Electrode Material as Anode for Improving the Electrochemical Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells

The energy generation without causing environmental pollution is a unique idea to make a better survival for human beings. In this regard, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been considered to be eco-friendly and efficient technology to produce renewable energy. The operations and functioning of MFCs technology were affected by many factors but the electrodes are the most essential and significant aspects in MFCs. Moreover, a wide variety of electrodes and MFCs configurations have been developed to enhance the electrochemical performance of MFCs. The carbon materials (graphite, graphene etc.) were commonly used for the electrode fabrication, due to some unique properties such as high conductivity, good thermal stability, high surface area, good mechanical power etc. In this chapter, different electrode materials, used for anode fabrication were summarized to reveal the performance/efficiency toward the generation of electricity. Finally, the electrochemical characterizations tool, current challenges, and future perspectives of the electrode in MFCs were discussed briefly

Gaya ‘Lukisan Kajian’. Perbandingan Karya Lukisan Pengkaryaan Dan Perekaan: Fenomena Visualisasi

Kajian ini meneroka gaya penghasilan‘stroke line’ atau kesan palitan mata pen secara ‘free hand drawing’ dalam menghasilkan bentuk illustrasi 3 Dimensi(3D).Tujuan kajian, adalahmembuat perbandingan ‘Gaya stroke line’(gSLine) antara bidang 'Art'dengan 'Architecture Graphic Presentation Drawing' yang diringkaskan sebagai ‘A+AGPD’. Batasan responden terdiri daripada pelukis artistik dan pelukis illustrasi seni bina yang aktif berkarya dan menghasilkan buku rujukan atau bahan ilmiah.Pengkaji mengkaji perbandingan (gSLine)dikalangan 6 orang responden yang dianggap pakar dalam kajian ini. Isu lukisan ‘free hand’ yang tidak berpekadaran, kejung dan kurang menjadi dikalangan pelajar seni dan seni bina ‘under-graduate’ sering dibincangkan dalam jurnal-jurnal dalam dan luar Malaysia bermula tahun 2001 hingga 2014. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif.Metodologi kajian melalui kaedah secara trangulasi iaitu pemerhatian, rakaman visual serta kajian literature telah digunakan dalam kajian ini.Fenomena (gSLine) dianalisis berdasarkan kepada unsur-unsur seni: garisan, rupa, bentuk, tekstur dan warna dalam menghasilkan illustrasi bentuk 3D secara ‘free hand’. Dapatan kajian secara literatur, mendapati karya artistik dikenali sebagai lukisan pengkaryaan.Manakala lukisan yang dihasilkan oleh pelukis illustrasi grafik seni bina, grafik dikenali sebagai lukisan perekaan.Dapatan kajian daripada 6 orang responden mendapati terdapat tiga perbezaan (gSLine) antara dua disiplin ilmu seni ini iaitu daya visual(perkadaran) ,emosi(seimbang) dan estetik(bernada) yang diringkaskan sebagai (dVEE). Dapatan kajian ini dikumpulkan dalam usaha pengkaji menghasilkan model hibrid ‘Art+Architecture Graphic Presentation Drawing’ (A+AGPD).Teori pemodelan Albert Bandura dan teori gabungan organik dirujuk dalam penghasilan model Proses dalam pembangunan menghasilkan (gSLine) yang berkualiti dalam menjelaskan ‘how’ atau bagaimana lukisan illustrasi 3D yang mempunyai (dVEE) boleh dihasilka

Self-assembled oil palm biomass-derived modified graphene oxide anode: An efficient medium for energy transportation and bioremediating Cd (II) via microbial fuel cells

Although microbial fuel cells (MFCs) rank among the most promising bioelectrochemical approaches for generating energy while removing pollutants from wastewater, their relatively poor performance, largely due to electrode material that hinder their applicability, has limited their commercial viability. Thus, in our study, self-assembled modified graphene oxide (GO) anodes were developed from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) biomass, and several techniques were applied to assess the physiochemical properties of material synthesized with waste material. Ultimately, the waste material was an excellent source for generating energy in the form of anodes in MFCs. The bioinspired modified GO anodes demonstrated greater energy output (135.96 mA/m2) of more than eight times the unmodified GO anodes (15.65 mA/m2), even though the source of inoculation was synthetic wastewater with 100 ppm of Cd (II) solution. To our knowledge, no work has reported removing Cd (II) from synthetic wastewater by using waste-derived anodes via MFCs. This paper reports on the utilization of waste-derived organic waste (oil palm trunk sap) as an organic substrate which is a healthy source of nutrients for bacteria in an inoculated media. Along with evidence of their electrochemical and biological character, the primary result achieved (i.e., 90% removal efficiency) supports using MFCs on an industrial scale

Spectrophotometric Analysis of Caffeine

The nature of caffeine reveals that it is a bitter white crystalline alkaloid. It is a common ingredient in a variety of drinks (soft and energy drinks) and is also used in combination with various medicines. In order to maintain the optimum level of caffeine, various spectrophotometric methods have been developed. The monitoring of caffeine is very important aspect because of its consumption in higher doses that can lead to various physiological disorders. This paper incorporates various spectrophotometric methods used in the analysis of caffeine in various environmental samples such as pharmaceuticals, soft and energy drinks, tea, and coffee. A range of spectrophotometric methodologies including chemometric techniques and derivatization of spectra have been used to analyse the caffeine

Spectrophotometric Analysis of Caffeine

The nature of caffeine reveals that it is a bitter white crystalline alkaloid. It is a common ingredient in a variety of drinks (soft and energy drinks) and is also used in combination with various medicines. In order to maintain the optimum level of caffeine, various spectrophotometricmethods have been developed.Themonitoring of caffeine is very important aspect because of its consumption in higher doses that can lead to various physiological disorders. This paper incorporates various spectrophotometricmethods used in the analysis of caffeine in various environmental samples such as pharmaceuticals, soft and energy drinks, tea, and coffee. Arange of spectrophotometric methodologies including chemometric techniques and derivatization of spectra have been used to analyse the caffeine

Advances and challenges in developing efficient graphene oxide-based ZnO photocatalysts for dye photo-oxidation

The efficient remediation of organic dyes from wastewater is increasingly valuable in water treatment technology, largely owing to the tons of hazardous chemicals currently and constantly released into rivers and seas from various industries, including the paper, pharmaceutical, textile, and dye production industries. Using solar energy as an inexhaustible source, photocatalysis ranks among the most promising wastewater treatment techniques for eliminating persistent organic pollutants and new emerging contaminants. In that context, developing efficient photocatalysts using sunlight irradiation and effectively integrating them into reactors, however, pose major challenges in the technologically relevant application of photocatalysts. As a potential solution, graphene oxide (GO)-based zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites may be used together with different components (i.e., ZnO and GO-based materials) to overcome the drawbacks of ZnO photocatalysts. Indeed, mounting evidence suggests that using GO-based ZnO nanocomposites can promote light absorption, charge separation, charge transportation, and photo-oxidation of dyes. Despite such advances, viable, low-cost GO-based ZnO nanocomposite photocatalysts with sufficient efficiency, stability, and photostability remain to be developed, especially ones that can be integrated into photocatalytic reactors. This article offers a concise overview of state-of-the-art GO-based ZnO nanocomposites and the principal challenges in developing them

CLASSIFICATION OF ARM MOVEMENT BASED ON UPPER LIMB MUSCLE SIGNAL FOR REHABILITATION DEVICE

Rehabilitation device is used as an exoskeleton for people who experience limb failure. Arm rehabilitation device may ease the rehabilitation programme for those who suffer arm dysfunctional. The device used to facilitate the tasks of the program should improve the electrical activity in the motor unit by minimising the mental effort of the user. Electromyography (EMG) is the techniques to analyse the presence of electrical activity in musculoskeletal systems. The electrical activity in muscles of disable person are failed to contract the muscle for movements. To prevent the muscles from paralysis becomes spasticity or flaccid the force of movements has to minimise the mental efforts. To minimise the used of cerebral strength, analysis on EMG signals from normal people are conducted before it can be implement in the device. The signals are collect according to procedure of surface electromyography for non-invasive assessment of muscles (SENIAM). The implementation of EMG signals is to set the movements’ pattern of the arm rehabilitation device. The filtered signal further the process by extracting the features as follows; Standard Deviation(STD), Mean Absolute Value(MAV), Root Mean Square(RMS), Zero Crossing(ZCS) and Variance(VAR). The extraction of EMG data is to have the reduced vector in the signal features for minimising the signals error than can be implement in classifier. The classification of features is by SOMToolbox using MATLAB. The features extraction of EMG signals is classified into several degree of arm movement visualize in U- Matrix form

Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer for removal of Congo red

Congo red (CR) is an anionic azo dye widely used in many industries including pharmaceutical, textile, food and paint industries. The disposal of huge amount of CR into the various streams of water has posed a great threat to both human and aquatic life. Therefore, it has become an important aspect of industries to remove CR from diferent water sources. Molecular imprinting technology is a very slective method to remove various target pollutant from environment. In this study a precipitation polymerization was employed for the efective and selective removal of CR from contaminated aqueous media. A series of congo red molecularly imprinted polymers (CR-MIPs) of uniform size and shape was developed by changing the mole ratio of the components. The optimum ratio (0.1:4: 20, template, functional monomer and cross-linking monomer respectively) for CR1-MIP from synthesized polymers was able to rebind about 99.63% of CR at the optimum conditions of adsorption parameters (contact time 210 min, polymer dosage 0.5 g, concentration 20 ppm and pH 7). The synthesized polymers were characterized by various techniques such as Fourier Infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Brumauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The

Study on moisture-cured Polyurethane as undercoating layer for Metallization

In this work a technique of metallizing substrate via electroless plating using moisture-cured polyurethane (MCPU) system as the undercoat is presented. MCPU prepolymer was prepared by mixing polyethylene glycol divinyl ether and diphenylmethane-4, 4’-diisocyanate in 1:1 ratio. The effects of etching time as well as curing period on the surface characteristic of MCPU undercoating were investigated. Contact angle measurements, FTIR and SEM were employed to study the changes on the surface of the treated MCPU undercoatsprior to electroless nickel plating. Electroless plating was performed using nickel bath and visual inspection was performed after completing the electroless plating cycles. Relative increase in wettability of the treated MCPU was observed. The surface became hydrophilic after subjecting to mild etching for 1 minute. SEM analysis revealed different pitted structures on the treated MCPU that were cured at different periods. FTIR analysis of the treated MCPU showed some chemical changes marked by the presence of free hydroxyl group and decrease of CH (methylene), urethane C=O, urethane amide and ether peaks. FTIR also showed the sign of further NCO reaction, which indicates by the decrease of NCO peak and increase of NH and urea C=O peaks. The standard pull-off testing method (ASTM D 4541) was employed to evaluate the adhesion strength of nickel deposits coated on MCPU undercoating layer.The test results revealed that curing period and etching time influence the adhesion performance.The results also show that at a selected curing period, prolong etching time will decrease the adhesion strength. Meanwhile prolong curing period will improve the adhesion strength

Thin-Layer Chromatographic Analysis of Steroids : A Review

Thin layer chromatography has been used for the analysis of natural and synthetic steroids in various environmental materials. This review focuses mainly on steroid analysis in environmental materials such as pharmaceuticals, plant products and other biological specimens. The most widely investigated biological specimens are urine and blood plasma or serum. Various chromatographic systems useful for the identification; separation and quantification of surfactants are also reported in this review