Estimation of Effect of Fog on Terrestrial Free Space Optical Communication Link

Wireless Personal Communications - Free Space Optical Communication Technology is expected as the successor to the existing communication technologies as many of its features like high bandwidth,...     

Way-Point Multicast Routing Framework for improving QoS in hybrid wireless mesh networks

Since internet access is used by billions of people worldwide and the number of internet user is also increasing every day, a new technology called as wireless mesh network (WMN) is becoming popular. This is because it has some desirable characteristic, but it has some limitation for multi-hop routing, bandwidth, and many more. In order to overcome these issues, we proposed Way-Point Multicast Routing Framework (WPMRF) for improving the quality of service (QoS) in Hybrid WMN. Initially, the multicast framework is established based on the minimum load factor. The route established with least load factor is considered, as it avoids any kind of congestion in the network. After that, segmentation of route is done, and the way-point nodes are selected to join the multicast session. After that, the transmission is performed using MAODV and ODMRP protocol. In addition, an estimated route disconnection parameter is used for fast route recovery process and helps to select more reliable route path. The advantage of the proposed work is that it provides more reliable routing path to increase the quality of service (QoS) with fast route recovery process.     

Rhodium Acetate Dimer Immobilized in 1‐Butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium Hexafluorophosphate Ionic Liquid: a Novel and Recyclable Catalytic System for the Cyclopropanation of Alkenes

Alkenes undergo smooth cyclopropanation with ethyl diazoacetate using a catalytic amount of rhodium acetate dimer, Rh₂(OAc)₄, immobilized in the air‐ and moisture‐stable 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid, [bmim]PF₆, to afford cyclopropanecarboxylates in excellent yields with high trans‐selectivity. The recovery of the catalyst is facilitated by the hydrophobic nature of [bmim]PF₆. The recovered ionic liquid containing Rh₂(OAc)₄ can be reused for three to five subsequent runs with only a gradual decrease in activity.     

Oxidation and Ammoxidation of Aromatics

An overview of the state of the art in the direct oxygen or nitrogen insertion to aromatic rings and side‐chains by hydroxylation, acetoxylation, partial oxidation and ammoxidation is presented. The influence of a variety of catalysts and oxidants on the yields of hydroxylated products of aromatic species is discussed in more detail. The survey is also focussed on the usage of H₂O₂ as an effective oxidising agent for hydroxylation reactions. Acetoxylation of methyl‐substituted aromatic compounds to their corresponding esters in a single step is indeed an interesting area from an industrial point of view. Hence, the topics covering benzylic acetoxylation, although they are under a developmental stage for commercial exploitation, are also reviewed. The present contribution also covers the main directions of selective oxidation/ammoxidation of aromatic compounds to useful products, surveys recent developments and provides an updated discussion of the state of the art in the field of oxidation and ammoxidation of aromatics. Additionally, a comparative study of the vapour phase oxidation and ammoxidation of different alkyl aromatics to their corresponding aldehydes and nitriles using various heterogeneous catalysts is presented. Besides, the achievements and limitations of the catalysts/processes are emphasised. Furthermore, the present article includes a discussion of common features and differences in mechanistic steps of oxidation and ammoxidation reactions investigated by in situ FITR spectroscopy. The influence of acid‐base properties of catalyst surfaces in connection with electronic effects of the substituents on the performance of the catalysts is also described.     

Enhancement of wettability and antibiotic loading/release of hydroxyapatite thin film modified by 100 MeV Ag ion irradiation

The effect of swift heavy 100 MeV Ag⁷⁺ ions irradiation was studied on hydroxyapatite (HAp) thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). The GIXRD analysis confirmed the absence of any phase in the HAp phase due to irradiation. In addition, there was a considerable decrease in crystallinity and crystallite size on irradiation. There was no significant variation in the stoichiometry of the irradiated films. Irradiation seemed to decrease the optical band gap energy of HAp thin films. The surface roughness, wettability and bioactivity were improved on irradiation of the samples. Amount of amoxicillin loading/release increased (10%) in ion beam irradiated (1 × 10¹² ions cm⁻²) sample. Irradiated sample showed fast rate of amoxicillin (AMX) release than the pristine. Bactericidal effect was found to increase on irradiation. Surface modified and antibiotics incorporated HAp coated titanium implants may be used to prevent post-surgical infections and to promote bone-bonding of orthopedic devices.     

Ferromagnetism in graphene nanoribbons: split versus oxidative unzipped ribbons

Two types of graphene nanoribbons: (a) potassium-split graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), and (b) oxidative unzipped and chemically converted graphene nanoribbons (CCGNRs) were investigated for their magnetic properties using the combination of static magnetization and electron spin resonance measurements. The two types of ribbons possess remarkably different magnetic properties. While a low-temperature ferromagnet-like feature is observed in both types of ribbons, such room-temperature feature persists only in potassium-split ribbons. The GNRs show negative exchange bias, but the CCGNRs exhibit a "positive exchange bias". Electron spin resonance measurements suggest that the carbon-related defects may be responsible for the observed magnetic behavior in both types of ribbons. Furthermore, information on the proton hyperfine coupling strength has been obtained from hyperfine sublevel correlation experiments performed on the GNRs. Electron spin resonance finds no evidence for the presence of potassium (cluster) related signals, pointing to the intrinsic magnetic nature of the ribbons. Our combined experimental results may indicate the coexistence of ferromagnetic clusters with antiferromagnetic regions leading to disordered magnetic phase. We discuss the possible origin of the observed contrast in the magnetic behaviors of the two types of ribbons studied.     

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix in solution and thin films through laser irradiation

Here we communicate our experimental results on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles in solution and thin films using silver nitrate and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) mixture at different concentrations and different laser irradiations. Detailed studies were carried out by varying pulse width, wavelength, exposure time, and energy of the laser. Formation of nanoparticles was confirmed through color change from transparent to yellow. Irradiated solutions and thin films at different concentrations showed plasmon peak in the absorption spectra. Formation of different sized nanoparticles at different energies with peak shift is observed. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) results confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with size of the particles varying from 2 to 200 nm. Formation of silver nanoparticles with hexagonal and different shapes were observed in particular with 355 nm laser irradiation. Influence of wavelength, pulse width, exposure time, and energy in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles is highlighted. Electron diffraction patten of a single nanoparticle in TEM showed polycrystallinity with cubic nature for the silver nanoparticles prepared. We also compared the linear and nonlinear absorption properties of the freshly prepared nanoparticles with nanoparticles solution left in a shelf for a long period of time.     

Combustion characteristics of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with a blend of crude rice bran oil methyl ester and diesel

The objective of the present work is to analyze the combustion characteristics of crude rice bran oil methyl ester (CRBME) blend (20% of CRBME with 80% no.2 diesel on volume basis) as a fuel in a stationary small duty direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine. When operating with CRBME blend the cylinder pressure was comparable to that of diesel. It was observed that the delay period and the maximum rate of pressure rise for CRBME blend were lower than those of diesel. The occurrence of maximum heat release rate advanced for CRBME blend with lesser magnitude when compared to diesel. CRBME blend requires more crank angle duration to release 50% & 90% of heat when compared with diesel. The brake specific fuel consumption of CRBME blend was found to be only marginally different from that of the diesel and its hourly fuel cost was higher than that of diesel. CRBME blend has lower smoke intensity and higher NOx emission than those of diesel. Since the measured parameters for CRBME blend differs only by a smaller magnitude, when compared with diesel, this investigation ensures the suitability of CRBME blend as fuel for CI engines with higher fuel cost.     

Experimental Demonstration of Spectral Modification in a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Abstract

We illustrate here the experimental verification of the spectral modulation arising from interference of light beams having different degrees of correlation in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer for which the theoretical study was done by Agarwal and James (1993, J. mod. Optics, 40 1431). Through a theoretical fitting for the observed spectral modification, path difference between the beams in the two arms is calculated and compared with the experimental values.     

Kinetic studies on the esterification of free fatty acids in jatropha oil

Kinetic studies have been carried out on the esterification of free fatty acids (FFAs) in jatropha oil with methanol in the presence of sulphuric acid catalyst at 5 and 10 wt% concentrations relative to free fatty acids (0.4–0.8 wt% relative to oil) and methanol–FFA mole ratios ranging from 20:1 to 80:1. It has been found that a 60:1 methanol–FFA mole ratio and 5 wt% catalyst at 60°C and 500 rpm or above provided a final acid value lower than 1 mg KOH/g oil within 60 min. A kinetic model has been proposed with second‐order kinetics for both the forward and backward reactions. The effect of temperature on the reaction rate constants and equilibrium constant has been determined using Arrhenius and von't Hoff equations, respectively. The heat of reaction was found to be ?11.102 kJ/mol.