Ammonium-Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater by Struvite Crystallization Technology

Struvite crystallization is one of the sustainable approaches for recovering ammonium nitrogen (NH₄-N) from wastewater in the form of a valuable material, in parallel with improving wastewater treatment efficiency. Focusing on NH₄-N recovery, this review discusses the factors influencing struvite crystallization including the effect of foreign elements. It is shown that more than 95% of NH₄-N could be recovered in the form of struvite, a magnesium-ammonium phosphate (MAP) salt, from some kinds of wastewater. This review emphasizes the role of utilizing alternative sources of Mg and P in improving the process sustainability. Additionally, it also explains how the MAP precipitation process could result with significant reduction of other pollutants contributing to total organic carbon, of color and turbidity, which support MAP integration with other treatment methods. The main options of lowering MAP recovery cost are presented; it was shown that applying low-cost materials of both Mg and P could save more than 65% of the process’s cost. Finally, the future research directions to improve NH₄-N recovery are pointed out.     

An investigation of dielectric resonator antenna produced from silicon (100) enhanced by strontium doped-barium zirconate films

Dip-coated Ba_1−x Sr _x ZrO₃ thick films with different Ba/Sr ratios (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9) were fabricated on Si (100-orient) substrate at a low temperature of 800 °C via the sol gel method. The experimental results show that dielectric resonator (DR) properties of Ba_1−x Sr _x ZrO₃ films depend on the different Ba/Sr ratios. For structural characterization, the X-ray analysis revealed that phase transformation was affected by the increase in Sr concentrations for heat treatment at 800 °C. The films were crystalline and of single phase. The thickness of one BSZ film is around 1.259 μm when measured using the field emission scanning electron microscope. The BSZ film’s surface morphology as indicated by the atomic force microscopy showed the mean grain size to be in the range of 2.56 to 94.34 μm, and the surface roughness (RMS) was recorded to be between 2.35 to 19.64 nm. The dielectric resonator (DR) properties were measured using a network analyzer. By introducing Ba_1−x Sr _x ZrO₃ (BSZ) films on the high dielectric Si (100-orient) substrate, better frequency stability was achieved i.e. within the range of 8–10 GHz. Measured results show that Si (100-orient) DRA has a 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 4.11% at 9.34 GHz and the BSZ improved this to 11.34% with x = 0.7 at 9.15 GHz. The radiation pattern was observed to be stable throughout the operating frequency and holds good potential for DR applications.     

Synthesis and characterization of a new conducting polymer composite

Organic conductive composite films have been synthesized by electropolymerization of pyrrole in the presence of chitosan and p-toluene sulfonic acid sodium salt. The obtained conductive polymer composite films have been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and conductivity measurements. The prepared polymer composite films had the amorphous structure and exhibited the enhanced conductivity and mechanical properties due to the presence of chitosan in the composite films.     

Synthesis and characterization of [4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyrate)-zinc layered hydroxide] nanohybrid

A new layered organic–inorganic nanohybrid material in which an agrochemical, 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyrate (DPBA) is intercalated into inorganic interlayers of zinc layered hydroxide (ZLH) was synthesized by direct reaction of aqueous DPBA solution with zinc oxide. The resulting nanohybrid is composed of the organic moieties, DPBA sandwiched between ZLH inorganic interlayers. The nanohybrid afforded well ordered crystalline layered structure, a basal spacing of 29.6 Å, 23.5% carbon (w/w) and 47.9% (w/w) loading of DPBA. FTIR study shows that the absorption bands of the resulting nanohybrid composed the FTIR characteristics of both the DPBA and ZLH which further confirmed the intercalation episode. The intercalated organic moiety in the form of nanohybrid is thermally more stable than its sodium salt. Scanning electron micrograph shows the ZnO precursor has very fine granular structure and transformed into a flake-like when the nanohybrid is formed. This work shows that the nanohybrid of DPBA-ZLH can be synthesized using simple, direct reaction of ZnO and DPBA under aqueous environment for the formation of a new generation of agrochemical.     

Molecular beam epitaxy of crystalline and amorphous GaN layers with high As content

We have studied the low-temperature growth of gallium nitride arsenide (GaN)As layers on sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We have succeeded in achieving GaN_1−xAs_x alloys over a large composition range by growing the films much below the normal GaN growth temperatures with increasing the As₂ flux as well as Ga:N flux ratio. We found that alloys with high As content x>0.1 are amorphous and those with x<0.1 are crystalline. Optical absorption measurements reveal a continuous gradual decrease of band gap from ∼3.4 to ∼1.35 eV with increasing As content. The energy gap reaches its minimum of ∼1.35 eV at x∼0.6–0.7. The structural, optical and electrical properties of these crystalline/amorphous GaNAs layers were investigated. For x<0.3, the composition dependence of the band gap of the GaN_1−xAs_x alloys follows the prediction of the band anticrossing model developed for dilute alloys. This suggests that the amorphous GaN_1−xAs_x alloys have short-range ordering that resembles random crystalline GaN_1−xAs_x alloys.     

Bifurcation of rupture path by nonlinear damping force

The linear damping mechanism of the Rayleigh waves is extended to the nonlinear one. Conferring to the model, the analytical method is chosen for the solutions. These solutions depict the unusual bifurcation of the rupture path related to the intersection point of antisoliton and soliton.     

Nickel–cobalt oxide/activated carbon composite electrodes for electrochemical capacitors

Nanostructured synthesis of nickel–cobalt oxide/activated carbon composite by adapting a co-precipitation protocol was revealed by transmission electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that nickel–cobalt oxide spinel phase was maintained in the pure and composite phases. Cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge tests and ac impedance spectroscopy were employed to elucidate the electrochemical properties of the composite electrodes in 1.0 M KCl. The specific capacitance which was the sum of double-layer capacitance of the activated carbon and pseudocapacitance of the metal oxide increased with the composition of nickel–cobalt oxide before showing a decrement for heavily-loaded electrodes. Utilisation of nickel–cobalt oxide component in the composite with 50 wt. % loading displayed a capacitance value of ～59 F g^?1. The prepared composite electrodes exhibited good electrochemical stability.     

Preparation and photovoltaic property of a new hybrid nanocrystalline SnO2/Polypyrrole p–n heterojunction

Hybrid photovoltaic structures based on transparent conductive SnO₂ and electrically conductive polypyrrole (PPy) were prepared. Nanocrystalline SnO₂ is considered an n-type barrier and window layer on p-type PPy layer in cell structures. The surface morphology and thickness of the layers were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The optical absorbance data showed an increase of absorbance in contrast with PPy and SnO₂. There was a red shift in absorbance wavelengths and a decrease in band gaps for the prepared PV structures. To investigate the electrical properties of the obtained structures, current-voltage characteristic was measured. The best structure showed an open-circuit voltage of 0.170?V, a short-circuit current density of 0.017?mA/cm², a fill factor of 0.36 and power conversion efficiency of 0.076.