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.
Seeds of Nigella sativa were sown in containers containing 15kg Loamy soil. The seeds were divided before sewing into two groups. The first group was soaked with ordinary tap water end the second group was treated with magnetized water for 24hrs. The irrigation process was completed until 75% of capacity field with two types of water (tap water of magnetized water with three replications).The magnetized water was obtained from special electric device designed for this purposeRecorded measurements (plants height, the number of branches/ plant, dry weight ofplant, number of flowers, 1000 seed weight) during the harvest period.Results indicated that the seed group which was treated with magnetized water was more significant than the one which
... Show MoreA Laced Reinforced Concrete (LRC) structural element comprises continuously inclined shear reinforcement in the form of lacing that connects the longitudinal reinforcements on both faces of the structural element. This study conducted a theoretical investigation of LRC deep beams to predict their behavior after exposure to fire and high temperatures. Four simply supported reinforced concrete beams of 1500 mm, 200 mm, and 240 mm length, width, and depth, respectively, were considered. The specimens were identical in terms of compressive strength ( 40 MPa) and steel reinforcement details. The same laced steel reinforcement ratio of 0.0035 was used. Three specimens were burned at variable durations and steady-state temperatures (one
... Show MoreIn this paper, we used two monomers, 3,3',4,4'-benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and m,m'-diaminobenzophenone (m, m’-DABP), to produce polyamide acid and then converted it to polyimide (PI). The effects of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) molarity (1, 2, and 3 M) on the structural, thermal, mechanical, and electrical characteristics of the polyimides/polyaniline (PI/PANI) nanocomposites were studied. Two sharp reflection peaks were developed by the addition of PANI to PI. When 3 M H3PO4 is added, the crystalline sharp peak loses some of its intensity. The complex formation of PI/PANI-H3PO4 was confi
... Show MoreLeishmaniasis is endemic ofIraq in both cutaneous and visceral form. The available tools for diagnosis and detection of Leishmaniaare nonspecific and may interfere with other species. In this study, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has been used to identify Iraqi isolate of visceral leishmaniasis (MHOM/ IQ/2005/MRU15) which a previously diagnosed by classical serological tests. PCR amplificationwas carried out using species-specific primers of Leishmania donovani. Four primer pairs of mini-circle DNA and ITS-1 were used.13A/13B, which is used to identify Leishmaniaas a genus, NM12, LITSR/L5.8S and BHUL18S, were used to detect the sub species of L. donovani.The result ofPCR
... Show MoreHybrid architecture of ZnO nanorods/graphene oxide ZnO-NRs@GO synthesized by electrostatic self-assembly methods. The morphological, optical and luminescence characteristics of ZnO-NRs@GO and ZnO-NRs thin films have been described by FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, and AFM, which refers to graphene oxide have been coated ZnO-NRs with five layers. Here we synthesis ZnO-NRs@GO by simple, cheap and environmentally friendly method, which made it favorable for huge -scale preparation in many applications such as photocatalyst. ZnO-NRs@GO was applied as a photocatalyst Rodamin 6 G (R6G) dye from water using 532 nm diode laser-induced photocatalytic process. Overall degradation of R6G/ ZnO-NRs@GO was achieved after 90 minutes of laser irradiation while it ne
... Show MoreThe present work determines the particle size based only on the number of tracks detected in a cluster created by a hot particle on the CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector and depending on the exposure time. The mathematical model of the cross section developed here gives the relationship between alpha particle emitting from the (n, α) reaction and the number of tracks created and distribution of tracks created on the surface of the track detector. In an experiment performed during this work, disc of boron compound (boric acid or sodium tetraborate) of different weights were prepared and exposed to thermal neutron from the source. Chemical etching is processes of path formation in the detector, during which a suitable etching solut
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