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The pulp and paper making industry is looking for new main raw material based on its physical, chemical and morphological characteristics. Currently in this industry, bagasse is the most useful raw material in pulp and paper industry. The objective of this study is to determine its suitability for pulping. Acacia auriculiformis is a fast-growing tree normally found in Indonesia and Australia. Acacia auriculiformis leaf contains of cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. The range of lignin content in Acacia auriculiformis is 19%-20%. The hemi-cellulose and lignin contents was removed by soda-pulping process using different concentrations as followed; 3%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. In order to determine the optimum pulping conditions for Acacia auriculiformis craft paper, several tests were conducted such as apparent density, tear test, tensile strength test and moisture absorption. It was found that the Acacia auriculiformis fibre treated with 3% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions gave good tear test of the paper. For apparent density test, the best concentration of NaOH used for treating Acacia auriculiformis pulping is at 15%. From the study, the optimum concentration of NaOH in treating Acacia auriculiformis fibre is at 5% for best result in tensile strength. Hence, from the overall tests, 5% concentration of NaOH is the optimum value. From the findings, Acacia auriculiformis fibre has a potential to be used in paper making and food packaging industry.

The coating process on food packaging paper is carried out to improve the food safety aspect from dangerous substance migration from food packaging into food. It can facilitate to increase its function and wide the potency of utilization. The coating materials commonly used are plastic and wax coatings. Chitosan as a natural polymer that has the binding properties both water and oil. Chitosan has polar and non-polar groups thus it is potential to be developed as a coating material for food packaging paper. The purpose of this study was to determine the physical-mechanical and antimicrobial properties of food packaging paper from oil palm empty fruit bunches pulp coated with chitosan. The parameters used were chitosan and pulp weight. The oil palm empty fruit bunch pulp was fibrillated with high speed blender then mixed with chitosan solution. The mixed solution was poured in the mold and dried in an oven at 60 °C for 24 hours. The results showed that increasing of chitosan content was coated paper increased physical and mechanical properties values. The more pulp content the higher the physical properties value, however the mechanical properties value tend to decrease. The antimicrobial activity of chitosan coated paper was evaluated by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones. The results revealed that all tested samples showed growth inhibition zone againts to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus after 24 h incubation compared to commercial food packaging paper.

Severe Environmental problems arises across the world due to accumulation of paper waste as landfills large quantity of resources are being utilised by the construction sector, creating a huge demand for construction materials. This paper presents an experimental study carried out by utilising waste paper in concrete Bricks which is a new innovation composite material. An experimental study on compaction strength, weight, water absorption characteristics subjected to sun dried and water curing methods of casting were studied in details. It was observed that usage of paper in concrete has good strength, toughness, has reduction in weight of the brick considerably and also had a low thermal conductivity.

A paper battery is a 6 cm × 4 cm × 1 mm dimension battery that uses CuCl as a cathode, magnesium as an anode, and urine as an electrolyte. CuCl2 dan CuSO4 as used to synthesis CuCl was analyzed. A simple and cheap sandwiched fabrication model has been identified using the low-cost CuCl synthesis process. This paper battery has passed experimental testing and delivers the best power generation at 169,588 mW and continuously up to 4 hours. Voltage also measured and provided a stable voltage at least for 6 hours at 582.667 mV. Method 2 of using CuSO4, which has price lower than CuCl2 showed better power generation and stability.

Indonesia has targeted to reach 23% of renewable energy share by 2025. In order to meet the target, many researchers have focused on the explorations of renewable energy resources. One of the potential solutions to meet the target is the agricultural wastes, include corn cobs and areca nut fiber. In this study, the calorific value of corn cobs and areca nut fiber are tested. The corn cobs and areca nut fiber are collected from the farmers in Sumatera Utara province of Indonesia. In addition, the Paper waste is also tested. A bomb calorimeter of IKA C6000 is used to measure the energy content of the biomass. The results show that the calorific value of Corn cobs and Areca nut fiber is 5573 Cal/g and 4946 Cal/g, respectively.By using the average yearly production of Corn and Areca nut, these calorific values similar to 4,539 TOE and 4,653 TOE, respectively. If the potency can be used to replace the coal as an alternative fuel, this potency will reduce the Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The potency of mitigation GHG by replacing Corncob and Areca nut fiber are 18,306 and 18,491 ton of CO2e.

One of the relatively inexpensive alternative energy sources in terms of production and relatively environment friendly was the development of bioethanol from urban wastes that contain many lignocellulose such as paper waste. This study characterizes the composition of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in blank HVS paper, inked HVS and newspaper. The results showed the predominate cellulose (49-60 %) while the lignin concentration was very low due to the removal of colors (lignin) in the manufacturing process. The experiments continued with synthesis of bioethanol through Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) process. A combination of enzymes (Cellulase + Cellobiase) in 1:1 weight ratio and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for hydrolysis and fermentation in the SSF process. Paper waste from newspapers, inked HVS, and empty HVS papers were used as raw materials. The initial pH of SSF in the column was at pH 5. Variation of enzyme concentration was carried at 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 g. The SSF process was carried out at incubation time of 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 hours. The ink affected the concentration of bioethanol produced. In this study, the best bioethanol content was produced by inked HVS and Newspapers at 0.5 grams of enzyme with a concentration of 1531 and 1111 ppm, respectively.

Protective factors are the features within the person or circumstances within the family, school or community that aid someone to handle life challenges successfully. This conceptual paper will focus on the roles of several protective factors which are locus of control, self-esteem, resilience, and religion towards the intention of drug use among young people. Referring to the proposed model, the following hypotheses have been formulated, that there are significant relationships between protective factors and the reduced intention of drug use, locus of control, self-esteem, resilience, as well as religion factor will all positively influence reduced intention of drug use. A quantitative approach will be undertaken, which is a survey. In the context of this study, the population will be group of young people who are in primary or secondary schools.

The blended learning (BL) services presented for the academic accreditation process of universities and other educational institutions is a policy that has been used rapidly in the educational area. This process represents a real challenge and a need for institutions to function by the challenges in the ways of development for the attainment of faculty and student satisfaction. The need for learning management systems (LMS) becomes a real advance to control the management of technological development. The purpose of this study is to overcome these challenges and speed up the whole e-learning process in a different manner. The study revealed the existence of an important gap between the important features of blended learning applications and the control management of LMS. The finding shows a systematic analysis of existing technologies and their effects on accreditation checkpoints approval for the underlying conception of the assessment processes involve perspectives that relate to what is now considered valuable or desirable concerning the institution of higher education.

We have developed a flexible reduced graphene oxide (RGO) temperature sensor on filter paper based cellulose substrate using vacuum filtration method. One of the most commonly used synthesized methods for RGO thin films is vacuum filtration process. It has several advantages such as simple operation and good controllability. The structural analysis was carried out by FE-SEM, in which the surface morphology images confirm the formation of RGO nanostructures on the filter paper substrate. It was observed that the pores of the filter paper were completely filled with the RGO material during the filtration process, subsequently the formation of continuous RGO thin films. As a results, the RGO films exhibits a piezoresistive property. The resulted RGO based films on the filter paper reveals the semiconducting behavior having sensitivity of 0.278 Omega/degrees C and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) about -0.00254 Omega / Omega /degrees C. Thus, we demonstrate a simplified way for the fabrication of RGO films on filter paper that possesses better and easier measurable macroscopic electrical properties. Our approach is for easy way of electronics, cost-effective and environment friendly fabrication route for flexible conducting graphene films on filter paper. This will enable for the potential applications in flexible electronics in various fields including biomedical, automobile and aerospace engineering.

Leachate wastewater from pulp and paper industry is known for containing various types of heavy metals such as Cd (Cadmium), Ba (Barium) and Cu (Cuprum). The existence of heavy metals that accumulates and eventually exceeds certain threshold concentrations will cause environmental pollution, therefore it is necessary to conduct wastewater treatment to eliminate or at least reduce the heavy metal content in industrial wastewater. One of the most commonly used wastewater treatment method is using adsorbent, this study uses adsorbent made from the mixture of clay, zeolite and activated carbon formed into ceramic balls with ± 0.5 cm diameter. The ratios of the mixture of clay, zeolite and activated carbon are 6:3:1; 6:2,5:1,5; 6:2:2; 6:1,5:2,5 and 6:1:3 with variations of contact time 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 minutes. The most favorable concentration reduction of heavy metals occurred at the longest contact time of 150 minutes at 6:3:1 adsorbent ratio, Cd concentration decreases from 0.65 mg/L to 0.03 mg /L, Ba concentration decreases from 0.86 mg/L to 0.04 mg/L and Cu concentration is from 0.6 mg/L to 0.02 mg/L. These prove that the ceramic zeolite/carbon-ceramic composite adsorbent can be an alternative to treat wastewater containing heavy metals derived from the pulp and paper industry.

Recycled paper mill effluent (RPME) contains high concentrations of organic matters and total solids, and therefore requires proper treatment prior to discharge. There is a lack of experimental data available on the biodegradation of solids contents of RPME and digested sludge in anaerobic reactors. In this study, the treatment of RPME was studied using five compartments modified anaerobic inclining-baffled reactor (MAI-BR). The compartmental profiles of TSS, VSS, TDS and lignin contents, and floc size were investigated at different influent chemical oxygen demand concentration (CODin) from 1,000 to 4,000 mg/L, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 3 to 1 days (corresponding to organic loading rate (OLR) from 0.33 to 4 g/L day). The results showed that the contents of TSS, VSS and lignin were the highest at Compartment 1 (14,818-32,130 mg/L), (6,772-20,548 mg/L) and (7-227 mg/L), and gradually decreased towards Compartment 5 (627-8,518 mg/L), (281-6,145 mg/L) and (7-22 mg/L), respectively. Conversely, the content of TDS was low at Compartment 1 (508-712 mg/L) and slightly increased towards Compartment 5 (531-836 mg/L). Throughout 126 days, the floc size at Compartmental 1 was increased from 104 to 731 µm, similarly for other compartments. These results concluded that Compartment 1 played a major role in the operation of MAI-BR treating RPME.Recycled paper mill effluent (RPME) contains high concentrations of organic matters and total solids, and therefore requires proper treatment prior to discharge. There is a lack of experimental data available on the biodegradation of solids contents of RPME and digested sludge in anaerobic reactors. In this study, the treatment of RPME was studied using five compartments modified anaerobic inclining-baffled reactor (MAI-BR). The compartmental profiles of TSS, VSS, TDS and lignin contents, and floc size were investigated at different influent chemical oxygen demand concentration (CODin) from 1,000 to 4,000 mg/L, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 3 to 1 days (corresponding to organic loading rate (OLR) from 0.33 to 4 g/L day). The results showed that the contents of TSS, VSS and lignin were the highest at Compartment 1 (14,818-32,130 mg/L), (6,772-20,548 mg/L) and (7-227 mg/L), and gradually decreased towards Compartment 5 (627-8,518 mg/L), (281-6,145 mg/L) and (7-22 mg/L), respectively. Conversely, t...

The concept of this paper focuses on the area of testing university students while using tools of artificial intelligence. The sample set of students were students of the third year of bachelor studies of Applied Informatics and the test was focused on testing English: grammar, vocabulary, IT English. The introductory part describes current possible ways of testing students, mainly in paper- or computer-based tests. The paper-based method is the traditional one while the computer-based one can take advantage of modern tools of artificial intelligence, such as expert systems and neural networks. The core of this paper lies in the comparison of the results that are acquired from paper-based and computer-based testing which uses artificial intelligence tools. The final part envisages the most optimal ways of testing university students.

Historians and librarians are interested in watermarks and mould surface patterns in historic papers, because they represent the “fingerprints” of antique papers. However, these features are usually covered or hidden by printing, writing or other media. Different techniques have been developed to extract the watermarks in the paper while avoiding interference from media on the paper. Beta radiography provides good results, but this method cannot be widely used because of radiation safety regulations and the long exposure times required due to weak isotope sources employed. In this work, two promising methods are compared which can be used to extract digital high-resolution images for paper watermarks and these are electron radiography and low energy X-ray radiography. For electron radiography a “sandwich” of a lead sheet, the paper object, and a film in a dark cassette, is formed and it is exposed at higher X-ray potentials (> 300 kV). The photoelectrons escaping from the lead sheet penetrate the paper and expose the film. After development, the film captures the watermark and mould surface pattern Images for the paper being investigated. These images are then digitized using an X-ray film digitizer. The film employed could potentially be replaced by a special type of imaging plate with a very thin protection layer to directly generate digital Images using computed radiography (CR). For the second method, a low energy X-ray source is used with the specimen paper placed on a digital detector array (DDA). This method directly generates a low energy digital radiography (DR) image. Both methods provide high quality images without interference from the printing media, and provide the potential to generate a “fingerprint” database for historical papers. There were nevertheless found to be differences in the images obtained using the two methods. The second method, using a low energy X-ray source, has the potential to be integrated in a portable device with a small footprint incorporating user safety requirements. Differences obtained using the two methods are shown and discussed.

The micro-fibrillated cellulose crystals from natural cotton fiber via alkaline treatment and acid hydrolysis were explored as possible reinforcement in recycled paper to improve its mechanical properties. Results confirmed the characteristic properties and crystallinity of the obtained micro-fibrillated cellulose crystals. Reinforcement of the micro-fibrillated cellulose crystals in the production of recycled paper showed an improvement in the tensile strength compared to the recycled paper samples without reinforcement or even with kapok fiber/micro-fibrillated cellulose crystals combination. Further improvement on the barrier properties of the micro-fibrillated cellulose reinforced paper via biocoating made from chitosan/starch blend resulted to a 27.69% decrease of the water absorption capacity compared to uncoated sample using the Cobb test.

During recycling of waste paper from private households different fractions containing plastics and polluted paper fibers are received. Current research at the Institute of Polymer Materials and Plastics Engineering at Clausthal University of Technology showed that the use of waste paper as filler and reinforcement in polypropylene leads to nearly the same mechanical properties as natural fibers like flax, sisal and hemp. The present investigations focus on the chemical cleaning of the paper recyclate to treat the fiber surface and to solve foreign plastics like polystyrene. For this purpose Soxhlet extraction with different solvents is used. The received extracts are examined via infrared spectroscopy, as well as the treated and the untreated fibers. Afterwards, the cleaned paper is incorporated into polypropylene. The received composites are investigated regarding their mechanical properties by tensile testing and Charpy impact testing.During recycling of waste paper from private households different fractions containing plastics and polluted paper fibers are received. Current research at the Institute of Polymer Materials and Plastics Engineering at Clausthal University of Technology showed that the use of waste paper as filler and reinforcement in polypropylene leads to nearly the same mechanical properties as natural fibers like flax, sisal and hemp. The present investigations focus on the chemical cleaning of the paper recyclate to treat the fiber surface and to solve foreign plastics like polystyrene. For this purpose Soxhlet extraction with different solvents is used. The received extracts are examined via infrared spectroscopy, as well as the treated and the untreated fibers. Afterwards, the cleaned paper is incorporated into polypropylene. The received composites are investigated regarding their mechanical properties by tensile testing and Charpy impact testing.

Paper is a widely used material that is affected by environmental stresses and makes paper prone to damage. The paper is characterized by the absorption of water and moisture due to porosity, We have overcome this problem by employing polymer materials as water-resistant coatings acting as a barrier to protecting the paper, Polymer paper coating forms a clear membrane on the fiber forming a bridge of monomers on the surface of the paper. Two polymer coatings were used as a treatment, namely Polystyrene and sealer (alkyd resin). The results showed the possibility of enhancing the durability of the paper and preserving it from damage and deterioration. The treatment gave a decrease in moisture content, response to abrasion and scratching while increased folding tolerability, the burst strength, tear resistance, hardness compared to untreated paper and the paper porosity important indicator to overcome. The degree of brightness, the degree of color and visible light and ultraviolet radiation [UV] effect of the specimens were studied in detail.

The paper is focused on investigation of the nature and size of cellulose fibers in the structure of stabilizing additives for stone-mastic asphalt concrete, as well as on determination of fibers retention capacity based on their geometric parameters. To obtain the results a scanning electron microscope JSM-6510LV was used, with the help of which 15 to 20 photomicrographs were obtained. It was found out that in all inspected samples of stabilizing additives over 80% of pulp and paper fibers have a band structure with filaments from 0.56 to 1.4 micrometer in length. The fiber thickness in all cases slightly varies within the range of 0.008 to 0.021 micrometer. For a more detailed analysis of the additives the X-ray microanalysis was carried out. The results showed that in all cases the component distribution of the chemical elements present in the additive is inhomogeneous and has two fundamental differences in the oxygen (O) and carbon (C) content. ARMIDON additives contain more than 79% carbon (C) and just 6-13% oxygen (O). VIATOP 66 and SD-1 additives contain up to 61% carbon (C) and up to 48% oxygen (O). Tests to determine the runoff of the organic binder showed that additives with cellulose fiber filaments up to 0.6 micrometers in length hold bitumen worse than additives with cellulose fiber filaments 1.4 micrometers in length.The paper is focused on investigation of the nature and size of cellulose fibers in the structure of stabilizing additives for stone-mastic asphalt concrete, as well as on determination of fibers retention capacity based on their geometric parameters. To obtain the results a scanning electron microscope JSM-6510LV was used, with the help of which 15 to 20 photomicrographs were obtained. It was found out that in all inspected samples of stabilizing additives over 80% of pulp and paper fibers have a band structure with filaments from 0.56 to 1.4 micrometer in length. The fiber thickness in all cases slightly varies within the range of 0.008 to 0.021 micrometer. For a more detailed analysis of the additives the X-ray microanalysis was carried out. The results showed that in all cases the component distribution of the chemical elements present in the additive is inhomogeneous and has two fundamental differences in the oxygen (O) and carbon (C) content. ARMIDON additives contain more than 79% carbon (C) and ju...

Here, a small analytical device was fabricated on both nitrocellulose membrane and filter paper, for the detection of biotinylated double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) from 1 nM. Zif268 was utilized for capturing the target DNA, which was a zinc finger protein that recognized only a dsDNA with specific sequence. Therefore, this detection platform could be utilized for PCR result detection, with the well-designed primers (interpolate both biotin and Zif268 binding sequence). The result of the assay could be recorded by a camera-phone, and analyzed with software. The whole assay finished within 1 hour. Due to the easy fabrication, operation and disposal of this device, this method can be employed in point-of-care detection or on-site monitoring.

Synthesis of C-Dots from waste paper has been successfully created. A total of 5 grams of waste paper is mixed with 40 mL aquades, 30 mL H2SO4 and 50 mL NaOH 2 M. A precursor solution is prepared by adding urea in 20 ml of material. Synthesis of C-Dots done by heating the precursor hydrothermally using a furnace with three conditions, namely with 1-4 grams of urea, 20-50 minutes of synthesis time, and 150-300°C of temperature. In a variation of urea and time, the temperature is controlled at 300°C. In a variation of the time and temperature, urea is controlled at 3 grams. In a variation of the urea and temperature, time is controlled for 30 minutes. The maximum absorption C-Dots generated on the various of amount urea, temperature, and synthesis time in the range of 360-600 nm. The width of the absorbance area was increased by adding 1-3 grams of urea and were decreased when urea is added 4 grams or more. The absorbance peaks of C-dots decreases with increasing temperature synthesis. Meanwhile, an increasing of synthesis time does not affect to the width of the absorbance spectra. It precisely causes decreasing of peaks of the absorbance spectra. The functional groups present on the surfaces of C-dots can be identified by the presence of specific peaks in their FTIR spectra, i.e. N–H, C=C, C–N, and C–C at various urea, N–H, C=O, C=C and C–O at temperature and synthesis time.Synthesis of C-Dots from waste paper has been successfully created. A total of 5 grams of waste paper is mixed with 40 mL aquades, 30 mL H2SO4 and 50 mL NaOH 2 M. A precursor solution is prepared by adding urea in 20 ml of material. Synthesis of C-Dots done by heating the precursor hydrothermally using a furnace with three conditions, namely with 1-4 grams of urea, 20-50 minutes of synthesis time, and 150-300°C of temperature. In a variation of urea and time, the temperature is controlled at 300°C. In a variation of the time and temperature, urea is controlled at 3 grams. In a variation of the urea and temperature, time is controlled for 30 minutes. The maximum absorption C-Dots generated on the various of amount urea, temperature, and synthesis time in the range of 360-600 nm. The width of the absorbance area was increased by adding 1-3 grams of urea and were decreased when urea is added 4 grams or more. The absorbance peaks of C-dots decreases with increasing temperature synthesis. Meanwhile, an increas...

Wood fiber derived cellulose has been mainly used as the raw material in the papermaking. However, currently the paper production capacity is greater than the availability of wood. To overcome this problem, there have been many attempts to use non-wood fibers as substitutes for papermaking such as the fibrous materials derived from agriculture wastes. In this research, the paper was made from sugarcane bagasse which was previously delignified using soda process. The research was conducted by varying NaOH concentrations of 8 –16%, delignification temperatures of 60– 100°C and times of 30 –150 min. The aim of the research was to study the effect of delignification process on physical properties of sugarcane baggase soda pulping. The results showed the increase in tensile strengths as the NaOH concentrations increased. Tensile strength was increasing up to optimum temperature and time and then decreased. The water uptake results showed the opposite tendencies with those of tensile strength. The optimum condition was achieved at the NaOH concentration of 10 %, delignification temperature of 80 °C, and time of 90 min. Tensile strength and water uptake achieved at this optimum condition were 27.42 N/mm2 and 240 g/m2, respectively.

EMG is a medical technique that measures muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve’s stimulation of the muscle [10]. In this paper we have classified multiple hand gestures using small number of electrodes. This report aims to review current use of EMG based control system and explain the existing challenges. The stages involved includes data acquisition, feature extraction, classification and controller. Some of the application includes Arm rehabilitation, game controller, wheel chair controllers, etc.

Paper-based PbS photodetector sensitive in the visible spectrum is reported. Nanocrystalline PbS-on-paper devices are fabricated by a spin coating method on white paper (300 GSM) from a methanolic precursor solution. Photodetector cells of gap 0.2 cm and length 0.5 cm are prepared by drawing contacts by monolithic cretacolor 8B pencil. X-ray diffractometer confirmed the deposition of nanocrystalline PbS films with 14 nm crystallites. The SEM illustrated the uniform coating of nanocrystalline PbS thin films on cellulose fibres of papers having an average thickness of fibres are 10 µm. The linear J-V characteristics in dark and under illumination of light using graphite trace on nanocrystalline PbS-on-paper shows good ohmic contact. The resistivity of pencil trace is 30 Ω·cm. Spectral response measurements of photodetector reveal the excellent sensitivity from 400 to 700 nm with a peak at 550 nm. The best responsivity anddetectivity are 0.7 A/W and 1.4 × 1012 Jones respectively. These paper-based low-cost photodetectors devices have fast photoresponse and recovery without baseline deviation.

Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon has collection of five old manuscripts of European origin from 19th century, and the former library of Faculty of Humanities Universitas Indonesia has collection of four old manuscripts of European paper origin from 19–20th centuries. The objectives of this study were to isolate and morphologically characterize fungi from nine old manuscripts of European origin. All manuscripts showed brown and black spots, and fungal spores on the surfaces. Observation by loop was carried out in the field to determine the type of paper and to detect biodeterioration of the manuscripts. Twenty-two fungal isolates were obtained by sterile cotton swab and the culture-dependent method on Dichloran Glycerol Agar (DG18). Detection of fungal deterioration on paper was investigated by using paper strip method with old paper of European origin on Czapek’s Dox Agar (CDA) without carbon source. The paper strips were inoculated with cell suspension at a concentration of approximately 1 × 107 cell/mL. Twenty fungal isolates were able to grow on the old paper strips indicating that the old manuscripts are liable to fungal degradation. The fungal isolates were xerophilic in nature. Morphological characterization described the fungal isolates in the genera of Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Eurotium. Three fungal isolates could not be described and were grouped as Mycelia sterilia. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST)-based identification and phylogeny-based identification using the data set of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences is required to determine the species identities of the fungal strains.

Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon and the former library of Faculty of Humanities Universitas Indonesia have collections of old manuscripts of European paper origin from 19-20th centuries. This study investigated the cellulolytic and xerophilic characters of 22 fungal strains from nine deteriorated old manuscripts of European paper origin. Detection of cellulolytic fungi by using well diffusion method, modified Czapek’s Dox Agar (CDA) with 0.1% (w/v) carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a sole carbon source, 0.2% (w/v) Congo red as a chromogenic dye, and cell suspension of approximately 1x107 cell/mL. Cellulolytic fungi formed clear zones around the fungal colonies due to the radial diffusion of the enzyme excreted to the medium. Detection of xerophilic fungi by using Dichloran glycerol Agar (DG18) which contained 18% glycerol to reduce water availability in the medium. Fifteen fungal strains have the ability to use derivative cellulose in CMC as a sole carbon source indicating that these strains possessed endoglucanase (CMCase) activity. The action of cellulolytic enzyme from fungi could dissolve cellulose fibers, or might discolor the paper. All the fungal strains were xerophiles, which indicated that they were able to grow in manuscripts, a condition of reduced water activity. Further studies are required to determine exoglucanase activity by using crystalline cellulose, and molecular identification by using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences to determine the species identities of the fungal strains.

Here, we presented a novel, cost effective approach to fabricate flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) consisting of ZnS nanowires (NWs) grown upon cellulose. An output voltage of 4 V is generated from the nanocomposite paper (NC-paper) based NG. Subsequently, it has the capability to power Light Emitting Diode (LED) and charging up capacitor. The corresponding energy stored in the capacitor (1 µF) is 16 µJ. Thus, the fabricated NC-paper based NG can be used for smart textile structures, wearable and self-powered nanodevices.

Malaysia is facing serious challenges in dealing enormous quantities of waste paper sludge produced in the country every year. This enormous quantity causing major economic problems and environmental problems over the paper and board industry. In order to confront with the economic problems associated with waste disposal costs, which make up almost half of the cost of wastewater treatment, there is a need to provide a viable solution to the reuse of waste and by reducing the use of natural resources. Hence, a comparative analysis of the experimental results novel properties of fresh and hardened concrete with recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) with different substitution of waste paper sludge ash (WPSA) as a partial substitute for cement is presented in the paper. Recycled aggregates is made by crushing the waste concrete cube laboratory tests. Recycled aggregate is made by crushing the concrete waste at laboratory. Utilize of WPSA and RCA is estimated to produce significant gains in strength performance ...

Paper sheets were produced from bleached kraft pulp, and office and newsprint waste paper. Nanoparticles from black alder bark, grey alder bark and pine bark as well as birch sawdust were obtained for using them as reinforcing fillers in paper. Non-extracted bark and that extracted in biorefinery were used. For producing nanoparticles, the materials were destructed using the thermocatalytic destruction method and then dispersed in water medium in a ball mill. At a sufficient concentration, gel-like dispersions were obtained, which contained nanoparticles with the size ~300 nm. The dispersions were introduced in paper furnish in different amounts. It has been established that all the nanoparticle fillers increase the tensile index and burst index in dry and wet states. The nanoparticle fillers from extracted bark increase the mechanical indices to a higher extent. At 20% filler content, tensile index in a dry state increases in the case of non-extracted grey alder bark, black alder bark and pine bark by 28...

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a commonly used unsupervised exploratory analysis technique. It is also frequently used in dimensionality reduction. This preliminary paper investigates the feasibility of three variants of PCA, i.e. independent PCA (iPCA), sparse PCA (sPCA), and sparse independent PCA (siPCA) on forensic classification of paper based on their IR spectral data. After that, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) models were built using the Principal Components (PCs) produced by the PCA and the three aforementioned variants. The performances of all these four LDA models, i.e. PCA-DA, iPCA-DA, sPCA-DA and siPCA-DA, were evaluated via leave-one-out cross-validation on the data set. The results obtained show that iPCA-DA and siPCA-DA are the most effective models with 100.0% classification accuracy. Then, the effectiveness of siPCA and iPCA models was evaluated based on posterior probability used for predictions of class membership that were derived from leave-one-out cross-validation. As a conclusion, siPCA is identified as the best classification model.

A simple and economical method has been used to grow macroscopically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) paper for device application. Synthesized paper has been characterized by different experimental techniques namely SEM, TEM, Raman and UV-Vis spectroscopy respectively. Besides these, temperature dependent electrical studies of rGO paper have also been carried out.

ECF technology has been established itself as the most preferred process worldwide. Peroxide addition minimizes the effluent color. The study deals with the bleaching of Bamboo and Jute Cady pulps with chlorine and peroxide treatment and identification of various chlorophenolics compounds. The results show that quantity of the total chlorophenolic compounds formed decreases up to 54% in total chlorophenolic compound in the CEH effluent and the COD and color values are reduced by 35% and 33% respectively as E stage is changed to Ep stage in Bamboo pulp. And there is a reduction of 52% in total chlorophenolic compound in the CEH effluent when E stage is changed to Ep. and the COD and color values are reduced by 30% and 33% respectively as E stage is changed to Ep stage in Jute Cady pulp

Several approaches have been proposed to help researchers in retrieving relevant and useful information from the cyber-ocean of information. However, the approaches assumed the academic content to be easily accessible, which is not always the case considering the copyright restrictions. Different from the existing works, we proposed a collaborative approach that leverages public contextual metadata to personalize scholarly recommendations. Our proposed approach has the ability to recommend research papers to the individual researchers regardless of the researcher expertise and research field. As demonstrated using a freely accessible dataset, our proposed approach have shown significant improvements over another baseline method.

The impairment of the quality of water is a serious and rising issue globally. The extreme impairment cases often be the main reason to unbalanced human and ecosystem impacts. It causes a very limit of resources for quality consumption and the manufacturing of food, domestic use and also damaging ecosystems. It is expected that various factors combination makes conditions suitable for terrible water quality. The aim is to find the suitable water quality parameter that is relate to extreme cases of water quality. Extreme value theory will be introduce as statistical tools for analyzing extreme data and predict future extreme occurrences based on return level.

Jute fibers are an environmental friendly natural fiber which can be used as good alternatives in the reinforcement of composite materials. The physical and mechanical properties of jute fiber are studied. The humidification cum heat treatment is carried out for the jute fiber. The tensile strength measurement was made for the untreated and humidification cum heat treated bundle jute fiber. The tensile strength of untreated and treated bundle jute fibers are 71.7 ± 9.5 MPa and 104.9 ± 8.8MPa respectively. A 45% increase in tensile strength is noticed. The structural organisation in the untreated and treated jute fiber is studied by X-ray fibre diffraction. The tensile strength measurement is carried out for the composite of Paper-Tamarind seed gum and Paper-Tamarind seed gum - Jute fiber and their measured tensile strength are 4.3 ± 0.5 MPa and 6.1 ± 1.2 MPa respectively. The enhancement in tensile strength for Paper-Tamarind seed gum - Jute fiber composite is observed. The environmental friendly biocomposite bags prepared are: Paper-Tamarind seed gum - Jute fiber and Paper-Tamarind seed gum, which can withstand load of 9.0 kg and 6.0 kg respectively. An increase of 50% in the load bearing capacity is achieved by reinforcing jute fibre.

The commercial telecommunication system in future would explore the electromagnetic spectrum with higher frequency than used now, because it requires higher speed of transmission data. Using the millimeter waves (mmW) with frequency ranging from 30 to 300 GHz, such requirement could be fulfilled. The upcoming 5G cellular technology is expected to use frequency 30 GHz or higher. Then materials with a specific characteristic at the mmW range are interesting to be explored and investigated. Here, we report the synthesis process of graphene/TiO2 deposited on paper and their transmission characteristics to the electromagnetic energy at frequency 27-40 GHz (Ka-Band). The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was synthesized by a modified Hummers method with introduction of microwave irradiation in the process. rGO and TiO2 were mixed in ethanol solution and deposited on the paper by a spraying technique. Transmission coefficient of electromagnetic wave energy at Ka-Band was measured by using the millimeter vector networ...

In this paper we report some tests regarding the feasibility of nanodiamond to act as a cleaning/consolidation agent of papers and parchments. We carried out a series of treatments aiming to develop innovative approaches for de-acidification, cleaning and consolidation. Dispersions of nanodiamond have been used as de-acidification agents of ancient papers showing the ability to sensibly reduce the acidity of the paper without using any alkaline base. Similar dispersions have been used for cleaning processes and nanodiamond demonstrated an outstanding capability to clean ancient papers and parchments avoiding the use of any solvent and surfactant. Moreover interesting results were obtained by using nanodiamond as consolidation agent. In particular, artificial aging by UV exposition was appreciably contrasted when samples were preliminarily submitted to a treatment by nanodiamond. This outcome was demonstrated in papers and parchments by Raman spectroscopy analyses that evidenced the property of nanodiamond to be an excellent UV-scavenger.

Chitosan were selected as cellulose raw material to prepare coating solutions. The morphology, physical characteristics and chemical surface properties of the coatings are discussed in this paper. Different concentrations of chitosan (1–5% w/w) and deposited solution layer (0.5–1.00 μm) were used to obtain coated papers with thicknesses varying between 0.062–0.068 μm. The percentages of coating agent impregnated inside paper were also calculated from the apparent density of coated paper and the density of self-supported films prepared in the same conditions but deposited on an inert and smooth Plexiglass support. These percentages of impregnation ranged from 4.8 to 63.3% and increased as following: chitosan < chitosan nanoparticle. The resulting absorption rates indicated significant differences as a function of the nature of coating agent and confirmed results obtained for the percentage of impregnation. To explain differences in the behaviour of coating solutions, it was finally concluded that not only their viscosity must be taken into account but also their affinity toward paper.

Lateral light scattering simulations of printed dots are analyzed using general radiative transfer theory. We investigated the appearance of a printed paper in relation to the medium parameters like thickness of the paper sample, its optical properties, and the asymmetry factor. It was found that the appearance of a print greatly depends on these factors making it either brighter or darker. A thicker substrate with higher single scattering albedo backed with an absorbing surface makes the dots brighter due to increased number of scattering events. Additionally, it is shown that the optical effects of print also depend on illuminating and viewing angles along with the depth of ink penetration. A larger single scattering angle implies less intensity and the dots appear much blurred due to the shadowing effect prominent when viewed from sides. A fully penetrated dot of the same extinction coefficient as a partial penetrated one is darker due to increased absorption. These results can be used in applications dealing with lateral light scattering.

An algorithm for constructing super-large semantic networks has been developed in current work. Algorithm was tested using the “Cosmos” category of the Internet encyclopedia “Wikipedia” as an example. During the implementation, a parser for the syntax analysis of Wikipedia pages was developed. A graph based on list of articles and categories was formed. On the basis of the obtained graph analysis, algorithms for finding domains of high connectivity in a graph were proposed and tested. Algorithms for constructing a domain based on the number of links and the number of articles in the current subject area is considered. The shortcomings of these algorithms are shown and explained, an algorithm is developed on their joint use. The possibility of applying a combined algorithm for obtaining the final domain is shown. The problem of instability of the received domain was discovered when starting an algorithm from two neighboring vertices related to the domain.

Graphene is one atom thick two dimensional material with unusual mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. Graphene, on larger scale is produced through reduction of graphene oxide which in turn is synthesized by chemical oxidation of graphite. Generally large area graphene oxide paper can be easily fabricated by solution filtration process, spin casting method and Langmuir-Blodgett assembly. In present study graphene oxide was synthesized by modified Hummers method. Free standing graphene oxide paper (GOP) was developed by simple drying of graphene oxide suspended in water followed by reduction by thermal treatment to synthesize free standing conducting graphene paper (Thermally Reduced Graphene Paper, TRGP). Thermal reduction was carried out for 30, 60, 90 and 120min and samples referred as TRGP_30, TRGP_60, TRGP_90 and TRGP_120 respectively. XRD results show decrease in inter layer spacing (d002) from 0.87 nm to ∼0.35 nm after reduction of GO paper. This shows gradual removal of oxygen fu...

CdSe quantum dot has great potential in various applications especially for emitting devices. One example potential application of CdSe quantum dot is security label for anti-counterfeiting. In this work, we present a practical approach of security label on paper using one and two colors of colloidal CdSe quantum dot, which is used as stamping ink on various types of paper. Under ambient condition, quantum dot is almost invisible. The quantum dot security label can be revealed by detecting emission of quantum dot using photoluminescence and cnc machine. The recorded quantum dot emission intensity is then analyzed using home-made program to reveal quantum dot pattern stamp having the word ’RAHASIA’. We found that security label using quantum dot works well on several types of paper. The quantum dot patterns can survive several days and further treatment is required to protect the quantum dot. Oxidation of quantum dot that occurred during this experiment reduced the emission intensity of quantum dot patterns.

The infrared (IR) spectra of different white copy paper types tend to appear indifferent. Discrimination between white copy papers could lead to the solution of forgery cases. In this preliminary study, three varieties of white paper were purchased from local stationery shops in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The papers were classified according to their manufacturers using Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and sparse PLS-DA (sPLS-DA) models. The error rate for the two models on the training and the test data sets were estimated and compared. Results show that the performance of the two models are comparable. By including the first six latent variables in both models, classification accuracy as high as 100% can be achieved.

This paper presents the laboratory result on compaction characteristic for soft soil subgrade which was stabilized by using waste paper sludge ash (WPSA). The soft soil sample was collected from Banting Selangor, Malaysia named as Banting soft soil and classified as slightly sandy Clay with intermediate plasticity. Additive of WPSA is a finely waste product produced from the incinerated waste paper. In ASTM C618, this WPSA samples are categorized as Type-C fly ash due to the high free lime (CaO) content (>20%) and possesses some cementitious and pozzolanic, resulting in the self-cementing characteristics. Therefore no entire activators such as lime are required. Objectives of this study are to determine the dry density and moisture content of Banting soft soil stabilized by WPSA through the different energy and method of compaction and to determine the Atterberg limit properties of Banting soft soil stabilized using WPSA. Several percentage of WPSA (4%, 8%, 12% and 16%) was used to stabilize the soft soil...