Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents solid-state ligand exchange of spin-coated colloidal lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD) films by methylammonium iodide (MAI) and integration of them in depleted heterojunction solar (DHS) devices having an antireflecting (AR) nanocone plastic structure. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements determine a shorter lifetime of the charge carries on a semiconductor (TiO2) electron transfer layer for the MAI-passivated QD films as compared with those with long-chain aliphatic or short thiol ligands. Consequently, the DHS device yields improved power conversion efficiency (>125%) relative to oleic-acid-passivated PbS QD films. Using anodized aluminum oxide templates, an... 

A 3 DOF platform was constructed in the Georgia Institute of Technology to perform new control strategies in an experimental framework. Also in this simulator, there isn't any sensor used by a real satellite for attitude determination. The setup was structured on data transmitting and synchronization of distributed elements for ADCS tests. In such a plan, not only can different elements of the test bed be used individually, but also they can support an integrated hardware in the loop test. Accordingly, reusing the hardware sources causes a cost reduction of development. Furthermore the geometric interferences of different parts are minimized in this plan. So, the test bed can be developed... 

A magnetic nanoparticle@starch-g-poly(vinyl sulfate) nanocomposite (MNP@St-g-PVS) as a new magnetic nano-adsorbent has been prepared based on graft copolymerization of vinyl acetate onto starch in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles, where the acetate groups were converted to hydroxyl groups followed by the sulfation of the hydroxyl groups using chlorosulfonic acid. Characterization of this magnetic nanocomposite was carried out by FTIR, TGA, XRD, VSM, SEM, TEM and elemental analysis. The resulting nanocomposite was used as an adsorbent for the removal of typical cationic dyes, methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG), from aqueous solutions. All experimental parameters that can... 

Community Question Answering platforms such as Stack Overflow help a wide range of users solve their challenges on-line. As the popularity of these communities has grown over the years, both the number of members and posts have escalated. Also, due to the diverse backgrounds, skills, expertise, and viewpoints of users, each question may obtain more than one answer. Therefore, the focus has changed toward producing posts that have a set of answers more valuable for the community as a whole, not just one accepted-answer aimed at satisfying only the question-asker. Same as every universal community, a large number of low-quality posts on Stack Overflow require improvement. We call these posts... 

The consolidation behavior of composite powders during pressure cycling at room temperature in uniaxial compaction experiments was studied and compared with monotonic compaction. Aluminum and various amounts of SiC powders (up to 50 vol%) were used to investigate the effect of hard reinforcement particle on the densification of soft aluminum matrix. The cyclic compaction was carried out at various pressure amplitudes, ranges from 90 to 360 MPa, at the frequency of 1 Hz. The pressure cycling was continued up to 5000 cycle, in which, the rate of consolidation was found to be fairly low. The consolidation of the composite powders under different loading modes was analyzed through... 

Colloidal quantum dot solar cells have recently attracted significant attention due to their low-processing cost and surging photovoltaic performance. In this paper, a novel, reproducible, and simple solution-based process based on supercritical fluid toluene is presented for in situ growth and deposition PbS nanocrystals with oleic-acid passivation. A lead precursor containing sulfur was mixed with oleic acid in toluene and processed in a supercritical fluid condition at different temperatures of 140, 270 and 330 °C for 20 min. The quantum dots were deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate inside the supercritical reactor. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction,... 

Interfacial studies and band alignment engineering on the electron transport layer (ETL) play a key role for fabrication of high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, an amorphous layer of SnO2 (a-SnO2) between the TiO2 ETL and the perovskite absorber is inserted and the charge transport properties of the device are studied. The double-layer structure of TiO2 compact layer (c-TiO2) and a-SnO2 ETL leads to modification of interface energetics, resulting in improved charge collection and decreased carrier recombination in PSCs. The optimized device based on a-SnO2/c-TiO2 ETL shows a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.4% as compared to 19.33% for c-TiO2 based device.... 

The fabrication of efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using all-vacuum processing is still challenging due to the limitations in the vacuum deposition of the hole transporting layer (HTL). Herein, inverted PSCs using copper (II) phthalocyanine (CuPC) as an ideal alternative HTL for vacuum processing are fabricated. After proper optimization, a PSC with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.3% is achieved, which is much better than the PCEs (16.8%) of devices with solution-based CuPC. As it takes a long time to dissolve CuPC in the solution-based device, the evaporation approach has better advantage in terms of fast processing. In addition, the device with the evaporated CuPC HTL... 

Stability is the main challenge in the field of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Finding new strategies is required to protect the PSCs from deteriorating agents such as humidity, heating, and illumination. Herein, a new electron transporting layer (ETL), i.e., CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), is proposed for the fabrication of efficient and stable PSCs. CdSe/ZnS QDs layer not only works as an ETL but also has downshifting property, which can improve both efficiency and stability of the PSCs. Using CdSe/ZnS QDs ETL with green emission, a PSC with maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18% is achieved. More importantly, the device shows great UV stability, much better than the device with... 

In this paper, two integral based methods are proposed to estimate the order and the parameters of simple fractional order models from the noisy step response data. Numerical simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed methods in the presence of the measurement noise  

The chemical synthesis and in vitro drug delivery response of folate-modified, polyethylene glycol-functionalized gold nanoparticles were studied. Lysine-capped gold nanoparticles were first prepared. Subsequently, the widely used anticancer agent doxorubicin (DOX) was successfully attached to the surface of folate-modified, polyethylene glycol-functionalized gold nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to confirm the functionalization and conjugation steps in the chemical synthesis. The DOX-loading efficiency determined by UV-vis spectrometer was 80%. Drug release experiments displayed a controlled-release behavior... 

In this paper, a mathematical model for performance prediction of a high-speed planing hull in forward acceleration motion has been developed. Three degrees of freedom have been considered for solving the problem. Utilizing previous empirical equations of displacement ships, motion of the vessel in displacement regime has been simulated. In order to model pre-planing and planing regimes, 2D + T theory has been used. Equations for prediction of performance of a surface piercing propeller (SPP) and an engine have been presented. Validity of the proposed method has been assessed by comparing its results against previous experimental data, and good agreement between experimental and mathematical... 

The current paper presents a simple mathematical model for replication of the transient acceleration motion of displacement hulls in calm water under the action of a propulsion system. Different empirical methods are coupled, and an operational speed problem is solved in the time domain. The resistance of the ship is calculated by using the Holtrop method. The values of thrust force, torque and propeller efficiency are computed by using B-Series empirical equations. The acceleration motion of the vessel, which is triggered as the engine starts to work, is simulated by solving a set of first-order differential equations, which are discretised in the time domain. It is shown that different... 

This paper presents a recursive approach for solving kinematic and dynamic problems in snake-like robots using Kane's equations. An n-link model with n-nonholonomic constraints is used as the snake robot model in our analysis. The proposed algorithm which is used to derive kinematic and dynamic equations recursively, enhances the computational efficiency of our analysis. Using this method we can determine the number of additions and multiplications as a function of n. The proposed method is compared with the Lagrange and Newton-Euler's method in three different aspects: Number of operations, CPU time and error in the computational procedures. © 2006 Cambridge University Press  

This paper presents a recursive approach for solving kinematic and dynamic problem in snake-like robots using Kane's equations. An n-link model with n-nonholonomic constraints is used as the snake robot model in our analysis. The proposed algorithm which is used to derive kinematic and dynamic equations recursively enhances the computational efficiency of our analysis. Using this method we can determine the number of additions and multiplications as a function of n. The proposed method is compared with the Lagrange and Newton-Euler's method in three different aspects: Number of operations, CPU time and error in the computational procedures. Copyright © 2005 by ASME  

Production optimization is defined as the process of maximizing oil production over the long term while minimizing total production costs. The overall goal is to achieve the optimum profitability from the well or field. In this process, the reservoir system can be considered as a multiple input–output system. In this complex system injection and production wells are known as inputs and outputs. The output of the system is often affected by various parameters consisting reservoir conditions, petrophysics, and PVT data. The optimization of the injector rates and number and installation of submersible pumps are the main issues which have been studied in this paper. Determining the factor with... 

In this work, a novel and facile synthesis process to fabricate single crystalline organometal halide perovskite nanowires has been successfully developed. Nanowires were grown in a high density ordered array from metal nanoclusters inside anodic aluminum oxide templates using a non-catalytic chemical vapor deposition method. Specifically, perovskite NWs were grown as a result of the reaction between methylammonium iodide (MAI) and the Pb/Sn (Pb or Sn) metal in anodic aluminum oxide templates under optimal conditions. The characterization results show that there is a reaction zone at the interface between the perovskite material and metal, at the bottom of the anodic aluminum oxide... 

A new computational algorithm is introduced in the present study to solve multimaterial topology optimization problems. It is based on the penalization of the objective functional by the multiphase volume constrained Ginzburg-Landau energy functional. The update procedure is based on the gradient flow of the objective functional by a fractional step projected steepest descent method. In the first step, the new design is found based on the projected steepest descent method to ensure the reduction in the objective functional, simultaneously satisfying the control constraints. In the second step, regularization step, an H1 regularity of the solution is ensured while keeping the feasibility of... 

The goal of the present study is to predict the formation of solidification induced defects in castings by thermal criteria functions. In a criterion function method, the heat transfer equation is firstly solved, and then the susceptibility of defect formation at every point in the casting is predicted by computing a local function, criterion function, using results of the thermal analysis. In the first part of the paper, some famous criteria functions, in particular, the Pellini and Niyama criteria, are analyzed and their shortcomings are discussed in details. Then, a new criterion function is suggested to decrease the shape-dependency issue of the former criteria. The feasibility of the... 

The minimization of volume constrained vector-valued Ginzburg-Landau energy functional is considered in the present study. It has many applications in computational science and engineering, like the conservative phase separation in multiphase systems (such as the spinodal decomposition), phase coarsening in multiphase systems, color image segmentation and optimal space partitioning. A computationally efficient algorithm is presented to solve the space discretized form of the original optimization problem. The algorithm is based on the constrained nonmonotone L2 gradient flow of Ginzburg-Landau functional followed by a regularization step, which is resulted from the Tikhonov regularization...