Research Output
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PublicationImpact of secondary phases content on the mechanical properties of cordierite( 2017-01-01)The Cordierite ceramic body had been synthesized through conventional techniques solid state reaction by using non-stoichiometric composition (2.5 MgO. 1.8 Al2O3. 5 SiO2). The sintering temperature study was carried out by heat treated the samples at several degree of sintering temperature (1250 °C, 1275 °C, 1300 °C, 1325 °C, 1350 °C and 1375 °C). The qualitative and quantitative of crystalline phase analysis was accomplished by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) technique and Rietveld structural refinement. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed for morphology analysis. The mechanical properties of samples were determined by Vicker's Hardness test. Rietveld quantitative phase analysis results show that α phase Cordierite constitutes up to 96.4 wt% when the samples was sintered for 2 hours at sintering temperature of 1375 °C and obtained densified and orderly crystal structure arrangement in SEM micrograph except the mechanical strength. The sample obtained the uppermost α phase Cordierite content gained the lowest hardness values (4.0±0.8GPa). Conversely, the sample contains 90 wt% α-cordierite and 1.4 wt% magnesium titatnate achieve highest hardness which is about 4.9±0.79GPa.
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PublicationA highly sustainable hydrothermal synthesized MnO2 as cathodic catalyst in solar photocatalytic fuel cell( 2021-01-01)A unidirectional flow solar photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) was successfully developed for the first time to offer alternative for electricity generation and simultaneous wastewater treatment. This study was focused on the synthesis of α-, δ- and β-MnO2 by wet chemical hydrothermal method for application as the cathodic catalyst in PFC. The crystallographic evolution was performed by varying the ratios of KMnO4 to MnSO4. The mechanism of the PFC with the MnO2/C as cathode was also discussed. Results showed that the catalytic activity of MnO2/C cathode was mainly predominated by their crystallographic structures which included Mn–O bond strength and tunnel size, following order of α- > δ- > β-MnO2/C. Interestingly, it was discovered that the specific surface areas (SBET) of different crystal phases did not give an impact on the PFC performance. However, the Pmax could be significantly influenced by the micropore surface area (Smicro) in the comparison among α-MnO2. Furthermore, the morphological transformation carried out by altering the hydrothermal duration demonstrated that the nanowire α-M3(24 h)/C with 1:1 ratio of KMnO4 and MnSO4 yielded excellent PFC performance with a Pmax of 2.8680 μW cm−2 and the lowest Rint of 700 Ω.
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PublicationUVA-irradiated dual photoanodes and dual cathodes photocatalytic fuel cell: mechanisms and Reactive Red 120 degradation pathways( 2022-11-01)To enhance dye removal and energy recovery efficiencies in single-pair electrode photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC-AC), dual cathodes PFC (PFC-ACC) and dual photoanodes PFC (PFC-AAC) were established. Results revealed that PFC-AAC yielded the highest decolorization rate (1.44 h−1) due to the promotion of active species such as superoxide radical (•O2−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) when the number of photoanode was doubled. The results from scavenging test and UV-Vis spectrophotometry disclosed that •OH was the primary active species in dye degradation of PFC. Additionally, PFC-AAC also exhibited the highest power output (17.99 μW) but the experimental power output was much lower than the theoretical power output (28.24 μW) due to the strong competition of electron donors of doubled photoanodes to electron acceptors at the single cathode and its high internal resistance. Besides, it was found that the increments of dye volume and initial dye concentration decreased the decolorization rate but increased the power output due to the higher amount of sacrificial agents presented in PFC. Based on the abovementioned findings and the respective dye intermediate products identified from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the possible degradation pathway of RR120 was scrutinized and proposed.
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PublicationEffect of alteration ratios of magnesia and alumina in non-stoichiometric cordierite composition formulations (2.(8-n)MgO.1.(5+n)Al2O3.5SiO2) on phase transformation and crystallization( 2017-01-01)This study focus on synthesis of α-phase cordierite using different non-stoichiometric cordierite composition through solid state reaction by adjusting the ratio of magnesia, MgO and alumina, Al2O3 in the cordierite composition formulation respectively. The qualitative and quantitative of phase analysis was carried out by X-ray diffractive (XRD) technique and Rietveld structural refinement method. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was employed to investigate the crystallization behavior of various cordierite formulations as the function of temperature. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also performed. Cordierite with formulation of 2.5 MgO1.8Al2O3.5SiO2 constitutes up to 96.4 wt% when the samples was sintered for 2 h at the optimal temperature of 1375 °C. The SEM micrograph revealed that the approaching single α-Cordierite sample obtained densified body with well alignment of crystal structure.
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PublicationComparative study of different polyatomic ions of electrolytes on electricity generation and dye decolourization in photocatalytic fuel cell( 2020-10-01)Developing an effective interface interaction between photoanode and electrolyte is crucial for achieving superior photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) performance. In this aspect, the contribution of the medium or electrolyte properties in the PFC system such as dye concentration, ionic nature and active radicals play a decisive role. Herein, we constructed a PFC with ZnO loaded nickel foam (ZnO/Ni) photoanode to study the influence of initial dye concentration, pH and supporting electrolytes of different polyatomic anions on the PFC performance. The optimum initial dye concentration and pH for the PFC with reactive red 120 as organic pollutants were found to be 30 mg L−1 and 7.5, respectively. The PFC performance can be synergistically enhanced by the addition of three types of polyatomic anions (Na3PO4, Na2SO4 and NaNO3) as supporting electrolytes. In turn, PO43- had the greatest influence on the reduction of internal resistance (highest short circuit current, Jsc) which corresponded to the conductivity of dye solution. Eventually, the higher charge of polyatomic ions could contribute to higher energy conversion efficiency in PFC. Nonetheless, SO42- anions favoured the cleavage of aromatic compounds by the advantage of recycling between SO42- and SO4[rad]- through hole scavenging activity. Comprehensively, our findings provided new insight into the selection of supporting electrolyte as well as the proposed mechanism of active radicals involved in PFC. Additionally, the ZnO/Ni photoanode demonstrated its excellent recyclability as it retained high PFC performance after five consecutive runs.
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PublicationCorrelation between crystal structure and thermal reaction of TiO₂ - Graphene Oxide( 2021-04)TiO₂ - Graphene oxide (GO) (GO = 0-1.0wt %) powders were synthesised using sol-gel method and annealed at 500°C. The samples were then characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The additional of GO gave significant influence on the crystal structure of TiO₂. The lattice parameter of TiO₂ were increased with decreasing GO concentration. The unit cell volume of TiO₂-GO annealed in N2 decreased with the oxygen occupancy. In contrary, the TiO₂-GO annealed in O₂ has an increase in O₂ occupancies in the lattice that was nearly proportional to its unit cell volume. A continuous weight loss was recorded by TGA at a temperature range of T= 30 - 1000°C that were associated with H2O, C-H and C-O species. It is concluded that the Ti-O-C and Ti-C bonds were formed for samples annealed in O₂ and N2 respectively. The weight loss of TiO₂-GO annealed in O₂ is lesser than that annealed in N2 for same concentration additional GO into TiO₂.
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PublicationUVA-irradiated dual photoanodes and dual cathodes photocatalytic fuel cell: Mechanisms and Reactive Red 120 degradation pathways( 2022-11-01)To enhance dye removal and energy recovery efficiencies in single-pair electrode photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC-AC), dual cathodes PFC (PFC-ACC) and dual photoanodes PFC (PFC-AAC) were established. Results revealed that PFC-AAC yielded the highest decolorization rate (1.44 h−1) due to the promotion of active species such as superoxide radical (•O2−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) when the number of photoanode was doubled. The results from scavenging test and UV-Vis spectrophotometry disclosed that •OH was the primary active species in dye degradation of PFC. Additionally, PFC-AAC also exhibited the highest power output (17.99 μW) but the experimental power output was much lower than the theoretical power output (28.24 μW) due to the strong competition of electron donors of doubled photoanodes to electron acceptors at the single cathode and its high internal resistance. Besides, it was found that the increments of dye volume and initial dye concentration decreased the decolorization rate but increased the power output due to the higher amount of sacrificial agents presented in PFC. Based on the abovementioned findings and the respective dye intermediate products identified from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the possible degradation pathway of RR120 was scrutinized and proposed.
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PublicationCorrelation between crystal structure and thermal reaction of TiO₂ - Graphene Oxide(Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 2021-04)TiO₂ - Graphene oxide (GO) (GO = 0-1.0wt %) powders were synthesised using sol-gel method and annealed at 500°C. The samples were then characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The additional of GO gave significant influence on the crystal structure of TiO₂. The lattice parameter of TiO₂ were increased with decreasing GO concentration. The unit cell volume of TiO₂-GO annealed in N2 decreased with the oxygen occupancy. In contrary, the TiO₂-GO annealed in O₂ has an increase in O₂ occupancies in the lattice that was nearly proportional to its unit cell volume. A continuous weight loss was recorded by TGA at a temperature range of T= 30 - 1000°C that were associated with H2O, C-H and C-O species. It is concluded that the Ti-O-C and Ti-C bonds were formed for samples annealed in O₂ and N₂ respectively. The weight loss of TiO₂-GO annealed in O₂ is lesser than that annealed in N2 for same concentration additional GO into TiO₂.