Ferroelectric ceramic dispersion to enhance the beta phase of polymer for improving dielectric and ferroelectric properties of the composites

Ferroelectric ceramic-polymer composites consisting of Poly Vinyledine Fluoride-Hexa Fluoro Propylene (PVDF-HFP) as polymer host and 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O-3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3(BZT-BCT) ceramics as filler were prepared using solution casting technique. These composites are characterized for structural, microstructural, vibrational, optical, dielectric and ferroelectric properties at various experimental conditions. The electroactive beta phase fraction (observed from XRD and FTIR analysis) increases as the filler concentration increases up to 20 wt% of BZT-BCT and above that its value decreases. FTIR results were analyzed to understand the mechanism of enhancement of beta phase by the interaction between negatively surface charged ions of filler with the CH(2)dipole of polymer matrix. UV-visible spectroscopy also employed to confirm polymer-ceramic filler interaction. Variation of the dielectric constant with different filler concentrations is explained using the percolation theory. Finally, the interplay between the functional properties and the beta phase is discussed in detail

Modeling monthly streamflow in mountainous basin by MARS, GMDH-NN and DENFIS using hydroclimatic data

Accurate estimation of streamflow has a vital importance in water resources engineering, management and planning. In the present study, the abilities of group method of data handling-neural networks (GMDH-NN), dynamic evolving neural-fuzzy inference system (DENFIS) and multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS) methods are investigated for monthly streamflow prediction. Precipitation, temperature and streamflows from Kalam and Chakdara stations at Swat River basin (mountainous basin), Pakistan, are used as inputs to the applied models in the form of different input scenarios, and models' performances are evaluated on the basis of root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and combined accuracy (CA) indexes. Test results of the Kalam Station show that the DENFIS model provides more accurate prediction results in comparison of GMDH-NN and MARS models with the lowest RMSE (18.9 m(3)/s), MAE (13.1 m(3)/s), CA (10.6 m(3)/s) and the highest NSE (0.941). For the Chakdara Station, the MARS outperforms the GMDH-NN and DENFIS models with the lowest RMSE (47.5 m(3)/s), MAE (31.6 m(3)/s), CA (26.1 m(3)/s) and the highest NSE (0.905). Periodicity (month number of the year) effect on models' accuracies in predicting monthly streamflow is also examined. Obtained results demonstrate that the periodicity improves the models' accuracies in general but not necessarily in every case. In addition, the results also show that the monthly streamflow could be successfully predicted using only precipitation and temperature variables as inputs

Investigating the seasonal variability in source contribution to PM(2.5)and PM(10)using different receptor models during 2013-2016 in Delhi, India

The present work deals with the seasonal variations in the contribution of sources to PM(2.5)and PM(10)in Delhi, India. Samples of PM(2.5)and PM(10)were collected from January 2013 to December 2016 at an urban site of Delhi, India, and analyzed to evaluate their chemical components [organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble inorganic components (WSICs), and major and trace elements]. The average concentrations of PM(2.5)and PM(10)were 131 +/- 79 mu g m(-3)and 238 +/- 106 mu g m(-3), respectively during the entire sampling period. The analyzed and seasonally segregated data sets of both PM(2.5)and PM(10)were used as input in the three different receptor models, i.e., principal component analysis-absolute principal component score (PCA-APCS), UNMIX, and positive matrix factorization (PMF), to achieve conjointly corroborated results. The present study deals with the implementation and comparison of results of three different multivariate receptor models (PCA-APCS, UNMIX, and PMF) on the same data sets that allowed a better understanding of the probable sources of PM(2.5)and PM(10)as well as the comportment of these sources with respect to different seasons. PCA-APCS, UNMIX, and PMF extracted similar sources but in different contributions to PM(2.5)and PM10. All the three models extracted 7 similar sources while mutually confirmed the 4 major sources over Delhi, i.e., secondary aerosols, vehicular emissions, biomass burning, and soil dust, although the contribution of these sources varies seasonally. PCA-APCS and UNMIX analysis identified a less number of sources (besides mixed type) as compared to the PMF, which may cause erroneous interpretation of seasonal implications on source contribution to the PM mass concentration

Improved Measurement Capabilities in Pneumatic Pressure Measurements at NPLI Through Re-establishment of the Traceability Chain

This work presents, in brief, the recently concluded extensive in-house inter-comparison of the pneumatic pressure standards at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, India (NPLI) and the resulting marginal improvement in our measurement uncertainties. The measurements are traceable to the Ultrasonic interferometer manometer (UIM), our low-pressure primary pressure standard as well as to the national primary standard in pneumatic pressure, NPLI-P1. The inter-comparisons and the subsequent estimations of measurement uncertainties, starting from the UIM, were carried out in the overlapping pressures, ranging from 0.01 to 40 MPa. In addition, the large-diameter piston gauge, the pneumatic primary standard was also used to establish the traceability chain. A summarized description of the extensive exercise undertaken is given herein which describes the stability and the excellent agreement with previously reported results as well as successful improvement owing to better control over experimentation as well as environmental factors

Intrinsic Sub-Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films: Active Layer for Solar Cells

The study presents the typical aspects of silicon thin films in terms of growth under variation of applied power using Radio frequency Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition technique (RF-PECVD). The corresponding material found to maintain the typical properties of amorphous nature without compensating the structural modification in terms of crystallinity and has been defined as a material having the "sub-nanocrystalline phase". Characterizations like, UV-Visible spectroscopy, Photoluminescence and Temperature dependent conductivity was used to effectively map the structural details along with electrical and optical properties. The optical bandgap of the films found to be vary from 1.77 eV to 1.99 eV with typical photoresponse variations in the range 10(3) to 10(1). At 30 W applied power, the transition regime observed with the formation of sub-nanocrystallites. The analysis of such phase reveals the superior optoelectronic properties. This article suggests the suitability of sub-nanocrystalline silicon thin films to replace hydrogenated amorphous silicon in various applications

Measurement Uncertainty in Vibration Calibration in Frequency Range of 5 Hz to 10 kHz

The paper evaluates the measurement uncertainty in realizing the secondary vibration standard at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, India, and presents a comparison of the measurement uncertainty of secondary standard with that of primary vibration standard. The relative expanded measurement uncertainty of 0.80% to 2.2% in frequency range of 5 Hz to 10 kHz is evaluated. The measurement uncertainty so calculated is verified by comparison with the results from primary vibration calibration standard of CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, and SPEKTRA Schwingungstechnik und Akustik GmbH Dresden, Germany primary calibrations. The study recommends calibrating the back-to-back accelerometer with minimal uncertainty by using a primary calibrated single-ended accelerometer mounted on the top of the back-to-back transducer.The paper serves a guiding document to the calibration laboratories, industries and other stake holders in India to understand the concept of traceability in vibration measurements and formulation of uncertainty budget as per the international standard

Influence of Vehicular Emissions (NO, NO2, CO and NMHCs) on the Mixing Ratio of Atmospheric Ammonia (NH3) in Delhi, India

Mixing ratios of atmospheric ammonia (NH3), nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), and methane (CH4) were measured to investigate the vehicular emissions, which are a dominant source of atmospheric NH3 in urban sites of Delhi, India from January 2013 to December 2014. The annual average mixing ratios of NH3, NO, CO, NMHCs, and CH4 were 21.2 +/- 2.1 ppb, 21.2 +/- 6.1 ppb, 1.89 +/- 0.18 ppm, 0.67 +/- 0.21 ppm and 3.11 +/- 0.53 ppm, respectively. Considering NO as a tracer of vehicular plume, ambient NH3 was correlated with NO during peak traffic hour in the morning (7:00-10:00 h) and evening (17:00-19:00 h) and observed significant positive correlation between them. Result reveals that the mixing ratio of atmospheric NH3 significantly positive correlated with traffic related pollutants (NO, CO, and NHHCs) during all the seasons (winter, summer, and monsoon). During winter, the average mixing ratio of atmospheric NH3 was increased by 1.2-3.5 ppb in the morning peak hour, whereas increased by 0.3-1.6 ppb in the evening peak hour. Similarly, an increase in NH3 mixing ratio was observed during summer (morning: 1.2-2.7 ppb and evening: 1.5-1.6 ppb) and monsoon (morning: 0.4-3.6 ppb and evening: 0.9-1.4 ppb) seasons. The results emphasized that the traffic could be one of the dominant source of ambient NH3 at the urban site of Delhi, as illustrated by positive relationships of NH3 with traffic related co-pollutants (NO, CO and NMHCs)

Accuracy Estimation of Propagation Velocity in Variable Path Ultrasonic Interferometer for Liquids

In this article, we describe the effects and the degree to which they cause error in the measurement of propagation velocity. Various effects include nonlinearity in path measurement, temperature stability and number of maxima or minima consideration. Double-distilled water was used as a sample to estimate various effects. Finally, it has been concluded that the variable frequency approach may be preferred for better accuracy. It has also been observed that the digital frequency selection is more precise than mechanical distance variation

Growth, photoluminescence, lifetime, and laser damage threshold studies of 1, 3, 5-triphenylbenzene (TPB) single crystal for scintillation application

The 1, 3, 5-triphenylbenzene (TPB) single crystal has been grown using slow cooling seed rotation technique. Optical transmittance of the grown crystal was obtained from UV-Visible analysis. The grown TPB crystal has good transmission in the entire visible region with a lower cutoff wavelength of 330 nm. The solubility of TPB material was determined using toluene as a solvent with different temperatures. The full width at half maximum is 18 arcsec, which indicates that the crystal is of good quality. The TPB crystal was excited (lambda (exc)) at 307 nm, and the corresponding emission (lambda (em)) has been observed at 352 nm. The laser-induced damage threshold (LDT) value of grown crystal is 1.25 GW/cm(2). Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility chi (3) is determined using the Z-scan technique as 3.07422x10(-09) esu. The TPB crystal proves its suitability for scintillation applications and optoelectronic device fabrications

Partial Pressure Assisted Growth of Single-Layer Graphene Grown by Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition: Implications for High-Performance Graphene FET Devices

An attempt has been made to understand the thermodynamic mechanism study of the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process during single-layer graphene (SLG) growth as it is the most debatable part of the CVD process. The intensive studies are being carried out worldwide to enhance the quality of LPCVD-grown graphene up to the level of mechanically exfoliated SLG. The mechanism and processes have been discussed earlier by several research groups during the variation in different parameters. However, the optimization and mechanism involvement due to individual partial pressure-based effects has not been elaborately discussed so far. Hence, we have addressed this issue in detail including thermodynamics of the growth process and tried to establish the effect of the partial pressures of individual gases during the growth of SLG. Also, optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been performed to determine the quality of SLG. Furthermore, nucleation density has also been estimated to understand a plausible mechanism of graphene growth based on partial pressure. Moreover, the field-effect transistor (FET) device has been fabricated to determine the electrical properties of SLG, and the estimated mobility has been found as similar to 2595 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) at n = -2 x 10(12) cm(-2). Hence, the obtained results trigger that the partial pressure is an important parameter for the growth of SLG and having various potential applications in high-performance graphene FET (GFET) devices