No description available.

No description available.

In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as one of the best field emitters for a variety of technological applications. The field emitting cathodes have several advantages over the conventional thermionic cathodes: (i) current density from field emission would be orders of magnitude greater than in the thermionic case, (ii) a cold cathode would minimize the need for cooling, and (iii) a field emitting cathode can be miniaturized. In spite of good performance of such cathodes, the procedure to estimate the device current is not straight forward and the required insight towards design optimization is not well understood. In addition, the current in CNT-based thin film devices shows fluctuation. Such fluctuation in field emission current is not desirable for many biomedical applications such as x-ray devices. The CNTs in a thin film undergo complex dynamics during field emission, which includes processes such as (i) evolution, (ii) electromechanical interaction, (iii) thermoelectric heating, (iv) ballistic transport, and (v) electron gas flow. These processes are coupled and nonlinear. Therefore, they must be analyzed accurately from the stability and long-term performance point of view. In this research, we develop detailed physics-based models of CNTs considering the aspects mentioned above. The models are integrated in a systematic manner to calculate the device current by using the Fowler-Nordheim equation. Using the models, we were able to capture the fluctuations in the field emission current, which have been observed in actual experiments. A detailed analysis of the results reveals the deflected shapes of the CNTs in an ensemble and the extent to which the initial state of geometry and orientation angles affect the device current. In addtion, investigations on the influence of defects and impurities in CNTs on their field emission properties have been carried out. By inclusion of defects and impurities, the field emission properties of CNTs can be tailored for specific device applications in future. For stable performance of CNT-based field emission devices, such as x-ray generators, design optimization studies have been presented. It has been found that the proposed design minimizes transience in field emission current. In this thesis, it has been demonstrated that phonon-assisted control of field emission current in CNT based thin film is possible. Finally, experimental studies pertaining to crosstalk phenomenon in a multi-pixel CNT array are presented.

In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as one of the best field emitters for a variety of technological applications. The field emitting cathodes have several advantages over the conventional thermionic cathodes: (i) current density from field emission would be orders of magnitude greater than in the thermionic case, (ii) a cold cathode would minimize the need for cooling, and (iii) a field emitting cathode can be miniaturized. In spite of good performance of such cathodes, the procedure to estimate the device current is not straight forward and the required insight towards design optimization is not well understood. In addition, the current in CNT-based thin film devices shows fluctuation. Such fluctuation in field emission current is not desirable for many biomedical applications such as x-ray devices. The CNTs in a thin film undergo complex dynamics during field emission, which includes processes such as (i) evolution, (ii) electromechanical interaction, (iii) thermoelectric heating, (iv) ballistic transport, and (v) electron gas flow. These processes are coupled and nonlinear. Therefore, they must be analyzed accurately from the stability and long-term performance point of view. In this research, we develop detailed physics-based models of CNTs considering the aspects mentioned above. The models are integrated in a systematic manner to calculate the device current by using the Fowler-Nordheim equation. Using the models, we were able to capture the fluctuations in the field emission current, which have been observed in actual experiments. A detailed analysis of the results reveals the deflected shapes of the CNTs in an ensemble and the extent to which the initial state of geometry and orientation angles affect the device current. In addtion, investigations on the influence of defects and impurities in CNTs on their field emission properties have been carried out. By inclusion of defects and impurities, the field emission properties of CNTs can be tailored for specific device applications in future. For stable performance of CNT-based field emission devices, such as x-ray generators, design optimization studies have been presented. It has been found that the proposed design minimizes transience in field emission current. In this thesis, it has been demonstrated that phonon-assisted control of field emission current in CNT based thin film is possible. Finally, experimental studies pertaining to crosstalk phenomenon in a multi-pixel CNT array are presented.

Magnetic Resonance Electrical Impedance Tomography (MREIT) reconstructs conductivity distribution with internal current density (MRCDI) and boundary voltage measurements. There are many algorithms proposed for the solution of MREIT inverse problem which can be divided into two groups: Current density (J) and magnetic flux density (B) based reconstruction algorithms. In this thesis, J-based MREIT reconstruction algorithms are implemented and optimized with modifications. These algorithms are simulated with five conductivity models which have different geometries and conductivity values. Results of simulation are discussed and reconstruction algorithms are compared according to their performances. Equipotential-Projection algorithm has lower error percentages than other algorithms for noise-free case whereas Hybrid algorithm has the best performance for noisy cases. Although J-substitution and Hybrid algorithms have relatively long reconstruction times, they produced the best images perceptually. v Integration along Cartesian Grid Lines and Integration along Equipotential Lines algorithms diverge as noise level increases. Equipotential-Projection algorithm has erroneous lines starting from corners of FOV especially for noisy cases whereas Solution as a Linear Equation System has a typical grid artifact. When performance with data of experiment 1 is considered, only Solution as a Linear Equation System algorithm partially reconstructed all elements which show that it is robust to noise. Equipotential-Projection algorithm reconstructed resistive element partially and other algorithms failed in reconstruction of conductivity distribution. Experimental results obtained with a higher conductivity contrast show that Solution as a Linear Equation System, J-Substitution and Hybrid algorithms reconstructed both phantom elements and Hybrid algorithm is superior to other algorithms in percentage error comparison.

Due to escalating energy costs and limited fossil fuel resources, much attention has been given to polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Gas diffusion layers (GDLs) play a vital role in a fuel cell such as (1) water removal, (2) cooling, (3) structural backing, (4) electrical conduction and (5) transporting gases towards the active catalyst sites where the reactions take place. The power density of a PEM fuel cell in part is dependent upon how uniform the gases are distributed to the active sites. To this end, research is being conducted to understand the mechanisms that influence gas distribution across the fuel cell. Emerging PEM fuel cell designs have shown that higher power density can be achieved; however this requires significant changes to existing components, particularly the GDL. For instance, some emerging concepts require higher through-plane gas permeability than in-plane gas permeability (i.e., anisotropic resistance) which is contrary to conventional GDLs (e.g., carbon paper and carbon cloth), to obtain a uniform gas distribution across the active sites. This is the foundation on which this thesis is centered. A numerical study is conducted in order to investigate the effect of the gas permeability profile on the expected current density in the catalyst layer. An experimental study is done to characterize the effects of the weave structure on gas permeability in woven GDLs. Numerical simulations are developed using Fluent version 6.3.26 and COMSOL Multiphysics version 3.5 to create an anisotropic resistance profile in the unconventional GDL, while maintaining similar performance to conventional GDL designs. The effects of (1) changing the permeability profile in the in-plane and through-plane direction, (2) changing the thickness of the unconventional GDL and (3) changing the gas stoichiometry on the current density and pressure drop through the unconventional GDL are investigated. It is found that the permeability profile and thickness of the unconventional GDL have a minimal effect on the average current density and current density distribution. As a tradeoff, an unconventional GDL with a lower permeability will exhibit a higher pressure drop. Once the fuel cell has a sufficient amount of oxygen to sustain reactions, the gas stoichiometry has a minimal effect on increases in performance. Woven GDL samples with varying tightness and weave patterns are made on a hand loom, and their in-plane and through-plane permeability are measured using in-house test equipment. The porosity of the samples is measured using mercury intrusion porosimetry. It is found that the in-plane permeability is higher than the through-plane permeability for all weave patterns tested, except for the twill weave with 8 tows/cm in the warp direction and 4 tows/cm in the weft direction, which exhibited a through-plane permeability which was 20% higher than the in-plane permeability. It is also concluded that the permeability of twill woven fabrics is higher than the permeability of plain woven fabrics, and that the percentage of macropores, ranging in size from 50-400 µm, is a driving force in determining the through-plane permeability of a woven GDL. From these studies, it was found that the graduated permeability profile in the unconventional GDL had a minimal effect on gas flow. However, a graduated permeability may have an impact on liquid water transport. In addition, it was found that graduating the catalyst loading, thereby employing a non-uniform catalyst loading has a greater effect on creating a uniform current density than graduating the permeability profile.

<p>The production of chlorate, chlorine and sodium hydroxiderelies heavily on electrical energy, so that savings in thisarea are always a pertinent issue. This can be brought aboutthrough increased mass transfer of reacting species to therespective electrodes, and through increased catalytic activityand uniformity of current density distribution at theseelectrodes. This thesis will present studies involvingmathematical modelling and experimental investigations of theseprocesses. They will show the effect that hydrodynamicbehaviour has on the total current density and cell voltages,along with the effects on current density distributions andindividual overpotentials atthe respective electrodes.</p><p>Primary, secondary and psuedo-tertiary current densitydistribution models of a chlor-alkali anode are presented anddiscussed. It is shown that the secondary model presentsresults rather similar to the pseudo-tertiary model, when thecurrent density distribution is investigated, although thepotential distribution differs rather markedly. Furthermore, itis seen that an adequate description of the hydrodynamicsaround the anode is required if the potential distribution, andthereby the prevalence of side-reactions, is to be reasonablepredicted.</p><p>A rigorous tertiary current density distribution model ofthe chlorate cell is also presented, which takes into accountthe developing hydrodynamic behaviour along the height of thecell. This shows that an increased flowrate gives more uniformcurrent density distributions. This is due to the fact that theincreased vertical flowrate of electrolyte replenishes ioncontent at the electrode surfaces, thus reducing concentrationoverpotentials. Furthermore, results from the model lead to theconclusion that it is the hypochlorite ion that partakes in themajor oxygen producing side-reaction.</p><p>A real-scale cross-section of a segmented anode-cathode pairfrom a chlorate cell was designed and built in order to studythe current density distribution in industrial conditions.These experiments showed that increased flowrate brought aboutmore even current density distributions, reduced cell voltageand increased the total current density. An investigation ofthe hydrodynamic effects on the respective electrodeoverpotentials shows the anode reactions being more favoured byincreased flowrate. This leads to the conclusion that theuniform current density distribution, caused by increasedflowrate, occurs primarily through decreasing the concentrationoverpotential at the anode rather than by decreasing thebubble-induced ohmic drop at the cathode.</p><p>Finally, results from experiments investigating thebubble-induced free convection from a small electrochemicalcell are presented. These experiments show that Laser DopplerVelocimetry is the most effective instrument for investigatingthe velocity profiles in bubble-containing electrochemicalsystems. The results also show that the flow can transform fromlaminar to turbulent behaviour on both the vertical andhorizontal planes, in electrochemical systems where bubbles areevolved.</p>

Since the discovery of the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO), with transition temperature (Tc = 77 K), above liquid nitrogen point in 1987 many research projects have been dedicated to enhancing the high field performance of this material for practical applications. The 2nd generation YBCO-based coated conductors are believed to be the most promising approach for commercial applications including power transmission, motors, generators, and high field magnets. With the advances of nanotechnologies, different nanoengineering methods have been demonstrated to enhance the performance of YBCO thin films, include doping with 0-dimensional (0-D) self-assembled nanoparticles, 1-dimensional (1-D) nanorods, and 2-dimensional (2-D) nanolayers. Furthermore, dopants with ferromagnetic properties are also reported to provide enhanced pinning effects by Lorentz force, especially under high-applied magnetic fields. The principle of these methods is to generate high-density defects at the heterogeneous interfaces as artificial pinning centers in an effort to improve the flux-pinning properties. The morphology and dimensions of the nanoinclusions play an important role in pining enhancement. Optimized pinning structures are likely to be located at energetically favorable vortex cores, which form a triangular lattice with dimensions close to the YBCO coherence length ξ (ξab ~ 4 nm; ξc ~ 0.5 nm at 77 K.) However, it is challenging to achieve small dimensional nanodopants in the vapor deposited YBCO thin films. The purpose of this research is to utilize nanoengineering methods to produce optimized pinning structure in YBCO thin films. In this thesis, we systematically study the effects of different nanoinclusions on the flux-pinning properties of YBCO thin films. The 0-D ferromagnetic Fe2O3 and CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, 2-D CeO2 multilayers, and tunable vertically aligned nanocomposites (VAN) of (Fe2O3)x:(CeO2)1-x and (CoFe2O4)x:(CeO2)1-x systems are introduced into the YBCO matrix as artificial pinning centers. Results suggest that all nanoinclusions showed significant enhancement in the superconducting properties of YBCO. The ferromagnetic pinning centers dominate at high field and low temperature regimes, however, the defect pinning centers dominate at low field and high temperature regimes. The uniquely arranged VAN structure of alternating magnetic and non-magnetic nanophases, which incorporates both high defect density and tunable distribution of magnetic dopants, is believed to be an ideal solution for flux-pinning enhancement.

Data acquisition and image reconstruction tasks of METU Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System are used to be performed by a 15 year-old technology. This system is incapable of transmitting control signals simultaneously and has memory limitations. Control software is written mostly in assembly language, which is hard to modify, with very limited user interface functionality, and time consuming. In order to improve the system, a LabVIEW based data acquisition system consisting of a NI-6713 D/A card (to generate RF envelope, gradients, etc.) and a NI-6110E A/D card (to digitize echo signals) from National Instruments is programmed and integrated to the system, and a pulse sequence design, data acquisition and image reconstruction front-end is designed and implemented. Apart from that, a new method that can be used in Magnetic Resonance Current Density Imaging (MRCDI) experiments is proposed. In this method the readily built gradient coil of the MRI scanner is utilized to induce current in the imaging volume. Magnetic fields created by induced currents are measured for various amplitude levels, and it is proved that inducing current with this method is possible.

Orientador: Cláudio Luiz Carvalho / Banca: Haroldo Naoyuki Nagashima / Banca: Isaias Gonzaga de Oliveira / Resumo: Com o surgimento da supercondutividade as pesquisas envolvendo aplicações desta, em especial no transporte de energia, obtiveram um avanço promissor ao longo dos anos. Assim, este trabalho objetivou a fabricação de fios supercondutores utilizando o método Powder-In-Tube (PIT), no qual foi inserido dentro de um tubo de prata o pó da cerâmica supercondutora do sistema BSCCO. Estudos preliminares foram feitos em pastilhas feitas com o mesmo material supercondutor e após alguns resultados foram confeccionados os fios supercondutores. Medidas de caracterização foram feitas dentre elas a difratometria de raios-X, medidas elétricas pelo método de quatro pontas e microscopia do tipo (FEG-MEV) equipado com EDS para determinar a morfologia e composição química dos elementos na amostra. Os resultados de difratometria de raios-X apresentaram a formação das fases desejadas do sistema BSCCO de diferentes concentrações dentre elas as fases Bi-2212 Bi- 2223 e Bi-2234 contidas nas amostras sintetizadas. As medidas elétricas detectaram uma queda abrupta na resistência elétrica dos fios mostrando a faixa de transição supercondutora das amostras estudadas. As medidas de densidade de corrente com base no critério de corrente de 1μV/cm, utilizadas nos fios confeccionados, foram obtidos valores da ordem de 1,30 - 3,90 (KA/m2). Nas imagens de microscopia vale ressaltar uma melhora na interação entre os grãos supercondutores nas amostras submetidas a um maior tempo de sinterização e também foi possível verificar e analisar através da extrusão a compactação do pó cerâmico dentro do tubo de prata. O EDS detectou a composição química dos elementos nas amostras bem como a concentração das fases em determinadas regiões analisadas / Abstract: With the emergence of superconductivity research involving applications of this, particularly in the transport of energy, had a promising advance over the years. This study aims to manufacture superconducting wires using the method Powder-In-Tube (PIT), which was inserted inside a tube of silver powder of superconducting ceramic BSCCO system. Preliminary studies were done on pellets made with the same superconducting material, and after some results were prepared the superconducting wires. Characterization measurements were made among them the X-ray diffraction, electrical measurements by the method of four points and type of microscopy (FEG-SEM) equipped with EDX to determine the morphology and chemical composition of the elements in the sample. The results of X-ray diffraction showed the formation of the desired phases for this type of superconductor, ie the BSCCO system between them was possible to determine the Bi-2212 phase, Bi-2223 and Bi-2234 contained in the synthesized samples. The electrical measurements have detected a sudden drop in electrical resistance of the wires showing the range of superconducting transition with good accuracy. It was possible to perform the calculation of current density in the wires made based on a criterion of 1 μV/cm were obtained and values of around 1,30- 3,90 (KA/m2). The values are consistent with the specifications of the samples and within the limits of our research. In microscopy images is noteworthy improvement in the interaction between the superconducting grains in samples submitted to a higher sintering time and it was possible to verify and analyze the compaction of ceramic powder into silver tube through the extrusion process. The EDX detected the chemical composition of the elements in the samples in a qualitative way / Mestre