Sharif Digital Repository

A new photocatalytic filtration membrane was prepared by grafting of Ag–Au bi-plasmonic shell-on TiO2@Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a magnetically-separable heterogeneous photocatalyst to a poly acrylic acid-modified cellulose acetate membrane for decomposition and removal of methyl orange as a model pollutant from textile wastewater samples. Eight photocatalysts including five Au NPs-modified TiO2@Fe3O4 NPs and three Ag-Au bi-plasmonic NPs-decorated TiO2@Fe3O4 NPs with different shell thickness were synthesized and characterized by TEM, UV–vis, and SEM techniques and their photocatalytic activity was assessed using two radiation sources. After selection of optimum photocatalyst and modification of... 

To improve the biocompatibility and corrosion resistance of 316L SS (Stainless Steel) metal implants, HAp(hydroxyapatite)/TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposite coating was created using dip sol-gel method sintered at 550 °C. The weight percentage of TiO2+ Al2O3 in these coatings was 20, 30, and 40% wt. In this study, characterization was performed using FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), XRD, FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope), EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy), DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering), Pull-off, and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) analysis. The potentiodynamic polarization and EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) were performed in the simulated body fluid... 

Nucleic acid amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method has been widely used in different fields such as agricultural science, medicine, pathogen identification, and forensics to name a few. Today, it seems inevitable to have a robust, simple PCR system for diagnostics at the point-of-care (POC) level. Many photonic PCR systems have been proposed in the literature that benefit from plasmonic photothermal heating to achieve the common PCR thermal cycling. However, non-homogeneous temperature distribution is a challenge in some of them. In the present work, to achieve more efficient gene amplification, the effect of adding TiO2 nanoparticles has been investigated in a photonic... 

A surface to separate oil–water mixtures is a global concern and highly needed particularly in oil industries. The present study was conducted to create a novel superhydrophilic/superoleophobic nanocomposite coating on the stainless-steel mesh for the aim of oil/water separation. Different hydrophilic resins along with PFOA as oleophobic agent with 15 flours in its chemical structure and various oxide nanoparticles containing SiO2 and TiO2 at different concentrations were studied to achieve superhydrophilic/superoleophobic surface. The fabricated nanocomposites were fully characterized via field-emission scanning microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier-transform... 

Electrospinning is an economical and alluring method to fabricate wound dressing mats from a variety of natural and synthetic materials. In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and starch composite mats containing ciprofloxacin (CIP) loaded on titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) were prepared. Fourier Transform Infrared spectra of CIP, synthesized TiO2 NPs, TiO2/CIP, and PVDF/starch composite mats are analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the fiber diameter of PVDF nanofibers thickens by increasing starch, which varies between 180 nm and 550 nm. Strain at break of PVDF, starch, PVDF/starch (2:1 w:w; P2S1), PVDF/starch (1:1 w:w; P1S1), PVDF/starch (1:2 w:w;... 

The purpose of this research is to explain the surface modification of fabricated polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using UV-initiated graft polymerization at different irradiation times (15, 30, 60, and 90 s) and various acrylamide concentrations (10, 20, and 30 g L−1). Also, coating of membranes surface with various concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (10, 20, 30, and 50 ppm) followed by the same UV irradiation times was investigated. After that, the membranes modification was done by grafting of acrylamide blended with TiO2 nanoparticles via UV irradiation. The characterization of membranes surface properties and their performance were systematically carried out. The results... 

Lignocellulosic materials are recalcitrant to bioconversion, due to their rigid physiochemical structure. In this work, the effects of Fe2O3–TiO2 and NiO–TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and FeCl3 and NiCl2 salts, on the anaerobic digestion (AD) of wheat straw have been investigated. For this purpose, metal oxide-TiO2 NPs were synthesized and fully characterized. Results showed that addition of 0.252 mg of NiO–TiO2/g total solids (TS) to batch assays resulted in increase of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 67% increase in volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration compared to control tests during the first 4 days of experiments. These results indicate that hydrolysis and acidogenesis rates... 

A novel nanohybrid composite of TiO2, SiO2, γ-Fe2O3, and reduced graphene oxide (TiO2@Si:Fe:rGO) is fabricated by the sol-gel method. The properties of the coated film were examined by structural and self-cleaning analyses using simulated discoloration/soiling and roofing tests. The fabricated transparent TiO2@Si:Fe:rGO composite showed excellent photoactivity and wettability, behaving well in self-cleaning applications. The addition of SiO2 improved the crystalline structure and surface hydroxylation of TiO2 nanoparticles. γ-Fe2O3 decreased the recombination rate of e-/h+ pairs, and significantly improved photocatalytic activity under visible light. Moreover, rGO sheets as excellent... 

Pt@Bi-TiO2 photocatalysts with different Bi (0–5 wt%) and Pt (0–2 wt%) contents were prepared by a two-step sol-gel and photo-deposition technique and were used in photo-reduction of CO2. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), nitrogen sorption measurement (BET), Raman spectroscopy, Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). CO2 photo-reduction results revealed that the introduction of Bi into TiO2 structure and subsequent loading of Pt on its surface significantly increased the methane yield.... 

Biocompatible and biodegradable three-dimensional scaffolds are commonly porous which serve to provide suitable microenvironments for mechanical supporting and optimal cell growth. Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural and biomedical polymer with appropriate and improvable mechanical properties. Making a composite with a bioceramicas reinforcement is a general strategy to prepare a scaffold for hard tissue engineering applications. In the present study, SF was separately combined with titanium dioxide (TiO2) and fluoridated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-F) as bioceramic reinforcements for bone tissue engineering purposes. At the first step, SF was extracted from Bombyx mori cocoons. Then,... 

This research studied the effect of adding TiO2 nanoparticles along with Al2O3 and Y2O3 additives on the physical and mechanical properties of a SiC-matrix composite. The samples were fabricated through a pressureless process at 1900 °C. The results showed that the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles up to 4.5 wt% inhibited the excessive growth of SiC grains. According to the investigations, the microstructure and final properties of composites were affected by density, synthesized phases as well as their distribution in the matrix, and grain size. The highest density, Young's modulus, hardness, indentation fracture resistance, and flexural strength, alongside with the lowest brittleness index... 

The in vitro endothelial response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was investigated on a poly (caprolactone)-based polyurethane surface vs an in situ TiO2-polyurethane nanocomposite surface, which has been produced as scaffolds for artificial vascular graft. The in situ synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles in polyurethane provided surface properties that facilitated cellular adhesion, cell sensing, cell probing and especially cell migration. Cells on the nanocomposite surface have elongated morphology and were able to produce more extracellular matrix. All of these advantages led to an increase in the rate of endothelialization of the nanocomposite scaffold surface vs pure polyurethane.... 

Supported Pt–TiO₂ photocatalysts on carbonaceous supports were synthesized by the electrostatic self-assembly method to study CO₂ photoreduction to produce CH₄. Catalytic activities of the prepared photocatalysts were correlated with the particle size and dispersion of the active metal, which in turn depended on the type of carbonaceous support used, varying in the order of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) > Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) > reduced graphene oxide > activated carbon. Generally, all catalysts were highly photoresistant with less than 5% loss of activity in terms of CH₄ yield. Pt–TiO₂/multi-walled carbon nanotubes exhibited better catalytic activity compared with... 

The sequential deposition method is introduced for suppressing the leakage current in silicone rubber insulators. Room temperature vulcanizing silicone and TiO2/silica nanocomposites are sequentially deposited on silicone insulators surface. TEM results showed that TiO2 nanoparticles size is about 20–30 nm, and the structural study revealed their anatase crystalline structure. Silica nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of insulators by spray deposition. The contact angle was enhanced from 104° to 149° after nanoparticles deposition, which confirms the hydrophobicity improvement. Results show that leakage current for nanocomposite samples in a contaminated environment reduced to about... 

Poly (lactate-co-glycolate) (PLGA) is a typical biocompatible and biodegradable synthetic polymer. The addition of TiO2 nanoparticles has shown to improve compressive modulus of PLGA scaffolds and reduced fast degradation. A novel method has been applied to fabricate PLGA/TiO2 scaffolds without using any inorganic solvent, with aim of improving the biocompatibility, macroscale morphology, and well inter-connected pores efficacy: Air–Liquid Foaming. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) revealed an increase in interconnected porosity of up to 98%. As well the compressive testing showed enhancement in modulus. Bioactivity and in vitro degradation were studied with immersion of... 

Water shortage issues are growing through the globe at higher rate than population growth. On the bright side, various methods are devised to capture energy from renewable energy or waste heat from different sectors. Among all inspected approaches, waste heat capturing through cooling process of the wind turbines' generators for desalination at small scale is paid less attention. However, in large wind farms, the scale of this dissipated thermal heat becomes appreciable which can drive several desalination units. Due to the above-pointed facts, the waste heat of a wind turbine with nominal capacity of 7358 kW and height of 24 m for desalinating seawater is inspected here, using a... 

The condensation process is of great importance in many heat transfer devices in which a large amount of energy must be transferred. Furthermore, condensation is a crucial part of energy conversion and affects the energy efficiency of thermal desalination plants and solar stills. During the condensation process in solar stills, an essential part of the energy is transferred through the condensation surface to produce fresh water. Therefore, the condensation surface plays a significant role in the working efficiency of solar stills. The wettability of the condensation surface influences the condensation mechanism, which, in turn, affects the efficiency of solar stills. This study aims to... 

In recent decades, utilizing of water-based muds (WBMs) in drilling oil and gas wells is ever increasing comparing to oil-based muds and synthetic-based muds due to the lower environmental issues. However, the main drawbacks with WBMs are rheological properties inefficiency and shale swelling which have caused attentions turn to improvement of WBMs’ rheological properties. In this study, the effects of various nanoparticles (NPs) namely titanium dioxide (TiO2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO) on improving rheological properties and shale recovery rate of a WBM sample at two temperatures (25 and 50 °C) were investigated. The concentrations of NPs in the base mud were set at 0.01,... 

In this study, apatite formation ability on TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) synthesized by anodizing process were compared with TNTs decorated by MnO nanoparticles. The MnO nanoparticles used for decoration process were fabricated via thermal decomposition method. At first, it was strived to find the optimal condition of anodizing process and the effect of applied voltages (15 V, 20 V, and 25 V) and process times (15 min, 20 min, and 25 min) on the diameter of the synthesized TNTs was investigated. Results of microscopic characterizations showed that the completely uniform structure of nanotubes with a diameter in the range of about 100–130 nm was achieved after 20 min of anodizing process at an... 

The synergistic effect of plasmonic Au-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on the increase of absorption band of nano-sized TiO2 and magnetic property of Fe3O4 NPs on the separation-ability of this semiconductor was applied for preparation of eight magneto-plasmonic photocatalysts for degradation of rhodamine-6G (Rh6G) in textile wastewater. The size, structure, morphology, crystallinity and optical and magnetic properties of prepared photocatalysts have been evaluated by various characterization techniques. Their photocatalytic activities were assessed under irradiation of an intense linear 405-nm laser and a continuous solar-simulated xenon lamp. The results were demonstrated that in comparison to the...