Looking under the bonnet:factors affecting student adoption of e-learning systems in Jordan

The primary questions addressed in this paper are the following: what are the factors that affect students’ adoption of an e-learning system and what are the relationships among these factors? This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting students’ adoption of an e-learning system in a university in Jordan. E-learning adoption is approached from the information systems acceptance point of view. This suggests that a prior condition for learning effectively using e-learning systems is that students must actually use them. Thus, a greater knowledge of the factors that affect IT adoption and their interrelationships is a pre-cursor to a better understanding of student acceptance of e-learning systems. In turn, this will help and guide those who develop, implement, and deliver e-learning systems. In this study, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed to investigate the underlying factors that influence students’ decisions to use an e-learning system. The TAM was populated using data gathered from a survey of 486 undergraduate students using the Moodle based e-learning system at the Arab Open University. The model was estimated using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). A path model was developed to analyze the relationships between the factors to explain students’ adoption of the e-learning system. Whilst findings support existing literature about prior experience affecting perceptions, they also point to surprising group effects, which may merit future exploration

Optimization Of Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment By Applying RSM And ANN

AbstractThe optimization of the COD removal from palm oil mill effluent (POME) has done. The correlation of concentration and pH of POME, and Trans membrane pressure (TMP) of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane was optimized by response surface method using a second order polynomial model with Box Behken design consist of 17 runs. To determine whether the model was adequate for representing the experimental data; it was indicated by the ANNOVA table (p-value, lack of fit and R2 values).  The main factor influenced the COD removal was concentration and pH of POME.  The optimum conditions were determined from 3D response surface and 2D contour graphs i.e. 28.30% of POME concentration at pH 10.75 and TMP 0.69 kPa to yield 24.1372 mg/L of COD value. The results demonstrate that the response surface method effective to minimize the number of experiment. Keywords: POME; RO membrane; RSM; ANN; CO

How Viable Is the UTAUT Model in a Non-Western Context?

The present research examines the plausibility of Unified Theory Acceptance and Use Technology (UTAUT) model in predicting internet banking behaviour as a newly adopted technology third world countries. Data is collected from three Arab countries: Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Confirmatory factor analysis is applied to test constructs measurement and model hypotheses. Findings are congruent with model testing under conditions of volitional usage behaviour. In this regard, the role of facilitating conditions variable is insignificant as a determinant of usage behaviour. Social norms variable also proved to be weak determinant of behavioural intentions mainly owing to users’ experience. Findings demonstrate effort expectancy as the key determinant of internet banking usage behaviour in the examined markets, while users’ experience moderates the impact of effort expectancy on behavioural intention. Results should enhance our understanding of internet banking usage in developing countries and support e-services promoting in this region

Application of Response Surface Method in Reverse Osmosis Membrane to Optimize BOD, COD and Colour Removal from Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is typically non-biodegradable and has high concentration of organic matter that represented as COD, BOD and Colour values. The correlation of concentration and pH of POME, and Trans membrane pressure (TMP) of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane was optimized by response surface method using a second order polynomial model with central composite design (CCD) which is a part model of response surface method (RSM) in Design-Expert® software. The main limits that influenced the parameters removal i.e. concentration of POME, pH of solution and transmembrane pressure were empirically determined at laboratory level and successfully optimized using RSM. The best conditions were determined from 3D response surface and 2D contour graphs i.e. 10.05% of POME concentration at pH 3.0 and TMP 0.50 kPa to yield the last values of COD, BOD and Colour i.e. 24.1372 mg/L,  24.33 mg/L and 11.76 PtCo, respectively.  The results show that the response surface method effective to reduce the number of experiment

Adsorption of organic water pollutants by clays and clay minerals composites: A comprehensive review

Clays and clay minerals are inexpensive, non-toxic, and naturally occurring minerals that have been utilized in water remediation as adsorbents. However, clays and clay minerals and those modified with heat, surfactants, acids, or organic-inorganic modifiers exhibit low adsorption capacity and re-generation ability towards organic water pollutants. The development of clays and clay minerals composites has gained considerable attention in recent years due to their enhanced adsorption capacity, ease of recovery from aqueous solution and improved physiochemical properties relative to raw and modified clays and clay minerals. This review aims to assess recent literature on clays and clay minerals composites including bentonite, montmorillonite and kaolinite intercalated with carbonaceous, metals, metal oxides, chitosan and polymeric materials and appraise their adsorption performance towards organic water pollutants. The review examines the effect of the composites' physicochemical properties on the adsorption performance and evaluates the adsorption mechanism as well as regeneration methods. The review also attempts to highlight the current progress in this area by assessing the outcomes of recently published articles and outline the research gaps for future research.This publication was made possible by an Award [GSRA6-2-0516-19029] from Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The contents herein are solely the responsibility of the author[s]. Open access funding is provided by the Qatar National Library.Scopu

Novel Graphene-Zinc Iron Oxide Composite to Enhance Ultrafiltration Membrane Performance for Water Treatment and Desalination

The main target of membrane technologies such as the Ultrafiltration (UF), Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse osmosis (RO) is to produce better filtration and separation of organic and inorganic substance from water as well as for longer life of the membrane. The phase inversion method is a well-known method to fabricate UF, NF and RO membranes for different application. The UF membrane is widely used in separation of macromolecules from solution as pretreatment stage with higher efficiency in hybrid process. The UF membrane made by pure polymer showed low flux, which affect on process performance of separation. The Polysulphone (PSF) is the most common polymer used in UF membrane which a hydrophobic material is making its surface prone to fouling due to adsorptive mechanism. This limitation of UF membranes have been solved by blended with nanoparticles incorporated membranes which showed significant enhancement on permeability, surface hydrophilicity, mechanical properties and other properties such as the selectivity. The main objective of this study to modify of UF membrane by blended with new composite nano-material for higher rejection of salt and organic substances. The graphene-zinc iron oxide composite as new nano-material was synthesized by sol gel method at low temperature of preparation. The composite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to show the structure, morphology and particle size of nanoparticles. Thermal decomposition was determined using thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TGDSC). The results showed that cubic system of zinc iron oxide nanoparticles with 8 nm of crystal size was obtained using XRD. The morphology using TEM showed zinc iron oxide composite graphene as layer of nanoparticles with size lower than 10 nm which confirmed the XRD results. The novel synthesized of zinc iron oxide nanoparticles embedded in graphene incorporated into polysulfone (PSF) with 0.5 wt. % loading which significant impact on the UF membrane properties was investigated. The effect of composite additive on membrane properties was investigated in terms of permeability, hydrophilicity (contact angle), zeta potential, porosity and pore size. However, the membrane cross section, surface, EDX and mapping were also analyzed using FESEM include EDX analyzer. This composite incorporated PSF showed significant improvement in terms of surface hydrophilicity with reduction of about 25% (reduce contact angle from 82 to 62). This improvement confirms by increasing the zeta potential values and surface negatively charge of blended PSF with composite compared to pure PSF membrane. The permeability results showed that significant increased more than two times compared to pure PSF membrane. The phenomenon of permeability increasing was attributed to increase of porosity of blended membrane which becomes lower resistance of water permeation. Generally, the rate of pore production has been reported directly affected by rate of solvent and non-solvent exchange in phase inversion process. However, higher rejections of organic substances such as the dyes and humic acid as well as the salt such as Sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) were maintained using UF at low pressure. This enhancement affects on time and load of process especially when hybrid with Nanofiltration (NF) which can increase of membrane life and reduce of overall process cost. The results of this study will have bigger impact in the future for different application including for water treatment and desalination.qscienc

Adsorption of 4-Nitrophenol onto Iron Oxide Bentonite Nanocomposite: Process Optimization, Kinetics, Isotherms and Mechanism

Despite its importance in chemical industry, 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) is a persistent organic pollutant that has serious effects on the ecosystem. In the present study, Box–Behnken design in response surface methodology was used to optimize the adsorption process parameters for the maximum 4-NP removal at 30 ℃ using Fe3O4/Bt NC. The regression model results suggested that the optimum adsorbent dosage, initial concentration, pH and contact time were 0.3182 g, 85 mg/L, 11 and 137.2 min, respectively. The regression model showed an optimum removal of 100%, while 99.5% removal was obtained from batch experiments at the optimum conditions suggested by the regression model, which confirm the model validity. The adsorption data best fitted to Freundlich isotherm model and Pseudo second-order kinetic model suggesting the existence of physical and chemical interaction between the fabricated composite and 4-NP. FTIR analysis suggested that the adsorption mechanism included an electrostatic attraction and the formation of new chemical bonds. Obtained results suggest that Fe3O4/Bt NC can be an effective adsorbent for complete 4-NP removal at the indicated optimum conditions.This research was made possible by an NPRP Grant # 10-0127-170270 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The author Dina Ewis acknowledged the financial support of QNRF through the Graduate Sponsorship Research Award (GSRA) number GSRA#6-2-0516-19029.Scopu

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 into formate/formic acid: A review of cell design and operation

The release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere is threatening the environment and ecosystems, resulting in major challenges to sustainable development for modern industry. In this context, CO2 electrochemical reduction (CO2 ECR) is one of the most promising technologies to mitigate the effects of high CO2 content in the atmosphere. Electrochemical technology can convert CO2 into value-added chemicals including methanol, ethanol and formate. In this review, different mechanisms of CO2 electrochemical reduction into formate/formic acid are reviewed, highlighting the different cell designs. Also, the effect of cell design and operating parameters on the electrochemical reduction process are discussed. The review aims to highlight recent developments in the CO2 electrochemical cell design for formate production and provide guidelines for future advancements. Challenges of large-scale production and research gaps are also provided. 2023 The AuthorsThe authors would like to acknowledge the support of Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) through Grant # NPRP 12 C-33923-SP-102 (NPRP12 C-0821-190017). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.Scopu

Effective Heterogeneous Fenton-Like degradation of Malachite Green Dye Using the Core-Shell Fe3O4@SiO2 Nano-Catalyst

In this study, the application of the core-shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nano-catalysts for fenton-like degradation of malachite green dye has been presented. The nano-catalysts were prepared using a combination of solvothermal and sol-gel techniques and characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM/EDX, TEM and VSM techniques. The effects of various reaction parameters on the degradation of malachite green dye using the prepared nano-catalysts were investigated. The optimal condition for pH, catalyst dosage and H2O2 amount were found to be at 6.7, 15 mg and 50 μL, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, a degradation efficiency of 96.18 % for malachite green dye was achieved using the catalyst within 30 minutes at 303 K with a pseudo first order rate constant of 0.1102 min−1. The plausible mechanism for MG degradation was determined to be the combination of adsorption and simultaneous decomposition via formation of hydroxyl radicals. The performance of the nano-catalyst was compared with other fenton-like catalysts reported in the literature. Finally, the magnetic properties of the Fe3O4@SiO2 catalysts was utilized for its successful recovery and application in multiple degradation cycles.This research was made possible by an NPRP Grant#10-0127-170270 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The authors would like to acknowledge the help Centre for Advanced Materials (CAM) at Qatar University and Mr. Abdullah Al Ashraf for providing XRD test data. SEM/EDX tests was accomplished in the Central Laboratories unit, Qatar University.Scopu

Microwave-assisted conversion of palm kernel shell biomass waste to photoluminescent carbon dots

In the present work, palm kernel shell (PKS) biomass waste has been used as a low-cost and easily available precursor to prepare carbon dots (CDs) via microwave irradiation method. The impacts of the reacting medium: water and diethylene glycol (DEG), and irradiation period, as well as the presence of chitosan on the CDs properties, have been investigated. The synthesized CDs were characterized by several physical and optical analyses. The performance of the CDs in terms of bacteria cell imaging and copper (II) ions sensing and removal were also explored. All the CDs possessed a size of 6–7 nm in diameter and the presence of hydroxyl and alkene functional groups indicated the successful transformation of PKS into CDs with carbon core consisting of C = C elementary unit. The highest quantum yield (44.0%) obtained was from the CDs synthesised with DEG as the reacting medium at irradiation period of 1 min. It was postulated that the high boiling point of DEG resulted in a complete carbonisation of PKS into CDs. Subsequently, the absorbance intensity and photoluminescence intensity were also much higher compared to other precursor formulation. All the CDs fluoresced in the bacteria culture, and fluorescence quenching occurred in the presence of heavy metal ions. These showed the potential of CDs synthesised from PKS could be used for cellular imaging and detection as well as removal of heavy metal ions