Purpose: To use the L25 Taguchi orthogonal array for optimizing the three main solvothermal parameters that affect the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks-5 (MOF-5). Methods: The L25 Taguchi methodology was used to study various parameters that affect the degree of crystallinity (DOC) of MOF-5. The parameters comprised temperature of synthesis, duration of synthesis, and ratio of the solvent, N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) to reactants. For each parameter, the volume of DMF was varied while keeping the weight of reactants constant. The weights of 1,4-benzodicarboxylate (BDC) and Zn(NO3)2.6H2O used were 0.390 g and 2.166 g, respectively. For each parameter investigated, five different levels were used. The MOF-5 samples were synthesized using the solvothermal reaction method, and successful synthesis was confirmed with x-ray diffraction (XRD), microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The DOC obtained via XRD served as a parameter of objective quality. Results: The optimum conditions that gave the highest DOC were synthesis temperature of 130 °C, duration of 60 h, and a vehicle volume of 50 mL, with optimum Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area (BET -SA) of 800 m2/g. All the three synthesis parameters significantly influenced the DOC of the synthesized MOF-5 (p < 0.05). Sub-optimal conditions resulted in distorted MOFs, products that deviated from MOF-5 specifications, or MOF-5 with low DOC. Conclusion: Based on DOC and BET-SA, the best conditions for synthesis of MOF-5 when using Taguchi OA, were temperature of 130 °C, duration of 60 h, and a DMF volume of 50 mL.
The current study investigated the stability and the extraction efficiency of emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) for Abamectin pesticide removal from aqueous solution. The stability was investigated in terms of droplet emulsion size distribution and emulsion breakage percent. The proposed ELM included a mixture of corn oil and kerosene (1:1) as a diluent, Span 80 (sorbitan monooleate) as a surfactant and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a stripping agent without utilizing a carrier agent. Parameters such as homogenizer speed, surfactant concentration, emulsification time and internal to organic volume ratio (I/O) were evaluated. Results show that the lower droplet size of 0.9 µm and higher stable emulsion in terms of breakage percent of 1.12 % we
... Show MoreChurning of employees from organizations is a serious problem. Turnover or churn of employees within an organization needs to be solved since it has negative impact on the organization. Manual detection of employee churn is quite difficult, so machine learning (ML) algorithms have been frequently used for employee churn detection as well as employee categorization according to turnover. Using Machine learning, only one study looks into the categorization of employees up to date. A novel multi-criterion decision-making approach (MCDM) coupled with DE-PARETO principle has been proposed to categorize employees. This is referred to as SNEC scheme. An AHP-TOPSIS DE-PARETO PRINCIPLE model (AHPTOPDE) has been designed that uses 2-stage MCDM s
... Show MoreHerein, a biocomposite of crosslinked chitosan polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (CS-PEDGE), montmorillonite (MMT), and foodgrade algae (FGA) was successfully prepared by a hydrothermal technique. The resulting absorbent (CS-PEDGE/FGA/MMT) was assessed for its adsorption property with methyl violet 2B (MV 2B) a toxic cationic dye. The physicochemical properties of CS-EDGE/ FGA/MMT were assessed via various analytical techniques, including BET, Elemental analysis, pHpzc, and spectroscopy (FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDX). The influence of three adsorption variables, namely adsorbent dose (A: 0.02–0.1 g/100 mL), solution pH (B: 4–10), and contact time (C: 10–420 min) on the rate of MV 2B dye removal was examined using the Box-Behnken design (RSM-
... Show MoreIn the presence of deep submicron noise, providing reliable and energy‐efficient network on‐chip operation is becoming a challenging objective. In this study, the authors propose a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)‐based coding scheme that simultaneously reduces the crosstalk induced bus delay and provides multi‐bit error protection while achieving high‐energy savings. This is achieved by calculating two‐dimensional parities and duplicating all the bits, which provide single error correction and six errors detection. The error correction reduces the performance degradation caused by retransmissions, which when combined with voltage swing reduction, due to its high error detection, high‐energy savings are achieved. The res
... Show MorePressure ulcers are one of the most common hospital-acquired major conditions that occur in patients with mobility limitations and result in endangering patient safety, prolonging hospital stay, disability, and death. This study aims to examine the level of nurses’ practices and perceived barriers for preventing pressure ulcers among critically ill patients.
A cross-sectional survey was conducte