Progress in microwave absorbing materials: A critical review

Microwave-absorbing materials play a significant role in various applications that involve the attenuation of electromagnetic radiation. This critical review article provides an overview of the progress made in the development and understanding of microwave-absorbing materials. The interaction between electromagnetic radiation and absorbing materials is explained, with a focus on phenomena such as multiple reflections, scattering, and polarizations. Additionally, types of losses that affect the performance of microwave absorbers are also discussed, including dielectric loss, conduction loss, relaxation loss, magnetic loss, and morphological loss. Each of these losses has different implications for the effectiveness of microwave absorbers. Further, a detailed review is presented on various types of microwave absorbing materials, including carbonaceous materials, conducting polymers, magnetic materials, metals and their composites, 2D materials (such as MXenes and 2D-transition metal dichalcogenides), biomass-derived materials, carbides, sulphides, phosphides, high entropy (HE) materials and metamaterials. The characteristics, advantages, and limitations of each material are examined. Overall, this review article highlights the progress achieved in the field of microwave-absorbing materials. It underlines the importance of optimizing different types of losses to enhance the performance of microwave absorbers. The review also recognizes the potential of emerging materials, such as 2D materials and high entropy materials, in further advancing microwave-absorbing properties.

Investigation of second-order NLO properties of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives: a DFT study

CONTEXT

In this study, we have developed four new chromophores (TM1-TM4) and performed quantum chemical calculations to explore their nonlinear optical properties. Our focus was on understanding the impact of electron-donating substituents on 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative chromophores. The natural bond orbital analysis confirmed the interactions between donors and acceptors as well as provided insights into intramolecular charge transfer. We also estimated dipole moment, linear polarizability molecular electrostatic potential, UV-visible spectra, and first hyperpolarizability. Our results revealed that TM1 with a strong and stable electron-donating group exhibited high first hyperpolarizability (β) 293,679.0178 × 10-34 esu. Additionally, TM1 exhibited a dipolar moment (μ) of 5.66 Debye and polarizability (α) of 110.62 × 10-24 esu when measured in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent. Furthermore, in a benzene solvent, TM1 showed a low energy band gap of 5.33 eV by using the ωB97XD functional with a 6-311 +  + G(d, p) basis set. Moreover, our study of intramolecular charge transfers highlighted N, N dimethyl triphenylamine and carbazole as major electron-donating groups among the four 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative chromophores. This research illustrates the potential applications of these organic molecules in photonics due to their versatile nature.

METHODS

The molecules were individually optimized using different functionals, including APFD, B3LYP, CAM B3LYP, and ωB97XD combined with the 6-311 +  + G (d, p) basis set in Gaussian 16 software. These methods encompass long-range functionals such as APFD and B3LYP, along with long-range corrected functionals like CAM B3LYP and ωB97XD. The employed functionals of APFD, B3LYP, CAM B3LYP, and ωB97XD with the 6-311 +  + G (d,p) basis set were used to extract various properties such as geometrical structures, dipole moment, molecular electrostatic potential, and first hyperpolarizability through precise density functional theory (DFT). Additionally, TD-DFT was utilized for obtaining UV-visible spectra. All studies have been conducted in both gas and solvent phases.

An Energy-Efficient Routing Algorithm for WSNs Using Fuzzy Logic

Battery replacement or recharging is essential for sensor nodes because they are typically powered by batteries in wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. Therefore, creating an energy-efficient data transfer technique is required. The base station (BS) receives data from one sensor node and routes the data to another sensor node. As a result, an energy-efficient routing algorithm using fuzzy logic (EERF) represents a novel approach that is suggested in this study. One of the reasoning techniques utilized in scenarios where there is a lot of ambiguity is fuzzy logic. The remaining energy, the distance between the sensor node and the base station, and the total number of connected sensor nodes are all inputs given to the fuzzy system of the proposed EERF algorithm. The proposed EERF is contrasted with the current systems, like the energy-aware unequal clustering using fuzzy logic (EAUCF) and distributed unequal clustering using fuzzy logic (DUCF) algorithms, in terms of evaluation criteria, including energy consumption, the number of active sensor nodes for each round in the network, and network stability. EAUCF and DUCF were outperformed by EERF.

Investigattions on ZnO Thin Films Modified with Urea: An Approach as Ammonia Sensor

Pure and urea-modified zinc oxide thin films are prepared using the spray pyrolysis technique on microscopic glass substrates. We have added different urea concentrations as a modifier to the zinc acetate precursor for obtaining urea-modified ZnO thin films and investigated the effect of the urea concentration on the structural, morphological, optical, and gas-sensing properties. The gas-sensing characterization of pure and urea-modified ZnO thin films is tested in the static liquid distribution technique with 25 ppm of ammonia gas at an operating temperature of 27 °C. The prepared film with a concentration of 2 wt % of urea has shown the best sensing properties toward ammonia vapors due to more active sites for the reaction between chemi-absorbed oxygen and the target vapors.

Facile Synthesis of Pure and Cr-Doped WO3 Thin Films for the Detection of Xylene at Room Temperature

This paper focused on the preparation of pure and Cr-doped tungsten trioxide (WO₃) thin films using the spray pyrolysis method. Different techniques were adopted to analyze these films' structural and morphological properties. The X-ray detection analysis showed that the average crystallite size of the WO₃-nanostructured thin films increased as the Cr doping concentration increased. The atomic force microscopy results showed that the root-mean-square roughness of the films increased with Cr doping concentration up to 3 wt % and then decreased. The increased roughness is favorable for gas-sensing applications. Surface morphology and elemental analysis of the films were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements. The 3 wt % Cr-WO₃ has a large nanoflake-like structure with high surface roughness and porous morphology. Gas-sensing characteristics of undoped and Cr-doped WO₃ thin films were investigated with various gases at room temperature. The results showed that 3 wt % Cr-doped WO₃ film performed the maximum response toward 50 ppm of xylene with excellent selectivity at room temperature. We believe that increased lattice defects, surface morphology, and roughness due to Cr doping in the WO₃ crystal matrix might be responsible for increased xylene sensitivity.