Browsing Department of Physics and Astronomy by Title
Now showing items 217-236 of 240
-
Teenage mothers’ reflections of their unintended, repeat pregnancies
(2013)Globally, teenage pregnancy remains a disturbing phenomenon which impacts on the lives of teenagers, their families and society as a whole. Numerous attempts at addressing the problem have seen a decline in fertility rates ... -
Test of traditional vibrational wisdom by 2 proton stripping onto targets of 108;110Pd,114Cd,115In
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)The cadmium nuclei have traditionally been regarded as among the best examples of spherical vibrational nuclei. However, advances in nuclear spectroscopy have begun to detail the properties of these nuclei at the two and ... -
Testing Gravity with MeerKAT and the SKA
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)The new 64-dish radio telescope array MeerKAT will be absorbed into the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in late 2020s. These two telescope arrays will produce three-dimensional maps of the integrated intensity ... -
Testing gravity with redshift-space distortions, using MeerKAT and the SKA
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The growth rate of large-scale structure is a key probe of gravity in the accelerating Universe. Standard models of Dark Energy within General Relativity predict essentially the same growth rate, whereas Modified Gravity ... -
Testing the statistical isotropy of the universe using radio survey data
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The Cosmological Principle forms part of one of the most fundamental hypotheses of modern Cosmology. So it is very important to assess whether it holds true using observational data, or whether it consists of a mathematical ... -
A theoretical study of stellar pulsations in young brown dwarfs
(University of the Western Cape, 2011)This thesis reports the results of a twofold study on the recently proposed phenomenon of 'stellar pulsations' in young brown dwarfs by the seminal study of Palla and Baraffe (2005) (PB05, thereafter). The PB05 study ... -
A theoretical study of stellart pulsations in young brown dwarfs
(University of the Western Cape, 2011)This thesis reports the results of a twofold study on the recently proposed phenomenon of ‘stellar pulsations’ in young brown dwarfs by the seminal study of Palla and Baraffe (2005) (PB05, thereafter). The PB05 study ... -
Thermochromic properties of VO2 nano-coatings by inverted cylindrical magnetron sputtering
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)Vanadium dioxide (VO2) films have been known as the most feasible thermochromic nano-coatings for smart windows which self control the solar radiation and heat transfer for energy saving and comfort in houses and automotives. ... -
Three dimensional thermal modelling of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells in a serpentine design
(University of the Western Cape, 2010)The aim of my work is to model a segment of a unit cell of a fuel cell stack using numerical methods which is classified as computational fluid dynamics and implementing the work in a commercial computational fluid dynamics ... -
Tin Catalyst preparation for Silicon Nanowire synthesis
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)Solar cells offer SA an additional energy source. While Si cells are abundantly available they are not at an optimal efficiency and the cost is still high. One technology that can enhance their performance is SiNW. ... -
Tin-oxide thin films by thermal oxidation
(University of Western Cape, 2021)Tin dioxide (SnO2) thin films are a worthy candidate for an electron transport layer (ETL) in perovskite solar cells, due to its suitable energy level, high electron mobility of 240 cm2 v-1 s- 1, desirable band gap of ... -
TiO2 nanotube based dye- sensitised solar cells
(University of Western Cape, 2012)This work investigated the synthesis of Al2O3-coated TiO2 nanotubes via the anodisation technique for application in DSCs. TiO2 nanotube arrays with an average length of 15 μm, diameter of 50 nm and wall thickness of 15 ... -
TiO₂ nanotube based dye-sensitised solar cells
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)The first report of a functioning photo-electrochemical solar cell in 1991 attracted a lot of interest from scientists and industrial groups. From an industrial point of view these so-called dye-sensitised solar cells ... -
Towards stimuli-responsive functional nanocomposites: smart tunable plasmonic nanostructures Au-VO2
(University of the Western Cape, 2010)The fascinating optical properties of metallic nanostructures, dominated by collective oscillations of free electrons known as plasmons, open new opportunities for the development of devices fabrication based on noble metal ... -
Towards stimuli-responsive functional nanocomposites: Smart tunable plasmonic nanostructures au-v02
(University of the Western Cape, 2010)The fascinating optical properties of metallic nanostructures, dominated by collective oscillations of free electrons known as plasmons, open new opportunities for the development of devices fabrication based on noble ... -
Transport and thermodynamic properties of rare earth compounds and alloys
(University of the Western Cape, 2017)Rare-earth (RE) elements possess an incompletely lled 4f shell, which is very small compared to typical interatomic distances. As a result of this, RE elements and compounds exhibit characteristic properties, which deviate ... -
Triaxiality and rotational bands in 133ce
(University of Western Cape, 2021)The neutron-de cient nuclei between the N = 50 and N = 82 shell closures provide rich information on the shape and structure of the nucleus. The isotones of 133Ce and 131Ba (N = 75) lie in this region of the nuclear ... -
The use of FLUENT for heat flow studies of the hot-wire chemical vapor deposition system to determine the temperatures reached at the growing layer surface
(University of the Western Cape, 2009)The overall aim of this project is to study the heat transfer inside the reaction chamber of the Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HWCVD) system with a commercial software package FLUENT6.3; it is one of the most popular ... -
Using internet -enabled remote instrumentation for research and training in physics: Evaluation of different diffusion barriers for silver metallization
(University of the Western Cape, 2007)The growth of the Internet has led to many interesting developments for both educational and commercial purposes. In this project an attempt was made to use the Internet for a research purpose to facilitate the determination ... -
Using semantic profiling to characterize pedagogical practices and student learning : a case study in two introductory physics courses
(University of the Western Cape, 2016)Framed by the South African imperative of widening epistemological access to undergraduate science studies, this research takes the form of a case study to investigate the educational affordances of an extended introductory ...