Topology optimization of composite hyperelastic material using SPIMFO-method

Meccanica - Fiber reinforced materials are used in assorted engineering application and for this reason, new additive manufacturing technologies have been developed for this type of materials. With...     

Effect of the milling process on the thermal behavior and crystallinity of buckwheat starch

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Buckwheat starch is an alternative source to supply the high global demand for starch. The properties of starch can be modified through chemical and...     

Probing the Catalytic Activity of Reduced Graphene Oxide Decorated with Au Nanoparticles Triggered by Visible Light

Hybrid materials in which reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is decorated with Au nanoparticles (rGO–Au NPs) were obtained by the in situ reduction of GO and AuCl₄^?_(aq) by ascorbic acid. On laser excitation, rGO could be oxidized as a result of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excitation in the Au NPs, which generates activated O₂ through the transfer of SPR‐excited hot electrons to O₂ molecules adsorbed from air. The SPR‐mediated catalytic oxidation of p‐aminothiophenol (PATP) to p,p′‐dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) was then employed as a model reaction to probe the effect of rGO as a support for Au NPs on their SPR‐mediated catalytic activities. The increased conversion of PATP to DMAB relative to individual Au NPs indicated that charge‐transfer processes from rGO to Au took place and contributed to improved SPR‐mediated activity. Since the transfer of electrons from Au to adsorbed O₂ molecules is the crucial step for PATP oxidation, in addition to the SPR‐excited hot electrons of Au NPs, the transfer of electrons from rGO to Au contributed to increasing the electron density of Au above the Fermi level and thus the Au‐to‐O₂ charge‐transfer process.     

Interface-related effects on confined excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs single quantum wells

Confined excitons in non-abrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs single quantum wells are studied. The graded interfaces are described taking into account fluctuations in their thickness a and positioning with respect to the abrupt interface picture. Numerical results for confined (0,0),(1,1) and (0,2) excitons in GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells show that while the interfacial fluctuations produce small changes (<0.5 meV) in the exciton binding energies, the confined exciton energies can be red- or blue-shifted as much as 25 meV for wells with mean width of 50 Å and 2 ML wide interfaces.     

Extremes of deterministic sub‐sampled moving averages with heavy‐tailed innovations

Let {X_k}_k?1 be a strictly stationary time series. For a strictly increasing sampling function g:?→? define Y_k=X_g(k) as the deterministic sub‐sampled time series. In this paper, the extreme value theory of {Y_k} is studied when X_k has representation as a moving average driven by heavy‐tailed innovations. Under mild conditions, convergence results for a sequence of point processes based on {Y_k} are proved and extremal properties of the deterministic sub‐sampled time series are derived. In particular, we obtain the limiting distribution of the maximum and the corresponding extremal index. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entangled Bell states of two electrons in coupled quantum dots—phonon decoherence

We demonstrate coupling and entangling of quantum states in a pair of vertically aligned self assembled quantum dots by studying the dynamics of two interacting electrons driven by external electric field. The present entanglement involves the spatial degree of freedom for the two electrons system. We show that system of two interacting electrons initially delocalized (localized each in one dot) oscillate slowly in response to electric field, since the strong Coulomb repulsion makes them behaving so. We use an explicit formula for the entanglement of formation of two qubit in terms of the concurrence of the density operator. In ideal situations, entangled quantum states would not decohere during processing and transmission of quantum information. However, real quantum systems will inevitably be influenced by surrounding environments. We discuss the degree of entanglement of this system in which we introduce the decoherence effect caused by the acoustic phonon. In this entangled states proposal, the decohering time depends on the external parameters.     

Optical properties of in situ doped and undoped titania nanocatalysts and doped titania sol-gel nanofilms

In this paper we present spectroscopic properties of doped and undoped titanium dioxide (TiO₂) as nanofilms prepared by the sol-gel process with rhodamine 6G doping and studied by photoacoustic absorption, excitation and emission spectroscopy. The absorption spectra of TiO₂ thin films doped with rhodamine 6G at very low concentration during their preparation show two absorption bands, one at 2.3 eV attributed to molecular dimmer formation, which is responsible for the fluorescence quenching of the sample and the other at 3.0 eV attributed to TiO₂ absorption, which subsequently yields a strong emission band at 600 nm. The electronic band structure and optical properties of the rutile phase of TiO₂ are calculated employing a fully relativistic, full-potential, linearized, augmented plane-wave (FPLAPW) method within the local density approximation (LDA). Comparison of this calculation with experimental data for TiO₂ films prepared for undoped sol-gels and by sputtering is performed.     

SrZrO3-based proton conducting materials with La additions

The behaviour of La-containing strontium zirconate based ceramics is revised. La additions contribute to improve the sinterability of these materials, but transport properties are also affected. Sr_1−xLa_xZrO_3+δ show some unusual changes in transport properties when samples are exposed to H₂-containing atmospheres and then reoxidized. Nevertheless, the transport properties of (Sr,La)(Zr,Y)O_3−δ, are still mainly dependent on Y additions, at least for cases when the fraction of Y exceeds the fraction of La. In addition, lanthanum causes significant changes in lattice parameters. A combination of conductivity measurements in different atmospheres, ion blocking experiments, and emf measurements has been used to demonstrate that electron hole conductivity increases with temperature, and the protonic contribution drops. The transport properties at temperatures lower than about 800 °C might be affected by structural changes. Paper presented at the 2nd Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Sept. 10–16, 1995