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In this research work, selenium dioxide (SeO2) nanorods have been prepared by a solvothermal method in which a strong reducing agent (NaBH4) was used to reduce precursor salt into SeO2 nanorods. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was applied to observe the crystal structure which confirmed its tetragonal geometry. Moreover, morphology and particle size were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM fully described the 1-dimensional morphology of SeO2 nanorods which then arranged themselves to create a 3-dimensional flower-like structure with an average particle size of 50 nm. Also, the catalytic activity of SeO2 nanorods as diesel-additive was studied by defining different parameters such as fire and flash points, calorific value, cloud and pour points, specific gravity, and kinematic viscosity. Subsequently, SeO2 nanorods proved to be an excellent diesel additive due to higher total heat content and lower value of kinematic viscosity which enhances the better performance of the diesel engine.

An ordered mesoporous novel material Ni-SBA-16 has been synthesized by internal pH-adjustment method. The synthesized material has been characterized by small angle XRD (SXRD), wide angle XRD (WXRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), Fourier-transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscope and Nitrogen Adsorption desorption techniques. The characterization results have shown that material possesses highly ordered mesostructure with high surface area (736 m2/g) and large pore diameter (3.8 nm). FTIR and WXRD spectra revealed that nickel was uniformly dispersed on SBA-16 surface. The synthesized material has been used as adsorbent for removal of toxic Brilliant Green dye due to its large surface area and pore size. At optimized conditions, almost 100% of Brilliant Green dye was removed from aqueous solution by Ni-SBA-16. The isotherms analysis indicates that the Langmuir and Hill models provide the best correlation of the experimental data. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of Ni-SBA-16 for Brilliant Green dye was 322.58 mg/g.

In the present study a biomass derived from the leaves of Acacia nilotica was used as an adsorbent material for the removal of cadmium and lead from aqueous solution. The effect of various operating variables, viz., adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and temperature on the removal of cadmium and lead has been studied. Maximum adsorption of cadmium and lead arises at a concentration of 2 g/50 ml and 3 g/50 ml and at a pH value of 5 and 4, respectively. The sorption data favored the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm of the metal ions by A. nilotica biomass. Based on regression coefficient, the equilibrium data found were fitted well to the Langmuir equilibrium model than other models. Thermodynamic parameters such as free energy change (ΔG°), enthalpy change (ΔH°) and entropy change (ΔS°) have been calculated, respectively revealed the spontaneous, endothermic and feasible nature of adsorption process. The activation energy of the biosorption (Ea) was estimated as 9.34 kJ mol−1 for Pb and 3.47 kJ mol−1 for Cd from Arrhenius plot at different temperatures.