Sharif Digital Repository

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent a very important class of pollutants that causes serious health effects. There is an urgent requirement to establish efficient technologies that can reduce and control VOCs. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is an emerging technology that can decompose low concentration VOCs. However, the low efficiency and high power cost are major hindrances in its commercialization. In this work, Co–Cu with TiO2 support catalysts are prepared by using the deposition precipitation method and utilized in post-plasma catalysis for the efficient degradation of toluene selected as a model VOC. The synergistic effect of Co–Cu/TiO2 with different Co/Cu molar ratios along with... 

The morphological manipulation and structural characterisation of TiO 2-MgO binary system by an aqueous particulate sol-gel route were reported. Different crystal structures including pure MgTiO 3, mixtures of MgTiO 3 and TiO 2 and mixtures of MgTiO 3 and Mg 2TiO 4 were tailored by controlling Mg:Ti molar ratio and annealing temperatures as the processing parameters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that all compounds crystallised at the low temperature of 500 °C. Furthermore, it was found that the average crystallite size of the compounds depends upon the Mg:Ti molar ratio as well as the annealing temperature, being in the range 3-5 nm at... 

In recent years, thin silver nanowires (Ag NWs) with diameters smaller than 150 nm have been synthesized by implementation of NaCl or FeCl3 as reaction promoters and high molecular weight polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the capping agent. However, the yield of Ag NWs still remains low, mostly due to the insufficient aspect ratio (AR) of the synthesized nanostructures and the production of Ag nanoparticles, which is an undesirable by product. This study proposes a modified technique to alleviate the problem by using a mixture of FeCl3/CuCl2 as the reaction promoter and two different types of PVP with molecular weight of 360 k and 40 k as the capping agents. The appropriate mixtures of... 

Efficient electron transport layers (ETLs) play a pivotal role in the performance of solar cells. In recent years, Indium sulfide (In2S3) has been studied as a promising ETL in CuInGaS(e)2, Cu2ZnSnS(e)4, and perovskite solar cells. Despite several studies on spray-deposited In2S3, there is no complete experimental investigation on In2S3 thin films. The effect of the molar ratio of S/In and the type of indium precursor on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of sprayed-In2S3 layers has been studied. Films were characterized using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical transmission (UV-Vis), Mott-Schottky analysis, four-point probe, and... 

In this study, we have reported the preparation of bi-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts using magnesium ethoxide and graphene oxide as support. The polymerization process was carried out in slurry phase using triisobutylaluminum as a co-catalyst.The XRD analysis of TiCl4/graphene oxide/Mg(OEt)2 catalyst demonstrated that the space between the layers of graphene oxide had increased to 0.2 nm.The catalyst was characterized by XPS, BET, BJH, SEM, and TGA. The catalyst activity was studied for various Al/Ti molar ratios, and the catalyst activity was optimum at Al/Ti molar ratio of 315. © 2016, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd  

Hand in hand with the flourish of the biodiesel industry, glycerol (GLY) as an inconvenient by-product has generated environmental and sustainability concerns. Devising measures for efficient transformation of GLY into value-added products is a promising solution. In this contribution, the transformation of GLY to lactic acid (LA) as a valuable chemical was investigated in a continuous process for industrial applications. In this regard, a catalytic method using heterogeneous Cu nanoparticles in NaOH solution was studied in a microreactor by a CFD simulation. A seven-inlet micromixer comprising an optimized mixing unit was incorporated for uniform distribution of the species. The effects of... 

Kaolin clay material was loaded with potassium carbonate by impregnation method as a novel, effective, and economically heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production of sunflower oil via the transesterification reaction. The structural and chemical properties of the produced catalysts were characterized through several analyses including the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area. These revealed the best catalyst for the investigated reaction among different ones prepared based upon various impregnation extent of the potassium carbonate. The influence of this parameter was examined through a... 

Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) nano-powders were synthesized by a gel combustion method. To analyse the effect of processing factors and their interactions and to achieve an equation for nano-powder particle size in terms of code factors, D-optimal factorial design was used. Stannous chloride penta-hydride, ammonium fluoride and citric acid were used to synthesize the FTO nano-powders. The structure, morphology and composition of the synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The results revealed the formation of homogenous FTO nano-powders with an average particle size of 20 nm... 

The solubility of Pd(NO3)2 in water is moderate whereas it is completely soluble in diluted HNO3 solution. Pd/MIL-101(Cr) and Pd/MIL-101-NH2(Cr) were synthesized by aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 and Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 and used for CO oxidation reaction. The catalysts synthesized with Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 showed lower activity. The aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 was used for synthesis of mono-metal Ni, Pd and bimetallic PdNi nanoparticles with various molar ratios supported on MOF. Pd70Ni30/MIL-101(Cr) catalyst showed higher activity than monometallic counterparts and Pd + Ni physical mixture due to the strong synergistic effect of PdNi nanoparticles, high distribution... 

The solubility of Pd(NO3)2 in water is moderate whereas it is completely soluble in diluted HNO3 solution. Pd/MIL-101(Cr) and Pd/MIL-101-NH2(Cr) were synthesized by aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 and Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 and used for CO oxidation reaction. The catalysts synthesized with Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 showed lower activity. The aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 was used for synthesis of mono-metal Ni, Pd and bimetallic PdNi nanoparticles with various molar ratios supported on MOF. Pd70Ni30/MIL-101(Cr) catalyst showed higher activity than monometallic counterparts and Pd + Ni physical mixture due to the strong synergistic effect of PdNi nanoparticles, high distribution... 

The solubility of Pd(NO3)2 in water is moderate whereas it is completely soluble in diluted HNO3 solution. Pd/MIL-101(Cr) and Pd/MIL-101-NH2(Cr) were synthesized by aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 and Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 and used for CO oxidation reaction. The catalysts synthesized with Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 showed lower activity. The aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 was used for synthesis of mono-metal Ni, Pd and bimetallic PdNi nanoparticles with various molar ratios supported on MOF. Pd70Ni30/MIL-101(Cr) catalyst showed higher activity than monometallic counterparts and Pd + Ni physical mixture due to the strong synergistic effect of PdNi nanoparticles, high distribution... 

A systematic comparison of single and binary metal oxides TiO2, TiO2-Ga2O3 and TiO2-Er2O3 thin film gas sensors with nanocrystalline and mesoporous microstructure, prepared by a new particulate sol-gel route, was conducted. The gas sensitivity was increased by introduction of Ga2O3 and Er2O3 into TiO2 film via two mechanisms, firstly through the inhibition of anatase-to-rutile transformation, since the anatase phase accommodates larger amounts of adsorbed oxygen, and secondly through the retardation of grain growth, since the higher surface area provides more active sites for gas molecule adsorption. The binary metal oxide gas sensors exhibited a remarkable response towards low... 

In a nutshell, this study outlines the efficacy of mixed dimensional (2D/3D) hybrid perovskites by developing a new class of triple-cation quasi-2D perovskites having (S0.97S′0.03)2[Cs0.05(FA0.97MA0.03)0.95]n-1Pbn(I0.07Br0.03)3n+1 general composition, in which a mixture of ý5-ammonium valeric acid ýiodideý (S) and tetra-n-octylammonium ýbromide (S′) was employed ýas a spacer.ý The effect of the 2D and 3D structures molar ratios (i.e., C=2D/2D+3D) in the range of 0-100 % on photovoltaic performance of the deposited photoanodes was systemically studied. Drawing a comparison between such compounds and an analogous triple-cation 3D counterpart (i.e., Cs0.05(FA0.83MA0.17)0.95Pb(I0.83Br0.17)3) as... 

Smart bio-based shape memory polymers with high performance and fast response have the exciting potential to meet the growing need in biomedical applications. In this study, novel fast response UV-curable shape memory polyurethane acrylates (SMPUAs) comprising polycaprolactone diols (PCL-Diol), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and hydroxy-methyl methacrylate (HEMA) were synthesized by two-step bulk polymerization. Two series of PUAs with almost the same amount of hard segment content (HSC) were prepared with varying soft-segment molecular weight (2000, 3000, and 4000 g/mol) and different molar ratios of constituents. A mono-functional reactive diluent was used to control HSC and reduce the... 

In this research, a series of NiO-xMgO-SiO2 catalysts with various MgO/SiO2 molar ratios were prepared via precipitation method followed by a hydrothermal treatment in the presence of PVP as surfactant. The synergic effect between MgO and SiO2 leading to the various characteristic and catalytic performance during propane steam reforming was investigated in detail. The results showed that 15 wt% NiO-0.5MgO–SiO2 catalyst possessed the highest catalytic activity (68.9% conversion for C3H8 at 550 °C) with a negligible amount of carbon formation after 20 h of reaction duration. This superior catalytic performance can be attributed to the enhanced basicity strength along with strong metal-support... 

In this study, biodiesel (FAME) was prepared using a novel heterogeneous catalyst of phosphomolybdic acid (H3PMo12O40, HPMo)/support graphene oxide (GO). The characterization of the catalyst was evaluated by SEM, EDX, Map analysis, TEM, FT-IR, and Raman analyses. The production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO) was carried out by the electrolysis method. The process of the trans-esterification reaction was optimized by applying the response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) approach. The effects of four independent variables of methanol to oil molar ratio (6–12 mol:mol), catalyst weight (0.5–1.5 wt%), time (8–24 h), and voltage (30–70 V) were... 

This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of alkali activator solution and utilization of silica fume (SF) on durability and microstructural characteristics of alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) pastes. The pastes were activated with sodium silicate (SS) blended with NaOH (SH) solution with molar concentrations of 8 M, 12 M, and 16 M and SS:SH ratios of 1.0, 2.5, and 4.0. The same mixes were prepared with SF as partial replacement of GGBFS at a dosage of 10% by weight. The initial and final water absorption as well as the electrical resistivity of the specimens were measured. The optimal paste fabricated with 12 M NaOH solution and SS:SH ratio of 2.5 showed... 

In this study the influence of the molar ratios such as SiO2:Al2O3:Na2O:H2O, as well as the sand particles on the mechanical performance, shrinkage and microstructure of metakaolin based geopolymers was studied. Considering different content of the reactive silica and alumina in metakaolin, forty eight different compositions were prepared. The proper condition for achieving the highest mechanical performance as well as less structural defects by tailoring the curing condition, molar ratios and addition of sand particles are presented. Special attention was paid to the incorporation of sand particles up to 70 wt% on the microstructure, shrinkage and mechanical properties of metakaolin based... 

CaO derived from calcined eggshell was doped with Na–K by wet impregnation method and the effect of different Na/K molar ratios was investigated on biodiesel production from canola oil. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses. FAME yields were determined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The Na–K/CaO catalyst with Na/K molar ratio of 1 showed the highest FAME yield of 97.6% at optimum reaction conditions. Structural investigation of materials revealed that FAME yield was proportional to the number of basic sites on... 

Novel self-supported Mgy(CuxNi0.6-xMn0.4)1-yFe2O4 with (y = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and x = 0, 0.15, 0.3, 0.45, 0.6) oxygen carriers (OCs) are synthesized through the co-precipitation method. The synthesized OCs’ properties are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The synthesized OCs are assessed in Chemical Looping Steam Methane Reforming (CL-SMR) process subject to different mesh sizes, reaction temperatures, Steam/Carbon...