Enhancement of the electrical properties of carbon nanotubes with Ar–N2 plasma treatment

Optical emission spectroscopy and Langmuir probe are used to investigate the low pressure inductively coupled Ar–N₂ plasmas as function of rf power, filling pressure and Ar content in N₂ discharge. It is observed that the active species generation, dissociation fraction and electron temperature significantly depends on discharge parameters and may be used to optimize the plasma reactor. Mixture of SWCNTs and MWCNTs are treated for different treatment time (0–120 min) at optimum discharge conditions. Changes induced in the elemental composition, surface morphology, crystallographic structure, and structural disorder in the plasma irradiated CNTs are analyzed by EDX, FTIR, SEM, XRD and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. Ar–N₂ mixture plasma treatment of CNTs lead to a significant increase in the electrical conductivity, modify the microstructure and induce structural disorder and cause a transition of crystalline phase from well crystalline to an amorphous structure.     

Rapid thermal annealing effects on the structural and optical properties of Na–N codoped ZnO films

Polycrystalline ZnO thin films codoped with Na and N were obtained by chemical bath deposition. The structural characteristic and the optical properties of the rapid thermal annealed ZnO:(Na,N) films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), Raman spectrum and room-temperature photoluminescence. After RTA treatment, the XRD spectra showed a continuous decrease of the full- width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the (0 0 2) diffraction peak of the ZnO:(Na,N) film. The Raman spectra revealed that the intensity of the mode around 582 cm⁻¹ increased with the increase of the RTA temperature. The PL spectra showed different trends in the UV luminescence of ZnO:(Na,N) films after RTA treatments.     

Balance the oxidation resistance and mechanical properties of C/Si–C–N composite by a Si–O–C interphase

Carbon fiber reinforced Si–C–N matrix composite with a Si–O–C interphase (C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N) was fabricated via chemical vapor infiltration and polymer impregnation and pyrolysis process. The mechanical properties and oxidation behaviors of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N were investigated using three-point-bending test and thermogravimetry. The results indicated that the oxidation resistance of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N was improved as compared to C/Si–C–N with pyrolytic carbon (PyC) interphase (C/PyC/Si–C–N). The higher oxidation resistance of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N attributed to the high inoxidizability of Si–O–C interlayer and low thermal stress in matrix. The flexural strength of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N rivaled that of C/PyC/Si–C–N and the modulus was higher than that of C/PyC/Si–C–N. The suitable interphase and the optimized interface bonding can get the high oxidation resistance of the composites with the mechanical properties maintained.     

The effect of local electronic interaction on the optical properties of boron–nitride nanotubes

We investigate the behavior of optical absorption of boron–nitride nanotubes (6,0) in the context of Hubbard model at the paramagnetic sector. GW approximation has been implemented in order to make self-energy matrix of electronic system. Afterwards, the real and imaginary parts of transverse dielectric functions have been obtained using linear response theory. The results show that the frequency gap in the optical absorption decreases with Coulomb repulsion strength. Moreover the results show that the local Coulomb interaction leads to the appearance of the excitonic effects in the optical spectrum. Finally the effects of electronic concentration on the frequency behavior of imaginary part of dielectric function have been investigated.     

Studying the properties of Fe and Fe–Co nanotubes in polymer ion-track membranes

Iron and iron–cobalt nanostructures are probed by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersion analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The obtained nanostructures are single-phase Fe_{1 ? x}Co _x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanotubes that have high degrees of polycrystallinity and a bcc lattice 12 μm long and 110 ± 3 nm in diameter, with walls 21 ± 2 nm thick. A random distribution of the orientations of the magnetic momenta of Fe atoms are observed for Fe nanotubes, while Fe–Co nanotubes are characterized by a magnetic texture along their axes.     

Influence of the Si–O–C interplayer on the flexural behaviors of C/Si–C–N composites

Carbon fiber reinforced Si–C–N matrix composite(C/Si–C–N) with a Si–O–C interlayer (C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N) was fabricated via CVI and PIP process. The flexural behaviors of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N were investigated using the three-point-bending method and the SEM technique. The results indicated that the flexural strengh of the C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N increases with increasing temperature and the modulus of the composite is essentially unchanged. The strength of C/Si–O–C/Si–C–N is comparable to that of C/PyC/Si–C–N, and the role of Si–O–C interlayer in C/Si–C–N can rival that of the PyC interlayer. The weaker interfacial bonding and the larger thickness of Si–O–C interlayer make a contribution to this at RT while the thinner interlayer and unstable structure of Si–O–C interphase do it above 1300 °C.     

On the properties and stability of thermally evaporated Ge–As–Se thin films

Thin films of Ge–As–Se chalcogenide glasses have been deposited by thermal evaporation from bulk material and submitted to thermal treatments. The linear refractive index and optical band-gap for as-deposited and annealed films have been analyzed as function of the deposition parameters, chemical composition and mean coordination number (MCN). The chemical composition of the films was found to be directly affected by deposition rate, with low rates producing films with elevated Ge and reduced As content, whilst at high rates the Ge content was generally reduced and As levels increased compared with the bulk starting material. As a result films with close to the same stoichiometry as the bulk glass could be obtained by choosing appropriate deposition conditions. As-deposited films with MCN in between 2.44 and 2.55 showed refractive indices and optical band-gaps very close to those of the bulk glass whereas outside this range the film indices were higher and the optical gaps lower than those of the bulk glass. Upon annealing at close to their glass transition temperature, high MCN films evolved such that their indices and band-gaps approached the bulk glass values whereas at low MCN films resulted in no changes to the film properties.     

Magnetic and structural properties of Pd–Mn–Sn intermetallics compounds

Magnetic and structural properties of Heusler Pd_0.5Mn_{0.5- x} Sn _x with x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.17, 0.20 and 0.25, have been studied by magnetisation and X-ray diffraction measurements at room and low temperatures. The crystal structure at room temperature is L2₁ cubic phase for x = 0.17, 0.20, 0.25 and B2 cubic phase for x = 0.10. Martensite structure 10M, was observed at room temperature for x = 0.05. X-ray measurements at low temperatures revealed a structural transformation from B2 to 14M for the x = 0.10 case. The lattice parameter of the L2₁ phase decreases linearly with the concentration, x. A ferromagnetic behaviour has been detected for L2₁ compounds, but the ferromagnetic exchange characteristic of each composition is of different strength. This gives rise to different Curie temperatures.     

Transport properties of H–N2 mixtures

Transport coefficients (shear viscosity, volume viscosity, thermal conductivity, and mass and thermal diffusion coefficients) of H–N₂ mixtures in the dilute-gas limit have been calculated from the intermolecular potential in the temperature range 300–2000K using the classical trajectory method. The intermediate results pertaining to H–N₂ binary interactions are reported, mainly in terms of cross-section ratios. Cross-sections evaluated with the Mason–Monchick approximation yield very good results for this system, the largest deviations, about 2.5%, being observed for the thermal diffusion coefficient. The accuracy here of this approximation can primarily be attributed to a light H atom and a weakly non-spherical potential resulting in a high rotational collision number. Furthermore, we investigate to which H–N₂ cross-sections and their ratios the values of the mixture transport coefficients are most sensitive. Our results indicate that, for some cross-section ratios, reliance on universal correlations at high temperatures, often used in flame codes, can induce sizeable errors in the thermal conductivity coefficient and especially in the thermal diffusion coefficients. We also observed that the volume viscosity is particularly sensitive to the value of the cross-section for internal energy relaxation in H–N₂ collisions.     

First-principles study of the structural and elastic properties of AuxV1–x and AuxNb1–x alloys

Ab initio total energy calculations, based on the Exact Muffin-Tin Orbitals (EMTO) method in combination with the coherent potential approximation (CPA), are used to calculate the total energy of Au_xV_1–x and Au_xNb_1–x random alloys along the Bain path that connects the body-centred cubic (bcc) and face-centred cubic (fcc) structures as a function of composition x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). The equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius and the elastic properties of both systems are determined as a function of composition. Our theoretical prediction in case of pure elements (x = 0 or x = 1) are in good agreement with the available experimental data. For the Au–V system, the equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius increase as x increases, while for the Au–Nb system, the equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius is almost constant. The bulk modulus B and C₄₄ for both alloys exhibit nearly parabolic trend. On the other hand, the tetragonal shear elastic constant C′ decreases as x increases and correlates reasonably well with the structural energy difference between fcc and bcc structures. Our results offer a consistent starting point for further theoretical and experimental studies of the elastic and micromechanical properties of Au–V and Au–Nb systems.     

First-principles calculations of the structural,electronic, optical and thermal properties of the BNxAs1–x alloys

The present paper aims to study the structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of the boron nitride (BN) and BAs bulk materials as well as the BN_xAs_1–x ternary alloys by employing the full-potential-linearised augmented plane wave method within the density functional theory. The structural properties are determined using the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation that is based on the optimisation of the total energy. For band structure calculations, both the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation and the modified Becke–Johnson of the exchange-correlation energy and potential, respectively, are used. We investigated the effect of composition on the lattice constants, bulk modulus and band gap. Deviations of the lattice constants and the bulk modulus from the Vegard’s law and the linear concentration dependence, respectively, were observed for the alloys where this result allows us to explain some specific behaviours in the electronic properties of the alloys. For the optical properties, the calculated refractive indices and the optical dielectric constants were found to vary nonlinearly with the N composition. Finally, the thermal effect on some of the macroscopic properties was predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model in which the lattice vibrations are taken into account.     

Effect of carbon nanotubes implantation on electrical properties of sisal fibre–epoxy composites

In this paper, the effects of carbon nanotubes (CNT) implantation and sisal fibre size on the electrical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced epoxy composites are reported. For this purpose, the epoxy composites reinforced with CNT-implanted sisal fibre of 5 mm and 10 mm lengths were prepared by hand moulding and samples characterized for their electrical properties, such as dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric dissipation factor (tan δ) and AC conductivity (σ_ac) at different temperatures and frequencies. It was observed that the dielectric constant increases with increase in temperature and decreases with increase in frequency from 500 Hz to 5 KHz. Interestingly, the sample having CNT-implanted sisal fibre of 5 mm length exhibited the highest value of dielectric constant than the one with length 10 mm. This is attributed to the increased surface area of sisal fibre and enhancement of the interfacial polarization. At a constant volume and a length of 5 mm of the fibres, the number of interfaces per unit volume element is high and results in a higher interfacial polarization. The interfaces decrease as the fibre length increases, and therefore, the value of ε′ decreases at 10 mm fibre length. The peak value of the dielectric constant decreases with increasing frequency. A continuous decrease in dissipation factor (tan δ) with increasing frequency for all samples was observed, while at lower temperatures, the values of tan δ remains approximately same. The AC conductivity for 5 mm length sisal epoxy composite and 10 mm length sisal fibre–epoxy composites is higher than that of pure epoxy at all the frequencies.     

Influence of drying conditions on the optical and structural properties of sol–gel-derived ZnO nanocrystalline films

Zinc oxide nanothin films were prepared on glass substrate by sol–gel dip-coating method using zinc acetate dihydrate, methanol, and monoethanolamine as precursor, solvent, and stabilizer, respectively. The relationship between drying conditions and the characteristics of ZnO nanocrystalline films (c-axis orientation, grain size, roughness and optical properties) was studied. The films were dried in an oven at different temperatures and by IR radiation. Then, the films were annealed at 500°C in a furnace. The chemical composition, transmission spectra, structure, and morphology of the samples were studied using infrared (IR) and UV–visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The XRD results show that the drying conditions affect the orientation of crystallization along the (0 0 2) plane. AFM images show that the thicknesses of the films decrease from 128 to 93 nm by changing the drying conditions. The photoluminescence (PL) of ZnO nanothin films shows the UV emission at near band edge and broad green radiation at about 465 nm wavelength.     

Positron annihilation study of ageing precipitation in deformed Fe–Cu–B–N–C

The role of deformation-induced defects and carbon addition on copper precipitation during ageing at 550?°C is investigated in high-purity Fe–Cu–B–N–C alloy samples by positron annihilation spectroscopy. Complementary small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and hardness tests are utilized to characterize the size distribution of the Cu precipitates formed and their influence on the mechanical properties. Samples with 0 and 8% cold pre-strain are utilized to study the influence of prior tensile deformation on the precipitation kinetics of copper. The time evolution of the coincidence Doppler-broadening spectra indicates that deformation-induced defects enhance the Cu precipitation kinetics, which is confirmed by the SANS results. In the S–W plot, a clear reduction in open volume defects is accompanied by a strong increase of Cu signature during the initial stage of ageing, implying that the open volume defects (mainly dislocations) act as nucleation sites for Cu precipitation. A comparison between the precipitation behaviour of Fe–Cu, Fe–Cu–B–N and Fe–Cu–B–N–C indicates that the addition of carbon does not alter the Cu precipitation mechanism but decelerates the kinetics. Hardness results confirm that carbon counteracts the acceleration of Cu precipitation caused by the addition of B and N.     

On the stability of the shear–free condition

The evolution equation for the shear is reobtained for a spherically symmetric anisotropic, viscous dissipative fluid distribution, which allows us to investigate conditions for the stability of the shear–free condition. The specific case of geodesic fluids is considered in detail, showing that the shear–free condition, in this particular case, may be unstable, the departure from the shear–free condition being controlled by the expansion scalar and a single scalar function defined in terms of the anisotropy of the pressure, the shear viscosity and the Weyl tensor or, alternatively, in terms of the anisotropy of the pressure, the dissipative variables and the energy density inhomogeneity.     

Gamma induced changes in the structural and optical properties of Makrofol LS 1–1 polycarbonate

ABSTRACT

Samples from sheets of the polymeric material Makrofol LS 1–1 have been exposed to gamma radiation in the dose range 10–250?kGy. The modifications induced in Makrofol samples due to gamma irradiation have been studied through different characterization techniques such as intrinsic viscosity as a measure of the average molecular mass, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy FTIR, refractive index and color difference studies. The results indicate that the crosslinking dominates at the dose range 50–250?kGy. The crosslinking reported by viscosity measurements is supported by the trend of the function groups present in the sample with the gamma dose. Also, the increase in intrinsic viscosity indicating an increase in the average molecular mass was associated with an increase in the refractive index. Additionally, the non-irradiated Makrofol samples showed significant color sensitivity towards gamma irradiation. The color intensity ΔE, which is the color difference between the non-irradiated sample and those irradiated with different gamma doses, increased (0–5.56) with increasing the dose up to 250?kGy, convoyed by an increase in the red and yellow color components.