In the present study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with outside diameters of< 8 nm and 20−30 nm were covalently functionalized with β-Alanine using a novel synthesis procedure. The functionalization process was proved successful using Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and TEM. Utilizing the two-step method with ultrasonication, the MWCNTs treated with β-Alanine (Ala-MWCNTs) with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% were dispersed in distilled water to prepare water-based nanofluids. The aqueous colloidal dispersions of pristine MWCNTs were unstable. While for Ala-MWCNTs and after> 50 days from preparation, higher colloidal stability was obtained up to relative concentration of 0.955 and 0.939 for the 0.075-wt% samples of Ala-MWCNTs < 8 nm and Ala-MWCNTs 20−30 nm, respectively. The measured values of thermal conductivity were in very good agreement with the model of Nan, Birringer, Clarke and Gleiter and increased as temperature, specific surface area (SSA), and weight concentration increased, up to 14.74% for Ala- MWCNTs < 8 nm and 12.29% for Ala-MWCNTs 20−30 nm. The viscosity increased as weight concentration increased, up 25.69% for 0.1-wt% Ala-MWCNTs 20−30 nm, and decreased with the increase in temperature. Since the matching between the measured values of viscosity and the classical models of Batchelor, Brinkman, and Einstein was bad, a correlation was developed and revealed good agreement. The density and specific heat decreased as temperature increased. As weight concentration increased, the density slightly increased up to 0.065% for Ala-MWCNT < 8 nm while the specific heat decreased down to 0.95% for Ala-MWCNTs 20−30 nm, in comparison with water. The equations of (Pak and Cho) and (Xuan and Roetzel) were in good agreement with the measured values of density and specific heat, respectively. The aqueous colloidal dispersions of Ala-MWCNTs that were prepared in this work displayed robust candidature as successful substitutes for the conventional heat transfer fluids in different engineering applications for enhanced thermal performance.
Four new binuclear Schiff base metal complexes [(MCl2)2L] {M = Fe 1, Co 2, Cu 3, Sn 4, L = N,N’-1,4-Phenylenebis (methanylylidene) bis (ethane-1,2-diamine)} have been synthesized using direct reaction between proligand (L) and the corresponding metal chloride (FeCl2, CoCl2, CuCl2 and SnCl2). The structures of the complexes have been conclusively determined by a set of spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and mass spectra). Finally, the biological properties of the complexes have been investigated with a comparative approach against different species of bacteria (E. coli G-, Pseudomonas G-, Bacillus G+,
... Show MoreData steganography is a technique used to hide data, secret message, within another data, cover carrier. It is considered as a part of information security. Audio steganography is a type of data steganography, where the secret message is hidden in audio carrier. This paper proposes an efficient audio steganography method that uses LSB technique. The proposed method enhances steganography performance by exploiting all carrier samples and balancing between hiding capacity and distortion ratio. It suggests an adaptive number of hiding bits for each audio sample depending on the secret message size, the cover carrier size, and the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Comparison results show that the proposed method outperforms state of the art methods
... Show MoreThe hydrolysis of urea by the enzyme urease is significant for increasing the irroles in human pathogenicity, biocementation, soil fertilizer, and subsequently in soil improvement. This study devoted to the isolation of urease from urea-rich soil samples collected from seven different locations. Isolation of the various bacterial species was conducted using nutrient agar. The identity of isolated urease was based on morphological characteristics and standard microbiological and biochemical procedures. The urease producing strains of bacteria were obtained using the urease hydrolysis test. The bacterial isolates produced from soil samples collected from different environments and treat
Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare congenital condition that results in bone fragility, recurrent fractures, and various extra-skeletal manifestations. Currently, intravenous bisphosphonate is the mainstay of medical treatment in OI. Objective: To identify the effect of current management strategies on Iraqi children diagnosed with OI. Methods: A retrospective study enrolled OI patients who were registered in Central Child Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2015 to December 2022. We enrolled confirmed OI cases (either clinically and/or radiologically) who received cyclic pamidronate therapy for at least 3 cycles. They neither received other types of bisphosphonates nor underwent surgical intervention. Res
... Show MoreIron–phthalocyanine (FePc) organic photoconductive detector was fabricated using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique to work in ultraviolet (UV) and visible regions. The organic semiconductor material (iron phthalocyanine) was deposited on n-type silicon wafer (Si) substrates at different thicknesses (100, 200 and 300) nm. FePc organic photoconductive detector has been improved by two methods: the first is to manufacture the detector on PSi substrates, and the second is by coating the detector with polyamide–nylon polymer to enhance the photoconductivity of the FePc detector. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics, responsivity, photocurrent gain, response time and the quantum efficiency of the fabricated photoconduc
... Show MoreLow-dimensional materials have attracted significant attention in developing and enhancing the performance of quantum well lasers due to their extraordinary unique properties. The optical confinement factor is one of the most effective parameters for evaluating the optimal performance of a semiconductor laser diode when used to measure the optical gain and current threshold. The optical confinement factor and the radiative recombination of single quantum wells (SQW) and multi-quantum wells (MQW) for InGaAsP/InP have been theoretically studied using both radiative and Auger coefficients. Quantum well width, barrier width, and number of quantum wells were all looked at to see how these things changed the optical confinement factor and
... Show MoreNystatin is the drug of choice for treatment of cutaneous fungal infections with main disadvantage that is the need for multiple applications to achieve complete eradication which may reduce patient compliance. Microparticles offer a solution for such issue as they are one of sustained release preparations that achieve slow release of drug over an extended period of time. The objectives of this study were to fabricate nystatin-loaded chitosan microparticles with the ultimate goal of prolonging drug release and to analyze the influence of polymer concentration on various properties of microparticles. Microparticles were prepared by chemical cross-linking method using glutaraldehyde as cross-linking agent. Five formulas, namely N1C1, N1C2,
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