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.

Antibiotics must be fully eliminated before they are released into the environment. In most cases, conventional wastewater treatment systems are not built to handle polar microcontaminants such as antibiotics. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is one of these antibiotics, an environmental hazard contaminant in aqueous solutions. Therefore, an advanced treatment method is needed for wastewater contaminated with antibiotics. In this study, we employed zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO), and the catalytic ozonation procedure was employed to increase the ozonation efficiency. A continuous experiment was carried out to compare the effectiveness of catalytic and single ozonation in degrading OTC in a continuous reactor. The flow rate of OTC solution, the initial

Flexible pavements are subjected to three main distress types: fatigue crack, thermal crack, and permanent deformation. Under severe climate conditions, thermal cracking particularly contributes largely to a considerable scale of premature deterioration of pavement infrastructure worldwide. This challenge is especially relevant for Europe, as weather conditions vary significantly throughout the year. Hydrated lime (HL) has been recognized as an effective additive to improve the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete for pavement applications. Previous research has found that a replacement of conventional limestone dust filler using hydrated lime at 2.5% of the total weight of aggregates generated an optimum improvement in the mec

One of the major problems facing the road construction engineer is the collapsible granular soil which may be used for embankment construction. Problems appears when such compacted soil come in touch with water, it exhibits cracking and uncontrolled settlement. Collapsible soils are defined as any unsaturated soil that goes through a radical rearrangement of practice and great loss of volume upon wetting, with or without additional loading. An attempt has been made in this investigation to stabilize the collapsible soil of Nasiriya with asphalt emulsion. Specimens of pure and asphalt emulsion stabilized soil have been prepared using optimum fluid content and tested. The first group of specimens of (60x60x20) cm have been tested for direct s

Moisture damage is a primary mode of distress occurring in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements in Iraq. Because of the loss of bond, or stripping, caused by the presence of moisture between the asphalt and aggregate, which is a problem in some areas and can be severe in some cases, it is requires to evaluate the design asphalt mixture to moisture susceptibility. Many factors such as aggregate characteristics, asphalt characteristics, environment, traffic, construction practices and drainage can contribute to stripping. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their optimum asphalt content by superpave system and then tested to evaluate their engineering properties, which include tensile strength, resilient modulus, and perman

Double hydrothermal method was used to prepare nano gamma alumina   using aluminum nitrate nano hydrate and sodium aluminate as an aluminum source, CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as surfactant, and variable acids: weak acids like; citric, and acitic acids, and strong acids like; hydrochloric and nitric acids as a bridge between aluminum salts and surfactant. Different crystallization times  12, 24, 48, and 72 hrs were applied. All the batches were prepared at pH equals to 9. XRD diffraction technique was used to investigate the crystalline nano gamma alumina pure from surfactant. N₂ adsorption-desorption (BET) was used to measure the surface area and pore volume of the prepared nano alumina, the average p

The effect of time (or corrosion products formation) on corrosion rates of carbon steel pipe in aerated 0.1N NaCl
solution under turbulent flow conditions is investigated. Tests are conducted using electrochemical polarization
technique by determining the limiting current density of oxygen reduction in Reynolds number range of 15000 to 110000
and temperature range of 30 to 60oC. The effect of corrosion products formation on the friction factor is studied and
discussed. Corrosion process is analyzed as a mass transfer operation and the mass transfer theory is employed to
express the corrosion rate. The results are compared with many proposed models particularly those based on the
concept of analogy among momentum, heat,

Blends of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in equal weight ratios (50 wt.% PVP + 50 wt.% PVA) were doped with 15% of various lithium salts (Li2CO3, LiNO3, Li2SO4H2O, and LiCl) and prepared using the solution-casting method, with dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent. The impact of these salts on the blends was analyzed and the results showed that the energy gap was decreased by adding lithium salts Li2CO3, LiNO3 and Li2SO4.H₂O. The minimum energy gap value was 3.5 eV obtained from PVP/PVA:15% Li2CO3. The optical constants were determined in the range of 300-1100 nm. The results showed that all the optical constants for doped blends were grown with the addition of lithium salts. The FTIR study confirms the c