Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films

Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel process and an evaporation-induced self-assembly process. In this work, the effects of Al doping concentration on the electrical conductivity and characterization of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated. By changing the Al doping concentration, ZnO grain growth is inhibited, and the mesoporous structure of ZnO is maintained during a relatively high temperature annealing process. The porosity of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films increased slightly with increasing Al doping concentration. Finally, as electrical conductivity was increased as electrons were freed and pore structure was maintained by inhibiting grain growth, the thermoelectric property was enhanced with increasing Al concentration. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al

INTERPARTICLE POTENTIAL OF 10 NANOMETER TITANIUM NANOPARTICLES IN LIQUID SODIUM: THEORETICAL APPROACH

A suspension of titanium nanoparticles (Ti NPs) in liquid sodium (Na) has been proposed as a method to mitigate the violent sodium-water reaction (SWR). The interparticle potential between Ti NPs in liquid Na may play a significant role in the agglomeration of NPs on the reaction surface and in the bulk liquid Na, since the potential contributes to a reduction in the long-term dispersion stability. For the effective control of the SWR with NPs, a physical understanding of the molecular dynamics of NPs in liquid Na is key. Therefore in this study, the nonretarded Van der Waals model and the solvation potential model are employed to analyze the interparticle potential. The ab initio calculation reveals that a strong repulsive force driven by the solvation potential exceeds the interparticle attraction and predicts the agglomeration energy required for two 10-nm Ti NPs to be 4 x 10(-17) J. The collision theory suggests that Ti NPs can be effective suppressors of the SWR due to the high energy barrier that prevents significant agglomeration of Ti NPs in quiescent liquid Na. Copyright (C) 2015, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC on behalf of Korean Nuclear Society.110Ysciescopu

Testing for a Debt-Threshold Effect on Output Growth

© 2017 The Authors. Fiscal Studies published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. on behalf of Institute for Fiscal Studies Using the Reinhart–Rogoff dataset, we find a debt threshold not around 90 per cent but around 30 per cent, above which the median real gross domestic product (GDP) growth falls abruptly. Our work is the first to formally test for threshold effects in the relationship between public debt and median real GDP growth. The null hypothesis of no threshold effect is rejected at the 5 per cent significance level for most cases. While we find no evidence of a threshold around 90 per cent, our findings from the post-war sample suggest that the debt threshold for economic growth may exist around a relatively small debt-to-GDP ratio of 30 per cent. Furthermore, countries with debt-to-GDP ratios above 30 per cent have GDP growth that is 1 percentage point lower at the median

Effect of surfactant concentration variation on the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO

The electrical and thermal conductivities and the Seebeck coefficient of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated to determine the change of their thermoelectric properties by controlling surfactant concentration in the mesoporous ZnO films, because the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO films can be influenced by the porosity of the mesoporous structures, which is primarily determined by surfactant concentration in the films. Mesoporous ZnO thin films were successfully synthesized by using sol-gel and evaporation-induced self-assembly processes. Zinc acetate dihydrate and Brij-76 were used as the starting material and pore structure-forming template, respectively. The porosity of mesoporous ZnO thin films increased from 29% to 40% with increasing surfactant molar ratio. Porosity can be easily altered by controlling the molar ratio of surfactant/precursor. The electrical and thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficients showed a close correlation with the porosity of the films, indicating that the thermoelectric properties of thin films can be changed by altering their porosity. Mesoporous ZnO thin films with the highest porosity had the best thermoelectric properties (the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest Seebeck coefficient) of the films examined. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al