The sensitivity of SnO2 nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide hybrid to NO2 gas is discussed in the present work using density functional theory (DFT). The SnO2 nanoparticles shapes are taken as pyramids, as proved by experiments. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) edges have oxygen or oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the upper and lower surfaces of rGO are clean, as expected from the oxide reduction procedure. Results show that SnO2 particles are connected at the edges of rGO, making a p-n heterojunction with a reduced agglomeration of SnO2 particles and high gas sensitivity. The DFT results are in good agreement with the experimental characterization of both SnO2 and rGO using energy gap and XPS values. Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the various considered reactions are calculated. Results show that the sensitivity of the rGO/SnO2 hybrid to NO2 gas is the result of the interplay of the dissociation and oxidation reactions of NO2 gas.
Acinetobacter baumannii is highly adapted to hospital environments, causing persistent chronic infections due to its ability to form biofilms. In this work, the antibiofilm activity of AuNPs with a subMIC concentration of 9.34 μg/ml was investigated by the microtiter plate method against 80 clinical isolates of A. baumannii. The results revealed that the biofilm was significantly (P< 0.05) reduced by 48.2 – 82.1%.
Ni-Co-Mn-Mg ferrite nanoparticles with the formula (Ni,Co)xMn0.25-xMg0.75Fe2O4 were synthesized in this work by employing the sol-gel auto-combustion process, with nitrates used as the cations source and citric acid (C6H8O7) as the combustion agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used to characterize the structural, morphological, and magnetic properties of ferrite powders. The XRD measurements showed crystallite sizes ranging between 24 - 28 nm. The FE-SEM images show the presence of agglomeration as well as a non-homogeneous distribution of the samples. On the other hand, the stoichiometry of the react
... Show MoreThis study was carried out to prepare and characterize domperidone nanoparticles to enhance solubility and the release rate. Domperidone is practically insoluble in water and has low and an erratic bioavailability range from 13%-17%. The domperidone nanoparticles were prepared by solvent/antisolvent precipitation method at different polymer:drug ratios of 1:1 and 2:1 using different polymers and grades of poly vinyl pyrolidone, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as stabilizers. The effect of polymer type, ratio of polymer:drug, solvent:antisolvent ratio, stirring rate and stirring time on the particle size, were investigated and found to have a significant (p? 0.05) effect on particle size. The best formul
... Show MoreThis study was done to investigate the impact of different nanoparticles on diesel fuel characteristics, Iraqi diesel fuel was supplied from al-Dura refinery and was treated to enhance performance by improving its characteristics. Two types of nanoparticles were mixed with Iraqi diesel fuel at various weight fractions of 30, 60, 90, and 120 ppm. The diesel engine was tested and run at a constant speed of 1600 rpm to examine and evaluate the engine's performance and determine emissions. In general, ZnO additives' performance analysis showed they are more efficient for diesel fuel engines than CeO. The performance of engine diesel fuel tests showed that the weight fraction of nanoparticles at 90 and 120 ppm give a similar
... Show MoreMicrobial antibiotics resistance is considered a serious health issue in the Middle East and developing countries. In this study, the Fe2O3 nanoparticles was prepared chemically, and the particles size and shape were analyzed by using Scan electron microscope (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Different concentration of Fe2O3 nanoparticles were used and examined on E.coli and S. aureus. Using liquid dilution and in vitro cytotoxicity assay by microplate toxicity test (MTT). The microbial cell metabolic activity was measured on gram-negative, gram-positive bacteria and fungi after treating with different concentrations of Fe2O3 nanoparticl
... Show MoreNanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent times for oil recovery purposes owing to significant capabilities in wettability alteration of reservoir rocks. Wettability is a key factor controlling displacement efficiency and ultimate recovery of oil. The present study investigates the influence of zirconium (IV) oxide (ZrO2) and nickel (II) oxide (NiO) nanoparticles on the wetting preference of fractured (oil-wet) limestone formations. Wettability was assessed through SEM, AFM and contact angle. The potentials of the nanoparticles to alter oil-wet calcite substrates water wet, was experimentally tested at low nanoparticle concentrations (0.004–0.05 wt%). Quite similar behaviour was observed for both nanoparticles at the same
... Show MoreThis paper proposes a new method to tune a fractional order PID controller. This method utilizes both the analytic and numeric approach to determine the controller parameters. The control design specifications that must be achieved by the control system are gain crossover frequency, phase margin, and peak magnitude at the resonant frequency, where the latter is a new design specification suggested by this paper. These specifications results in three equations in five unknown variables. Assuming that certain relations exist between two variables and discretizing one of them, a performance index can be evaluated and the optimal controller parameters that minimize this performance index are selected. As a case study, a thir
... Show MoreThis paper proposes a new method to tune a fractional order PID controller. This method utilizes both the analytic and numeric approach to determine the controller parameters. The control design specifications that must be achieved by the control system are gain crossover frequency, phase margin, and peak magnitude at the resonant frequency, where the latter is a new design specification suggested by this paper. These specifications results in three equations in five unknown variables. Assuming that certain relations exist between two variables and discretizing one of them, a performance index can be evaluated and the optimal controller parameters that minimize this performance index are selected. As a case study, a third order linear time
... Show MoreThin 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
... Show MoreThe 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
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