Synthesis and characterization of cerium doped NiZn nano ferrites as substrate material for multi band MIMO antenna.

In addressing issues related to electromagnetic interference, the demand for ferrite materials with exceptional magnetic and dielectric properties has escalated recently. In this research, sol-gel auto combustion technique prepared Nickel zinc ferrites substituted with cerium, denoted as Ni0.5Zn0.5Ce0.02Fe1.98O4.X-ray diffraction (XRD), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), and Field Emissions Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were used to investigate the structure, magnetic properties, and morphology of Cerium doped NiZn Nano ferrites, respectively. The magnetic and dielectric properties of the sample was examined within a frequency range of 2.5-5.5 GHz. Sample exhibits low permittivity (2.2), high permeability (1.4), low dielectric (0.35) and magnetic loss tangent (-0.5) and highest saturation magnetization measuring 30.28 emu/g. A Novel Double-band, 4x4 MIMO window grill-modeled antennas operating on 3.5 GHz and 4.8 GHz frequency bands for 5G smartphones is designed using the CST microwave studio suite. The performance of window grilled 4x4 MIMO antenna model with Cerium doped NiZn nano ferrites as substrate, is investigated and found the return loss of -35 and -32 dB, with the bandwidth of 200MHz, gain (1.89 & 4.38dBi), envelope correlation coefficient (0.00185), channel capacity loss (0.2bps/Hz), and interterminal isolation of (22& 19dB).The results show that the antenna size is reduced with improved bandwidth, higher isolation and better diversity gain performance using Cerium doped NiZn nano ferrite substrate compared to conventional dielectric substrates.

Interfacial Disordering and Heterojunction Enabling Fast Proton Conduction.

The interfacial disorder is a general method to change the metal-oxygen compatibility and carrier density of heterostructure materials for ionic transport modulation. Herein, to enable high proton conduction, a semiconductor heterostructure based on spinel ZnFe2 O4 (ZFO) and fluorite CeO2 is developed and investigated in terms of structural characterization, first principle calculation, and electrochemical performance. Particular attention is paid to the interfacial disordering and heterojunction effects of the material. Results show that the heterostructure induces a disordered oxygen region at the hetero-interface of ZFO-CeO2 by dislocating oxygen atoms, leading to fast proton transport. As a result, the ZFO-CeO2 exhibits a high proton conductivity of 0.21 S cm-1 and promising fuel cell power output of 1070 mW cm-2 at 510 °C. Based upon these findings, a new mechanism is proposed by focusing on the change of O-O bond length to interpret the diffusion and acceleration of protons in ZFO-CeO2 on the basis of the Grotthuss mechanism. This study provides a new strategy to customize semiconductor heterostructure to enable fast proton conduction.

Electromagnetic performance, optical and physiochemical features of CaTiO3/NiO and SrFe12O19/NiO nanocomposites based bilayer absorber.

Herein, two distinct nanocomposites of CaTiO3 micro-cubes and polygonal SrFe12O19, both decorated with NiO nanoparticles, were successfully synthesized using hydrothermal method. The physico-chemical features of as-prepared samples were evaluated via XRD, FTIR, UV-vis, BET, XPS, FESEM and EDS analysis. Microwave attenuation features of as-prepared single layer absorbers were determined by VNA analysis in 2-18 GHz. Simulation confirmation was checked by preparing a bi-layer samples and evaluating it using VNA analysis after finding the appropriate thickness of each layer. The reflection loss from each single layer samples containing 20 wt% of each CaTiO3/NiO and SrFe12O19/NiO nanocomposites were -16 dB and -35 dB at 6.3 GHz with 2.5 mm matching thickness respectively. However, the RL was -34 dB at 10 GHz frequency with 2 mm thickness in a bilayer absorber with SrFe12O19/NiO nanocomposite layer put as absorbing layer with 1 mm thickness and CaTiO3/NiO positioned as matching layer with 1 mm thickness. Furthermore, at the X-band frequency, approximately entire band absorption is obtained. The findings demonstrate that adjusting the order and thickness of the layers in a bilayer absorber may readily improve microwave absorption performance. By comparing the results of simulation with real prepared bilayer absorbers, we found that with a 2 mm overall thickness, the bi-layer absorbers display accurate RL values, but not the matching frequency monitored in the simulation process. In reality, this discrepancy was unavoidable.

Effect of ZnO Nanoparticles Coating Layers on Top of ZnO Nanowires for Morphological, Optical, and Photovoltaic Properties of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

This paper reports on the synthesis of ZnO nanowires (NWs), as well asthe compound nanostructures of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanowires (NWs+NPs) with different coating layers of NPs on the top of NWs and their integration in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In compound nanostructures, NWs offer direct electrical pathways for fast electron transfer, and the NPs of ZnOdispread and fill the interstices between the NWs of ZnO, offering a huge surface area for enough dye anchoring and promoting light harvesting. A significant photocurrent density of 2.64 mA/cm2 and energy conversion efficiency of 1.43% was obtained with NWs-based DSSCs. The total solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the NWs+a single layer of NPs was found to be 2.28%, with a short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) of 3.02 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.74 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.76, which is 60% higher than that of NWs cells and over 165% higher than NWs+a triple layer of NPs-based DSSCs. The improved performance was obtained due to the increased specific surface area for higher dye anchoring and light harvesting of compound nanostructures with NWs+a single layer of NPs.

Properties and Applications of Polyvinyl Alcohol, Halloysite Nanotubes and Their Nanocomposites.

The aim of this review was to analyze/investigate the synthesis, properties, and applications of polyvinyl alcohol-halloysite nanotubes (PVA-HNT), and their nanocomposites. Different polymers with versatile properties are attractive because of their introduction and potential uses in many fields. Synthetic polymers, such as PVA, natural polymers like alginate, starch, chitosan, or any material with these components have prominent status as important and degradable materials with biocompatibility properties. These materials have been developed in the 1980s and are remarkable because of their recyclability and consideration of the natural continuation of their physical and chemical properties. The fabrication of PVA-HNT nanocomposites can be a potential way to address some of PVA's limitations. Such nanocomposites have excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability. PVA-HNT nanocomposites have been reported earlier, but without proper HNT individualization and PVA modifications. The properties of PVA-HNT for medicinal and biomedical use are attracting an increasing amount of attention for medical applications, such as wound dressings, drug delivery, targeted-tissue transportation systems, and soft biomaterial implants. The demand for alternative polymeric medical devices has also increased substantially around the world. This paper reviews individualized HNT addition along with crosslinking of PVA for various biomedical applications that have been previously reported in literature, thereby showing the attainability, modification of characteristics, and goals underlying the blending process with PVA.

Carbon nanotubes fibres/aluminium-NiZnFe2O4 based electromagnetic transmitter for improved magnitude versus offset (MVO) in a scaled marine environment.

In seabed logging the magnitude of electromagnetic (EM) waves for the detection of a hydrocarbon reservoir in the marine environment is very important. Having a strong EM source for exploration target 4000 m below the sea floor is a very challenging task. A new carbon nanotubes (CNT) fibres/aluminium based EM transmitter is developed and NiZn ferrite as magnetic feeders was used in a scaled tank to evaluate the presence of oil. Resistive scaled tank experiments with a scale factor of 2000 were carried out. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were done to characterize the synthesized magnetic feeders. Single phase Ni0.76Mg0.04Zn0.2Fe2O4, obtained by the sol-gel method and sintered at 700 degrees C in air, has a [311] major peak. FESEM results show nanoparticles with average diameters of 17-45 nm. Samples which have a high Q-factor (approximately 50) was used as magnetic feeders for the EM transmitter. The magnitude of the EM waves of this new EM transmitter increases up to 400%. A curve fitting method using MATLAB software was done to evaluate the performance of the new EM transmitter. The correlation value with CNT fibres/aluminium-NiZnFe2O4 base transmitter shows a 152.5% increase of the magnetic field strength in the presence of oil. Modelling of the scale tank which replicates the marine environment was done using the Finite Element Method (FEM). In conclusion, FEM was able to delineate the presence of oil with greater magnitude of E-field (16.89%) and the B field (4.20%) due to the new EM transmitter.

Encapsulation of Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals in multiwall carbon nanotubes.

Magnetic nanoparticles in the hollow region of carbon nanotubes have attraction due to their changing physical electrical and magnetic properties. Nickel zinc ferrite plays an important role in many applications due to its superior magnetic properties. Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals were encapsulated in multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The magnetic nano crystals were prepared using a sol-gel self combustion method at the sintering temperature of 750 degrees C and were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM and VSM. Initial permeability, Q-factor and relative loss factor were measured by impedance vector network analyzer. XRD patterns were used for the phase identification. FESEM images show morphology and dimensions of the grains of Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals and Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals in MWCNTs. TEM images were used to investigate single crystal and encapsulation of Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals in the MWCNTs. VSM results confirmed super paramagnetic behaviour of encapsulated Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals. It was also attributed that encapsulated Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals in MWCNTs showed a higher initial permeability (51.608), Q-factor (67.069), and low loss factor (0.0002) as compared to Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals. The new encapsulated Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 single crystals in the MWCNTs may have potential applications in electronic and medical industries.

Observation of a cubical-like microstructure of strontium iron garnet and yttrium iron garnet prepared via sol-gel technique.

This is our initial response towards preparation of nano-inductors garnet for high operating frequencies strontium iron garnet (Sr3Fe5O12) denoted as SrIG and yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12) denoted as YIG. The garnet nano crystals were prepared by novel sol-gel technique. The phase and crystal structure of the prepared samples were identified by using X-ray diffraction analysis. SEM images were done to reveal the surface morphology of the samples. Raman spectra was taken for yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12). The magnetic properties of the samples namely initial permeability (micro), relative loss factor (RLF) and quality factor (Q-Factor) were done by using LCR meter. From the XRD profile, both of the Y3Fe5O12 and Sr3Fe5O12 samples showed single phase garnet and crystallization had completely occurred at 900 degrees C for the SrIG and 950 degrees C for the YIG samples. The YIG sample showed extremely low RLF value (0.0082) and high density 4.623 g/cm3. Interesting however is the high Q factor (20-60) shown by the Sr3Fe5O12 sample from 20-100 MHz. This high performance magnetic property is attributed to the homogenous and cubical-like microstructure. The YIG particles were used as magnetic feeder for EM transmitter. It was observed that YIG magnetic feeder with the EM transmitter gave 39% higher magnetic field than without YIG magnetic feeder.

Morphology and magnetic characterisation of aluminium substituted yttrium-iron garnet nanoparticles prepared using sol gel technique.

Aluminum substituted yttrium iron garnet nano particles with compositional variation of Y(3.0-x) A1(x)Fe5O12, where x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 were prepared using sol gel technique. The X-ray diffraction results showed that the best garnet phase appeared when the sintering temperature was 800 degrees C. Nano-crystalline particles with high purity and sizes ranging from 20 to 100 nm were obtained. It was found that the aluminum substitution had resulted in a sharp fall of the d-spacing when x = 2, which we speculated is due to the preference of the aluminum atoms to the smaller tetrahedron and octahedron sites instead of the much larger dodecahedron site. High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and electron diffraction (ED) patterns showed single crystal nanoparticles were obtained from this method. The magnetic measurement gave moderate values of initial permeability; the highest value of 5.3 was shown by sample Y3Fe5O12 at more than 100 MHz which was attributed to the morphology of the microstructure which appeared to be homogeneous. This had resulted in an easy movement of domain walls. The substitution of aluminum for yttrium is speculated to cause a cubic to rhombodedral structural change and had weakened the super-exchange interactions thus a fall of real permeability was observed. This might have created a strain in the sub-lattices and had subsequently caused a shift of resonance frequencies to more than 1.8 GHz when x > 0.5.