Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Publication
    Formation of bio-based derived dicalcium silicate ceramics via mechanochemical treatment: physical, XRD, SEM and FTIR analyses
    ( 2023-07)
    Siti Nur Hazwani Yunus
    ;
    ; ; ;
    Nur Hazlinda Jakfar
    ;
    ;
    Emma Ziezie Mohd Tarmizi
    ;
    Zainal Abidin Talib
    Beta-dicalcium silicate plays an important role in modern technology, but its tendency for polymorphic transformation results in the dusting phenomenon, is a major challenge. Therefore, mechanochemical treatment is used to reduce the particle size to retain the stability of the polymorph. In this study, pure dicalcium silicate ceramics of β-monoclinic structure with P 121/c1 space group were synthesized using calcium oxide and silicate powders derived from calcined eggshells and rice husks, respectively. The powders were mixed in a 2:1 molar ratio by mechanochemical treatment and heat-treated in the air at temperatures ranging from 900°C to 1100°C for 2 h. The results reveal that pure betadicalcium silicate formed at 1100°C without adding stabilizers. The properties of the pristine and sintered bodies were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM revealed that the grain and pore sizes increase with rising sintering temperatures. FTIR spectra indicate the existence of Si-O bonds in -4 4 SiO tetrahedrons on all the samples. The sample sintered at 1000°C attains the lowest bulk density (1.2463 g/cm3), whereas the apparent porosity is the highest (62.5%). The reason for this trend is due to the decomposition of carbonate into CO2 gas. The densification onset for the sample sintered at 1100°C as the bulk density rises and grain size achieves 6.06 μm. This study further explains the effect of sintering temperatures on the physical, structural, and morphological properties of Ca2SiO4 which would also be useful for further optimization of its use.
  • Publication
    Correlation between crystal structure and thermal reaction of TiOâ‚‚ - Graphene Oxide
    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.
  • Publication
    Photocatalytic fuel cell based on zinc oxide loaded carbon plate photoanode for simultaneous photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes and electricity generation
    ( 2020-01-01)
    Ong Y.P.
    ;
    Ho L.N.
    ;
    Ong S.A.
    ;
    ;
    Photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) is promising to own its synchronous degradation of organic pollutants with electricity generation under illumination of light. The oxidation and reduction process promote the conversion of chemical energy in the pollutants into electrical energy. In this study, PFC is driven by the electrode reactions between the zinc oxide loaded carbon plate (ZnO/C) photoanode and carbon plate cathode under irradiation of UVA light. The ZnO/C photoanode was successfully fabricated by using simple ultrasonication-annealed method and investigated by XRD, SEM and EDX. To investigate the capability of the PFC, reactive red 120 (RR120), congo red (CR) and acid orange 7 (AO7) are employed well compared among themselves. The results indicated that the molecular structure of azo dyes with different adsorption of light by dye itself, number of azo bonds and sulfonic groups can be the crucial factors of decolorization in the PFC. The photocatalytic fuel cell with AO7 as sacrificial agent was able to perform 82.43% of decolorization efficiency, a maximum short circuit current (JSC) of 0.0017 mA cm-2 and maximum power density (Pmax) of 0.0886 µW cm -2.
  • Publication
    The Microstructural and Bioactivity Behavior of Magnesium Alloy Filled with Bioglass for Biomedical Application
    ( 2022-01-24) ;
    Dahlan N.F.
    ;
    ;
    Baharom N.A.
    Magnesium alloy have known as degradable implant material due to biodegradable properties. However, by developed Mg alloy matrix composites containing a bioceramic will produced more biodegradable and does not need second surgical to remove the implants in body. Powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate the AZ91/BG composite by mixing, compacting and sintering. Mg alloy (AZ91) was reinforced with 0, 3, 6, and 9 wt% of bioglass (BG) before compact and sintered at 400°C for 2 hours. The Vickers hardness, scanning electron microscope, and x-ray diffraction are used to investigate the effect of BG particles addition on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the composite AZ91/BG. Bioactivity behaviour was studied by immersion test of AZ91/BG composite into phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution for 72 hours. The results showed that as the addition of BG increases from 3 to 9 wt%, the hardness of AZ91/BG decrease from 43.3HV to 27.9HV. The result also showed the formation of protective layers or apatite layer on the surface of AZ91/BG composite after immersed in PBS solution for 72 hours. Phase analysis by XRD shows the presence of peak Ca10(OH)2(PO4)6 as the BG increased from 3 to 9 wt%. As a conclusion, AZ91/3BG shows the optimum composite for biomedical application based on its properties and bioactivity behaviour.
  • Publication
    Phase Analysis of Bio-Based Derived Tricalcium Disilicate From 2CaO:1SiO2 By X-ray Diffraction
    ( 2021-12-14)
    Siti Nur Hazwani Yunus
    ;
    Fhan K.S.
    ;
    ; ;
    Jakfar N.H.
    ;
    In this paper, tricalcium disilicate was formed from dicalcium silicate compound powder, synthesised via a mechanochemical technique using a stoichiometric 2CaO:1SiO2. Compound CaO and SiO2 were derived from the bio-waste of eggshell and rice husk at the calcination temperature of 900oC and 800oC, respectively. The dicalcium disilicate powder was sintered for 2 hours at different temperatures ranging from 1150oC to 1350oC. Using X-ray diffraction with Rietveld analysis, it was found that the amount of tricalcium disilicate with monoclinic (beta) crystal structure increases on sintering temperature at the expense of dicalcium silicate. The complete formation of single-phase tricalcium disilicate began at a sintering temperature of 1300oC. The effect of sintering temperatures on the crystallisation and phase transition of dicalcium silicate is reported. The size of crystallites depends on the sintering temperature. The finding of this study rebound to the benefit of society by reducing the risk-off pollution cause by accessive redundant bio-waste eggshell and rice husk and also reduced the amount of CaO and SiO2 used in the fabrication of Ca3Si2O7
  • Publication
    UVA-irradiated dual photoanodes and dual cathodes photocatalytic fuel cell: Mechanisms and Reactive Red 120 degradation pathways
    ( 2022-11-01)
    Ong Yong Por
    ;
    ; ; ; ;
    Thor Shen Hui
    ;
    Lee Sin Li
    ;
    Teoh Tean Peng
    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.
  • Publication
    Dielectric properties of Nephelium Lappaceum tropical wood
    Dielectric properties of rambutan wood (Nephelium Lappaceum) were investigated in three anisotropic directions, namely miters-cut, cross-cut, and rib-cut. Dielectric constants and dielectric loss factors were measured at ambient temperatures by using an impedance analyzer. The dielectric constant decreased as frequency increased from 4 to 1 MHz. Among the wood specimens, the rib-cut direction has the lowest dielectric constant, while the cross-cut direction has the highest value. A dielectric dispersion occurred within frequencies 100 Hz to 10 kHz, which corresponding to a relaxation peak as observed on dielectric loss factor spectra. The relaxation peak value of the dielectric loss factors shifted towards higher frequencies in the sequence of rib-cut, miters-cut, and cross-cut specimen. Above 500 Hz, the cross-cut specimen has the highest value conductivity than others. Generally, these variations were subjected to the anatomical structure in the wood, such as parenchyma, ray cell, vessel cell, and fiber cell.