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.
In this study, the effects of blending the un-branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (n-decyl acrylate), and the branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (iso-octyl acrylate), on the viscosity index (VI), and the pour point of the Iraqi base stocks 40, and 60 respectively, were investigated. Toluene was used as a carrier solvent for both polymer types. The improvement level of oils (VI, & pour point) gained by blending the oil with the acrylate derived polymers was compared with the values of (VI, and pour point) gained by blending the oil with a commercial viscosity index, and pour point improver. The commercial lubricant additive was purchased and used by Al-Daura Refineries. It consisted of an un-known olefin copolymer dissolved i
... Show MoreBiodiesel can be prepared from various types of vegetable oils or animal fats with the aid of a catalyst.
Calcium oxide (CaO) is one of the prospective heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis. Modification
of CaO by impregnation on silica (SiO2) can improve the performance of CaO as catalyst. Egg shells and rice
husks as biomass waste can be used as raw materials for the preparation of the silica modified CaO catalyst.
The present study was directed to synthesize and characterize CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst from biomass
waste and apply it as catalyst in biodiesel synthesis. The catalyst was synthesized by wet impregnation
method and characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, nitr
wind load coefficient
The current study presents an experimental investigation of heat transfer and flow characteristic for subcooled flow boiling of deionized water in the microchannel heat sink. The test section consisted of a single microchannel having 300μm wide nominal dimensions and 300μm height (hydraulic diameter of 300μm). The test section formed of oxygen-free copper with 72mm length and 12mm width. Experimental operation conditions spanned the heat flux (78-800) kW/m2, mass flux (1700 and 2100) kg/m2.s at 31˚C subcooled inlet temperature. The boiling heat transfer coefficient is measured and compared with existing correlations. Also, the experimental pressure drop is measured and compared with microscale p
... Show MoreA factorial experiment was applied with four replicates on rosemary plants (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) grown in pots inside the glasshouse of the Department of Biology, College of Science, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq, during April, 2019 to July, 2020, to determine the effects of soil moisture content ( SM1: 100% and SM2: 60% field capacity), nitrogen fertilizer (N1: 100, N2: 200 and N3: 300kg/hectare), and magnesium fertilizer (Mg1: 0.0, Mg2: 30 and Mg3: 60kg/hectare) and their interactions on some growth characteristics and essential oil content of rosemary plants. Two cuttings were taken from rosemary shoots (on March, 2020 and July, 2020) after 12 and 15 months of planting respectively. Results showed that cutting 1:
... Show MoreThe current study was conducted with an aim to know the effect of adding different concentrations of pomegranate peels alcoholic extract (PPAE) on the traits of Awassi ram semen stored at 5°C. Eight ejaculations from three Awassi rams were collected, mixed and diluted with TRIS extender. The semen samples were divided into four equal parts, and then the alcoholic extract of pomegranate peels was added at concentrations of 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/ 1 ml of extender, which represented each of the treatments C, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The samples were stored at 5 ° C and semen examinations were performed during periods 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours after collection. Semen traits included calculation percentage of individual motility, viabili
... Show MoreThe study was reflection of the impact of the widespread use of polymer Novolak composite reinforced Glass fiber and Asbestos fiber once again with weight fraction 60% on the physical properties, which included (Hardness, Compressive deformation, compressive modulus of elasticity, Flexural modulus of elasticity, Resilience modulus, the maximum of Flexural strength, Flexural strain energy and Shear strength inner layers); it is known how much important the media as a source of bacterial contamination, which contributes directly or indirectly in the process of aging of these materials. These Novolak composite reinforced, prepared by weight fraction of (10%) and (14%) of the Hexamethylene-tetraamine (HMTA) hardener material. It
... Show MoreThe new of compounds synthesized by sequence reactions starting from a reaction of 3-phenylenediamine or 4-phenylenediamine with chloroacetyl chloride to produce the compounds [I]a,b, then the compounds[I]a,b reacted with sodium azide to yield compounds[II]a,b that reacted 1,3-dipolarcycloaddition reaction with acrylic acid to give compounds [III]a,b these compounds reacted with methanol led to ester compounds[IV]a,b then reacted with hydrazine to give acid hydrazide [V]a,b . Finally compounds [V]a,b reacted with aromatic aldehydes to product shiff bases derivatives. The compounds characterized by mp. , IR, 1HNMR in addition to mass spectroscopy for some of them the liquid crystals properties were studied by using polarized optical microsco
... Show MoreIn this work, the effect of aluminum (Al) dust particles on the DC discharge plasma properties in argon was investigated. A magnetron is placed behind the cathode at different pressures and with varying amounts of Al. The plasma temperature (Te) and density (ne) were calculated using the Boltzmann equation and Stark broadening phenomena, which are considered the most important plasma variables through which the other plasma parameters were calculated. The measurements showed that the emission intensity decreases with increasing pressure from 0.06 to 0.4 Torr, and it slightly decreases with the addition of the NPs. The calculations showed that the ne increased and Te decreased with pressure. Both Te and ne were reduced by increasing
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