Thin films of tin sulfide (SnS) were prepared by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrates, with thickness in the range of 100, 200 and 300nm and their physical properties were studied with appropriate techniques. The phase of the synthesized thin films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Further, the crystallite size was calculated by Scherer formula and found to increase from 58 to 79 nm with increase of thickness. The obtained results were discussed in view of testing the suitability of SnS film as an absorber for the fabrication of low-cost and non toxic solar cell. For thickness, t=300nm, the films showed orthorhombic OR phase with a strong (111) preferred orientation. The films deposited with thickness < 200nm deviate

Vanadium dioxide nanofilms are one of the most essential materials in electronic applications like smart windows. Therefore, studying and understanding the optical properties of such films is crucial to modify the parameters that control these properties. To this end, this work focuses on investigating the opacity as a function of the energy directed at the nanofilms with different thicknesses(1–100) nm. Effective mediator theories(EMTs), which are considered as the application of Bruggeman’s formalism and the Looyenga mixing rule, have been used to estimate the dielectric constant of VO2 nanofilms. The results show different opacity behaviors at different wavelength ranges(ultraviolet, visible, and infrared). The results depict that th

Abstract

The toughening of epoxy resins with the addition of organic or inorganic compounds is of great interest nowadays, considering their large scale of applications. In the present work, composites of epoxy are synthesized with kaolin particles having different particle sizes as reinforcement. Composites of epoxy with varying concentration (0 to 40 weight %) of kaolin was prepared by using hand lay method. The variation of mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity, yield, tensile, and compressive strength with filler content was evaluated. The composite showed improved modulus of elasticity and compressive properties on addition of filler. In contrast, the tensile and yield strength of the composite

This contribution aims to investigate volume-dependent thermal and mechanical properties of the two most studied phases of molybdenum nitride (c-MoN and h-MoN) by means of the quasi-harmonic approximation approach (QHA) via first-principles calculations up to their melting point and a pressure of 12 GPa. Lattice constants, band gaps, and bulk modulus at 0 K match corresponding experimental measurements well. Calculated Bader’s charges indicate that Mo–N bonds exhibit a more ionic nature in the cubic MoN phase. Based on estimated Gibbs free energies, the cubic phase presents thermodynamic stability higher than that detected for hexagonl, with no phase transition observed in the selected T–P conditions as detected experimentall

The present study explores the solar-induced photocatalytic degradation of reactive red (RR) and reactive turquoise (RT) dyes in a single system using TiO2 immobilized in xanthan gum (TiO2/XG), synthesized using the sol–gel dip-coating technique for direct precipitation. SEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR, and UV–Vis were used to assess the characteristics of the resulting catalyst. Moreover, the effects of different operating parameters, specifically pH, dye concentration, TiO2/XG concentration, H2O2 concentration, and contact time, were also investigated in a batch photocatalytic reactor. The immobilized TiO2/XG catalyst showed a slight adsorption degradation efficiency and then improved the RR and RT dye degradation activity (92.5 and 90.8%

Encasing glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) beam with reinforced concrete (RC) improves stability, prevents buckling of the web, and enhances the fire resistance efficiency. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of RC specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. The effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete was explored. Three specimens were tested under three-point loading. The deformations, strains in the GFRP beams, and slippages between the GFRP beams and concrete were recorded. The embedded GFRP beam enhanced the peak loads by 65% and 51% for the composite specimens with and without shear connectors,

In this work magnetite/geopolymer composite (MGP) were synthesized using a chemical co-precipitation technique. The synthesized materials were characterized using several techniques such as: “X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating sample-magnetometer (VSM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Barrentt-Joyner-Halenda (BJH)” to determine the structure and morphology of the obtained material. The analysis indicated that metal oxide predominantly appeared at the shape of the spinel structure of magnetite, and that the presence of nano-magnetite had a substantial impact on the surface area and pore st