Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar

About: Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar is a facility organization based out in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Large Hadron Collider & Hadron. The organization has 566 authors who have published 1768 publications receiving 64889 citations.

Graphene-incorporated aluminum with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties for solar heat collectors

Abstract: A simple yet innovative approach has been made through a powder metallurgy route for the synthesis of aluminum–graphene (Al–Gr) composite materials for commercially viable solar thermal collectors. The Al–Gr composite (with 1 wt. % of graphene filler content) recorded an enhanced thermal conductivity of ∼280 W/mK, which is higher than that of pristine Al (∼124 W/mK), at room temperature. It has also been found that the prepared composite has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion. The structures and morphologies of the composites have been investigated in detail with the help of X-ray diffraction technique, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, etc. Furthermore, the density measurements showed that the composites retain ∼97.5% of the density of pristine aluminum even after the sintering treatment. X-ray micro-computed tomography revealed the structural integrity and non-porous nature of the samples, free from any defects and deformations. The thermal fusing of Al-based composite materials at 630 °C is found to be satisfactory with the required strength, and the composites showed at least ∼125% increase in the thermal conductivity than that of pristine Al. These results suggest that the Al–Gr composites can be deployed as solar thermal collectors and heat sink materials for thermal dissipation.

Elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

Abstract: The elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity ($|y|$ $<$ 0.7) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The particle azimuthal distribution with respect to the reaction plane can be parametrized with a Fourier expansion, where the second coefficient ($v_{\rm 2}$) represents the elliptic flow. The $v_{\rm 2}$ coefficient of inclusive electrons is measured in three centrality classes (0-10%, 10-20% and 20-40%) with the event plane and the scalar product methods in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) intervals 0.5-13 GeV/$c$ and 0.5-8 GeV/$c$, respectively. After subtracting the background, mainly from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of neutral mesons, a positive $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays is observed in all centrality classes, with a maximum significance of $5.9\sigma$ in the interval $2 <$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 2.5 GeV/$c$ in semi-central collisions (20-40%). The value of $v_{\rm 2}$ decreases towards more central collisions at low and intermediate $p_{\rm T}$ (0.5 $<$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 3 GeV/$c$). The $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity is found to be similar to the one of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 $<$ $y$ $<$ 4). The results are described within uncertainties by model calculations including substantial elastic interactions of heavy quarks with an expanding strongly-interacting medium.