فصلنامه مواد پیشرفته در مهندسی
سال سی و نهم شماره 1 (بهار1399)

Practical applications of thermal barrier coatings with aluminide bond-coats are limited due to oxide scale spallation of the aluminide coating under applied thermal stresses. Considering the positive effects of oxygen-active elements or their oxides on the high temperature oxidation behavior, in this research zirconia was introduced into an aluminide coating. For this purpose, a Watts type bath was used to electroplate a layer of Ni-ZrO2 composite on a Ni-based substrate. Aluminizing was performed using the conventional two-step process at 760 and 1080 °C. Microstructural characterization of coatings in the as-coated conditions and after cyclic oxidation via 5-hour cycles at 1050 °C was performed using electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The results showed that the general three-zone microstructure of the simple high activity aluminide coatings develops below the pre-deposited nickel-zirconia layer and latter converts to a nearly un-alloyed porous NiAl. In spite of its porous surface layer, the zirconia modified coating has a higher oxidation resistance than the unmodified aluminide coating.

In this research, barium calcium hexaferrite (Ba1-xCaxFe12O19 , 0≤x£1) nanoparticles were synthesized through a sol-gel combustion method. The dried gel samples were then calcined at 950ºC for 4:30h. The phase and microstructural evolution of calcined samples were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The results revealed formation of calcium -barium hexaferrite phase with a small amount of hematite as a secondary phase.  The average particle size is between 60-100 nm and the particle morphology is hexagonal or plate like structure. Results of a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) showed that the sample with x=0.4, exhibited the lowest value of saturation magnetization in comparison with others. This could be due to structural heterogeneity and presence of higher amounts of non- magnetic phases (BaFe2O4 and Fe2O3) in this sample compared to others. The results of sensory testing in acetone gas showed that the barium-calcium hexaferrite sample with x=0.2 had the highest sensitivity (0.28) and shortest response (15s) at a concentration of 900 ppm and a temperature of 200 °C despite of the long recovery time.

In this study, Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) at three frequencies of 500, 1000 and 3000 Hz was applied on Mg surface and the effect of PEO surface preparation on protective behavior of three types of epoxy, fusion bond epoxy (FBE) and polyurethane coatings was investigated. The microstructural and protective properties of PEO coatings were studied by SEM, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that the coating formed at frequency of 3000 Hz had smaller pore size and better protection properties. EIS test in 3.5 Wt.% NaCl solution was also used to investigate the protective behavior of the two-layered coatings. The results showed that PEO process had a favorable effect on the protective behavior of the polymer layers. Moreover, the best protection behavior was related to the PEO/FBE coating system.

In this paper, synthesis of inverted nano-pyramids on a single crystal silicon surface through a simple and cost-effective wet chemical method is surveyed. These structures were synthesized by MACE process using Cu as the assisted metal in the solution of copper nitrate, hydrogen peroxide and hydrofluoric acid for different etching times. FE-SEM images of the samples show that time is an important factor in the formation of silicon inverted nano-pyramids and by extending synthesis time the structures gradually fade. After synthesis, some samples were etched in KOH 2% and IPA 6% for one minute which resulted in formation of nano-pyramids besides inverted nano-pyramids on the silicon surface. Formation of these combinational structures affected the self-cleaning behavior of the silicon surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was utilized for studying the crystalline characteristics of the synthesized structures. Moreover, the self-cleaning behavior of them was studied using the contact angle goniometer. The results showed that the inverted nano-pyramids improve the hydrophilic behavior of the silicon surface while post-synthesized etching improves the hydrophobic behavior of the surface. These textures improve the performance of solar cells due to their self-cleaning and light adsorption properties

In recent years, graphene has been considered in various tissue engineering applications such as nerve guide conduits because of its unique properties such as high electrical and mechanical properties, porous structure for exchange of nutritious and waste materials, biocompatible, capability of drug and growth factor delivery. In the current study, nerve guide conduits based on a 3D graphene were synthesized by induction heating chemical vapor deposition (ICVD). Graphene was synthesized on Ni foam template at 1080 ͦC. Fabricated samples were characterized by Raman analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy.  Raman analysis showed that the synthesized graphene is in the form of a turbostratic multilayered graphene with little defects. Cyclododecane (CD) as a temporary protective layer was used to remove nickel. After removing nickel, the free-standing 3D-graphene structure was coated with a polymer (PCL) by drop and dip coating methods to obtain the composite conduit. A comparison of the electromechanical results of the 3D-graphene/PCL conduit and PCL conduit indicated that firstly, grapheme increased the electrical conductivity of the composite conduit which will help promote nerve regeneration and axon growth. Secondly, tensile strength and flexibility of the 3D-graphene/PCL conduit was improved compared to the PCL conduit.

In this research, the effect of heating rate on oxidation kinetics of magnesium powder particles under non-isothermal conditions was studied. For this purpose, differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) was done on magnesium powder particles at three heating rates of 5, 10 and 20 K min-1 up to 1000 °C under air atmosphere. Also, in order to better understand the oxidation process of magnesium powder, three temperatures were selected according to the DTA curve at a heating rate of 20 K min-1. Then, samples of magnesium powder were heated up to these three temperatures with heating rate of 20 K min-1 and were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for phase and microstructural analysis. Then, kinetic studies were performed using some isoconversional methods such as Starink and Friedman as well as direct and indirect fitting methods. The activation energy (E) and pre-exponential factor (lnA) for oxidation of magnesium powder were in the range of 327-956 kJ mol-1 and 45-135 min-1, respectively. The reaction models for heating rates of 5, 10 and 20 K min-1 were obtained to be A3/2, R2 and D1, respectively.

In this research, Zinc oxide nanoparticles with semi-spherical morphology were synthesized by modified sol-gel method using rosemary extract as a stabilizing agent. The effect of the amount of rosemary extract and calcination temperature on size and shape of the particles was investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis (EDX). X-ray diffraction results showed hexagonal structure (wurtzite phase) of zinc oxide. According to the SEM results semi-spherical nanoparticles of 18 nm in size were obtained using 75 ml of rosemary extract. The photocatalytic activity of the modified ZnO nanoparticles was investigated for degradation of the methylene blue dye solution. The results showed 96.87% of dye degradation in the 135 min that confirmed suitable efficiency of as-synthesized nanoparticles in the photocatalytic degradation process of dyes.

The structural and optical properties of polycrystalline silicon films obtained on a silicon wafer by electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD), were studied in this paper. These films were initially amorphous and changed to a crystalline solid phase during annealing. Annealing was performed in an inert gas atmosphere tube furnace at different temperatures. Micro-structure of the films was analyzed to know the relationship between the crystalline / amorphous composition, grain size and characteristics of the films. The results showed a decrease in roughness with increasing annealing temperature and structural density. Moreover, results of Micro-Raman spectrum showed formation and increase of silicon nanocrystals in the annealed condition when the thickness of the coating increased due to structural defects.