Orientadores: Italo Odone Mazali, Talita Mazon / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T15:25:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Madalossi_NatiaraVaughn_M.pdf: 3988977 bytes, checksum: 5fd028b4052bd1c0173b1e06a840ab1b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Este trabalho reporta a síntese e caracterização de nanoestruturas de ZnO com morfologia de nanobastões hexagonais, crescidas verticalmente ao substrato de silício. Para o crescimento vertical dos nanobastões foi depositado um filme constituído por grãos de ZnO para atuar como camada de nucleação. Neste trabalho, as sínteses dos nanobastões e das camadas de nucleação foram preparadas por métodos químicos. As camadas de nucleação foram obtidas com a calcinação do filme de precursor polimérico e de 2-etilhexanoato de zinco, os quais foram depositados sobre o substrato de silício com o uso da técnica de spin coating e tratados termicamente em diferentes temperaturas para a formação dos grãos cristalinos de ZnO. Os nanobastões crescidos sobre as camadas de nucleação foram obtidos via síntese hidrotermal e síntese de deposição por banho químico (CBD). As camadas de nucleação e os nanobastões apresentaram estrutura cristalina tipo wurtzita com crescimento preferencial na direção [002] na qual a propriedade piezoelétrica se manifesta. As análises de espectroscopia Raman corroboraram com as análises de difração de raios X, sendo que não houve os deslocamentos das bandas do ZnO, indicando que os nanobastões não estavam no modo de confinamento quântico. Os nanobastões apresentam vários tipos de defeitos cristalinos, provocando a formação de defeitos eletrônicos na região da banda proibida, promovendo uma emissão centrada em 600 nm nas análises de espectroscopia de fotoluminescência. Para o estudo da resposta piezoelétrica dos nanobastões foi utilizado um substrato condutor de silício com um filme de platina para o crescimento dos nanobastões. O dispositivo constituiu-se de um eletrodo, formado pelo substrato condutor com as nanoestruturas e um contraeletrodo, formado pelo substrato condutor. Verificou-se que o dispositivo tem um comportamento de diodo tipo Schottky, sendo que a resposta piezoelétrica frente a uma deformação física foi de até 7 mV, indicando que os nanobastões podem ser utilizados como conversores de energia mecânica em energia elétrica / Abstract: This work reports the synthesis and characterization of nanostructures of ZnO with hexagonal nanorods morphology, growth vertically on silicon substrate. For the vertical growth a film constituted for ZnO grain was deposited over the substrate to act as nucleation layer. In this work, the synthesis of nanorods and nucleation layer was made by chemical methods. The nucleation layers were obtained by calcination of the polymeric precursor and 2-ethylhexanoate, being deposited on the silicon substrate by spin coating technique and annealed at different temperatures to promote the formation of ZnO crystalline grains. The growth of the nanorods on the nucleation layers were obtained by hydrothermal and chemical bath deposition (CBD) synthesis. The nucleation layers and the nanorods have wurtzite structure with preferential growth along the [002] axis, where the piezoelectric properties show up. Raman spectroscopy analyzes corroborate the x-ray diffraction, and there was no ZnO band shift, indicating that the nanorods would not be in quantum confinement. The nanorods showed different types of crystal defects, inducing the formation of electronic defects in the band gap. These defects showed an emission centered at 600 nm in photoluminescence spectroscopy. To study the piezoelectric response of the nanorods, a silicon substrate with a platinum film was used to grow the nanorods. The device consists of electrode formed by the conductive substrate with the nanorods and a contra-electrode, formed by the conductor substrate. It was found that the device is a Schottky type diode and the piezoelectric response was to 7 mV by physical deformation. Therefore, ZnO nanorods can be used as converter mechanical energy into electricity / Mestrado / Quimica Inorganica / Mestra em Química

L’étude des effets quantiques nucléaires (NQE) suscite de plus en plus d’intérêt. En effet, les effets quantiques comme l’effet tunnel ou l’énergie de point zéro, peuvent profondément modifier les propriétés de matériaux constitués d'atomes légers comme l'hydrogène. Les méthodes standards de simulation des NQE sont basées sur les intégrales de chemin. Le bain thermique quantique (QTB) constitue une alternative à ces méthodes: le principe est que les degrés de liberté classiques du système obéissent à une équation de Langevin et sont couplés à des oscillateurs harmoniques quantiques. Dans l’équation de Langevin classique, la force aléatoire est un bruit blanc et le théorème de fluctuation-dissipation classique est vérifié; avec le QTB, le théorème de fluctuation-dissipation quantique est vérifié. Nous étudierons à travers des modèles simples la validité et les limites du QTB et montrerons qu'il permet de simuler des systèmes de la matière condensée en incluant les NQE en générant leurs propriétés structurales et dynamiques. Nous montrerons que le QTB est particulièrement adapté à l’étude de la symétrisation de liaisons hydrogènes et permet d'identifier précisément une pression de transition. Celle-ci dépend de la distance entre deux oxygènes voisins comme dans la glace sous haute pression, mais est modifiée par la présence d'impuretés ioniques ou par l'environnement atomique des liaisons hydrogènes comme dans la phase delta de AlOOH. De plus, en comparant des simulations classiques à des simulations QTB, nous pouvons identifier les rôles respectifs des effets quantiques et thermiques dans ces transitions de phase. / Increasing interest has risen for nuclear quantum effects (NQE) in the recent past. Indeed, NQE such as proton tunneling and zero point energy often play a crucial role in the properties of hydrogen-containing materials. The standard methods to simulate NQE are based on path integrals. An alternative to these methods is the Quantum Thermal Bath (QTB): it is based on a Langevin equation where the classical degrees of freedom are coupled to an ensemble of quantum harmonic oscillators. In the classical Langevin equation, the random force is a white noise and fulfills the classical fluctuation-dissipation theorem, while within the QTB formalism, it fulfills the quantum fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We investigate through simple models the reliability and the limits of the QTB and show that the QTB enables realistic simulations including NQE of condensed-phase systems, generating static and dynamic information such as pair correlation functions and vibrational spectra which can be confronted with experimental results. We show that the QTB is particularly successful in the study of the symmetrization of hydrogen bonds in several systems. Indeed, the difficulty lies in the identification of a precise transition pressure since this phase transition is often blurred by quantum or thermal fluctuations. In high-pressure ice, it depends on the oxygen-oxygen distance but it can be affected by ionic impurities and by the asymmetric environment of hydrogen bonds as in the delta phase of AlOOH. Moreover, by comparing results from QTB and standard ab initio simulations, we are able to disentangle the respective roles of NQE and thermal fluctuations in these phase transitions.

A class of lifetime distributions which has received considerable attention in modelling and analysis of lifetime data is the class of lifetime distributions with bath-tub shaped failure rate functions because of their extensive applications. The purpose of this thesis was to introduce a new class of bivariate lifetime distributions with bath-tub shaped failure rates (BTFRFs). In this research, first we reviewed univariate lifetime distributions with bath-tub shaped failure rates, and several multivariate extensions of a univariate failure rate function. Then we introduced a new class of bivariate distributions with bath-tub shaped failure rates (hazard gradients). Specifically, the new class of bivariate lifetime distributions were developed using the method of Morgenstern’s method of defining bivariate class of distributions with given marginals. The computer simulations and numerical computations were used to investigate the properties of these distributions.

New designer drugs are constantly emerging onto the illicit drug market and it is often difficult to validate and maintain comprehensive analytical methods for accurate detection of these compounds. Generally, toxicology laboratories utilize a screening method, such as immunoassay, for the presumptive identification of drugs of abuse. When a positive result occurs, confirmatory methods, such as gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS), are required for more sensitive and specific analyses. In recent years, the need to study the activities of these compounds in screening assays as well as to develop confirmatory techniques to detect them in biological specimens has been recognized. Severe intoxications and fatalities have been encountered with emerging designer drugs, presenting analytical challenges for detection and identification of such novel compounds. The first major task of this research was to evaluate the performance of commercially available immunoassays to determine if designer drugs were cross-reactive. The second major task was to develop and validate a confirmatory method, using LC-MS, to identify and quantify these designer drugs in biological specimens. Cross-reactivity towards the cathinone derivatives was found to be minimal. Several other phenethylamines demonstrated cross-reactivity at low concentrations, but results were consistent with those published by the assay manufacturer or as reported in the literature. Current immunoassay-based screening methods may not be ideal for presumptively identifying most designer drugs, including the “bath salts.” For this reason, an LC-MS based confirmatory method was developed for 32 compounds, including eight cathinone derivatives, with limits of quantification in the range of 1-10 ng/mL. The method was fully validated for selectivity, matrix effects, stability, recovery, precision, and accuracy. In order to compare the screening and confirmatory techniques, several human specimens were analyzed to demonstrate the importance of using a specific analytical method, such as LC-MS, to detect designer drugs in serum as immunoassays lack cross-reactivity with the novel compounds. Overall, minimal cross-reactivity was observed, highlighting the conclusion that these presumptive screens cannot detect many of the designer drugs and that a confirmatory technique, such as the LC-MS, is required for the comprehensive forensic toxicological analysis of designer drugs.

This diploma thesis deals with the design of a new car showroom with a car service. The content is the project documentation for construction work. The new building is located in the cadastral area of Řečkovice on a slightly sloping plot. The building is divided into 2 buildings - car showroom and car service. The showroom features exhibition grounds, office space and technical facilities. In the part of the garage, besides the service workshop, the customer part, staffing facilities and technical background are designed. Both operations can be separated if necessary. The building is shaped like a detached two-storey building with underground garages. The above-ground part of the building is designed as a prefabricated skeleton with filler masonry, underground is made of monolithic reinforced concrete - "white bath" system. It is roofed with a flat roof.

Diploma thesis deals with a design of a tractor earthmoving tipper and a stress analysis of its bath body. The first part contains an overview of similar construction solutions and a summary of related legislative requirements. Next part is followed up by a description of the tipper and its load conditions. The main part is focused on a stress analysis itself. Achieved results are evaluated at the end of this thesis. A partial technical documentation is also part of this work. This thesis was created in cooperation with company ZDT Nové Veselí.

This thesis describes the preparation of a project documentation for construction of a mountain guest house. The building is situated in the outskirts of the village Řeka on sloping land. It is a four-storey building with a basement and three floors. Peripheral bearing structures in the basement and first floor are in indirect contact with the soil and are lined with shuttering and a monolithic concrete. Perimeter and interior bearing walls are lined with ceramic blocks. The ceiling structure consists of a pramic - concrete panels. Stairways and elevator shafts are reinforced with a concrete . The building is covered with a gable roof, which is divided in the centre by an aisle roof. The part of the loft is used as an attic.

This study focused on the dynamic behaviour of the freeze lining and slag bath, and the interactions between these components in an ilmenite-smelting furnace process. The purpose of the work was to gain a better understanding of these issues and to ultimately contribute to an improved understanding of the ilmenite-smelting process in its entirety, and to future improvements in the design, operation and control of these processes. A mathematical model of the freeze lining and furnace sidewall was developed. This model was used in isolation for focused characterisation of the dynamic behaviour and interactions of the freeze lining and slag bath. The influences of net power input and slag composition were studied and various aspects of the freeze lining and slag bath were considered. These aspects included freeze lining thickness, temperature distribution through the freeze lining and furnace sidewall, composition distribution through the freeze lining, slag bath temperature and slag bath composition. The thermal response of thermocouples installed in the furnace sidewall to changing conditions on the inside of the furnace was also investigated. A mathematical model of the crust that forms on the slag bath surface was developed. This model was not used in isolation, and was only incorporated into a complete model of the process. A mathematical model of the entire ilmenite-smelting furnace process was constructed. This model incorporated the two models mentioned above and was able to describe the metal bath, slag bath, furnace atmosphere, freeze lining, furnace sidewall and the crust that is sometimes present on top of the slag bath. The model was used to study the influence of changes in operational parameters on the slag bath and freeze lining. The operational parameters that were studied included electrical power and reductant feed rate, both relative to ilmenite feed rate. The influence of severe operational errors and furnace down time were also investigated. Operational errors included loss of all feed while maintain electrical power input, and loss of reductant feed while maintaining power input and ilmenite feed. The above-mentioned studies were conducted by executing numerous experiments with two of the mathematical models. The experimental results were processed into sets of graphs displaying variations in the aspects that were considered. Many valuable insights resulted from the interpretation of these results. One specific aspect that formed part of the scope of this work was the origin of the compositional invariance of the slag close to the stoichiometric M3O5composition. This invariance was studied and a mechanism was proposed that explains the observed behaviour. The proposed mechanism created some questions about other mechanisms in the process. These mechanisms were also considered and elaborated on. The models and results produced in this study provide valuable insights into the behaviour of the ilmenite-smelting process. It also represents a useful foundation for future modelling work, and finally, it presents numerous opportunities for organisations operating ilmenite-smelting furnaces to improve their understanding and even the performance of their processes. / Thesis (PhD (Metallurgical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted

This study examines the prevalence of earnings management during the covid-19 pandemic in Swedish listed firms and aims to provide further evidence regarding earnings management practices during the pandemic. The study further investigates whether there are any differences between industries in terms of engaging in opportunistic accounting procedures. Previous research on earnings management during the covid-19 pandemic exclusively examines the year of 2020 as pandemic period. This study aims to contribute with further evidence by expanding the pandemic period and including the fiscal year of 2021, adding one additional fiscal year largely affected by the pandemic. Previous studies on the area finds contrasting results, where some studies find that firms tend to pursue income-increasing practices, while others deliberately decrease financial performance during a crisis. In order to perform this study, the modified Jones model is used to detect accrual-based earnings management through abnormal levels of discretionary accruals. The result of this study finds significantly increased levels of income-decreasing accrual-based earnings management, potentially suggesting that firms engaged in “big bath accounting” during the pandemic in order to boost financial performance in future periods. Additionally, the results show significantly increased levels of income-decreasing earnings management in 2/8 industries.

Aluminium is usually added to the continuous hot-dip galvanizing bath to improve coating ductility and adhesion through the rapid formation of a thin Fe-Al intermetallic layer at the substrate-liquid interface, thereby inhibiting the formation of brittle Fe-Zn intermetallic compounds. On the other hand, Mn is essential for obtaining the desired microstructure and mechanical properties in advanced high strength steels, but is selectively oxidized in conventional continuous galvanizing line annealing atmospheres. This can deteriorate reactive wetting by the liquid Zn(Al,Fe) alloy during galvanizing and prevent the formation of a well developed Fe-Al interfacial layer at the coating/substrate interface, resulting in poor zinc coating adherence and formability. However, despite Mn selective oxidation and the presence of surface MnO, complete reactive wetting and a well developed Fe-Al interfacial layer have been observed for Mn-containing steels. These observations have been attributed to the aluminothermic reduction of surface MnO in the galvanizing bath. According to this reaction, MnO is reduced by the bath dissolved Al, so the bath can have contact with the substrate and form the desired interfacial layer. Heat treatments compatible with continuous hot-dip galvanizing were performed on four different Mn-containing steels whose compositions contained 0.2-3.0 wt% Mn. It was determined that substrate Mn selectively oxidized to MnO for all alloys and process atmospheres. Little Mn surface segregation was observed for the 0.2Mn steel, as would be expected because of its relatively low Mn content, whereas the 1.4Mn through 3.0Mn steels showed considerable Mn-oxide surface enrichment. In addition, the proportion of the substrate surface covered with MnO and its thickness increased with increasing steel Mn content.A galvanizing simulator equipped with a He jet spot cooler was used to arrest the reaction between the substrate and liquid zinc coating to obtain well-characterized reaction times characteristic of the timescales encountered while the strip is resident in the industrial continuous galvanizing bath and short times after in which the Zn-alloy layer continues to be liquid (i.e. before coating solidification). Two different bath dissolved Al contents (0.20 and 0.30 wt%) were chosen for this study. The 0.20 wt% Al bath was chosen as it is widely used in industrial continuous galvanizing lines. The 0.30 wt% Al bath was chosen to (partially) compensate for any dissolved Al consumption arising from MnO reduction in the galvanizing bath.The Al uptake increased with increasing reaction time following non-parabolic growth kinetics for all experimental steels and dissolved Al baths. For the 0.20 wt% dissolved Al bath, the interfacial layer on the 1.4Mn steel showed the highest Al uptake, with the 0.2Mn, 2.5Mn and 3.0Mn substrates showing significantly lower Al uptake. However, increasing the dissolved bath Al to 0.30 wt% Al resulted in a significantly increased Al uptake being observed for the 2.5Mn and 3.0Mn steels for all reaction times. These observations were explained by the combined effects of the open microstructures associated with the multi-phase nature of an oxide-containing interfacial layer and additional Al consumption through MnO reduction. For instance, in the case of the 1.4Mn steel, the more open interfacial layer structure accelerated Fe diffusion through the interfacial layer and increased Al uptake versus the 0.2Mn substrate for the same bath Al. However, in the case of the 2.5Mn and 3.0Mn substrates and 0.20 wt% Al bath, additional Al consumption through MnO reduction caused the interfacial layer growth to become Al limited, whereas the very open structure dominated growth in the case of the 0.30 wt% Al bath and resulted in the changing the growth kinetics from mixed diffusion-controlled to a more interface controlled growth mode. A kinetic model based on oxide film growth (Smeltzer et al. 1961, Perrow et al. 1968) was developed to describe the Fe-Al interfacial layer growth kinetics within the context of the microstructural evolution of the Fe-Al interfacial layer for Mn-containing steels reacted in 0.20 wt% and 0.30 wt% dissolved Al baths. It indicated that the interfacial layer microstructure development and the presence of MnO at the interfacial layer had significant influence on the effective diffusion coefficient and interfacial layer growth rate. However, in the cases of the 2.5Mn and 3.0Mn steels in 0.20 wt% Al bath, the kinetic model could not predict the interfacial layer Al uptake, since the Fe-Al growth was Al limited. In fact, in these cases, additional Al was consumed for reducing their thicker surface MnO layer, resulted in limiting the dissolved Al available for Fe-Al growth. / Dissertation / Doctor of Science (PhD)