This article presents the simultaneous adsorption of bimetal Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ from an aqueous solution using activated carbon synthesized from a plum seed precursor by sulfuric acid and microwave activation: plum seeds chemically activated by 45% (w/w) sulfuric acid with 2:1 ratio for 4 h, then carbonized for 2 h at 700 °C and the product obtained activated in a microwave oven for 20 min at 700 W for final of activation. Plum seeds and activated carbon produced were characterized in terms of their physical and chemical composition using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements, field emission scanning electr

Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series o

Steps were taken to obtain the Kojic acid crystals from local fungal isolation A. flavus WJF81 by separating the fermentation products from the fungus mycelium from the production plant at the centrifuge at a speed of 5000 cycles for 10 minutes. The extraction was followed by ethyl acetate then supernatant concentrate by using rotary evaporator, and dried with heat oven 37ºC. Long, yellowish, pristine acid crystals were obtained that examined the optical microscope with a magnification force of 10x and 40x. The melting point of kojic acid was determined between 152.9-153.5 °C Results of the diagnosis of Kojic acid by applying High pressure liquid chromatography HPLC technique showed that the acid was at one peak, which was close to the

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) has low optical absorption due to its high surface reflection of incident light. Nanotexturing of c-Si which produces black silicon (b-Si) offers a promising solution. In this work, effect of H₂O₂ concentrations towards surface morphological and optical properties of b-Si fabricated by two-step silver-assisted wet chemical etching (Ag-based two-step MACE) for potential photovoltaic (PV) applications is presented. The method involves a 30 s deposition of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in an aqueous solution of AgNO₃:HF (5:6) and an optimized etching in HF:H₂O₂:DI H₂O solution under 0.62 M, 1.85 M, 2.47 M, and 3.7 M concentrations of H₂O<

The purpose of this study to synthesize and characterize silver nanoparticles using phenolic compounds obtained from Camellia sinensis, to test the antibacterial properties of biosynthesized nanoparticles on the formation of biofilms in multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ten isolates of P. aeruginosa were obtained from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute laboratories of the University of Baghdad. By using the VITEK-2 system and culturing the isolates on cetrimide agar, the diagnosis was confirmed. Camellia sinensis silver nanoparticles (CAgNPs) were created using an extract of the plant's aqueous and methanolic leaves. Based on the results of the nanoparticle synthesis, spherical nanoparticles that may be single or

Introduction and Aim: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a nosocomial infection with an ability to develop high levels of antibiotic resistance. The efflux pump system is one of the mechanisms that is linked to multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa. In this study, we employed siRNA loaded on gold nanoparticles against the MexA efflux pump gene to decrease the MexA gene expression in P. aeruginosa and estimated antibiotic resistance after gene silencing.   Materials and Methods: This study examined four strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from patients in various hospitals in Baghdad. Bacteria isolated were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek compact 2 system.  Single-stranded siRNA (33bp) designed in this study was loaded onto gold

Leaching process applied for the extraction of bio active compounds from dried roots of (Elecampane) Inula helenium. Ethanol, hexane and distillated water were used as solvents. Roots were soaked with ethanol (5% w/v) with various concentration of ethanol (30 to 98%) at one day to know effect concentration of the solvent with concentration of bio active compound in Inula helenium. The same procedure was done using hexane as solvent. Also distilled water was used as solvent for extraction 5%(w/v) where plant material was soaked in water at different temperatures (25, 40, 65, 80, and 90) C. In all solvents undertaken, the effect of time duration on active ingredient (Thymol, Isoalatolactone, Alatolactone, 10-isobutyryl-oxy 8-9-epoxy thymol is

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific l