Phosphoric acid (H(3)PO(4)) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treated rice husks, followed by carbonization in a flowing nitrogen were used to study the adsorption of malachite green (MG) in aqueous solution. The effect of adsorption on contact time, concentration of MG and adsorbent dosage of the samples treated or carbonized at different temperatures were investigated. The results reveal that the optimum carbonization temperature is 500 degrees C in order to obtain adsorption capacity that is comparable to the commercial activated carbon for the husks treated by H(3)PO(4). It is interesting to note that MG adsorbed preferably on carbon-rich than on silica rich-sites. It is found that the behaviour of H(3)PO(4) treated absorbent followed both the Langmuir and Freundlich models while NaOH treated best fitted to only the Langmuir model.
This study marks the first-ever assessment of radiological hazards linked to the sands and rocks of Patuartek Sea Beach, situated along one of the world's longest sea beaches in Cox' Bazar of Bangladesh. Through the utilization of an HPGe detector, a comprehensive analysis of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40 K was conducted, and their activity ranged from 7 to 23 Bq/kg, 9-58 Bq/kg, and 172-340 Bq/kg, respectively, in soils, and 19-24 Bq/kg, 27-39 Bq/kg, and 340-410 Bq/kg, respectively, in rocks. Some sand samples exhibited elevated levels of 232Th, while the rock samples displayed higher levels of 40 K compared to the global average. The radiological hazard parameters were assessed, and no values surpassed the recommended limits set by several international organizations. Hence, the sands and rocks of Patuartek sea beach pose no significant radiological risk to the residents or tourists. The findings of this study provide crucial insights for the development of a radiological baseline map in the country, which is important due to the commissioning of the country's first nuclear power plant Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The data may also stimulate interest in the rare-earth minerals present in the area, which is important for the electronics industry, thorium-based nuclear fuel cycles.
Hybrid organic-inorganic membranes were fabricated using sol-gel technique using PMMA and TEOS with 80/20 (w/w) ratio at various solvents. The thin membrane films were then characterized using DSC and TGA. From DSC analysis, the Tg value of the PMMA moieties in hybrids membranes was in the order H-15-Toluene < Pure PMMA < H-15-THF < H-15-DMF. Furthermore, from TGA analysis it was found that the hybrid membranes have higher thermal stability compared to pure PMMA, and the type of solvents used play an important role in their degradation behavior.
The tropical estuarine ecosystem is fascinating for studying the dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton diversity due to its frequently changing hydrological conditions. Most importantly, phytoplankton is the main supplier of ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the coastal food web for fish as they could not synthesize PUFA. This study evaluated seasonal variations of water quality parameters in the Meghna River estuary (MRE), explored how phytoplankton diversity changes according to hydro-chemical parameters, and identified the major phytoplankton groups as the main source of PUFA for hilsa fish. Ten water quality indicators including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN = nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) and phosphorus, dissolved silica and chlorophyll-a were evaluated. In addition, phytoplankton diversity was assessed in the water and hilsa fish gut. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in the water quality conditions, and the driving factors in the MRE. Four main components were extracted and explained 75.4% variability of water quality parameters. The most relevant driving factors were dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and DIN (nitrate, nitrite and ammonia). These variabilities in physicochemical parameters and dissolved inorganic nutrients caused seasonal variations in two major groups of phytoplankton. Peak abundance of Chlorophyta (green algae) occurred in water in nutrient-rich environments (nitrogen and phosphorus) during the wet (36%) season, while Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were dominant during the dry (32%) season that depleted dissolved silica. Thus, the decrease of green algae and the increase of diatoms in the dry season indicated the potential link to seasonal changes of hydro-chemical parameters. The green algae (53.7%) were the dominant phytoplankton group in the hilsa gut content followed by diatoms (22.6%) and both are contributing as the major source of PUFAs for hilsa fish according to the electivity index as they contain the highest amounts of PUFAs (60 and 28% respectively).