The removal of Reactive Black 5 dye in an aqueous solution by electrocoagulation (EC) as well as addition of flocculant was investigated. The effect of operational parameters, i.e. current density, treatment time, solution conductivity and polymer dosage, was investigated. Two models, namely the artificial neural network (ANN) and the response surface method (RSM), were used to model the effect of independent variables on percentage of dye removal. The findings of this work showed that current density, treatment time and dosage of polymer had the most significant effect on percentage of dye removal (p<0.001). In addition, interaction between time and current density, time and dosage of polymer, current density and dosage of polymer also significantly affected the percentage of dye removal (p=0.034, 0.003 and 0.024, respectively). It was shown that both the ANN and RSM models were able to predict well the experimental results (R(2)>0.8).
The performance of pectin in turbidity reduction and the optimum condition were determined using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The effect of pH, cation's concentration, and pectin's dosage on flocculating activity and turbidity reduction was investigated at three levels and optimized by using Box-Behnken Design (BBD). Coagulation and flocculation process were assessed with a standard jar test procedure with rapid and slow mixing of a kaolin suspension (aluminium silicate), at 150 rpm and 30 rpm, respectively, in which a cation e.g. Al(3+), acts as coagulant, and pectin acts as the flocculant. In this research, all factors exhibited significant effect on flocculating activity and turbidity reduction. The experimental data and model predictions well agreed. From the 3D response surface graph, maximum flocculating activity and turbidity reduction are in the region of pH greater than 3, cation concentration greater than 0.5 mM, and pectin dosage greater than 20 mg/L, using synthetic turbid wastewater within the range. The flocculating activity for pectin and turbidity reduction in wastewater is at 99%.
This work was aimed to evaluate the feasibility of castor bean residue based activated carbons prepared through metals chloride activation. The activated carbons were characterized for textural properties and surface chemistry, and the adsorption data of rhodamine B were established to investigate the removal performance. Zinc chloride-activated carbon with specific surface area of 395 m(2)/g displayed a higher adsorption capacity of 175 mg/g. Magnesium chloride and iron(III) chloride are less toxic and promising agents for composite chemical activation. The adsorption data obeyed Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The rate-limiting step in the adsorption of rhodamine B is film diffusion. The positive values of enthalpy and entropy indicate that the adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous at high temperature.
Removal of low-concentration ammonia (1-10 ppm) from aquaculture wastewater was investigated via polysulfone (PSf)/zeolite mixed matrix membrane. PSf/zeolite mixed matrix membranes with different weight ratios (90/10, 80/20, 70/30 and 60/40 wt.%) were prepared and characterized. Results indicate that PSf/zeolite (80/20) was the most efficient membrane for removal of low-concentration ammonia. The ammonia elimination by PSf/zeolite (80/20) from aqueous solution for 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 ppm of ammonia was 100%, 99%, 98.8%, 96% and 95% respectively. The recorded results revealed that pure water flux declined in higher loading of zeolite in the membrane matrix due to surface pore blockage caused by zeolite particles. On the other hand, ammonia elimination from water was decreased in higher contents of zeolite because of formation of cavities and macrovoids in the membrane substructure.
Lycopene extraction was carried out via the ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) with response surface methodology (RSM). Sonication enhanced the efficiency of relative lycopene yield (enhancement of 26% extraction yield of lycopene in 6 replications at 40.0 min, 40.0 °C and 70.0% v/w in the presence of ultrasound), lowered the extraction temperature and shortened the total extraction time. The extraction was applied with the addition of oxygen-free nitrogen flow and change of water route during water bath sonication. The highest relative yield of lycopene obtained was 100% at 45.0 °C with total extraction time of 50.0 min (30:10:10) and ratio of solvent to freeze-dried tomato sample (v/w) of 80.0:1. Optimisation of the lycopene extraction had been performed, giving the average relative lycopene yield of 99% at 45.6 min, 47.6 °C and ratio of solvent to freeze-dried tomato sample (v/w) of 74.4:1. From the optimised model, the average yield of all-trans lycopene obtained was 5.11±0.27 mg/g dry weight. The all-trans lycopene obtained from the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chromatograms was 96.81±0.81% with 3.19±0.81% of cis-lycopenes. The purity of total-lycopene obtained was 98.27±0.52% with β-carotene constituted 1.73±0.52% of the extract. The current improved, UAE of lycopene from tomatoes with the aid of RSM also enhanced the extraction yield of trans-lycopene by 75.93% compared to optimised conventional method of extraction. Hence, the current, improved UAE of lycopene promotes the extraction yield of lycopene and at the same time, minimises the degradation and isomerisation of lycopene.
Renewable materials have some bearing on the environment and have since increased research works related to polymer composites. This work was conducted to investigate the effects of interwoven kenaf fibres and the use of kenaf fibres in composites. In this research, interwoven between kenaf and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was prepared and epoxy was used as the polymer matrix to form composites. The kenaf fibre composites with various kenaf fibre contents (2, 5, 8, and 10 wt %) interwoven with (PET) fibres were prepared by using open mould method. The properties of kenaf/PET/epoxy composites (KPTE) were studied. The kenaf fibre composites characterization was determined based on their mechanical properties, water absorption, morphology and thermal properties. The tensile strength test was performed using Testometric machine. The finding shows that the strength increases as the amount of kenaf fibres in the composites increases. The composites with 10% kenaf fibres interwoven PET displayed the highest tensile strength (85.3 ± 2.9 MPa) while unfilled epoxy show the lowest tensile strength (64.1 ± 16.5 MPa). The addition of kenaf fibres minimally increases the water absorption up to about 1.4%. The increases of kenaf fibres also reduces the overall thermal stability of the composites compared to the PET and epoxy resin composites. The morphology properties of KPTE composites support the tensile properties surface of the composites. This study assists to propose the kenaf fibres as a potential filler for properties improvements in epoxy-based composites contributing to the development of another environment-friendly material.
Stem cell differentiation is guided by contact with the physical microenvironment, influence by both topography and mechanical properties of the matrix. In this study, the combined effect of substratum nano-topography and mechanical stiffness in directing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) chondrogenesis was investigated. Three polyesters of varying stiffness were thermally imprinted to create nano-grating or pillar patterns of the same dimension. The surface of the nano-patterned substrate was coated with chondroitin sulfate (CS) to provide an even surface chemistry, with cell-adhesive and chondro-inductive properties, across all polymeric substrates. The surface characteristic, mechanical modulus, and degradation of the CS-coated patterned polymeric substrates were analyzed. The cell morphology adopted on the nano-topographic surfaces were accounted by F-actin distribution, and correlated to the cell proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation outcomes. Results show that substratum stiffness and topographical cues affected MSC morphology and aggregation, and influenced the phenotypic development at the earlier stage of chondrogenic differentiation. Hyaline-like cartilage with middle/deep zone cartilage characteristics was generated on softer pillar surface, while on stiffer nano-pillar material MSCs showed potential to generate constituents of hyaline/fibro/hypertrophic cartilage. Fibro/superficial zone-like cartilage could be derived from nano-grating of softer stiffness, while stiffer nano-grating resulted in insignificant chondrogenesis. This study demonstrates the possibility of refining the phenotype of cartilage generated from MSCs by manipulating surface topography and material stiffness.
Partially phosphorylated polyvinyl alcohol (PPVA) with aluminum phosphate (ALPO4) composites was synthesized by solution casting technique to produce (PPVA)(100-y) - (ALPO4)(y) (y = 0, 1, and 2). The surface structure and thermal properties of the films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that the films have higher thermal stability with strong bonding between PPVA and ALPO4.
The lack of stability is a challenge for most heterogeneous catalysts. During operations, the agglomeration of particles may block the active sites of the catalyst, which is believed to contribute to its instability. Recently, titanium oxide (TiO2) was introduced as an alternative support material for heterogeneous catalyst due to the effect of its high surface area stabilizing the catalysts in its mesoporous structure. TiO2 supported metal catalysts have attracted interest due to TiO2 nanoparticles high activity for various reduction and oxidation reactions at low pressures and temperatures. Furthermore, TiO2 was found to be a good metal oxide catalyst support due to the strong metal support interaction, chemical stability, and acid-base property. The aforementioned properties make heterogeneous TiO2 supported catalysts show a high potential in photocatalyst-related applications, electrodes for wet solar cells, synthesis of fine chemicals, and others. This review focuses on TiO2 as a support material for heterogeneous catalysts and its potential applications.
Tuberculosis is a lethal epidemic, difficult to control disease, claiming thousands of lives every year. We have developed a nanodelivery formulation based on para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) and zinc layered hydroxide using zinc nitrate salt as a precursor. The developed formulation has a fourfold higher efficacy of PAS against mycobacterium tuberculosis with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) found to be at 1.40 μg/mL compared to the free drug PAS with a MIC of 5.0 μg/mL. The newly developed formulation was also found active against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and Candida albicans. The formulation was also found to be biocompatible with human normal lung cells MRC-5 and mouse fibroblast cells-3T3. The in vitro release of PAS from the formulation was found to be sustained in a human body simulated phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution at pH values of 7.4 and 4.8. Most importantly the nanocomposite prepared using zinc nitrate salt was advantageous in terms of yield and free from toxic zinc oxide contamination and had higher biocompatibility compared to one prepared using a zinc oxide precursor. In summary, these promising in vitro results are highly encouraging for the continued investigation of para-aminosalicylic acid and zinc layered hydroxide nanocomposites in vivo and eventual preclinical studies.
Enhanced resonance search (ERS) is a nondestructive testing method that has been created to evaluate the quality of a pavement by means of a special instrument called the pavement integrity scanner (PiScanner). This technique can be used to assess the thickness of the road pavement structure and the profile of shear wave velocity by using the principle of surface wave and body wave propagation. In this study, the ERS technique was used to determine the actual thickness of the asphaltic pavement surface layer, while the shear wave velocities obtained were used to determine its dynamic elastic modulus. A total of fifteen locations were identified and the results were then compared with the specifications of the Malaysian PWD, MDD UKM, and IKRAM. It was found that the value of the elastic modulus of materials is between 3929 MPa and 17726 MPa. A comparison of the average thickness of the samples with the design thickness of MDD UKM showed a difference of 20 to 60%. Thickness of the asphalt surface layer followed the specifications of Malaysian PWD and MDD UKM, while some of the values of stiffness obtained are higher than the standard.
This paper reports on the direct ability of two positively charged organic polyelectrolytes (natural-based and synthetic) to reduce the atrazine concentration in water. The adsorption study was set up using multiple glass vessels with different polymer dosing levels followed by ultrafiltration with a 1 kDa membrane. The addition of polymers exhibited a capability in reducing the atrazine concentration up to a maximum of 60% in surface-to-volume ratio experiments. In the beginning, the theoretical L-type of the isotherm of Giles' classification was expected with an increase in the dosage of the polymer. However, in this study, the conventional type of isotherm was not observed. It was found that the adsorption of the cationic polymer on the negatively charged glass surface was necessary and influential for the removal of atrazine. Surface-to-volume ratio adsorption experiments were performed to elucidate the mechanisms and the polymer configuration. The glass surface area was determined to be a limiting parameter in the adsorption mechanism.
Despite the fact that the two texture descriptors, the completed modeling of Local Binary Pattern (CLBP) and the Completed Local Binary Count (CLBC), have achieved a remarkable accuracy for invariant rotation texture classification, they inherit some Local Binary Pattern (LBP) drawbacks. The LBP is sensitive to noise, and different patterns of LBP may be classified into the same class that reduces its discriminating property. Although, the Local Ternary Pattern (LTP) is proposed to be more robust to noise than LBP, however, the latter's weakness may appear with the LTP as well as with LBP. In this paper, a novel completed modeling of the Local Ternary Pattern (LTP) operator is proposed to overcome both LBP drawbacks, and an associated completed Local Ternary Pattern (CLTP) scheme is developed for rotation invariant texture classification. The experimental results using four different texture databases show that the proposed CLTP achieved an impressive classification accuracy as compared to the CLBP and CLBC descriptors.
Tungsten trioxide (WO₃) possesses a small band gap energy of 2.4-2.8 eV and is responsive to both ultraviolet and visible light irradiation including strong absorption of the solar spectrum and stable physicochemical properties. Thus, controlled growth of one-dimensional (1D) WO₃ nanotubular structures with desired length, diameter, and wall thickness has gained significant interest. In the present study, 1D WO₃ nanotubes were successfully synthesized via electrochemical anodization of tungsten (W) foil in an electrolyte composed of 1 M of sodium sulphate (Na₂SO₄) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F). The influence of NH₄F content on the formation mechanism of anodic WO₃ nanotubular structure was investigated in detail. An optimization of fluoride ions played a critical role in controlling the chemical dissolution reaction in the interface of W/WO₃. Based on the results obtained, a minimum of 0.7 wt% of NH₄F content was required for completing transformation from W foil to WO₃ nanotubular structure with an average diameter of 85 nm and length of 250 nm within 15 min of anodization time. In this case, high aspect ratio of WO₃ nanotubular structure is preferred because larger active surface area will be provided for better photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions.
Laser shock processing (LSP) is an innovative surface treatment technique with high peak power, short pulse, and cold hardening for strengthening metal materials. LSP is based on the application of a high intensity pulsed laser beam (I > 1 GW/cm(2); t < 50 ns) at the interface between the metallic target and the surrounding medium (a transparent confining material, normally water) forcing a sudden vaporization of the metallic surface into a high temperature and density plasma that immediately develops inducing a shock wave propagating into the material. The shock wave induces plastic deformation and a residual stress distribution in the target material. In this paper we study the increase of microhardness and surface roughness with the increase of laser pulse energy in 2024-T3 Al alloy. The influence of the thickness of the confining layer (water) on microhardness and surface roughness is also studied. In addition, the effect of LSP treatment with best conditions on wear behaviors of the alloy was investigated.
A pavement structure consists of several layers for the primary purpose of transmitting and distributing traffic loads to the subgrade. Rutting is one form of pavement distresses that may influence the performance of road pavements. Geosynthetics is one type of synthetic materials utilized for improving the performance of pavements against rutting. Various studies have been conducted on using different geosynthetic materials in pavement structures by different researchers. One of the practices is a reinforcing material in asphalt pavements. This paper intends to present and discuss the discoveries from some of the studies on utilizing geosynthetics in flexible pavements as reinforcement against permanent deformation (rutting).
The primary focus of this investigation was to analyze sequentially coupled nonlinear thermal stress, using a three-dimensional model. It was meant to shed light on the behavior of Buckling Restraint Brace (BRB) elements with circular cross section, at elevated temperature. Such bracing systems were comprised of a cylindrical steel core encased in a strong concrete-filled steel hollow casing. A debonding agent was rubbed on the core's surface to avoid shear stress transition to the restraining system. The numerical model was verified by the analytical solutions developed by the other researchers. Performance of BRB system under seismic loading at ambient temperature has been well documented. However, its performance in case of fire has yet to be explored. This study showed that the failure of brace may be attributed to material strength reduction and high compressive forces, both due to temperature rise. Furthermore, limiting temperatures in the linear behavior of steel casing and concrete in BRB element for both numerical and analytical simulations were about 196°C and 225°C, respectively. Finally it is concluded that the performance of BRB at elevated temperatures was the same as that seen at room temperature; that is, the steel core yields prior to the restraining system.
A laminated composite plate element with an interface description is developed using the finite element approach to investigate the bending performance of two-layer cross-ply laminated composite plates in presence of a diagonally perturbed localized interfacial degeneration between laminae. The stiffness of the laminate is expressed through the assembly of the stiffnesses of lamina sub-elements and interface element, the latter of which is formulated adopting the well-defined virtually zero-thickness concept. To account for the extent of both shear and axial weak bonding, a degeneration ratio is introduced in the interface formulation. The model has the advantage of simulating a localized weak bonding at arbitrary locations, with various degeneration areas and intensities, under the influence of numerous boundary conditions since the interfacial description is expressed discretely. Numerical results show that the bending behavior of laminate is significantly affected by the aforementioned parameters, the greatest effect of which is experienced by those with a localized total interface degeneration, representing the case of local delamination.
Activated carbons are regularly used the treatment of dye wastewater. They can be produced from various organics materials having high level of carbon content. In this study, a novel Pinang frond activated carbon (PFAC) was produced at various CO₂ flow rates in the range of 150-600 mL/min at activation temperature of 800°C for 3 hours. The optimum PFAC sample is found on CO₂ flow rate of 300 mL/min which gives the highest BET surface area and pore volume of 958 m²/g and 0.5469 mL/g, respectively. This sample shows well-developed pore structure with high fixed carbon content of 79.74%. The removal of methylene blue (MB) by 95.8% for initial MB concentration of 50 mg/L and 72.6% for 500 mg/L is achieved via this sample. The PFAC is thus identified to be a suitable adsorbent for removing MB from aqueous solution.
Electroplated nickel coating on cemented carbide is a potential pretreatment technique for providing an interlayer prior to diamond deposition on the hard metal substrate. The electroplated nickel coating is expected to be of high quality, for example, indicated by having adequate thickness and uniformity. Electroplating parameters should be set accordingly for this purpose. In this study, the gap distances between the electrodes and duration of electroplating process are the investigated variables. Their effect on the coating thickness and uniformity was analyzed and quantified using design of experiment. The nickel deposition was carried out by electroplating in a standard Watt's solution keeping other plating parameters (current: 0.1 Amp, electric potential: 1.0 V, and pH: 3.5) constant. The gap distance between anode and cathode varied at 5, 10, and 15 mm, while the plating time was 10, 20, and 30 minutes. Coating thickness was found to be proportional to the plating time and inversely proportional to the electrode gap distance, while the uniformity tends to improve at a large electrode gap. Empirical models of both coating thickness and uniformity were developed within the ranges of the gap distance and plating time settings, and an optimized solution was determined using these models.