Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer

This study examined the effect of essential oils extracted from peel of Citrus paradisi and Citrus sinensis on two species of fungi: Penicillium oxalicum and Fusarium oxysporum as well as effect of two fungicides: Carbendazim and Thiophanatemethyl against above fungi. Results showed that the essential oil of Citrus paradisi inhibited the radial growth of Penicillium oxalicum and Fusarium oxysporum at concentration 4%. Nevertheless, the essential oil of Citrus sinensis inhibited the radial growth at concentration 5 and 4%, respectively. Furthermore, the two studied fungicides inhibited radial growth of these fungi too. Therefore, there are a positive relationship between the evaluating of concentration and the percentage of inhibiting of rad

Objective: The objective of the present study was to design and optimize oral fast dissolving film (OFDF) of practically insoluble drug lafutidine in order to enhance bioavailability and patient compliance especially for a geriatric and unconscious patient who are suffering from difficulty in swallowing.Methods: The films were prepared by a solvent casting method using low-grade hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC E5), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) as film forming polymers. Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400), propylene glycol (PG) and glycerin were used as a plasticizer to enhance the film forming properties of the polymer. Tween 80 (1% solution) and poloxamer407 were used as a surfactant, citri

This contribution provides an atomistic understanding into the impact of W, Nb, and Mo co-substitution at Hf-site of cubic HfO2 lattice to produce Hf1−xTMxO2 system at x = 25%. The calculations have been performed under the framework of density functional theory supported by Habbured parameter (DFT+U). Structural analysis demonstrates that the recorded lattice constants is in good coherence with the previously published results. For the lattice parameters, contraction by 1.33% comparing with the host system has been reported. Furthermore, the doping effect of TM on the band gap leads to its reduction in the resulting Hf0.75TM0.25O2 configurations. The partial density of states (PDOS) indicate that hybridization through localized electroni

The influence of the reaction gas composition during the DC magnetron sputtering process on the structural, chemical and optical properties of Ce-oxide thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that all thin films exhibited a polycrystalline character with cubic fluorite structure for cerium dioxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed that cerium is present in two oxidation states, namely as CeO2 and Ce2O3, at the surface of the films prepared at oxygen/argon flow ratios between 0% and 7%, whereas the films are completely oxidized into CeO2 as the aforementioned ratio increases beyond 14%. Various optical parameters for the thin films (including an optical band gap in the range of 2.25–3.