In this work, a novel design for the NiO/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells is presented. Highly-pure nanopowders prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique were used to form the heterojunctions. The electrical characteristics of the proposed design were compared to those of a conventional thin film heterojunction design prepared by the same technique. A higher efficiency of 300% was achieved by the proposed design. This attempt can be considered as the first to fabricate solar cells from highly-pure nanopowders of two different semiconductors.

 Abstract 

The vegetative filter strips (VFS) are a useful tool used for reducing the movement of sediment and pesticide in therivers. The filter strip’s soil can help in reducing the runoff volume by infiltration. However, the characteristics of VFS (i.e., length) are not recently identified depending on the estimation of VFS modeling performance. The aim of this research is to study these characteristics and determine acorrelation between filter strip length and percent reduction (trapping efficiency) for sediment, water, and pesticide. Two proposed pesticides(one has organic carbon sorption coefficient, K_oc, of 147 L/kg which is more moveable than XXXX, and another one

The significant addition of immersive technologies, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality(AR) and Mixed Reality(MR) are transforming the domain of design education. Still, finding an equilibrium between these new tools alongside with traditional methods of teaching is a menace which educational institutes needs to solve. This paper proposes a structure that would help the ease with which to include immersive technologies within design education, keeping in mind the solid points of more conventional pedagogical methods. Based on a survey of interior design programs, this research highlights the potential for VR, AR and MR in student engagement, creativity skills and professional practices. The results suggest that adoption of an im

A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonli

in this paper, the current work was devoted to the manufacture of TiO2 nanoparticles doped with manganese,  synthesis by the sol-gel technique using a dip-conting device, for their hydrophilic properties and photocatalytic activity, and the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Uv-Visible absorption, and the results  XRD showed an  phase Anatase  ,  and the results of the SEM Explained the shape of the morphology of the samples after the doping process compared with pure TiO2, and the results of a shift in light absorption from ultraviolet rays to visible light were evident. The results showed that the thin films have a high wettability   under visible rays

Pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) has become an increasingly important technique for metals production and metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs) and others. This technique has its many advantages compared with other conventional techniques (physical and chemical). This work was devoted for production of zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles via PLAL technique from a solid zirconium target immersed in a wet environment in order to study the effect of this environment on the optical properties and structure of ZrO2 nanoparticles. The solutions which used for this purpose is distilled water (D.W). The produces NPs were characterized by mean of many tests such as UV-visible (UV-Vis.), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Z-Potential. The UV-Vis.

The aim of this paper is to design suitable neural network (ANN) as an alternative accurate tool to evaluate concentration of Copper in contaminated soils. First, sixteen (4x4) soil samples were harvested from a phytoremediated contaminated site located in Baghdad city in Iraq. Second, a series of measurements were performed on the soil samples. Third, design an ANN and its performance was evaluated using a test data set and then applied to estimate the concentration of Copper. The performance of the ANN technique was compared with the traditional laboratory inspecting using the training and test data sets. The results of this study show that the ANN technique trained on experimental measurements can be successfully applied to the rapid est

Non-thermal plasmas have become popular as plasma technology has advanced in various fields, including waste management, aerospace technology, and medicinal applications. They can be used to replace combustion fuels in stationary hall motors and need little effort to keep running for longer periods of time. To improve overall system performance, non-reactive gases such as )Xe, Ar, and Kr) are utilized in pure or mixed form to generate plasma. Since DC glow discharge is a fundamental topic of importance, these gases have been researched. The paper concentrates on 2-D modeling and simulation. DC glow-discharge tubes are utilized with argon gas to create plasma and learn about its properties. The magnitude of the electron density, increases wi

In this research, the effects of both current and argon gas pressure on the bending properties of welded joints were studied. Using the possible ranges of welding gas pressures and currents, Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) of stainless steel (304) sheet was used to obtain their influence on the maximum bending force of the (TIG) welded joints. Design of experiment (DOE) ‘version 10' was used to determine the design matrix of experiments depending on the used levels of the input factors. Response surface methodology (RSM) technique was used to obtain an empirical mathematical model for the maximum bending force as a function of welding parameters (Current and Argon gas pressure). Also, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to verif

AgInSe2 (AIS) thin films solar cell involving of n-type AgInSe2 and Si of p-type substrate by using thermal evaporation method. The influence of annealing of the preparation AgInSe2 were considered to find the best properties of solar device. Thin film AIS have been deposited under the vacuum of 1.5*10-6 Torr with (400) nm thickness at R.T and annealing temperatures (473,573) K. Polycrystalline tetragonal structure for AIS thin films from XRD and increasing of surface roughness from AFM, energy gap values decreasing with increasing annealing temperatures, all films were negative type, I-V characteristics show increasing of efficiency with increasing of annealing temperatures.