sites. In fact, this, we show, induces pertinent magnetic properties of the doped samples. In the case of the Cu-doping, the Jahn-Teller effect also emerges, which we identify through the Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy of the samples. Moreover, we show an increase in the lattice parameters of the... 

Manganese doped on cubic phase nanoparticles of ZrO2 was synthesized by an impregnation method. These novel particles were carefully analyzed by various chemico-physical methods. The catalytic degradation of an organic dye, methylene blue, in the presence of Mn-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles, as well as ZrO2 nanoparticles as catalyst with aqueous hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, as an oxidizing agent has been studied in aqueous solution at room temperature. Effects of solution pH, catalyst composition and radical scavenging agents on the degree of degradation of methylene blue were also studied. Finally, the recoverability and reusability of the... 

To enhance hydrophilicity and photocatalytic activity, N-doped and N-V-codoped TiO2 films were coated on glass substrates by the sol-gel dip-coating method. The substrates were previously coated with SiO2 using the same method. The coated samples, after annealing at 450 °C for 30 min in air, were analyzed by an X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope, and UV-visible spectroscope. The SiO2/N-V-codoped TiO2 photocatalyst showed a narrower band gap (2.93 eV) compared to the SiO2/N-doped. Degradation tests, methyl orange under UV light and stearic acid... 

Aggregated sub-micron size nitrogen doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) particles with superior optical and electrical features were successfully synthesized for embedding into commercial mesoporous TiO2 photoelectrode of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as the light scattering particles compared to undoped one. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and absorption spectra confirmed that the titanium dioxide is sufficiently doped by nitrogen in N-TiO2 sample. Employing these high-surface N-TiO2 in mesoporous photoelectrode of solar cells, the power conversion efficiency of 8% has been achieved which shows 17% improvement for the optimum embedded level of... 

We present linear-response density-functional theory calculations for the high-Tc superconductor La2-xBaxCuO4 to study the doping dependence of phonon dispersion. Using the virtual crystal approximation, the doping range up to x = 0.20 is investigated. We find unstable phonon modes that soften around high-symmetry points of the Brillouin zone. These branches are analyzed as a function of doping and pressure. The structural distortions related to these phonons are in accordance with the observed phase transitions from the high-temperature tetragonal (HTT) phase to the low-temperature orthorhombic (LTO) and the low-temperature tetragonal... 

Global environmental pollution and energy supply demand have been regarded as important concerns in recent years. Metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts is a promising approach to apply environmental remediation as well as fuel generation from water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. ZnO nanostructures have been shown promising photocatalytic activities due to their non-toxic, inexpensive, and highly efficient nature. However, its wide band gap hinders photo-excitation for practical photocatalytic applications under solar light as an abundant, clean and safe energy source. To overcome this barrier, many strategies have been developed in the last decade to apply ZnO nanostructured... 

The structural, electrical, optical, and photovoltaic properties of aggregated submicron nitrogen-doped TiO2 particles (NTiO2) and the influence of utilizing them, in comparison with undoped ones, as the light-scattering layer of dye-sensitized solar cells were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and diffuse reflectance spectra showed that both type samples have similar morphology, crystal phase, and scattering feature. Moreover, photoluminescence, Mott–Schottkey, and photovoltaic characteristics such as IMPS/IMVS and charge extraction analysis indicated that the NTiO2 layer is an efficient scatterer in two aspects: enhancement of light-harvesting... 

S-doped TiO2 layers were grown on titanium substrates by MAO process. SEM results revealed a porous morphology with a pore size of 40-100 nm. Our XRD analysis showed that the anatase relative content reached its maximum value at the voltage of 500 V. The existence of sulfur in the states of S 4+ and S6+ which substituted Ti4+ in the titania crystalline lattice was confirmed by XPS results; meanwhile, no S 2- was detected. That is, a cationic doping was observed. EDS results showed that sulfur concentration in the layers increased with the voltage. The band gap energy was also calculated as 2.29 eV employing a UV-Vis spectrophotometer  

Depending on the type of dopant metal, many kinds of zircon based pigments are produced and blue vanadium pigment is the most important one of them. In this study, blue zircon ceramic pigments were synthesized from intermediate product, resulting from decomposition of zircon sand with NaOH. In this regard, various amounts of sulfuric acid, water, NH4VO3 as colorant, NaF as mineralizer and extra quartz were added to the prepared Na 2ZrSiO5. Role of quartz was to omit the repercussions of presence of free zirconia in the composition. The main objective of this work is to assess various reactions at different temperatures during blue pigment synthesis. Phase analysis was done by X ray... 

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are rapidly becoming recognized as a new alternative to traditional energy conversion systems because of their high energy efficiency. From an ecological perspective, this environmentally friendly technology, which produces clean energy, is likely to be implemented more frequently in the future. However, the current SOFC technology still cannot meet the demands of commercial applications due to temperature constraints and high cost. To develop a marketable SOFC, suppliers have tended to reduce the operating temperatures by a few hundred degrees. The overall trend for SOFC materials is to reduce their service temperature of electrolyte. Meanwhile, it is... 

In this paper, nano/microstructured-conducting polypyrrole has been prepared on Cu/Au interdigital electrode surfaces by using constant potential amperometry technique. The Fe(II) ions were used as catalyst and X = ClO4 -, pTs-, Cl-, TCA-, DS-, DBS- was implemented as anion dopants. The morphologies of the films were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope. A remarkable dependence was observed between the type of anion dopant and the morphology of polypyrrole (PPy). The sensing behavior of the PPy-X sensor has been studied toward acetone, methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, nitromethane, propylamine, pyridine, and gas mixtures of aliphatic alcohols. The responses... 

Solution-processed quantum dots (QDs) have attracted significant attention for the low-cost fabrication of optoelectronic devices. Here, we synthesized PbS QDs via hot injection method and passivated the trap states by using short thiols and dopant elements for photovoltaic application. In order to study the effect of dopants on photovoltaic application, PbS QDs were doped by using three different cations: Cadmium, Calcium, and Zinc. We utilized Time resolvel Photoluminescence measurement to study the carriers lifetime for different samples and found that the carriers life time increases ∼80% by using Cd as a dopant compared with undoped sample. In addition, the results of J-V measurement...