In this work, the effect of preparing a composite of copper oxide nanoparticles with carbon on some of its optical properties was studied. The composite preparing process was carried out by exploding graphite electrodes in an aqueous suspension of copper oxide. The properties of the plasma which is formed during the explosion were studied using emission spectroscopy in order to determine the most important elements that are present in the media. The electron’s density and their energy, which is the main factor in the composite process, were determined. The particle properties were studied before and after the exploding process. The XRD showed an additional peak in the copper oxides pattern corresponding to the hexagonal graphite structure for the composite. The UV-visible absorbance for the composite was significantly enhanced. The direct bandgap decreased from 2.55 to 2.4 eV, and the indirect bandgap decreased from 1.1 to 1 eV, for the composite.
Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series o
... Show MoreThis article presents the simultaneous adsorption of bimetal Cu2+ and Zn2+ from an aqueous solution using activated carbon synthesized from a plum seed precursor by sulfuric acid and microwave activation: plum seeds chemically activated by 45% (w/w) sulfuric acid with 2:1 ratio for 4 h, then carbonized for 2 h at 700 °C and the product obtained activated in a microwave oven for 20 min at 700 W for final of activation. Plum seeds and activated carbon produced were characterized in terms of their physical and chemical composition using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements, field emission scanning electr
In the present work, tetracycline (TC) was removed from a simulated wastewater through a new photo-anodic oxidation process with a rotating graphite cylinder anode. The effects of current density, pH, rotation speed, and NaCl addition were evaluated. The results confirmed that increasing the current density results in improving the removal of TC. However, increasing the current density beyond 5 mA/cm2 had little effect on TC removal. Results revealed that TC removal using photoanodic oxidation can be achieved at high performance with an initial pH of 5. Increasing or decreasing pH beyond this value has a negative effect on TC removal. Increasing rotation speed gave better performance for TC removal due to the increase in mass t
... Show MoreModified algae with nano copper oxide (CuO) were used as adsorption media to remove tetracycline (TEC) from aqueous solutions. Functional groups, morphology, structure, and percentages of surfactants before and after adsorption were characterised through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Several variables, including pH, connection time, dosage, initial concentrations, and temperature, were controlled to obtain the optimum condition. Thermodynamic studies, adsorption isotherm, and kinetics models were examined to describe and recognise the type of interactions involved. Resultantly, the best operation conditions were at pH 7, contact time
... Show MoreThis work demonstrated a simple and environmentally friendly method for synthesizing silica-supported copper nanocubes (CuNCs/SiO2). The copper nanocubes, with a size of 15 ± 5 nm, were synthesized using green reagents and conditions. Ascorbic acid, water, and di-n-butyl sulfide were employed as reducing agent, solvent, and stabilizing ligand, respectively. The designed nanoscale catalyst was utilized for the esterification of acetic acid to methyl acetate at room temperature. The catalyst exhibited high efficiency, converting 80% of the reactant to the desired product (methyl acetate) after 24 hours of reaction at room temperature. The size and shape of copper nanocubes were characterized by transmission electron microsco
... Show MoreShort Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes functionalized with OH group (MWCNTs-OH) were used to synthesize flexible MWCNTs networks. The MWCNTs suspension was synthesized using Benzoquinone (BQ) and N, N Dimethylformamide alcohol (DMF) in specific values and then deposited on filter paper by filtration from suspension (FFS) method. Polypyrrole (PPy) conductive polymer doped with metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) prepared using in-situ chemical polymerization method. To improve the properties of the MWCNTs networks, a coating layer of (PPy) conductive polymer, PPy:Ag nanoparticles, and PPy: Cu nanoparticles were applied to the network. The fabricated networks were characterized using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), UV-Vis. spectrometer, and Ato
... Show MorePolyimide/MWCNTs nanocomposites have been fabricated by solution mixing process. In the present study, we have investigated electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of PI/MWCNT nanocomposites in frequency range of 1 kHz to 100 kHz at different MWCNTs concentrations from 0 wt.% to 15 wt.%. It has been observed that the electrical conductivity and dielectric constants are enhanced significantly by several orders of magnitude up to 15 wt.% of MWCNTs content. The electrical conductivity increases as the frequency is increased, which can be attributed to high dislocation density near the interface. The rapid increase in the dielectric constant at a high MWCNTs content can be explained by the form
In this paper activated carbon adsorbents produced from waste tires by chemical activation methods and application of microwave assisted KOH activation. The influence of radiation time, radiation power, and impregnation ratio on the yield and oil removal which is one of the major environmental issues nowadays and considered persistent environmental contaminants and many of them are suspected of being carcinogenic. Based on Box-Wilson central composite design, polynomial models were developed to correlate the process variables to the two responses. From the analysis of variance the significant variables on each response were identified. Optimum conditions of 4 min radiation time, 700 W radiation power and 0.5 g/g impregnation ratio
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