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Commonly consumed vegetables and their surrounding soil samples are gathered from a farm located in Klang, Selangor. Gamma spectrometry has been utilized to analyze the activity concentration of the natural radionuclides, 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in nine vegetables and soil samples collected. These data are used to evaluate the hazard indices in the soil samples and their radiological exposure to humans. It is found that the external hazard index Hex ranged from 0.05 to 0.44 with a mean value of 0.14. The internal hazard index Hin of the soil samples ranged from 0.05 to 0.56 with a mean value of 0.17. Both Hex and Hin average values are lower than the limit established by the European Commission for Radiation Protection. The absorbed dose rate DN, The annual ingestion dose Aeff, annual effective dose equivalent AEDE, and excess life-time cancer risk, are used to learn the potential risk on the general public consuming these vegetables. For the vegetable sample, it is found that the average value for the DN is 6.70 nGyh–1 and ranged between 1.75 to 16.94 nGyh–1. The average value of Aeff is 10.17 mSv, and it ranges from 2.54 mSv to 22.89 mSv. The range of AEDE is between 2.15 mSv and 20.78 mS, with an average value of 8.21 mSv. Excess life-time cancer risk ELCR is used to determine the likelihood of cancer development due to the radiological exposure of con suming these vegetables. It is found that the average value of ELCR is 2.87×10–5, and the range is from 0.75×10–5 to 7.27×10–5. Both the Aeff and AEDE are found to be lower than the average world value recommended by UNSCEAR.

The activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides in vegetables and peat soil were investigated to determine the transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to vegetables obtained from farms in Klang Selangor. The results showed that the activity concentration ranges for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in the soil of the vegetable were 2.72-46.54 Bqkg-1, 9.01-54.84 Bqkg-1, and 19.22-477.76 Bqkg-1, respectively. The activity concentration ranges for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in various vegetable samples were 0.41-3.41 Bqkg-1, 0.02-3.56 Bqkg-1, and 16.22-317.49 Bqkg-1, respectively. The transfer factors from soil-to-plant for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were in the ranges of 0.01-0.67, 0.00-0.17, and 0.26-2.52, respectively. Radionuclide 40K has the highest transfer factor value in most vegetables, especially in the fruit type vegetable, and 232Th was found to have the lowest transfer factor value in all vegetables. The acquired results were compared to the levels that are globally recognized as acceptable. The transfer factor value of 40K was greater than 1 found in beans and fruit type vegetables, showing a similar value in other studies involving tropical plants, while transfer factor value for 226Ra was 15 times higher than the value reported in the data for tropical plants.

Carbon‐based materials have emerged as promising anodes for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) due to the merits of cost‐effectiveness and renewability. However, the unsatisfactory performance has hindered the commercialization of SIBs. During the past decades, tremendous attention has been put into enhancing the electrochemical performance of carbon‐based anodes from the perspective of improving the compatibility of electrolytes and electrodes. Hence, a systematic summary of strategies for optimizing electrolytes between hard carbon, graphite, and other structural carbon anodes of SIBs is provided. The formulations and properties of electrolytes with solvents, salts, and additives added are comprehensively presented, which are closely related to the formation of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) and crucial to the sodium ion storage performance. Cost analysis of commonly used electrolytes has been provided as well. This review is anticipated to provide guidance in future rational tailoring of electrolytes with carbon‐based anodes for sodium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides in vegetables and peat soil were investigated to determine the transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to vegetables obtained from farms in Klang Selangor. The results showed that the activity concentration ranges for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in the soil of the vegetable were 2.72-46.54 Bqkg-1, 9.01-54.84 Bqkg-1, and 19.22-477.76 Bqkg-1, respectively. The activity concentration ranges for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in various vegetable samples were 0.41-3.41 Bqkg-1, 0.02-3.56 Bqkg-1, and 16.22-317.49 Bqkg-1, respectively. The transfer factors from soil-to-plant for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were in the ranges of 0.01-0.67, 0.00-0.17, and 0.26-2.52, respectively. Radionuclide 40K has the highest transfer factor value in most vegetables, especially in the fruit type vegetable, and 232Th was found to have the lowest transfer factor value in all vegetables. The acquired results were compared to the levels that are globally recognized as acceptable. The transfer factor value of 40K was greater than 1 found in beans and fruit type vegetables, showing a similar value in other studies involving tropical plants, while transfer factor value for 226Ra was 15 times higher than the value reported in the data for tropical plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the rheological behaviour of Diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and Polyurethane (PU) based isotropic conductive adhesives (ICAs). Each of the systems were formulated with the following fillers: a) silver flakes, b) silver powder and c) mixture of silver flakes and silver powder. A volume fraction ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 silver fillers were added to the epoxy systems. Oscillatory stress sweep test was performed to evaluate the G' and G" of the DGEBA and PU based isotropic conductive adhesive pastes. The results show that the structural breakdown of DGEBA and PU pastes could be used to understand the processability and stability of the formulated system. The solid and liquid characteristics of the PU based ICAs were lower when compared to the isotropic conductive adhesives formulated with DGEBA epoxy resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report for the first time the successful acquisition of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data using an unconventional same-metal PCB-based three-electrode system. Conventional three-electrode systems primarily require expensive and bulky electrodes, and a high volume of analytes to conduct electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies. The miniaturized PCB-based three-electrode system used in this work requires only trace amounts of analytes in the order of 10-20 μL owing to the design of the electrode sensor. Prominent standard redox probe potassium ferricyanide was used for impedance spectroscopic characterization studies. The results obtained were in congruence with existing literature; additionally the PCB-based three-electrode system demonstrated significantly higher repeatability, reproducibility, and consistency across different models of electrochemical instrumentations. Interestingly, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data of the PCB-3T sensor exhibited a consistent semi-circular impedance curve on a Nyquist plot and two distinct phase change regions on a Bode plot indicative of a simplified Randles cell model with an excellent circuit fit. Additionally this model provides an accurate impedance model for analysing trace analytes of potassium ferricyanide. Based on the circuit fitting model, potassium ferricyanide samples of varying concentrations at 1 mM, 5 mM, 10 mM, 15 mM and 20 mM demonstrated characteristic EIS charge transfer resistance corresponding to 435, 300, 233, 72 and 55 kΩ, respectively, and solution resistance of 260, 254, 218, 169 and 157 Ω, respectively. Therefore, the proposed novel same-metal three-electrode sensor can be employed in effective analysis and detection of samples with high accuracy and high sensitivity for trace amounts of analytes., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)