The high carbon dioxide emission levels due to the increased consumption of fossil fuels has led to various environmental problems. Efficient strategies for the capture and storage of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide are crucial in reducing their concentrations in the environment. Considering this, herein, three novel heteroatom-doped porous-organic polymers (POPs) containing phosphate units were synthesized in high yields from the coupling reactions of phosphate esters and 1,4-diaminobenzene (three mole equivalents) in boiling ethanol using a simple, efficient, and general procedure. The structures and physicochemical properties of the synthesized POPs were established using various techniques. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images showed that the surface morphologies of the synthesized POPs were similar to coral reefs. They had grooved networks, long range periodic macropores, amorphous surfaces, and a high surface area (SBET = 82.71–213.54 m2/g). Most importantly, they had considerable carbon dioxide storage capacity, particularly at high pressure. The carbon dioxide uptake at 323 K and 40 bar for one of the POPs was as high as 1.42 mmol/g (6.00 wt %). The high carbon dioxide uptake capacities of these materials were primarily governed by their geometries. The POP containing a meta-phosphate unit leads to the highest CO2 uptake since such geometry provides a highly distorted and extended surface area network compared to other POPs.
Traffic management at road intersections is a complex requirement that has been an important topic of research and discussion. Solutions have been primarily focused on using vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). Key issues in VANETs are high mobility, restriction of road setup, frequent topology variations, failed network links, and timely communication of data, which make the routing of packets to a particular destination problematic. To address these issues, a new dependable routing algorithm is proposed, which utilizes a wireless communication system between vehicles in urban vehicular networks. This routing is position-based, known as the maximum distance on-demand routing algorithm (MDORA). It aims to find an optimal route on a hop-by-ho
... Show MoreThe growing use of tele
This paper presents a new secret diffusion scheme called Round Key Permutation (RKP) based on the nonlinear, dynamic and pseudorandom permutation for encrypting images by block, since images are considered particular data because of their size and their information, which are two-dimensional nature and characterized by high redundancy and strong correlation. Firstly, the permutation table is calculated according to the master key and sub-keys. Secondly, scrambling pixels for each block to be encrypted will be done according the permutation table. Thereafter the AES encryption algorithm is used in the proposed cryptosystem by replacing the linear permutation of ShiftRows step with the nonlinear and secret pe
... Show MoreChurning of employees from organizations is a serious problem. Turnover or churn of employees within an organization needs to be solved since it has negative impact on the organization. Manual detection of employee churn is quite difficult, so machine learning (ML) algorithms have been frequently used for employee churn detection as well as employee categorization according to turnover. Using Machine learning, only one study looks into the categorization of employees up to date. A novel multi-criterion decision-making approach (MCDM) coupled with DE-PARETO principle has been proposed to categorize employees. This is referred to as SNEC scheme. An AHP-TOPSIS DE-PARETO PRINCIPLE model (AHPTOPDE) has been designed that uses 2-stage MCDM s
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can b
... Show MoreObjectives: Small field of view gamma detection and imaging technologies for monitoring in vivo tracer uptake are rapidly expanding and being introduced for bed-side imaging and image guided surgical procedures. The Hybrid Gamma Camera (HGC) has been developed to enhance the localization of targeted radiopharmaceuticals during surgical procedures; for example in sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and for bed-side imaging in procedures such as lacrimal drainage imaging and thyroid scanning. In this study, a prototype anthropomorphic head and neck phantom has been designed, constructed, and evaluated using representative modelled medical scenarios to study the capability of the HGC to detect SLNs and image small organs. Methods: An anthropom
... Show MoreIn this study, the effects of blending the un-branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (n-decyl acrylate), and the branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (iso-octyl acrylate), on the viscosity index (VI), and the pour point of the Iraqi base stocks 40, and 60 respectively, were investigated. Toluene was used as a carrier solvent for both polymer types. The improvement level of oils (VI, & pour point) gained by blending the oil with the acrylate derived polymers was compared with the values of (VI, and pour point) gained by blending the oil with a commercial viscosity index, and pour point improver. The commercial lubricant additive was purchased and used by Al-Daura Refineries. It consisted of an un-known olefin copolymer dissolved i
... Show MoreLiquid-crystalline organic semiconductors exhibit unique properties that make them highly interesting for organic optoelectronic applications. Their optical and electrical anisotropies and the possibility to control the alignment of the liquid-crystalline semiconductor allow not only to optimize charge carrier transport, but to tune the optical property of organic thin-film devices as well. In this study, the molecular orientation in a liquid-crystalline semiconductor film is tuned by a novel blading process as well as by different annealing protocols. The altered alignment is verified by cross-polarized optical microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. It is shown that a change in alignment of the