In this paper, effect of load, sliding speed, and particle size on the wear behavior of the Al alloy 8011 –SiC composites was evaluated by pin-on –disc wear test rig. Three different particle sizes of SiC (150, 180, 220 mesh) with weight fraction of 6 % reinforced with Aluminium alloy 8011 were fabricated using the stir casting method. Dry sliding wear test was conducted for 10 minutes, three different loads (10, 20, and 30 N) and three different sliding speeds (200, 300, and 400 rpm) to find the wear loss of the composites. Taguchi and ANOVA techniques were used to analyze the contribution of factors on the wear of the composites. From the results it was seen that with the increase in load and sliding speed the wear loss increases. Wear loss is observed more in the Al 8011-SiC composites reinforced with fine particles than the coarse particles. Load is the most prevailing factor followed by sliding speed, and particle size inducing the wear loss of composites.

Owing to wide applications of manganese oxides in waste water treatment, fertilizers, catalysis, sensors, super capacitors and rechargeable batteries has got novel attention worldwide. Natural ore of manganese were crushed manually and heated to dissolve in concentrated HCl. This solution was treated with potassium ferrocyanide to remove iron and other metallic unwanted particles. The precipitated powder was treated with potassium hydroxide to separate out manganese. Compound formation of MnO2 powder is confirmed using FTIR, XRD. Microstructure is characterized using SEM technique. Band gap is determined using UV-visible spectroscopy. Compound formation, grain size and surface characteristics before and after treatment are discussed in this paper. Further improvement towards the formation of nanoparticles is in progress.

Carbon black (CB) nanoparticles were prepared by incomplete combustion of petroleum in the presence of air. CB, both hydrous and non-hydrous were encapsulated by poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) using a simple method of combined heating. The resultant powder was characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR. The particle-size distribution measurements of the obtained PVA-encapsulated CB (CB@PVA) nanoparticles show that the diameters of were distributed within the nanoscale dimension. Simple water dispersibility test was done to check for the changes. Using this strategy, complicated polymerization process involved in the counterpart of polymer coating applications can be avoided and it is much cheaper compared to any other techniques.

A simple bio-template assisted ultrasound synthesis method is followed for the preparation of pure and Dy3+ (1-11 mol %) doped MgSiO3 nanophosphors. Various experimental parameters influences in controlling the shape, size and morphology of the obtained products. The final product is well characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL). It is noticed that the morphology of the product was highly dependent on the surfactant (mimosa pudica) concentration, sonication time, pH and sonication power. The formation mechanism for various micro/nano superstructures is proposed. The characteristic photoluminescence peaks are observed at 484, 574 and 666 nm due to the electronic transitions 4 F9/2 ? 6Hj (j=15/2, 13/2, 11/2) of Dy3+ ions upon excited at wavelength of 350 nm [6H15/2 ? 6 P7/2 (4M15/2)]. The photometric studies indicate that the obtained phosphors may be promising compounds in white light emitting diodes (wLED’s). The present synthesis route is rapid, environmentally benign, cost effective and useful for industrial applications such as solid state lighting and display devices.

Shading is common phenomenon when Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) panels are put into actual service conditions. Shading reduces insolation and efficiency of the array. In this work, the Current-Voltage (I-V) and Power-Voltage (P-V) characteristics of 6-panel SPV array is investigated for six different shading patterns. “n” Number of steps and “n” maximum power points occurred in the curves when array received “n” different levels of insolation.

Two activated carbon (AC) samples were produced from sugarcane bagasse using different chemical activation substances (H2SO4 and NaOH). The AC sample activated by H2SO4 presented enhanced surface properties compared to the NaOH activated sample, with higher specific surface area and porosity determined by BET and SEM analysis were also tested for methyl orange (MO) adsorption. The adsorption efficiency decreased as MO concentration increased. Experimental data including adsorption isotherms and the Gibbs free energy (?G°) thermodynamic potential were analysed. Adsorption experimental results agreed well with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a high correlation coefficient (R2) and the chemisorption process formed spontaneously adsorbed monolayers. Therefore, sugarcane bagasse waste was considered as a low cost precursor to prepare AC adsorbents with high pollutant removal efficiency through spontaneously adsorbed monolayers.

The heterogeneity and hydrophilicity of a series of aerogels were studied using adsorption calorimetry with molecules of different polarity. Four samples of carbon aerogel were synthesized with different resorcinol/catalytic (R/C) relations: 100, 200, 800 and 1500. The isotherms of N2 at -196 ?C were determined and from these were calculated the textural parameters using the Dubinin–Astakhov (DA), Barret–Joyner–Halenda (BJH), Non-Local Density Functional Theory (NLDFT) and Quenched Solid Density Functional Theory (QSDFT) models. The adsorption isotherms of polar and non-polar molecules: benzene, hexane, methane, methanol and methyl ethyl-ketone (MEK) were determined, as well as the differential adsorption enthalpies of these on the aerogel. The results show that the aerogels samples at low R/C have a fundamental development of micropores and at high R/C values present an additional development of mesoporosity. Adsorption isotherms of polar and non-polar molecules were adjusted to the Langmuir–Sips model and In-homogenous DA equation, respectively. Adsorption calorimetry shows that the carbon aerogels at these relations present heterogeneous surfaces that are essentially hydrophilic.