Biodiesel can be prepared from various types of vegetable oils or animal fats with the aid of a catalyst.
Calcium oxide (CaO) is one of the prospective heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis. Modification
of CaO by impregnation on silica (SiO2) can improve the performance of CaO as catalyst. Egg shells and rice
husks as biomass waste can be used as raw materials for the preparation of the silica modified CaO catalyst.
The present study was directed to synthesize and characterize CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst from biomass
waste and apply it as catalyst in biodiesel synthesis. The catalyst was synthesized by wet impregnation
method and characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and
basicity density. The activity of the catalyst in biodiesel synthesis was assayed at different molar ratios of
palm oil to methanol ranging from 1:6, 1:9, 1:12 and 1:15. The biodiesel composition was determined by gas
chromatography-mass spectroscopy and the properties of the biodiesel were also characterized. The results
showed that the CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst was successfully synthesized based on confirmation by XRD
and XRF. The catalyst has a surface area, average pore diameter, total pore volume, and basicity density of
19.38 m2
/g, 3.22 nm, 0.0122 cm3
/g, and 3.4 mmol/g, respectively. The catalyst activity assay indicates that
the molar ratio of palm oil to methanol of 1:12 is the optimum condition for biodiesel synthesis. At this
molar ratio, 81.4% biodiesel yield was achieved, and it met the quality standards according to ASTM D
6751.
Silver Indium Aluminum Selenium AgIn1xAlxSe2 AIAS for x=01 thin films was deposited by thermal evaporation at RT and different︣︢︡ ︠︣1thickness 100 150 and 200 nm on the glass Substrate and p2Si wafer to produce AIAS/p3Si heterojunctionsolarcell4 Structural optical electrical and photovoltaicproperties6 are investigated for the samples XRD analysis reveals that all the deposited AIAS films show polycrystalline structure without any change due to increase of thickness Average diameter and roughness calculated from AFM images shows an increase in its value with increasing thickness The optical absorbance and transmittance for samples are measured using a spectrometer type UV Visible 1800 spectra1photometer to study the energy6gap The
... Show MoreZnO thin films have been prepared by pulse laser deposition technique at room temperatures (RT). These films were deposited on GaAs substrate to form the ZnO/GaAs heterojunction solar cell. The effect of annealing temperatures at ( RT,100, 200)K on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films has been investigated. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that all films have hexagonal polycrystalline structure. AFM shows that the grains uniformly distributed with homogeneous structure. The optical absorption spectra showed that all films have direct energy gap. The band gap energy of these films decreased with increasing annealing temperatures. From the electrical properties, the carriers have n-type conductivity. From
... Show MoreCalcareous nannofossils were documented from the upper part of the Cretaceous Balambo Formation in northern Iraq with the aim of determining an evidence for the Oceanic Anoxic Event. A detailed investigation of the calcareous nannofossils led to the identification of twenty-four species. Regarding these data, Discolithus litterarius (Górka, 1957) was identified at the studied interval with the age of Early Aptian.
Early Aptian assemblages are dominated by nannoconids that drop sharply within the D. litterarius nannofossil zone, which may be related to the nannoconid crisis recorded in the Early Aptian in the other parts of the world. This event is coincided by a decrease in CaCO3<
... Show MoreThe present study was performed to detect the molecular and the phylogenetic identification of species that belonging to the genus of Moniezia Blanchard, 1891 which affected intestines of sheep in Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq; fifty intestine samples were sought for the infestation of Moniezia spp. from the city slaughterhouse from 1 October to 30 November 2017, this tapeworm was found to infest the intestines of 13 sheep.
For morphological identify the genus of this tapeworm, eggs from one gravid proglottid of the thirteen worms were examined, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR-product-based sequencing were applied on 4 Moniezia tapeworms targeti
... Show MoreThis study aimed to isolate and identify Cryptococcus species from three distinct sources: sputum samples of pigeon fanciers, dried pigeon droppings, and eucalyptus tree leaves. A total of 150 specimens were collected over a two-month period, comprising 50 samples each from human sputum, pigeon droppings collected across various areas of Baghdad, and eucalyptus leaves obtained from the Baghdad College of Veterinary Medicine. All samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented with chloramphenicol and incubated at 25°C for 2–3 days. From the initial cultures, 20 isolates presumptively identified as Cryptococcus spp. were obtained: 6 isolates (12%) from human sputum, 9 isolates (18%) from pigeon droppings, and 5 isol
... Show MoreThe meteorite with a single total mass of 630 gm as a visible meteorite has fallen on 22 March 2021, at 10:00 a.m. in Al-Sherqat subdistrict within Salah Al-Din, northern Iraq; and therefore, was named Al-Sherqat meteorite by the authors. It is characterized by a uniform structure of coherent and medium degree of malleability. It is of a well-crystalline structure and not homogeneous in composition. The Al-Sherqat meteorite is composed of metallic phases of 7.6 gm/cm3 density exhibiting an oriented intergrowth of kamacite (α-FeNi) with taenite showing a Widmanstätten pattern on an etched polished section with the finest octahedrite kamacite bandwidth of less than 0.2 mm. It is composed of Fe (86.9 wt%), Ni (9.63 wt%), P (1.31 wt%)
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