In this research, design of advanced material for sunlight conversion requires focused research to obtain efficient photocatalytic system. Nanostructured ZnO was synthesized using spin coating technique. The structural, morphological and optical properties of annealed nanostructured ZnO thin film at 390 Co for 3 hours were characterized by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope AFM and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Nanostructured ZnO was applied for removal Methylene Blue (MB) dye from water using sunlight induced photocatalytic process. Overall degradation of MB/ZnO was achieved after 120 minutes of sunlight irradiation while it needs more time for MB alone. The reaction rate constant fit pseudo first order for MB/ZnO degradation was 0.031 min−1 compared to 0.018 min-1 using blank sample. Annealed nanostructured ZnO thin film was considered as an excellent candidate to enhance photocatalytic system to convert sunlight to chemical energy based on interfacial charges transfer.
Removing hazardous organic pollutants, such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and Congo red (CR) dyes from aqueous media and CO2 from the atmospheric medium remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a facile in-situ synthetic approach for fabricating CuO-ZnO heterostructure photocatalysts through the surfactant-assisted co-precipitation method. The catalytic results demonstrate that the Cu1O-ZnO photocatalyst exhibits excellent activity under direct sunlight irradiation, owing to the heterostructure formation between the CuO and ZnO. The Cu1O-ZnO photocatalyst showed higher reaction rate constant (k) values of 0.20 min−1 for 4-NP and 0.09 min−1 for CR compared to previous reports. Additionally, efficient CO2 reduction was also achiev
... Show MoreZinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were synthesized through the hydrothermal method at various conditions growth times (6,7 and 8 hrs.) and a growth temperature (70, 90, and 100 ºC). The prepared ZnO nanostructure samples were described using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer to distinguish their surface morphologies and crystal structures. The ZnO samples were confirmed to have the same crystal type, with different densities and dimensions (diameter and length). The obtained ZnO nanostructures were used to manufacture gas sensors for NO2 gas detection. Sensing characteristics for the fabricated sensor to NO2 gas were examined at different operating temperatures (180, 200, 220, and 240) ºC with a low gas concentrati
... Show MoreThis paper presents an experimental and theoretical analysis to investigate the two-phase flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of the refrigerant R-134a in the evaporator test section of the refrigeration system under different operating conditions. The test conditions considered are, for heat flux (13.7-36.6) kW/m2, mass flux (52-105) kg/m2.s, vapor quality (0.2-1) and saturation temperature (-15 to -3.7) ˚C. Experiments were carried out using a test rig for a 310W capacity refrigeration system, which is designed and constructed in the current work. Investigating of the experimental results has revealed that, the enhancement in local heat trans
... Show MoreThe effects of using aqueous nanofluids containing covalently functionalized graphene nanoplatelets with triethanolamine (TEA-GNPs) as novel working fluids on the thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector (FPSC) have been investigated. Water-based nanofluids with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% of TEA-GNPs with specific surface areas of 300, 500, and 750 m2/g were prepared. An experimental setup was designed and built and a simulation program using MATLAB was developed. Experimental tests were performed using inlet fluid temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 °C; flow rates of 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4 kg/min; and heat flux intensities of 600, 800, and 1000 W/m2. The FPSC’s efficiency increased as the flow rate and hea
... Show MoreAgricultural lands have great importance in people's lives, and their exploitation has a great impact on strengthening the national economy. Therefore, countries have given great importance to this sector, and because of the importance of this sector, the state has given large areas of these lands to the farmers to invest in agriculture, and among these farmers are those who died and left behind children who took up crafts. Agriculture, for fear that these agricultural lands would be abandoned and turned into waste lands, a land system was introduced called (regular distribu- tion), which corresponds to (legitimate inheritance). Under this system, these lands were trans- ferred to the children of farmers who died so that the process of inve
... Show MoreThe aim of the current study was to develop a nanostructured double-layer for hydrophobic molecules delivery system. The developed double-layer consisted of polyethylene glycol-based polymeric (PEG) followed by gelatin sub coating of the core hydrophobic molecules containing sodium citrate. The polymeric composition ratio of PEG and the amount of the sub coating gelatin were optimized using the two-level fractional method. The nanoparticles were characterized using AFM and FT-IR techniques. The size of these nano capsules was in the range of 39-76 nm depending on drug loading concentration. The drug was effectively loaded into PEG-Gelatin nanoparticles (≈47%). The hydrophobic molecules-release characteristics in terms of controlled-releas
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