Search results for: spontaneous electrical potential

Authors: Abdulrahman Nami Almutairi

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In the face of escalating climate change concerns, the concept of smart cities emerges as a promising approach to mitigate carbon emissions and move towards carbon neutrality. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the role of Natural Gas in achieving carbon neutrality. Natural gas has often been seen as a transitional fuel in the context of reducing carbon emissions. Its main role stems from being cleaner than coal and oil when burned for electricity generation and industrial processes. The urgent need to address this global issue has prompted a global shift towards cleaner energy sources and sustainable practices. In this endeavor, natural gas has emerged as a pivotal player, hailed for its potential to mitigate carbon emissions, and facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. With its lower carbon intensity compared to conventional fossil fuels, natural gas presents itself as a promising alternative for meeting energy demands while reducing environmental impact. As the world stands at a critical juncture in the fight against climate change, exploring the potential of natural gas as a transitional fuel offers insights into pathways towards a more sustainable and resilient future. By critically evaluating its opportunities and challenges, we can harness the potential of natural gas as a transitional fuel while advancing towards a cleaner, more resilient energy system. Through collaborative efforts and informed decision-making, we can pave the way for a future where energy is not only abundant but also environmentally sustainable and socially equitable.

Keywords: natural gas, clean fuel, carbon emissions, global warming, environmental protection

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Authors: Paweł Strzępek, Małgorzata Zasadzińska, Szymon Kordaszewski, Wojciech Ściężor

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The constant tendency toward the materials properties improvement nowadays creates opportunities for the scientists, and furthermore the manufacturers all over the world to design, form and produce new alloys almost every day. Considering the fact that companies all over the world look for alloys with the highest values of mechanical properties coexisting with a reasonable electrical conductivity made it necessary to develop new materials based on copper, such as copper magnesium alloys with over 2 wt. % of Mg. Though, before such new material may be mass produced it must undergo a series of tests in order to determine the production technology and its parameters. The presented study is based on the numerical simulations calculated with the use of finite element method analysis, where the geometry of the cooling system, the material used to produce the cooling system and the surface quality of the graphite crystallizer at the place of contact with the cooling system and its influence on the temperatures throughout the continuous casting process is being investigated. The calculated simulations made it possible to propose the optimal set of equipment necessary for the continuous casting process to be carried out in laboratory conditions with various casting parameters and to determine basic materials properties of the obtained alloys such as hardness, electrical conductivity and homogeneity of the chemical composition. The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by The National Centre for Research and Development – Research Project No. LIDER/33/0121/L-11/19/NCBR/2020.

Keywords: CuMg alloys, continuous casting, temperature analysis, finite element method

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Authors: Lavanya Annadi, Fahimeh Jafari

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Transportation brings immense benefits to society, but it also has its costs. Costs include such as the cost of infrastructure, personnel and equipment, but also the loss of life and property in traffic accidents on the road, delays in travel due to traffic congestion and various indirect costs in terms of air transport. More research has been done to identify the various factors that affect road accidents, such as road infrastructure, traffic, sociodemographic characteristics, land use, and the environment. The aim of this research is to predict the probabilistic crash prediction of vehicles using machine learning due to natural and structural reasons by excluding spontaneous reasons like overspeeding etc., in the United States. These factors range from weather factors, like weather conditions, precipitation, visibility, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, pressure, and humidity to human made structures like road structure factors like bump, roundabout, no exit, turning loop, give away, etc. Probabilities are dissected into ten different classes. All the predictions are based on multiclass classification techniques, which are supervised learning. This study considers all crashes that happened in all states collected by the US government. To calculate the probability, multinomial expected value was used and assigned a classification label as the crash probability. We applied three different classification models, including multiclass Logistic Regression, Random Forest and XGBoost. The numerical results show that XGBoost achieved a 75.2% accuracy rate which indicates the part that is being played by natural and structural reasons for the crash. The paper has provided in-deep insights through exploratory data analysis.

Keywords: road safety, crash prediction, exploratory analysis, machine learning

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Authors: Amirreza Heidari, Akram Avami, Ehsan Heidari

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Evaporative cooling systems are known as energy efficient cooling systems, with much lower electricity consumption than conventional vapor compression systems. A serious limitation of these systems, however, is that they are not applicable in humid regions. Combining a desiccant wheel with these systems, known as desiccant-based evaporative cooling systems, makes it possible to use evaporative cooling in humid climates. This paper evaluates the performane of a cooling system combining desiccant wheel, direct and indirect evaporative coolers (called desiccant-based indirect-direct evaporative cooling (DIDE) system) and then evaluates the energy saving potential of this system over the conventional vapor compression cooling and drying system. To illustrate the system ability of providing comfort conditions, a dynamic hourly simulation of this system is performed for a typical 60 m² building in Sydney, Australia. To evaluate the energy saving potential of this system, a conventional cooling and drying system is also simulated for the same cooling capacity. It has been found that the DIE system is able to provide comfort temperature and relative humidity in a subtropical humid climate like Sydney. The electricity and natural gas consumption of this system are respectively 39.2% and 2.6% lower than that of conventional system over a week. As the research has demonstrated, the innovative DIDE system is an energy efficient cooling system for subtropical humid regions.

Keywords: desiccant, evaporative cooling, dehumidification, indirect evaporative cooler

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Authors: Cebrail Çiflikli, Emre Öner Tartan

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Parallel to the fast worldwide increase of elderly population and spreading unhealthy life habits, there is a significant rise in the number of patients and health problems. The supervision of people who have health problems and oversight in detection of people who have potential risks, bring a considerable cost to health system and increase workload of physician. To provide an efficient solution to this problem, in the recent years mobile applications have shown their potential for wide usage in health monitoring. In this paper we present an Android mobile application that records and evaluates ECG signal using Pan-Tompkins algorithm for QRS detection. The application model includes an alarm mechanism that is proposed to be used for sending message including abnormality information and location information to health supervisor.

Keywords: Android mobile application, ECG monitoring, QRS detection, Pan-Tompkins Algorithm

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Authors: Harche Rima, Laoufi Nadia Aicha

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The present work consists of studying the behavior of steel, copper, and aluminum vis-à-vis the corrosion in an aqueous medium in the presence of the antifreeze COOLELF MDX -26°C. For this, we have studied the influence of the temperature and the different concentrations of the antifreeze on the corrosion of these three metals, this will last for two months by the polarization method and weight loss. In the end, we investigated the samples with the optic microscope to know their surface state. The aim of this work is the protection of contraptions. The use of antifreeze in ordinary water has a high efficiency against steel corrosion, as demonstrated by electrochemical tests (potential monitoring as a function of time and tracing polarization curves). The inhibition rate is greater than 99% for different volume concentrations, ranging from 40% to 60%. The speeds are in turn low in the order of 10-4 mm/year. On the other hand, the addition of antifreeze to ordinary water increases the corrosion potential of steel by more than 400 mV.

Keywords: corrosion and prevention, steel, copper, aluminum, corrosion inhibitor, anti-cooling

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Authors: Yahya Asanoglu, Celaletdin Ergun

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Ceramic-matrix composites (CMC) have significant prominence in various engineering applications because of their heat resistance associated with an ability to withstand the brittle type of catastrophic failure. In this study, specific raw materials have been chosen for the purpose of having suitable CMC material for high-temperature dielectric applications. CMC material will be manufactured through the polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) method. During the manufacturing process, vacuum infiltration and autoclave will be applied so as to decrease porosity and obtain higher mechanical properties, although this advantage leads to a decrease in the electrical performance of the material. Time and temperature adjustment in pyrolysis parameters provide a significant difference in the properties of the resulting material. The mechanical and thermal properties will be investigated in addition to the measurement of dielectric constant and tangent loss values within the spectrum of Ku-band (12 to 18 GHz). Also, XRD, TGA/PTA analyses will be employed to prove the transition of precursor to ceramic phases and to detect critical transition temperatures. Additionally, SEM analysis on the fracture surfaces will be performed to see failure mechanism whether there is fiber pull-out, crack deflection and others which lead to ductility and toughness in the material. In this research, the cost-effectiveness and applicability of the PIP method will be proven in the manufacture of CMC materials while optimization of pyrolysis time, temperature and cycle for specific materials is detected by experiment. Also, several resins will be shown to be a potential raw material for CMC radome and antenna applications. This research will be distinguished from previous related papers due to the fact that in this research, the combination of different precursors and fabrics will be experimented with to specify the unique cons and pros of each combination. In this way, this is an experimental sum of previous works with unique PIP parameters and a guide to the manufacture of CMC radome and antenna.

Keywords: CMC, PIP, precursor, quartz

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Authors: Sh. Heidari, A. J. Andrews, A. Oberoi

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Electrochemical storage of hydrogen in activated carbon electrodes as part of a reversible fuel cell offers a potentially attractive option for storing surplus electrical energy from inherently variable solar and wind energy resources. Such a system – which we have called a proton flow battery – promises to have a roundtrip energy efficiency comparable to lithium ion batteries, while having higher gravimetric and volumetric energy densities. In this paper, a theoretical model is presented of the process of H+ ion (proton) conduction through an acid electrolyte into a highly porous activated carbon electrode where it is neutralised and absorbed on the inner surfaces of pores. A Butler-Volmer type equation relates the rate of adsorption to the potential difference between the activated carbon surface and the electrolyte. This model for the hydrogen storage electrode is then incorporated into a more general computer model based on MATLAB software of the entire electrochemical cell including the oxygen electrode. Hence a theoretical voltage-current curve is generated for given input parameters for a particular activated carbon electrode. It is shown that theoretical VI curves produced by the model can be fitted accurately to experimental data from an actual electrochemical cell with the same characteristics. By obtaining the best-fit values of input parameters, such as the exchange current density and charge transfer coefficient for the hydrogen adsorption reaction, an improved understanding of the adsorption reaction is obtained. This new model will assist in designing improved proton flow batteries for storing solar and wind energy.

Keywords: electrochemical hydrogen storage, proton flow battery, butler-volmer equation, activated carbon

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Authors: Aniela Pop, Ianina Birsan, Corina Orha, Rodica Pode, Florica Manea

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Carbon nanofiber-epoxy composite electrode has been investigated through voltammetric and amperometric techniques in order to detect parabens from aqueous solutions. The occurrence into environment as emerging pollutants of these preservative compounds has been extensively studied in the last decades, and consequently, a rapid and reliable method for their quantitative quantification is required. In this study, methylparaben (MP) and propylparaben (PP) were chosen as representatives for paraben class. The individual electrochemical detection of each paraben has been successfully performed. Their electrochemical oxidation occurred at the same potential value. Their simultaneous quantification should be assessed electrochemically only as general index of paraben class as a cumulative signal corresponding to both MP and PP from solution. The influence of pH on the electrochemical signal was studied. pH ranged between 1.3 and 9.0 allowed shifting the detection potential value to smaller value, which is very desired for the electroanalysis. Also, the signal is better-defined and higher sensitivity is achieved. Differential-pulsed voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry were exploited under the optimum pH conditions to improve the electroanalytical performance for the paraben detection. Also, the operation conditions were selected, i.e., the step potential, modulation amplitude and the frequency. Chronomaprometry application as the easiest electrochemical detection method led to worse sensitivity, probably due to a possible fouling effect of the electrode surface. The best electroanalytical performance was achieved by pulsed voltammetric technique but the selection of the electrochemical technique is related to the concrete practical application. A good reproducibility of the voltammetric-based method using carbon nanofiber-epoxy composite electrode was determined and no interference effect was found for the cation and anion species that are common in the water matrix. Besides these characteristics, the long life-time of the electrode give to carbon nanofiber-epoxy composite electrode a great potential for practical applications.

Keywords: carbon nanofiber-epoxy composite electrode, electroanalysis, methylparaben, propylparaben

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Authors: J. E. Oti, J. M. Kinuthia, R. Robinson, P. Davies

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This work reports the potential of using Palm Kernel (PK) ash and shell as a partial substitute for Portland Cement (PC) and coarse aggregate in the development of mortar and concrete. PK ash and shell are agro-waste materials from palm oil mills, the disposal of PK ash and shell is an environmental problem of concern. The PK ash has pozzolanic properties that enables it as a partial replacement for cement and also plays an important role in the strength and durability of concrete, its use in concrete will alleviate the increasing challenges of scarcity and high cost of cement. In order to investigate the PC replacement potential of PK ash, three types of PK ash were produced at varying temperature (350-750 degrees) and they were used to replace up to 50% PC. The PK shell was used to replace up to 100% coarse aggregate in order to study its aggregate replacement potential. The testing programme included material characterisation, the determination of compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and chemical durability in aggressive sulfate-bearing exposure conditions. The 90 day compressive results showed a significant strength gain (up to 26.2 N/mm2). The Portland cement and conventional coarse aggregate has significantly higher influence in the strength gain compared to the equivalent PK ash and PK shell. The chemical durability results demonstrated that after a prolonged period of exposure, significant strength losses in all the concretes were observed. This phenomenon is explained, due to lower change in concrete morphology and inhibition of reaction species and the final disruption of the aggregate cement paste matrix.

Keywords: sustainability, concrete, mortar, palm kernel shell, compressive strength, consistency

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Authors: Priyanka Dargode, Suhas Gore, Manju Sharma, Arvind Lali

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Anaerobic digestion has been widely used for production of methane from different biowastes. However, the complexity of microbial communities involved in the process is poorly understood. The performance of biogas production process concerning the process productivity is closely coupled to its microbial community structure and syntrophic interactions amongst the community members. The present study aims at understanding taxonomic variations occurring in any starter inoculum when acclimatised to different lignocellulosic biomass (LBM) feedstocks relating to time of digestion. The work underlines use of high throughput Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for validating the changes in taxonomic patterns of microbial communities. Biomethane Potential (BMP) batches were set up with different pretreated and non-pretreated LBM residues using the same microbial consortium and samples were withdrawn for studying the changes in microbial community in terms of its structure and predominance with respect to changes in metabolic profile of the process. DNA of samples withdrawn at different time intervals with reference to performance changes of the digestion process, was extracted followed by its 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing analysis using Illumina Platform. Biomethane potential and substrate consumption was monitored using Gas Chromatography(GC) and reduction in COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) respectively. Taxonomic analysis by QIIME server data revealed that microbial community structure changes with different substrates as well as at different time intervals. It was observed that biomethane potential of each substrate was relatively similar but, the time required for substrate utilization and its conversion to biomethane was different for different substrates. This could be attributed to the nature of substrate and consequently the discrepancy between the dominance of microbial communities with regards to different substrate and at different phases of anaerobic digestion process. Knowledge of microbial communities involved would allow a rational substrate specific consortium design which will help to reduce consortium adaptation period and enhance the substrate utilisation resulting in improved efficacy of biogas process.

Keywords: amplicon sequencing, biomethane potential, community predominance, taxonomic analysis

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Authors: I. Ruzaina, A. B. Rashid, M. S. Halimahton Zahrah, C. S. Cheow, M. S. Adi

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This study was conducted to determine the potential of palm stearin (PS) as edible coating materials for fruits. The palm stearin was blended with 20-80% palm kernel olein (PKOo) and the properties of the blends were evaluated in terms of the slip melting point (SMP), solid fat content (SFC), fatty acid and triacylglycerol compositions (TAG), and polymorphism. Blending of PS with PKOo reduced the SMP, SFC, altered the FAC and TAG composition and changed the crystal polymorphism from β to mixture of β and β′. The changes in the physicochemical properties of PS were due to the replacement of the high melting TAG in PS with medium chain TAG in PKOo. From the analysis, 1:1 and 3:2 were the better PSPKOo blend formulations in slowing down the weight loss, respiration gases and gave better appearance when compared to other PSPKOo blends formulations.

Keywords: guava, palm stearin, palm kernel olein, physicochemical

Procedia PDF Downloads 579

Authors: Ehsan Heidaryan

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Gas hydrate sediments are ice like permafrost in deep see and oceans. Methane production in sequestration process and reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, a main source of greenhouse gas, has been accentuated recently. One focus is capture, separation, and sequestration of industrial carbon dioxide. As a hydrate former, carbon dioxide forms hydrates at moderate temperatures and pressures. This phenomenon could be utilized to capture and separate carbon dioxide from flue gases, and also has the potential to sequester carbon dioxide in the deep seabeds. This research investigated the effect of synthetic surfactants on carbon dioxide hydrate formation, catalysis and consequently, methane production from hydrate permafrosts in sediments. It investigated the sequestration potential of carbon dioxide hydrates in ocean sediments. Also, the catalytic effect of biosurfactants in these processes was investigated.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, hydrate, sequestration, surfactant

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Venkatesan Annadurai, Kannan Ethirajalu, Anu Roshini Ramakrishnan

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Copper oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) based coaxial (CuO-ZnO nanorods) heterojunction has been the interest of various research communities for solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors applications. Copper oxide (CuO) is a p-type material with the band gap of 1.5 eV and it is considered to be an attractive absorber material in solar cells applications due to its high absorption coefficient and long minority carrier diffusion length. Similarly, n-type ZnO nanorods possess many attractive advantages over thin films such as, the light trapping ability and photosensitivity owing to the presence of oxygen related hole-traps at the surface. Moreover, the abundant availability, non-toxicity, and inexpensiveness of these materials make them suitable for potentially cheap, large area, and stable photovoltaic applications. However, the efficiency of the CuO-ZnO nanorods heterojunction based devices is greatly affected by interface defects which generally lead to the poor performance. In spite of having much potential, not much work has been carried out to understand the interface quality and transport mechanism involved across the CuO-ZnO nanorods heterojunction. Therefore, a detailed investigation of CuO-ZnO heterojunction is needed to understand the interface which affects its photovoltaic performance. Herein, we have fabricated the CuO-ZnO nanorods based heterojunction by simple hydrothermal and electrodeposition technique and investigated its interface quality by carrying out temperature (300 –10 K) dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements under dark and illumination of visible light. Activation energies extracted from the temperature dependent I-V characteristics reveals that recombination and tunneling mechanism across the interfacial barrier plays a significant role in the current flow.

Keywords: heterojunction, electrical transport, nanorods, solar cells

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Authors: Masbubul Ishtiaque Ahmed

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Food chain contamination by heavy metals has become a critical issue in recent years because of their potential accumulation in bio systems through contaminated water, soil and irrigation water. Industrial discharge, fertilizers, contaminated irrigation water, fossil fuels, sewage sludge and municipality wastes are the major sources of heavy metal contamination in soils and subsequent uptake by crops. The main objectives of this project were to determine the levels of minerals, trace elements and heavy metals in major foods and beverages consumed by the poor and non-poor households of Dhaka city and assess the dietary risk exposure to heavy metal and trace metal contamination and potential health implications as well as recommendations for action. Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements that have a high atomic weight and a density of at least 5 times greater than that of water. Their multiple industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical and technological applications have led to their wide distribution in the environment; raising concerns over their potential effects on human health and the environment. Their toxicity depends on several factors including the dose, route of exposure, and chemical species, as well as the age, gender, genetics, and nutritional status of exposed individuals. Because of their high degree of toxicity, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury rank among the priority metals that are of public health significance. These metallic elements are considered systemic toxicants that are known to induce multiple organ damage, even at lower levels of exposure. This review provides an analysis of their environmental occurrence, production and use, potential for human exposure, and molecular mechanisms of toxicity, and carcinogenicity.

Keywords: food chain, determine the levels of minerals, trace elements, heavy metals, production and use, human exposure, toxicity, carcinogenicity

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Authors: Hoon Yi, Minho Sung, Hangil Ko, Moon Kyu Kwak, Hoon Eui Jeong

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Inspired by the remarkable adhesion properties of gecko lizards, bio-inspired dry adhesives with smart adhesion properties have been developed in the last decade. Compared to earlier dry adhesives, the recently developed ones exhibit excellent adhesion strength, smart directional adhesion, and structural robustness. With these unique adhesion properties, bio-inspired dry adhesive pads have strong potential for use in precision industries such as semiconductor or display manufacturing. In this communication, we present a new manufacturing technology based on advanced dry adhesive systems that enable precise manipulation of large-area substrates over repeating cycles without any requirement for external force application. This new manufacturing technique is also highly accurate and environment-friendly, and thus has strong potential as a next-generation clean manufacturing technology.

Keywords: gecko, manufacturing robot, precision manufacturing

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Authors: Jenan Abu Qadourah

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The suitable surface areas for the ST and PV installation are determined based on incident solar irradiation on different surfaces, shading analysis and suitable architectural area for integration considering limitations due to the constructions, available surfaces area and use of the available surfaces for other purposes. The incident solar radiation on the building surfaces and the building solar exposure analysis of the location of Amman, Jordan, is performed with Autodesk Ecotect analysis 2011 simulation software. The building model geometry within the typical urban context is created in “SketchUp,” which is then imported into Ecotect. The hourly climatic data of Amman, Jordan selected are the same ones used for the building simulation in IDA ICE and Polysun simulation software.

Keywords: photovoltaic, solar thermal, solar incident, simulation, building façade, solar potential

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Asim Olgun, Ali Kara, Vural Butun, Pelin Sevinc, Merve Gungor, Orhan Ornek

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In this study, we investigated the possibility of using waste containing boron impurity (BW) as an adsorbent for the removal of Orange 16 from aqueous solution. Surface properties of the BW, heat treated BW, and diblock copolymer coated BW were examined by using Zeta Meter and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The polymer modified sample having the highest positive zeta potential was used as an adsorbent. Batch adsorption studies were carried out. The operating variables studied were the initial dye concentration, contact time, solution pH, and adsorbent dosage. It was found that the dye adsorption largely depends on the initial pH of the solution with maximum uptake occurring at pH 3. The adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the isotherm fit well to the Langmuir model.

Keywords: zeta potential, adsorption, Orange 16, isotherms

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Authors: Alexander Mikkelsen, Khobaib Khobaib, Zbigniew Rozynek

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Drops covered by particles have found important uses in various fields, ranging from stabilization of emulsions to production of new advanced materials. Particles at drop interfaces can be interlocked to form solid capsules with properties tailored for a myriad of applications. Despite the huge potential of particle-laden drops and capsules, the knowledge of their deformation and stability are limited. In this regard, we contribute with experimental studies on the deformation and manipulation of silicone oil drops covered with micrometer-sized particles subjected to electric fields. A mixture of silicone oil and particles were immersed in castor oil using a mechanical pipette, forming millimeter sized drops. The particles moved and adsorbed at the drop interfaces by sedimentation, and were structured at the interface by electric field-induced electrohydrodynamic flows. When applying a direct current electric field, free charges accumulated at the drop interfaces, yielding electric stress that deformed the drops. In our experiments, we investigated how particle properties affected drop deformation, break-up, and particle structuring. We found that by increasing the size of weakly-conductive clay particles, the drop shape can go from compressed to stretched out in the direction of the electric field. Increasing the particle size and electrical properties were also found to weaken electrohydrodynamic flows, induce break-up of drops at weaker electric field strengths and structure particles in chains. These particle parameters determine the dipolar force between the interfacial particles, which can yield particle chaining. We conclude that the balance between particle chaining and electrohydrodynamic flows governs the observed drop mechanics.

Keywords: drop deformation, electric field induced stress, electrohydrodynamic flows, particle structuring at drop interfaces

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Authors: Ahmad Umar, Sheikh Akbar, Ahmed A. Ibrahim, Mohsen A. Alhamami

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The development of advanced materials for energy storage and gas sensing applications has gained significant attention in recent years. In this study, we synthesized and characterized PANI@MnO2@rGO ternary nanocomposites (NCs) to explore their potential in supercapacitors and gas sensing devices. The ternary NCs were synthesized through a multi-step process involving the hydrothermal synthesis of MnO2 nanoparticles, preparation of PANI@rGO composites and the assembly to the ternary PANI@MnO2@rGO ternary NCs. The structural, morphological, and compositional characteristics of the materials were thoroughly analyzed using techniques such as XRD, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. In the realm of gas sensing, the ternary NCs exhibited excellent performance as NH3 gas sensors. The optimized operating temperature of 100 °C yielded a peak response of 15.56 towards 50 ppm NH3. The nanocomposites demonstrated fast response and recovery times of 6 s and 10 s, respectively, and displayed remarkable selectivity for NH3 gas over other tested gases. For supercapacitor applications, the electrochemical performance of the ternary NCs was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge techniques. The composites exhibited pseudocapacitive behavior, with the capacitance reaching up to 185 F/g at 1 A/g and excellent capacitance retention of approximately 88.54% over 4000 charge-discharge cycles. The unique combination of rGO, PANI, and MnO2 nanoparticles in these ternary NCs offer synergistic advantages, showcasing their potential to address challenges in energy storage and gas sensing technologies.

Keywords: paniI@mnO2@rGO ternary NCs, synergistic effects, supercapacitors, gas sensing, energy storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Huma Shareef, Ghazala H. Rizwani, Ahsana Dar

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In traditional medicine Cardiospermum halicacabum L. (Sapindeaceae) is used against various ailments. In current investigation searching a new remedy that will available easily, non expensive, able to lower hypertension and standardize blood pressure, made us to develop an herbal medicine. Crude ethanol extract of C. halicacabum and its various fractions ethyl acetate and butanol showed a dose-dependent hypotensive effect in anaesthetized rats. The trachea was exposed and freed from connective tissue and incubated by cannula to facilitate spontaneous respiration. The right carotid artery and left jugular vein were cannulated with polyethylene tubing PE-50 for monitoring blood pressure changes via pressure transducer (Gould P23 ID) connected to a Grass model 79D polygraph and for i.v. injection, respectively. Drugs or the plant extracts were administered at a constant volume of 0.5 ml/kg, followed by injection of 0.2 ml of saline that flushed the cannula. Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was measured in mm Hg and heart rate in beats/min. Ethanol extract of C. halicacabum showed a significant activity at 50 mg/kg dose. Ethyl acetate fraction (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mg/kg) induced dose dependent fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate of rats. At 10-30 mg/kg the hypotensive effect was non significantly reduced by 10 -15%. However, the extract at 40 mg/kg induced significant hypotensive effect calculated as 30.95±3.2% MABP and this effect persists till 50 mg/kg. The higher polar fraction (butanol) of the whole plant failed to produce any significant response against MABP at all the tested doses (10-50 mg/kg). C. halicacabum lowers blood pressure, exerts a dose-dependent hypotensive effect, can be used as hypotensor.

Keywords: cardiospermum halicacabum, calcium channel blocker, hypotensive, various extracts

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Authors: Chenxiao Yang, Li Li

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In this decade, the sportswear market rapidly expanded while numerous sports brands are conducting fierce competitions to hold their market shares and trying to act as a leader in professional competition sports areas to set the trends. Thus, various advancing sports equipment is being deeply explored to improving athletes’ performance in fierce competitions. Although there is plenty protective equipment such as cuff, running legging, etc., on the market, there is still blank in the field of sportswear during prerace warm-up this important time gap, especially for those competitions host in cold environment. Because there is always time gaps between warm-up and race due to event logistics or unexpected weather factors. Athletes will be exposed to chilly condition for an unpredictable long period of time. As a consequence, the effects of warm-up will be negated, and the competition performance will be degraded. However, reviewing the current market, there is none effective sports equipment provided to help athletes against this harsh environment or the rare existing products are so blocky or heavy to restrict the actions. An ideal thermal-protective sportswear should be light, flexible, comfort and aesthetic at the same time. Therefore, this design research adopted the textile circular knitting methodology to integrate soft silver-coated conductive yarns (ab. SCCYs), elastic nylon yarn and polyester yarn to develop the proposed electrical, thermal sportswear, with the strengths aforementioned. Meanwhile, the relationship between heating performance, stretch load, and energy consumption were investigated. Further, a simulation model was established to ensure providing sufficient warm and flexibility at lower energy cost and with an optimized production, parameter determined. The proposed circular knitting technology and simulation model can be directly applied to instruct prototype developments to cater different target consumers’ needs and ensure prototypes’’ safety. On the other hand, high R&D investment and time consumption can be saved. Further, two prototypes: a kneecap and an elbow guard, were developed to facilitate the transformation of research technology into an industrial application and to give a hint on the blur future blueprint.

Keywords: cold environment, silver-coated conductive yarn, electrical thermal textile, stretchable

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Authors: Sachinkumar Patil, Sonali Patil, Shitalkumar Patil

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Nanoparticles played important role in the biomedicine. New advanced methods having great potential apllication in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Now a day’s magnetic nanoparticles used in cancer therapy. Cancer is the major disease causes death. Magnetic nanoparticles show response to the magnetic field on the basis of this property they are used in cancer therapy. Cancer treated with hyperthermia by using magnetic nanoparticles it is unconventional but more safe and effective method. Magnetic nanoparticles prepared by using different innovative techniques that makes particles in uniform size and desired effect. Magnetic nanoparticles already used as contrast media in magnetic resonance imaging. A magnetic nanoparticle has been great potential application in cancer diagnosis and treatment as well as in gene therapy. In this review we will discuss the progress in cancer therapy based on magnetic nanoparticles, mainly including magnetic hyperthermia, synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles, mechanism of magnetic nanoparticles and application of magnetic nanoparticles.

Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, synthesis, characterization, cancer therapy, hyperthermia, application

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Authors: Sun Zhe, Ruggero Micheletto

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As discussed extensively in many studies, noise in neural networks have an important role in the functioning and time evolution of the system. The mechanism by which noise induce stochastic resonance enhancing and influencing certain operations is not clarified nor is the mechanism of information storage and coding. With the present research we want to study the role of noise, especially focusing on the frequency peaks in a three variable Hindmarsh−Rose Small−World network. We investigated the behaviour of the network to external noises. We demonstrate that a variation of signal to noise ratio of about 10 dB induces an increase in membrane potential signal of about 15%, averaged over the whole network. We also considered the integral of the whole membrane potential as a paradigm of internal noise, the one generated by the brain network. We showed that this internal noise is attenuated with the size of the network or with the number of random connections. By means of Fourier analysis we found that it has distinct peaks of frequencies, moreover, we showed that increasing the size of the network introducing more neurons, reduced the maximum frequencies generated by the network, whereas the increase in the number of random connections (determined by the small-world probability p) led to a trend toward higher frequencies. This study may give clues on how networks utilize noise to alter the collective behaviour of the system in their operations.

Keywords: neural networks, stochastic processes, small-world networks, discrete Fourier analysis

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Authors: L. P. Gomes, G. F. Araújo, Y. M. L. Cordeiro, C. T. Andrade, E. M. Del Aguila, V. M. F. Paschoalin

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The application of nanoscale materials and nanostructures is an emerging area, these since materials may provide solutions to technological and environmental challenges in order to preserve the environment and natural resources. To reach this goal, the increasing demand must be accompanied by 'green' synthesis methods. Chitosan is a natural, nontoxic, biopolymer derived by the deacetylation of chitin and has great potential for a wide range of applications in the biological and biomedical areas, due to its biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and versatile chemical and physical properties. Chitosan also presents high antimicrobial activities against a wide variety of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. Ultrasonication is a common tool for the preparation and processing of polymer nanoparticles. It is particularly effective in breaking up aggregates and in reducing the size and polydispersity of nanoparticles. High-intensity ultrasonication has the potential to modify chitosan molecular weight and, thus, alter or improve chitosan functional properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of sonication intensity and time on the changes of commercial chitosan characteristics, such as molecular weight and its potential antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria. The nanoparticles (NPs) were produced from two commercial chitosans, of medium molecular weight (CS-MMW) and low molecular weight (CS-LMW) from Sigma-Aldrich®. These samples (2%) were solubilized in 100 mM sodium acetate pH 4.0, placed on ice and irradiated with an ultrasound SONIC ultrasonic probe (model 750 W), equipped with a 1/2" microtip during 30 min at 4°C. It was used on constant duty cycle and 40% amplitude with 1/1s intervals. The ultrasonic degradation of CS-MMW and CS-LMW were followed up by means of ζ-potential (Brookhaven Instruments, model 90Plus) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. After sonication, the concentrated samples were diluted 100 times and placed in fluorescence quartz cuvettes (Hellma 111-QS, 10 mm light path). The distributions of the colloidal particles were calculated from the DLS and ζ-potential are measurements taken for the CS-MMW and CS-LMW solutions before and after (CS-MMW30 and CS-LMW30) sonication for 30 min. Regarding the results for the chitosan sample, the major bands can be distinguished centered at Radius hydrodynamic (Rh), showed different distributions for CS-MMW (Rh=690.0 nm, ζ=26.52±2.4), CS-LMW (Rh=607.4 and 2805.4 nm, ζ=24.51±1.29), CS-MMW30 (Rh=201.5 and 1064.1 nm, ζ=24.78±2.4) and CS-LMW30 (Rh=492.5, ζ=26.12±0.85). The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using different chitosan samples concentrations. MIC values were determined against to E. coli (106 cells) harvested from an LB medium (Luria-Bertani BD™) after 18h growth at 37 ºC. Subsequently, the cell suspension was serially diluted in saline solution (0.8% NaCl) and plated on solid LB at 37°C for 18 h. Colony-forming units were counted. The samples showed different MICs against E. coli for CS-LMW (1.5mg), CS-MMW30 (1.5 mg/mL) and CS-LMW30 (1.0 mg/mL). The results demonstrate that the production of nanoparticles by modification of their molecular weight by ultrasonication is simple to be performed and dispense acid solvent addition. Molecular weight modifications are enough to provoke changes in the antimicrobial potential of the nanoparticles produced in this way.

Keywords: antimicrobial agent, chitosan, green production, nanoparticles

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Authors: İ. Çelik, Goksel Demirer

Abstract:

Turkey is the third largest producer of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) after Iran and United States. Harvested pistachio nuts are covered with organic hull which is removed by de-hulling process. Most of the pistachio by-products which are produced during de-hulling process are considered as agricultural waste and often mixed with soil, to a lesser extent are used as feedstuff by local livestock farmers and a small portion is used as herbal medicine. Due to its high organic and phenolic content as well as high solids concentration, pistachio processing wastes create significant waste management problems unless they are properly managed. However, there is not a well-established waste management method compensating the waste generated during the processing of pistachios. This study investigated the anaerobic treatability and biogas generation potential of pistachio hull waste. The effect of pre-treatment on biogas generation potential was investigated. For this purpose, Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) Assays were conducted for two Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentrations of 22 and 33 g tCOD l-1 at the absence and presence of chemical and thermal pre-treatment methods. The results revealed anaerobic digestion of the pistachio de-hulling wastes and subsequent biogas production as a renewable energy source are possible. The observed percent COD removal and methane yield values of the pre-treated pistachio de-hulling waste samples were significantly higher than the raw pistachio de-hulling waste. The highest methane yield was observed as 213.4 ml CH4/g COD.

Keywords: pistachio de-hulling waste, biogas, renewable energy, pre-treatment

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Authors: Tayebeh Sahraeibelverdi, Ahmad Shirazi Hadi Veladi, Mazdak Radmalekshah

Abstract:

Optical sensors became attractive due to preciseness, low power consumption, and intrinsic electromagnetic interference-free characteristic. Among the waveguide optical sensors, cavity-based ones attended for the high Q-factor. Micro ring resonators as a potential platform have been investigated for various applications as biosensors to pressure sensors thanks to their sensitive ring structure responding to any small change in the refractive index. Furthermore, these small micron size structures can come in an array, bringing the opportunity to have any of the resonance in a specific wavelength and be addressed in this way. Another exciting application is applying a strain to the ring and making them an optical strain gauge where the traditional ones are based on the piezoelectric material. Making them in arrays needs electrical wiring and about fifty times bigger in size. Any physical element that impacts the waveguide cross-section, Waveguide elastic-optic property change, or ring circumference can play a role. In comparison, ring size change has a larger effect than others. Here an engineered ring structure is investigated to study the strain effect on the ring resonance wavelength shift and its potential for more sensitive strain devices. At the same time, these devices can measure any strain by mounting on the surface of interest. The idea is to change the" O" shape ring to a "C" shape ring with a small opening starting from 2π/360 or one degree. We used the Mode solution of Lumbrical software to investigate the effect of changing the ring's opening and the shift induced by applied strain. The designed ring radius is a three Micron silicon on isolator ring which can be fabricated by standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) micromachining. The measured wavelength shifts from1-degree opening of the ring to a 6-degree opening have been investigated. Opening the ring for 1-degree affects the ring's quality factor from 3000 to 300, showing an order of magnitude Q-factor reduction. Assuming a strain making the ring-opening from 1 degree to 6 degrees, our simulation results showing negligible Q-factor reduction from 300 to 280. A ring resonator quality factor can reach up to 108 where an order of magnitude reduction is negligible. The resonance wavelength shift showed a blue shift and was obtained to be 1581, 1579,1578,1575nm for 1-, 2-, 4- and 6-degree ring-opening, respectively. This design can find the direction of the strain-induced by applying the opening on different parts of the ring. Moreover, by addressing the specified wavelength, we can precisely find the direction. We can open a significant opportunity to find cracks and any surface mechanical property very specifically and precisely. This idea can be implemented on polymer ring resonators while they can come with a flexible substrate and can be very sensitive to any strain making the two ends of the ring in the slit part come closer or further.

Keywords: optical ring resonator, strain gauge, strain sensor, surface mechanical property analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: E. Duffin, L. Brownlow

Abstract:

Arson is a crime which can provide exceptional problems to forensic specialists. Its destructive nature makes evidence much harder to find, especially when used to cover up another crime. There is a consistent potential threat of arsonists seeking new and easier ways to set fires. Existing research in this field primarily focuses on the use of accelerants such as petrol, with less attention to other more accessible and harder to detect materials. This includes the growing speculation of potato and maize-based snacks being used as fire accelerants. It was hypothesized that all ‘crisp-type’ snacks in foil packaging had the potential to act as accelerants and would burn readily in the various experiments. To test this hypothesis, a series of small lab-based experiments were undertaken, igniting samples of the snacks. Factors such as ingredients, shape, packaging and calorific value were all taken into consideration. The time (in seconds) spent on fire by the individual snacks was recorded. It was found that all of the snacks tested burnt for statistically similar amounts of time with a p-value of 0.0157. This was followed with a large mock real-life scenario using packets of crisps on fire and car seats to investigate as to the possibility of these snacks being verifiable tools to the arsonist. Here, three full packets of crisps were selected based on variations in burning during the lab experiments. They were each lit with a lighter to initiate burning, then placed onto a car seat to be timed and observed with video cameras. In all three cases, the fire was significant and sustained by the 200-second mark. On the basis of this data, it was concluded that potato and maize-based snacks were viable accelerants of fire. They remain an effective method of starting fires whilst being cheap, accessible, non-suspicious and non-detectable. The results produced supported the hypothesis that all ‘crisp-type’ snacks in foil packaging (that had been tested) had the potential to act as accelerants and would burn readily in the various experiments. This study serves to raise awareness and provide a basis for research and prevention of arson regarding maize and potato-based snacks as fire accelerants.

Keywords: arson, crisps, fires, food

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Donatella Cimini, Sergio D’ambrosio, Saba Sadiq, Chiara Schiraldi

Abstract:

Chondroitin sulfate (CS), as well as modified CS, and unsulfated chondroitin, are largely applied in research today. CS is a linear glycosaminoglycan normally present in cartilage-rich tissues and bones in the form of proteoglycans decorated with sulfate groups in different positions. CS is used as an effective non-pharmacological alternative for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and other potential applications in the biomedical field are being investigated. Some bacteria, such as E. coli K4, produce a polysaccharide that is a precursor of CS (unsulfated chondroitin). This work focused on the construction of integrative E. coli K4 recombinant strains overexpressing genes (kfoA, kfoF, pgm and galU in different combinations) involved in the biosynthesis of the nucleotide sugars necessary for polysaccharide synthesis. Strain growth and polymer production were evaluated using renewable waste materials as substrates in shake flasks and small-scale batch fermentation processes. Results demonstrated the potential to replace pure sugars with cheaper medium components to establish environmentally sustainable and cost-effective production routes for potential industrial development. In fact, although excellent fermentation results have been described so far by employing strains that naturally produce chondroitin-like polysaccharides on semi-defined media, there is still the need to reduce manufacturing costs by providing a cost-effective biotechnological alternative to currently used animal-based extraction procedures.

Keywords: E. coli K4, chondroitin, microbial cell factories, glycosaminoglycans, renewable resources

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Authors: Kadda Amara, Mohammed Elkeurti, Mostefa Zemouli, Yassine Benallou

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In this work, we present a study of the structural, elastic and electronic properties of the cubic antiperovskites XNMg3 (X=P, As, Sb and Bi) using the full-potential augmented plane wave plus local orbital (FP-LAPW+lo) within the Generalized Gradient Approximation based on PBEsol, Perdew 2008 functional. We determined the lattice parameters, the bulk modulus B and their pressure derivative B'. In addition, the elastic properties such as elastic constants (C11, C12 and C44), the shear modulus G, the Young modulus E, the Poisson's ratio ν and the B/G ratio are also given. For the band structure, density of states and charge density the exchange and correlation effects were treated by the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson potential to prevent the shortcoming of the underestimation of the energy gaps in both LDA and GGA approximations. The obtained results are compared to available experimental data and to other theoretical calculations.

Keywords: XNMg3 compounds, GGA-PBEsol, TB-mBJ, elastic properties, electronic properties

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