Electric field induced non-linear multisubband electron mobility in V-shaped asymmetric double quantum well structure

ABSTRACT

We study the effect of the external electric field F_ext on the low-temperature electron mobility μ in an asymmetrically doped Al_xGa_1-xAs based V-shaped double quantum well (VDQW) structure. We show that nonlinearity of µ occurs under double subband occupancy on account of intersubband effects. The field F_ext alters the VDQW potential leading to transfer of subband wave functions between the wells, which affects the scattering potentials and hence μ. In the VDQW structure, due to the alloy channel layer, the alloy disorder (Al-) scattering happens to be significant along with the ionised impurity (Imp-) scattering. The non-linear behaviour of μ is because of μ^Imp, while the overall magnitude of μ is mostly due to μ^Al. The increase of difference in the doping concentrations of the outer barriers increases the nonlinearity of μ. The oscillatory character of μ is amended by varying the width of the well and barrier and also the height of the VDQW. Our results can be used to study VDQW based nanoscale field effect transistor structures.     

Kinetics of catalyzed esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol using carbonized agro-waste

The objective of this research work was to investigate the kinetics of esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol through the variation of experimental parameters. The reaction mixture was catalyzed heterogeneously by a sulfonated catalyst in batch mode of operation. The catalyst was prepared from abundantly available agro-waste, Cajanus cajan husk by chemical activation process, which produces a carbon-based solid catalyst with high surface area. The catalyst was characterized by a Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to know the surface morphology. Process parameters such as contact time, reaction temperature, and catalyst loading, which can influence the extent of conversion of reactants, were studied. Furthermore, the kinetic investigation was also carried out to estimate the kinetic parameters for uncatalyzed and catalyzed reaction using the second-order pseudo-homogeneous (P-H), Eley-Rideal (E-R), and Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) kinetic models for this research work. The kinetic parameters such as activation energy, preexponential factor, and the thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy and entropy were estimated for uncatalyzed and catalyzed reactions using these three models. The process conditions were optimized for catalyzed and uncatalyzed reactions to obtain the maximum product yield by minimizing root mean square error of each experimental data using the MS-excel solver tool. Thus, this study reveals the high potential of an agro-waste, Cajanus cajan husk as raw material for the synthesis of catalyst. The results show that the E-R model is more appropriate for predicting the dynamic data of an esterification reaction, as the forward rate of reaction estimated using the E-R model are more modified than P-H and L-H models.     

Alkaline oxygen evolution: exploring synergy between fcc and hcp cobalt nanoparticles entrapped in N-doped graphene

Herein, we report a Mott-Schottky catalyst by entrapping cobalt nanoparticles inside the N-doped graphene shell (Co@NC). The Co@NC delivered excellent oxygen evolution activity with an overpotential of merely 248 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^–2 with promising long-term stability. The importance of Co encapsulated in NC has further been demonstrated by synthesizing Co nanoparticles without NC shell. The synergy between the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) Co plays a major role to improve the OER activity, whereas the NC shell optimizes the electronic structure, improves the electron conductivity, and offers a large number of active sites in Co@NC. The density functional theory calculations have revealed that the hcp Co has a dominant role in the surface reaction of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution, whereas the fcc phase induces the built-in electric field at the interfaces with N-doped graphene to accelerate the H⁺ ion transport.     

Synthesis and thermal evaluation of novel mono- and bis-adamantylated resorcinol-based phthalonitrile resins with enhanced solubility

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Phthalonitrile (PN) resins are high-temperature-resistant thermosetting polymers which find applications in military as well as aerospace owing to...     

Catalytic action of Mn‐superoxide dismutase in scavenging superoxide radical anion by double hydrogen abstraction from dihydrolipoic acid: A theoretical study

The mechanism of scavenging superoxide radical anion ( ) by dihydrolipoic acid (diLA) in absence and presence of the enzyme Manganese‐superoxide dismutase (Mn‐SOD) has been investigated using density functional theory. Mn‐SOD was modelled by a complex of a manganese cation (Mn²⁺) bonded to three similar molecules having a histidine ring each and a water molecule. It has been shown that the scavenging mechanism involves double hydrogen abstraction by from different pairs of neighboring sites of diLA. It has been found that diLA alone cannot scavenge superoxide radical anions efficiently as the barrier energies involved in the reactions are very high. However, in presence of Mn‐SOD, owing to its catalytic action, the corresponding reactions become barrierless due to which superoxide radical anions would be scavenged highly efficiently. H₂O₂ formed from superoxide radical anion due to double hydrogen abstraction from diLA is scavenged by diLA alone barrierlessly without involving Mn‐SOD or any other catalyst.     

Modeling and prediction of bulk properties of open-cell carbon foam

The emerging ultralightweight material, carbon foam, was modeled with three-dimensional microstructures to develop a basic understanding in correlating microstructural configuration with bulk performance of open-cell foam materials. Because of the randomness and complexity of the microstructure of the carbon foam, representative cell ligaments were first characterized in detail at the microstructural level. The salient microstructural characteristics (or properties) were then correlated with the bulk properties through the present model. In order to implement the varying anisotropic nature of material properties in the foam ligaments, we made an attempt to use a finite element method to implement such variation along the ligaments as well as at a nodal point where the ligaments meet. The model was expected to provide a basis for establishing a process-property relationship and optimizing foam properties.The present model yielded a fairly reasonable prediction of the effective bulk properties of the foams. We observed that the effective elastic properties of the foams were dominated by the bending mode associated with shear deformation. The effective Young's modulus of the foam was strongly influenced by the ligament moduli, but was not influenced by the ligament Poisson's ratio. The effective Poisson's ratio of the foam was practically independent of the ligament Young's modulus, but dependent on the ligament Poisson's ratio. The effective Young's modulus of the carbon foam was dependent more on the transverse Young's modulus and the shear moduli of the foam ligaments, but less significantly on the ligament longitudinal Young's modulus. A parametric study indicated that the effective Young's modulus was significantly improved by increasing the solid modulus in the middle of the foam ligaments, but nearly invariant with that at the nodal point where the ligaments meet. Therefore, appropriate processing schemes toward improving the transverse and shear properties of the foam ligaments in the middle section of the ligaments rather than at the nodal points are highly desirable for enhancing the bulk moduli of the carbon foam.     

Electrochemical and Scalable Dehydrogenative C(sp3)−H Amination via Remote Hydrogen Atom Transfer in Batch and Continuous Flow

A hydrogen atom transfer-directed electrochemical intramolecular C−H amination has been developed in which the N-radical species are generated at the anode, and the base required for the reaction is generated at the cathode. A broad range of valuable pyrrolidines were prepared in good yields and with high chemoselectivity. The reaction was easily scaled up in both batch and continuous flow systems.     

Quantitative estimation of constituents in fly ash by lithium tetraborate fusion

Silica is removed from fly ash sample by hydroflourination for its effective determination gravimetrically and the remaining residue is subjected to lithium tetraborate (Li₂B₄O₇) fusion followed by dissolution in dilute nitric acid to obtain a clear solution in which elements including aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), have been determined by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). Two fly ash samples analyzed by the proposed method have been received from the National Council of Cement and Building Materials (NCCBM), India (proposed CRM in future) and fly ash CRM 1633 (b) from NIST, USA. The validity of the method has been established by analyzing fly ash CRM 1633 (b) as reference standard. The standard deviation has been calculated for each measurement.     

Vanadium dodecylamino phosphate: A novel efficient catalyst for synthesis of polyhydroquinolines

A novel vanadium dodecylamino phosphate was synthesised by an instant reaction between phosphoric acid and vanadyl acetylacetonoate using dodecylamine as the structure-directing agent at ambient temperature. The physicochemical characteristics of the material were investigated by a variety of analytical techniques. XRD studies revealed the presence of vanadium phosphate and hydrated vanadium phosphate phases in the framework of the material. The catalytic application of this material toward in the synthesis of polyhydroquinolines via Hantzsch condensation was investigated at ambient temperature. This method affords high yields within short reaction times. The influence of various reaction parameters such as different solvents, catalyst dosage, effect of aldehydes, and reusability was studied and a plausible mechanism proposed.