Water pollution as a result of contamination with dye-contaminating effluents is a severe issue for water reservoirs, which instigated the study of biodegradation of Reactive Red 195 and Reactive Blue dyes by E. coli and Bacillus sp. The effects of occupation time, solution pH, initial dyes concentrations, biomass loading, and temperature were investigated via batch-system experiments by using the Design of Experiment (DOE) for 2 levels and 5 factors response surface methodology (RSM). The operational conditions used for these factors were optimized using quadratic techniques by reducing the number of experiments. The results revealed that the two types of bacteria had a powerful effect on biodegradable dyes. The regression analysis reveale

In this work we used the environmentally friendly method to prepared ZrO2 nanoparticles utilizing the extract of Thyms plant In basic medium and at pH 12, the ZrO2 NPs was characterized by different techniques such as FTIR, ultraviolet visible, Atomic force microscope, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Energy dispersive X-ray. The average crystalline size was calculated using the Debye Scherres equation in value 7.65 nm. Atomic force microscope results showed the size values for ZrO2 NPs were 45.11nm, and there are several distortions due to the presence of some large sizes. Atomic force microscope results showed the typical size values for ZrO2 NPs were 45.11 nm, and there are several distortions due to the presence of so

This article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) represent the most promising materials in many applications. MNPs have been synthesized by co-precipitation of ferric and ferrous ions in alkaline solution. Two methods of synthesis were conducted with different parameters, such as temperature (25 and 80 ̊C), adding a base to the reactants and the opposite process, and using nitrogen as an inert gas. The product of the first method (MNPs-1) and the second method (MNPs-2) were characterized by x-ray diffractometer (XRD), Zeta Potential, atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). AFM results showed convergent particle size of (MNPs-1) and (MNPs-2) with (86.01) and (74.14)

Catalytic reduction is considered an effective approach for the reduction of toxic organic pollutants from the environment, but finding an active catalyst is still a big challenge. Herein, Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst was synthesized through polyol reduction method and applied for catalytic reduction (conversion) of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst displayed an outstanding reduction activity with 99% conversion of 4-NP in 5 min with a 0.61 min−1 reaction rate (k). A number of structural characterization techniques were executed to investigate the influence of Ag on CeO2 and its effect on the catalytic conversion of 4-NP. The outstanding catalytic performances of the Ag-CeO2 catalyst can be assigne

Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) are common skin disorders affecting the scalp and extending to other body sites in the case of SD. They are associated with pruritus and scaling, causing an esthetical disturbance in the population affected.   Treatment of such conditions involves using a variety of drugs for long terms, thus optimizing drug formulation is essential to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Conventional topical formulations like shampoos and creams have been widely used but their use is associated with disadvantages. To overcome such effects, novel topical nanotechnology-based formulations are currently under investigation. In the following article, we highlight recently published formulatio

In this work, p-n junctions were fabricated from highly-pure nanostructured NiO and TiO2 thin films deposited on glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The structural characterization showed that the prepared multilayer NiO/TiO2 thin film structures were highly pure as no traces for other compounds than NiO and TiO2 were observed. It was found that the absorption of NiO-on-TiO2 structure is higher than that of the TiO2-on-NiO. Also, the NiO/TiO2 heterojunctions exhibit typical electrical characteristics, higher ideality factor and better spectral responsivity when compared to those fabricated from the same materials by the same technique and with larger particle size and lower structural purity.

Undoped and Co-doped zinc oxide (CZO) thin films have been prepared by spray pyrolysis technique using solution of zinc acetate and cobalt chloride. The effect of Co dopants on structural and optical properties has been investigated. The films were found to exhibit maximum transmittance (~90%) and low absorbance. The structural properties of the deposited films were examined by x-ray diffraction (XRD). These films, deposited on glass substrates at (400? C), have a polycrystalline texture with a wurtzite hexagonal structure, and the grain size was decreased with increasing Co concentration, and no change was observed in lattice constants while the optical band gap decreased from (3.18-3.02) eV for direct allowed transition. Other parameters