Abstract This paper presents a microstrip phased array using High Impedance Surface - Electromagnetic Bandgap (HIS-EBG) in order to minimize the effects of mutual coupling among the antenna elements. Each element of the array is fed by a coaxial cable allowing the beam steering by controlling the signal of the input port of each element. This phased array operates at X Band as well as the bandgap of the HIS-EBG structure. Its main applications are satellite communication and broadcasting systems. Results show reductions in the mutual coupling up to 12 dB, and improvements in the return loss and gain.

Lithium manganese oxide, LiMn2O4, was synthesized in two temperature stages, where the first consisted by an ecofriendly solution combustion method at 300 °C. Finally, the as-burned powders were thermal treated at 500 and 700 °C. The structural and morphological changes were evaluated by the Rietveld method and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The Rietveld refinement indicates obtaining the spinel cubic phase LiMn2O4 and a small amount of Mn2O3. The analyses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show a porous microstructure composed of nano-sized crystallites for the sample treated at 500 °C. In cyclic voltammetry, it was possible to observe that the reduction-oxidation reaction is reversible due to the shape of voltammograms and the anodic and cathodic peaks of Mn ions. The theoretical calculations considered the experimental crystallographic parameters. The unit cell volume change was evaluated according to distinct amounts of lithium ions in the structure. The removal of the Li+ cations from the oxides promotes a volume contraction. Therefore, it was possible to evaluate the participation of the Mn3+ ions in the frontier region between the valence and conduction bands. The density of states (DOS) calculation shows a predominant contribution of the O 2p and Mn 3d orbitals in the frontier orbitals.

Abstract In the last decade, various works have demonstrated that a class of artificial material called metamaterials (MTM) can synthesize mu-negative (MNG) media capable of evanescent-wave focusing which largely enhances the magnetic coupling between coils, which is the basic mechanism of Inductive Power Transmission (IPT) systems. In the present work, MTM-enhanced coupling in IPT systems is examined through analytical and numerical results, which are validated by experimental data. Adopting a transmission-line (TL) based approach to describe the general MTM-enhanced IPT system, it is evidenced that MNG MTMs can be interpreted as a negative impedance from a circuital point of view.

Lithium cobalt oxide, LiCoO2, widely used as cathode in lithium ion batteries was synthesized and their structural and electronic properties investigated. The crystalline powders were prepared by the sol-gel method with four complexing agents: citric acid, glycine, starch and gelatin. These syntheses were compared with the blank test (without complexing agent). The X-ray diffraction and vibrational spectroscopy allowed the identification of the rhombohedral phase LiCoO2 (R3m) as the only or principal crystalline component in all samples. A small fraction of a second phase of cubic spinel Co3O4 was observed in the samples of starch, gelatin and the blank test. The Rietveld refinements showed small structural variations, indicating reduced influence of the complexing agents on the synthesis. The theoretical HOMO-LUMO (highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) gap values are in agreement to those estimated by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed morphological pattern regardless of the complexing agent used, showing an alternative method.

Abstract This paper deals with the effect of the Single-Input Multiple-Output spatial diversity on the OFDM mobile radio signal propagating in an urban channel. From measurements performed in Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil, by using two receiving antennas at diversity, the calculated capacity presented an improvement when compared to the individual one.

In this paper, we present a comparison between OFDM and STDCC sounding techniques used to wide band channel characterization in suburban environments at 3.5 GHz band. Measurements of the received signal's power delay profile and power level for each of the sounding techniques were obtained. These experimental results are presented and compared. For this comparison, important wide band characterization information are obtained and the performances of each one of used techniques are observed.