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The agriculture waste material can give benefit to many production industries. The studied crop is corn (Zea Mays)stalk. The objective of this work was to analysis the chemical composition; to study chemical pulping and papermaking properties of corn stalk and; to investigate the fiber morphology of properties of those crops. Firstly, the chemical composition of corn stalk were determined and compared with other non-woods. After that, chemical corn stalk was conducted in this analysis followed the physical and mechanical properties. The result showed that, corn stalk have cellulose (39.0%) and lignin content is the lowest (7.3%) content rather than other composition. In chemical pulping, reached high pulp yields had been produced and the strength properties: tear index, tensile index, burst and fold verified that they were of an acceptable quality for papermaking. This crop morphology was observed by Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM), which showed a condensed composition of fiber structure. This study can developed a friendly product and promote the green technology, suitable to be used as an alternative pulp in paper making industry.Keywords:Fiber, Corn stalk, Composition, Green technology, Pulp and paper making.

The aim of this study was to study the morphology and structural characteristic of NCC hydrolyzed from filter paper. The NCCs were extracted by acid hydrolysis at 50°C for 1 hour, using 55% conc. H2SO4 under vigorous mechanical stirring, centrifugation at 12000 rpm in distillate water and followed by homogenizing at 7000 rpm. The morphology and surface profiles of the NCC suspension was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The crystalline structure of the NCC was evaluated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. As a result, hydrolysed NCC was found to have a rod liked shape with diameter in the range of 100-300nm length and 10-50nm width, with the aspect ratio value of 10.3 nm. According to XRD investigations, the semi-crystalline cellulose was observed with the presence of an amorphous broad hump and crystalline peaks at 2θ of 15o and 22.7o, respectively. The crystalinity index of the raw filter paper was calculated as 86.7 % and increased to 94.4 % as it was extracted to NCC. Crystallite size of raw filter paper and NCC was calculated as 20.6 nm and 11.4 nm, respectively

This project investigated the use of facile pulping methods to produce pulp from mixed bio-plantation waste fibres using sodium hydroxide, ethanol and garbage enzyme. Papers were successfully made from mixture of corn husk fibres with other bio-based green fibres such as banana stems and pineapple leaves. Soda pulping was found to be efficient in converting the cellulosic bio-fibres to the pulps used for paper making. The papers produced have low tensile strength, high water absorption, high bio-decomposition and degradation rate, as compared to commercial papers. SEM observation revealed that paper made from mixed bio-fibres have lightly cross-linked structures compared to heavily cross-linked or compact network structures found in commercial papers. The paper can be used in applications that require high water absorbency. The paper making process is more environmental friendly as it reduces the usage of wood fibres and hence reduces the environmental problem caused by deforestation.

Graphene paper (GP) with layered structure and highly conductive network is fabricated by a facile technique of vacuum filtration and studied as a single-component and binder-free anode of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The process of fabrication of GP without any binder and high-temperature treatment, in the meantime, great improvement in both the capacity and cycling performance of the GP electrodes have compared with other kinds of traditional graphite electrode materials. Given the simplifying anode fabrication, low manufacturing costs and many electrochemical properties of the GP anode, it is regarded as an excellent anode material of LIB with great promise for its both excellent cycling performance and electrochemical properties. The specific capacity can reach to over 200 mAhg-1after 60 charge-discharge cycles under the current rate of 50 mAg-1.

The wettability of the carbon composite electrode on paper substrate was studied using contact angle measurement. Y-Shield HSF54 carbon composite material were coated on paper substrates with a mask using squeegee coating technique. Contact angles of the ten polar probe liquids with the HSF54 electrodes were measured using a customed-built image acquisition system. With the contact angles obtained for each probe liquid placed on the electrodes, the surface tension of the electrodes was determined using Fox-Zisman theory. The result showed that the critical surface tension of HSF54 carbon composite electrodes was 37.2 mN/m which is considered to be moderately hydrophobic.

Raw oil palm fronds (OPF-R) converted into biochar (OPF-B) by torrefaction processes at temperatures range of 200 °C to 300 °C. This study aims to evaluate OPF-B performance to reduce iron ions in artificial solutions and peat water. Batch adsorption carried out at room temperature by stirring (175 rpm) using an orbital shaker. Some parameters observed included optimum torrefaction temperature, optimum conditions of Fe ions adsorption (optimum pH and contact time) and sorption isotherm. Metal content measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Functional groups on material surface characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR). Torrefaction at 260 °C produces biochar with the highest efficiency in removing iron ions. Both functional groups C=O and C-O attributed to lignocellulose on OPF-B were diminished and absorption band of aromatic (C=C) increased which caused by torrefaction. The optimum conditions for removal of Fe ions at pH 5 and 30 minutes contact time. Adsorption process follows the Langmuir Isotherm which indicates the formation of a monolayer with qmax 111.11 mg/g. Amount of 0.025 g OPF-B able to reduce iron concentration from 13.960 mg/L to 0.746 mg/L in 100 mL peat water (has complied with Indonesian clean water standard for iron concentration).

The pectin/functionalized silica coated filter paper (FILPSL2) was used for copper ion adsorption. Silica sol (1), prepared by mixing ethanol, water, TEOS and hydrochloric acid, was slowly added into pectin solution. A piece of filter paper (2 cm x 2 cm) was immersed in the silica-pectin solution for 1 hr. The coated filter paper was dried at room temperature and then oven-dried at 50 °C for 6 hrs to obtain FILPS. The silica sol (2) was subsequently prepared by mixing ethanol, water, N-[3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylenediamine (L2) and hydrochloric acid. The FILPS was immersed in silica sol (2) and the coated paper was oven-dried at 50 °C for 6 hrs to obtain FILPSL2. The SEM micrograph of uncoated Filter paper (FIL) and FILPSL2 showsa characteristic woven pattern. For copper ion adsorption, FILPSL2 was put into 0.1 M of CuCl2solution (pH 2, 25 °C). The color of the paper changes from off-white to intense blue within 5 min due to the complex between amino group of functionalized silica and Cu2+ as evidenced from IR spectroscopy.The equilibrium adsorption percentage and adsorption capacity were 27.10 and 5.5 x 10-3 respectively. The concentrations of copper ion solutions were varied to 10-2and 10-3M at this pH. The lower concentration of copper ion results in the higher adsorption percentage. While the lower concentration of copper ion results in the lower adsorption capacity. The adsorption was also experimented at pH 3.The similar trend was obtained. The optimum pH for adsorption for all concentrations was 2. The effect of interferences on the copper ion adsorption depends on the pH. At pH 2, Ni2+ has a stronger effect. While Cd2+ has a stronger effect at pH 3. The desorption was performed using 0.2 M CH3COOH solution. The complete desorption occurred within 30 min.

In this paper, soy protein papermaking process conditions as dry strength agents were studied. The results show that a part of the three parts of soy protein and a mixed system with a cationic starch alone, or cationic starch, soy protein, as compared to dry strength additives will significantly increase the strength. The optimum conditions were: pulp types E, defatted soy protein, dry vacuum drying method is 105°C, adding ways to add the pulp, the best reaction time was 10min, the optimum dosage of 2%. Soy protein sources are widely readily available, and environmentally friendly and easily biodegradable, paper dry strength agents as a good material.

The total sulfur rate of the coal sample was 4.973%, the inorganic sulfur content was more than 60%, which was the main component in the coal sample. The effect of grinding fineness, flotation pulp density, collector and frother on coal flotation desulfurization were investigated in this paper to remove the inorganic sulfur. The results showed that it reached to the optimum desulfurization rate 54.7% when the optimum grinding fineness was 39.20% -200 mesh rate, pulp concentration was 80 g/L, kerosene consumption was 1.4 kg/t, 2#oil loading was 100 g/t, and the total sulfur content reduced to 2.72%. The optimized flotation condition determined by orthogonal experiments was as follow: pulp density for 60 g/L, kerosene dosage of 1.4 kg/t, 2#oil consumption of 100 g/t. In this case, total sulfur content reduced to 2.19%, the total desulfurization rate and the inorganic desulfurization rate were 55.96% and 92.89%, respectively.

For the conversion of cellulose into biofuel by microorganisms is being studied intensively. This research isolate and screen efficient cellulolytic microorganism from bamboo forest soil based on growth rate on CMC plate, the size of transparent circle, disintegration effect of filter paper, and CMC enzyme activity assay. As a result, efficient cellulose-decomposing fungus J6-1 was obtained. The strains possessed higher filter paper degrading ability and CMC enzyme activity, disintegrating the filter paper into 42.3% at the 5th days and reaching the highest CMC enzyme activity 6.87IU/mL after 120 hours of shake flask fermentation. Strains J6-1 is preliminarily identified asPenicilliumby morphological observation and a great potential cellulolytic strains.

Both qualitative and quantitative effect of TiO2 suspension presence in cigarette filter have been analyzed in order to reduce harmful substances in cigarette smoke, optimizing the capability of TiO2 suspension as nano filter in cigarette filters and reviewing the analysis in order to obtain results with the best variation. Samples in the form of filter paper that has passed of the smoke with some variation treatment as it become ready to be tested and analyzed. Parameter such as concentration and volume variation of TiO2 suspension, and also the inputting method of TiO2 suspension into cigarette filter. Samples were characterized using FT-IR spectrophotometer and samples data absorbance obtained in each catchment area. The results showed that by reducing absorbance value percentage of each catchment area, with inputting method of TiO2 suspension through the cigarette filter tip and base, it appears that the most stable and lowest reduction present in C3 and H3, which is sample with 1.85 mol/liter concentration and 0.3 ml suspension volume. Both sample reduced particulate matters significantly after confirmed with X-Ray Fluorescence and SEM-EDS results, and was compared to sample filter without TiO2. Inputting method of TiO2 suspension through a base of cigarette butt is better and safer than through end of cigarette filter.

The manufacturing of furniture using rattan is becoming common nowadays, and creates high amount of waste that can be value-added into binderless particleboards (BPB). In order to determine the suitability of the rattan waste for production of BPB, characterization of rattan waste is executed and reported in this paper. The physical properties such as density and moisture content of the rattan waste, together with its morphological study and thermal analysis as well as lignin content are evaluated. It is observed that density and moisture content for rattan waste are in the range of 0.64g/cm3, and 11.3% respectively. On the other hand, the morphology of rattan stem showed that rattan waste has various diameters of vascular bundles along with wide metaxylem vessels as well as thin-walled fibres. Thermal analysis of rattan waste explicated that rattan waste went through endothermic process with peak melting point of 177.80 °C during heating. The greatest weight loss occurred at 257.03 °C. Rattan waste has high lignin content of 21.2% that obtained through Klason lignin test. These promising preliminary results show that the rattan waste is appropriate to be used as raw materials in producing BPB.

This study aimed to analyze the kinetics of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. Cellulase enzyme was obtained fromAspergillusnigergrown on filter paper and the hydrolysis process was carried out in solid state. The kinetic reviewed here was the relationship between glucose production and cellulose mass reduction to optimize the parameters of Monod equation at various moisture levels.

Based on the requirements of sustainable development and innovative design concept, Al films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering solves the paper based Al film forming technology of aluminum plated corrugated cardboard material so as to obtain new environmental protection. To explore the combination design, aluminum plated corrugated cardboard furniture design idea and concept of aluminum plated corrugated cardboard and other materials of the modular design, promotes the application and practical popularization value. The production of functional strong, stylish new aluminum plated corrugated cardboard furniture, can meet the needs of a growing social material production and life.

The effect of heat on the quality of spray dried Tongkat Ali extract was investigated at three different air inlet temperatures (100°C, 180°C and 2200C). Response surface methodology employing the Box-Behnken Design was employed to hunt for the optimum operating conditions at these temperatures. Good retentions of eurycomanone, total polysaccharides and glycosaponins were exhibited during the spray drying process. However, protein was found to be susceptible to thermal degradation during the spray drying process. Use of high air inlet temperatures (i.e. 1800C and 2200C) in spray drying led to greater process yield, lower moisture contents, produced non-sticky particles, and resulted in good powder size distribution of Tongkat Ali extract compared to spray drying at 1000C.

Oil contamination has caused more public anxiety than other waste or spilt materials into the marine environment. Oil sorbents of high sorption capacity, biodegradable, readily available and low cost, are important for protection of water environment, especially from oil spillage. This work deals with raw and modified corn silk, an agricultural waste, as a low cost sorbent for oil-products spill cleanup in the aquatic environment. Corn silk was modified using fatty acid (oleic acid) to improve its sorption capacity. The chemical functional groups of raw and modified corn silk were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Kinetic tests were conducted with a series of contact times. The kinetic studies showed good correlation coefficients for a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The oleic acid treated corn silk (OTCS) showed high degree of hydrophobicity and oil sorption capacity of approximately 10.7 and 11.90 g oil/g sorbent for Tapis and Arabian crude oil, respectively. Corn silk is a cheap waste material that can be treated to have an acceptable sorption capacity which can be used as an alternative to the commercial synthetic sorbents such as polypropylene.

This document demonstrates how to affect the brightness of liquid package recycled pulp by hydrogen peroxide bleaching and FAS beaching. The optimum H2O2 bleaching process conditions: 8% H2O2, 4% NaOH, bleaching temperature 80 °C, bleaching time 1.5h. The best FAS bleaching conditions was FAS dosage of 0.5%, NaOH dosage of 0.25%, bleaching temperature at 80 °C, time for 30min. And bleaching had no adverse effect on the performance of bleached pulp fiber.

Using novel dual cathode/electro/Fe2+/S2O82-system to treat pickle sauerkraut wastewater, the paper investigates the influencing factors (S2O82-dosage, Fe2 +dosage, current density, Wastewater pH, electrode plate distance) of the organic matters removal and the treatment effect. Test results show that the degree of various factors influence on COD removal of sauerkraut wastewater is different. The COD removal is little effected by pH, while largely effected by current density, dosage of Fe2 +and S2O82-dosage. Under the optimum experiment conditions, current density for 30mA/cm-2, dosage of Fe2 +for 8mmol/L, S2O82-dosage for 12 mmol/L, electrode plate distance for 2 cm and pH=6, sixty minutes electrolysis, wastewater removal rate reach up to 92.6%. These results suggest that this electrochemical oxidation process by dual cathode/electro-Fe2+-S2O82-system might provide an alternative for the degradation of pickle sauerkraut wastewater.

Sludge Concentration (MLSS) is one of major parameters for operation of Anoxic/Aerobic-Membrane Bioreactors（A/O-MBR）and it influences the removal efficiency of pollutants and the rate of membrane fouling as well. This paper focuses on the effects of different MLSS on the treatment of domestic wastewater, the quantity and composition of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), and the variation of the rate of membrane fouling. It also includes a preliminary analysis of the correlation between EPS and membrane fouling to provide reference for future studies of the mechanism of membrane fouling.

In this research, the laccase mediator system (LMS) was used to modify the unbleached triploid populus tomentosa alkaline hydrogen peroxide pulp (APMP). The changes of pulp brightness were measured and the effects of LMS on the subsequent hydrogen peroxide bleaching were also determined. Besides, the fiber morphology was analyzed by ESEM, and then the obvious changes of pulp have been recovered. In a word, the LMS has obvious effect on cellulose.

This paper made the detailed discourse for the study on using cellulase, hemicellulase hydrolysis of poplar fiber raw material to make glucose. The raw material used in this experiment is poplar, cellulase and hemicellulase enzymes are used. Hemicellulase is a complex system, xylose is regarded as the main chain for a lot of hemicellulose. The experiment used dry poplar as raw material, through the ball mill, ground poplar into wood powder. In the experiment, the optimal condition of enzyme hydrolysis of wood powder has been discussed based on reaction temperature, reaction time, enzyme concentration, and the pH value of reaction. Finally, under the optimal condition, use enzyme to hydrolyse wood powder, measure reducing sugar content by the DNS method, and calculate the rate of hydrolysis.

In this paper, synthesis and fluorescence performance of graphene oxide have been primarily studied. Fistly, graphene oxide with remarkable fluorescence performance was prepared by modified hummer’s method. Secondly, changing the reaction time, the structure and size of graphene oxide were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Malvern Zeta-Size Analyzer, and the effects of different reaction conditions on the XRD patterns of graphene oxide were discussed. Finally, the fluorescence performance of graphene oxide solution were analyzed using fluorescence spectrometer.

The Polyacrylamide (PAM) is a frequently used flocculant for high concentration suspensions removal in water treatment characterized by the generation of large and dense flocs. In this paper, by using the anionic PAM as flocculant, a full-scale experimental study was carried out on flocculating ferric flocs sludge with pelleting flocculation blanket process under scale of 19~38 m3/h. The investigation aimed to optimum the dosage of the PAM and evaluate the application of the PAM in ferric flocs sludge treatment. The experimental results indicated that the increasing of PAM dosage could improve both outlet turbidity and thicken sludge concentration obviously, under the raw wastes concentration of 285~1022 mg/L, the system could achieve ideal operation effect with PAM dosage of 0.3~2.7 mg/L and treatment unit surface loading of 19~38 m3/m2·H. The investigation results also proved that there exists an approximately linear relationship between optimal PAM dosage and raw sludge concentration, that is, the increasing of raw sludge concentration would require synchronously rising of the optimal dosage. While the relationship between maximum surface loading and raw sludge concentration appeared negatively linear dependence, the maximum surface loading would decreased linearly with the increasing of inlet sludge concentration.

Delignification of banana peel, agricultural waste, is considered in the pulp production because lignin is a major obstacle to the gain of cellulose. The soda process as a conventional method and micro-morphology observed by scanning electron microscopy were fulfilled to investigate an optimal condition in this study. The results pointed the potent sequence of operating factors was delignification temperature > solid-liquid ratio > soda concentration > time. The removal of lignin could achieve 92% under the optimal condition using 12%w soda concentration with 1:8 solid-liquid ratio at 100°C for 40 min. This shows that the alkaline delignification is productively sufficient for the pulp production.

This paper mainly researched on preparation and the setting time of Magnesium Phosphate Cement (MPC). The method of orthogonal experiment was adapted to determine the best ratio of MPC, and change the content and types of the material according to the influence of various factors, so as to get the longer setting time of MPC. The results showed that, when the water cement ratio is 0.12, the factors significantly influencing the setting time is magnesium phosphorus ratio (M/P), fly ash and borax. The optimal mixture ratio was obtained through the orthogonal analysis, namely M/P is 3/1, borax content is 16%, and the amount of fly ash is 40%. When M/P is 1/1 and 2/2, borax content is not more than 22%, and the amount of fly ash was less than 60%, the longer setting time of MPC can be produced.

Coal gasification wastewater, as a typical industrial wastewater has poor biodegradability and high toxicity. In this paper, simple anaerobic shaker test was conducted to investigate the degradation of hydroquinone in coal gasification wastewater. Anaerobic sludge shaker test were run for 27, 50 and 73 days, the phenol concentration were adjusted to 300 mg/L and 500 mg/L with pH 7.5, respectively. The experimental results also showed that this system could effectively deal with COD and phenol removal and remain in a stable level when the operational parameters altered while the hydrolysis acidification at 45h is appropriate. Organics degradation and transformation of anaerobic coal gasification wastewater samples at 12h, 24h, 36h, 48h, and 60h were analyzed by GC/MS and it was found that hydrolysis acidification played an important role in degradation of methyl phenol, hydroquinone and refractory compounds. Therefore, the results illustrated that the simple anaerobic shaker process is an easy way for pollutant degradation and treat coal gasification wastewater effectively.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the ability ofMicrobacterium liquefaciensstrain MNSH2-PHGII-2, isolated from a Mexican silver mine, for removing Ni and V from spent catalyst at 80% (w/v) pulp density in a glass-column system at laboratory conditions. Firstly, microbial culture was adapted to spent catalyst at 0.1% (w/v) in liquid culture then, it was assayed by its ability to remove Ni and V from a spent catalyst in a glass-column system. Spent catalyst was packed at 80% (w/v) pulp density and inoculated at 20% (3x108CFU/ml); air was supplied at 80 ml/min and then incubated at 30°C during 14 days. Parameters such as microbial growth, pH, Ni and V residual concentrations, in catalyst, were determined at days 7 and 14. The result showed thatMicrobacterium liquefaciensstrain MNSH2-PHGII-2 in the glass-column system was able to remove 1007.4 mg/kg of Ni while V was removed at an extent of 5360.5 mg/kg. Microbial removal for other metals in catalyst was non-significant, that indicated the specificity ofMicrobacterium liquefaciensto remove Ni and V.

This study focuses on the biodesulfurization of lignite specifically the reduction of organic sulfur, namely aliphatic mercaptans/thiolsviabioprocess methods. The process was conducted by using multistage artificial biotreatment (A-Bmt) andPseudoclavibactersp.SKC/XLW-1 strains as biocatalysts. The aims are to improve the recovery of clean coal by reducing the organic sulfur both in nodules and globular forms on the maceral surface during the stage of coal biooxidation prior to column bioflotation stage, in which it is still possible to achieve higher recovery of fine coal grains without sulphide mineral. The results shows that the A-Bmt method carried out through biooxidation stage followed by column bioflotation stage has better performance compared to the method without biooxidation stage. The results of this study show that the content of organic sulfur are lower by 25%.

Peru is mining country with a great diversity of mineral resource. The high grade ores are declining, and there is a need to implement new techniques for recycling metals (Cu, Au, Zn, Pb, etc) from low-grade ores. In order to answer this question, the bioleaching of copper from sulphide ore (FeS2 45.30%, CuFeS2 1.90%, ZnS 8.90%, FeAsS 13.12%, PbS 3.69%) was evaluated with different concentrations of Fe2+ using an iron-oxidizing native microbial consortium.The samples were collected from drainage acid mine (4100 m.a.s.l.) located in the south of Huancavelica region and the sample of ore from middle Huaraz region (3200 m.a.s.l.). Microorganisms were isolated in 9k medium at pH 1.8, 22oC. Bioleaching test were performed in two consecutive steps to 150 rpm at 22oC, monitoring pH, ORP (mV). Assays varying the concentration of Fe2+ (0 mM – 53 mM) were performed with a pulp density of 1% and 2% at each step, and with an inoculum 10% (v/v) to a microbial concentration of 108 cel/mL.We isolated a microbial consortium after 8 weeks with presence of bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans-like. In assays, copper was solubilized. The microbial concentration in the tests was (2x107- 4x107cel/mL). In the first stage, the test with 21 mM Fe2+ recovered 62% copper. In the next step, with the bacterial concentration of the first step, bioleaching time is reduced by 22% for copper recovery (63%) in absence of Fe2+.With these data, we observed that the addition of iron is not necessary in a stage adaptation when the mineral contain iron.

Groundwater contamination due to mining, industrial and agricultural activities is a source of concern, especially with the advent of more stringent environmental legislation. Water sources in South Africa are multi-functional as the same water used in industrial processes is also used in agriculture.[1] Mining activities in the Northern Cape of South Africa, is largely as a result of manganese mining where Mn (II) and Fe (II) is removed. The treatment of the effluent discharged to the environment is therefore seen as a priority.Biosorption has proven to be a viable alternative to the use of conventional heavy metal removal methods. [2, 3] The re-usability of the biomaterial was investigated using a batch system. The biomaterial was contacted with Mn (II) sulfate, after which the supernatant was analysed for metal content. The biosorbent was then dried and desorbed using HCl. This process was repeated 3 times to investigate whether the biomaterial deteriorated and whether the biosorption process was affected by multiple use of the same biomaterial. The results showed that the biosorption capacity reduced with each successive use of the biomaterial.

For petroleum industries, CO2 can cause corrosion, and heating-value reduction. However, CO2 can be used to enhance the oil recovery for oil production. However, the amount of CO2 supply is not enough because the cost of carbon capture is high. The main sources of CO2 come from power generation. The technology to capture CO2 is carbon capture and storage or CCS. Currently, the effective technology to remove CO2 from the power plants is chemical absorption and chemicals used in this technology play a key role. Nowadays, the commercially used solvents are monoethanolamine (MEA). Nevertheless, it also has disadvantages such as low capacity and high energy requirement for regeneration thus making CCS costly. Therefore, many new solvents such as 2-(methylamino) ethanol or 2-MAE have been developed to improve efficiency and to reduce the cost of CO2 capture. Therefore, the objective of this work is to measure the solubility data of CO2 in a 5M aqueous solution of 2-MAE as a promising solvent at the temperature from 30 °C to 80 °C and CO2 partial pressures ranging from 5 to 100 kPa. The solubility results of CO2 in 2-MAE solution are compared with those of aqueous solution of MEA. In term of cyclic capacities, the results show that 2-MAE provides higher performance which is up to 86.8% and 150.9% higher than that of MEA at 15 and 100 kPa, respectively. Furthermore, the results present that the CO2 loading can increase as partial pressure increases and decrease at higher temperature. It can be concluded that an increase in cyclic capacity leads to the decrease in energy requirement for solution regeneration and liquid-circulation rate, leading to the reduction of the overall capital and operating costs and resulting in the decrease in cost of carbon capture.

This paper studied effect of different pretreatment process on Yunnan phosphorus building gypsum strength and crystal morphology such as washing method, lime neutralization method, flotation method and Hans method. A lots experiment result indicated that basic properties of phosphorus building gypsum of different pretreatment methods could satisfy related building materials products technology requirements. While inorganic impurities could be effectively removed by lime neutralization method and washing method, as well as organics could be better removed by flotation method, however, compared with other methods, the Hans method possessed the best effect about removing soluble phosphorus, fluorine and organic compounds in phosphogypsum , and had other benefit such as low cost, easy operated and high strength.

The biopolymer material, lignin, was recovered from the black liquor by acidification of the black liquor using sulfuric acid. Several purification techniques were carried out to produce the high purity of lignin such as gradual precipitation of lignin from black liquor (first stage: precipitation at pH 7, second stage: precipitation at pH 2) and the diluting of crude lignin by sodium hydroxide then followed by re-precipitation at different temperature. Subsequently, the impurities of lignin product resulted from each purification techniques was determined as ash content that analyzed using temperature program furnace; and the content of lignin was investigated using spectrophotometer UV-Vis. The result showed that the content of lignin of material produced from gradual precipitation was approximately 77.6%. It was higher than the content of lignin about 3.4% of material produced from direct precipitation to pH 2. In addition, the elevating of temperature from 40 to 60°C was no considerably affect to the content of lignin in precipitate produced from re-precipitation of crude lignin solution in sodium hydroxide. Nonetheless, the content of lignin of precipitate improved 15% when the temperature of re-precipitation of crude lignin solution in sodium hydroxide was raised from room temperature to 40-60°C.

The application of photodegradable polyethylene is increasingly important for agricultural uses due to its ability to degrade after suggested shelf life and to counter measure pollution issue caused by conventional polyethylene films. The photodegradable polyethylene (PE) mixtures were formulated with added polypropylene (PP) and photodegradant (RM master batch) and tested in oil palm seedlings cultivation. PP is known to have photodegradable ability and RM master batch is proven to induce photo degradation of polyethylene. Thus, the mixture of these three components according to different ratios was processed into agricultural plastic films. There are four formulations that are tested in this study, namely T1 (80% PE:20% PP:5% RM master batch), T2 (70% PE:30% PP:5% RM master batch), T3 (80% PE:20% PP:3% RM master batch) and T4 (70% PE:30% PP:3% RM master batch). All formulations except control sample were added with photodegradant to impart degradation reaction and compatibiliser was also affixed to allow coalesce between polyethylene and polypropylene. Carbon black was added 0.5% into the formulation as for poly bags application, dark environment of soil is crucial for root development and growth. Penetration of sun light into the planting soil could commence development of shoot instead of root growth. All four formulations showed observable morphological changes on microscopic images on the surfaces after being used in oil palm nursery. From the study, it is shown that T1 and T3, with 20% of additional polypropylene had demonstrated clear surface disintegration when viewed microscopically. The addition of 3% and 5% of photodegradant into the formulations did not show any expressive difference thus suggesting that 3% of photodegradant is the optimum amount to induce photo degradation.

The objective of this study is to investigate the ability of Elaeis guineensis fruit fiber or known as oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) to adsorb nickel from aqueous solution. As one of the major oil palm producer, Malaysia has abundantly oil palm waste that potentially be used as biosorbent. Limited studies used OPMF as biosorbent to remove nickel, thus it was used in this study. The effects of pH, initial metal concentration and contact time on nickel uptake were studied. The OPMF was soaked in nickel nitrate aqueous solution and the Ni-loaded OPMF being digested to analyse the nickel concentration by using ICP-OES. The adsorption was investigated in the pH range of 2.0-8.0 and the optimum pH for nickel removal was found to be 7.0. The contact time was varied between 5 to 120 mins and the nickel adsorption was found to achieve equilibrium in a very short time (i.e. R2 of 0.98. The kinetic studies showed that the pseudo-second order model is the best model with the correlation coefficients of > 0.99 for all concentrations. Overall, the adsorption of nickel by OPMF gave positive results and the used of OPMF as biosorbent has great potential to be applied in the future.

In this study, d-limonene as green solvent was used as an alternative to n-hexane to recover the residual crude palm oil (RCPO) from the OPDC. The OPDC obtained from the palm oil mill contained about 12.55±3.15% (dry basis) of RCPO. Similar as n-hexane, the results proved that d-limonene as solvent was able to recover 100% of the RCPO from the OPDC successfully. The recyclable of d-limonene was 90%, higher than n-hexane (70%) and not much variation on fatty acids composition of extracted RCPO were observed. To ensure complete RCPO recovery, microscopic observation and FTIR spectra analysis on OPDC before and after the extraction were performed. This study concludes that d-limonene is comparable to n-hexane. However, the residual oil is classified as non-edible as it is not extracted via mechanical method. Therefore, further analysis is necessary in order to determine the potential use of the residual oils in other industries such as pharmaceutical, food packaging, fiberboard manufacturing and others.

PBO (p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) short fibers, attached fine fibrils that are called PBO pulp, may precipitate directly from stirred PBO/methanesulfonic acid (MSA) solution by the use of water coagulant in fibrous pulp form. Scanning electron micrographs show that the precipitated PBO pulps have a ribbon-like structure similar to Kevlar pulps. The thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA) show there were no appreciable mass changes until 550 °C in the air. The process yields PBO pulps with different specific surface areas (SSA) depending on the stirring speed, stirring time and the concentration of the PBO/MSA solution. High SSA PBO pulps can be produced by increasing the stirring speed, prolonging the stirring time and reducing the concentration of the PBO/MSA solution.

The microalgae Chlorella sp. grows well in POME medium sparged with a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas and air under 10,000 lx of lighting. The percentage of CO2 in the mixture, and the flow rate of the mixture (representing agitation) have important effects on the microalgae biomass yield. However, the percentage recovery of CO2 as microalgae biomass was very low in all cases, indicating that most of the sparged CO2 did not dissolve in the POME and was not sequestered by the microalgae but has in fact escaped with the bubbles into the head-space and out into the atmosphere. This result indicates that in order to increase the percentage of CO2 recovered, the area of improvement is mainly in the mass transfer of CO2 from the gas phase into the liquid phase. To ensure that dissolved CO2 does not re-form bubbles, the mass transfer has to be demand-driven, where the rate of uptake of dissolved CO2 by the microalgae has to be higher than the rate of mass transfer of CO2 from gas phase into the liquid medium.

Graphene oxide (GO) reduction is a promising way for graphene large scale synthesis. Pre-exfoliated graphite was oxidized and reduced. The material was compared to commercial graphene oxide and its reduced sample. The reduction process of graphene oxide is accomplished using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) with variable-valence metal ion – cobalt – assistance. The reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The particle size and suspension stability were determined. Electrical conductivity measurements of GO and RGO samples have been done in temperature range from-150°C to 85°C. Pre-exfoliation effect was determined.

A reduced graphene oxide/nickel (rGO/Ni) composite has been succesfully synthesized using a combination of Marcano’s method for synthesizing graphene oxide (GO), subsequently followed by a facile microwave assisted reduction method. X-ray diffraction results show the presence of graphene and nickel on the prepared samples. In addition, the Fourier Tansform Infrared Spectroscopy measurement showed that the absorption peaks of O-H, C=O, C-OH, and C-O only appear in the GO sample. A Scanning Electron Microscope photograph shows that the morphology of the rGO samples contain nano-layered forms. A Raman spectroscopy characterization of the prepared rGO samples show a peak of G band’s wave number at 1586.5 cm-1. From the calculation of the G band’s wave number, the average number of graphene layers is 1.15.

In this study, three different concentration of organic loading rate (OLR) were investigated to examine the effect of the change in the organic loading rate on the efficiency of the biogas production. Daily amount of biogas of different type of organic loading rate (OLR), rates of production of biogas, removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solid (TS) matter, volatile solids (VS) matter from the slurry were investigated in 30 days retention tyme using 50 L digester. The digester was operated at different organic feeding rates of 25000 mg/L COD, 50000 mg/L COD, and 75000 mg/L COD. The material used in this system is the fruits waste, vegetables waste and cow dung. The system operated in continuous system. The reactor showed stable performance with the highest quality of methane (concentration about70.3% of CH4) and rate of biogas production is 38.1 L/day with COD reduction of 52.1% during organic loading rate 50000 mg/L COD. As the organic loading rate was increased, the COD degradation and biogas yield decreased. Based on this result, the OLR of 50000 mg/L COD is suggested as design criteria for pilot biogas production.

This study aims to directly analyze the production of hydrogen and methane gas from POME via high frequency ultrasonication atomization. The advantage of the currently common process was studied in regards to the application of low frequency ultrasonic pretreatment prior to biological processes; anaerobic digestion and fermentation for the production of methane and hydrogen gases respectively. Existing ultrasonic application is limited to sludge disintegration, reducing chemical oxygen demand (COD) values and total solid, while subsequent biological processes take several days to produce gases. However, in this study, high frequency (2.4 MHz) ultrasonic atomization process was able to produce methane and hydrogen gases directly without any biological process. These gases were detected by using an online gas chromatography. The results from the ultrasonication process show that the production gases are consisted majorly of hydrogen compared to methane. Thus, high frequency ultrasonication process can be considered as an alternative method in rapid production of methane and hydrogen gases.

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and a clean carrier of energy. However, the existence of hydrogen is in different compound forms, in which a great deal of energy is required to split from the compounds. Gasification of biomass is one of the best methods to produce hydrogen. This study focuses on the production of hydrogen in gasification process by using a throated downdraft gasifier and preheated air as gasifying agent. For the study on the effect of gasifying air temperature on hydrogen concentration in the syngas an electric heater was used to preheat the inlet air up to 500°C. The results of the study showed that increasing the gasifying air temperature from 30°C to 500°C increased the volume concentration of hydrogen by 25.1% in the syngas. The increase in hydrogen was steeper when the inlet air was in the lower range temperature (30 to 265°C) as compared to that of the upper range (265 to 500°C).

Calculated carbon dioxide emission from WPT, using equations derived from the UNFCC report, found that the average amount of CO2 emitted from the decomposition of WPT annually for 2011-2032 is equivalent to 14.19 million tonnes. The amounts of CO2 that can be sequestered from the manufacture of the potential products were also calculated. Assuming 50% of the annual availability of WPT in Malaysia from year 2011-2032 is converted into products such as plywood/flooring, bio-ethanol from OPT sap, timber, animal feed and micro-crystalline cellulose, GHG emissions would be reduced by 8.11%; 1.95%; 21.35% and 20.50% respectively. The conversion of WPT into biofuel such as fuel pellets and bio-ethanol could provide more impactful effect through indirect and direct carbon offsets from the displacement of fossil fuel use. Up to 48.26 percent CO2 reduction may be achieved.

Esterification and trans-esterification reactions are an alternative solution for the production of biodiesel from Crude Palm Oil waste. The two previous studies show that the yield obtained was less than 80%. It is necessary to investigate the optimum condition of trans-esterification operation in biodiesel production from CPO waste. Variables used are temperature, time, ratio of molar triglyceride with methanol, and catalyst concentration. According to preliminary temperature treatment variations, it is determined that optimum temperature is 55°C. Meanwhile, the time treatment variations showed that optimum time is 60 minutes. For the ratio of molar triglyceride with methanol, it is determined that 1:10 is the optimum ratio. And last, for the experiment variations of NaOH concentrations it is discovered that the optimum concentration is 1.25%-b. And to conclude the research, the optimum condition for each variable was used where biodiesel’s yield can reach up to 96.67%.

A new carbon material called graphene has been attracting an increasing research interest owing to its unique electrical and mechanical properties that is useful for the various device applications. The synthesis of graphene from graphene oxide usually involves harmful chemical reducing agents that are toxic and undesirable to human and the environment. By avoiding the use of toxic and environmentally harmful reductants, we report a green approach for the reduction of graphene oxide by using reducing sugars to synthesis graphene. Graphite oxide was synthesized from graphite powder using modified Hummers method. Graphite oxide then further exfoliated to graphene oxide by using ultrasonic irradiation. Graphene then was obtained by the mild reduction of graphene oxide with reducing sugars (glucose, lactose and maltose). The structural study of the as-prepared graphene is characterized by Raman spectroscopy and fourier infra red spectroscopy. Raman and FTIR spectra indicates the partial removal of oxygen functional groups from the surface of GO. Characterizations indicate that graphene oxide is successfully reduced to graphene by sugar.

We measured the resistivity and conductivity behavior of activated carbon and an activated carbon – graphene oxide (GO – AC) hybrid using two point probe method. As graphene oxide is well known as insulator, the effects of different ratio of activated carbon on conductivity of hybrid GO – AC was investigated.

Green composites of Glucose-reduced graphene oxide (GrGO) and manganese (IV) oxide (MnO2) were prepared in a typical chemical synthesis route assisted with ultrasonic irradiation. Conductivity studies conducted via 2-point probe method shows GrGO/MnO2(4:1) possessed electrical conductivity of 30.29 S cm-1with energy band gap of 8.47×10-1eV. The increase of D/G intensity ratio of GrGO with increase MnO2loading indicates more disorder carbon or defects are introduced from the reaction of carbon with MnO4-.

Today, research on graphene and other two-dimensional sp2-hybridized carbon nanomaterials has tremendously impacted the areas of modern chemistry, physics, and materials science and engineering. The significant attraction of these materials can be attributed to the outstanding electrical, optical, electrochemical, and mechanical properties of graphene-like materials, especially in comparison to other carbon materials. In this manner, graphene oxide as a substrate for graphene-like materials reduction process is getting more and more interesting. Although early routes to these materials were challenging, significant advances in synthetic and processing methods have enabled access to high-quality exfoliated graphene oxide sheets in appreciable quantities. Herein, we introduced a simple and efficient method for the high-conversion preparation of graphene oxide using a simplified hummer’s method from large graphite flakes (an average flake size of 100 μm). One-pot chemical oxidation of graphite was carried out at room temperature for the preparation purpose. It was found that different degree of oxidation of graphite flakes could be realized by stirring graphite in a mixture of sulphuric acid and potassium permanganate under different oxidation durations, resulting in exfoliated graphene oxide sheets with large lateral dimension and area. The simplified Hummer’s method provides a facile approach for the preparation of large-area exfoliated graphene oxide sheets.

Hydrogen sulfide is a common composition of natural gas. It is an important problem to develop suitable natural gas desulfurization technology for the present situation of China. Now, a novel process of H2S abatement from gas streams has been investigated for chemical absorption of H2S using a weak alkaline solution followed by the oxidation of the absorbed sulfide to elemental sulfur by naturally occurring microorganisms and alkaline solution regeneration for recycle and reuse in the process. This method is currently attracting more and more interests of researchers, because it requires little equipment, is inexpensive and produces only elemental sulfur, thus minimizing the production of pollutants. The biological oxidation process of the absorbed sulfides to elemental sulfur by Thiobacillus thioparus TYY-1 was studied in an airlift-loop reactor (effective volume=20L).Two efficiency factors including hydraulic remain time and the air aeration quantity were inspected. The air aeration quantity is key influence factor of desulfuration rate and elemental sulfur production rate. The investigation demonstrated that the optimum hydraulic remain time was 4—6h under the influent concentration of S2- for 200 mg/L, and the best treatment effect of aeration was obtained at 120 —160L/h. With these conditions after 20 days of operation, the result showed superior performance of the bioreactor for desulfuration rate and elemental sulfur production rate, the conversion products were mainly sulfur and the production rate of SO42- was low. The removal efficiency of sulfide was more than 99.5% while the maximum yield of sulfur was 88% approximately.