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In the current work, rice straw nanofibers (RSNF) with the width of elementary fibrils (~ 4-5 nm) were isolated from rice straw. The isolated nanofibers were used with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) to prepare flexible nanopaper films. Tensile strength and electrical properties of the prepared RSNF/ZnONPs nanopaper were investigated. The addition of ZnONPs to RSNF nanopaper did not deteriorate its mechanical properties and showed a slight improvement in tensile strength and Young's modulus of about 14% and 10%, respectively, upon the addition of 5% of ZnONPs. Microscopy investigation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the inclusion of the ZnONPs within the RSNF. Electrical conductivity and dielectric properties as a function of frequency at different temperatures were studied. The ac-electrical conductivity increased with frequency and fitted with the power law equation. The dc- electrical conductivity of the samples verified the Arrhenius equation and the activation energies varied in the range from 0.9 to 0.42 eV. The dielectric constant decreased with increasing frequency and increased with increasing temperature, probably due to the free movement of dipole molecular chains within the RSNF nanopaper. The high values of the dielectric constant and conductivity of the prepared nanopaper films support their use in electronic components., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This study reports the effect of transition metal (TM) substitution on the electrical and optical properties of BaCe0.9Sm0.1O3-δ (BCS). Concentrations of 5-10 mol % of each of Fe and Co have been doped for the B-site of BCS by citric acid autocombustion method. Powder X-ray diffraction has revealed the formation of an orthorhombic perovskite-type structure. FTIR confirmed a distortion in the lattice upon TM-doping in BCS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of 1400 °C sintered samples have manifested a higher densification in BaCe0.8Sm0.1Co0.1O3-δ (BCSC10) with a grain size ∼11 μm compared to the parent compound BCS (∼2 μm). Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis showed a water uptake in case of BaCe0.85Sm0.1Co0.05O3-δ (BCSC5), while BaCe0.85Sm0.1Fe0.05O3-δ (BCSF5) did not show a noteworthy uptake of water. TG has also proved that the incorporation of Fe and Co in BCS did not improve the chemical stability in CO2 at elevated temperature. The band gap estimated using Kubelka-Munk model based on the diffuse reflectance data was found to be the lowest for BCSC5 (2.47 eV). However, it increases upon lowering oxygen partial pressure (pO2), which was interpreted by a band structure modifications. Among the samples investigated, BCSC10 sintered at 1400 °C showed the highest electrical conductivity of 0.02 S cm(-1) in air at 600 °C, while its proton mobility appears to be negligible under the investigated humidity atmosphere.