In situ electrodeposition of nickel cobalt selenides on FTO as an efficient counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Construction of transition metal selenides with high electrocatalytic performance is of significant importance, but it is still a challenge to develop the corresponding counter electrodes (CEs) by an electrodeposition technique. In the present work, nickel cobalt selenide (Ni_xCo_ySe) films are prepared in situ on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glasses through a potential reversal electrodeposition technique. The morphology and electronic structure of Ni_xCo_ySe films can be tuned by controlling the Ni/Co molar ratio in electroplating solution. Specially, Ni_xCo_ySe-6 film (the Ni/Co molar ratio of 1:1) with the optimized interaction between the Ni and Co elements displays numerous particles composed of sheets attached with nanocrystals, resulting in the more electrocatalytic active sites. Benefiting from the unique morphology and optimized synergistic effect, Ni_xCo_ySe-6 CE exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity for the triiodide reduction. Then, the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) fabricated by Ni_xCo_ySe-6 CE has demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) over 7.40%, which is higher than that of platinum (Pt)-based device (6.32%). Furthermore, Ni_xCo_ySe-6 array CE is also prepared by using polystyrene array as template. The PCE of the DSC with Ni_xCo_ySe-6 array CE reaches its maximum value of 7.64% and 20.9% larger than that of Pt-based device.     

An unsupervised learning method with a clustering approach for tumor identification and tissue segmentation in magnetic resonance brain images

Malignant and benign types of tumor infiltrated in human brain are diagnosed with the help of an MRI scanner. With the slice images obtained using an MRI scanner, certain image processing techniques are utilized to have a clear anatomy of brain tissues. One such image processing technique is hybrid self-organizing map (SOM) with fuzzy K means (FKM) algorithm, which offers successful identification of tumor and good segmentation of tissue regions present inside the tissues of brain. The proposed algorithm is efficient in terms of Jaccard Index, Dice Overlap Index (DOI), sensitivity, specificity, peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE), computational time and memory requirement. The algorithm proposed through this paper has better data handling capacities and it also performs efficient processing upon the input magnetic resonance (MR) brain images. Automatic detection of tumor region in MR (magnetic resonance) brain images has a high impact in helping the radio surgeons assess the size of the tumor present inside the tissues of brain and it also supports in identifying the exact topographical location of tumor region. The proposed hybrid SOM-FKM algorithm assists the radio surgeon by providing an automated tissue segmentation and tumor identification, thus enhancing radio therapeutic procedures. The efficiency of the proposed technique is verified using the clinical images obtained from four patients, along with the images taken from Harvard Brain Repository.     

Pulse-modulation eddy current probes for imaging of external corrosion in nonmagnetic pipes

Since the nonmagnetic pipe is normally utilized in corrosive and hostile environment, it is prone to the external corrosion which occurs on the outer surface of the pipe and severely undermines the structural integrity and safety. Although Pulsed Eddy Current technique (PEC) is currently preferred for detection and evaluation of subsurface defects in tubular conductors, it is subject to technical drawbacks. In light of this, Pulse-modulation Eddy Current technique (PMEC) is intensively investigated in the paper for enhancement of the evaluation sensitivity to external corrosion and accuracy of corrosion imaging. Closed-form expressions of the PMEC response and its sensitivity to external corrosion in tubular conductors are formulated via the Extended Truncated Region Eigenfunction Expansion (ETREE) modeling. Following simulations for analysis and comparison of field signals and evaluation sensitivities of PMEC and PEC, experiments of PMEC for evaluation and imaging of external corrosion are carried out. Through theoretical and experimental investigation, it has been found that regarding the evaluation and imaging of external corrosion in nonmagnetic pipes, the PMEC-based probe have higher sensitivity and imaging accuracy than that based on PEC. The superiority of PMEC to PEC in inspection of tubular conductors is further identified.     

DNA-CTMA/a-Si:H bio-hybrid photodiode: A light-sensitive photosensor

Recently, considerable interest have occurred in the development of an organic-inorganic-based bio-hybrid photodiodes (Bio-HPDs) with metal-free, eco-friendly, and cost-competitive features for light-sensitive devices. This paper reports a bio-inspired optical absorber material for the fabrication of Bio-HPDs using n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and a natural deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTMA) biomaterial. a-Si:H is inexpensive and abundant, and DNA-CTMA is metal-free and eco-friendly. A DNA-CTMA coating on n-type a-Si:H leads to a chemically stable material with increased absorption and effective ties of dangling bonds and interface state density. Analysis results showed that the rectification ratio (RR) of the Bio-HPD is found to be 4 times higher than reference PD. This indicates that the effective RR is improved by the DNA-CTMA layer since it creates molecular charge interactions between DNA-CTMA layer and a-Si:H substrate. Moreover, Bio-HPD shows a light photosensitivity (I_photo/I_dark) of 474 with more reliable and has longer life time. In addition, the formation and feasible charge transport mechanisms are discussed. This biomaterial can be used for the development of commercially viable and environmentally safe large-scale Bio-HPDs applications.     

ePASS: An expressive attribute-based signature scheme with privacy and an unforgeability guarantee for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) provides anywhere, anything, anytime connections, for which user privacy is vulnerable and authentication methods that favor policy over attributes are essential. Thus, a signature scheme that considers user privacy and implements an attributes policy is required. Emerging attribute-based signature (ABS) schemes allow a requester of a resource to generate a signature with attributes satisfying the policy without leaking more information. However, few existing approaches simultaneously achieve an expressive policy and security under the standard Diffie–Hellman assumption. Here we describe ePASS, a novel ABS scheme that uses an attribute tree and expresses any policy consisting of AND, OR threshold gates under the computational Diffie–Hellman problem. Users cannot forge signatures with attributes they do not possess, and the signature provides assurance that only a user with appropriate attributes satisfying the policy can endorse the message, resulting in unforgeability. However, legitimate signers remain anonymous and are indistinguishable among all users whose attributes satisfy the policy, which provides attribute privacy for the signer. Compared to existing schemes, our approach delivers enhanced performance by reducing the computational cost and signature size.     

Heat and mass transfer characteristics of radiative hybrid nanofluid flow over a stretching sheet with chemical reaction

Unsteady magnetohydrodynamic heat and mass transfer analysis of hybrid nanoliquid flow over a stretching surface with chemical reaction, suction, slip effects, and thermal radiation is analyzed in this study. A combination of alumina (Al₂O₃) and titanium oxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles are taken as hybrid nanoparticles and water is considered as the basefluid. Using the similarity transformation method, the governing equations are changed into a system of ordinary differential equations. These equations together with boundary conditions are numerically evaluated by using the Finite element method. The influence of various pertinent parameters on the profiles of fluids concentration, temperature, and velocity is calculated and the outcomes are plotted through graphs. The values of nondimensional rates of heat transfer, mass transfer, and velocity are also analyzed and the results are depicted in tables. Temperature sketches of hybrid nanoliquid intensified in both the steady and unsteady cases as the volume fraction of both nanoparticles rises.     

Investigation of Microstructures,Mechanical Properties of AZ91E Hybrid Composite Reinforced with Silicon Carbide and Fly Ash

Silicon - In this study, the stir casting processing technique was used to produce the AZ91E hybrid composite reinforced with Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Fly ash (FA) particles in different weight...     

Design of a security-aware routing scheme in Mobile Ad-hoc Network using repeated game model

Security is a crucial factor in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) where inaccessible environments cause assorted categories of security intimidations to provide the malicious-free network. Game theory plays a crucial part in scheming well-organized security methodologies in computer networks. In this work, an Infinitely-repeated game and cooperation approach is designed to detect malicious nodes and also to enhance energy-efficiency. The goal of an Infinitely-repeated game aims to ensure the defector or malicious node in the network has a short run gain and a long-run loss. The prime objective of the proposed scheme is to attack detection and defense, accuracy for preventing the packet drops. The proposed method is verified via simulation.     

Comparison of reduced part count multilevel inverters (RPC-MLIs) for integration to the grid

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) have been developed to a matured level for generating high quality output voltage, used in numerous applications. Conventional MLIs has been received more attention due to their remarkable use in medium-voltage applications. But use of high number of part counts in conventional MLIs increase the intricacy of circuitry and controlling both results in high expenses and reduced reliability. Therefore, development of newer topologies is an active attention to reduce part count compared to the conventional MLIs. This paper presents an exhaustive review of recently proposed reduced part count MLIs for grid integration application on the basis of selection of components, comparative factors and their suitability. It is aimed at presenting a state of the art on configuration, working and their features to researchers, inventors, and application engineers dealing with multilevel inverters.     

Triangular quad-port multi-polarized UWB MIMO antenna with enhanced isolation using neutralization ring

In this study, a quad-port multi-polarized ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna system with a new isolation technique is designed for wireless devices. The antenna structure consists of four triangular monopole elements and neutralization ring (NR) structures. The monopoles are back-to-back positioned in symmetrical and orthogonal arrangement. Therefore, they radiate towards four directions without interference, and thus the diversity performance is improved. A novel NR is formed by combining a rectangular ring and a straight line to reduce the mutual coupling due to interoperation of the elements. Each triangular monopole is fed by 50 Ohm microstrip transmission line (MTL) with a thin strip line for ensuring impedance matching. Antenna performance in terms of impedance bandwidth, current distribution, radiation pattern, peak gain and envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is also investigated. The MIMO antenna system has 3.1–17.3 GHz impedance bandwidth, 1–5 dBi peak gain variation, less than 0.1 ECC. The results indicate that the proposed antenna has the characteristics of larger UWB bandwidth, high isolation by the NR structure, multi-polarization, uniform gain and quasi-omnidirectional pattern.