The influence of the reaction gas composition during the DC magnetron sputtering process on the structural, chemical and optical properties of Ce-oxide thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that all thin films exhibited a polycrystalline character with cubic fluorite structure for cerium dioxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed that cerium is present in two oxidation states, namely as CeO2 and Ce2O3, at the surface of the films prepared at oxygen/argon flow ratios between 0% and 7%, whereas the films are completely oxidized into CeO2 as the aforementioned ratio increases beyond 14%. Various optical parameters for the thin films (including an optical band gap in the range of 2.25–3.1 eV) were derived from the UV–Vis reflectance. A significant change in the band gap was observed as oxygen/argon flow ratio was raised from 7% to 14% and this finding is consistent with the high-resolution XPS analysis of Ce 3d that reports a mixture of Ce2O3 and CeO2 in the films. Density functional theory (DFT+U) implemented in the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package (CASTEP) was carried out to simulate the optical constants of CeO2 clusters at ground state. The computed electronic density of states (DOSs) of the optimized unit cell of CeO2 yields a band gap that agrees well with the experimentally measured optical band gap. The simulated and measured absorption coefficient (α) exhibited a similar trend and, to some extent, have similar values in the wavelength range from 100 to 2500 nm. The combined results of this study demonstrate good correlation between the theoretical and experimental findings.
Corrosion inhibiting admixtures are unique among other methods to protect reinforced concrete from corrosion damage. In this study, the effect of furfural on the fresh and hardened properties of concrete mixes of 35 and 45 MPa compressive strengths as well as the corrosion inhibition of furfural was evaluated. Furfural was added at different dosages (1, 2 and 3% by weight of cement) with and without superplasticizer (HRWR). Different electrochemical measurements were performed (Half-cell potential, Tafel plot and linear polarization resistance). Electrochemical measurements confirmed that furfural dramatically reduces the rate of corrosion; the inhibition efficiencies were 62.7 and 63.8 % due to 3% furfural addition to 35 and 45MPa-concr
... Show MoreA progressive increase in the desire for environmentally friendly lubricants by users and strict government regulations for the use of these lubricants has provided an opportunity to use plant oils as biodegradable lubricants, therefore vegetable oils have been investigated to replace oil lubricants because of their maintaining the conditions of nature (environment) properties. In this paper, the influences of the blending ratio of mustard seeds oil with commercial mineral oil (SAE40) on the tribological characteristics were investigated and compared with mineral oil using the four-ball tribotester. Mustard seeds oil was blended with mineral oil at a volumetric ratio ranging from 22.5 to 90%. All experimental works were
... Show MoreThe vortex rate sensor is a fluidic gyroscope with no moving parts and can be used in very difficult
conditions like radiation, high temperature and noise with minimum cost of manufacturing and
maintenance. A vortex rate sensor made of wood has been designed and manufactured to study
theoretically and experimentally its static performance .A rig has been built to carry out the study,
the test carried out with three different air flow rates (100, 150, and 200 l/min).The results show that
the relation between the differential pressure taken from the sensor pickoff points and the angular
velocity of the sensor was linear.The present work involved theoretical and experimental study of
vortex rate sensor static characteri
This thesis aims to study the effect of addition polymer materials on mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete, and also to assess the influence of petroleum products (kerosene and gas oil) on mechanical properties of polymer modified self-compacting concrete (PMSCC) after different exposure periods of (30 ,60 ,90 ,and 180 days).
Two type of curing are used; 28 days in water for SCC and 2 days in water followed 26 days in air for PMSCC.
The test results show that the PMSCC (15% P/C ratio) which is exposed to oil products recorded a lower deterioration in compressive strength's values than reference concrete. The percentages of reduction in compressive strength values of PMSCC (15% P/C ratio) was
... Show MoreA numerical and experimentally investigation for two types of winglets (spiroid and blended), which are used to reduce the induced drag caused by the trailing vortices were presented and discussed in this work. The SOLIDWORK 2016 was used to model a rectangular wing geometry of NACA2415 cross-sectional airfoil with blended and spiroid airfoils (2415 and 0012). The steady, incompressible N.S equations with standard (
This research provides a study of the virtual museums features and characteristics and contributes to the recognition of the diversity of visual presentation methods, as the virtual museums give the act of participation and visual communication with programs at an open time, so that it would contribute to reflection, thinking and recording notes, developing the actual and innovative skills through seeing the environments. The study has been divided into two sections the first one is virtual museum techniques. The techniques were studied to reach the public and are used remotely by the services of personal computers or smart phones being virtual libraries that store images and information that was formed and built in a digital way and how
... Show Moreoday deep ocean life has not been discovered by humans including many secret world things to be explored. The researcher has focused on underwater optical wireless communications using various kinds of complex digital Signal processing most of them used in air and starting applied in underwater communication. The Internet of Things (IoT) uses underwater called Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) applications to explore the underwater world with other devices. However, the difference in concentration between air and water surfaces is not easy making wireless communication more complicated. Visible light passes the water's surface with scattering and distortion inside the water and each color of light has different attenuation the blue laser
... Show MoreFree-Space Optical (FSO) can provide high-speed communications when the effect of turbulence is not serious. However, Space-Time-Block-Code (STBC) is a good candidate to mitigate this seriousness. This paper proposes a hybrid of an Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) and STBC in FSO communication for last mile solutions, where access to remote areas is complicated. The main weakness effecting a FSO link is the atmospheric turbulence. The feasibility of employing STBC in OCDMA is to mitigate these effects. The current work evaluates the Bit-Error-Rate (BER) performance of OCDMA operating under the scintillation effect, where this effect can be described by the gamma-gamma model. The most obvious finding to emerge from the analysis
... Show More