ZnO thin films were deposited on stainless steel substrates using the immersion method by immersing the

substrates in a sol-gel coating solution at temperatures of 70 °C and 80 °C for varying durations of (1, 2, 3, and 4minutes).

The results indicated that increasing the immersion time significantly influenced the film thickness. Optical measurements

showed that transmittance at a wavelength of 350nm increased with higher deposition temperatures. Additionally, the

Urbach tail energy increased with temperature, whereas the band gap (Eg) decreased markedly. Furthermore, the

electrical conductivity of the ZnO films improved with increased temperature and immersion time.

In this study, the morphological and thermal properties of a blend consisting of 75% polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and

25% low-density polyethylene (LDPE), reinforced with nano-refractory bricks (NRB) at varying ratios (1%, 3%, 5%, and 7%),

were prepared and investigated. The objective was to enhance the blend’s thermal stability and surface structure homogeneity.

The morphological structure of the prepared samples was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray

diffraction (XRD). The obtained images revealed that the nano-refractory brick particles remained predominantly within the

PVC phase, resulting in an increased composite density without significantly affecting the LDPE phase. This suggests that the

overall morphology of the composite is largely unaffected by the presence of the nano-refractory bricks. From a thermal

perspective, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG) was conducted on all samples from room temperature up to 600 °C at a

heating rate of 10 °C/min. FTIR and TGA results indicated that the decomposition onset temperature shifted to higher values

due to the presence of nano-refractory bricks, with the most pronounced shift observed in the sample containing 3%

reinforcement. Additionally, the rate of mass loss was reduced. These findings demonstrate that reinforcing the PVC/LDPE

blend with nano-refractory bricks improves its performance, making it more suitable for applications that demand enhanced

thermal and mechanical properties, such as those in the construction and electronics industries.

The single-phase polycrystalline samples of Y2(Cu1xMgx)2O5, x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.15 were successfully synthesized by a modified self-propagating high temperature synthesis. Effects of Mg+2 substitution for Cu+2 in

metamagnetic Y2Cu2O5 on its crystal structure and magnetic properties have been analyzed by X-ray

diffraction and magnetic measurements performed within 2–300 K range. Mg doping was found to introduce small distortions in the main intradimmer superexchange paths so that ferromagnetic correlations

decrease with Mg concentration. More significant impact of Cu substitution was found on the low

temperature magnetism due to the breaking of infinite Cu–O chains. The formation of finite size chains

introduces low temperature paramagnetic contribution and reduction in Néel temperature. Overall

results give a strong indication that the antiferromagnetic ordering as well as metamagnetism persists

up to the 15% of the Mg concentration.

Polycrystalline samples of Y2Cu2O5 were for the first time sintered from precursors obtained by two combustion routes – the glycine–nitrate method (sample S1) and a modified self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (sample S2). The detailed X-ray diffraction analysis has confirmed that both samples are

well crystallized and single phase, with the high crystallization degree and cation ordering within a Cu

sublattice. Magnetic characterization has shown magnetic behavior typical of pure Y2Cu2O5. The distinctive advantages of these new synthesis routes in comparison to the ceramic sintering are in simplification

of the overall proce dure as well as in a significant reduction of synthesis duration from several days down

to 31 h (S1) or 12 h (S2).

The electron-doped magnetic nanoparticles of Ca1–xYxMnO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20,

and 0.30) manganite with an average particle size of 50 nm are analyzed and discussed in relation to their bulk counterparts. Nanoparticle samples show dominant anti-ferromagnetic ordering with a significant increase of coercivity, with the maximum value of 0.9 T for x = 0.

Par ti cle size re duction in Ca1–xYxMnO3 retains the bulk-like magnetic behavior of samples

having up to 15% of Y3+, with the small fer ro mag netic contri bu tion from dis or dered sur face

spins. Sup pres sion of charge order ing state and en hance ment of sat ura tion mag ne ti zation

were found in samples with higher Y3+ con cen tra tion (x = 0.2, 0.3), indicating high ferromag netic contri bu tion in these sam ples

A new synthesis route for obtaining a single-phase hexagonal YMnO3 was developed, based on the annealing of the amorphous

precursor powder obtained by the glycine–nitrate combustion method. The process was monitored by XRD as well as by magnetic and

heat capacity measurements. The analysis of these data shows that precursor powder undergoes a gradual phase transformation that

depends on the annealing temperature. The metastable orthorhombic YMnO3 phase is the first to appear at temperatures below 700 1C,

while a mixture of ortho- and hexa-phases was found to exist within the 700–900 1C range. An almost complete conversion to hexaphase occurs at 900–1000 1C, but to obtain the pure, well crystallized h-YMnO3 phase an annealing temperature of 1300 1C was

necessary. The synthesis method applied in this work has been proved to be more convenient for obtaining single-phase h-YMnO3 than

by a solid state reaction. In addition, it is capable of producing sample free of parasitic phases that are often present in specimens

obtained by other synthesis methods.