Copper is a cheaper alternative to various noble metals with a range of potential applications in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, copper nanoparticles have major limitations, which include rapid oxidation on exposure to air. Therefore, alternative pathways have been developed to synthesize metal nanoparticles in the presence of polymers and surfactants as stabilizers, and to form coatings on the surface of nanoparticles. These surfactants and polymeric ligands are made from petrochemicals which are non- renewable. As fossil resources are limited, finding renewable and biodegradable alternative is promising.The study aimed at preparing, characterizing and evaluating the antibacterial properties of copper nanoparticle

Non-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x10⁸C.F.U (Co

Mortar of ordinary Portland cement was blended with cockles shell
powder at different weight ratios to investigate the effect of powder
admixture on their strength and thermal conductivity. Results showed
that addition of cockles shell powder at 50% of mortar weight
improves hardness and compressive strength notably and reduces the
thermal conductivity of the end product. Results suggest the
possibility to incorporate cockles shell powders as constituents in
cement mortars for construction and plastering applications.

This study investigates the possibility of using waste plastic as one of the components of expired lead-acid batteries to produce lightweight concrete. Different percentages of lead-acid battery plastic were used in the production of lightweight concrete. The replacements were (70, 80 and 100%) by volume of the fine and coarse aggregate. Results demonstrated that a reduction of approximately 23.6% to 35% in the wet density was observed when replacement of 70% to 100% of the natural aggregate by lead-acid battery plastic. Also, the compressive strength decreased slightly with the increase in plastic content at different curing ages of 7, 28, 60, 90, 120 days. The lowest value of compressive strength was (20.7 MPa) for (wa

Biosorpion of lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Nickl(Ni) by dried biomass of Chara sp. for sample of BMP was used as alternative approach of conventional method. The range of removal percentages was between 92-97%, 70-98.7% and 46.6-96.6% for Pb, Cd and Ni respectively at 3h.Treatment time, with 300-500 mg dried weight from Chara sp. powder at pH 4, with 60 rpm at shaker. FTIR analysis showed the active groups which are responsible for sequestration of heavy metals represented by carboxyl, hydroxyl alkyl, amine and amide. The Biosorption equilibrium experiment for elements showed that the highest sorption percentage for three elements was, Pb 96.6% after 30 minute, for Cd was 100% after 15 minute and 40% to Ni after 75 minute, while the biosorp

The removal of cadmium ions from simulated groundwater by zeolite permeable reactive barrier was investigated. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the zeolite in cadmium-containing aqueous solutions. Many operating parameters such as contact time, initial pH of solution, initial concentration, resin dosage and agitation speed were investigated. The best values of these parameters that will achieved removal efficiency of cadmium (=99.5%) were 60 min, 6.5, 50 mg/L, 0.25 g/100 ml and 270 rpm respectively. A 1D explicit finite difference model has been developed to describe pollutant transport within a groundwater taking the pollutant sorption on the permeable reactive barrier (PRB), which i

The presence of heavy metals in the environment is major concern due to their toxicity. In the present study a strong acid cation exchange resin, Amberlite IR 120 was used for the removal of lead, zinc and copper from simulated wastewater. The optimum conditions were determined in a batch system of concentration 100 mg/L, pH range between 1 and 8, contact time between 5 and 120 minutes, and amount of adsorbent was from 0.05 to 0.45 g/100 ml. A constant stirring speed, 180 rpm, was chosen during all of the experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be pH of 4 for copper and lead and pH 6 for zinc, contact time of 60 min and 0.35 g of adsorbent. Three different temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C) were selected to investigate the effect

The presence of antibiotic residues such as ciprofloxacin (CIPR) in an aqueous environment is dangerous when their concentrations exceed the allowable. Therefore, eliminating these residues from the wastewater becomes an essential issue to prevent their harm. In this work, the potential of efficient adsorption of ciprofloxacin antibiotics was studied using eco-friendly ZSM-5 nanocrystals‑carbon composite (NZC). An inexpensive effective natural binder made of the sucrose-citric acid mixture was used for preparing NZC. The characterization methods revealed the successful preparation of NZC with a favorable surface area of 103.739 m2/g, and unique morphology and functional groups. Investigating the ability of NZC for adsorbing CIPR antibioti

The present work aimed to study the efficiency of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) process for treatment of heavy metals wastewater contains zinc. In this research, the salt of heavy metals were zinc chloride (ZnCl2) used as feed solution.Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes are made from polyamide as spiral wound module. The parameters studied were: operating time (0 – 70 min), feed concentrations for zinc ions (10 – 300 mg/l), operating pressure (1 – 4 bar).The theoretical results showed, flux of water through membrane decline from 19 to 10.85 LMH with time. Flux decrease from 25.84 to 10.88 LMH with the increment of feed concentration. The raise of pressure, the flux increase for NF and RO membranes.The maximum