ZnO/TiO 2 core/shell nanorod arrays were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate via a facile sol-gel dip-coating process. Effects of solution pH for ZnO, annealing temperature, growth time and temperature on the physical properties of nanorods have been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the structural and morphological properties of the prepared composite nanorods. XRD result revealed wurtzite structure of ZnO with a mixed anatase and rutile structure phase for TiO 2 . Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to study the chemical composition and optical properties of the films, respectively. Electrical resistivity of the films was also investigated. The optical and electrical properties of the bare TiO 2 thin film and core/shell composite were compared together. The results showed that owing to smaller band gap and lower resistivity, the core/shell structure as an electron transport layer for inverted photovoltaic devices is more suitable than bare TiO 2 thin film.

No abstract

Due to the strong effect of nanoparticles' size and surface properties on cellular uptake and bio-distribution, the selection of coating material for magnetic core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) is very important. In this study, the effects of four different biocompatible coating materials on the physical properties of Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite) nanoparticles (NPs) for different biomedical applications are investigated and compared. In this regard, magnetite NPs are prepared by a simple co-precipitation method. Then, CSNPs including Fe 3 O 4 as a core and carbon, dextran, ZnO (zincite) and SiO 2 (silica) as different shells are synthesised using simple one-or two-step methods. A comprehensive study is carried out on the prepared samples using X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometry, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. According to the authors' findings, it is suggested that carbon-and dextran-coated magnetite NPs with high M s have great potential in the application of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents. Moreover, silica-coated magnetite NPs with high coercivity are potentially suitable candidates for hyperthermia and ZnO-coated Fe 3 O 4 is potentially suitable for photothermal therapy.

This paper implements nonlinear control structure based on Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode (AFSM) Current Control and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) to estimate the capacitor voltages from the measurement of arm currents of Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). UKF use nonlinear unscented transforms in the prediction step in order to preserve the stochastic characteristics of a nonlinear system. In order to design adaptive robust control strategy and nonlinear observer, mathematical model of MMC using rotating d-q theory has been used. Digital time-domain simulation studies are carried out in the Matlab/Simulink environment to verify the performance of the overall proposed control structure during different case studies.

No abstract