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.     

Thermo gravimetric analysis and morphological behavior of castor oil based polyurethane–polyester nonwoven fabric composites

Castor oil (CO) based polyurethane (PU)– polyester nonwoven fabric composites were fabricated by impregnating the polyester nonwoven fabric in a reactive composition containing CO and diisocyanate. Composites were fabricated with two different isocyanates such as toluene‐2, 4‐diisocyanate (TDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) studies of the composites were performed to establish the thermal stability and their mode of thermal degradation. It was found that degradation of neat PU takes place in two steps and that of polyester nonwoven fabric reinforced PU composites takes place in three steps. From the TGA thermograms, a little improvement in thermal stability incase of polyester nonwoven fabric reinforced PU composites were noticed compared to unreinforced PUs. Degradation kinetic parameters were obtained for the composites using Broido, Coats and Redfern, and Horowitz and Metzger methods. Tensile fractured composite specimens were used to analyze the morphology of the composites by scanning electron microscopic technique. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

A Hybrid Clustering Approach Based Q-Leach in TDMA to Optimize QOS-Parameters

An Orthogonal frequency part multiplexing suffers from a considerable challenge due to a high peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Hence, an effective method such as partial transmits sequence (PTS) can avert this defiance by limit the design of PAPR. Therefore, an improving PAPR reduction performance via a novel approach is proposed by detaching each subblock into two parts furthermore exchanges the first sample with the final selection in each portion of the subblock to generate a new partitioning scheme. Several typical traditional segmentation schemes are used to analyze and apply the presented algorithm, such as adjacent, interleaving, and pseudo-random schemes. Besides, two scenarios are adopted based on simulation software in which the number of subcarriers is set to 128 and 256. Based on the results, a superior PAPR reduction performance is achieved based on the improved segmentation schemes regarding traditional strategies in both systems. Moreover, the enhanced adjusted PTS scheme poses a low computational complexity compared with that of the conventional schemes.

     

Optimal cycle time and inventory decisions in coordinated and non-coordinated two-echelon inventory system under inflation and time value of money

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed for a coordinated and non-coordinated two-echelon inventory system comprising of a single manufacturer and a single retailer. The objective of the model is to demonstrate the optimality of cycle time and inventory decisions under the phenomena of different inflation rates at the manufacturer and retailer points. Also, it is aimed at determining the annual net revenue of the supply chain (SC). In the proposed model, the present value of the inflated ordering/set-up costs, purchase/unit costs, carrying costs and the gross revenue is computed for the retailer, manufacturer and the SC. A numerical example is devised to illustrate the optimality of decision variables and the objective function. Also, the sensitivity analysis is carried out. Results show that the present value of the annual net revenue of the retailer, manufacturer and SC decreases with increased inflation rate at the retailer and decreased inflation rate at the manufacturer simultaneously.     

Iodine‐Mediated Copper‐Catalyzed Efficient α‐C(sp2)‐Thiomethylation of α‐Oxoketene Dithioacetals with Dimethyl Sulfoxide in One Pot

The direct α‐Csp² H functionalization and thiomethylation of α‐oxoketene dithioacetals (DTAs) has been accomplished with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in the presence of iodine and a copper(I) salt for the first time. A prerequisite is the in situ iodination of the α‐Csp² atom of dithioacetals that could offer other reaction channels. The operationally simple one‐pot protocol includes region‐defined consecutive iodination and sulfenylation of the challenging α‐Csp² H bond of dithioacetals employing cheap and readily available reagents. DMSO here plays a dual role as thiomethyl source and solvent.

     

Modelling of probability of failure of concrete columns

This paper predicts the probability of failure or short and long columns of square reinforced concrete for deterministic and probabilistic loads. The effect of various parameters; width, length of column, effective length coefficient, percentage of steel, axial load, grade of concrete and random numbers; on the probability of failure of the column is studied. The material, geometric parameters and the load are treated as probabilistic. The results for short columns show that the rate of decrease of probability of failure is a maximum with increase in width, while it increased to a maximum with increase in loads, whereas for long columns the length of column had the predominant effect.     

Ternary MOF‑Based Redox Active Sites Enabled 3D‑on‑2D Nanoarchitectured Battery‑Type Electrodes for High‑Energy‑Density Supercapatteries

Designing rationally combined metal-organic frameworks(MOFs)with multifunctional nanogeometries is of significant research interest to enable the electrochemical properties in advanced energy storage devices.Herein,we explored a new class of binderfree dual-layered Ni-Co-Mn-based MOFs(NCM-based MOFs)with three-dimensional(3D)-on-2D nanoarchitectures through a polarityinduced solution-phase method for high-performance supercapatteries.The hierarchical NCM-based MOFs having grown on nickel foam exhibit a battery-type charge storage mechanism with superior areal capacity(1311.4μAh cm^−2 at 5 mA cm^−2),good rate capability(61.8%;811.67μAh cm^−2 at 50 mA cm^−2),and an excellent cycling durability.The superior charge storage properties are ascribed to the synergistic features,higher accessible active sites of dual-layered nanogeometries,and exalted redox chemistry of multi metallic guest species,respectively.The bilayered NCM-based MOFs are further employed as a battery-type electrode for the fabrication of supercapattery paradigm with biomass-derived nitrogen/oxygen doped porous carbon as a negative electrode,which demonstrates excellent capacity of 1.6 mAh cm^−2 along with high energy and power densities of 1.21 mWh cm^−2 and 32.49 mW cm^−2,respectively.Following,the MOF-based supercapattery was further assembled with a renewable solar power harvester to use as a self-charging station for various portable electronic applications.