Sharif Digital Repository

We prepared porous silicon samples coated by continuous palladium layer in electroless process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed cauliflower-shape Pd clusters on the surface. I–V curves of Schottky like Pd/porous Si samples were measured in air and in hydrogen. These measurements showed a metal–interface–semiconductor configuration rather than an ideal Schottky diode. Variations of the electrical current in the presence of diluted hydrogen at room temperature revealed that the samples can sense hydrogen in a wide range of concentration (100–40,000 ppm) without any saturation behavior. Hydrogen sensing properties of these samples were investigated at room temperature for a duration... 

We study Hydrogen sulfide gas detection properties of pure and 1% copper oxide added WO3 thin films. The spin coated deposits on alumina substrates were annealed at 500 C for 1 hour in order to improve the crystallinity of the films. The sensitivity of pure tungsten oxide is poor even at temperatures of about 100 C but the doped samples exhibit good response to H2S gas. Our data show sensitivity of about 1500 in 10 ppm diluted gas in air at 100 C. The films are sensitive to the gas even at 250 ppb (sensitivity about 2) H2S concentration at 100 C but with rather long recovery time. Crystal structure, morphology and chemical composition of samples were studied by X-Ray diffraction (XRD),... 

We prepared porous silicon samples coated by continuous palladium layer in electroless process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed cauliflower-shape Pd clusters on the surface. I-V curves of Schottky like Pd/porous Si samples were measured in air and in hydrogen. These measurements showed a metal-interface-semiconductor configuration rather than an ideal Schottky diode. Variations of the electrical current in the presence of diluted hydrogen at room temperature revealed that the samples can sense hydrogen in a wide range of concentration (100-40,000 ppm) without any saturation behavior. Hydrogen sensing properties of these samples were investigated at room temperature for a duration... 

Pure and Pd-doped WO3 Nanocrystalline tungsten oxide films on alumina substrates were prepared via sol-gel method from peroxopolytungstic acid. AFM, XRD, SEM, XPS methods were used to determine the surface morphology, grain size and layer composition. XRD analysis showed WO3 nanocrystalline particles in monoclinic phase and with average size of about 333nm, which was consistent with SEM analysis results. Sensing properties of samples toward H2 gas was studied. The sensitivity of WO3 nanocrystalline films was about 4 at 2300ppm (0.2%) H2 gas. Introducing Pd to the system led to an increase in the sensitivity about 2 orders of magnitude. The sensitivity of Pd: WO3 was about 400 at 2300ppmH2  

Porous silicon samples are obtained by electrochemical method on n-type wafers in room light. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the porous structure consisted of macropores under a thin microporous layer. Placing the samples in Pd-electroless solution causes the crakes inside the microporous layer and growth of the palladium particles in these crakes. However, removing the microporous layer by KOH solution with an ultrasonically assisted process makes the growth of rather uniform palladium particles on the surface in electroless plating. Variation of the electrical resistance in the presence of diluted hydrogen at room temperature revealed that the best samples have the ability to... 

Porous silicon samples were obtained from p+- and n-type silicon wafers. Gas sensing measurements showed that the electrical conductivity of porous Si on p+- and n-type wafers increases strongly and decreases weakly in the presence of methanol gas, respectively. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) indicates that the adsorption of methanol on the surface of n-porous silicon decreases the average density of states especially in the band gap. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals that after methanol exposure partial surface oxidation occurs which produces electron traps as well as methanol adsorption on the porous surfaces. These observations imply that the number of... 

Porous poly-silicon (PPS) samples, obtained by electrochemical anodization of p-type poly-silicon wafers, were doped with Pd by the electroless process. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy shows that Pd has diffused a few micrometres into the PPS layer. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis results demonstrate the presence of Pd as dispersed clusters on the surface. The variation of the electrical resistance in the presence of dry air diluted with hydrogen at room temperature shows that Pd/PPS samples have the ability to sense hydrogen at levels down to several thousands of ppm. This value is far below the flammability limit of hydrogen gas. It was found that... 

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in synthesizing electrodes used in zinc electrowinning, increasing active surface area, decreasing specific energy consumption, and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotential. In this study, modified nanocomposite anodes were synthesized by applying pulsed and constant direct current electrodeposition to improve the catalytic activity of the electrodes toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and reduce energy consumption in zinc electrowinning. By decreasing particle size, the active surface area of PbO2-RuO2 nano-mixed composite electrode was 2.88 and 14.22 times greater than PbO2-RuO2 microcomposite and pure PbO2 electrodes, respectively.... 

A combination of silica chloride and wet SiO2 was used as an effective deacetalizating agent for the conversion of acetals to their corresponding carbonyl derivatives under mild and heterogeneous condition  

We fabricated gas sensors based on field ionization from multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) arrays grown on porous silicon templates. MWCNTs were grown through thermal chemical vapor deposition. We measured breakdown voltages, discharge and pre-discharge currents of the device for various gases in different concentrations. Our gas ionization sensors (GIS) presented good sensitivity, selectivity and short response time. The GISs based on porous substrates showed higher discharge current and good mechanical stability in comparison to those which were fabricated on polished silicon substrates. Additionally, we applied a high electric field to align CNTs. This increased the pre-breakdown... 

Porous silicon (PS) is widely utilized in gas sensors. Palladium is a good choice to sensitize the surface of PS to hydrogen. Ideally for highest sensitivity of the sensor, all the pores of PS should be completely covered with palladium. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) technique is routinely used to determine depth profile of elements in thin layers. By using microbeam analysis as a complementary technique, we clearly observed the lateral image of penetrated Pd in depth. In this work, we used electrochemically anodized-silicon wafer doped with Pd by the electroless process. In our analysis, we intentionally characterized both the area of PS where Electric Field is applied during... 

Aromatic aldehydes and ketones are readily acetalized or ketalized under microwave irradiation in the presence of water as a solvent  

A four-step synthetic strategy was applied to achieve novel methacrylic monomers. 5-Norbornene-2,2-dimethanol was prepared from a Diels–Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and acrolein, followed by the treatment of the adduct with an HCHO/KOH/MeOH solution. The resulting 1,3-diol (1) was then acetalized with different aromatic aldehydes having OH groups on the ring to produce four spiroacetal derivatives. The reaction of methacryloyl chloride with the phenolic derivatives led to four new methacrylic monomers that were identified spectrochemically (mass, FTIR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR spectroscopy). Free radical solution polymerization was used to prepare novel spiroacetal–norbornene containing... 

This paper presents a neuro-predictive controller for temperature control of automotive air conditioning system. A numerical model for the automotive refrigeration cycle, which includes transient operating conditions, has been employed in simulations. In this model, which has been created from numerous laboratory tests on a typical passenger car, the vehicle is divided into two linked modules representing the air conditioning (A/C) system as well as the passenger compartment climate. Moreover, the thermal loads have been considered. This system demonstrates variable and large time delays, which is the case in reality. The simulation results show good performance of the proposed controller. ©... 

The practicality of robust model predictive control of systems with model uncertainties depends on the time consumed for solving a defined optimization problem. This paper presents a method for the computational complexity reduction in a robust model predictive control. First a scaled state vector is defined such that the objective function contours in the defined optimization problem become vertical or horizontal ellipses or circles, and then the control input is determined at each sampling time as a state feedback that minimizes the infinite horizon objective function by solving some linear matrix inequalities. The simulation results show that the number of iterations to solve the problem... 

This paper presents a robust model predictive control algorithm with a time-varying terminal constraint set for systems with model uncertainty and input constraints. In this algorithm, the nonlinear system is approximated by a linear model where the approximation error is considered as an unstructured uncertainty that can be represented by a Lipschitz nonlinear function. A continuum of terminal constraint sets is constructed off-line, and robust stability is achieved on-line by using a variable control horizon. This approach significantly reduces the computational complexity. The proposed robust model predictive controller with a terminal constraint set is used in tracking set-points for... 

This paper presents some computationally efficient algorithms for online tracking of set points in robust model predictive control context subject to state and input constraints. The nonlinear systems are represented by a linear model along with an additive nonlinear term which is locally Lipschitz. As an unstructured uncertainty, this term is replaced in the robust stability constraint by its Lipschitz coefficient. A scheduled control technique is employed to transfer the system to desired set points, given online, by designing local robust model predictive controllers. This scheme includes estimating the regions of feasibility and stability of the related equilibriums and online switching... 

In this study, ethanol gas sensing of PVP fiber membranes based on Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) was investigated. The fibers were deposited on the QCM's electrodes by electrospinning the viscous blend solutions of PVP. The effects of PVP concentration on morphology of the fibers and their permeability when exposed to ethanol were investigated. Membranes which were prepared using low concentration solutions, contained beads and high packing fibers and showed low permeability. Increase of the PVP concentration to 12 wt% resulted in continuous fine fibers with good permeability. Furthermore, higher PVP concentrations were found to decrease ethanol permeability due to larger fiber radius...