Photovoltaic cells technology: principles and recent developments

Solar energy is one of the renewable energy resources that can be changed to the electrical energy with photovoltaic cells. This article accomplishes a comprehensive review on the emersion, underlying principles, types and performance improvements of these cells. Although there are some different categorizations about the solar cells, but in general, all of them can be divided to crystalline silicon solar cells, thin film technology, III–V multijunction cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, polymer solar cells and quantum structured solar cells. Thin film technology is investigated in two non-crystalline silicon solar cells and chalcogenide cells. We present a complete categorization of solar cells and discuss the recent developments of different types of solar cells. Indeed, this paper covers almost all of the development processes of solar cells from their emersion in 1939 up to now. Also, due to substantial effects of the light trapping techniques on the improvements of the solar cells, a comprehensive study has been carried out.     

High precision measurement of the superallowed 0+ --> 0+ beta decay of 22Mg

The half-life, 3.8755(12) s, and superallowed branching ratio, 0.5315(12), for 22Mg beta decay have been measured with high precision. The latter depended on gamma-ray intensities being measured with an HPGe detector calibrated for relative efficiencies to an unprecedented 0.15%. Previous precise measurements of 0+ --> 0+ transitions have been restricted to the nine that populate stable daughter nuclei. No more such cases exist, and any improvement in a critical Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity test must depend on precise measurements of more exotic nuclei. With this branching-ratio measurement, we show those to be possible for T(z)=-1 parents. We obtain a corrected Ft value of 3071(9) s, in good agreement with expectations.     

Asymptotic Normalization Constants in Nuclear Astrophysics

The indirect method of determining astrophysical nuclear reaction rates is discussed. The overall normalization of the astrophysical S-factor for such reactions may be determined from one quantity, the asymptotic normalization coefficient of the overlap function of the bound state wave functions for the initial and final channels. These coefficients can be found also from peripheral transfer reactions whose amplitudes are determined by the same overlap function as the amplitudes of the corresponding astrophysical radiative capture processes. The experimental test of this approach and the last results of S₁₇ measurements are presented.     

Prospecting Agro-waste Cocktail: Supplementation for Cellulase Production by a Newly Isolated Thermophilic <Emphasis Type="Italic">B. licheniformis</Emphasis> 2D55

Bacteria isolated from thermophilic environment that can produce cellulase as well as utilise agro-waste biomass have a high potential for developing thermostable cellulase required in the biofuel industry. The cost for cellulase represents a significant challenge in converting lignocellulose to fermentable sugars for biofuel production. Among three potential bacteria examined, Bacillus licheniformis 2D55 (accession no. KT799651) was found to produce the highest cellulolytic activity (CMCase 0.33 U/mL and FPase 0.09 U/mL) at 18–24 h fermentation when grown on microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as a carbon source in shake flask at 50 °C. Cellulase production process was further conducted on the untreated and NaOH pretreated rice straw (RS), rice husk (RH), sugarcane bagasse (BAG) and empty fruit bunch (EFB). Untreated BAG produced the highest FPase (0.160 U/mL), while the highest CMCase (0.150 U/mL) was supported on the pretreated RH. The mixture of untreated BAG and pretreated RH as agro-waste cocktail has remarkably improved CMCase (3.7- and 1.4-fold) and FPase (2.5- and 11.5-fold) compared to the untreated BAG and pretreated RH, respectively. The mechanism of cellulase production explored through SEM analysis and the location of cellulase enzymes of the isolate was also presented. Agro-waste cocktail supplementation provides an alternative method for an efficient production of cellulase.     

Non-linear mechanical behaviour and bio-composite modelling of oil palm mesocarp fibres

Understanding the non-linear mechanical behaviour of oil palm mesocarp fibres (OPMF) is important for bio-composite application. The mechanical characterisation of this fibre is challenging due to the microstructure of the fibres consisting of silica bodies on the surface and cellular structures within the cross section. In this work, we proposed a constitutive material model for OPMF by including a stress-softening function into the large strain viscoelastic model. The model shows agreement with loading–unloading and stress relaxation tensile tests. The model was then used for micro-scale finite element modelling of the fibre–silica body–matrix (resin) interface to simulate sliding of a bio-composite material. A multi-particles model was also developed to check the effect of the constitutive model towards the mechanics of a bio-composite system. Modelling results suggested that under the micro-scale level (~50 μm), silica body plays a major role in improving the mechanical behaviour of the bio-composite system. On the other hand, under the macro-scale level (~0.18 mm), a single fibre model is sufficient to simulate a bio-composite multi-fibres material.     

Elastic and inelastic local buckling of stiffened plates subjected to non-uniform compression using the Galerkin method

A solution for the elastic and inelastic local buckling of flat rectangular plates with centerline boundary conditions subjected to non-uniform in-plane compression and shear stress is presented. The loaded edges are simply supported, the longitudinal edges may have any boundary conditions and the centerline is simply supported with a variable rotational stiffness. The Galerkin method, an effective method for solving differential equations, is applied to establish an eigenvalue problem. In order to obtain plate buckling coefficients, combined trigonometric and polynomial functions that satisfy the boundary conditions are used. The method is programmed, and several numerical examples including elastic and inelastic local buckling, are presented to illustrate the scope and efficacy of the procedure. The variation of buckling coefficients with aspect ratio is presented for various stress gradient ratios. The solution is applicable to stiffened plates and the flange of the I-shaped beams that are subjected to biaxial bending or combined flexure and torsion and shear stresses, and is important to estimate the reduction in elastic buckling capacity due to stress gradient.     

Application of spherical harmonics derived space rotation invariant indices to the analysis of multiple sclerosis lesions' geometry by MRI

In the longitudinal study of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, varying position of the patient inside the MRI scanner is one of the major sources of assessment errors. We propose to use analytical indices that are invariant to spatial orientation to describe the lesions, rather than focus on patient repositioning or image realignment. Studies were made on simulated lesions systematically rotated, from in vitro MS lesions scanned on different days, and from in vivo MS lesions from a patient that was scanned five times the same day with short intervals of time between scans. Each of the lesions' 3D surfaces was approximated using spherical harmonics, from which indices that are invariant to space rotation were derived. From these indices, an accurate and highly reproducible volume estimate can be derived, which is superior to the common approach of 2D slice stacking. The results indicate that the suggested approach is useful in reducing part of the errors that affect the analysis of changes of MS lesions during follow-up studies. In conclusion, our proposed method circumvents the need for precise patient repositioning and can be advantageous in MRI longitudinal studies of MS patients.     

Rapid MR imaging by sensitivity profile indexing and deconvolution reconstruction (SPID)

A new parallel MR imaging technique, which uses localized information from the elements of a multi-coil array to accelerate imaging, is described. The technique offers an alternative reconstruction approach to currently available techniques (e.g., SMASH and SENSE). Following a partial k-space data acquisition, image reconstruction in this approach proceeds in two steps: first, fitting the measured coil sensitivities to a set of partially localized target functions, a blurred intermediate image of the studied object is produced. Blurring is obtained in a systematic manner, forming images of the studied object convolved with a known convolution kernel. Full spatial resolution is then recovered by deconvolution of the blurred images with the known kernel function. The technique offers flexibility in the arrangement of the acquired signal data k-lines, and a mechanism for controlling reconstruction quality through the convolution the deconvolution procedure. The technique was validated in phantom and in vivo imaging experiments demonstrating high time reduction factors.     

One-pot,solvent-free and efficient synthesis of 2,4,6-triarylpyridines catalyzed by nano-titania-supported sulfonic acid as a novel heterogeneous nanocatalyst

Nano titania-supported sulfonic acid (n-TSA) has found to be a highly efficient, eco-friendly and recyclable heterogeneous nanocatalyst for the solvent-free synthesis of 2, 4, 6-triarylpyridines through one-pot three-component reaction of acetophenones, aryl aldehydes and ammonium acetate. This reported method illustrates several advantages such as environmental friendliness reaction conditions, simplicity, short reaction time, easy work up, reusability of catalyst and high yields of the products. One new compound is reported too. Furthermore, the catalyst could be recycled after a simple work-up, and reused at least six times without substantial reduction in its catalytic activity.     

Multistep scattering in the 160 MeV208Pb(α, α′) reaction

New experimental data has been obtained for the²⁰⁸Pb(α, α′) reaction induced by 160 MeV alpha particles, for inelastic scattering to forward angles. We use these data to investigate the applicability of the multistep scattering theory of Feshbach, Kerman, and Koonin for describing this reaction. The mechanism we study, following the work of Gadioli et al. [1], is of the incident alpha particle remaining intact throughout the scattering process, exciting nucleon particle-hole pairs through multistep process. We conclude that this mechanism, combined with compound nucleus decay at low emission energies, can account for much of the observed data. However, there are indications that other processes also contribute at energies above the compound nucleus emission regime, and we outline future theoretical analyses that are needed.