Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology

About: Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology is a education organization based out in Topi, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Quantum efficiency. The organization has 618 authors who have published 940 publications receiving 10674 citations.

Potential of use of ion implantation as a means of catalyst manufacturing

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of an ion implantation technique for catalyst manufacturing. The increasing production of vehicle catalysts has resulted in a growing consumption of the noble metals. Traditional methods of coating, such as impregnation, are thought to reduce the porosity and specific surface area of the catalysts. When ion implantation is used, the ions of the catalytic material are implanted into the substrate surface without affecting these properties. Several catalysts on different substrates were prepared by ion implantation and tested. The platinum-implanted catalyst showed a carbon monoxide (CO) conversion efficiency equal to that of the impregnated catalyst but with a 15 times lower platinum content. The CO conversion efficiency of the base metal based catalyst is doubled by platinum implantation. Details of the ion implantation parameters and test results are provided.

Identification of essential regulatory elements responsible for the explicit expression of IL-28Rα and their effect on critical SNPs using in-Silico methods.

Abstract: IL-28Rα and IL10Rβ collectively construct a fully functional hetero-dimeric receptor for type III interferons (IFNs). IL-28Rα is the private chain for type III IFNs since their involvement in any other pathway has not been reported yet and they are highly expressed in response to certain viral attack or cancers. IL-28Rα is specific in their expression pattern and it expresses within few cell types only. The regulatory mechanisms governing the expression of IL-28Rα at the molecular level are not completely known yet and need to be scrutinized at primary levels. In the present study, various in-silico techniques were applied and it was observed that AP1-2, STAT 1-6, P-53, LyF-1 (lymphoid transcription factor), c-Jun, PU.1, CREB (cAMP response element-binding), PLAG (pleotropic adenoma gene), MYOD (myoblast determination protein 1), NOFL and KLFS as transcription factors that are selected with preference. Interestingly AP-2, c-Jun, LyF-1, STAT, NF-Y and P53 have also been reported in literature recently as some of the key regulatory elements as well. Based on the fact that interlinking between different interferon stimulation genes (ISGs) is also not very clear and induction of one type of interferon can affect the efficacy of the other, we found that IFN-λ4 induction can increase the expression of IL-28Rα, similar to IFN-λ3 but contrary to type I IFNs, which has either no effect on the expression of IL-28Rα or can down regulate its expression at higher concentrations (data not published).

Elucidating d-π conjugated isoreticular 2,3,6,7,10,11- hexahydroxytriphenylene and hexahydroxybenzene based metal organic frameworks for battery-supercapacitor hybrids

Abstract: Energy storage technology has witnessed a phenomenal expansion in developing electrode materials with the capability of providing high energy density and/or high power density. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) family have become a strong competitor of already existed electrode materials in past few years. In this study, we synthesized two conductive copper based conductive metal organic frameworks (c-MOFs) with different linkers (HTTP: 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene, HHB: hexahydroxybenzene) named as Cu3(HHTP)2 and Cu3(HHB)2. Battery-supercapacitors were fabricated of both c-MOFs with activated carbon (AC) and evaluated for their energy storage profiles. The dynamics of variation in electrochemical properties of honeycomb structured c-MOFs due to replacing linker have been discussed conscientiously. The Cu3(HHTP)2 was witnessed to appear more favorable material for energy storage applications as it possesses remarkable specific capacity (138 C/g), energy density (33 W h/kg) and power density (3582 W/kg) with 95% capacity retention after 1000 cycles. Theoretical approach was employed further to open a new revenue to assess battery-supercapacitors by calculating regression parameters of Dunn’s model to explain surface and bulk phenomenon occurring for charge storing. This study bridges the gap between batteries and supercapacitors and a guide towards the development of new generation energy storage device with enhanced properties.

Optimizing zinc oxide nanorods based DSSC employing different growth conditions and SnO coating

Abstract: Effect of seed layer thickness, growth time and tin oxide coating was studied for optimized performance in ZnO nanorods (NRs) based Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Three different seed layer thickness of 150 nm, 250 nm and 350 nm were used for hydrothermal growth of ZnO NRs varying the growth time from 12 to 20 h. Among all devices, cell fabricated employing ZnO NRs grown for 20 h using 150 nm thick seed layer yielded the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.25%, with a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 1.549 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.5 V and a fill factor of 32.68. A significant increase in short circuit current density was observed by employing tin oxide coating on zinc oxide nanorods based DSSCs compared to simple ZnO based DSSCs. This increase of Jsc is attributed to better electron transfer, increased dye loading, more charge carriers generation and lower recombination of charge carriers. The DSSC fabricated with SnO coated ZnO NRs also showed an increase in open circuit voltage and fill factor because of the higher conduction band edge of SnO as compared to ZnO. A maximum efficiency of 0.81% was achieved when seed layer thickness was kept at 150 nm, hydrothermal growth of ZnO NRs was continued for 20 h, and 2 h of SnO coating was performed followed by 350 °C annealing. An increase of 224%, 61.39% and 38% was observed for PCE, short circuit current density (Jsc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) respectively, compared to the device fabricated without SnO coating of ZnO NRs with the same seed layer thickness and growth time. Scanning electron microscopy was performed to visualize and understand function of tin oxide coating on zinc oxide nanorods used in dye-sensitized solar cell.

Investigation on the effects of the processing parameters and the number of passes on the flexural properties of polymer nanocomposite fabricated through FSP method

Abstract: Flexural properties calculation helps in designing structural elements like beam, cantilever and shafts. Moreover, the flexural properties are of vital importance in engineering and industrial applications such as joints replacements. The purpose of this investigation is to study for the first time, how the friction stir processing (FSP) parameters affects the flexural properties of UHMW-PE composites reinforced with nano particles. The tool rotational speed (ψ), tool feed rate (ʄ), volume percentage (ⱴ) of nano powder and tool shoulder temperature (τ) are selected as the process parameters. The ultimate flexural strength (UFS) and flexural yield strength (FYS) are calculated from the flexural test stress-strain diagrams. The analysis of variance is conducted which reveals that the selected parameters are significant for both UFS and FYS. Macroscopic and microscopic study shows that the FSP parameters affects the mixing of the strengthening particles and hence the flexural properties of the composite. The combinations of low level of ⱴ with medium level values of other parameters results in the highest flexural properties. Moreover, the combinations of higher levels of τ and ψ results in material degradation. At the end, optimum conditions for the highest flexural properties are sorted out and the effect of increasing the number of passes has been investigated which significantly improve the flexural properties of the composite material.