The author has succeeded in writing a well-balanced textbook of the new field of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions (RHICs). The book is primarily suited to theoretically oriented graduate students and researchers (both theorists and experimental physicists). After introducing the necessary kinematical variables and describing the phenomenology of nucleon--nucleon collisions, the author proceeds to elucidate various concepts of high-energy particle physics which are relevant to the study of RHICs. Among these are the hard-scattering model, the Schwinger particle production mechanism, the classical string model and the dual parton model. He then focuses on the concept of the quark--gluon plasma (QGP) and gives an overview of the methods and results of lattice gauge theory. The final chapters of the book are devoted to the creation of a QGP via heavy-ion collisions and its possible signatures. In great detail the author discusses dilepton production, suppression, photon production, Hanbury--Brown--Twiss interferometry and strangeness enhancement. The book is very well written and I can recommend it to all graduate students and researchers interested in the field of RHICs. However, the book has one shortcoming: it focuses on heavy-ion physics in the energy region E > 200 GeV/nucleon and higher. The physics of the hadron gas, important for the later stages of RHICs at CERN and dominant for beam energies in the BEVALAC/SIS/AGS range, is neglected. To acquire an overview of the entire field of RHICs, the reader would profit from a supplementary reading of the more introductory textbook Introduction to Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions by L Csernai.

http://iopscience.iop.org/0954-3899/22/1/015/pdf/0954-3899_22_1_015.pdf

Introduction to High-Energy Heavy-Ion Collisions

Progress in microwave-assisted synthesis of quantum dots (graphene/carbon/semiconducting) for bioapplications: a review

Carbon nanomaterials including carbon black (CB), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have attracted increasingly more interest in academia due to their fascinating properties. These nanomaterials can significantly improve the mechanical, electrical, thermal, barrier, and flame retardant properties of elastomers. The improvements are dependent on the molecular nature of the matrix, the intrinsic property, geometry and dispersion of the fillers, and the interface between the matrix and the fillers. In this article, we briefly described the fabrication processes of elastomer composites, illuminated the importance of keeping fillers at nanoscale in matrices, and critically reviewed the recent development of the elastomeric composites by incorporating CB, CNTs, and graphene and its derivatives. Attention has been paid to the mechanical properties and electrical and thermal conductivity. Challenges and further research are discussed at the end of the article.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0957-4484/26/11/112001/pdf

Elastomeric composites based on carbon nanomaterials

Titanium dioxide-multiwalled carbon nanotube (denoted as TiO 2 –CNT) nanocomposites with a novel rice-grains nanostructure are synthesized by electrospinning and subsequent high temperature sintering. The rice grain-shaped TiO 2 is single crystalline with a large surface area and the single crystallinity is retained in the TiO 2 –CNT composite as well. At very low CNT loadings (0.1–0.3 wt% of TiO 2 ), the rice grain shape remains unchanged while at high CNT concentrations (8 wt%), the morphology distorts with CNTs sticking out of the rice-grain shape. The optimum concentration of CNTs in the TiO 2 matrix for best performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is found to be 0.2 wt%, which shows a 32% enhancement in the energy conversion efficiency. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) measurements show that the charge transfer and collection are improved by the incorporation of CNTs into the rice grain-shaped TiO 2 network. We believe that this facile one-pot method for the synthesis of the rice-grain shaped TiO 2 –CNT composites with high surface area and single crystallinity offers an attractive means for the mass-scale fabrication of the nanostructures for DSCs since electrospinning is a simple, cost-effective and scalable means for the commercial scale fabrication of one-dimensional nanostructures.

Rice grain-shaped TiO2–CNT composite—A functional material with a novel morphology for dye-sensitized solar cells

Acetylcholinesterase biosensor based on assembly of multiwall carbon nanotubes onto liposome bioreactors for detection of organophosphates pesticides

Theoretical evaluation of electron mobility in multi-walled carbon nanotubes

The Fermi level for a multiwalled carbon nanotube is determined analytically by using the Fermi velocity obtained from the particle-in-a-box model. Fermi energy is found to be quantized so that the corresponding quantum number coincides with the wall number. In addition, the classical limit is discussed.

A theoretical analysis on the fermi level in multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A quantitative discussion on band-gap energy and carrier density of CdO in terms of temperature and oxygen partial pressure

An analytical formulation to interpret the quantized electrical conductance in multiwalled carbon nanotubes with defects is presented. In this formulation, free-electron theory is utilized in order to calculate conductance which is found to be fractional according to an inverse proportionality law with respect to the number of layers involved in a given multiwalled tube. Our results agree well with experimental observations.

M.A. Grado-Caffaro

Papers

Theoretical evaluation of electron mobility in multi-walled carbon nanotubes

A theoretical analysis on the fermi level in multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A quantitative discussion on band-gap energy and carrier density of CdO in terms of temperature and oxygen partial pressure

Fractional conductance in multiwalled carbon nanotubes: a semi-classical theory

A brief semi-quantitative discussion on electrical conductance through resonant states in metallic electrochemical nanowires