Fine resolution (hourly rainfall) of rainfall series for various hydrological systems is widely used. However, observed hourly rainfall records may lack in the quality of data and resulting difficulties to apply it. The utilization of Bartlett-Lewis rectangular pulse (BLRP) is proposed to overcome this limitation. The calibration of this model is regarded as a difficult task due to the existence of intensive estimation of parameters. Global optimization algorithms, named as artificial bee colony (ABC) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) were introduced to overcome this limitation. The issues and ability of each optimization in the calibration procedure were addressed. The results showed that the BLRP model with ABC was able to reproduce well for the rainfall characteristics at hourly and daily rainfall aggregation, similar to PSO. However, the fitted BLRP model with PSO was able to reproduce the rainfall extremes better as compared to ABC.
Foamed mortar with a density of 1300 kg/m³ was prepared. In the initial laboratory trials, water-to-cement (w/c) ratios ranging from 0.54 to 0.64 were tested to determine the optimal value for foamed mortar corresponding to the highest compressive strength without compromising its fresh state properties. With the obtained optimal w/c ratio of 0.56, two types of foamed mortar were prepared, namely cement-foamed mortar (CFM) and slag-foamed mortar (SFM, 50% cement was replaced by slag weight). Four different curing conditions were adopted for both types of foamed mortar to assess their compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and thermal insulation performance. The test results indicated that utilizing 50% of slag as cement replacement in the production of foamed mortar improved the compressive strength, UPV and thermal insulation properties. Additionally, the initial water curing of seven days gained higher compressive strength and increased UPV values as compared to the air cured and natural weather curing samples. However, this positive effect was more pronounced in the case of compressive strength than in the UPV and thermal conductivity of foamed mortar.
Transforming CO2 into fuels by utilizing sunlight is promising to synchronously overcome global warming and energy-supply issues. It is crucial to design efficient photocatalysts with intriguing features such as robust light-harvesting ability, strong redox potential, high charge-separation, and excellent durability. Hitherto, a single-component photocatalyst is incapable to simultaneously meet all these criteria. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, constructing artificial Z-scheme photocatalysts provides a facile way to conquer these bottlenecks. In this review, we firstly introduce the fundamentals of photocatalytic CO2 reduction and Z-scheme systems. Thereafter we discuss state-of-the-art Z-scheme photocatalytic CO2 reduction, whereby special attention is placed on the predominant factors that affect photoactivity. Additionally, further modifications that are important for efficient photocatalysis are reviewed.
Exohedral cuprofullerenes with 6-, 12-, or 24-nuclearity were obtained by utilizing fluorocarboxylic/dicarboxylic acid under solvothermal conditions. The 24-nuclear molecule presents a C60@Cu24 core-shell structure with a rhombicuboctahedron Cu24 coated on the C60 core, representing the highest nuclearity in metallofullerene. The resultant complexes show an efficient absorption of visible light as opposed to the pristine C60. TD-DFT calculations revealed the charge transfer from Cu(I) and O atoms to the fullerene moiety dominates the photophysical process.
The magnetic and electronic properties of boron-doped SrTiO3 have been studied by first-principles calculations. We found that the magnetic ground states of B-doped SrTiO3 strongly depended on the dopant-dopant separation distance. As the dopant-dopant distance varied, the magnetic ground states of B-doped SrTiO3 can have nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic alignment. The structure with the smallest dopant-dopant separation exhibited the lowest total energy among all configurations considered and was characterized by dimer pairs due to strong attraction. Ferromagnetic coupling was observed to be stronger when the two adjacent B atoms aligned linearly along the B-Ti-B axis, which could be associated with their local bonding structures. Therefore, the symmetry of the local structure made an important contribution to the generation of a magnetic moment. Our study also demonstrated that the O-Ti-O unit was easier than the Ti-B-Ti unit to deform. The electronic properties of boron-doped SrTiO3 tended to show semiconducting or insulating features when the dopant-dopant distance was less than 5 Å, which changed to metallic properties when the dopant-dopant distance was beyond 5 Å. Our calculated results indicated that it is possible to manipulate the magnetism and band gap via different dopant-dopant separations.
Many studies have shown the remarkable enhancement of thermo-physical properties with the addition of a small quantity of nanoparticles into conventional fluids. However, the long-term stability of the nanofluids, which plays a significant role in enhancing these properties, is hard to achieve, thus limiting the performance of the heat transfer fluids in practical applications. The present paper attempts to highlight various approaches used by researchers in improving and evaluating the stability of thermal fluids and thoroughly explores various factors that contribute to the enhancement of the thermo-physical properties of mono, hybrid, and green nanofluids. There are various methods to maintain the stability of nanofluids, but this paper particularly focuses on the sonication process, pH modification, and the use of surfactant. In addition, the common techniques to evaluate the stability of nanofluids are undertaken by using visual observation, TEM, FESEM, XRD, zeta potential analysis, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Prior investigations revealed that the type of nanoparticle, particle volume concentration, size and shape of particles, temperature, and base fluids highly influence the thermo-physical properties of nanofluids. In conclusion, this paper summarized the findings and strategies to enhance the stability and factors affecting the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of mono and hybrid of nanofluids towards green nanofluids.
It is known that restoration of erased engraved identification marks on the engine and the chassis of a car or on a firearm has low success rate. Unlike stamping, engraving on a metal surface leaves no pronounced, permanent subsurface deformation in the crystalline structure, also called dislocation that can be revealed by suitable methods. Hence, the current research work investigated whether metallographic reagents used in the restoration of stamp (compression) marks could be applied to recover engraved marks on steel surfaces and also to establish the sensitivity and effectiveness of some of these reagents for the restoration of the marks. Experiments were conducted by mechanically engraving alphanumeric characters on several steel plates using a computer controlled engraving machine called Gravograph. The markings were later erased from the above steel plates by removing the metal in stages of 0.01 mm through 0.04 mm below the bottom of the engraving. Several plates were thus prepared wherein each one had been abraded to a specific depth. Then eight metallographic reagents were tested on each one of the above erased plates using a swabbing technique. The results had shown that while most of the reagents were able to restore marks up to certain levels of erasure, the reagent 5 g copper sulphate, 60 ml water, 30 ml concentrated ammonium hydroxide and 60 ml concentrated hydrochloric acid restored marks erased to a depth of 0.04 mm below the engraving depth, thus presenting itself the most sensitive reagent. Quite significantly, the above reagent was also able to decipher successfully the original engraved marks that had been erased and engraved with a new number, or obliterated by centre punching. The results of this research work should benefit the forensic practitioners engaged in the serial number recovery on vehicles, firearms and other objects.
The aim of the study was to develop response surface methodology (RSM) models for polymer loading, density, dimensional stability, strength and stiffness of compressed wood of sesenduk (Endospermum diadenum) treated with phenol formaldehyde (PF). Central composite design (CCD) using RSM with three processing parameters was studied in their specific ranges: PF concentration (PC) from 24-40%, pre-curing time (PCT), 3-9 h and compression ratio (CR), 70-90%. The experimental design was analysed and interpreted using the Design Expert Software (Stat Ease version 8) and the responses of 3d plots were built using the same software. Quadratic models in terms of PC, PCT and CR were developed for polymer loading, density, reduction in water absorption and modulus of rupture in static bending. Multiple linear equations were developed for anti-swelling efficiency and modulus of elasticity. The experimental values were in good agreement with predicted ones and the models were highly significant with correlation coefficients between 0.626 and 0.926. PC and CR had significant effects on the responses. The range of PCT used did not significantly affect the responses. It was also found that the improvement of properties ranged from moderately to highly correlated with the polymer loading in the compreg wood.
Air-sea flux exchanges influence the climate condition and the global carbon-moisture cycle. It is imperative to understand the fundamentals of the natural systems at the tropical coastal ocean and how the transformation takes place over the time. Hence, latent and sensible heat fluxes, microclimate variables, and surface water temperature data were collected using eddy covariance instruments mounted on a platform at a tropical coastal ocean station from November 2015 to October 2017. The research data is to gain the needful knowledge of the energy exchanges in the tropical climatic environment to further improve predictive algorithms or models. Therefore, it is intended that this data report will offer appropriate information for the Monsoonal, and diurnal patterns of latent (LE) and sensible (H) heats and hence, establish the relationship between microclimate variables on the energy fluxes at the peninsular Malaysian tropical coastal ocean.
Meltless recycling technique has been utilized to overcome the lack of primary resources, focusing on reducing the usage of energy and materials. Hot press was proposed as a novel direct recycling technique which results in astoundingly low energy usage in contrast with conventional recycling. The aim of this study is to prove the technical feasibility of this approach by characterizing the recycled samples. For this purpose, AA6061 aluminium chips were recycled by utilizing hot press process under various operating temperature (Ts = 430, 480, and 530 °C) and holding times (ts = 60, 90, and 120 min). The maximum mechanical properties of recycled chip are Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) = 266.78 MPa, Elongation to failure (ETF) = 16.129%, while, for surface integrity of the chips, the calculated microhardness is 81.744 HV, exhibited at Ts = 530 °C and ts = 120 min. It is comparable to theoretical AA6061 T4-temper where maximum UTS and microhardness is increased up to 9.27% and 20.48%, respectively. As the desired mechanical properties of forgings can only be obtained by means of a final heat treatment, T5-temper, aging after forging process was employed. Heat treated recycled billet AA6061 (T5-temper) are considered comparable with as-received AA6061 T6, where the value of microhardness (98.649 HV) at 175 °C and 120 min of aging condition was revealed to be greater than 3.18%. Although it is quite early to put a base mainly on the observations in experimental settings, the potential for significant improvement offered by the direct recycling methods for production aluminium scrap can be clearly demonstrated. This overtures perspectives for industrial development of solid state recycling processes as environmentally benign alternatives of current melting based practices.
The analytical methods for the determination of the amine solvent properties do not provide input data for real-time process control and optimization and are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and impractical for studies of dynamic changes in a process. In this study, the potential of nondestructive determination of amine concentration, CO2 loading, and water content in CO2 absorption solvent in the gas processing unit was investigated through Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy that has the ability to readily carry out multicomponent analysis in association with multivariate analysis methods. The FT-NIR spectra for the solvent were captured and interpreted by using suitable spectra wavenumber regions through multivariate statistical techniques such as partial least square (PLS). The calibration model developed for amine determination had the highest coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9955 and RMSECV of 0.75%. CO2 calibration model achieved R2 of 0.9902 with RMSECV of 0.25% whereas the water calibration model had R2 of 0.9915 with RMSECV of 1.02%. The statistical evaluation of the validation samples also confirmed that the difference between the actual value and the predicted value from the calibration model was not significantly different and acceptable. Therefore, the amine, CO2, and water models have given a satisfactory result for the concentration determination using the FT-NIR technique. The results of this study indicated that FT-NIR spectroscopy with chemometrics and multivariate technique can be used for the CO2 solvent monitoring to replace the time-consuming and labor-intensive conventional methods.
Currently, the development of the sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries has been accelerated to meet the energy demands of large-scale power applications. The difficulty of obtaining suitable electrode materials capable of storing large amount of Na-ion arises from the large radius of Na-ion that restricts its reversible capacity. Herein, Mn2O3 powders are synthesised through the thermal conversion of MnCO3 and reported for the first time as an anode for Na-ion batteries. The phase, morphology and charge/discharge characteristics of Mn2O3 obtained are evaluated systematically. The cubic-like Mn2O3 with particle sizes approximately 1.0-1.5 µm coupled with the formation of Mn2O3 sub-units on its surface create a positive effect on the insertion/deinsertion of Na-ion. Mn2O3 delivers a first discharge capacity of 544 mAh g-1 and retains its capacity by 85% after 200 cycles at 100 mA g-1, demonstrating the excellent cyclability of the Mn2O3 electrode. Therefore, this study provides a significant contribution towards exploring the potential of Mn2O3 as a promising anode in the development of Na-ion batteries.
This study presents the electromagnetic (EM) characterization of a multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)-silver nanoparticles (AgNP)-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hybrid nanocomposite fabricated via the solution mixing technique. Primarily, the structure and morphological properties of the PVA/MWCNT-AgNP hybrid nanocomposite are confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The complex permittivity (ε*) and permeability (μ*), as well as the electromagnetic scattering parameters are measured using a PNA network analyzer equipped with X-band waveguide. The results showed an enhanced permittivity (ε' ≈ 25) value of the hybrid nanocomposite in the frequency range of 8-12 GHz. However, the permeability decreased to almost zero (μ' ≈ 0.4) since the inclusion of AgNP with an average particle size of 40 nm is not susceptible to magnetization and causes higher magnetic losses (tan δμ) than dielectric losses (tan δε). Remarkably, the hybrid nanocomposite reduced transmission of electromagnetic (EM) wave by nearly 60% in comparison to PVA/MWCNT. This is attributed to the enhanced absorption and reflection at the nanotubes, and metal-dielectric interfaces have induced multiple internal reflections owing to the porous structure of the nanocomposite. The prospect of the PVA/MWCNT-AgNP hybrid nanocomposite is favorable as a thin absorbing material for EM shielding applications.
Gallocynin immobilized in chitosan membrane has been studied as a sensor element of an optical sensor for lead using a flowing system. By using this set up, lead in solution has been determined in the concentration range from 1.0x10(-1) to 1.0x10(3) ppm with a detection limit of 0.075 ppm. The standard deviation of the method for the repeatability of lead detection at a concentration of 100 ppm was found to be 2.10%. The response of the sensor was reproducible and can be regenerated by using acidified saturated KNO(3) solution. Interference from foreign ions was also studied at 1:1 mole ratio of Pb(II):foreign ions.
In the title compound, C25H26N2O2S2, the central CN2S2 atoms are almost coplanar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0058 Å). One phenyl ring clearly lies to one side of the central plane, while the other is oriented in the plane but splayed. Despite the different relative orientations, the phenyl rings form similar dihedral angles of 64.90 (3) and 70.06 (3)° with the central plane, and 63.28 (4)° with each other. The benzene ring is twisted with respect to the central plane, forming a dihedral angle of 13.17 (7)°. The S2C=N, N-N and N-N=C bond lengths of 1.2919 (19), 1.4037 (17) and 1.2892 (19) Å, respectively, suggest limited conjugation over these atoms; the configuration about the N-N=C bond is E. An intra-molecular O-H⋯N hydrogen bond is noted. In the crystal, phen-yl-meth-oxy C-H⋯O and phen-yl-phenyl C-H⋯π inter-actions lead to supra-molecular double chains parallel to the b axis. These are connected into a layer via meth-yl-phenyl C-H⋯π inter-actions, and layers stack along the a axis, being connected by weak π-π inter-actions between phenyl rings [inter-centroid distance = 3.9915 (9) Å] so that a three-dimensional architecture ensues.
Charged particle therapy with carbon ions has advantages over conventional radiotherapy using x-ray beams. The application of charged particle therapy has rapidly increased over the last decades. This is due to its characteristic Bragg peak which has relatively low entrance doses and favourable doses distribution. In this research work, Geant4 based Monte Carlo simulation (MC) method has been used to calculate the radiation transportation and dose distributions in tissue-like media. The main objective of the work was to compare the Geant4 simulated depth dose distributions with experimental measurements and verify the capability of the geant4 simulation toolkit. The carbon ion beams for the therapeutic energy of 350 MeV/u and 400 MeV/u respectively were simulated, with the same settings as the experimental work carried out at the treatment room at Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC), National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), Chiba, Japan. The simulation results were verified with measurements data. The work was to measure the accuracy and quality of the dose distributions by Geant4 MC methods. The results show that the Bragg peak and spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) distributions in simulation has fairly good agreement with measurements.
Ground improvement using artificial crust composite foundation, consisting of stabilization of soft clay and composite foundation, is an effective technique for the treatment of deep soft soil layers under infrastructure embankments. In this study, the load responses and settlement performance of this improvement technique were investigated using two centrifuge model tests to compare the variations of the vertical deformation, pore water pressure, axial force of the piles and tensile stress at the bottom of the artificial crust in the crust composite foundation with those in pile-supported embankment. The results of centrifuge model tests showed that the load responses and settlement performance of artificial crust composite foundation was different from the pile-supported embankment, which displayed mainly that the final middle settlement of crust composite foundation can be reduced by about 15% compared with those of pile-supported embankment with the same length of pile and construction cost. The deformation of the crust with the characteristics of the plate was found based on the change of the tensile stress. Additionally, the excess pore water pressure in the crust composite foundation was lower owing to the stress diffusion effect of the crust during the loading period and the dissipation rate of excess pore water pressure was slower due to lower permeability of the crust at the same loading period. Eventually, the axial force of the middle piles was reduced. At the same time, the boundary stress was functioned with the crust, the axial force of the side piles was improved. The comparison of measured and calculated results was carried out using the stress reduction ratio, the result shows that the bearing capacity of the subsoil in the crust composite was improved.
The compressive behaviour of column members can be considerably affected by local buckling, material yielding and local end conditions. In this paper, the effects of the loading conditions at the ends of plain channel section columns subjected to uniformly compressed loading, and fixed conditions at the column ends with respect to global rotations, was examined. Finite element simulation was employed to look at the post-buckled response of thin-walled, plain channel section columns that covered the complete loading history of the compression columns from the onset of elastic local buckling through the nonlinear elastic and elastoplastic post-buckling phases of behaviour to final collapse and unloading. Two types of loading conditions were considered: the first was one that has been used practically in tests whereby one end is loaded with a moving top platen while the other end is fixed at the lower platen, but, for the second loading condition, both ends were loaded with equally moving top and lower platens. These two conditions were shown to lead to quite different characteristic interactive responses of the columns due to mode jumping in the buckling mode for the locally rotationally constrained case.
Evidence for C-H···π(CuCl···HNCS) interactions, i.e. C-H···π(quasi-chelate ring) where a six-membered quasi-chelate ring is closed by an N-H···Cl hydrogen bond, is presented based on crystal structure analyses of (Ph3P)2Cu[ROC(=S)N(H)Ph]Cl. Similar intramolecular interactions are identified in related literature structures. Calculations suggest that the energy of attraction provided by such interactions approximates 3.5 kcal mol(-1).
We investigate unsteady flow of a thin film of Newtonian fluid around a symmetric slender dry patch moving with constant velocity on an inclined planar substrate, the flow being driven by a prescribed constant shear stress at the free surface of the film (which would be of uniform thickness in the absence of the dry patch). We obtain a novel unsteady travelling-wave similarity solution which predicts that the dry patch has a parabolic shape and that the film thickness increases monotonically away from the dry patch.