Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) ink was synthesized from metal chloride precursors, sulfur, and oleylamine (OLA), as a ligand by a simple and low-cost hot-injection method. Thin films of CZTS were then prepared by spin coating, followed by thermal annealing. The effects of the fabrication parameters, such as ink concentration, spinning rate, and thermal treatment temperatures on the morphology and structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films were investigated. As expected, very thin films, for which the level of transmittance and band-gap values increase, can be obtained either by reducing the concentration of the inks or by increasing the rate of spinning. Moreover, the thermal treatment affects the phase formation and crystallinity of the film, as well as the electrical conductivity, which decreases at a higher temperature.
Chromium (Cr) is one of the hazardous heavy metals that is naturally carcinogenic and causes various health problems. Metallic nanoparticles such as silver and copper nanoparticles (Ag NPs and Cu NPs) have gained great attention because of their unique chemical, physical, and biological attributes, serving diverse and significant role in various useful and sustainable applications. In the present study, both of these NPs were synthesized by green method in which Azadirachta indica plant extract was used. These nanoparticles were characterized by using advanced instrumental techniques such as Fourier transmission infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope attached with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and elemental mapping. These environmentally friendly nanoparticles were utilized for the batch removal of Cr from the wastewater. For analysis of adsorption behaviour, a range of kinetic isotherm models (Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin, and Langmuir) and kinetic models (pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order) were used for the Cu-NPs and Ag-NPs. Cu NPs exhibited the highest Cr removal efficiency (96%) within a contact time of 10-15 min, closely followed by Ag NPs which achieved a removal efficiency of 94% under the similar conditions. These optimal outcomes were observed at a sorbent dose of 0.5 g/L for Ag NPs and 0.7 g/L for Cu NPs. After effectively capturing Cr using these nanoparticles, the sorbates were examined through SEM-EDX analysis to observe how much Cr metal was attached to the nanoparticles, potentially for future use. The analysis found that Ag-NPs captured 18% of Cr, while Cu-NPs captured 12% from the aqueous solution. More precise experimental conditions are needed for higher Cr removal from wastewater and determination of the best conditions for industrial-level Cr reuse. Although nanomaterial exhibit high efficiency and selectivity for Cr removal and recovery from wastewater, more research is necessary to optimize their synthesis and performance for industrial-scale applications and develop efficient methods for Cr removal and recovery.
This study aims to investigate the influence of copper(II) ions as a cofactor on the electrochemical performance of a biocomposite consisting of a mini protein mimicking uricase (mp20) and zeolitic immidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) for the detection of uric acid. A central composite design (CCD) was utilized to optimize the independent investigation, including pH, deposition potential, and deposition time, while the current response resulting from the electrocatalytic oxidation of uric acid was used as the response. The statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a good correlation between the experimental and predicted data, with a residual standard error percentage (RSE%) of less than 2% for predicting optimal conditions. The synergistic effect of the nanoporous ZIF-8 host, Cu(II)-activated mp20, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layer resulted in a highly sensitive biosensor with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.21 μM and a reproducibility of the response (RSD = 0.63%). The Cu(II)-activated mp20@ZIF-8/rGO/SPCE was highly selective in the presence of common interferents, and the fabricated layer exhibited remarkable stability with signal changes below 4.15% after 60 days. The biosensor's reliable performance was confirmed through real sample analyses of human serum and urine, with comparable recovery values to conventional HPLC.
This paper discusses heavy metal removal from wastewater by batch study and filtration technique through low-cost coarse media. Batch study has indicated that more than 90% copper (Cu) with concentration up to 50 mg/l could be removed from the solution with limestone quantity above 20 ml (equivalent to 56 g), which indicates the importance of limestone media in the removal process. This indicates that the removal of Cu is influenced by the media and not solely by the pH. Batch experiments using limestone and activated carbon indicate that both limestone and activated carbon had similar metal-removal efficiency (about 95%). Results of the laboratory-scale filtration technique using limestone particles indicated that above 90% removal of Cu was achieved at retention time of 2.31 h, surface-loading rate of 4.07 m3/m2 per day and Cu loading of 0.02 kg/m3 per day. Analyses of the limestone media after filtration indicated that adsorption and absorption processes were among the mechanisms involved in the removal processes. This study indicated that limestone can be used as an alternative to replace activated carbon.
Malaysia is now a developing country and on her way towards being an industrialised one by the year 2020. Most of her industries and urban areas are located on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, the offshore area of the west coast is now one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. These two phenomena make the intertidal and offshore areas of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia interesting for scientific studies. Therefore, this study focused on both the offshore and intertidal sediments of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Sampling for sediment samples were done from the northern to the southern ends of the peninsula and these sediment samples were analysed for Cu and Pb. It was found that total Cu concentrations ranged from 0.25 to 13.8 and 0.40 to 315 microg/g dry weight (dw) for offshore and intertidal sediments, respectively. For Pb, it ranged from 3.59 to 25.4 and 0.96 to 69.8 microg/g dw for the offshore and intertidal sediments, respectively. The ranges of Cu and Pb found from the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were low in comparison to regional data. However, some intertidal areas were identified as receiving anthropogenic Cu and Pb. Geochemical studies revealed that the 'nonresistant' fraction for Pb contributed about 70.0% to 75.0% and 54.0% of the total Pb concentration in the offshore and intertidal sediments, respectively. As for Cu, the 'nonresistant' fraction contributed about 46.2% to 60.4% and 46.3% of the total Cu concentration in the offshore and intertidal sediments, respectively. The 'nonresistant' fraction contained mostly of anthropogenic metals besides natural origins. These 'nonresistant' percentages indicated that both the offshore and intertidal areas could have received anthropogenic-derived metals, which could be influenced by physico-chemical properties of the sediments. Although the present data indicated that contamination due to Cu and Pb in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia especially in the offshore areas were not serious, regular biomonitoring studies along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia are recommended.
An electrochemical cell using an organic compound, copper (II) phthalocyanine-tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (CuTsPc,) has been fabricated and investigated as a solution-based temperature sensor. The capacitance and resistance of the ITO/CuTsPc solution/ITO chemical cell has been characterized as a function of temperature in the temperature range of 25-80 °C. A linear response with minimal hysteresis is observed. The fabricated temperature sensor has shown high consistency and sensitive response towards a specific range of temperature values.
Recently one dimensional (1-D) nanostructured metal-oxides have attracted much attention because of their potential applications in gas sensors. 1-D nanostructured metal-oxides provide high surface to volume ratio, while maintaining good chemical and thermal stabilities with minimal power consumption and low weight. In recent years, various processing routes have been developed for the synthesis of 1-D nanostructured metal-oxides such as hydrothermal, ultrasonic irradiation, electrospinning, anodization, sol-gel, molten-salt, carbothermal reduction, solid-state chemical reaction, thermal evaporation, vapor-phase transport, aerosol, RF sputtering, molecular beam epitaxy, chemical vapor deposition, gas-phase assisted nanocarving, UV lithography and dry plasma etching. A variety of sensor fabrication processing routes have also been developed. Depending on the materials, morphology and fabrication process the performance of the sensor towards a specific gas shows a varying degree of success. This article reviews and evaluates the performance of 1-D nanostructured metal-oxide gas sensors based on ZnO, SnO(2), TiO(2), In(2)O(3), WO(x), AgVO(3), CdO, MoO(3), CuO, TeO(2) and Fe(2)O(3). Advantages and disadvantages of each sensor are summarized, along with the associated sensing mechanism. Finally, the article concludes with some future directions of research.
Chemical forms of copper and lead in river water of the Linggi River Basin have been fractionated into ASV labile, moderately labile, slowly labile, and inert metal species, based on a previously proposed scheme. Free (hydrated) metal ions were identified by a potentiometric method using an ion selective electrode. Speciation results showed that the soluble copper and lead species occurred mainly in the moderately labile and slowly labile fractions. The speciation results are primarily interpreted in terms of organic interaction due to agricultural based and light industries, and urban discharges. The measured metal complexing capacity (MCC) of the samples reveals consistency of the results with the nature of the discharge. MCC correlates reasonably well with the value from the permanganate test on the river water. In general, the speciation pattern was found to be consistent with the findings of other workers.
The genomic data of four bacteria strains isolated from the abandoned Mamut Copper Mine, an Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) site is presented in this report. Two of these strains belong to the genus Bacillus, while the other two belong to the genus Pseudomonas. The draft genome size of Pseudomonas sp. strain MCMY3 was 6,396,595 bp (GC: 63.3%), Bacillus sp. strain MCMY6 was 6,815,573 bp (GC: 35.2%), Bacillus sp. strain MCMY13 was 5,559,059 bp (GC: 35.5%) and Pseudomonas sp. strain MCMY15 was 7,381,777 bp (GC: 64.8%). These four genomes contained 493, 495, 495 and 579 annotated subsystems, respectively. The sequence data are available at GenBank sequence read archive with accessions numbers SRX7859406, SRX7859404, SRX7859405 and SRX7293032 for strains MCMY3, MCMY6, MCMY13 and MCMY15, respectively.
This study focuses on the potential of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel slag and copper mine tailings as asphalt paving materials with respect to issues of volumetric properties and leaching. In this study, four different asphalt mixes were investigated; each contained EAF steel slag and copper mine tailings of various proportions. Apart from the microstructure analysis of the materials, a toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) test was conducted on both the mixes and the aggregates. All the mixes were evaluated by the following parameters: Voids in the mineral aggregates (VMA), voids in total mix (VTM), voids filled with asphalt (VFA), Marshall stability and flow and specific gravity. F-test ANNOVA was used to evaluate the degree of significance of the mixes with each of the evaluated standards. It was observed that the mixes containing either EAF steel slag or copper mine tailings or both gave better results than the control mix. In terms of the TCLP test, none of the detected hazardous elements exceeded the standard limits, which indicates the possibility of using them as construction materials.
Nanoparticles of undoped and copper doped with Fe3
O4 of three concentrations (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) are synthesized by
sonochemical method. Structural, optical and morphological properties of these compounds were studied. Fe2+/Fe3+
ratio is found to be 2.36. Crystalline structure, lattice parameters, surface morphologies, direct and indirect band gap
energies of the synthesized compounds were estimated and the results are discussed in detail. The XDR analysis indicates
the Cu doped Fe3
O4
nanoparticles have higher crystallinity than undoped samples. Average crystallite size is found
to increase as Cu concentration increased. The FTIR results are proven by the presence of mixed magnetite-hematite
nanostructures and it is complement to the XRD results. The presence of spherical, polygonal and agglomeration forms
of the particles are visually seen in the SEM images. Direct and indirect band gap energy is found to be decreased as the
copper concentration was increased.
A high recombination rate and low charge collection are the main limiting factors of copper oxides (cupric and cuprous oxide) for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. In this paper, a high performance copper oxide photocatalyst was developed by integrating cupric oxide (CuO) and cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films, which showed superior performance for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) compared to the control CuO and Cu2O photocatalyst. Our results show that a heterojunction photocatalyst of CuO-Cu2O thin films could significantly increase the charge collection, reduce the recombination rate, and improve the photocatalytic activity.
The three dimensional free convection boundary layer flow near a stagnation point region is embedded in viscous nanofluid with the effect of g-jitter is studied in this paper. Copper (Cu) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) types of water base nanofluid are cho- sen with the constant Prandtl number, Pr=6.2. Based on Tiwari-Das nanofluid model, the boundary layer equation used is converted into a non-dimensional form by adopting non- dimensional variables and is solved numerically by engaging an implicit finite-difference scheme known as Keller-box method. Behaviors of fluid flow such as skin friction and Nusset number are studied by the controlled parameters including oscillation frequency, amplitude of gravity modulation and nanoparticles volume fraction. The reduced skin friction and Nusset number are presented graphically and discussed for different values of principal curvatures ratio at the nodal point. The numerical results shows that, in- crement occurs in the values of Nusset number with the presence of solid nanoparticles together with the values of the skin friction. It is worth mentioning that for the plane stagnation point there is an absence of reduced skin friction along the y-direction where as for axisymmetric stagnation point, the reduced skin friction for both directions are the same. As nanoparticles volume fraction increased, the skin friction increased as well as the Nusset number. The results, indicated that skin frictions of copper are found higher than aluminium oxide.
Heavy metal accumulation and depuration may alter the effectiveness of Meretrix meretrix as a biomonitoring organism for water quality assessment. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of heavy metal accumulation and depuration on M. meretrix, by immersing it in Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), and Lead (Pb)
solutions under laboratory conditions. The results showed that M. meretrix is able to accumulate Cu, Zn, and Pb at the rate of 0.99, 21.80, and 0.57 μg/g per day, respectively, and depurates at the rate of 0.42, 23.55, and 1.01 μg/g per day, respectively. These results indicate that M. meretrix could be effectively used as a biomonitoring organism for Cu because the accumulation rate is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the depuration rate. However, this was not the case for Zn because the accumulation rate was almost similar to the depuration rate, while for Pb, accumulation or depuration did not occur in M. meretrix.
Electrodeposition of white copper-tin alloys (including white miralloys) has been done onto planar mild steel substrates from alkaline cyanide solutions at 65 0 C. The chemical composition of the coating is influenced by plating bath composition and current density. White miralloy can be produced from the test solution containing 10 g/l CuCN2 - , 45 g/l Na2SnO3, 25 g/l NaCN, and 12 g/l NaOH at current density about 5 mA/cm 2 . The local compositions of the coating cross section were analyzed using EDX installed in a FESEM operated at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. The phases formed during co-deposition process were identified using XRD at 25 mA current and 35 kV voltage.
A trial study had been conducted to determine the particulate form of 137 Cs in seawater surrounding East Malaysia. Large volume of seawater was filtered at a flow rate of 15 liters/min through the copper hexacyanoferrates (II) impregnated filters. These filters were ashed and counted using the gamma spectrometry system to determine the dissolved 137 Cs activity. It was found that the particulate form of 137 Cs consists of 20 to 49 % of the total 137 Cs activity concentrations. Some reasonable explanations for higher particulate percentage such as sampling locations, high water flow-rate, and large volume of seawaters were further discussed. It is hope that the result of this study will help to build a better understanding about the usage of impregnated filters to study dissolved 137 Cs activity concentrations.
A numerical simulation and analysis was performed to investigate the effect of absorber and buffer layer band gap grading and on a Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS) solar cell. The software used is the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). The absorber and buffer layer energy band structures’ effect on the cell’s output parameters such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, fill factor and efficiency were extensively simulated. Two structures of the energy band gap were simulated and studied for each of the absorber and buffer layer. The simulation was done on the uniform structure in which the energy band gap is constant throughout the layer. It was then continued on the cell with graded band structure, where the energy band gap of the material is varied throughout the layer. It was found that the cell with graded band structure in absorber and buffer layer had demonstrated higher efficiency and better performance in comparison with the cell with uniform band gap structure.
The concentrations of cadmium, copper, zinc and lead, in the total soft tissues of green-lipped mussel Perna viridis of a wide range of sizes (2-11 cm), were determined from a population at Pasir Panjang. The metal contents (μg per individual) and concentrations (μg per g) of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc were studied in P. viridis to find the relationships with body sizes. Smaller and younger mussels showed higher concentrations (μg per g) of Cd, Pb and Zn than the larger and older ones. The results of the present study showed that the plotting of the metal content, against dry body flesh weight on a double logarithmic basis, gave good positive straight lines; this observation is in agreement with Boyden’s formula (1977). This indicated that P. viridis showed a different physiological strategy for each metal being studied, which is related to age.
Mild steel is the most common metal used in industry. However, mild steel easily corrodes when exposed to environment. One way to protect mild steel from corrodes is by coating it with more noble metal like copper and its alloys. In this study, copper and Cu-Ni alloys were successfully coated on the mild steel substrate by electrodeposition technique using alkaline citrate solutions containing Cu and Ni ions precursors. The reaction and mechanisms of the electrodeposition of copper and Cu-Ni alloys on the mild steel substrate were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry methods. Surface morphology of the coatings was examined by FESEM. The elemental compositions of the coatings were confirmed by EDAX analysis. The molar ratios of Cu-Ni solutions have affected the formation of the coatings. Corrosion study shows that copper coated mild steel can improve the corrosion resistance of the mild steel in 0.5 M NaCl. Cu-Ni coating prepared from Cu60-Ni40 showed the highest corrosion resistance. The order of the corrosion resistance of the samples in 0.5 M NaCl at 25 oC is Cu60-Ni40> Cu75- Ni25> Cu90-Ni10> Cu100> mild steel.
Microwave imaging is the technique to identify hidden objects from structures using electromagnetic waves that can be applied in medical diagnosis. The change of dielectric property can be detected using microwave antenna sensor, which can lead to localization of abnormality in the human body. This paper presents a stacked type modified Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA) as microwave imaging sensor. Design and performance analysis of the sensor antenna along with computational and experimental analysis to identify concealed object has been investigated in this study. The dimension of the modified PIFA radiating patch is 40 × 20 × 10 mm³. The reflector walls used, are 45 mm in length and 0.2-mm-thick inexpensive copper sheet is considered for the simulation and fabrication which addresses the problems of high expenses in conventional patch antenna. The proposed antenna sensor operates at 1.55⁻1.68 GHz where the maximum realized gain is 4.5 dB with consistent unidirectional radiation characteristics. The proposed sensor antenna is used to identify tumor in a computational human tissue phantom based on reflection and transmission coefficient. Finally, an experiment has been performed to verify the antenna's potentiality of detecting abnormality in realistic breast phantom.