Sharif Digital Repository

A novel molecularly imprinted xerogel (MIX) based on organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) was successfully prepared for on-line capillary microextraction (CME) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The sol-gel-based xerogel was prepared using only one precursor and exhibited extensive selectivity towards triazines along with significant thermal and chemical stability. Atrazine was selected as a model template molecule and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylmethacrylate (TMSPMA) as a precursor in which the propylmethacrylate moiety was responsible for van der Waals, dipole-dipole, and hydrogen-bond interactions with the template. This moiety plays a key role in creation of... 

Adsorption of a methane molecule (CH 4) onto a defected and rippled graphene sheet is studied using ab initio and molecular mechanics calculations. The optimal adsorption position and orientation of this molecule on the graphene surface (motivated by the recent realization of graphene sensors to detect individual gas molecules) is determined and the adsorption energies are calculated. In light of the density of states, we used the SIESTA code. It is found that (i) classical force field yields adsorption energy comparable with experimental result and ab initio calculation; (ii) the periodic nature of the van der Waals potential energy stored between methane and perfect sheet is altered due to... 

A general regularity was found based on an effective pair potential of Lennard-Jones LJ (12, 6), for both dense, nonmetallic and nonionic fluids and solids according to which (Z-1) v2 linearly varies with respect to ρ2 for each isotherm, and this equation of state (EoS I) is known as LIR. However, despite the fact that Ne is a simple spherical species, unexpectedly, its solid and liquid phases both show a significant deviation from EoS I. In this work, we have investigated the accuracy of the EoS I for other systems, including quantum light molecules, such as D 2, H 2 and He, in both fluid and solid states at different temperatures. Like Ne, we have noticed that these systems do not well... 

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been recently taken into consideration as mechanical resonators of distinguished capabilities. This study aims at investigating the free vibration characteristics of a single-walled CNT in the vicinity of a fully constrained graphene sheet. Using a molecular structural mechanics model and considering nonlinear van-der-Waals interactions, the static deformation of the nanotube is obtained using an iterative procedure. Then, the governing equations of motion are linearized about the static equilibrium state and the natural frequencies are obtained. The molecular structural mechanics model is verified using established results in literature and then a survey is... 

The van der Walls interaction between a carbon nanotube sheet (CNTS) and a rare gas atom, is studied using both atomistic and continuum approaches. We present analytical expressions for the van der Waals energy of continuous nanotubes interacting with a rare gas atom. It is found that the continuum approach does not properly treat the effect of atomistic configurations on the energy surfaces. The energy barriers are small as compared to the thermal energy, which implies the free motion above the CNTS in heights about one nanometer. In contrast to the energy surface of a graphene sheet, the honeycomb lattice structure in the energy surface of a CNTS is imperceivable. Defects alter the energy... 

The current paper deals with the problem of static instability of Micro/Nano mirrors under the combined effect of capillary force and van der Waals force. First the governing equations of the statical behavior of Micro/Nano mirrors under the combined effect of capillary force and casimir force is obtained using the newtons first law of motion. The dependence of the critical tilting angle on the physical and geometrical parameters of the nano/micromirror and its supporting torsional beams is investigated. It is found that existence of vdW torque can considerably reduce the stability limits of the nano/micromirror. It is also found that rotation angle of the mirror due to capillary force... 

Models capable of accurate simulation of the microcantilever dynamics coupled with complex tip-sample interactions are essential for interpretation of the imaging results in non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the present research, a combination of finite element and molecular dynamics methods are used for modelling the AFM system to overcome the drawbacks of conventional approaches that use a lumped system with van der Waals interaction. To illustrate the ability of the proposed scheme in providing images with atomic resolution, some simulations have been performed. In the conducted simulations, a diamond tip is interacting with nickel samples having different surface plane... 

von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a naturally collapsed protein that participates in primary haemostasis and coagulation events. The clotting process is triggered by the adsorption and conformational changes of the plasma VWFs localized to the collagen fibres found near the site of injury. We develop coarse-grained models to simulate the adsorption dynamics of VWF flowing near the adhesive collagen fibres at different shear rates and investigate the effect of factors such as interaction and cooperativity of VWFs on the success of adsorption events. The adsorption probability of a flowing VWF confined to the receptor field is enhanced when it encounters an adhered VWF in proximity to the... 

This paper investigates the effect of dispersion (van der Waals and Casimir) forces on the pull-in instability of cantilever nano-actuators by considering their range of application. Adomian decomposition is introduced to obtain an analytical solution of the distributed parameter model. Dispersion forces decrease the pull-in deflection and voltage of a nano-actuator. However, the fringing field increases the pull-in deflection while decreasing the pull-in voltage of the actuator. The minimum initial gap and the detachment length of the actuator that does not stick to the substrate due to van der Waals and Casimir attractions were determined. Furthermore, the proposed approach is capable of... 

A new study is conducted with the aid of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to investigate the effect of shear modulus value of the interlayer van der Waals (vdWs) interactions on free vibration of cantilever multi-layer graphene nanoribbons (MLGNRs). The corresponding calibrated nonlocal parameters of the nonlocal model are obtained accordingly. The vdWs interactions are treated as the cores between every two adjacent graphene layers and their equivalent shear modulus is calculated using MD simulation. The obtained resonant frequencies via the nonlocal sandwich model are compared to the MD simulation results to calibrate the nonlocal parameter. Results reveal a strong conclusion that the... 

In this paper, the vibration suppression of micro- or nano-scale cantilever beams used in M/NEMS devices is studied. The beam is subjected to some nonlinear distributed forces, namely electrostatics force with first order fringing field correction, Casimir, and van der Waals forces. For the sake of precision, the beam is modeled by strain gradient elasticity theory capable of predicting the size effects in mechanical behavior of small-scale flexible structures. Since the governing partial differential equation of motion is nonlinear, the linearization approach is adopted to tackle the control problem. A novel control law is proposed that guarantees the exponential stability of the linearized... 

It is well recognized that size-effect often plays a significant role in the mechanical performance of nano-structures. Herein, strain gradient continuum elasticity is employed to investigate the size dependent pull-in instability of the cantilever nanoactuators immersed in ionic liquid electrolyte. The presence of dispersion forces, i.e. Casimir and van der Waals field, is considered in the theoretical model as well as the double-layer electrochemical attraction. To solve the non-linear constitutive equation of the system, two approaches, i.e. the Rayleigh Ritz Method (RRM) and the numerical solution method, are employed. Impact of the size dependency and dispersion forces on the... 

Structural, microstructural and mechanical properties in roll bonding of AA5052 and polypropylene sheets have been evaluated in this study. The surface roughness of the AA5052 sheets, rolling temperature and the surface energy of polymer were selected as the bonding variables. The findings indicated that an increase in the surface energy of polypropylene by grafting maleic anhydride would result in higher bonding strength due to chemical interaction between the AA5052 and the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH). In fact, this reaction caused the formation of an interphase layer at the polymer side of the interface and the diffusion of aluminum into the PP-g-MAH layer. It was... 

In this paper, using the continuum approximation together with Lennard-Jones potential, a new semi-analytical expression is given to evaluate the van der Waals interaction between two single-walled carbon nanotubes. Based on this expression, two new formulations are also proposed to model multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In the first one, the interactions between each pair of shells from the inner and outer tubes are summed up over all of the pairs, whereas in the second formulation, a set of correction factors are applied to convert the results of double-walled carbon nanotubes to the correlated multi-walled ones. With respect to the present formulations, extensive studies on the variations... 

Structural, microstructural and mechanical properties in roll bonding of AA5052 and polypropylene sheets have been evaluated in this study. The surface roughness of the AA5052 sheets, rolling temperature and the surface energy of polymer were selected as the bonding variables. The findings indicated that an increase in the surface energy of polypropylene by grafting maleic anhydride would result in higher bonding strength due to chemical interaction between the AA5052 and the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH). In fact, this reaction caused the formation of an interphase layer at the polymer side of the interface and the diffusion of aluminum into the PP-g-MAH layer. It was... 

Carbon nanoscroll (CNS) is a graphene sheet rolled into a spiral structure with great potential for different applications in nanotechnology. In this paper, an equivalent open shell model is presented to study the vibration behavior of a CNS with arbitrary boundary conditions. The equivalent parameters used for modeling the carbon nanotubes are implemented to simulate the CNS. The interactions between the layers of CNS due to van der Waals forces are included in the model. The uniformly distributed translational and torsional springs along the boundaries are considered to achieve a unified solution for different boundary conditions. To study the vibration characteristics of CNS, total energy... 

The aim of this study was to investigate the co-microencapsulation of Lactobacillus plantarum and DHA-rich oil in a novel gastrointestinal-resistant biocomposite composed of alginate, pectin and gelatin. The optimal biocomposite consisted of 1.06% alginate, 0.55% pectin and 0.39% gelatin showed 88.66% survivability of the microencapsulated cells compared to the free cells (50.36%). In addition, co-microencapsule containing probiotic and DHA fatty acid was synthesized and physicochemically analyzed using SEM, FTIR, TGA, XRD. The results from SEM clearly confirmed that cells were completely entrapped in the matrix and DHA increased smoothness and compactness of the surface of the particles.... 

In this study, a multiplate shear model is developed for dynamic analysis of multilayer graphene sheets with arbitrary shapes considering the interlayer shear effect. By utilizing the model, then some free-vibration analysis is presented. According to the experimental results, the weak interlayer van der Waals interaction cannot maintain the integrity of carbon atoms in adjacent layers. Therefore, it is required that the interlayer shear effect is accounted to study multilayer graphene mechanical behavior. The governing differential equation of motion is derived for the multilayer graphene sheets utilizing a variational approach based on the Kirchhoff plate model. The essential and natural... 

Analytical and molecular dynamics simulation approaches are used in this paper to study free-vibration behavior of multilayer graphene-based nanoresonators considering interlayer shear effect. According to experimental observations, the weak interlayer van der Waals interaction cannot maintain the integrity of carbon atoms in the adjacent layers. Hence, it is vital that the interlayer shear effect is taken into account to design and analyze multilayer graphene-based nanoresonators. The differential equation of motion and the general form of boundary conditions are first derived for multilayer graphene sheets with rectangular shape using the Hamilton’s principle. Then, by pursuing an... 

In this paper, the axial stability of single-walled carbon nanopeapods is studied based on an elastic continuum shell model. In order to model the non-bonded van der Waals interactions between host carbon nanotube and guest fullerenes, an equivalent pressure distribution is proposed and incorporated in the model. Deriving an explicit equation for the determination of critical axial load, it is concluded that the axial stability of a single-walled carbon nanopeapod is less than that of a carbon nanotube under otherwise identical conditions. In addition, it is shown that applying external pressure to the carbon nanopeapod decreases the axial compressive stability through reducing the critical...