This research aims to improve the radiation shielding properties of polymer-based materials by mixing PVC with locally available building materials. Specifically, two key parameters of fast neutron attenuation (removal cross-section and half-value layer) were studied for composite materials comprising PVC reinforced with common building materials (cement, sand, gypsum and marble) in different proportions (10%, 30% and 50% by weight). To assess their effectiveness as protection against fast neutrons, the macroscopic neutron cross-section was calculated for each composite. Results show that neutron cross-section values are significantly affected by the reinforcement ratios, and that the composite material PVC + 50% gypsum is an effect

MR Younus…, 2020 - Cited by 2

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of a three-dimensional fractional-order prey-predator model is investigated with Holling type III functional response and constant rate harvesting. It is assumed that the middle predator species consumes only the prey species, and the top predator species consumes only the middle predator species. We also prove the boundedness, the non-negativity, the uniqueness, and the existence of the solutions of the proposed model. Then, all possible equilibria are determined, and the dynamical behaviors of the proposed model around the equilibrium points are investigated. Finally, numerical simulations results are presented to confirm the theoretical results and to give a better understanding of the dynami

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) are toxic chemical entities emitted invariably from stationary thermal operations when a trace of chlorine is present. Replacing the high-temperature destruction operations of these compounds with catalytic oxidation has led to the formulation of various potent metal oxides catalysts; among them are ceria-based materials. Guided by recent experimental measurements, this study theoretically investigates the initial steps operating in the interactions of ceria surface CeO2(111) with three CVOC model compounds, namely chloroethene (CE), chloroethane (CA) and chlorobenzene (CB). We find that, the CeO2(111) surface mediates fission of the carbon–chlorine bonds in the CE, CA and CB molecules via mo

In the present study, a powder mixture of elements Ti and Ni was mechanically alloyed in a high energy ball mill. Microstructure of the nanosized amorphous milled product in different stages of milling has been characterized by X- ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis. We found that time of mechanical alloying is more significant to convert all crystalline structure to the amorphous phase. Nanocrystalline phase was achieved as a result of the mechanical alloying process. The results also indicates that the phase transformation and the grain size occurs in these alloys are controlled by ball milling time

Pharmaceuticals are widely distributed in different applications and also released into the environment. Adsorption of Ciprofloxacin HCl (CIPH) on Porcelinaite was studied at ambient conditions. The adsorption isotherms can be well described using the Freundlich and Temkin equations. The pH of the solution influences significantly the adsorption capacity of Porcelinaite, the adsorption of CIPH increased from the initial pH 1.3 and then decreased over the pH rang of 3.8-9. The adsorption is sensitive to the change in ionic Strength, which indicate that electrostatic attraction is a significant mechanism for sorption process. The enthalpy change (∆H) for the adsorption of CIPH onto Porcelinaite signifies an endothermic adsorption. The ∆G

In this work, PAni nanofibers (NFs) are successfully synthesized via hydrothermal method. The structural, surface morphological, optical, electrical and H2S gas sensing properties have been investigated for PAni thin films deposited by spin coating technique. The XRD pattern reveals crystalline nature of PAni NFs with crystallite size of 9.2 nm. The SEM image of Polyaniline clearly indicates that the polymer possesses nanofiber like structure. The optical properties show that the optical energy gap follows allowed direct electronic transition calculated using Tauc’s equation. Intense hotoluminescence (PL) peaks at 309, 340 and 605 nm are observed. The electrical properties such as D.C. conductivity and Hall effect have been studied wher