Evaluation of Magnetic,Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of Rubber Ferrite Composites

In the present study the preparation and characterisation of rubber ferrite composites (RFC) containing barium ferrite (BaF) and strontium ferrite (SrF) have been dealt with. The incorporation of the hard ferrites into natural and nitrile rubber was carried out according to a specific recipe for various loadings of magnetic fillers. For this, the ferrite materials namely barium ferrite and strontium ferrite having the general formula MO6Fe2O3 have been prepared by the conventional ceramic techniques. After characterisation they were incorporated into the natural and nitrile rubber matrix by mechanical method. Carbon black was also incorporated at different loading into the rubber ferrite composites to study its effect on various properties. The cure characteristics, mechanical, dielectric and magnetic properties of these composites were evaluated. The ac electrical conductivity of both the ceramic ferrites and rubber ferrite composites were also calculated using a simple relation. The investigations revealed that the rubber ferrite composites with the required dielectric and magnetic properties can be obtained by the incorporation of ferrite fillers into the rubber matrix, without compromising much on the processability and mechanical properties.

On the Synthesis and Characterisation of Magnetic Metal and Metal oxide Nanostructures

Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Magnetic, Dielectric and Physicomechanical Properties of Rubber Ferrite Nanocomposites

In the present study the preparation and characterisation of rubber ferrite composites containing nickel ferrite and gamma ferric oxide have been dealt with.Synthetic rubbers viz. ethylene propylene diene rubber and neoprene rubber were used for the incorporation of nickel ferrite and gamma ferric oxide for the synthesis of RFCs. Incorporation of ferrites were carried out according to a specific recipe for various loadings of the magnetic fillers. The ferrites used for the preparation of RFCs were synthesised using sol-gel method and structural characterisation was carried out. Experimental techniques like X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy and other analytical techniques were used for this. Precharaterised ferrites were then incorporated at different loading into rubber according to conventional mixing methods. The cure characteristics, mechanical, dielectric, magnetic and microwave properties of these composites were evaluated. The effect of carbon black on these properties of RFCs were carried out.

Investigations on Magnetic, Optical and Transport Properties of Magnetic Nanofluids for Engineering and Biomedical Applications

Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science & Technology

Investigations on some technologically important polymer nanocomposite films and semi crystalline Polypyrrole films

The present work deals with investigations on some technologically important polymer nanocomposite films and semi crystalline polypyrrole films.The work presented in the thesis deals with the realization of novel polymer nanocomposites with enhanced functionalities and prospects of applications in the fields related to nanophotonics. The development of inorganic/polymer nanocomposites is a rapidly expanding multidisciplinary research area with profound industrial applications. The incorporation of suitable inorganic nanoparticles can endow the resulting nanocomposites with excellent electrical, optical and mechanical properties. The first chapter gives a general introduction to nanotechnology, nanocomposites and conducting polymers. It also emphasizes the significance of ZnO among other semiconductor materials, which forms the inorganic filler in the polymer nanocomposites of the present study. This chapter also gives general ideas on the properties and applications of conducting polymers with special reference to polypyrrole. The objectives of the present investigations are also clearly addressed in this chapter. The second chapter deals with the theoretical aspects and details of all the experimental techniques used in the present work for the synthesis of polymer nanocomposites and polypyrrole samples and their various characterizations. Chapter 3 is based on the preparation and properties of ZnO/Polystyrene nanocomposite film samples. The optical properties of these nanocomoposite films are discussed in detail.Chapter 4 deals with the detailed investigations on the dependence of the optical properties of ZnO/PS nanocomposite films on the size of the nanostructured ZnO filler material. The excellent UV shielding properties of these nanocomposite films form the highlight of this chapter. Chapter 5 gives a detailed analysis of the nonlinear optical properties of ZnO/PS nanocomposite films using Z scan technique. The effect of ZnO particle size in the composite films on the nonlinear properties is discussed. The present study involves two phases of research activities. In the first phase, the linear and nonlinear optical properties of ZnO/polymer nanocomposites are investigated in detail. The second phase of work is centered on the synthesis and related studies on highly crystalline polypyrrole films. In the present study, nanosized ZnO is synthesized using wet chemical method at two different temperatures

Magnetic superelasticity and inverse magnetocaloric effect in Ni-Mn-In

Applying a magnetic field to a ferromagnetic Ni50Mn34In16 alloy in the martensitic state induces a structural phase transition to the austenitic state. This is accompanied by a strain which recovers on removing the magnetic field, giving the system a magnetically superelastic character. A further property of this alloy is that it also shows the inverse magnetocaloric effect. The magnetic superelasticity and the inverse magnetocaloric effect in Ni-Mn-In and their association with the first-order structural transition are studied by magnetization, strain, and neutron-diffraction studies under magnetic field.

Magnetic properties and domain-wall motion in single-crystal BaFe10.2Sn0.74Co0.66O19

The magnetic properties of BaFe12O19 and BaFe10.2Sn0.74Co0.66O19 single crystals have been investigated in the temperature range (1.8 to 320 K) with a varying field from -5 to +5 T applied parallel and perpendicular to the c axis. Low-temperature magnetic relaxation, which is ascribed to the domain-wall motion, was performed between 1.8 and 15 K. The relaxation of magnetization exhibits a linear dependence on logarithmic time. The magnetic viscosity extracted from the relaxation data, decreases linearly as temperature goes down, which may correspond to the thermal depinning of domain walls. Below 2.5 K, the viscosity begins to deviate from the linear dependence on temperature, tending to be temperature independent. The near temperature independence of viscosity suggests the existence of quantum tunneling of antiferromagnetic domain wall in this temperature range.

An investigation on the electrical characteristics of antimony trisulphide films and certain metal semiconductor (Sb2S3) contacts

The Thesis consist of the study of the electrical properties of antimony trisulphide films and the electrical behaviour of different metal contacts to antimony trisulphide films. Since the thermal evapouration of the compound antimony trisulphide as such mayresult in nonstoichiometric compound films , sb2s3 films in the present work were mostly prepared by the three temperature method ,keeping the substrate at different temperature ranging from 3031 to 4231 and evapourating antimony and sulphur simultaneously from separate sources.

Investigations On The Electrical Characteristics Of Certain Semiconductor Films And Polymerized Para-Toluidine Films

The thesis is a report of the attempts made to prepare semiconducting and dielectric thin films and to study their electrical properties. It consists of (i) studies on the preparation and electrical characteristics of compound semiconductor thin films of silver sulphide and ferric hydroxide, and (ii) investigations on the electrical and dielectric properties of plasma polymerized thin films of para-toluidine element

On the magnetic, mechanical and rheological properties of rubber–nickel nanocomposites

Rubber–nickel nanocomposites were synthesized by incorporating freshly prepared nanometric nickel particles in two different matrices namely natural rubber and neoprene rubber according to specific recipes for various loadings of nano nickel and the cure characteristics of these composites were evaluated. The maximum torque values register an increase with the increase in loading of nickel in both composites and this is attributed to the non-interacting nature of nickel nanoparticles with rubber matrices. The cure time of natural rubber composites decreases with increase in the content of nickel, and in neoprene rubber cure, time increases with increase in filler content. In natural rubber, the curing reaction seems to be activated by the presence of nickel particles. The magnetization studies of the composites reveal that the magnetic properties of nickel are retained in the composite samples. The elastic modulus of natural rubber and neoprene rubber are largely improved by the incorporation of nickel particles

Conservation of open solar magnetic flux and the floor in the heliospheric magnetic field

The near-Earth heliospheric magnetic field intensity, |B|, exhibits a strong solar cycle variation, but returns to the same ``floor'' value each solar minimum. The current minimum, however, has seen |B| drop below previous minima, bringing in to question the existence of a floor, or at the very least requiring a re-assessment of its value. In this study we assume heliospheric flux consists of a constant open flux component and a time-varying contribution from CMEs. In this scenario, the true floor is |B| with zero CME contribution. Using observed CME rates over the solar cycle, we estimate the ``no-CME'' |B| floor at ~4.0 +/- 0.3 nT, lower than previous floor estimates and below |B| observed this solar minimum. We speculate that the drop in |B| observed this minimum may be due to a persistently lower CME rate than the previous minimum, though there are large uncertainties in the supporting observational data.

Characteristic magnetic field and speed properties of interplanetary coronal mass ejections and their sheath regions

Prediction of the solar wind conditions in near-Earth space, arising from both quasi-steady and transient structures, is essential for space weather forecasting. To achieve forecast lead times of a day or more, such predictions must be made on the basis of remote solar observations. A number of empirical prediction schemes have been proposed to forecast the transit time and speed of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at 1 AU. However, the current lack of magnetic field measurements in the corona severely limits our ability to forecast the 1 AU magnetic field strengths resulting from interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs). In this study we investigate the relation between the characteristic magnetic field strengths and speeds of both magnetic cloud and noncloud ICMEs at 1 AU. Correlation between field and speed is found to be significant only in the sheath region ahead of magnetic clouds, not within the clouds themselves. The lack of such a relation in the sheaths ahead of noncloud ICMEs is consistent with such ICMEs being skimming encounters of magnetic clouds, though other explanations are also put forward. Linear fits to the radial speed profiles of ejecta reveal that faster-traveling ICMEs are also expanding more at 1 AU. We combine these empirical relations to form a prediction scheme for the magnetic field strength in the sheaths ahead of magnetic clouds and also suggest a method for predicting the radial speed profile through an ICME on the basis of upstream measurements.