Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper a probabilistic methodology based on core nodalization is proposed to estimate the core power in the presence of xenon oscillation. A time-dependent Monte Carlo neutron transport code named MCSP-NOD is developed for dynamic analysis in arbitrary 3D geometries to simulate xenon oscillations as well as sub-critical condition with feedbacks. The new code is based on the approach adopted in MCNP-NOD which was previously introduced as a tool for core transient analysis using the MCNPX platform. As before, the core is divided into nodes of arbitrary dimensions, and all terms of the transport equation e.g. interaction rates, leakage ratio are estimated using the MC techniques.... 

In this paper, we study the electrical transport and Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) in a single molecular conductor consisting of a cysteine sandwiched between two Au(111) electrodes via the Density Functional Theory-based Nonequilibrium Green's Function (DFT-NEGF) method. We show that (surprisingly, despite their apparent simplicity, these Au/cysteine/Au nanowires are shown to be a convenient NDR device) the smallest two-terminal molecular wire can exhibit NDR behavior to date. Experiments with a conventional or novel self-assembled monolayer (SAM) are proposed to test these predictions. The projected density of states (PDOSs) and transmission coefficients T(E) under various... 

Fullerene derivatives with a strong electron-accepting ability play a crucial role in enhancing both the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, most of the used fullerene molecules are based on [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), which limits the device performance due to difficulties in preparing high-quality and uniform thin films. Herein, solution-processable azahomofullerene (AHF) derivatives (abbreviated as AHF-1 and AHF-2) are reported as novel and effective electron-transport layers (ETLs) in p-i-n planar PSCs. Compared to the control PCBM ETL-based PSCs, the devices based on AHFs exhibit higher photovoltaic performances, which is... 

As multi-hop wireless networks are attracting more attention, the need to evaluate their performance becomes essential. In order to evaluate the performance metrics of multi-hop wireless networks, including sending and receiving rates of a node as well as the collision probability, a model based on Stochastic Reward Nets (SRNs) is proposed. The proposed SRN models a typical node in such networks, considered as a general template to be applied to any wireless node. The SRN model of a single node is designed to take transmission effects of all neighboring nodes into account, while ignoring the ones whose transmission has no effect on the node under-study. Applying the proposed SRN to each node... 

Precious metal-free electrocatalysts based on two-dimensional nanomaterials have efficiently been used for oxygen evolution reaction; however, the low activity and stability of these materials as compared with noble metals are still distractive. We present a novel and high-performance electrocatalyst based on nanowires of mixed transition metal oxysulfide supported by three-dimensional highly porous graphene networks. Electrochemical studies indicated that the high electron transport medium of nanowires and bilayer graphene nanosheets as well as their high active surface area promote the kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A quite small overpotential of 260 mV at the current density... 

Hereby a simple, low-cost and scalable route is being presented for preparation of binder-free electrodes of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) on Ni foam (Ni/Gr). In this regard, the Ni foams are dipped in graphene oxide (GO) slurry. Next, the GO loaded Ni foams are kept in a freeze dryer for 24 h and heated up to 800 °C in an inert atmosphere. In this approach, the amount of active materials can be easily optimized for capacitive deionization (CDI). The characterization of Ni/Gr electrodes revealed a 3D porous assembly of RGO on Ni substrate which is helpful for the fast ion diffusion and rapid electron transport. The electrochemical performance of the prepared electrodes is investigated in both... 

Granular composite samples of GdBa2Cu3O 7-δ (Gd123), PrBa2Cu3O 7-δ (Pr123), and Pr0.5Ba0.5Ba 2Cu3O7-δ (PrBa123) have been prepared by the solid state reaction technique. The characterization of samples has been done by SEM and XRD measurements. We have investigated the effect of Pr123 and PrBa123 insulating grains on the superconductor-insulator transition and the normal state resistivity of the (1 - n)Gd123-nPr123 and (1 - m)Gd123-mPrBa123 systems. The dominant diffusion of Pr ions onto the neighboring Gd123 grains in (1 - n)Gd123-nPr123 causes high rate of suppression of superconductivity similar to the chemical-doped GdPr123 system. For (1 - m)Gd123-mPrBal23 system, the suppression rate... 

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... 

Understanding the chemistry of sandstone acidizing is important in designing an effective treatment for subsurface rock formations. The complex chemistry of sandstone systems leads to the precipitation of minerals that contribute to formation damage. Thus, monitoring the concentration and location of precipitates is necessary. In this work, a continuum-scale sequential implicit LEA/PLEA reactive transport model is developed and programmed through coupling OpenFOAM and Reaktoro to improve the model prediction. The proposed LEA/PLEA models are compared for core acidizing simulations at relatively high and low Damköhler numbers. We found that the common assumption of kinetically-controlled flow... 

In this study, in order to investigate the effect of the underlying pore-scale processes on continuum scale simulations of porous media dissolution, we improve the standard Lattice Boltzmann method using Quadtree grid refinement approach to simulate fluid flow and reactive transport through large domain sizes. Our results have shown considerable computational improvements up to 80% in simulation time together with increased numerical accuracy. The results and the added value of the new approach are discussed using comparison of our model with the conventional LBM. Moreover, we have applied a systematic analysis by increasing complexity levels and starting from fluid flow and continuing with... 

Human-generated droplets constitute the main route for the transmission of coronavirus. However, the details of such transmission in enclosed environments are yet to be understood. This is because geometrical and environmental parameters can immensely complicate the problem and turn the conventional analyses inefficient. As a remedy, this work develops a predictive tool based on computational fluid dynamics and machine learning to examine the distribution of sneezing droplets in realistic configurations. The time-dependent effects of environmental parameters, including temperature, humidity and ventilation rate, upon the droplets with diameters between 1 and 250μm are investigated inside a... 

This study presents a comprehensive investigation on hydrodynamic and thermal transport properties of mixed electroosmotically and pressure driven flow in microtubes. Particular emphasis is given to investigating the combined consequences of viscous dissipation, non-uniform Joule heating, and variable thermophysical properties. Analytical solutions are obtained using the Debye-Hückel linearization and constant fluid properties assumption, while a numerical solution is presented for variable fluid properties and non-uniform distribution of Joule heating. The results indicate that, viscous heating effect is pronounced significantly when a favorable pressure gradient exists and cannot be... 

TiO 2 nanorods, TiO 2 nanorod/TiO 2 nanoparticle and TiO 2 nanorod/ZnO nanoparticle composite structures were integrated as photoanodes in backside illuminated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Incorporation of TiO 2 nanoparticles into the bare nanorods increased the dye loading and improved the short-circuit current density (J sc) from 2.22 mA/cm 2 to 3.57 mA/cm 2. ZnO nanoparticles electrochemically grown into the TiO 2 nanorod layer could increase the surface area. Nevertheless, this considerably reduced the J sc to 0.57 mA/cm 2 and consequently cell efficiency. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results showed that ZnO incorporated samples have better effective diffusion... 

We present a study of the structural and electrical behavior of nano-polycrystalline mixed barium and alkali substituted lanthanum-based manganite, (La1-yKy)0.7Ba0.3MnO 3 with y=0.00.3. The samples were synthesized by the polymerization complex solgel method. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) data of the samples show a single-phase character with R3c space group. The magnetic and electrical transport properties of the nano-polycrystalline samples have been investigated in the temperature range 50300 K and a magnetic field up to 10 kOe. The metalinsulator transition temperature Tp of all the samples decreased with potassium doping, and also, it increased slightly with the application of... 

A series of nano-polycrystalline alkali metal doped in La-based manganites (La1 - y Ky)0.7 Ca0.3 MnO3 samples (y = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) were synthesized using the polymerical complex sol-gel method. The structural properties are studied via the X-ray diffraction experiments, and results are refined by the Rietveld method. The electrical transport properties of the polycrystalline samples have been investigated in the temperature range 50-300 K and a magnetic field up to 10 kOe. The metal-insulator transition temperature (Tp) changes with doping due to the difference between the electron configuration and ionic radius of the dopants and manganese trivalent ions. Characteristic grain... 

Nanostructured TiO2 hollow fibers have been prepared using natural cellulose fibers as a template. This cheap and easily processed material was used to produce highly porous photoanodes incorporated in dye-sensitized solar cells and exhibited remarkably enhanced electron transport properties compared to mesoscopic films made of spherical nanoparticles. Photoinjected electron lifetime, in particular, was multiplied by 3-4 in the fiber morphology, while the electron transport rate within the fibrous photoanaode was doubled. A nearly quantitative absorbed photon-to-electrical current conversion yield exceeding 95% was achieved upon excitation at 550 nm and a photovoltaic power conversion... 

In the present study, the thermal characteristics of electroosmotic flow of power-law fluids in rectangular microchannels in the presence of pressure gradient are investigated. The governing equations for fully developed flow under H1 thermal boundary conditions are first made dimensionless and subsequently solved through a finite difference procedure for a non-uniform grid. The influence of the major parameters on thermal features of the flow such as the temperature distribution and Nusselt number is discussed by a complete parametric study. The results reveal that the channel aspect ratio and the non-Newtonian characteristic of the fluid can affect the thermal behavior of the flow. It is... 

Combustion emission is one of the most important issues in the design of industries. Todays' strict environmental standards have limited the productions of CO, NOx, SOx, and other hazardous pollutants from the related industries. In this work, we study a typical oil refinery incinerator, which is used to burn waste gases residue produced during bitumen production process. The waste gas mainly includes a mixture including N2, H2O-vapor, and O2 species. Additionally, there are significant amounts of CO species and CxHy droplets in the waste gas composition. The measurements show that the CO emission becomes so crucial in high flow rate of feeding waste gas to the incinerator. Here, we... 

In this paper, the effects of Stone-Wales (SW) defect on transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) are studied using tight binding calculations combined with nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF). We evaluate transmission and density of states (DOS) in two cases, pristine and defective AGNR, and we compare the results. Our results indicate that in the latter case, a larger bandgap is made due to symmetry breaking in GNR layer  

In the present work, we focused on simultaneously control electron injection and electron transport, in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), aided by introducing Cr3+ and CNTs into a TiO2 photoanode, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that, Cr 3+ and CNTs were successfully incorporated into the TiO2 lattice without forming secondary phases. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that Cr introduction has perfectly balanced the amount of anatase and rutile phases in order to accomplish a more efficient cell. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images showed deposited films to have a porous morphology composed of nanoparticles and TiO2 nanoparticles...