Thapar University

About: Thapar University is a education organization based out in Patiāla, Punjab, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Cloud computing. The organization has 2944 authors who have published 8558 publications receiving 130392 citations.

Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of atenolol using graphene TiO2 composite

Abstract: Graphene oxide-TiO 2 (TiO 2 -G) composite synthesized by a facile route is able to exhibit significantly higher photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. The prepared composite was characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET). The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photo-degradation of the Atenolol (ATL) as model pharmaceutical pollutant under UV–vis light and “simulated Sun” irradiation conditions. The results showed that TiO 2 -G exhibited much higher photocatalytic performance than that of bare TiO 2 . The enhanced activity can be ascribed to the incorporation of graphene. The effect of various factors such as variation of pH, catalyst concentration, initial substrate concentration, light intensity, and source of light as well as reaction kinetics were investigated. The results showed that 72% degradation of ATL (25 ppm) can be achieved with 1.5 g/L TiO 2 -G in 1 h under solar irradiation. Complete TOC removal for atenolol degradation was obtained in 7 h. The work is expected to shed new light on the development of graphene composite nanostructures for gathering visible light energy and on the improvement of new photocatalytic materials for the exclusion of environmental pollutants.

Multi-objective non-linear programming problem in intuitionistic fuzzy environment

Abstract: Multi-objective optimization problem under intuitionistic fuzzy environment has been considered.Degree of attainability and non-attainability is represented by non-linear functions.Optimistic and pessimistic aspect of the problem has been considered.The validity of the problem has been discussed.multiobjective problems arising in the transportation and manufacturing systems have been taken for demonstration. The objective of this manuscript is to present an algorithm for solving multi-objective optimization problem under the optimistic and pessimistic view point. The conflicting natures of the different objective have been handled by defining the membership functions corresponding to it in parabolic intuitionistic fuzzy set environment and thus the problem becomes parabolic multi-objective non-linear optimization programming problem (PMONLOPP). A linear and non-linear membership functions corresponding to each objective has been taken in account. An illustrative examples from transportation as well as in manufacturing systems are reported and compared with the typical approaches exist in the literature. As shown, the solutions obtained by the proposed approach are superior to those of existing best solutions reported in the literature. Further-more, experimental results indicate that the proposed approach may yield better solutions to these types of problems than those obtained by using current algorithms.

ECCAuth: A Secure Authentication Protocol for Demand Response Management in a Smart Grid System

Abstract: The devices in smart grids (SG) transfer data to a utility center (UC) or to the remote control centers. Using these data, the energy balance is maintained between consumers and the grid. However, this flow of data may be tampered by the intruders, which may result in energy imbalance. Thus, a robust authentication protocol, which supports dynamic SG device validation and UC addition, both in the local and global domains, is an essential requirement. For this reason, ECCAuth: a novel elliptic curve cryptography-based authentication protocol is proposed in this paper for preserving demand response in SG. This protocol allows establishment of a secret session key between an SG device and a UC after mutual authentication. Using this key, they can securely communicate for exchanging the sensitive information. The formal security analysis, informal security analysis, and formal security verification show that ECCAuth can withstand several known attacks.

Study of Material Transfer Mechanism in Die Steels Using Powder Mixed Electric Discharge Machining

Abstract: The present article investigates the effect of process parameters and mechanism of material deposition in powder mixed electric discharge machining (PMEDM) on surface properties of EN31, H11, and High Carbon High Chromium (HCHCr) die steel materials. Current, powder, and interaction between workpiece and electrode affected the microhardness significantly. Copper electrode was found best for EN31 and H11 die steel, whereas tungsten-copper electrode was better suited for HCHCr steel to achieve higher microhardness. Graphite powder was found to be more suitable compared to aluminum in improving the microhardness of all three materials. Selected samples were analyzed for X-ray diffraction (XRD) followed by microstructure analysis using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed significant material transfer from the electrode as well as powder, either in free form and/or in compound form. For maximizing the microhardness of the machined surface, optimum parametric settings were identified for th...