Now showing 1 - 10 of 20
  • Publication
    Heat transfer improvement in simulated small battery compartment using metal oxide (CuO)/deionized water nanofluid
    Improving the heat transfer coefficient of working fluids is essential for achieving the best performance of manufacturing systems. As a replacement of conventional working fluids, nanofluids have a high potential for improving this heat transfer coefficient. However, nanofluids are seldom implemented in actual systems, and several factors should be considered before actual application. Accordingly, this study investigated the thermophysical properties and heat transfer rate of CuO/deionized water nanofluid with and without sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactants. Three different volumetric concentrations of the nanofluid were prepared using a two-step preparation method. The experimental steps were divided into two phases: static and dynamic. In these experiments, the thermophysical properties of the prepared nanofluids and the heat transfer coefficient were measured using an apparatus designed based on an actual heat exchanger for a lithium ion polymer battery compartment. The effects of flow rate and surfactants on the heat transfer rate of the nanofluids with varying volumetric concentrations of 0.08%, 0.16%, and 0.40% were analyzed. The results indicate that the heat transfer rate increases considerably as the flow rate increases from 0.5 L/min to 1.2 L/min and with the presence of surfactants. The highest heat transfer rate was obtained at a 0.40% volumetric concentration of CuO/deionized water nanofluid with SDS surfactant.
  • Publication
    Preparation and Characterization of Tensile Properties of PMMA/SiC Nanowhiskers Nanocomposite Films: Effect of Filler Loading and Silane Treatment
    ( 2023-10-01) ; ;
    Lee L.Y.
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    ;
    Foong P.Y.
    The preparation of nanocomposites through melt mixing was challenging as the nanofillers tend to form agglomeration. The silicon carbide nanowhiskers (SiCNWs) filled poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin film in this study was prepared by means of solution casting. Acetone with low toxicity was used as solvent to dissolve the PMMA pellets. A coupling agent, silane was used to enhance the properties of composite films. Besides, the untreated and treated SiCNWs were filled into PMMA matrix, respectively with the filler loading varied from 0.2 to 0.8 wt%. The universal testing machine was used to investigate the tensile properties of composites. It was found out that the tensile strength of the PMMA was reduced in the presence of SiCNWs. However, the tensile strength had increased with the rise of filler loading. At 0.8 wt% of SiCNWs, the composites’ tensile strength was comparable to virgin PMMA. Meanwhile, the SiCNWs had reduced the elongation at break but increased the elastic modulus of PMMA/SiCNWs nanocomposite films. In addition, silane surface treatment on SiCNWs had improved the tensile strength and ductility but lowered the elastic modulus of the nanocomposites. The improvement was due to the enhancement of interfacial adhesion between SiCNWs and PMMA.
  • Publication
    Gold-Nanohybrid Biosensors for Analyzing Blood Circulating Clinical Biomacromolecules: Current Trend toward Future Remote Digital Monitoring
    ( 2022-01-01)
    Letchumanan I.
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    ; ;
    Mohamed Saheed M.S.
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    Perumal V.
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    ;
    Mortality level is worsening the situation worldwide thru blood diseases and greatly jeopardizes the human health with poor diagnostics. Due to the lack of successful generation of early diagnosis, the survival rate is currently lower. To overcome the present hurdle, new diagnostic methods have been choreographed for blood disease biomarkers analyses with the conjunction of ultra-small ideal gold nanohybrids. Gold-hybrids hold varieties of unique features, such as high biocompatibility, increased surface-to-volume ratio, less-toxicity, ease in electron transfer and have a greater localized surface plasmon resonance. Gold-nanocomposites can be physically hybrid on the sensor surface and functionalize with the biomolecules using appropriate chemical conjugations. Revolutionizing biosensor platform can be prominently linked for the nanocomposite applications in the current research on medical diagnosis. This review encloses the new developments in diagnosing blood biomarkers by utilizing the gold-nanohybrids. Further, the current state-of-the-art and the future envision with digital monitoring for facile telediagnosis were narrated.
  • Publication
    Formation of polypropylene nanocomposite joint using silicon carbide nanowhiskers as novel susceptor for microwave welding
    Up to present, no study has reported on the use of silicon carbide nanomaterials (SiCNMs) as susceptor for microwave welding of thermoplastics. Therefore, in this study, silicon carbide nanowhiskers (SiCNWs) was attempted as the microwave susceptor for the microwave welding of polypropylene (PP). It was observed that SiCNWs are capable of absorbing microwave and converting them into heat, leading to a sharp increase in temperature until it reaches the melting point of PP substrates. The microwave welded joint is formed after the molten PP at the interface between PP substrates is cooled under pressure. The effect of microwave heating duration and solid loading of SiCNWs suspension was studied and reported. The formation mechanism of SiCNWs reinforced PP welded joint was proposed in this study. With these remarkable advantages of microwave welding and enhanced mechanical properties of the welded joint, it is believed that this study can provide a new insight into welding of thermoplastic and material processing through short-term microwave heating.
  • Publication
    Potentials of MicroRNA in Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer by Analytical Electrical Biosensors
    ( 2022-01-01) ; ; ;
    Nadzirah S.
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    Salimi M.N.
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    ; ;
    Muhammad Nur Afnan Uda
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    Rozi S.K.M.
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    Rejali Z.
    ;
    Afzan A.
    ;
    Azan M.I.A.
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    Yaakub A.R.W.
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    Hamzah A.A.
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    Dee C.F.
    The importance of nanotechnology in medical applications especially with biomedical sensing devices is undoubted. Several medical diagnostics have been developed by taking the advantage of nanomaterials, especially with electrical biosensors. Biosensors have been predominantly used for the quantification of different clinical biomarkers toward detection, screening, and follow-up the treatment. At present, ovarian cancer is one of the severe complications that cannot be identified until it becomes most dangerous as the advanced stage. Based on the American Cancer Society, 20% of cases involved in the detection of ovarian cancer are diagnosed at an early stage and 80% diagnosed at the later stages. The patient just has a common digestive problem and stomach ache as early symptoms and people used to ignore these symptoms. Micro ribonucleic acid (miRNA) is classified as small non-coding RNAs, their expressions change due to the association of cancer development and progression. This article reviews and discusses on the currently available strategies for the early detection of ovarian cancers using miRNA as a biomarker associated with electrical biosensors. A unique miRNA-based biomarker detections are specially highlighted with biosensor platforms to diagnose ovarian cancer.
  • Publication
    Zinc oxide/graphene nanocomposite as efficient photoelectrode in dye-sensitized solar cells: Recent advances and future outlook
    ( 2022-05-01)
    Mahalingam S.
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    Low F.W.
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    Omar A.
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    Manap A.
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    Rahim N.A.
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    Tan C.H.
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    Abdullah H.
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    Rokhmat M.
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    Wibowo E.
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    Oon C.S.
    Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs), also known as Grätzel cells, are a third-generation photovoltaic technology that has garnered extensive interest due to its simplicity of fabrication, economical, and relatively high power conversion efficiency (PCE). The PCE of the photovoltaic cells is primarily related to the architecture of the cells, as well as the electrodes and electrolyte employed. Using zinc oxide (ZnO) coupled with two-dimensional graphene as photoelectrode enables efficient charge transfer and minimizes electron–hole recombination in the DSSCs, resulting in improved performance. This review outlines the feasibility and performance enhancement of ZnO/graphene nanocomposite and its derivatives as photoelectrode for DSSCs. The structural features, optical properties, electron transport, and dye interaction of the ZnO/graphene nanocomposite-based photoelectrode were considered in this review. In addition, the limitations of ZnO/graphene derivatives as photoelectrodes and their solutions were extensively discussed, as well as their prospects. The ZnO/graphene-based photovoltaic cells exhibit an efficiency of up to 11.5% under different dyes and electrolytes. The recent progress achieved with this photoelectrode, which is a viable substitute for titanium dioxide (TiO2), is also thoroughly reviewed.
  • Publication
    Facile Electrical DNA Genosensor for Human Papillomavirus (HPV 58) for Early Detection of Cervical Cancer
    ( 2023-07-01)
    Jaapar F.N.
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    Halim N.H.A.
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    ; ; ;
    Nadzirah S.
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    ; ;
    Ang W.C.
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    Zakaria I.I.
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    Rejali Z.
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    Afzan A.
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    Hamzah A.A.
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    Dee C.F.
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    Halim F.S.
    For decades, a Pap smear test has been applied as a conventional method in detecting Human Papillomavirus caused cervical cancer. False-positive results were also recorded while using it as conventional method. Current biosensor such as Hybrid (II) Capture resulted in higher time consumption and cost. s Meanwhile, in this study we provided facile, mini, rapid, highly sensitive, eco-friendly, and cost-effective sensing system focusing on HPV strain 58 (HPV58) in a nano-size lab-on-chip technology genosensor. 30-mer of virus ssDNA designed and analyzed as a probe via bioinformatics tools such as GenBank, Basic Local Alignment Searching Tools (BLAST) and ClustalW. Nanotechnology-developed colloidal Gold-nanoparticles (AuNPs) are used in the biosensor fabrication to produce high stability and electron efficient transmission during electrical measurement. AuNPs-APTES modified on active sites of IDEs, followed by immobilization of specific probe ssDNA for HPV 58. Hydrogen binding during hybridization with its target produce electrical signals measured by KEITHLEY 2450 (Source Meter). The genosensor validated with different types of targets such as complimentary, non-complementary and single mismatch oligonucleotides. The serial dilution of target concentration has been experimented triplicate (n=3) range from 1fM to 10µM. The slope of calibration curve resulted 2.389E-0 AM-1 with regression coefficient (R2) = 0.97535.
  • Publication
    Designing DNA probe from HPV 18 and 58 in the E6 region for sensing element in the development of genosensor-based gold nanoparticles
    ( 2022-10-01)
    Jaapar F.N.
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    ; ; ; ;
    Halim F.S.
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    ; ; ;
    Muhammad Nur Afnan Uda
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    Nadzirah S.
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    Rejali Z.
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    Afzan A.
    ;
    Zakaria I.I.
    The E6 region has higher protuberant probability annealing than consensus probe focusing on another region in the human papillomavirus (HPV) genome in terms of detection and screening method. Here, we designed the first multiple virus single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ssDNA) for multiple detections in an early phase of screening for cervical cancer in the E6 region and became a fundamental evolution of detection electrochemical HPV biosensor. Gene profiling of the virus ssDNA sequences has been carried by high-end bioinformatics tools such as GenBank, Basic Local Alignment Searching Tools (BLAST), and Clustal OMEGA in a row. The output from bioinformatics tools resulted in 100% of similarities between our virus ssDNA probe and HPV complete genome in the databases. The cross-validation between HPV genome and our designed virus ssDNA provided high specificity and selectivity during screening methods compared with Pap smear. The DNA probe for HPV 18, 5′ COOH-GAT CCA GAA GGT ACA GAC GGG GAG GGC ACG 3′, while 5′COOH-GGG CGC TGT GCA GTG TGT TGG AGA CCC CGA3′ as DNA probe for HPV 58 designed with 66.77% guanine (G) and cytosine (C) content for both. Our virus ssDNA probe for the HPV biosensor promises high sensitivity, specificity, selectivity, repeatability, low fluid consumption, and will be useful in mini-size diagnostic devices for cervical cancer detection.
  • Publication
    Oil palm lignin-derived laser scribed graphene in neutral electrolyte for high-performance microsupercapacitor application
    ( 2023-10-01)
    Remesh S.
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    Vasudevan M.
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    Perumal V.
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    Ovinis M.
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    Karuppanan S.
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    Edison T.N.J.I.
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    Raja P.B.
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    Ibrahim M.N.M.
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    ;
    Arumugam N.
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    Kumar R.S.
    Lignin is a renewable natural resource that could be derived from oil palm empty fruit bunches. It has generated significant interest as a precursor in synthesizing graphene as anode and cathode material for supercapacitors. In this paper, we report the synthesis of 3D hierarchical Laser Scribed Graphene (LSG) on a flexible polyimide substrate from lignin extracted from empty fruit bunches (EFB) of oil palm for microsupercapacitor applications. The intensity and speed of the laser have been tuned to yield densely compacted oil palm lignin LSG at a laser power of 70% and a speed of 30% (OPL-LSG 7030). OPL-LSG 7030 possessed lower equivalent series resistance of 60.1 Ω and a larger crystalline size of ∼31 nm than the rest of the tested samples. It exhibited exceptional areal capacitance of 30.77 mFcm−2 at a current density of 0.08 mAcm−2, an energy density of 0.00176 mWhcm−2 and a power density of 0.25 mWcm−2 when using a unique neutral PAAS/K2SO4 gel electrolyte. It achieved excellent capacitance retention of 88.4% after 5000 charge/discharge cycles and remarkable mechanical stability of 95% after 400 bending cycles. Furthermore, electrochemical studies revealed the redox properties of readily available quinone/ hydroquinone in the oil palm lignin, which could be inherited in graphene electrodes through a feasible and affordable approach for flexible green energy storage applications.
  • Publication
    Functionalized carbon black in epoxy composites: effect of single- and dual-matrix systems
    ( 2022-07-01)
    Phua J.L.
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    Yeoh C.K.
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    Functionalized carbon black (CB) using three different surface modification methods: wet oxidation, epoxy monomer impregnation, and air oxidation, in single-epoxy composites and dual-matrix epoxy/poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA composites at 15 vol% of CB content was studied in this research. The characterization on the surface modification CB was done via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and thermal gravimetric analysis. The phenol or ether, carboxylic acid, and epoxide functional groups were found on CB after surface modifications, along with a change in structure and BET surface area. Thermal degradation of CB was different after surface modification. This study further investigated the effect of the addition of surface-modified CB into epoxy resin, where the state of dispersion and distribution was observed under scanning electron microscopy. After surface modification, the mechanical testing via flexural and fracture toughness was done, where improvement was observed. A minor decrease in the electrical bulk conductivity of the composites was measured, which was due to a reduction in the degree of agglomeration. Both the thermal stability and CTE of surface-modified CB-filled epoxy composites show a decrement. Graphic abstract: Chemical modification of CB using air oxidation, wet oxidation, and epoxy monomer impregnation methods.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]