Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

---

The mechanical characterization of short E- glass fiber reinforced, graphite and sintered bronze filled epoxy composite was carried out in this study. The aim of the present study was to develop tribological engineering material. In this study the flexural strength, theoretical and experimental density, Hardness and Impact strength of composites was investigated experimentally. The results showed that the increased percentage of graphite (10 to 15%Vol) and Eglass fiber (10 to 15%Vol) enhanced flexural strength (149 MPa) of the composite and the maximum flexural modulus (13.3 GPa and 13.1 GPa) was obtained for composite C2 and C5 respectively. Maximum hardness (84 on L scale) and impact energy (90 Joule) was obtained for the composite C6 with increased percentage of glass fiber and graphite filler. The metallurgical electron microscopic images were discussed to interpret the effect of graphite and sintered bronze on mechanical characterization of composite

---

Residual stress measurement is of utmost importance for the safety and reliability of engineering components and has been an active area of scientific research. Relaxation techniques such as hole drilling, slitting and ring core method are widely applied semi destructive techniques for residual stress measurements in polymer composites. This article reviews the recent literature on the measurement of residual stress in polymer composite by employing the above-mentioned relaxation techniques. This article summarizes the categories of residual stresses, causes of formation, techniques of measurements and also briefly outlines the chronological developments of the Hole drilling and slitting method. The article also provides a comparative summary of these relaxation methods.

---

The energy release rate for delamination in a laminated composite is supposed to be the material property being considered as independent of non-material property variables. However, Mode I fracture toughness(G_I) is found to vary with lamina arrangement, geometrical dimensions, and process-induced stresses.  In this investigation, the influence of lamina stacking arrangement on process-induced stresses and their effects on G_I of laminated composites are studied. Unidirectional (UD) ([0]₁₆) and cross-ply ([90₂/0₆]s, [90₄/0₄]s and [90₆/0₂]s) Glass/ epoxy (GE) composites with the delamination plane at 0◦//0◦ were prepared by manual layup method and post-cured at 120 °C for 4 hours. G_I of composite laminates were experimentally determined using a double cantilever beam(DCB) specimen as per ASTM D 5528. The slitting method was applied to determine the Process-induced stresses in GE laminates. The stacking sequence of laminas was found to have a noticeable effect on the state of residual stresses and G_I of GE laminates. Residual stresses do not have much influence on the G_I for delamination initiation, whereas G_I  for the crack propagation was found to increase with a gradual increase in compressive residual stresses in GE laminates.

---

Temperature is one of the key factor that affecting the electrical, physical, structural, and morphological properties as well as the crystallinity of the nanomaterials. The current study investigates the effect of annealing temperature on the structural and electrical properties of lanthanum oxide (La2O3) thick films. La2O3 thick films were prepared on a glass substrate using a conventional screen printing technique. In this work, T1 is an unannealed prepared film, whereas T2 and T3 are annealed in a muffle furnace for 3 hours at 350°C and 450°C, respectively. XRD technique was exploited to investigate the crystallization behavior of the films. It was found that the crystal structure of La2O3 thick films are pure hexagonal phase. The annealing temperatures were revealed to have influence on the crystallite sizes of the films. SEM and EDS was used to study the morphology and elemental analysis of the films respectively. The electrical properties of the films were explored by measuring resistivity, temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR), and activation energy at lower and higher temperatures regions. The film annealed at 450°C has high resistivity, a high TCR, and small crystallite size. The thickness of the La2O3 thick films was also found to decrease as the annealing temperature increased.

---

The trimanganese tetraoxide (Mn₃O₄) nanostructured thin films doped with 2 mol % of nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo) ions were deposited by a simple electrophoretic deposition technique. The structural, optical, and morphological studies of these doped thin films were compared with pure Mn₃O₄ thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the tetragonal Hausmannite spinel structure. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) provided information about the molecular composition of the thin films and the presence of specific chemical bonds. The optical study and band gap energy values of all thin films were evaluated by the UV visible spectroscopy technique. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) illustrated the morphological modifications of the Mn₃O₄ thin films due to doping of the nickel and molybdenum ions. The Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method has confirmed the mesoporous nanostructure and nanopores of the thin films. The supercapacitive performance of the thin films was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) techniques using the three-electrode arrangement. An aqueous 1M Na₂SO₄ electrolyte was used for the electrochemical study. The 2 mol % Ni doped Mn₃O₄ thin film has shown maximum specific capacitance than pure and Mo doped Mn₃O₄ thin films. Hence, this study proved the validity of the strategy - metal ion doping of Mn₃O₄ thin films to develop it as a potential candidate for electrode material in the futuristic energy storage and transportation devices.

---

Iron oxide nanoparticles has attracted extensively due to their supermagnetic properties, preferred in biomedicine because of their biocompatibility and potential nontoxicity to human beings. Synthesis of iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) was prepared with the help of ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate by using the coprecipitation method. The variation and combination of ferric and ferrous concentrations affect the physical and magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles.  The effect of 0.1 M ferric and ferrous concentration on iron oxide nanoparticles studied separately and in combination. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by Particle size, zeta potential, Ultraviolet (UV-visible), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. Particle size was below 200nm and zeta potential was within the limit for all the batches. UV visible spectra at 224 nm, and FTIR exhibit two peaks at 510 and 594 cm-1, indicating iron oxide NPs and XRD confirmed the crystalline nature of Fe. SEM showed a spherical shape for all batches. The use of a combination of ferric and ferrous is more effective than its individual use. TGA and VSM studies confirmed its magnetic properties.
 

---

The Nickel tungsten (Ni-W) alloy was electrodeposited on stainless steel (SS) substrate using potentiostatic mode at room temperature. Potentiostatic electrodeposition was carried out by varying the deposition time. The physicochemical properties of Ni-W alloys were studied using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Electron Microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Recorded XRD spectra was compared with standard JCPDS card and the presence of Ni was confirmed, no such peaks for W were observed. Further study was extended for micro-Raman analysis. From Raman spectroscopy study the appearance of Ni-O and W⁶⁺=O bonds confirms that the Ni-W present in amorphous phase. Several cracks were observed in SEM images along with nanoparticles distributed over the electrode surface. The appearance of cracks may be correlated with the in-plane tensile stresses, lattice strains and stacking faults and may be related to the substrate confinements.
 

---

Hybrid photocatalysts, comprising both inorganic and organic polymeric components, are the most promising photocatalysts for the degradation of organic contaminants. The nanocomposite, Titania-Polyaniline (TiO₂-PANI) was synthesized using the chemical oxidative polymerization method. Various characterization techniques were employed to assess the properties of the catalysts. The ultraviolet diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) analysis revealed that the TiO₂ absorbs only UV light while the TiO₂-PANI nanocomposite absorbs light from both UV and visible regions. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed the presence of TiO₂ (anatase) in both TiO₂ nanoparticles and TiO₂-PANI (Titania-Polyaniline)  nanocomposite. The phases of the catalysts were verified through Raman, TEM, and SAED techniques where all results are in good agreement with each other. The average crystallite size of TiO₂ nanoparticle and TiO₂-PANI nanocomposite were 13.87 and 10.76 nm. The thermal stability of the catalysts was assessed by the Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) technique. The order of the thermal stability is TiO₂ > TiO₂-PANI > PANI.  The crystal lattice characteristics were confirmed using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The surface area measurements were confirmed from the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) study and were employed for the evaluation of the photocatalytic efficiency of both, TiO₂ nanoparticles and TiO₂-PANI nanocomposite catalysts. The energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) study was employed for elemental detection of the fabricated materials. While Raman spectroscopy was employed for the chemical structure and the phase characteristics of the materials. The standard conditions for the degradation of the CF dye were 8 g/L of catalyst dosage, 20 mg/L of dye concentration, and a pH of 7. The TiO₂-PANI nanocomposite exhibited superior efficiency as compared to pure TiO₂ nanoparticles, achieving almost 100 % degradation in just 40 minutes.