Advanced Materials Research Vol. 802

Abstract: The increasing interest in green energy storage materials for electrochemical devices with the development of polymer as electrolytes candidate has attracted great attention recently. It can offer a number of high-value opportunities, provided that lower costs can be obtained besides environmental friendly. Due to this attention, the development of biodegradable polymer electrolytes (BPEs) has been accomplished in this work by incorporating various composition of dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) with carboxy methylcellulose (CMC) via solution casting method. The highest ionic conductivity of the BPEs obtained at room temperature is 7.72 x 10^-4 S cm^-1. The solid-state battery were fabricated with the configuration of Zn + ZnSO₄.7H₂O | BPEs | MnO₂ for the highest conductivity. The open-circuit voltage (OCV) of the fabricated battery with the best performance is 1.33 V at ambient temperature. The performance of the battery at ambient and selected temperature is evaluated to ascertain the effective and viability of these BPEs in solid-state batteries.

Abstract: TiO₂ nanotube arrays were successfully synthesized by the anodization method of Ti foils in electrolyte containing the mixtures of ethylene glycol (EG), ammonium fluoride (0.3 wt % NH₄F) and deionized water (2 Vol % H₂O). A constant dc power supply at 50 V was used anodization process with different anodizing times. The resultant samples were annealed at 450 °C for 2 h. TiO₂ nanotube arrays were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The prepared TiO₂ NTs has diameter in 50-200 nm. The minimum of diameter TiO₂ nanotube arrays was approximately 50 nm for 1 h of anodization process.

Abstract: Elastic constants of NaCl-type TiN under pressure were investigated by first-principles calculations within both local density approximation (LDA) and Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized-gradient approximation (PBE-GGA). At ambient pressure, the calculated lattice parameter, bulk modulus, and elastic constants of NaCl-type TiN are in well agreement with other available values. Under pressure, all elastic constants, C₁₁, C₁₂, and C₄₄, are found to increase with pressure. C₁₁, which is related to the longitudinal distortion, increases rapidly with pressure while C₁₂ and C₄₄ which are related to the transverse and shear distortion, respectively, are much less sensitive to pressure.

Abstract: In this article we address the process perspective of anodization for fabrication of nickel coating materials. In this work, we also report the mechanical properties and morphology of coating materials with various parameters. We investigated the effect of temperature and plating time with 0.3 (A/cm³) of current density. Light microscopes, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Hardness tester were used to confirm morphology and hardness of target object, respectively. In general it was observed that anodization process also affected on properties of target object. The hardness of target object with anodization process will be increased in first period and slightly decreased with high temperature and longer plating time. The chemical etching treatment had an impact on the morphological features of the AAO templates lead to morphological features of nickel coating materials.

Abstract: Nanocrystalline barium zirconium titanate, BaZr_0.4Ti_0.6O₃, was synthesized successfully via the sonochemical process. The effects of reaction time on the precipitation of Ba(Zr,Ti)O₃ particles were investigated briefly. The crystal structure as well as molecular vibrations and morphology were investigated. X-ray diffraction indicated that the powders exhibited a single phase perovskite structure, without the presence of pyrochlore or unwanted phases at the reaction time of 60 min. Nanocrystals were formed before being oriented and aggregated into large particles in aqueous solution under ultrasonic irradiation. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photograph showed the BZT powder as spherical in shape with uniform nanosized features.

Abstract: In this work, we report the preparation of Cu-doped ZnO thin films by sol-gel method based on zinc acetate dihydrate (CH₃COO)₂Zn·2H₂O, Copper acetate dihydrate Cu₃(CH₃COO)₂·H₂O) and diethanolamine (HN(CH₂OH)₂, DEA). The precursor solution was prepared at various Cu composition ranging from 2-20 wt%. All films were spin-coated on borosilicate substrates for several coating repetition followed by annealing process at 550 ^°C for 4 h in an ambient air. The structural properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The XRD results indicate the domination of hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO with noticeable alternation in the XRD peak intensity upon Cu doping content. SEM results revealed the grain size shape and surface morphologies of as-prepared samples. Crucial optical properties of as-prepared films were scrutinized from their UV-Vis transmission spectra. The films are highly transparent in the visible region with more than 90 % transparency within 380 nm to 800 nm. Their corresponding band gaps indicate significant red shift with increasing Cu doping content. Overall results suggest that Cu additive play a vital role on relevant optical properties of ZnO that can be adjusted to meet the requirement for practical optoelectronics applications.

Abstract: We have investigated an effect of N incorporation on InGaAsN on Ge (001), which is proposed to be a part of the InGaP(N)/InGaAs/InGaAsN/Ge four-junction solar cell, and on its growth behavior. Results obtained from high resolution X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering demonstrated that high quality In_0.11Ga_0.89As_1-yN_y films with N (y) contents up to 5% were successfully grown on n-type doped Ge (001) substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy using low-temperature (500°C) GaAs buffer layer. As expectation, the In_0.11Ga_0.89As_0.96N_0.04 film is examined to be under lattice-matching condition. Anti-phase domains were observed for the film without N incorporation, which exhibits submicron-size domains oriented along the [110] direction on the grown surface. With increasing N content, the domains become less orientation, and present in a larger domain size. Based on results of transmission electron microscopy, a high density of anti-phase domains was clearly observed at the interface of low-temperature GaAs buffer layer and Ge substrate. On the other hand, it is found to drastically reduce within the N-contained InGaAsN region. Furthermore, the lattice-matched In_0.11Ga_0.89As_0.96N_0.04 film is well developed to reduce the density of anti-phase domains.

Abstract: The CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) has the advantage for the various applications especially for capacitive elements in microelectronic devices over the ferroelectric materials including BaTiO₃. CCTO is a ceramic compound with a high dielectric constant but it has a high loss tangent at room temperature. In this work, the Influences of PtO₂ doping on the dielectric properties of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics were investigate. The ceramics CCTO and PtO₂ doping CCTO were studied by X- ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy. The dielectric properties have been measured as a function of temperature and frequency range 0.1 - 500 kHz. The XRD shows the CCTO structure does not changes after doping with platinum. The results show that PtO₂ doped can reduce the mean grain sizes of CCTO, but the dielectric constant still remained a height. The samples of 2.0 mol% Pt-doped have exhibited high dielectric constant of about 22,000 and the loss tangent about 0.7 at room temperature and frequency at 10 kHz. The reduced of the loss tangent could be interpreted with the internal barrier layer capacitor model (IBLC)

Abstract: The thermal properties of MgO were simulated by molecular dynamics (MD) method. In this present, we have investigated thermophysical properties of MgO at the temperature range from 300 to 2000 K. The MD could be indicated lattice parameter, bulk modulus, linear thermal expansion coefficient (α_lin), heat capacity at constant volume, heat capacity at constant pressure, pair correlation of ions and thermal conductivity by partial ionic model (PIM). The Busing-Ida with potential parameters was employed for interatomic potential function. The results showed the lattice parameters, the α_lin and the heat capacities of MgO increases with increasing temperature,whereas the bulk modulus and the thermal conductivity decreases with increasing temperature are agreement with literature data.

Abstract: This study showed the effect of different compounding methods on the impact resistance and tensile properties of poly(lactic acid) blended with cassava starch and natural rubber latex. Poly(ethylene glycol) was used as a plasticizer. It was found that the compounding method was important for the derived mechanical properties of the blend. Furthermore, cooling method of the extrudate also affected the mechanical properties of the blends. The air cooling in the extrusion process provided higher mechanical properties than the water cooling. This work also showed the effect of the natural rubber in the PLA/starch blend.