A novel encapsulated deep eutectic solvent (DES) was introduced for biodiesel production via a two-step process. The DES was encapsulated in medical capsules and were used to reduce the free fatty acid (FFA) content of acidic crude palm oil (ACPO) to the minimum acceptable level (< 1%). The DES was synthesized from methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (MTPB) and p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA). The effects pertaining to different operating conditions such as capsule dosage, reaction time, molar ratio, and reaction temperature were optimized. The FFA content of ACPO was reduced from existing 9.61% to less than 1% under optimum operating conditions. This indicated that encapsulated MTPB-DES performed high catalytic activity in FFA esterification reaction and showed considerable activity even after four consecutive recycling runs. The produced biodiesel after acid esterification and alkaline transesterification met the EN14214 international biodiesel standard specifications. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to introduce an acidic catalyst in capsule form. This method presents a new route for the safe storage of new materials to be used for biofuel production. Conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) representation of the DES using σ-profile and σ-potential graphs indicated that MTPB and PTSA is a compatible combination due to the balanced presence and affinity towards hydrogen bond donor and hydrogen bond acceptor in each constituent.
Lead-free 0.88(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–0.084(K0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–0.036BaTiO3 (BNT–BKT–BT) piezoelectric ceramics were prepared using the conventional mixed-oxide method with a sintering temperature range of 1120–1200 °C. The effect of the sintering temperature on the crystal structure, microstructure, and densification, as well as the dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and the pyroelectric properties of BNT–BKT–BT ceramics were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study the microstructures of the sintered samples. The results showed that the increase in sintering temperature was very effective in improving both the density and electrical properties. However, the samples deteriorated when the sintering te
... Show MoreTwo series of bent and liner core mesogen containing 1,2,4-traizole ring [VI]a,g and series were synthesized by many steps starting from esterification of isophthalic acid and terephathalic acid with methanol to yield diester compound [I]a,b which was converted to their acid hydrazide [II]a,b and the acid hydrazide reacted with ammonium thiocyanate or diester reacted with thiosemicarbazide to yield compounds [III]a,b. Then cyclization by 4% NaOH to yielded 1,2,4 traizole-3- thiol compounds [IV]a,b , afterword adding hydrazine hydrate to yield compounds [V]a,b. These compounds condensated with different substituted aldehyde to give new Schiff bases[VI]a,b ,[VII]a,b . Also , reaction acid hydrazide [II]a,b with aldehyde [VII] to yielded Schif
... Show MoreA three-stage learning algorithm for deep multilayer perceptron (DMLP) with effective weight initialisation based on sparse auto-encoder is proposed in this paper, which aims to overcome difficulties in training deep neural networks with limited training data in high-dimensional feature space. At the first stage, unsupervised learning is adopted using sparse auto-encoder to obtain the initial weights of the feature extraction layers of the DMLP. At the second stage, error back-propagation is used to train the DMLP by fixing the weights obtained at the first stage for its feature extraction layers. At the third stage, all the weights of the DMLP obtained at the second stage are refined by error back-propagation. Network structures an
... Show MoreNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by hepatic fat accumulation in individuals consuming little or no alcohol, has become highly prevalent globally. Oxidative stress plays a central role in instigating inflammation and cell death pathways driving NAFLD progression. This case–control study aimed to elucidate the association between circulating levels of the pivotal non-enzymatic antioxidants – coenzyme Q10 and vitamins E and C – and liver injury parameters among 60 Iraqi NAFLD patients versus 30 healthy controls. NAFLD diagnosis entailed over 5% hepatic steatosis on ultrasound excluding other etiologies. Patients spanned three age groups: 20–29, 30–39, an
Abstract
The present study investigates the effect of acetic acid on corrosion behavior and its potential of hydrothermally sealed anodized AA2319-Al-alloys. Anodizing treatment was performed in stagnant phosphoric acid electrolyte with or without addition of acetic acid. Hydrothermal sealing was carried out in boiling water for each anodized specimen. The open circuit potential of the unsealed and sealed anodized samples was examined using open circuit potential measurement for the purpose of starting in scanning polarization diagrams. The potentiostatic polarization technique measurements were performed to assess corrosion behavior and sealing quality (i.e., degree of sealing) of
... Show MoreMicro metal forming has an application potential in different industrial fields. Flexible tool-assisted sheet metal forming at micro scale is among the forming techniques that have increasingly attracted wide attention of researchers. This forming process is a suitable technique for producing micro components because of its inexpensive process, high quality products and relatively high production rate. This study presents a novel micro deep drawing technique through using floating ring as an assistant die with flexible pad as a main die. The floating ring designed with specified geometry is located between the process workpiece and the rubber pad. The function of the floating ring in this work is to produce SS304 micro cups with profile
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