Thermal Treatment of Mechanochemically Activated Kaolinite

The mechanochemical activation of a high defect kaolinite has been studied using a combination of high-resolution thermogravimetry and DRIFT spectroscopy. The effect of grinding causes a decrease in the dehydroxylation temperature and an increase in the amount of adsorbed/coordinated water. The temperature of dehydration also increases with grinding time. It is proposed that this dehydroxylation occurs through a homogenous process involving proton transfer through point heating. The amount of adsorbed water decreases with the increase in temperature of the thermal treatment

The Effect of Mechanochemical Activation upon the Intercalation of a High-Defect Kaolinite with Formamide

The effect of mechanochemical activation upon the intercalation of formamide into a high-defect kaolinite has been studied using a combination of X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and DRIFT spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction shows that the intensity of the d(001) spacing decreases with grinding time and that the intercalated high-defect kaolinite expands to 10.2 A. The intensity of the peak of the expanded phase of the formamide-intercalated kaolinite decreases with grinding time. Thermal analysis reveals that the evolution temperature of the adsorbed formamide and loss of the inserting molecule increases with increased grinding time. The temperature of the dehydroxylation of the formamide-intercalated high-defect kaolinite decreases from 495 to 470oC with mechanochemical activation. Changes in the surface structure of the mechanochemically activated formamide-intercalated high-defect kaolinite were followed by DRIFT spectroscopy. Fundamentally the intensity of the high-defect kaolinite hydroxyl stretching bands decreases exponentially with grinding time and simultaneously the intensity of the bands attributed to the OH stretching vibrations of water increased. It is proposed that the mechanochemical activation of the high-defect kaolinite caused the conversion of the hydroxyls to water which coordinates the kaolinite surface. Significant changes in the infrared bands assigned to the hydroxyl deformation and amide stretching and bending modes were observed. The intensity decrease of these bands was exponentially related to the grinding time. The position of the amide C&unknown;O vibrational mode was found to be sensitive to grinding time. The effect of mechanochemical activation of the high-defect kaolinite reduces the capacity of the kaolinite to be intercalated with formamide

Adaptation of Mode Filtering Technique in 4G-LTE Hybrid RoMMF-FSO for Last-Mile Access Network

This paper demonstrates a hybrid radio over multimode fibre and free space optics (RoMMF-FSO) system that can be used to extend the transmission range of the fourth generation long-term evolution (4G-LTE) signal in access networks. A single mode filtering technique (SMFT) is used to enhance 4G-LTE performance. The proposed scheme is evaluated in terms of the system transfer function, laser beam profile, and error vector magnitude (EVM). We show that using SMFT increases the RoMMF-FSO system bandwidth by 2 GHz and improves the received optical power by 13.6 dB. Moreover, the proposed system enhances the EVM by 4%. The measured results show that by using a 1 km MMF instead of a 1 km SMF will marginally increase the measured EVM from ~6.6% to ~7% with a 0.2 dB power penalty with respect to the LTE EVM limit of 12.5% as is specified for 16-quadrature amplitude modulation. The proposed system is validated practically under atmospheric turbulence conditions to mimic the outdoor environment. Measured EVM results are verified theoretically through transmitting LTE signals with turbulent using log-normal model. We also show that for a FSO link span of 500 m to meet the EVM target of 12.5% the SNR power penalties are ~2 dB and ~11 dB for Rytov variance of 1.2 × 10-4 and 0.1, respectively, compared with no turbulence

Experimental demonstration of transmitting LTE over FSO for in-building POF networks

In this paper, we propose a new scheme for the integration between the outdoor and indoor 4G long term evolution networks employing the radio-over free space optics technology for the rural environments applications to reduce the deployment cost. We experimentally characterise the system performance under the atmospheric fading effects including thick fog and a moderate turbulence regime considering 8% error-vector-magnitude as the figure of merit

Improvements in combined radio over multimode fibre and radio over FSO systems by applying mode filtering

In this paper, the combination of radio over multimode fibre and radio over free space optical systems are experimentally investigated. A mode filtering technique is adopted in order to deal with the modal effects in such hybrid systems. Considering mode filtering effect, we have determined transfer function and performed link budget analysis. Measurement of the error vector magnitude (EVM) was accomplished to verify the efficiency of the proposed systems in dealing with the modal effect. The obtained results are below the 8% 3GPP-LTE EVM requirement for different free space optical channel conditions including fog and turbulence

Fundamental investigation of extending 4G-LTE signal over MMF/SMF-FSO under controlled turbulence conditions

In this paper, we propose a hybrid radio over multi-mode/single-mode fibre and free space optics (RoMMF/SMF-FSO) system to enhance the 4th generation-long term evolution (4G-LTE) signal performance when used in local area access networks. A single mode fibre pigtailed gradient index lens is used to minimise the modal effect of the optical link at different turbulence strengths. The proposed system is characterised in terms of the system transfer function, error vector magnitude (EVM), and optical launch power (OLP). Results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed scheme in terms of increased available passband bandwidth by 2 GHz and improving the transmission shape by reducing the system transfer function ripple by more than 5 dB. Successful transmission of the 4G-LTE signal is achieved over a MMF/SMF-FSO channel with a 1.5 dB power penalty under the higher turbulence level (i.e., Rytov variance of 0.1)

Experimental optimization of the hybrid RoMMF-FSO system using mode filtering techniques

This paper proposes an optimum hybrid radio over multi-mode fiber and free space optics (RoMMF-FSO) system to enhance the last mile bottleneck issues of wireless communication systems. Single mode fiber (SMF) and gradient index (GRIN) lenses are used as mode filtering techniques to optimize the system performance by mitigating the modal effects produced by multimode optical fiber networks. We characterize the system based on the beam profile, transfer function, and error vector magnitude (EVM) measurements. The results reveal that both techniques can improve the EVM performance significantly by ~19% and ~30% using a SMF filter and SMF-GRIN lenses, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of the obtained measurements show the SMF-GRIN lenses is more effective than SMF only with lower EVM values and negligible difference in the optical launch power

Improvements on broadband signals in radio over fiber systems by mode filtering

International audienc