This paper demonstrates the application of a broadband luminescent downshifting (LDS) layer with multiple species of europium (Eu)-doped silicate phosphors using spin-on film technique to enhance the photovoltaic efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. The surface morphology of the deposited layer was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The chemical composition of the Eu...

This paper examines the compressive strength of sodium silicate bonded cores for aluminum casting with different additives. Various materials are used as additives among which it is found that 5% sand size bauxite has the best effect on both gas strength and de-coring 98.5% silica content sand with 70-90 AFS No. with 4% sodium silicate is used. The results indicate that although very good colla...

We study nanoclusters of Mg-rich olivine and pyroxene (having (MgO)6(SiO2)3 and (MgO)4(SiO2)4 compositions) with respect to their reactivity towards hydrogen atoms, using density functional calculations. Ultrasmall silicate particles are fundamental intermediates in cosmic dust grain formation and processing, and are thought to make up a significant mass fraction of the grain population. Due to...

Glasses and glass-ceramics (GCs) used for sealing, coating and high voltage applications belong to a special class of materials in which among other requirements, matching of thermal expansion coefficient with that of metal as closely as possible up to set temperature is an important consideration. In this paper I shall concentrate on some indigenous efforts carried out in my laboratory on the ...

Rice is a typical silicon-accumulating plant. Silicon (Si), deposited as phytoliths during plant growth, has been shown to occlude organic carbon, which may prove to have significant effects on the biogeochemical sequestration of atmospheric CO2. This study evaluated the effects of silicate fertilization on plant Si uptake and carbon bio-sequestration in field trials on China's paddy soils. The...

The recent Spitzer detections of the 9.7μm Si–O silicate emission in type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) provide support for the AGN unification scheme. The properties of the silicate dust are of key importance to understand the physical, chemical and evolutionary properties of the obscuring dusty torus around the AGN. Compared to that of the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM), the 10μm silicat...

this review reports recent advances in the field of polymer–layered silicate nano composites. thesematerials have attracted both academic and industrial attention because they exhibit dramaticimprovement in properties at very low filler contents. herein, the structure, preparation andproperties of polymer–layered silicate nanocomposites are discussed in general, and finally the effectof clay na...

Water based inorganic alkali silicate binder of zinc rich primer was modified by adding acrylic resin derivatives. Several series of primer coatings were formulated by adding 5, 10 and 15 wt of acrylic and acrylic/styrene copolymer to potassium silicate binder and used as binder in zinc rich coatings. The formulated primers were applied on low carbon steel plates and the corrosion protection pr...

We investigate Si(8)- and Si(16)-based silicate species via global optimisation searches and ab initio calculations and propose a new multi-mechanism interpretation of the experimentally observed atomic mixing of silicate oligomers in solution.