Probing the effect of nitrogen gas on electrical conduction phenomena of ZnO and Cu-doped ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Cu-doped ZnO (CZO) thin films were prepared on borosilicate glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. The X-ray diffraction study revealed that Cu doping caused a reduction in crystallite size. AFM study showed an increase in roughness with doping. This is attributed to the aggregation of particles to form clusters. From transmission electron microscopy analysis, the particle size is measured to be in the range 30–65 nm (average particle size 48 nm) for undoped ZnO, whereas it is in the range 24–56 nm (average particle size 40 nm) for CZO film. The electrical resistivity of the thin films was investigated in the presence of air as well as N₂ mixed air at different temperatures in the range 30–270 °C. The change in resistivity properties was explained on the basis of conduction phenomena within the grain along with the grain boundaries as well as Cu- and N₂-induced defect states. The thermal activation energy of ZnO was found to be in the range 0.04–0.7 eV and dependent on Cu doping and N₂ level in air.     

Structural and electrical studies of Ba5RTi3V7O30 (R=Ho,Gd, La) compounds

The ferroelectric ceramics Ba₅RTi₃V₇O₃₀ (R=Ho, Gd, La) have been synthesized by solid-state reaction technique. Preliminary X-ray structural analysis confirmed a single-phase formation of the compound in orthorhombic structure. Surface morphology of the compounds was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Detailed studies of electrical properties (i.e., dielectric constant, loss tangent, ac conductivity) as a function of temperature (RT-773 K) and at four different frequencies (1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz and 1 MHz) show ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition of the compounds of diffuse-type. The activation energy has been evaluated from ac conductivity following Arrhenius equation. The conductivity pattern shows that it is strongly frequency dependent and obeys Jonscher's power relation.     

Analysis of phase-jitter evolution in a reattaching shear layer

A modification to the phase-jitter calculation procedure of Ho et al. (J Fluid Mech 230:319–337, 1991), called the HZFB method (Ho, Zohar, Foss, and Buell), and an extension of the pattern recognition technique for phase-jitter calculation are presented in this work. Results for the phase jitter calculated using the three methods are compared for a separated shear layer past a surface-mounted rib. The original HZFB method is shown to yield inaccurate results in the presence of small-scale turbulence, while the modified HZFB method and the pattern recognition technique provide the correct estimates of phase jitter.     

Influence of the orientation of a square cylinder on the wake properties

An experimental investigation of flow around a square cylinder placed at various angles with respect to the approach fluid velocity is reported. The focus of the study is toward examining the sensitivity of the wake properties to the cylinder orientation and Reynolds number. Angles of incidence in the range of 0-60° and Reynolds numbers of 1340, 4990, and 9980 have been considered. Velocity measurements have been carried out using an X-wire hotwire anemometer. The Strouhal number and the drag coefficient of the cylinder have been computed from the wake measurements. Utilizing the velocity traces at distinct probe locations in the near and the far wake, statistical properties such as the RMS velocities and the spectra have been obtained. Results obtained in the present work revealed that for a cylinder with zero inclination, flow separates from the corners on the face exposed to the incoming flow. For inclinations greater than zero, the points of separation on the cylinder move downstream and the wake size increases, but the separated shear layer rolls up over a shorter distance. These factors lead to a reduced drag coefficient and a higher Strouhal number. The center-line recovery of the time-averaged velocity and the decay rates of velocity fluctuations depend on the Reynolds number. A marginal effect of the cylinder orientation is also seen.     

A rapid and highly sensitive UPLC-QTOF MS method for quantitative evaluation of Nardostachys jatamansi using Nardin as the marker

Nardostachys jatamansi DC. is a highly reputed Medhya and Nootropic (Learning and Memory) Ayurvedic medicinal plant. Its use as herbal medicine singly and as an ingredient of multi‐herbal formulations is fast increasing. In order to authenticate and evaluate it quantitatively, its standardization is highly warranted with respect to a reliable marker. In this connection a rapid and highly sensitive UPLC‐QTOF MS method has been developed. The analysis was carried out on an Acquity BEH C₁₈ column with gradient elution of methanol–water and 3 mm ammonium acetate using QTOF mass detector in negative ionization mode. The method was validated over a concentration range of 9.76–156.25 ng/mL nardin. The calibration curve is linear with the correlation coefficient (r) and coefficient of determination (R²) were 0.9997 and 0.9995 respectively. The LOD and LOQ were 3.050 and 9.277 ng/mL respectively. The recovery of nardin in the range 96.36–111.13% achieved from spiked samples was consistent and reproducible. The inter‐day and intra‐day assay precision of the analytes over the entire concentration range was less than 5%. The developed method required only 4 min for chromatography to authenticate and quantify the marker, viz. nardin in N. jatamansi samples, in addition to the sample preparation time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Superconvergence of Legendre projection methods for the eigenvalue problem of a compact integral operator

In this paper, we consider the Galerkin and collocation methods for the eigenvalue problem of a compact integral operator with a smooth kernel using the Legendre polynomials of degree ≤n. We prove that the error bounds for eigenvalues are of the order O(n^−2r) and the gap between the spectral subspaces are of the orders O(n^−r) in L₂-norm and O(n^1/2−r) in the infinity norm, where r denotes the smoothness of the kernel. By iterating the eigenvectors we show that the iterated eigenvectors converge with the orders of convergence O(n^−2r) in both L₂-norm and infinity norm. We illustrate our results with numerical examples.     

On the oscillatory behaviour of a class of nonlinear delay difference equations of second order

In this paper, sufficient conditions have been obtained for oscillation of all solutions of a class of nonlinear neutral delay difference equations of the form

Liapunov-type inequality for delay-differential equations of third order

A Liapunov-type inequality for a class of third order delay-differential equations is derived.     

Structure-reactivity relationship in the oxidation of aryl aliphatic ketones by CeIV

Kinetics of oxidation of aryl aliphatic ketones by Ce^IV in presence of HClO₄ in aqueous acetic acid medium has been studied. Reactivity has been found to be that substituents of electron withdrawing nature accelerate the reaction and the reverse is true with electron releasing substituents. A mechanism of radical intermediate is postulated to explain the observed phenomena. The unusual reactivity of the alkoxy derivatives may be traced to a change in the mechanism routed through a carbonium ion centre or alternatively it might be due to the hydrolysis of the alkoxy derivatives leading to the higher reactivity observed.