The increasing population growth resulting in the tremendous increase in consumption of fuels, energy, and petrochemical products and coupled with the depletion in conventional crude oil reserves and production make it imperative for Nigeria to explore her bitumen reserves so as to meet her energy and petrochemicals needs. Samples of Agbabu bitumen were subjected to thermal cracking in a tubular steel reactor operated at 10 bar pressure to investigate the effect of temperature on the cracking reaction. The gas produced was analyzed in a Gas Chromatograph while the liquid products were subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Heptane was the dominant gas produced in bitumen cracking at all temperatures and the r

Thin films of Nb2O5 have been successfully deposited using the DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique to manufacture NH3 gas sensors. These films have been annealed at a high temperature of 800°C for one hour. The assessment of the Nb2O5 thin films structural, morphological, and electrical characteristics was carried out using several methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Hall effect measurements, and sensitivity assessments. The XRD analysis confirms the polycrystalline composition of the Nb2O5 thin films with a hexagonal crystal structure. Furthermore, the sensitivity, response time, and recovery time of the gas sensor were evaluated for the Nb2O5 thin film

Fiber reinforced polymer composite is an important material for structural application. The diversified application of FRP composite has taken center of attraction for interdisciplinary research. However, improvements on mechanical properties of this class of materials are still under research for different applications. In this paper we have modified the epoxy matrix by Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and TiO₂ nano particles in glass fiber/epoxy composite to improve the mechanical and physical properties. The composites are fabricated by hand lay-up method. It is observed that mechanical properties like flexural strength, hardness are more in case of SiO₂ modified epoxy composite compare to other nano

Epoxy (EP) – Silica (SiO2) composites are well known composites used in microelectronic industry . So it is important to study their dielectric behavior under different conditions such as
the presence carbon black (UV absorber) and immersion in the water for 30 days .
Dielectric properties were calculated over the frequency range 102 – 106 Hz for epoxy composites with different weight % of micrometer 1.5μm SiO2 particles (60%, 65% and 70wt%) modified with 0.5wt% silane coupling agent to improve adhesion between EP and SiO2 phases .

Proteus mirabilis is considered as a third common cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, with urease production, the potency of catheter blockage due to the formation of biofilm formation is significantly enhanced. Biofilms are major virulence factors expressed by pathogenic bacteria to resist antibiotics; in this concern the need for providing new alternatives for antibiotics is getting urgent need, This study aimed to explore whether green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) can function as an anti-biofilm agent produced by P.mirabilis. Bacterial cells were capable of catalyzing the biosynthesis process by producing reductive enzymes. The nanoparticles were synthesized from cell free

In the present work is the deposition of copper oxide using the pulsed laser deposition technique using Reactive Pulsed Laser as a Deposition technique (RPLD), 1.064μm, 7 nsec Q-switch Nd-YAG laser with 400 mJ/cm2 laser energy’s has been used to ablated high purity cupper target and deposited on the porous silicon substrates recorded and study the effect of rapid thermal annealing on the structural characteristics, morphological, electrical characteristics and properties of the solar cell. Results of AFM likelihood of improved absorption, thereby reducing the reflection compared with crystalline silicon surface. The results showed the characteristics of the solar cell and a clear improvement in the efficiency of the solar cell in the

In the present work, a z-scan technique was used to study the nonlinear optical properties, represented by the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficients of nanoparticles cadmium sulfide thin film. The sample was prepared by the chemical bath deposition method. Several testing were done including, x-ray, transmission and thickness of thin film. z-Scan experiment was performed at two wavelengths (1064 nm and 532 nm) and different energies. The results showed the effect of self-focusing in the material at higher intensities, which evaluated n2 to be (0.11-0.16) cm2/GW. The effect of two-photon absorption was studied, which evaluated β to be (24-106) cm/GW. In addition, the optical limiting behavior has been studied.