Carbon-based TiO2-x heterostructure nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of dye molecules

Application of brown titanium dioxide (TiO_2-x) and its modified composite forms in the photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in the environment is a promising way to provide solutions for environmental redemption. Herein, we report the synthesis of effective and stable TiO_2-x nanoparticles with g-C₃N₄, RGO, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using a simple hydrothermal method. Among all the as-synthesized samples, excellent photocatalytic degradation activity was observed for RGO-TiO_2-x nanocomposite with high rate constants of 0.075 min^?1_, 0.083 min^?1 and 0.093 min^?1 for methylene blue, rhodamine-B, and rosebengal dyes under UV–Visible light irradiation, respectively. The altered bandgap (1.8 eV) and the large surface area of RGO-TiO_2-x nanocomposite impacts on both absorption of visible light and efficiency of photogenerated charge electron (e^?)/hole (h⁺) pair separation. This resulted in enhanced photocatalytic property of carbon-based TiO_2-x nanocomposites. A systematic study on the influence of different carbon nanostructures on the photocatalytic activity of brown TiO_2-x is carried out.     

Design and performance study of phase‐locked loop using fractional‐order loop filter

The present work reports the realization of an analog fractional‐order phase‐locked loop (FPLL) using a fractional capacitor. The expressions for bandwidth, capture range, and lock range of the FPLL have been derived analytically and then compared with the experimental observations using LM565 IC. It has been observed that bandwidth and capture range can be extended by using FPLL. It has also been found that FPLL can provide faster response and lower phase error at the time of switching compared to its integer‐order counterpart. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimum design for buckling of plain and stiffened composite axisymmetric shell panels/shells

The buckling of plain and discretely stiffened composite axisymmetric shell panels/shells made of repeated sublaminate construction is studied using the finite element method. In repeated sublaminate construction, a full laminate is obtained by repeating a basic sublaminate, which has a smaller number of plies. The optimum design for buckling is obtained by determining the layup sequence of the plies in the sublaminate by ranking, so as to achieve maximum buckling load for a specified thickness. For this purpose, a four-noded 48-dof quadrilateral composite thin shell element, together with fully compatible two-noded 16-dof composite meridional and parallel circle stiffener elements are used.     

I-convergence in probabilistic n-normed space

In this article we introduce the notion of I-Cauchy sequence and I-convergent sequence in probabilistic n-normed space. The concept of I*-Cauchy sequence and I*-convergence in probabilistic n-normed space are also introduced and some of their properties related to these notions have been established.     

Realization of a temperature sensor using both two- and three-dimensional photonic structures through a machine learning technique

A temperature sensor based on photonic crystal structures with two- and three-dimensional geometries is proposed, and its measurement performance is estimated using a machine learning technique. The temperature characteristics of the photonic crystal structures are studied by mathematical modeling. The physics of the structure is investigated based on the effective electrical permittivity of the substrate (silicon) and column (air) materials for a signal at 1200 nm, whereas the mathematical principle of its operation is studied using the plane-wave expansion method. Moreover, the intrinsic characteristics are investigated based on the absorption and reflection losses as frequently considered for such photonic structures. The output signal (transmitted energy) passing through the structures determines the magnitude of the corresponding temperature variation. Furthermore, the numerical interpretation indicates that the output signal varies nonlinearly with temperature for both the two- and three-dimensional photonic structures. The relation between the transmitted energy and the temperature is found through polynomial-regression-based machine learning techniques. Moreover, rigorous mathematical computations indicate that a second-order polynomial regression could be an appropriate candidate to establish this relation. Polynomial regression is implemented using the Numpy and Scikit-learn library on the Google Colab platform.

     

Slow Combustion of Methane at Elevated Pressures

Methane was partially oxidized with oxygen in a batch reactor at pressures of 1700 and 3400 atm and temperatures of 270–480°C. Residence times ranged from 0 to 60 min. Water, methanol, formaldehyde, acetone, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were produced in every reaction. In addition, ethanol was formed at high temperatures under nonisothermal conditions and formic acid was detected in reactions at 3400 atm. Products analyses were made with a two-column gas chromatograph.     

Chemical modification of jute fibers. II: A study on the Fe2+/H2O2-initiated graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate,acrylonitrile, and acrylamide onto jute fibers

The study of graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile, and acrylamide onto both defatted and bleached jute fibers using the ferrous ammonium sulfate / H₂O₂ redox initiator system has been made. To determine the optimum conditions of grafting, the effects of concentrations of ferrous ammonium sulfate, monomer, H₂O₂; time and temperature on percentage of graft yield have been studied. Acrylamide was found to graft onto the fiber only at a fixed ferrous ammonium ion concentration (5 × 10^?4M). Kinetic studies showed that the rates of grafting follow the second-order mechanism. The activation energies of the reactions were found to be 3.351 and 2.53 kcal/mol in the methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile systems, respectively. The grafted fibers have been characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, IR spectroscopy, and XRD studies.     

Static and dynamic strain-dependent viscoelastic behavior of black-filled EPDM vulcanizates

The strain dependence of the dynamic mechanical properties of HAF-N330-filled EPDM vulcanizate was studied using a Rheovibron DDV III EP. It is shown that when a dynamic strain is superposed on a static strain, the viscoelastic response of filled rubbers becomes more complex. Under these conditions, dynamic mechanical properties do not correlate with the double strain amplitude. A strain called the “total strain” has been defined in order to interpret the experimental results. It is also shown that the dynamic mechanical properties are displacement velocity dependent, while the comparison is made under identical conditions of strain and frequency. Separability of time and strain effects is observed for the storage modulus, whereas the loss modulus is shown to be a nonseparable function. The elastic and the relaxation components, constituting the mixed function representing the storage modulus are shown to have similar deformation dependence. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.