Investigation of structural,optical, electrical,and magnetic properties of Fe-doped La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganites

In this work, the physical properties of nanocrystalline samples of La_0.7Sr_0.3Mn_1−xFe_xO₃ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.20) perovskite manganites synthesized by the reverse micelle (RM) technique were explored in detail. The phase purity, crystal structure, and crystallite size of the samples were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. All the samples had rhombohedral crystal structure and crystallite size increased with increase in Fe content in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃. The scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) exhibited smooth surface morphology and nonuniform shape of the particles. The optical properties studied using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy revealed a decrease in the absorbance and optical band gap with an increase in Fe content in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ compound. The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements revealed semiconducting nature of x = 0 and 0.1 samples up to the studied temperature range, while a metal-to-insulator transition was observed at higher Fe doping. Magnetic studies revealed weak ferromagnetism in all the samples and a reduction in the maximum magnetization with an increase in Fe content. A close correlation between electrical transport and magnetic properties was observed with the doping of Fe ion in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ at Mn site. These results advocate strong interactions associated with the double exchange mechanism among Fe³⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions.     

Synthesis of Triazole-Based Nonionic Surfactants for Nanostructured Drug Delivery: Investigation of Their Physicochemical and Biological Aspects

Synthesis of novel nonionic surfactants has attracted attention of synthetic chemists due to the issues of the currently used commercial surfactants. The synthesis of three biocompatible triazole-based nonionic surfactants is reported for nanovesicular drug loading. The surfactants were synthesized in a three-step reaction and characterized using ¹HNMR and mass spectroscopy techniques. They were investigated for their critical micelle concentration (CMC) using a UV–Visible spectrophotometer. Their biocompatibility was investigated against cell culture and in blood. All the synthesized nonionic surfactants were further explored for their nanovesicular drug loading using clarithromycin as a model hydrophobic drug. Nonionic surfactants revealed lower CMC in 35–45 μM and were less hemolytic and cytotoxic. They were capable of self-assembling in nanosize niosomal vesicles encapsulating increased amounts of drug. The results suggest the synthesized nonionic surfactants as biocompatible nanotechnology-based drug-delivery vehicles.     

Classification of DoS Attacks in Smart Underwater Wireless Sensor Network

As per the most recent literature, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), a multi access technique, is considered most suitable for the 3G, 4G and 5G techniques in high speed wireless communication. What made OFDM most popular is its ability to deliver high bandwidth efficiency and superior data rate. Besides it, high value of peak to average power ratio (PAPR) and Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) are the challenges to tackle down via appropriate mitigation scheme. As a research contribution in the present work, an improved self-cancellation (SC) technique is designed and simulated through Simulink to mitigate the effect of ICI. This novel proposed technique (Improved SC) is designed over discrete wavelet transform (DWT) based OFDM and compared with conventional SC scheme over different channel conditions i.e. AWGN and Rayleigh fading environments. It is found that proposed DWT-OFDM with Improved SC scheme outperforms conventional SC technique significantly, under both AWGN and Rayleigh channel conditions. Further, in order to justify the novelty in the research contribution, a Split-DWT based Simulink model for Improved SC scheme is investigated to analyse the BER performance. This Split-DWT based Simulink model presented here foretells the future research potential in wavelet hybridization of OFDM to side-line ICI effects more efficiently.

     

A fog-based security framework for intelligent traffic light control system

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The world is facing many problems including that of traffic congestion. To highlight the issue of traffic congestion worldwide specially in urban areas and to...     

Carbonaceous microsphere-based superabsorbent polymer as filler for coating of NPK fertilizer: Fabrication,properties, swelling,and nitrogen release characteristics

Recently, the use of controlled release fertilizers in agriculture has resulted in huge benefits in plant growth and cultivation. Superabsorbent polymer (SAP)-coated fertilizers have the added advantage in retaining water in soil after irrigation and also reduce the nutrient release rate from soil in a controlled manner. This study aimed to produce a nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium (NPK) fertilizer coated with superabsorbent carbonaceous microspheres polymer (SPC) by inverse suspension polymerization method with water-retention and controlled release properties. Two sets of experiments were conducted: (1) three different weight percentages and (2) different materials. NPK coated with SPC showed increasing water-retention ability with respect to carbon microsphere percentages and retains >80% water at the 30th day of experiment compared with pure NPK and NPK coated with SAP. The slow release behavior of all samples was investigated by induced coupled plasma mass spectrometry spectrometry and results showed that NPK coated with SAP and SPC has a low release rate with <50% nutrient release compared with uncoated NPK at the 30th day. The release mechanism kinetics of NPK coated with SAP and SPC were studied based on the Kosmeyer–Peppas model. The mechanisms approached Fickian diffusion-controlled release as the n value for both samples was less than 0.5. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48396.     

Role of Nd-Ni on structural,spectral and dielectric properties of strontium-barium based nano-sized X-type ferrites

The influence of neodymium and nickel substitution on structural and dielectric parameters was investigated in strontium-barium X-type hexagonal ferrites having composition SrBaCu_2?xNi_xNd_yFe_28?yO₄₆ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1 and y = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1). Sol-gel method was employed for synthesizing these hexagonal ferrites. The XRD plots of all studied materials which were annealed at 1250 °C show single phase characteristics. Lattice parameter ‘c’ increased as a consequence of larger radius of rare earth ion (Nd³⁺) as compared to (Fe³⁺), while lattice parameter ‘a’ showed very small variation. The cell volume was obtained in the range 2508.32–2523.75 (ų). The inclusion of Nd-Ni also affected X-ray density, bulk density and porosity. The FTIR spectroscopy indicated the particular absorption peaks of hexagonal ferrites and it was performed in the range of 500–700 cm^?1. On account of Nd-Ni doping, the dielectric constant, dielectric loss and AC-conductivity showed decreasing trend. The occupancy of Nd³⁺ ions at octahedral site impedes the valence alternation of Fe³⁺; therefore there was decrease in dielectric permittivity. Ac conductivity has been decreased from 9.14 to 6.49 (Ω cm)^?1 at frequency of 2.7 GHz. The Cole-Cole plots of synthesized materials noticeably revealed grain boundary contribution. The appearance of single semi-circle in impedance Cole-Cole graphs confirms the exceptional role of grain boundaries in the conduction process. The considerably lower dielectric parameters of investigated nano X-type ferrites propose their feasibility for high-frequency applications (phase shifters, dielectric resonators, stealth technology etc).     

Soret and Dufour effects between two rectangular plane walls with heat source/sink

This study addresses the thermo‐diffusion and the diffusion‐thermo phenomena in a semi‐infinite absorbent channel whose walls are contracting/expanding, with heat source/sink effects. The governing partial differential equations with suitable boundary conditions are transformed to a system of dimensionless ordinary differential equations. An analytic solution of the problem has been found using a technique called homotopy analysis method (HAM). HAM gives consistently valid answers to the problem over an extensive variety of parameters and also provides better accuracy. To validate the analytical results, a comparison has been presented with a numerical solution calculated by using the parallel shooting method. The effects of dimensionless parameters, that is, deformation parameter, Reynolds number, Soret and Dufour numbers, and heat source/sink parameter on the expressions of velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are analyzed graphically to understand the physics of the deformable channel. It has been noted that the velocity across the channel is higher for the expanding channel, as compared to that for the contracting channel. Also the Soret and Dufour number increases the temperature of the fluid, and decreases the concentration. The temperature profile has an increasing behavior in the case of heat source, and a decreasing behavior in the case of heat sink.