The use of waste materials has gained attention as a sustainable approach in various industries. Cigarette waste, which is typically discarded as a non-recyclable material, poses a significant environmental challenge due to its toxicity and slow decomposition rate. However, by incorporating this waste into ceramic bricks, new approaches for waste management and resource utilization are explored. This research work provides a detailed evaluation of the possibility of utilizing natural zeolite tuff incorporated with cigarette waste to produce sustainable ceramic bricks. Uniform powders are produced by milling various combinations of zeolitic tuff and cigarette waste using a planetary ball mill. The substitution ratios ranged from 0% to 12% by weight of the zeolitic tuff, with increments of 2%. Ceramic discs were formed by dry pressing and then subjected to sintering at different heat treatment temperatures (950–1250 °C). The impact of the inclusion of cigarette waste on the microstructural and technical features of zeolite tuff-based ceramic bricks has been thoroughly investigated. The results of the experiments demonstrate that incorporating cigarette waste into the development of ceramic bricks leads to improved thermal insulation properties, with thermal conductivity ranging from 0.33 to 0.93 W/m·K. Additionally, these bricks exhibit a lighter weight in a range of 1.45 to 1.96 g/cm3. Although the inclusion of cigarette waste slightly reduces the compressive strength, with values ranging from 6.96 to 58.6 MPa, it still falls within the acceptable range specified by standards. The inclusion of cigarette waste into zeolite tuff is an innovative approach and sustainable practice for reducing energy consumption in buildings while simultaneously addressing the issue of waste disposal and pollution mitigation.@en

Photonic crystal (PhC) has been studied for their potential to improve the efficiency of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cells by increasing the generated photocurrent by integrating it as a back reflector with almost zero transmission through the absorption active zone of the solar cell. It was found that the thickness of PhC layers greatly affects the width of the photonic bandgap and that increasing the thickness of VO₂ causes it to shift to a higher wavelength range. The PhC layers were added at the back side of the solar cell in two different configurations: (Monoclinic (M) VO₂/TiO₂) and (Tetragonal (T) VO₂/TiO₂) via SCAPS model. The study found that the (M VO₂/TiO₂) configuration led to an enhancement of the device's efficiency from 11.02 to 12.79%, while the (T VO₂/TiO₂) reaches 16.88%. The study concluded that the PhC layers enhance the light-matter coupling and photonic coupling and improvement in the device's performance.

@en

The phenomenon of hot carriers, which are generated through the nonradiative decay of surface plasmons in ultrathin metallic films, offers an intriguing opportunity for subbandgap photodetection even at room temperature. These hot carriers possess sufficient energy to inject into the conduction band of a semiconductor material. The groundbreaking use of iridium (Ir) ultrathin film as an ultraviolet (UV) plasmonic material on silicon (Si) for high-performance photodetectors (PHDs) has been successfully demonstrated. Elevating the thickness of the sputtered Ir film to 4 nm yields a notable surge in photocurrent, registering an impressive 600 μA under 365 nm UV illumination with electron mobility of 1.37E3 cm² V⁻¹ s. This PHD exhibits excellent OFF-ON photoresponses at various applied voltages ranging from 0 to 5 V, maintaining a stable photocurrent. Under UV illumination, it displays exceptional performance, achieving a high detectivity of 1.25E14 Jones and a responsivity of 1.28 A W⁻¹. These outstanding results underscore the significant advantages of increasing the thickness of the Ir film in PHDs, leading to improvements in conductivity, detectivity, external quantum efficiency, responsivity, as well as superior sensitivity for light detection.

@en

The use of electronic devices that incorporate multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) is on the rise, requiring materials with good electrical properties and a narrow band gap. This study synthesized yttrium-substituted barium titanate (Ba_1-xY_xTiO₃, BYT) using a sol-gel process at 950 °C with varying concentrations of yttrium (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3). X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the tetragonal phase became less pronounced as the yttrium content increased. The samples had varying grain sizes and porosity, with the BY30%T sample having the narrowest band gap at 2.21 eV. The BYT ceramic with 30% yttrium had a thermal conductivity of up to 7 W/m K and an electrical conductivity down to 0.002 (Ω cm)⁻¹ at 180 °C. The current-voltage characteristics of the BYT MLCC were also studied, showing potential use in next-generation high-capacity MLCCs. This work presents BYT as a promising material for these types of capacitors.

@en

The present research examines the development of new porous ceramic bricks from Hungarian zeolitic tuff and tea waste as building materials. Recycling waste materials as a pore-forming agent in brick-making is a promising solution to environmental and economic challenges. Several zeolitic tuff/tea waste admixtures were milled in the planetary ball milling to produce homogenous powders. The substitution ratios were maintained as 0 %, 2 %, 4 %, 6 %, 8 %, 10 %, and 12 % by wt of zeolitic tuff. The ceramic disks were produced from the prepared mixtures via dry pressing and sintering at various temperatures (950–1250 °C) for consolidation. The produced bricks were investigated based on bulk density, apparent porosity, water absorption, volume shrinkage, thermal conductivity and compressive strength, as well as mineralogical, chemical, and morphological studies. The mineralogical determination confirms the existence of clinoptilolite, montmorillonite, cristobalite and illite as major phases in zeolite tuff. The experimental results reveal that the addition of tea waste produces hybrid bricks with better thermal insulation (0.17–0.504 W/m K), lighter weight (1.37–1.81 g/cm³), and lower compressive strength (5.52–34.4 MPa). However, the compressive strength value still lies within the range required by the standards. The production of burned bricks containing up to 10 wt% tea waste is viable without causing major changes in their technical characteristics. Developing new porous bricks using waste materials can help expand the application of sustainable and cost-effective insulation bricks in the construction industry.

@en

In this study, we prepared a homogeneous fine powder of barium titanate (BaTiO₃, BT) doped with different concentrations of strontium (x = 0, 0.05, 0.125, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.3) and having the composition Ba_1-xSr_xTiO₃ (barium strontium titanate, BSr_xT). XRD patterns and Rietveld refinement revealed the existence of a single tetragonal phase structure for BSrxT, x = 0–20%, and a single cubic structure for BSr30%T. The physical properties of the pure and doped mixtures were studied. The results showed that the addition of strontium to the physical properties of BaTiO_3, including the apparent porosity, bulk density, linear shrinkage, and water absorption have been changed when increasing the Sr content. Moreover, the inclusion of 15% Sr in BaTiO₃ increases the apparent porosity and water absorption of the sample to 6.2 and 28.5%, respectively. The optical properties were investigated by Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and it was found that the optical band gap decreases significantly with increasing Sr concentration, from 3.10 for pure BaTiO₃ to 2.46 eV for the BSr30%T compound. The thermal conductivity measurements showed that the doping mechanism and the increased temperature have a significant effect on the thermal conductivity results of the fabricated ceramic materials. Therefore, it was found that the value of thermal conductivity increases with increasing Sr doping and at higher temperatures. A correlated behavior of optimum values is observed in band gap energy, absorption, and thermal conductivity which can be exploited for thermo-optical applications.

@en

Porous mullite-based ceramics have been developed using a mixture of zeolite-poor rock and alumina through mechanical activation and reactive sintering. The experimental findings demonstrate that the in-situ mullite growth may develop in a variety of shapes, including whiskers, nanofiber, nanonetwork and diamond-like particles. The XRD examination indicates that the samples sintered at 1500 °C are mostly made of the mullite phase. The SEM photographs show that as the sintering temperature increases, the mullitization process takes place first in zeolite-poor rock particles, and subsequently, alumina combines with the silica-containing phase via a liquid-phase sintering mechanism to produce an interlocking network of extended secondary mullite. The effects of mullite formation and the sintering temperature on various properties of the sintered samples, such as their density, apparent porosity, thermal conductivity, strength, wear resistance, composition, morphologies, and microstructural characteristics of the sintered samples were studied. Increasing the sintering temperature from 1100 to 1500 °C improved the different properties. The density increased from 1.9 to 2.1 g/cm³, thermal conductivity rose from 0.9 to 1.6 W/m.K, compressive strength escalated from 18.9 to 92.1 MPa, and worn material volume decreased from 2444 to 36.9 mm³ after a 5-min abrasion test.

@en

This study explored the efficient utilization of natural zeolite tuff and aluminum dross for making porous ceramic bricks, aiming to address environmental damage from waste disposal. Different compositions of these materials were used to create six batches of bricks, followed by heat treatment at varying temperatures (950–1150 °C). The raw materials and the sintered samples were analyzed using various characterization techniques. The results showed that bricks incorporating 30 % aluminum dross and sintered at 1150 °C had the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.3 W/m·K. On the other hand, bricks containing 20 % aluminum dross and sintered at the same temperature exhibited the highest compressive strength (58 MPa), a bulk density of 1.9 g/cm³, and a water absorption of approximately 13 %. All samples exceeded the minimum compressive strength requirements. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using natural zeolite tuff and aluminum dross to develop composite bricks, providing an effective waste disposal solution for sustainable development and reduced environmental pollution.

@en

Strontium and Yttrium-doped and co-doped BaTiO₃ (BT) ceramics with the stoichiometric formulas BaTiO₃, B_1-xSr_xTiO₃, Ba_1-xY_xTiO₃, BaTi_1-xY_xO₃, Ba_1-xY_xTi_1-xY_xO₃, and Ba_1-xSr_xTi_1-xY_xO₃ (x = 0.075) noted as BT, BSrT, BYT, BTY, BYTY, and BSrTY have been synthesized through sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the prepared ceramics, calcined at a slightly low temperature (950 °C/3h), displayed that BT, BSrT, and BYT ceramics possess tetragonal structures and BTY, BYTY, and BSrTY have a cubic structure. The incorporation of the Ba and/or Ti sites by Sr²⁺ and Y³⁺ ions in the lattice of BaTiO₃ ceramic and the behaviors of the crystalline characteristics in terms of the Y and Sr dopant were described in detail. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images demonstrated that the densification and grain size were strongly related to Sr and Y elements. UV–visible spectroscopy was used to study the optical behavior of the as-prepared ceramic samples and revealed that Sr and Y dopants reduce the optical band gap energy to 2.74 eV for the BSrTY compound. The outcomes also demonstrated that the levels of Urbach energy are indicative of the created disorder following the inclusion of Yttrium. The measurements of the thermal conductivity indicated the influence of the doping mechanism on the thermal conductivity results of the synthesized samples. Indeed, the thermal conductivity of BaTiO₃ is decreased with Sr and Y dopants and found to be in the range of 085–2.23 W.m^-1. K⁻¹ at room temperature and decreases slightly with increasing temperature from 2.02 to 0.73-W.m^-1. K⁻¹. Moreover, the microstructure and grains distribution of the BT, BSrT, BYT, BTY, BYTY, and BSrTY samples impacted the compressive strength, hence; the compressive strength was minimized as the grain size decreased.

@en

The BTO, BFTC, and BCTF compounds were synthesized by the sol-gel method. The XRD study revealed the formation of single-phase tetragonal perovskite structures with the space group (P4mm). The crystalline parameters were studied as a function of Fe and Co contents and occupation of Ba and/or Ti sites by Fe and Co in the BTO lattice. It was found that the obtained strain increases when Ba²⁺ is substituted by Co²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ by Fe³⁺. The Raman investigation confirmed the existence of three active modes (B1/E (TO1LO), (E (TO)/A1(TO3), and (A 1(LO)/E (TO), all of which are related to the existence of the tetragonal phase and strongly support the XRD results. The microstructural study showed a clear correlation between the presence of Fe and Co and the grain size distribution. Optical studies revealed the improvement in band gap energy with transition-metal (Fe and Co) co-doped BTO ceramics. The decrease in the band gap is explained by the competing effects of Columbian interactions, microdeformation, and oxygen defects. The results indicate that the presence of Fe and Co dopants enhances the absorption in the BTO ceramic. The dopants demonstrated an effect on thermal conductivity: they decreased the thermal conductivity of BTO, which is in the range of 0.76-2.23 W m^-1 K^-1 at room temperature and 2.02-0.27 W m^-1 K^-1 at elevated temperatures. The microstructure of the manufactured materials and the grain size distribution affect the compressive strength.

@en