Effect of surface roughness of TiO2 films on short-circuit current density of photoelectrochemical cell of ITO/TiO2/PVC-LiClO4/graphite

This paper reports the effect of surface topography of titanium dioxide films on short-circuit current density of photoelectrochemical solar cell of ITO/TiO₂/PVC-LiCLO₄/graphite. The films were deposited onto ITO-covered glass substrate by screen-printing technique. The films were tempered at 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C for 30 min to burn out the organic parts and to achieve the films with porous structure. The surface roughness of the films were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Current–voltage relationship of the devices were characterized in dark at room temperature and under illumination of 100 mW cm⁻² light from tungsten halogen lamp at 50 °C. The device utilising the TiO₂ film annealed at 400 °C produces the highest short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage as it posses the smoothest surface topography with the electrolyte. The short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage of the devices increase with the decreasing grain size of the TiO₂ films. The short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage are 0.6 μA/cm² and 109 mV respectively.     

Radiological dose assessment of naturally occurring radioactive materials in concrete building materials

Previous studies have shown that the natural radioactivity contained in building materials have significantly influenced the dose rates in dwelling. Exposure to natural radiation in building has been of concerned since almost 80 % of our daily live are spend indoor. Thus, the aim of the study is to assess the radiological risk associated by natural radioactivity in soil based building materials to dwellers. A total of 13 Portland cement, 46 sand and 43 gravel samples obtained from manufacturers or bought directly from local hardware stores in Peninsular of Malaysia were analysed for their radioactivity concentrations. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in the studied building materials samples were found to be in the range of 3.7–359.3, 2.0–370.8 and 10.3–1,949.5 Bq kg^?1 respectively. The annual radiation dose rates (μSv year^?1) received by dwellers were evaluated for 1 to 50 years of exposure using Resrad-Build Computer Code based on the activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K found in the studied building material samples. The rooms modelling were based on the changing parameters of concrete wall thickness and the room dimensions. The annual radiation dose rates to dwellers were found to increase annually over a period of 50 years. The concrete thicknesses were found to have significantly influenced the dose rates in building. The self-absorption occurred when the concrete thickness was thicker than 0.4 m. Results of this study shows that the dose rates received by the dwellers of the building are proportional to the size of the room. In general the study concludes that concrete building materials; Portland cements, sands, and gravels in Peninsular of Malaysia does not pose radiological hazard to the building dwellers.     

Effect of substrate temperature on gold-catalyzed silicon nanostructures growth by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD)

The effect of substrate temperature on the structural property of the silicon nanostructures deposited on gold-coated crystal silicon substrate by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) was studied. The uniformity and size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures is highly influenced by the substrate temperature. XRD, Raman and HRTEM measurements show the silicon nanostructures consist of small crystallites embedded within amorphous matrix. The crystallite size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures decreases with increases in substrate temperature. FTIR shows that these silicon nanostructures are highly disordered for sample prepared at substrate temperature above 250 °C. The correlation of crystallinity and structure disorder of the silicon nanostructures growth at different substrate temperature was discussed.     

Wirelessly powered dielectrophoresis of metal oxide particles using spark-gap Tesla coil

Wirelessly powered dielectrophoresis (DEP) of metal oxide particles was performed using a spark-gap Tesla coil (TC). The main contribution of this work is the simplification of the conventional DEP setup that requires attaching wires directly to the electrodes. Wireless power from the TC generates a high output frequency and voltage, which corresponds to that used for the DEP. Therefore, a spark-gap TC was built and utilized to conduct the DEP process. Metal oxides (ZnO and Fe₂O₃) were used as targets for the assembly. The results showed that the wirelessly powered DEP technique via a TC was successful in assembling the metal oxide particles. Positive and negative DEP phenomena were observed. Positive DEP occurred during ZnO assembly, making particles chain grow 0.92 mm toward the sparks within 60 s. Negative DEP was observed during Fe₂O₃ assembly, where the repulsion of particles formed a void around the sparks with a 1.45 mm radius. The mechanism of this wireless DEP system is discussed.     

Dielectrophoretic deformation of breast cancer cells for lab on a chip applications

This paper presents the development and experimental analysis of a curved microelectrode platform for the DEP deformation of breast cancer cells (MDA‐MB‐231). The platform is composed of arrays of curved DEP microelectrodes which are patterned onto a glass slide and samples containing MDA‐MB‐231 cells are pipetted onto the platform's surface. Finite element method is utilised to characterise the electric field gradient and DEP field. The performance of the system is assessed with MDA‐MB‐231 cells in a low conductivity 1% DMEM suspending medium. We applied sinusoidal wave AC potential at peak to peak voltages of 2, 5, and 10 V_pp at both 10 kHz and 50 MHz. We observed cell blebbing and cell shrinkage and analyzed the percentage of shrinkage of the cells. The experiments demonstrated higher percentage of cell shrinkage when cells are exposed to higher frequency and peak to peak voltage electric field.     

Effects of Rice Husk Derived Amorphous Silica on the Thermal-Mechanical Properties of Unsaturated Polyester Composites

Rice husk is rich in amorphous silica which has found various applications as a filler in rubbers and plastics. In the research described here silica was extracted from rice husk ash in the form of sodium silicate which was used to produced amorphous precipitated silica (PS) and silica aerogel (SA) using a sol – gel process and supercritical drying. These materials were then physically mixed with unsaturated polyester (UP) resin and cured at room temperature to form polymer composites. The experimental results showed that the UP composites with 30% (volume percent) of SA filler had lower density and better thermal insulation than the composites with the same amount of PS. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that the T_onset of the PS and SA composites were slightly delayed by 15 and 10°C, respectively. The tensile stress-strain curves showed that addition of the fillers reduced the tensile strength, but increased the elastic moduli of the UP matrix. PS filled UP composites exhibit higher moduli (higher stiffness) than that of SA filled UP composites. This was due to agglomeration and poor adhesion of the SA particles to the UP matrix while better dispersion was observed for the PS filled composite.     

Synthesis and utilization of chitin-humic acid hybrid as sorbent for Cr(III)

New types of hybrid material have been synthesized by using four different methods of immobilization of humic acid (HA) on chitin. The most stable hybrid material toward the change of medium acidity was then utilized as sorbent for Cr(III).The HA was extracted from peat soil of Gambut District, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, using the recommended procedure of International Humic Substances Society (IHSS), while the chitin was isolated from crab shell waste through deproteination using 3.5% (w/v) NaOH and followed by removal of inorganic impurities using 1 M HCl. The four methods of immobilization of HA on chitin were (i) Method A: chitin powder (4 g) was gently poured into the stirred solution of 0.4 g HA in 40 mL of 0.01 M NaOH. After overnight stirring, the solid was separated, washed with water, and dried in oven at 70 °C. (ii) Method B: gelatinous chitin (40 g) in 250 mL of 0.5 M HCl was reacted with HA (4 g) in 500 mL of 0.5 M NaOH and aged for 24 h. The product was washed with water and dried. (iii) Method C: HA powder (0.5 g) was mixed with the stirred gel of chitin (2.5 g) in 60 mL of CaCl₂ saturated methanol and the mixture was then washed with the mixed solution of 25 mL of 2 M sodium citrate and ethylene glycol 1:1. The solid was separated, washed with water, and dried. (iv) Method D: the solution of HA (0.056 g) in 10 mL of 0.01 M NaOH was reacted with the gel of chitin (0.2 g) in 10 mL of CaCl₂ saturated methanol. After 24 h stirring, the solid was separated from the reaction medium, washed with the mixed solution of 2 M sodium citrate and ethylene glycol 1:1, and followed by washing with water and drying. Parameters investigated in this study consisted of the stability test of the immobilized HA, as well as the rate constant (k₁), capacity (b), and energy (E) of sorption as well as the rate constant of desorption (k₋₁). The k₁ and k₋₁ were determined according to a kinetic model of first order sorption reaching equilibrium, while the b and E were determined according to the Langmuir isotherm model.Compared to HA, Methods, A, C, and D; Method B produced the most stable immobilization of HA on chitin. The hybrid material (Chitin-HA) synthesized through Method B was stable in the acidity range that equivalent to pH 2.0-11.0. At the acidity giving maximum sorption, i.e. pH 5, the presence of immobilized HA on the Chitin-HA enhanced more than three times the k₁ and k₋₁, i.e. from 0.057 min⁻¹ and 8.51 × 10⁻⁴ (min⁻¹) (mol/L) for chitin to 0.183 min⁻¹ and 3.27 × 10⁻³ (min⁻¹) (mol/L) for the Chitin-HA. On the contrary, the presence of HA on Chitin-HA only gave small increase on b and small decrease on E. The values of b and E for Cr(III) on chitin were 1.45 × 10⁻² mol/g and 23.12 kJ/mol, respectively, while those on Chitin-HA were 1.78 × 10⁻² mol/g and 19.95 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Stability study of α-toc/β-CD powders obtained by microwave heating and encapsulation process

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The α-tocopherol (α-toc) degrades faster than both γ- and δ-toc; its degradation rate is 10 times faster than δ-toc. The...     

UHPLC-UV/PDA Method Validation for Simultaneous Quantification of Luteolin and Apigenin Derivatives from Elaeis guineensis Leaf Extracts: An Application for Antioxidant Herbal Preparation

Luteolin and apigenin derivatives present in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) leaves (OPL) are reported to possess excellent antioxidant properties relating to numerous health benefits. To meet the global demand for flavonoids, OPL, which is plentifully generated as an agricultural by-product from oil palm plantations, can be further exploited as a new source of natural antioxidant compounds. However, to produce a standardized herbal preparation, validation of the quantification method for these compounds is required. Therefore, in this investigation, we developed and validated an improved and rapid analytical method, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with ultraviolet/photodiode array (UHPLC-UV/PDA) for the quantification of 12 luteolin and apigenin derivatives, particularly focusing on flavonoid isomeric pairs: orientin/isoorientin and vitexin/isovitexin, present in various OPL extracts. Several validation parameters were assessed, resulting in the UHPLC-UV/PDA technique offering good specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and robustness, where the values were within acceptable limits. Subsequently, the validated method was employed to quantify luteolin and apigenin derivatives from OPL subjected to different drying treatments and extraction with various solvent systems, giving total luteolin (TLC) and apigenin content (TAC) in the range of 2.04–56.30 and 1.84–160.38 µg/mg extract, respectively. Additionally, partial least square (PLS) analysis disclosed the combination of freeze dry-aqueous methanol yielded OPL extracts with high TLC and TAC, which are strongly correlated with antioxidant activity. Therefore, we provide the first validation report of the UHPLC-UV/PDA method for quantification of luteolin and apigenin derivatives present in various OPL extracts, suggesting that this approach could be employed in standardized herbal preparations by adopting orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, and isovitexin as chemical markers.