Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy was used, in the current investigation, to explore the dispersion and stability of titania nanoparticles in an aqueous media with different types of dispersants. Hydrochloric and nitric acids as well as ammonia were used to determine the stability of the suspension in the acidic region (pH=2.5) and basic area (pH=9.5), respectively. In addition, for measuring sustainability of suspension and creating steric, and electrosteric repulsive forces, ethylene glycol and ethylene glycol plus ammonia were employed, respectively. UV–V is
spectrometry was applied to realize the effect of nano titania concentrations and different types of dispersants of samples containing different amounts of nano titania and different types of dispersants on stability of TiO2-containing suspensions. In addition, the stability of dispersion could be evaluated in colloidal mixtures containing ethylene glycol plus ammonia. It was demonstrated that the mixtures containing ethylene glycol plus ammonia were stable over a period of 4 days. To support the UV–Vis results, other techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to study the degree of agglomeration of titania nanoparticles in terms ofmorphology and size.

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Abstract: Glassy samples with xTiO2 .3SiO2 .Na2O composition that (8≤x≤40) (molar) were casted in refractory steel molds after melting at air as parallel palates. After polishing and getting to desire thickness, UV-VIS spectrometry in 200 -1100 nm was measured on samples. Glass density was measured by a sensitive micro balance and was found that by increasing titanium dioxide of glasses, glass density increases. Results from UV-VIS spectroscopy show that increase of titanium dioxide decreases light transmission and this value reaches zero for sample with 40 molar percent of titanium dioxide. One reason of this reduction is formation of crystalline phase in glass, in which, by increasing titanium content crystalline phase will be increased, results of X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy confirm this claim.

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The study of amino acid based nonlinear optical (NLO) materials with optimum physical properties is an important area due to their practical applications such as optical communication, optical computing, optical information processing, optical disk data storage, laser fusion reactions, laser remote sensing, colour display, medical diagnostics, etc. Also, microelectronic industries require crystals which possess low dielectric constant at higher frequency. Keeping this in view, attempts have been made to grow nonlinear optical crystals and study their optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Nonlinear optical single crystals of dichloro-diglycine zinc II have been grown by slow evaporation method. The grown crystals were characterized using single crystal X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-VIS-NIR spectrum, thermal, mechanical and dielectric studies. The results of characterization studies have been discussed in detail to understand their properties. The grown crystals have better thermal stability and sufficient mechanical strength. They are capable of inducing polarization due to dielectric behaviour when powerful laser beam is incident on them. The various characterization studies suggest that the grown crystals are promising materials for optoelectronic and nonlinear optical applications.

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The epoxy coatings containing multi-walled carbon nanotube/ poly ortho aminophenol nanocomposite were prepared and used as anticorrosive coatings. The nanocomposites with different contents of carbon nanotube were synthesized in a solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate and ammonium peroxy disulfate as a surfactant and an oxidant, respectively. The morphology and structural properties were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy methods. The mean size of nanocomposite particles was 20-35 nm determined by scanning electron microscopy. The epoxy coatings containing the nanocomposites were applied over mild steel panels and their corrosion performance was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization measurements in a 3.5 % sodium chloride solution. The results showed that epoxy coatings consisting of nanocomposite with 1 wt.% multi-walled carbon nanotube exhibited higher anticorrosive properties than other prepared coatings of different carbon nanotube contents, which could be due to the strong interaction between the mild steel surface and the conjugated nanocomposite.

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Na super ionic conductive (NASICON) materials are ceramics with three-dimensional scaffolds. In this study, Li_1.4Al_0.4Ti_1.6(PO₄)₃ with NASICON structure was synthesized by Pechini method. As a result, a sample having a total conduction of 1.18×10^-3 S cm^-1 was attained. In addition, various parameters were studied to obtain high value of conductivity, by optimizing the process. The optimization was made using L16 Taguchi based orthogonal array, followed by ANOM, ANOVA and stepwise regression. As a result, the optimum synthesis parameters can be obtained, while pH of the solution was adjusted to 7. The ratio between the concentration of citric acid to metal ions and ethylene glycol concentration stuck to 1 and 2.5, respectively. The best heat treatment can be carried out with a combination of pyrolysis at 600 ºC and sintering at 1000 ºC. 

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In the present research, rapidly solidified Fe_85.3B₁₁P₃Cu_0.7 ribbons were prepared by melt spinning process. The microstructural variation as well as magnetic properties of the as-spun and annealed ribbons were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission Mossbauer spectroscopy and alternating gradient field magnetometer (AGFM). The results show two separated distinct exothermic peaks during heating resulting from the phase transition from amorphous to α-Fe and then to Fe₃B, respectively. The study of magnetic properties in the amorphous and nanocrystalline states revealed that annealing the amorphous ribbons at 440˚C for 10 minutes gives rise to a significant increase in saturation magnetization (220 emu/g) which makes this alloy a good candidate for power applications.

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The work reported in this paper was focused on the investigation of surface morphological, microstructural, and optical features of polycrystalline BaTiO₃ thin film deposited on p-type Si < 100 > substrate using e-beam PVD (physical vapor deposition) technique. The influence of annealing over the surface morphology of the thin film was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy characterization methods. When the annealing temperature was increased from as-deposited to 800 °C there was a significant growth in the grain size from 28.407 nm to 37.89 nm. This granular growth of BaTiO₃ made the thin film appropriate for nanoelectronic device applications. The roughness of the annealed film got increased from 31.5 nm to 52.8 nm with the annealing temperature. The optical bandgap was computed using Kubelka-Munk (KM) method which got reduced from 3.93 eV to 3.87 eV for the as-deposited to the 800 °C annealed film. The above reported properties made the annealed film suitable for optoelectronic applications. For polycrystalline BaTiO₃ thin film the refractive index varied from 2.2 to 1.98 from 400 to 500 nm and it was 2.05 at 550 nm wavelength. The broad peaks in Raman spectra indicated the polycrystalline nature of the thin film. It had been also observed that with the annealing temperature the intensity of the Raman bands got increased. From these results, it was proved that annealing significantly improved the crystallinity, microstructural, surface morphological and optical features of the barium titanate thin film which made it suitable as sensors in biomedical applications as it is cost-effective, lead-free and environment friendly material.

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In this research, expanded graphite (EG) was successfully fabricated using a simple ball milling process followed by hydrofluoric (HF, 10 wt. %) leaching. The effects of ball milling time (0-15 h) and leaching time (1-24 h) on the exfoliation of graphite were examined by XRD and Raman spectra. Furthermore, the morphological evaluation of the obtained expanded graphite samples was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD results of the ball-milled and HF treated samples showed a slight peak shift and broadening of (002) plane for expanded graphite compared to the precursor and HF-treated samples. Moreover, the intensity of the (002) planes remarkably decreased by the ball milling process but remained constant after HF treatment. Raman spectra of the samples confirmed the ordering process only in HF-treated specimens. Moreover, the intensity ratio of 2D₁ to 2D₂ band gradually increased with enhancing the HF treatment time up to 5 hours, indicating a decrement in the number of graphite layers by leaching in the HF solution.

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The principal goal of this research is to produce a CrN/Cu multilayer coating and a CrN single-layer
coating and also compare their electrochemical and antibacterial behavior. In this investigation, the coatings were
applied to the stainless steel substrate by cathodic arc evaporation a sub-division of physical vapor deposition
(CAE-PVD). The present phases were characterized and the thickness of the coatings was measured using X-ray
diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. Rockwell-C tester was
used to evaluate the adhesion quality. Also, to evaluate the mechanical properties of the coatings such as modulus
of elasticity and hardness, a nanoindentation test was used and the indentation effect and coating topography were
evaluated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Studying the electrochemical behavior of the coatings was done
using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) tests in Ringer's
solution. The results of EIS tests showed that the CrN coating had higher polarization resistance in comparison to
the CrN/Cu coating and an increasing trend of polarization resistance related to both coatings was identified by
rising the time of immersion. Also, using the PDP curves, the CrN and CrN/Cu coating current densities were
estimated at 1.835×10-8 and 2.088×10-8, respectively. The antibacterial activity of CrN and CrN/Cu coatings was
evaluated by the spot-inoculation method. The results of the antibacterial test indicated that compared to CrN
coating, CrN/Cu coating had a better impact on the control of the bacteria growth.

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In this paper, Pb_1-xFe_x(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PFZT) nanopowders, with x from 0.00 up to 0.20, were synthesized by using the sol-gel method. The PFZT samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and impedance spectroscopy. According to the experimental results, PFZT combines rhombohedral and tetragonal symmetries for all the samples without a change in phase structure. The SEM investigation indicated that the grains are homogeneous with regular form and the average grain size of PFZT ceramics changed with Fe concentration. The dielectric characterizations show that the dielectric permittivity increases with increasing temperature, and the Fe amount shifts down the temperature of transition. Moreover, a dielectric resonance phenomenon is observed for all the PFZT ceramics.

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Glasses in the B₂O₃-Li₂ (O, Cl₂, I₂) system were prepared through the conventional melt-quenching method. Then, the conductivity of the molten and glassy states of these compositions was evaluated. Furthermore, the thermal and crystallization behavior of the glasses was determined using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The electrical conductivity of the melts was measured at temperatures ranging from 863 to 973 K, and the activation energy of the samples was calculated using the data obtained from ion conduction in the molten state and found to be in the vicinity of 32 kcal/mol. In glassy states, electrical conductivity was also measured. To determine this property, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method (EIS) was used. In the molten state, temperature played an important role in the ion conductivity; however, at lower temperatures, other factors became important. Based on the results, the addition of LiI and LiCl to the B₂O₃-Li₂O base glass system (75 B₂O₃, 10 Li₂O, 7.5 LiI, 7.5 LiCl) (mol%) increases the ionic conductivity of the glass from 3.2 10^-8 S.cm^-1 to 1.4 10^-7 S.cm^-1 at 300 K.
 

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The Nickel tungsten (Ni-W) alloy was electrodeposited on stainless steel (SS) substrate using potentiostatic mode at room temperature. Potentiostatic electrodeposition was carried out by varying the deposition time. The physicochemical properties of Ni-W alloys were studied using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Electron Microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Recorded XRD spectra was compared with standard JCPDS card and the presence of Ni was confirmed, no such peaks for W were observed. Further study was extended for micro-Raman analysis. From Raman spectroscopy study the appearance of Ni-O and W⁶⁺=O bonds confirms that the Ni-W present in amorphous phase. Several cracks were observed in SEM images along with nanoparticles distributed over the electrode surface. The appearance of cracks may be correlated with the in-plane tensile stresses, lattice strains and stacking faults and may be related to the substrate confinements.