Effect of Nanoclay along with Other Effective Parameters on Gelation Time of Hydro Polymer Gels

In this work, a hydrogel was prepared by crosslinking of aqueous solutions of sulfonated polyacrylamide/chromium triacetate for the purpose of water shut-off treatment in oil fields. In order to screen the factors that affect the gelation time and investigate their interactions, a 32 run fractional factorial design was used in experimentation with eight factors (pH, CaCl₂ concentration, crosslinker/copolymer ratio, NaCl concentration, copolymer concentration and presence or absence of sodium lactate, nanoclay, and thiouria) and one response (gelation time). Furthermore, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was implemented as a significant tool to evaluate the quality of the quadratic model. The ANOVA results of the developed model showed it was significant with a 99% confidence limit. Among the eight factors, presence of sodium lactate, copolymer concentration, presence of nanoclay, presence of thiouria, and crosslinker/copolymer ratio had, in order, the main effects, and the interactions between sodium lactate and crosslinker/copolymer ratio and between pH and crosslinker/copolymer ratio were highly significant.     

Study of Salinity and pH Effects on Gelation Time of a Polymer Gel Using Central Composite Design Method

Experiments were conducted to investigate the main effects of salinity (NaCl) concentrations and pH factors and their interactions on the gelation time response of a polymer gel used in a water shutoff system in oil field reservoirs. Central composite design (CCD) was used to design experiments and a mathematical model building. The main advantage of CCD was to generate the quadratic mathematical model for the gelation time as functions of salinity and pH factors. Tests were limited and optimized by CCD points including low star (axial), low factorial, central, high factorial, and high star points. The evaluation of the data and the developed model were performed through the examination of graphical trend of residuals and a numerical approach. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to estimate the amount of data variations from the model predictions. It was found that the model was significant at the 99% confidence against test data. The results showed that the gelation time was dependent more on pH than salinity. For low pH, the gelation time increased with increasing of the salinity, while for a high pH (>4) the relationship was inversed. The research shows that CCD can effectively be applied for the modeling of gelation time and finding an optimum condition to achieve maximum or minimum gelation time for different salinity and pH factors.     

Synthesis of high fluorescent silica hybrid materials by immobilization of orange peel extract in silica‐silsesquioxane matrix

Sol–gel chemistry can be easily modified to the changing needs of society to produce fine‐tuned sol–gel nanostructured materials for relevant applications. In this context, there is an increasing need for natural and versatile raw materials as well as biocompatible compounds that could be extensively used as biomarkers for bioimaging in diagnosis or therapy. Silica‐based materials are widely used in the field of biomedicine due to their chemical inertness and biocompatibility. In the present paper, orange peel extract was immobilized inside inorganic silica and hybrid silica‐silsesquioxane polymeric networks. Silica and organo‐modified silica matrices were synthesized through a templated sol–gel route of TEOS and an organosilsesquioxane (octaisobutyltetracyclo[7.3.3.1^5,11] octasiloxane‐endo‐3,7‐diol), with D ‐glucose as template, and for comparison a non‐ionic surfactant (tetraethylene glycol mono‐hexadecyl ether) was also used. The bioactive properties of the molecules from orange peel extract were preserved after immobilization in both silica and silica‐silsesquioxane networks. Moreover, the fluorescence properties were amplified by 10–20 times more than the native orange peel extract. The structural properties of the final materials have been studied by FT‐IR, UV–Vis‐NIR, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering measurements and transmission electron microscopy were used to estimate the size and morphology of the hybrid materials with orange peel extract immobilized in silica networks. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nanoparticles and Nanolayers In Commercial Applications

This paper presents particulate and layered materials used in industry with at least one dimension under 500 nm. The objective is to bring to the attention of researchers areas of investigation where new properties and phenomena may manifest. The most relevant materials are natural and synthetic platelets and spherical and coated silica particles.     

Raman investigations of Zn1−xCoxO nanocrystals: role of starting precursors on vibrational properties

The Raman spectra of sol–gel derived Co‐doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in the spectral range 100–1500 cm⁻¹ were investigated. In the sol–gel method, three different series of Co‐doped ZnO particles, i.e. Zn_1−xCo_xO (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20), were obtained using three different starting precursors, viz. cobalt chloride hexahydrate, cobalt acetate tetrahydrate, and cobalt nitrate hexahydrate, respectively. It has been observed that cobalt acetate is a better precursor in comparison to cobalt chloride and cobalt nitrate to obtain single‐phase Co‐doped ZnO NPs. As for cobalt acetate‐derived NPs, no hidden secondary phase of Co₃O₄ was observed for the lower (x = 0.05) Co concentration. The Fröhlich interaction associated with the longitudinal modes was found to be destroyed with increasing Co concentration due to structural disorder and defects induced by the dopant. In addition to ZnO and Co₃O₄ vibrational modes, a few additional modes near 550 and 715 cm⁻¹ were also observed in all cases, which could be attributed to the modes due to Co doping in ZnO. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controlled Dissolution of Phenytoin by Hybridizing with Silica Nanoparticles

A sparingly soluble model drug, phenytoin (5,5-diphenyl-hydantoin, denoted as PT), was incorporated during or after hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetra orthoethyl silicate (TEOS) to obtain silica–drug hybrids. We also compare the hybrids obtained by sol–gel process with those obtained by simple adsorption on nonporous silica particles. The initial rate of dissolution in water increases by a factor of 40 with respect to the intact PT by aging silica before drug addition. The IR results show that C=O in the position 2 of PT and N–H shift toward the higher wavenumber, showing that intermolecular hydrogen bonds between C=O and N–H are loosened or broken to form new hydrogen bonds between C=O in PT and Si–OH in silica. The dissolution rate of PT is determined by the degree of the breakage of hydrogen bonds between PT molecules and the intensity of the interaction between silica and PT.     

Instantaneous solitons and fractal solitons for a (2+1)-dimensional nonlinear system

By an improved projective equation approach and a linear variable separation approach, a new family of exact solutions of the (2+1)-dimensional Broek--Kaup system is derived. Based on the derived solitary wave solution and by selecting appropriate functions, some novel localized excitations such as instantaneous solitons and fractal solitons are investigated.     

Effect of lanthanum substitution on the Raman spectra of barium titanate thin films

Thin films of Ba_1−xLa_xTiO₃ on platinum substrates were synthesized using the sol–gel method for x values of 0.0, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.10, and the effect of trivalent La³⁺ substitution on the structural and dielectric properties was studied. Using X‐ray diffraction, structural analysis of these compositions revealed a slight increase in the tetragonal distortion of the unit cell with increase in La content. Accordingly, an increase in the tetragonal to cubic transition temperature T_T/C was detected by temperature‐dependent Raman spectroscopy in the range of 70–500 K. Unlike the results from Raman scattering for the La‐doped BaTiO₃ films, the dielectric measurements showed broad and diffused dielectric maxima, making the estimation of the transition temperature merely qualitative. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controlled SnO2 nanocrystal growth in SiO2–SnO2 glass‐ceramic monoliths

Crack‐free (100–x) SiO₂–x SnO₂ glass‐ceramic monoliths have been prepared by the sol–gel method obtaining for the first time SnO₂ concentrations of 20% with annealing at 1100 °C. Heat‐treatment resulted in the formation and growth of SnO₂ nanocrystals within the silica matrices. Combined use of Fourier transform–Raman spectroscopy and in situ high‐temperature X‐Ray diffraction shows that SnO₂ particles begin to crystallize in the cassiterite‐type phase at 80 °C and that their average apparent size remains around 7 nm, even after annealing at 1100 °C. Nanocrystal sizes and size distributions determined by low‐wavenumber Raman are in good agreement with those obtained from transmission electron microscopy measurements. Results indicate that the formation and the growth of SnO₂ nanocrystals impose a residual porosity in the silica matrix. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cesium doped and undoped ZnO nanocrystalline thin films: a comparative study of structural and micro‐Raman investigation of optical phonons

Undoped and cesium‐doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been deposited on sapphire substrate (0001) using the sol–gel method. Films were preheated at 300 °C for 10 min and annealed at 600 and 800 °C for 1 h. The grown thin films were confirmed to be of wurtzite structure using X‐ray diffraction. Surface morphology of the films was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of ZnO showed a strong ultraviolet (UV) emission band located at 3.263 eV and a very weak visible emission associated with deep‐level defects. Cesium incorporation induced a blue shift of the optical band gap and quenching of the near‐band‐edge PL for nanocrystalline thin film at room temperatures because of the band‐filling effect of free carriers. A shift of about 10–15 cm⁻¹ is observed for the first‐order longitudinal‐optical (LO) phonon Raman peak of the nanocrystals when compared to the LO phonon peak of bulk ZnO. The UV resonant Raman excitation at RT shows multiphonon LO modes up to fifth order. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and characterization of microwave processed PZT material

With a view to investigate the influence of microwave sintering on the structural and dielectric properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), the samples were prepared by citrate gel route. The well crystallized single phase perovskite PZT powders were obtained after calcination at 700 °C for 2 h. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern clearly indicates the formation of PZT material with single phase. FTIR and TG-DTA studies also confirmed the formation of PZT along with the reaction process involved in the synthesis. The crystallite sizes of the samples calcined at different temperatures were calculated using Scherrer’s formula and were compared with those obtained by the transmission electron microscope (TEM) technique. The surface morphological features of all the samples were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) while the chemical composition was obtained by an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS). The variation of dielectric constant and loss tangent with temperature and frequency of both the type of samples was also investigated and the observed behavior is explained qualitatively.     

Water and oil wettability of hybrid organic–inorganic titanate–silicate thin films deposited via a sol–gel route

Hybrid organic–inorganic titanate–silicate thin films were deposited on silicium wafer via a sol–gel route. Hybrid sols were formulated by mixing an inorganic titanium alkoxide solution with solutions of hybrid organic–inorganic silicon alkoxides partially substituted with non-hydrolysable alkyl chains. Three organo-silicate precursors were used to introduce methyl, octyl, or hexadecyl chains in the oxide network. Physico-chemical and morphological properties of derived hybrid films have been studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and atomic force microscopy. Contact angle measurements have also been performed to assess the water and mineral oil wettability of hybrid films. Wettability properties of these films are discussed with respect to physico-chemical and morphological features. It is shown that increasing the fraction and length of alkyl chains in the oxide network conjointly increases water and oil contact angles measured on such hybrid films.     

Effect of C doping on the structural and optical properties of sol–gel TiO2 thin films

Undoped and C-doped TiO₂ thin films have been prepared by sol–gel process. Their structure and optical properties have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–vis spectroscopy. It has been observed that C dopants retard the transformation from anatase-to-rutile phase. Namely, C doping effect is attributed to the anatase phase stabilization. The optical analyses show that the optical band gap of anatase C-doped TiO₂ decreases with increasing amount of C. Also, it is founded that C dopants have been shown to make TiO₂ have a visible light photoresponse.     

Study of the Performance of an All-Optical Half-Adder Based on Three-Core Non-Linear Directional Fiber Coupler Under Delayed and Instantaneous Non-Linear Kerr Responses

Abstract

Recently, much attention has been given to the influence of the relaxation process of the non-linear response, because the usual assumption of instantaneous non-linear response fails for ultra-short pulses, and additional contributions coming from non-linear dispersion and delayed non-linearity have to be taken into account. This article presents a numerical analysis of the symmetric planar and asymmetric planar three-core non-linear directional fiber couplers operating with a soliton pulse, where effects of both delayed and instantaneous non-linear Kerr responses are analyzed for implementation of an all-optical half-adder. To implement this all-optical half-adder, eight configurations were analyzed for the non-linear directional fiber coupler, with two symmetric and six asymmetric configurations. The half-adder is the key building block for many digital processing functions, such as shift register, binary counter, and serial parallel data converters. The optical coupler is an important component for applications in optical-fiber telecommunication systems and all integrated optical circuit because of its very high switching speeds. In this numerical simulation, the symmetric/asymmetric planar presents a structure with three cores in a parallel equidistant arrangement, three logical inputs, and two output energy. To prove the effectiveness of the theoretical model for generation of the all-optical half-adder, the best phase to be applied to the control pulse was sought, and a study was done of the extinction ratio level as a function of the Δ > parameter, the normalized time duration, and the Sum and Carry outputs of the (symmetric planar/asymmetric planar) non-linear directional fiber coupler. In this article, the interest is in transmission characteristics, extinction ratio level, normalized time duration, and pulse evolution along the non-linear directional fiber coupler. To compare the performance of the all-optical half-adders, the figure of merit of the logic gates was used. All results were obtained numerically, considering a simple model for generation of an all-optical half-adder.     

Effects of annealing temperature on morphologies and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures

The effects of annealing temperature on the morphologies and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures synthesized by sol–gel method were investigated in detail. The SEM results showed that uniform ZnO nanorods formed at 900 C. The PL results showed an ultraviolet emission peak and a relatively broad visible light emission peak for all ZnO nanostructures sintered at different temperature. The increase of the crystal size and decrease of tensile stress resulted in the UV emission peak shifted from 386 to 389 nm when annealing temperature rose from 850 to 1000 C. The growth mechanism of the ZnO nanorods is discussed.     

Effect of boundaries and impurities on electron–phonon dephasing

Electron scattering from boundaries and impurities destroys the single-particle picture of the electron–phonon interaction. We show that quantum interference between ‘pure‘ electron–phonon and electron–boundary/impurity scattering may result in the reduction as well as to the significant enlargement of the electron dephasing rate. This effect crucially depends on the extent, to which electron scatterers, such as boundaries and impurities, are dragged by phonons. Static and vibrating scatterers are described by two dimensionless parametersq_Tl and q_TL, where q is the wavevector of the thermal phonon, l is the total electron mean-free path, L is the mean-free path due to scattering from static scatterers. According to the Pippard ineffectiveness condition , without static scatterers the dephasing rate at low temperatures is slower by the factor 1 / ql than the rate in a pure bulk material. However, in the presence of static potential the dephasing rate turns out to be 1 / qL times faster. Thus, at low temperatures electron dephasing and energy relaxation may be controlled by electron boundary/impurity scattering in a wide range.     

Synthesis, characterization and magnetic properties on nanocrystalline BaFe12O19 ferrite

Single phase BaM (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) ferrites are prepared by using sol–gel method. The preparing conditions of samples are investigated in detail, such as acid/nitrate ratio, the value of pH and annealing temperature. The best conditions on preparing BaFe₁₂O₁₉, which can be obtained on a Fe/Ba ratio of 12, the citric acid contents R = 3, the starting pH of solution is 9, and annealing temperature 950 °C. The thermal decomposition behavior of the dried gel was examined by TG–DSC, the structure and properties of powders were measured respectively by XRD techniques. The magnetic properties of barium ferrites are emphatically researched about the changing crystallite size and annealing temperature by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Magnetic measurement shows that the barium ferrite samples annealed at 1000 °C has the maximal coercive field of 5691.91 Oe corresponding to the maximal remnant magnetization of 35.60 emu/g and the sample synthesized at 1000 °C has the maximal saturation magnetization of 60.75 emu/g.     

Mesoscopic spin-dependent reflection experiments on InSb- and InAs-based heterostructures

Spin–orbit interaction in two-dimensional electron systems can lead to a spin-dependent reflection of carriers off a lithographic barrier. Scattering of a spin-unpolarized beam from the barrier leads to the creation of two fully spin-polarized side beams in addition to an unpolarized specularly reflected beam. We experimentally demonstrate a method to create spin-polarized beams of ballistic electrons in mesoscopic samples fabricated on InSb/InAlSb and InAs/AlGaSb heterostructures. We describe two geometries, one open and one closed, in which the spin-dependent reflection and spin-dependent semiclassical trajectories were observed.     

Study on the effect of different acids on the structure and photocatalytic activity of mesoporous titania

Nanocrystalline mesoporous titania was synthesized via a combined sol–gel process with surfactant-assisted templating method using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the structure-directing agent. The process was catalyzed by different acid (hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or phosphoric acid). The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, BET and FT-IR. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was determined by degradation of phenol in aqueous solution. Results showed that different acid had different effect on the structure and crystal phase of the samples. The sample adjusted by phosphoric acid showed highest surface area and photocatalytic activity. The formation mechanism of the samples catalyzed by different acid was also discussed.