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This paper aimed to determine the characteristics of physical and mechanical properties of rice straw hand sheet and investigated the optimal conditions for making rice straw paper. The chemical composition of rice straw determined with the TAPPI standards. The conditions of making paper hand sheet composed of pulping time: 2 hours, 4 hours, pulping temperature: 100°C, 130°C, pulping solvent: 2 wt% NaOH, 4 wt% NaOH and bleaching: unbleached pulp, bleached pulp with 2% H2O2. The paper hand sheet was tested based on TAPPI methods, basic weight TAPPI- T410-om-93, thickness TAPPI- T411-om-89, moisture content TAPPI- T412-om-93, brightness TAPPI T452 om-92, opacity TAPPI standard T 425 om-91, burst strength TAPPI T403 om-97, tensile strength TAPPI T494 om-01, and tear strength TAPPI-T414-om-88. The results showed that the optimal conditions of rice straw hand sheet including pulping time: 2 hours, pulping temperature: 100°C, pulping solvent: 2 wt% NaOH, and bleaching: unbleached pulp gave the highest the physical and mechanical properties form other conditions. This conditions showed as the basic weight 62.27 g/m2, thickness 259.30 µ, opacity 93.34 ISO%, burst strength 64.75 kPa.m2/g, tensile strength 95.33 N.m/g, and tear strength 473.55mN.m2/g. In this condition, the paper hand sheet used at the lowest concentration of pulping solvent and non-bleached, which reduces environmental pollution.

Anode surface plays important role for extracellular electron transfer (EET) of exoelectrogenic microbes in microbial fuel cell (MFC). In this report, the electrochemical performance of a TiO2nanorod array modified carbon paper electrode (TiO2NRs/CP) is greatly improved by controlled chemical etching process. The etching process keeps the array morphology but yields obvious hollows on tops of TiO2nanorods. The etched electrode (TiO2NRs-HOT/CP) exhibits better hydrophilicity than carbon paper (CP) and TiO2NRs/CP electrode as seen from smaller contact angle (CA) and more attached microbes S.loihica PV-4. Meanwhile, the hollows allow higher local concentration of microbial self-secreted flavins that can act as electron mediators for interfacial electron transfer of PV-4 through in-direct pathway. Accordingly, PV-4 produces larger current density at TiO2NRs-HOT/CP electrode with maximum current density of 0.038 mA cm–2, which was much higher than that at CP electrode, and almost five times higher than that at un-etched TiO2NRs/CP electrode.

In this study, 12 commercially available paper towels were collected from the local market. Their tensile properties were investigated by Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric (KES-F). Four tensile properties namely: (i) extensibility (EMT), (ii) tensile energy (WT), (iii) tensile resilience (RT) and (iv) linearity of WT (LT) were evaluated. Experimental results revealed that the tensile properties varied within the products. EMT was used as the key property for discussing the tensile properties of paper towels. However, when the different tensile properties were correlated, it was found that WT/RT, WT/EMT and RT/EMT had strong Pearson correlation. In addition, there was no significant statistically relationship between weight and thickness to EMT. Based on this study, it can provide some information about the tensile properties of paper towels in local market which may help the industry for further improving the product quality.

12 commercially available paper towels were collected from the local market and studied in this paper. Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric (KES-F) was used for evaluating their bending properties. Two bending properties namely: (i) bending rigidity (B) and (ii) bending moment (2HB) were evaluated. Experimental results indciated that the bending properties varied within the products. B was used as the key property for discussing the bending properties of paper towels. When the correlations of different bending properties were investigated, it was found that no significant was found between B and 2HB. However, there was significant statistically relationship between weight and B but no relationship between thickness and B. With the use of the results, the product developer could improve the bending properties of the paper towels.

In this study, 12 commercially available paper towels were collected from the market. Their shearing properties were evaluated by Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric (KES-F). Three properties namely: (i) coefficient of friction (MIU), (ii) deviation of MIU (MMD) and (iii) geometric roughness (SMD). Experimental results revealed that the surface properties varied within the products. When different properties were correlated, it was found that there was not significantly relationship between MIU, MMD and SMD. However, weight and thickness had well statistically relationship to SMD.

As a kind of environmentally friendly material, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) has the following advantages: renewable raw materials, easy recycling, biodegradable, safety and so on. It can be combined with antibacterial agents to prepare the antibacterial packing materials for food. In this paper, the nano-ZnO was modified by titanate coupling agent TM-38s at first,determines the best dosage of TM-38 is 3% in the modification process,the dosage of the isopropyl alcohol for 40ml,improving its dispersibility. And then added in the MFC suspension to formulate the antibacterial coating for antibacterial coated paper preparation. The changes of antibacterial properties of the paper before and after coating were investigated in this study. The results showed that the paper had a significant antibacterial activity to e. coli and staphylococcus aureus (the antibacterial circle was bigger than 15 mm).When the nano-ZnO dosage was 2.5wt%, the antibacterial properties of the coated paper could reach the best situation. Application of the antibacterial caoated paper to the food packaging could restrain and kill the microorganisms on the food surface effectively, prolong the shelf life of food, and improve the food safety.

Noise pollution is a workplace hazard which causes loss of hearing, depending on the sound pressure level and duration of exposure. Because duration of exposure is usually uncontrollable, sound absorbers are used to reduce the value of sound pressure level. A common method to reduce noise is to use porous sound absorbers made out of mineral wools or glass fibres. However, these materials pose health risks and are non-recyclable. This project aimed to fabricate a sound absorber using recycled paper which is in the form of egg cartons as an alternative to the abovementioned fibres. Paper fibres posses high fibre porosity and can be manufactured in a manner which the properties can be easily controlled, making them ideal to be made into sound absorbers. Furthermore, they are biodegradable, do not pose health risks and can be manufactured into different shapes easily. Recycled paper was first turned into pulp, blended and poured into moulds. Different amounts of pulp was compressed until the sample size was approximately 20 mm thick and then dried in a furnace dryer at 600C for 12 hours. The samples were tested using a two-microphone, transfer function impedance tubes according to the ISO 10534-2 standard. Its porosity was determined using a modified wash basin method. The results indicate that the optimum panel has an average noise reduction coefficient, (NRC) of 0.50, which qualifies it to be used as a sound absorbing material. It also encounters its maximum value of 0.98 which occurred at the 1575-1675 Hz range. When compared to other materials, recycled paper has similar properties as coir fibre and is quite comparable to other commercial sound absorbers at the same thickness.

Biocomposites sheets were prepared by compression molding from mixtures of corn starch plasticized by glycerol as matrix and cellulose fibers, extracted from used office paper, as reinforcement filler with contents ranging from 0 to 8% wt/wt of fibers to matrix. Properties of composites were determined by mechanical tensile test, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, water absorption measurement, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that higher fibers content raised the tensile strength and elastic modulus up to 109% and 112%, respectively, when compared to the non-reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS). The addition of the fibers improved the thermal resistance and decreased the water absorption up to 63.6%. Scanning electron microscopy illustrated a good adhesion between matrix and fibers.

The novel flexible pressure sensor with skin-like stretchability and sensibility has attracted tremendous attention in academic and industrial world in recent years. And it also has demonstrated great potential in the applications of electronic skin and wearable devices. It is significant and challenging to develop a highly sensitive flexible pressure sensor with a simple, low energy consuming and low cost method. In this paper, the silver nanowires (AgNWs) as electrode material were synthesized by polyol process. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was chosen as a flexible substrate and polyimide (PI) film as dielectric layer. The AgNWs based electrode was prepared in two methods. One is coating the AgNWs on photographic paper followed by in situ PDMS curing. Another one is suction filtration of the AgNWs suspension followed by glass slide transfer and PDMS curing. Then the capacitive pressure sensor was packaged in a sandwich structure with two face to face electrodes and a PI film in the middle. The sensitivity of the sensor as well as the micro-structure of the electrodes was compared and studied. The results indicate that the roughness of the electrode based on AgNWs/PDMS micro-structure plays an important role in the sensitivity of sensor. The as-prepared flexible pressure sensor demonstrates high sensitivity of 0.65kPa-1. In addition, the fabrication method is simple, low energy consuming and low cost, which has great potential in the detection of pulse, heart rate, sound vibration and other tiny pressure.

Langmuir-Blodgett technique was applied to build optically homogeneous film of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on paper substrate. The palladium (Pd) nanoparticles were drop-casted onto MWCNTs network films before being exposed in hydrogen (H2) gas molecules environment under vacuum and atmospheric pressure at room temperature. The results demonstrate that the functionalized MWCNTs dispersed with Pd nanoparticles show good H2sensing response on paper substrate where the sensitivity of around 10 % was recorded at only 2 minutes exposure time.

Magnetic stripe cards and magnetic recording paper are commonly used in credit cards, identity cards, and transportation tickets. Barium ferrite was used to prepare magnetic inks and the magnetic ink was coated onto the paper substrate to obtain the magnetic papers. The crystal structure of barium ferrite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the magnetic property of barium ferrite was tested by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) The performance of the magnetic recording paper and the surface morphology of the coating magnetic layer were also characterized. The results show that the magnetic ink based on barium ferrite with the formula of 41wt% of the barium ferrite powder, 14wt% of polyurethane, 36wt% of solvent and 9wt% of PVP has good printing characteristics and the magnetic recording papers have good performance.

In order to investigate the influence of coating layer characteristics on the dynamic permeability and printing of ink-jet paper, coating was prepared by the precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and white latex used as bottom coating (recipe label:A,B),and coating formula was made by silica (SiO2) and polyvinyl alcohol used as surface coating (recipe label:a,b,c).Then paper were coated respectively on single bottom, single surface and multilayer. Then the dynamic permeability and printing of ink-jet paper were analyzed systematically. The results showed that whether single layer or multilayer, the values of Ct, Ci were minimum when the ration of pigment and adhesive was 70:30, because the hole diameter of the coating layer was smallest, and the absorption was strongest, so the dynamic permeability was best, and the ability of ink absorption was best, color density and tone reproducibility were best. It concluded that when the proportion of SiO2 and PVA was 70:30, the dynamic permeability and printing ability of ink-jet paper were relative better.

The bonding mechanism between water-based UV curable ink and active groups on paper’s fiber during curing process was studied in this paper. Low viscosity water-based UV-cured resin was synthesized by epoxy resins, epoxy diluent, acrylic acid and maleic anhydride in the presence of catalyst. The viscosity of the synthesis system and synthetic products were significantly reduced when epoxy diluent was added to replace parts of the epoxy resin. Epoxy diluent was very useful in reducing the viscosity of the product, but over-dose would have negative effects on the quality of the cured film. The water-based epoxy acrylate prepolymer was used as the substitution for the ink to investigate the binding mechanism between the active groups of prepolymer and fiber under UV irradiation. The prepolymer and photoinitiator were mixed and the mixture was diluted to an appropriate viscosity by a small amount of water, then printed on the paper by the method of analog printing and curred by UV curing machine. The printed paper was used to extract lignin by enzymatic/mild acidolysis. FT-IR was used to characterize the changes of the active groups in lignin. The results showed that the changes of active groups in lignin were founded in the existence of ultraviolet and photoinitiator, which consistent with the change of double bonds in prepolymer. The free radicals produced by photoinitiator in curing process not only promoted the double bonds to polymerize, but also accelerated the active groups of lignin binding. Experiments show that chemical bonds exist between them.

The experiment studied effects of paper on the height and glossiness of UV ink-jet 3D printing. The results showed that there all existed penetrations between the 1st ink layer and three kinds of paper, the bigger the roughness and bulk of paper were, the larger the penetration was, and penetration between the 1st ink and paper was obviously larger than that between two ink layers. Penetration between two ink layers was stable, almost not affected by paper. The bigger the roughness and bulk of paper were, the smaller the glossiness of ink layer was. There appeared directional ink strips on ink layer on three kinds of paper, beginning from the 3rd ink layer, there also appeared ink pits on ink layer on paper whose roughness and bulk were the biggest, which showed printer precision was also an important factor for the glossiness, apart from paper. Thus, the tight and smooth paper should be selected in UV ink-jet 3D printing. Before printing, pretreatment should be done to exclude the influence of the 1st ink layer and the ink strips.

The composite SiOx/polymer films are deposited as a top-coatings onto the paper substrates by radio frequency (RF) reactive magnetron co-sputtered two targets, silica and dicyclopentadiene dioxide cured with maleic anhydride (DCPD/MA).The samples prepared by changing PSiO2/PDCPD/MA, the ratio of RF powers density delivered to the individual target from 0.1 to 10 so as to prepare different SiOxcontent coatings. The wettability, mechanical properties, color reproduction printability, chemical characterization of the coatings are discussed in this paper, using contact angle measurements, electronic tensile testing machine, off-set printing test and FTIR. The static contact angle of water ranges from 129.7 to 90.7 o and tensile performance has improved significantly as the ratio of RF powers density change from 0.1 to 10. The ink density and depth of color during off-set printing are visually improved by using papers with hydrophobic surfaces coated composite films.

Moisture has a detrimental effect on oil-paper insulation life by lowering electrical breakdown strength. How does the space charge behavior of the oil-paper insulation system consisted by oil gap and oil immersed insulation pressboard with different moisture content? The space charge characteristics of the mixed insulation consisted of oil gap and pressboard with three moisture content were investigated using the PEA measurement system. The space charge accumulation behaviors at the interface between oil gap and pressboard were analyzed. The distortion of the electrical field in the oil gap and pressboard was also analyzed. Results show that there are many charges injected into the oil and the pressboard. The charges accumulated at the interface between oil gap and pressboard. The charges accumulated in the mixed insulation system become less with the moisture content increased. The difference of the electric field strength in the oil gap and pressboard become smaller with the moisture content increased.

Copper-nickel alloys have been used in many applications in marine environments because of excellent corrosion and biofouling resistance. . This investigation is cover a review of many previous studies about the behavior of these alloys in marine environments with different environmental conditions including the effect of sulphur contamination, the effect of CO2, the effect of chlorine, the effect of flow velocity, the effect of temperature and the effect of adding some alloying elements to the alloy itself. There have been conflicting results in the past about the corrosion rate values and the chemical analysis of the corrosion films in different environmental conditions. More research is needed for studying the behavior of these alloys in marine environments to provide good assessment of the corrosion resisting characteristics.

In this study, four types of Waste Paper Sludge Ash (WPSA) were explored for use as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) in binary system. The WPSA use varies in particle size range and surface area however similar in chemical composition. At first stage, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was replaced by WPSA at 5% mass to mass basis as blended cement. Four size of WPSA was prepared which are unsieve, retained at 63μm, retained at 45μm and pan. WPSA blended cement (WPSABC) was introduced from the four size of WPSA that prepared earlier. Water to cement ratio selected was 0.50 and it keep constant at all type of blended cement. When compared with the control mix, result shows that hydration kinetics is affected by the particle size of WPSA. Pan WPSA has slightly higher peak of hydration kinetics and compressive strength of blended cement. At second stage, Pan WPSA was selected to undergo the further investigation on its performance. Pan WPSABC were prepared at replacement level of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, mass to mass basis. Same method and w/c ratio was used and compared with control mix. From the result, it is found that the peak for rate of heat evolution of Pan WPSABC occur earlier and slightly lower as compared to OPC. Pan WPSA also achieved it optimum strength at 5% replacement level which is more than control mix.

Compared with the lithography and traditional technology, ink-jet printing technology has huge advantages such as reducing costs, improving production efficiency and reducing environment damage. The silver nanoparticles conductive ink used as core material in ink-jet printing technology has been greatly developed. At present, the conductive inks for printed circuit usually has high sintering temperature, low adhesion, poor mechanical properties, high cost, which limit the further industrial application. In this paper, nano silver pulp was prepared through liquid phase reduction method, and a self-made protective agent ensured that the particle size distribution of silver particles is about 5nm. The above silver pulp was dispersed in the organic resin to get conductive ink with 20% (wt%) silver content. Under 170°Csintering, the electrical conductivity of the ink layer was 1.15×104S/m.

A novel method of direct aniline multi-interfacial polymerization on paper substrate is introduced in this paper. Cellulose base papers with and without PAE reinforced were discussed. The PANI-paper composites after more than 3 polymerizations had much lower surface resistivity. Their mechanical strength and thermal stability were analyzed by tensile test and GTA. FTIR results explained that there was strong interaction between NH groups in aniline monomers and OH groups in fibers. Conductive composites made with PAE treated paper had both good thermal stability and good mechanical strength with high conductivity.

It was found that slagging in high temperature zone is one of the major problems in the refinery, petrochemical, pulp and paper, and steel industries; especially in biomass and coal pulverized power plant. Slagging conditions are critical factors influencing reliability and availability on a biomass utility boiler. In this study, several types of slagging were collected for chemical analysis. It was revealed that the chemical composition and other properties of received slagging showed unique results based on the type of feedstock fuel materials.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of beating process to the characteristics of pulp and paper produced from oil palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS). OPMFS pulp was prepared according to chemical Soda-AQ pulping process. 60 gsm handsheet of oil palm male flower spikes paper were prepared from OPMFS pulp with four different beating times which are 0 revolution, 1000 revolutions, 2000 revolutions and 3000 revolutions. All physical and mechanical characteristics were investigated according to TAPPI and MS ISO standards. The results show that overall physical and mechanical characteristics of POMFS paper were influenced and enhanced by beating process between 0 until 3000 revolutions. This research demonstrate some potential characteristics of palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS) paper to be investigated as a newly explored non-wood based raw material for papermaking raw material for papermaking.

This study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of pulp and paper produced from oil palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS). The evaluation of the pulping process was studied based on the chemical Soda Anthraquinone pulping process. 60 gsm papersheet of oil palm male flower spikes were prepared from unbeaten and unbleached OPMFS Soda-AQ pulp. All optical, physical and mechanical characteristics were investigated according to TAPPI and MS ISO standards. OPMFS pulp recorded value of 6.42 s, 353 ml, 76.5 %, 36.7 % and 9.35 for drainage time, freeness, moisture content, screened yield percentage and Kappa number respectively. OPMFS paper sheet recorded value of 56.99 g/m2, 131.11 µm and 0.43 g/m3for grammage, bulking thickness and apparent bulk density respectively. Unbleached OPMFS paper also recorded 26.49 % and 43.50 % for brightness and opacity. For mechanical characteristics, OPMFS paper recorded 39.10 N.m/g, 8.32 mN.m2/g, 3.15 kPa.m2/g and 38.50 for tensile index, tear index, burst index and folding endurance (no.) respectively. This research demonstrate some potential characteristics of oil palm male flower spikes (OPMFS) paper to be investigated as a newly explored non-wood based raw material for papermaking.

Biomass-derived materials such as kenaf pulp and wood chips are a perfect candidate to produce magnetic paper. Furthermore, by using biomass waste, such as paddy straw, sugarcane, bagasse and durian shell, the cost of producing magnetic paper can be further reduced while giving added value to the waste. This paper investigates the potential of producing magnetic sheet from durian shell. Initially, durian shells were dried before undergoing the pulping process. The resulted sheet was then combined with magnetic particles, the nano magnetite using either lumen loading or in-situ co-precipitation to produce a magnetic composite sheet. After being loaded with magnetic particles, the composite sheets were tested in terms of the homogeneity of the magnetic particles in the samples, degree of loading of the magnetic particles and the magnetic properties of the samples. Results obtained show a great success in producing the magnetic sheet from durian shell waste and nano magnetite particles. It was also found that the lumen loading method gives better magnetic properties compared to the in-situ co-precipitation method.

This paper focuses on the study of a series of photoinitiators (PIs) present in a set of two paper and board samples which have different composition, grammage and thickness. The chemical compounds released by the paper packaging can contaminate food and may affect the safety and health of consumers.To evaluate if the paper and board could be used as food packaging material, partition coefficients (Kpaper/air) between paper and air of six kinds of PIs in white carton board and kraft paper were determined. The results indicated that Values of Kpaper/air from 1 to 4843 were obtained at different temperatures. Kpaper/air decreases with temperature increasing, and the value is proportional to grammage and thickness of the paper samples. The lower of the grammage and the thickness,the lower of Kpaper/air value will be. The Kpaper/air value of 2-ethylhexyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EHDAB) is the lowest, and the Kpaper/air value of 4-methylbenzophenone (MBP) is the highest.It shows that the Kpaper/air value depends on the boiling point of the chemical compounds, the chemical properties and the type of the paper sample.

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are created in a large amount as a processing waste during making the coffee beverages. Due to its properties, this waste is attractive for different applications such as biofuel production, antioxidant capacity, and renewable materials. In this study, the SCGs were firstly washed by distilled water to remove impurities and contaminations. The washed SCGs were dried in an electric oven at 120 °C for 24 h. The dried SCGs were carbonized at various temperatures from 600-1400 °C for 4 h in normal atmosphere by electric furnace to produce the SCGs powders. The as-received powders were characterized to obtain composed elements and phases by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX/EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. X-ray analysis results indicated that the obtained SCGs powders were dominated by carbon-rich phase with stronger bonding at higher carbonizing temperature. This finding was recommended that the SCGs could be considered as a possible candidate of the environmentally friendly materials to prepare and develop the biomass fuel generation.

The plywood production from coconut coir fiber and water hyacinth was investigated to reduce the residue and be increased of value and to reduce the use of natural wood by using coir and water hyacinth which are pressed to be plywood production. LA - 35A TOA glue and natural powders were used for plywood adhesive. The plywood tests were found in this research. The water absorption, density, and bending strength test as per Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS A 5905) were evaluated in this research. The results showed that coconut coir fiber was suitable for plywood production and contained 1.93 percent of moisture content, 0.52 g per cm3 of density, and 86.5 percent of water absorption and 11.9 MPa of bending strength. The result showed that water absorption value of plywood made from coconut coir fiber and water hyacinth was quite high and this product suitable for use only indoor furniture. Moreover, these research was studied the biodegradation of plywood products that made from coconut coir fiber and water hyacinth.

This paper presents the results of heat and compression effects on moisture content and water absorption properties in the manufacturing of disposable plate made from Pineapple Leaf Fiber-based material (PALF). The plate was made of PALF and sugarcane bagasse waste as an alternative to polystyrenes, designed to promote the green technology effort on food packaging material. Two different specimens were produced with different compositions of PALF/sugarcane bagasse series N2T8 ( 20 wt% of Pineapple leaf fiber and 80 wt% of sugarcane bagasse ) and series N8T2 ( 80 wt% of Pineapple leaf fiber and 20 wt% of sugarcane bagasse). The specimens were produced using a hot press machine set at compressing temperatures of 50°C, 100°C and 150°C with constant pressure of 0.024 MPa for 10 minutes. Moisture content and water absorption tests were carried out on the specimens to determine the moisture content and water absorption properties. The lower water absorption was obtained for specimen N8T2 because PALF potential to water resistance. This range of properties is expected to be good enough for the requirement of disposable plate and it has the potential as a suitable raw material for strength and lightweight in the manufacturing of disposable plates.

In this paper, storage effect on biodiesel properties for high blending ratio and the emission are evaluated. The blend level of biodiesel is denoted as B, followed by the percentages of pure biodiesel. The samples used are conventional diesel (STD), B80, B90 and B100 were stored at ambient temperature (24 °C) for nine week. The properties of biodiesel, acid value, flash point, viscosity, density and water content were measured according to ASTM D6751 biodiesel fuel standard. Results show there are no significant effects on it properties while stored in long duration at ambient temperature. Meanwhile, increasing biodiesel ratio is found to enhance the combustion process, resulting in decreased the HC for emissions.

In order to develop good antibacterial-fire retardant bamboo pulp/cotton tufted carpet, the paper selects the antibacterial agent and flame retardant, the antibacterial finishing agent adopts FK732 and FK822, the flame retardant adopts DM-07, the flame retardant finishing and antibacterial finishing process is optimized, the optimization of the finishing process is determined. Antibacterial performance and flame retardant performance of tufted carpet are tested by the authoritative organization, bacteriostatic rate is greater than 99.9%, tufted carpets have good anti-mite effect and good flame retardant performance.

Graphene is a material that has been heavily investigated in many researches due to its beneficial characteristics such as large surface area, low manufacturing cost, high electro conductivity and incredible mechanical strength. Applying the graphene in water-based solvents however can cause agglomeration due to its hydrophobic properties. Researchers have composited the graphene with other materials in overcoming its hydrophobicity. In this research, graphene was nanocomposited with thionine to make it disperse well in water-based solvents while preserving its intrinsic properties. The nanocomposition process involves mixing of both graphene oxide with thionine and were reduced by hydrazine hydrate while reflux heating. The produced mixture was then filtered to obtain the Thionine-Graphene nanocomposite. The obtained sample was then characterized to confirm the composition of both graphene and thionine. Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy was operated to investigate the chemical bonds and hence concluding the presence of both graphene and thionine in the sample. The preservation of the intrinsic properties of graphene was also investigated through observing the absence of functionalized graphene bonds. Post-investigation reports that the chemical bonds from both of the materials, graphene and thionine were detected confirming the successfulness of the nanocomposition.

This research reports the effects of rice husk ash and brick waste on the properties of construction brick. Clay is the raw material for producing brick. Both rice husk ash and brick waste are waste materials which can be added to clay to produce better quality brick with lower cost. Bricks of size 77mm x 38mm x 26mm were produced by stiff mud process. Three different sized rice husk ash and brick waste were used in different amounts (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% by volume) as a partial replacement of clay while preparing the bricks. Some properties like drying and firing shrinkage, bulk density, and cold crushing strength were measured. There was decrease in drying and firing shrinkage, slight reduction in bulk density and decrease in cold crushing strength with increasing the rice husk ash and brick waste particle percentages.

In this present work, the impact of blending n-butyl alcohol, a next generation biofuel with jatropha biodiesel on the performance of a diesel engine are examined. Tests were performed on a constant speed compression ignition engine using n-butyl alcohol / jatropha biodiesel blends. N-butyl alcohol was added to jatropha biodiesel by 10, 20 and 30% by volume. Performance parameters namely break thermal efficiency (BTE), Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) were analyzed in this work. It was experimentally found that by adding n-butyl alcohol to neat jatropha biodiesel, significant reduction in viscosity was observed. In addition, break thermal efficiency was increased by 0.8 % due to improved atomization of the blends. Further, brake specific fuel and exhaust gas temperature was further reduced due to lower viscosity and improved combustion rate with addition of n-butyl alcohol to jatropha biodiesel.

A blend of natural rubber (NR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was tested against conventional rubber products sold in department stores and markets, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to measure the amount of natural or synthetic rubber in the product. 1H-NMR spectroscopy was employed for the rubber blend and 13C-NMR spectroscopy for conventional products. The chemical shift of all the samples from the structure of natural rubber (cis-1,4 polyisoprene) was observed.

At present, charcoal briquette fuel, a source of heat energy and mostly made from agricultural waste materials, are popular in the markets because of their high constant heat output. It helps reduce pollution, and produce no sparks while burning, but varied due to different types of materials, burning protocols, temperature, and pressure used. In this study, the research team have studied the characteristics of high quality fuel briquettes for possible further development of standard indicators of briquette fuel production process. In the study, key factors of the Charcoal fuel features composed of high qualities of physical characteristics and electrical induction. Activated carbon and coconut shell charcoal types were showed to be great materials. The production process involved aerobic burning at 800-900oC for at least 3 hours, grinding and mixing with starch binder. The briquettes’ electrical conductivity was especially lower than 10 kΩ. High heat production was obtained at least 6000 Cal/g while ground charcoal possessed with the sizes were varied. Under microscopy, the charcoal particle sizes were in a range of 50-100 μm for 30-50% (w/w), size of 10-50 μm for 20-40% (w/w) and distinctive numbers of holes greater than 300 μ to 1 mm were rarely observed. Therefore, with key characteristics of charcoal briquette fuel, it could be further applied for development the indicator as well as instruments to measure the quality of the briquette.

The purpose of this research was undertaken to use flour of wild taro corm (ColocasiaEsculenta (L.) Schott) as a resist paste for batik on cotton fabric and using dye solution from pigment dyestuffs. Colour value, K/S values, sharpness of cotton batik fabric were evaluated. The washing and rubbing fastness of the batik fabric was also evaluated. From the result of experiment it can be concluded that the pattern at resist area of cotton batik fabrics show sharpness. Colour fastness to washing and rubbing were ranging between good to very good level. Pigment dye solution can be painted on cotton fabric by using batik technique.

The addition of base NaOH and KOH solutions and the application of an air stone and a stirrer to develop turbulence in water scrubbing method were carried out to study the purification process of raw biogas. Various concentrations of the base solutions and constant stirrer speed was applied. The work results showed that the best performance in increasing CH4 content, about 70% improvement, was reached with the addition of NaOH on 2% concentration. On the other hand, about 96% and 100% improvement for CO2 and H2S respectively were obtained under 2% NaOH addition coupled with a stirrer. The addition of base solutions was very effective to increase absorbent pH level, thus maintaining absorption process in longer duration and prevented saturation of absorbent. Moreover, the application of a stirrer in packed bed column further improved the biogas quality. The improvement was resulted from the generated biogas bubble and turbulence which led to prolong contact time between absorbent and biogas.

The waste from the kenaf water retting; kenaf core can be used to create by-product. The characteristics of the kenaf are important to create new by-product. Cellulosic materials can be obtained from fibrous plants which known as cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, waxes, and several water-soluble compounds. Kenaf was categorized as one of the fibrous family plants. Hence, its cellulosic materials need to be determined before extraction process. This research was conducted to determine the cellulosic materials concentration in kenaf core using Thermal Gravimetry Analyzer (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). As result, the percentage of degradation and decomposition of cellulosic materials were recorded and analyzed as reported in this paper.

This paper is based on the research of the coal water slurry rheological property and stability. The influence of the concentration, additives and temperature on the rheological properties of the slurry has also been studied. The apparent viscosity increases with increasing concentration of coal water slurry, and decreases with increasing temperature. An introduction of additives can greatly improve the rheological properties of coal water slurry. The stability of coal water slurry increases with the increase of concentration, and the stability decreases with the increase of temperature. A proper amount of additives can improve its stability.

Biochar was produced from oil palm shell via microwave-induced pyrolysis. The biochar was subsequently activated via microwave assisted CO2 activation. A simple single layer arrangement of the microwave absorber (coconut shell based activated carbon) and oil palm shell in the reactor was adopted during pyrolysis. In recent times, the treatment of oil palm biomass using microwave heating technology has been on the increase. Value added products such as bio-oil, gas, biochar and activated carbon are being produced while at the same time serving as waste management control. Biochar is seen as a promising climate mitigation tool. Activated carbons can be used as absorbent for the removal of pollutants from wastewaters, as air pollution control and as electrode for supercapacitor. This paper presents comparative study between the characteristics of oil palm shell biochar and oil palm shell activated carbon. BET surface area and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were analyzed to establish the characteristics of the biochar and activated carbon.

Renewable energy is rapidly gaining importance as an energy resource to help aid the national energy depletion crisis of fossil fuel and coal. One of the most potential renewable energy sources in Malaysia is hydropower followed by solar energy. This paper presents the fabrication of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) using organic dyes from dragon fruit and chlorophyll which is extracted from spinach. The fabrication of DSSC uses the Dr.blade method. Result shows that the efficiency by using dragon fruit as sensitizer at 40µm TiO2 Thickness is 6.45%, better than the usage of chlorophyll dye which is 4.23% at the same thickness. Result also shows that at 80µm by using the dyes from chlorophyll extract has higher solar cell efficiency compare to dragon fruit. This shows that both the chlorophyll extract and dragon fruit shows potential in the development of a feasible working organic dye.

The drying rate is difficult to control for perilla leaf during the microwave vacuum drying process. Through scientific approaches, this paper made a research on the relationships between drying factors and drying rate, and established a kinetics model on microwave vacuum drying of perilla leaf. The model can predict the water content variations of perilla leaf during microwave vacuum drying, and provides a theory basis for packaging, storage and transportation for perilla leaf production.

Surface preparation is a process of treating a surface to increase its attraction to coatings and imperative to ensure satisfactory coating can be attained. Conventional techniques of surface preparation usually involve blasting of abrasive material on the surface which usually associated with airborne debris and hazardous contaminant from the process. A relatively new technology in surface preparation is the usage of sponge media as an alternative to the conventional abrasive material. Being soft and elastic, sponge media can reduce airborne emission from surface preparation significantly while being able to be recycled. Unfortunately, the recovery of used sponge media becomes difficult during rainy conditions in which the sponge absorbs water and quickly becomes saturated. Therefore, this paper presents the drying characteristics of sponge media using a swirling fluidized bed dryer (SFBD) for rapid drying to overcome the long, inefficient sun drying as per current practice. Several laboratory scale experiments were carried out to dry water laden of the sponge media in the SFBD. Three bed loadings of 1.7, 2.0 and 2.3 kg were used at drying temperatures of 80°C, 90°C and 100°C. The experimental works revealed the excellent potential of the SFBD in drying the sponge media rapidly. The behaviour of moisture ratio and drying rate against time were discussed. Keywords: Sponge media drying, Swirling Fluidized Bed Dryer (SFBD), Moisture ratio, Drying rate

In this paper, the effect of sodium hexametaphosphate on the hematite was studied and the mechanism was analyzed. The results indicated that under the condition of the optimal grinding medium, compared with the result without sodium hexametaphosphate added, with citric acid added at the mass of 0.30% of the hematite, the content of-0.074mm of grinding production was increased by 6.38%; physical adsorption and chemical adsorption which were on the surface of hematite produced by sodium hexametaphosphate can reduce viscosity of grinding pulp, change surface potential of the hematite, and reduce the hardness on the surface of the hematite. Therefore citric acid can improve the grinding efficiency of the hematite.

Co-gasification of biomass and coal is increasingly considered as a promising technology for sustainable utilization of coal and large-scale use of biomass. Co-gasification characteristic and kinetic analysis are the basic and essential information for the application of this technology. In this paper, co-gasification behavior of a typical bituminous coal from western China and spent mushroom compost (SMC) was investigated through thermogravimetric analyzer. The temperature interval was from ambient temperature to 1000 ○C with various heating rates (10, 20, 40 ○C•min-1) under carbon dioxide atmosphere. Kinetic parameter was solved through Distribution Activation Energy Model (DAEM). The results indicated that he maximum decomposition rates of the mixture and SMC were higher than that of coal except 25% SMC. Slightly synergistic effect during the co-gasification was found. The average values of the activation energy were 25.07 kJ•mol-1 for bituminous coal, 204.47 kJ•mol-1 for 25% SMC, 123.14 kJ•mol-1 for 50% SMC, 144.05 kJ•mol-1 for 75% SMC and 227.50 kJ•mol-1 for SMC, respectively.

In this paper, the effect of citric acid on the hematite was studied and the mechanism was analyzed. The results indicated that under the condition of the optimal grinding medium, compared with the result without citric acid added, with citric acid added at the mass of 0.10% of the hematite, the content of-0.074mm of grinding production was increased by 7.11%; physical adsorption and chemical adsorption which were on the surface of hematite produced by citric acid can reduce viscosity of grinding pulp, change surface potential of the hematite, and reduce the hardness on the surface of the hematite. Therefore citric acid can improve the grinding efficiency of the hematite.

Dual-frequency ultrasonic assisted ozonation was proposed to degrade pesticide wastewater. The frequencies of ultrasound were 28 kHz and low-MHz (208 kHz, 495 kHz, 679 kHz and 890 kHz). The influence of ultrasound frequency was investigated in this paper. The electrical conductivity of deionized water was measured under different conditions, and degradation rate of acephate solution was used to verify degradation effect of the treatment. The results implied that the 208 kHz system was suitable for ozone dissolving and 495 kHz system was suitable for acephate degradation.

Graphene-based composites now has been payed more and more attention to because it can make up many shortcomings of the pure single-layer graphene.In many papers ,there are one same phenomenon said that graphene can not be well dispersed in matrix since it’s high specific surface area and high surface energy.In this work,we reported the preparation of ZnO/graphene nanocomposites through the way of situ-reaction in the surface of graphite oxide.Then,the nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform-Infared spectroscopy (FTIR),transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetry (TG). The results indicated that the graphene oxide had been reduced by hydrazine hydrate and the ZnO crystal attached to the surface of graphene well.The ZnO/graphene nanocomposites can be expected to be dispersed in some kinds of rubber to improve their electric and thermal conductivities in the following experiments.

Every year, the sago processing industry in Sarawak-Mukah had generated huge amount of sago waste after the milling process and scientists have employ the waste into composite material. The fabrication and testing method are based on the Japanese A5908 Industrial Standard. Single-layer particleboards with targeted density of 600kg/m3 were produced from different sizes of sago particles. The mechanical properties of sago waste were investigated to study the feasibility of using this sample as a raw material in particleboard manufacturing. The results of the test demonstrate that samples with different sizes of particles have great influence on the mechanical properties such as Young’s Modulus, Tensile Strength and Impact Strength. The findings show that the performance of the board is affected by the different sizes of sago particles used in the experiment and had proved that sago plants can be used as an alternative raw material in the particleboard manufacturing industry.

Energy utilization (pyrolysis) of residue from fibre recycling of used beverage cartons is very important. Identification the optimal technology for separation of aluminium from pyrolytic carbon and assessment of its quality in relationship to the pyrolysis conditions is necessary for recycling of Al. The particles of pyrolytic carbon are not pure carbon, they contain only from 65 to 83 % of carbon, the rest in ash coming from sorting and collection of waste (glass, porcelain). Process of pyrolysis and/or utilization of charge reactor influenced the chemical composition of Al particles by carbon enrichment at the rim of particles up to 30 % leading to decrease of reactivity of Al surface.