Search

Polymer nanocomposites have recently been attracting attention among researchers in electrical insulating applications from energy storage to power delivery. However, partial discharge has always been a predecessor to major faults and problems in this field. In addition, there is a lot more to explore, as neither the partial discharge characteristic in nanocomposites nor their electrical properties are clearly understood. By adding a small amount of weight percentage (wt%) of nanofillers, the physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of polymers can be greatly enhanced. For instance, nanofillers in nanocomposites such as silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2) play a big role in providing a good approach to increasing the dielectric breakdown strength and partial discharge resistance of nanocomposites. Such polymer nanocomposites will be reviewed thoroughly in this paper, with the different experimental and analytical techniques used in previous studies. This paper also provides an academic review about partial discharge in polymer nanocomposites used as electrical insulating material from previous research, covering aspects of preparation, characteristics of the nanocomposite based on experimental works, application in power systems, methods and techniques of experiment and analysis, and future trends.

The website for a traditional travel agency is important as it is assumed that customers make purchases through a travel agency website, they trust for their tourism products and services. A pleasant website design may lead the online customers to continue to be loyal. This leads to the purpose of this study which is to understand further the relationship between website design on the customers’ e-loyalty. An online survey was completed by 87 Malaysians who have made travel-related purchases on any traditional travel agency website in Malaysia. Analyses of reliability and descriptive analysis were performed on all scales. Testing research hypotheses was done using regression analysis. Results showed that website design and its factors were positively related to customers' e-loyalty. Information design, navigation design, and visual design were these predictors' order of significance in relation to each other. Information design was found to have the strongest relation whereas visual design was found to have the least relation towards customers’ e-loyalty to the traditional travel agency website. The findings of this study prove that it is crucial to assist the traditional travel agencies to improve their website design in order to achieve the desired outcome for the agency.

Utilization of BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video to properly incorporate active learning techniques had been shown to increase the students' performance in learning introductory Thermodynamics topics. In this study, the effectiveness of using BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video towards students' learning in a classroom when adopted by lecturers who is not trained in active learning is investigated. Two groups of undergraduate engineering students from a control class and a treatment class were involved in this study. The students from the treatment class were taught by a lecturer using the BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video, while the students from control class underwent conventional lecture style. The students were given pre and post inventory tests and their results were analysed using SPSS. It was found that BLOSSOMS Thermodynamics Energy Conversion video without the proper implementation of active learning technique does not have a significant effect on the individual learning gain of the inventory test among students. The utilization of the video could be more effective if the instructor is well-trained in active learning techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most preferred waste management practices are to prevent or minimize waste. Public participation in domestic waste separation for reuse and recycling is the key to reduce waste disposal or increase the amount of waste diverted from landfill. These practices are influenced by knowledge of the public on the concept of source separation, reuse, and recycle, varieties of recyclable goods and methods of disposal for domestic waste. This paper proposes an assessment to explore the reuse and recycling of domestic solid waste by local residents in Malaysia. The propose assessment will include field experiment at selected housing schemes in Malaysia. The experiment will become a platform to guide and educate the public to manage domestic waste. These hands-on practices will be closely monitored. Three interventions will be conducted to identify their current practices of domestic waste management. The interventions will be “information only”, “information and norms” and “information and monetary incentives”. The record of domestic waste collected by the local authorities, before and after these interventions will be checked and analysed. The findings of the experiment shall indicate the influencing factors for separation at source for domestic waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer nanocomposites have recently been attracting attention among researchers in electrical insulating applications from energy storage to power delivery. However, partial discharge has always been a predecessor to major faults and problems in this field. In addition, there is a lot more to explore, as neither the partial discharge characteristic in nanocomposites nor their electrical properties are clearly understood. By adding a small amount of weight percentage (wt%) of nanofillers, the physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of polymers can be greatly enhanced. For instance, nanofillers in nanocomposites such as silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2) play a big role in providing a good approach to increasing the dielectric breakdown strength and partial discharge resistance of nanocomposites. Such polymer nanocomposites will be reviewed thoroughly in this paper, with the different experimental and analytical techniques used in previous studies. This paper also provides an academic review about partial discharge in polymer nanocomposites used as electrical insulating material from previous research, covering aspects of preparation, characteristics of the nanocomposite based on experimental works, application in power systems, methods and techniques of experiment and analysis, and future trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]