Effects of nitrogen doping on the growth and properties of plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposited diamond-like-carbon films

Nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) or amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using methane and nitrogen gases as precursors. The effects of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) on these nitrogen-doped DLC films were also investigated. The deposition rate decreases sharply with the addition of nitrogen in the absence of NFF₃ due to dilution, while it increases in the presence of NFF₃ due, presumably, to the reduction of activated hydrogen species by the fluorine radical (F϶. X-ray photoelectron spectra reveal a nitrogen concentration in the range of 9.3 to 13.8% in these DLC films with a C Is electron binding energy of 287-288 eV, indicating the diamond-like structure. Infrared spectra of DLC films indicate the presence of amino groups (N-H) and nitrile and/or isonitrile (C= N) groups giving strong evidence of sp carbon. Diamond like carbon films deposited in CHF₄ +NF₄ (with and without NFF₃) have a lower refractive index, a lower bulk resistivity, and a lower optical bandgap than films deposited using CHF₄ due to a lower hydrogen content in the films. Moreover, the bulk resistivity of these films decreases by over four orders of magnitude and the optical bandgap decreases from 2.65 eV to about 0.75 eV following annealing at a temperature of 500°C.     

On Petri net models of infinite state supervisors

A class of supervisory control problems that require infinite state supervisors is considered, and Petri nets with inhibitor arcs (PNs) are introduced to model the supervisors. This PN-based approach to supervisory control is compared to automata-based approaches. The primary advantage of a PN-based supervisory controller is that it provides a finite representation of an infinite state supervisor. For verification, implementation, and testing reasons, a finite PN-based representation of an infinite state supervisor is preferred over an automata-based supervisor. It is shown that this modeling advantage is accompanied by a decision disadvantage, in that in general the controllability of a language that can be generated by the closed-loop system is undecidable     

Dielectric and pyroelectric properties of triglycine sulphate-polystyrene composites

A composite of Triglycine sulphate (TGS) and polystyrene has been fabricated by mixing different particle size TGS powders (75 μm to 400 μm) and polystyrene solution. The dielectric constant has been measured in the frequency range 0.1 to 100 KHz, and the pyroelectric current measurements were made by the Byer and Roundy direct method. Specific heat of the composite was determined by the differential them analysis (DTA) technique.

Particle size dependance of dielectric constant, pyroelectric coefficient and responsivity have been studied. Anomalies in ε' and P_y were observed even in the composite with the lowest particle size of TGS (75 μm). The surface effects have much greater influence on electrical properties but thermal properties are, not affected. This is indicated by a decrease in ε' and P^y with decreasing particle size of TGS, while specific heat of composite is almost independent of particle size.     

Low area field-programmable gate array implementation of PRESENT image encryption with key rotation and substitution

Lightweight ciphers are increasingly employed in cryptography because of the high demand for secure data transmission in wireless sensor network, embedded devices, and Internet of Things. The PRESENT algorithm as an ultra-lightweight block cipher provides better solution for secure hardware cryptography with low power consumption and minimum resource. This study generates the key using key rotation and substitution method, which contains key rotation, key switching, and binary-coded decimal-based key generation used in image encryption. The key rotation and substitution-based PRESENT architecture is proposed to increase security level for data stream and randomness in cipher through providing high resistance to attacks. Lookup table is used to design the key scheduling module, thus reducing the area of architecture. Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) performances are evaluated for the proposed and conventional methods. In Virtex 6 device, the proposed key rotation and substitution PRESENT architecture occupied 72 lookup tables, 65 flip flops, and 35 slices which are comparably less to the existing architecture.     

Electrical conductivity of poly(vinyl alcohol)/carbon nanotube multilayer thin films: Influence of sodium polystyrene sulfonate mediated carbon nanotube dispersion

This investigation was aimed to enhance the dispersibility of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using sodium polystyrene sulfonate (Na-PSS) polyelectrolyte. Subsequently, electrically conducting, multi-layer thin films are prepared utilizing layer by layer assembly method with poly(vinyl alcohol) as a host matrix. The highest extent of MWCNT dispersion was observed in MWCNT:Na-PSS ratio of 1:9 (wt/wt), which was estimated from UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis. Zeta potential measurements of Na-PSS modified MWCNT dispersion showed large negative potentials ranging from −52 to −64 mV in the most stable pH range of 4 to 10, suggesting the colloidal stability is due to the long-range repulsive nature of electrostatic interactions from negatively charged sulfonate groups. Complementary molecular dynamics simulations showed that adsorption of Na-PSS imparts a large negative potential to the carbon nanotube surface, which increases with an increase in Na-PSS concentration. The multi-layer thin film of (1:9) MWCNT:Na-PSS exhibited a DC electrical conductivity of 2.96 × 10² S/m.     

Parallel Simulated Annealing Algorithms

Simulated annealing (SA) has been considered a good tool for complex nonlinear optimization problems. The technique has been widely applied to a variety of problems. However, a major disadvantage of the technique is that it is extremely slow and hence not suitable for complex optimization problems such as scheduling. There are many attempts to develop parallel versions of the algorithm. Many of these algorithms are problem dependent in nature. We present, in this paper, two general algorithms for SA. The algorithms have been applied to job shop scheduling problem (JSS) and the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and it has been observed that it is possible to achieve superlinear speedups using the algorithm.     

Impact of low lignin containing brown midrib sorghum mutants to harness biohydrogen production using mixed anaerobic consortia

Three low lignin containing bmr 3 derivatives, namely DRT 07K1, DRT 07K6 and DRT 07K15 developed through backcrossing were used along with the parent, bmr 3 source mutant (IS 21888) for evaluation of biohydrogen production. Results demonstrated that biohydrogen production varied amongst bmr derivatives under similar fermentation conditions. Significant negative correlation was observed between lignin content and fermentative biohydrogen production. All bmr derivatives with lower lignin content produced higher levels of biohydrogen compared to source bmr 3 (IS 21888) which has more lignin content. The maximum and a minimum biohydrogen production observed was 72 and 50 ml/g Total Volatile Solids (TVS) for the DRT 07K6 bmr3 derivative and bmr 3 (IS 21888) respectively. Acetate and butyrate were accounted >85% of volatile fatty acids, indicating acid type fermentations. Statistical analysis revealed that all bmr mutant derivatives with respect to source differ significantly in cumulative biohydrogen production, plant height, grain yield and lignin content. Biohydrogen production from biomass associated at least two different levels, one at lignin entanglement another at the polymeric nature of cellulose and hemicellulose. Further studies are necessary to determine the effect of biomass structure associated with different bmr traits on the microbial growth and biohydrogen production rate.     

Blade‐resolved simulations of a model wind turbine: effect of temporal convergence

Simulations of a model wind turbine at various tip‐speed‐ratios were carried out using Tenasi, a node‐centered, finite volume unstructured flow solver. The simulations included the tunnel walls, tower, nacelle, hub and the blades. The effect of temporal convergence on the predicted thrust and power coefficients is evaluated and guidelines for best practices are established. The results presented here are for tip‐speed‐ratios of 3, 6 and 10, with 6 being the design point. All simulations were carried out at a freestream velocity of 10 m s^?1 with an incoming boundary layer present and the wind turbine RPM was varied to achieve the desired tip‐speed‐ratio. The performance of three turbulence models is evaluated. The models include a one‐equation model (Spalart–Allmaras), a two‐equation model (Menter SST) and the DES version of the Menter SST. Turbine performance as well as wake data at various locations is compared to experiment. All the turbulence models performed well in terms of predicting power and thrust coefficients. The DES model was significantly better than the other two turbulence models for predicting the mean and fluctuating components of the velocity in the wake. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure, dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy density properties of (1 − x)BZT–xBCT ceramic capacitors for energy storage applications

We investigate the dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy density properties of Pb-free (1 ? x)BZT–xBCT ceramic capacitors at higher sintering temperature (1600 °C). A significant increase in the dielectric constant, with relatively low loss was observed for the investigated {Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃}_(1?x ){(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃} _x (x = 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) ceramics; however, electric breakdown was low (~140, 170, 134 kV/cm), and of which room temperature (300 K) charging curve energy density values are largest ~0.88, 0.94, and 0.87 J/cm³ with maximum high dielectric constant values ~7800, 8400, and 5200, respectively. Bulk ceramic BZT–BCT materials have shown interesting energy densities with good energy storage efficiency (~72 %) at high sintering temperature; they might be one of the strong candidates for high energy density capacitor applications in an environmentally protective atmosphere.     

Modelling and simulation of vacuum filtration of ore slurry: a case study on limestone-hosted Indian uranium ore

This paper discusses the results of vacuum filtration studies carried out on a finely ground uranium ore slurry with the objective of maximizing the filtration rate. Constant-pressure experiments were carried out to determine the filtration parameters such as specific cake resistance, cake permeability and medium resistance. The experimental data were analysed using the well-known power law function of the cake-forming pressure with specific cake resistance and cake concentration. The power law model equation developed was experimentally validated and the predicted values agreed very well with the experimental findings with >95% confidence level. This study helps in design and scale-up of filtration units to be used at industrial – size.

Cet article discute des résultats d’études de filtration sous vide effectuées avec une suspension de minerai d'uranium moulu finement, ayant pour objectif de maximiser la vitesse de filtration. On a effectué des expériences à pression constante afin de déterminer les paramètres de filtration comme la résistance spécifique du comprimé, la perméabilité, la résistance moyenne etc. On a analysé les données expérimentales en utilisant la fonction bien connue de la loi exponentielle de la pression de formation du comprimé, avec sa résistance spécifique et sa concentration. On a validé expérimentalement l’équation développée pour le modèle de loi exponentielle. Les valeurs prédites s'accordaient très bien avec les données expérimentales, avec un niveau de confidence > 95%. Cette étude aide à la conception et à l'agrandissement à l’échelle d'unités de filtration pour utilisation à l’échelle industrielle