Preparation of Anticorrosive Titanium Iron Phosphate Layer on Iron Surface and Analyse the Impact of Preparatory Temperature of the Layer

Anticorrosive layers are one of the most widespread techniques to prevent iron from corrosion. A titanium rich (55,000 ppm) titanium iron phosphate contained leachate was prepared from dissolution of ilmenite in a concentrated phosphoric acid medium by refluxing. The required refluxing time (5 hours) was determined by colorimetry to achieve the maximum titanium concentration during experimental period. Prepared titanium iron phosphate contained leachate was applied onto clean iron surfaces while concentrated phosphoric acid applying as control specimens. Heat treatments were done on the layered iron pieces at the temperature range from 200 C to 1000 C. There were two same tests performed under each temperature. The corrosion rates were determined by the weight loss method and analysing the total iron dissolution rate in a prepared corrosion medium. The total iron dissolution rate was calculated using the colorimetric method based on the absorbance values of the orange color complex of ferrous ions and 1,10 phenanthroline. The graphs of corrosion rates at four hours immersion time versus the preparatory temperature were plotted for both methods. They indicate that high corrosion rates (0.062 mgcm-2h-1) at lower temperatures (around 200 C) and low corrosion rates (0.010 mgcm-2h-1) at the temperature range from 800 C to 900 C. Then the corrosion rate was gradually decreased when increase the preparatory temperature of layers. Then the corrosion inhibition efficiency values were calculated for each analysed preparatory temperatures with the help of calculated corrosion rates. When lower temperatures (around 200 C) were used, percentage inhibition efficiency of the respective layers was also low (4%) and the highest corrosion inhibition efficiency values (around 20%) were achieved at the preparatory temperature range from 800 C to 900 C during experimental period. According to the inhibition efficiency values, the temperature range from 800 C to 900 C for the preparation of layer is most suitable as it indicates the lowest corrosion rates.Keywords: Ilmenite, iron, Anticorrosive layers, Corrosion rate, Anticorrosive efficienc

Green Synthesis of Biolubricant from Palm Oil Biodiesel

Lubricants are the substances used to lubricate machinery parts to reduce friction and increase their lifetimes. Producing environment-friendly lubricants from renewable feed stocks as alternatives to depleting petroleum based resources has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The lubricants prepared from renewable feed stocks exhibited excellent lubricating properties and nontoxicity. The present study was carried out to synthesise biolubricant base stock from palm oil biodiesel using a green approach. Synthesis of biodiesel and biolubricants using green approaches have attracted much attention in last decade. Synthesis is mainly based on three steps: firstly, the synthesis of palm oil biodiesel, then epoxidation of biodiesel and finally ring-opening of epoxide to yield the potential biolubricant. The trans-esterification reaction was performed to yield biodiesel from palm oil using methanol and NaOH as a catalyst. The modification of biodiesel in to epoxidised form was carried out using glacial acetic acid, H2O2 and amberlite IR-120H resin as a catalyst. The ring opening of epoxidised biodiesel was performed using 1-naphthol in the presence of magnesium silicate catalyst, which was synthesise using rice hull ash. However, the expected ring opening product was not observed. Then, epoxidised biodiesel was reacted with lauric acid in the absence of magnesium silicate and the expected product was formed. The prepared magnesium silicate catalyst was characterised by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy and GC-MS analysis were used to characterise the products. Both GC-MS and FTIR results indicates the formation of fatty acid methyl esters and their conversion to epoxidised form. Disappearance of epoxy characteristic band which appeared at 845 cm-1 in FTIR spectrum confirms the formation of potential biolubricant. Density and viscosity of potential biolubricant were measured in contrast to the biodiesel. The measured density values of biodiesel and biolubricant are 0.830 g/cm3, 0.937 g/cm3 respectively. The measured kinematic viscosity values of biodiesel and biolubricant at 40° C are 4.0932 cSt, 14.9087 cSt and at 100° C are 1.6009 cSt, 3.5539 cSt respectively. These results illustrate that synthesised biolubricant consist of better lubricant properties compared to the biodiesel.Keywords: Biolubricants, Green approach, Biodiese

Dialectic nature of digital culture: theoretical analysis of evolutionary 'digital Buddhism' of social media debate

Popular Buddhism is one of the key cultural aspects in present Sri Lankan society.  Its main cause is the characteristics of the path of the Buddhism which it currently travels. Digital anthropology is a field that studies the complex relationships between human culture and the concept of digital. Prominently, digital is a concept based on binary numbers which means 1 and 0. This research aims to provide some insight into the behavior of digital within the social institution of religion. To accomplish these objectives the researchers utilized a Facebook page (Siri Sadaham Ashramaya) and conducted an analysis through the comments from its purposively selected post and it was based on speech act theory elaborated by J. L. Austin (1962) and John Searle (1975). The theoretical approach for this research is the first principle of digital anthropology: dialectic nature of digital culture, developed by Daniel Miller and Heather Horst. A hypothesis was applied as: modern popular Buddhism expand the dialectic nature of culture through social media that consisted of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis as Hegal and Marx stated. The results of the study proved the hypothesis and the opinions of the respective audience’s reactions and comments among the applied Facebook page, and emphasized the dialectical nature of digital culture which means the contribution to the increment of logical background of the culture. Consequently, this study suggests that the modern popular Buddhism concept evolved into a novel concept as “Digital Buddhism” and it can be defined as a new division of Sri Lankan Buddhism as proposed by Gananth Obeyesekere and Richard Gombrich during 1988s. Researchers propose a newly designed model to analyze the digital nature and the theoretical perspective of digital anthropology utilizing the nature of modern popular Buddhism. KEYWORDS:  anthropology, digital, dialectic, popular Buddhism, culture  &nbsp

Solid-Like Electrolyte Based on Cellulosic Biomass Materials for Cost Effective and Eco-Friendly Lithium Ion Batteries Function as a Sustainable Energy Source

The demand for the sustainable energy sources has increased due to the environmental issues, durability and cost. Lithium ion rechargeable batteries (LiBs) are widely known as a renewable energy source. LiBs can be converted to effective sustainable energy sources when they are modified to acquire the criterias of sustainable energy sources other than rechargeability. In the present, there is an inclination to develop all-solid state and solid-like electrolytes for LiBs due to the environmental and safety issues resulted by liquid electrolytes. In this work, an experiment was carried out to design a lithium ion battery using a solid-like electrolyte based on cellulosic biomass. Cellulosic biomass is very abundant, low cost and eco-friendly. Cellulose is a crucial extractable material of cellulosic biomass and carboxymethyl cellulose can be synthesized from cellulose. In here, one component of the electrolyte synthesized is lithium dichlorocarboxymethyl cellulose (LiCMC) using cellulose, LiOH and trichloroacetic acid. Tricholoacetic acid can be extracted from disinfected byproducts in water. LiCMC has various advantages over typical sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. LiCMC has additional chlorine atoms and lithium ions which directly promote the segmental motion diffusion of lithium ions. The prepared LiCMC was crosslinked with β-cyclodextrin (BCD) using citric acid. In here, BCD is very efficient because it is environmentally friendly and its cavities enhance the lithium ion conduction. Another component in this electrolyte is LiCMC grafted mesoporous silica (MS). The cavities of MS enhance the lithium ion conductivity and the robustness of MS improves the durability of the battery. In the preparation of the electrolyte, citric acid cross linked LiCMC-BCD and LiCMC grafted MS were incorporated together. The resulted hydrogel was dipped in LiCl aqueous solution and then it was used as the electrolyte. Graphite/graphene oxide (GO) composite was used as the anode and Cobalt oxide-GO hydrogel was used as the cathode of the prepared cell. The performance of the assembled cell was analyzed using charge-discharge curves. The assembled cell showed an initial current density of 1.5 mA cm-2 and maximum current density of 4.5 mA cm-2 in charging and initial current density of 0.90 mA cm-2 and minimum current density of 0.20 mA cm-2 in discharging. The synthesized materials mentioned in above were analyzed using FTIR-ATR data. The eco-friendliness, cost effectiveness of the materials chosen in cell preparation and the desirable cell performance induce the viability to develop LiBs as sustainable energy sources.Keywords: Sustainable energy sources, Cellulosic biomass, Solid-like electrolytes, Lithium dichlorocarboxymethyl cellulose, β-cyclodextri

Investigation of Photochemical Smog Formation after Removal of Water Soluble Organic and Inorganic Fractions in the Diesel Exhaust Fume

The exhaust fume from internal combustion engines has been one of the largest pollutants in aquatic and atmospheric systems in the world1. The formation of oxides of nitrogen under high pressures and temperatures during the combustion process of the engine initiates a chain of reactions with volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) in the presence of UV light to form photochemical smog in the atmosphere3. This research investigates the possibility to reduce the photochemical smog by removing a water soluble fraction of diesel fumes. In the general experimental set up of this research, the diesel exhaust line that comes out from Toyota 2C diesel engine is connected to a smog chamber equipped with UV light source. It was measured that the pH of the water drops to 2.9 from 5.8 in 20 min during the function of diesel engine at idle mode. The Fig. 1(a) shows the UV-Vis spectrum of diesel fumes directly purged into distilled water samples. It shows the dissolution of some VOC’s in water. The Fig. 1(b) represents the UV-VIS spectrum of diesel fumes that initially go through the smog chamber and then purged into cyclohexane. Fig.1(c) represents the UV-VIS spectrum of the samples that were collected after the diesel fumes were fed into the water tank prior to sending it into the smog chamber. Fig. 1(c) demonstrates a good enhancement of a broad peak from 230 nm to 280 nm that corresponds to water insoluble portion of the diesel fume. The relative increase of the water insoluble fraction from Fig. (b) to (c) proves a deduction of water soluble fraction in the diesel fumes. This could in turn have a positive effect on the atmospheric pollution

Facile Synthesis of Fe3O4/TiO2 Composite with Enhanced Magnetic and Photocatalytic Properties for Water Purification

The regeneration of TiO2 used in water purification via photocatalytic reactions is usually carried out using flocculation, and centrifugation. However, the major drawbacks in these methods are the needs of additional process controls, equipment, and energy. Use of magnetic separation in water treatment could be highly effective in both efficiency and operating cost over the other methods. In this study, ilmenite (Fe TiO3), a naturally available mineral widely used in TiO2 production, is modified into Fe3O4/TiO2 magnetic composite with enhanced magnetic and photo catalytic activity. The synthesized composite material was tested for photo degradation potential of a common herbicide1,2-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2 was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. The mass susceptibility values of both ilmenite and the synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2 were also measured. The morphology of the composite particles was also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The identity of the synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2 was confirmed by the XRD pattern. FTIR peaks corresponding to Fe-O-O bending and Fe-O asymmetric stretching were observed at 533 cm-1 and 1,384 cm-1, respectively. The analysis of the synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2 with XRF data revealed the presence of both Fe (54%) and Ti (44%) and trace amounts of silicon, manganese, and aluminum. SEM data showed mostly spherical particles of sub-micron size. Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate a strong diamagnetism in the composite material with a mass susceptibility of 8.05x10-3 m3kg which is much higher than the parent material, ilmenite (3.01x10-3 m3kg). According to the catalytic data the synthesised nanocomposite shows a strong propensity to remove a common herbicide, 1,2-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, from an aqueous solution through photocatalytic degradation with approximately 65% removal efficiency. These results clearly confirms the synthesis of an environmentally significant photocatalyst with considerable magnetic properties.Keywords: Fe3O4/TiO2, Ilmenite, Organic pollutants, 1, 2-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, Photocatalysi

Solvent-Free Green Synthesis of Cu0.5Ti2(PO4)3 and Cu0.5TiO(PO4) NASICON-Type Compounds from Ilmenite Mineral Sand

Ilmenite is a naturally available black or steel-gray color mineral, called titanium iron oxide, FeTiO3.This valuable mineral comprises a significant amount of titanium that can be utilized as a titanium source to synthesize various materials. This study focused on synthesizing copper titanium phosphate compounds via an eco-friendly solid-state reaction route. α-titanium bismonohydrogen orthophosphate monohydrate (α-Ti(HPO4)2.H2O/α-TiP), derived from beach sand ilmenite used as the starting material for the synthesis. α-TiP was obtained by digesting ilmenite with 85 wt% phosphoric acid under reflux conditions. The XRD pattern of the obtained white powder confirmed the formation of α-TiP. The synthesized α-TiP and copper (Ⅱ) acetate were ground with different molar ratios (1:2, 1:1, and 2:1) until it forms a fine powder following a solvent-free solid grinding method. These powder mixtures were calcined at 800 °C for 4 hours utilizing a muffle furnace. The obtained solid solutions developed green and two different shades of yellow color. The samples werecharacterized by XRD, Thermogravimetry (DSC/TGA) techniques, and Raman spectroscopy. The XRD results revealed the formation of solid solutions containing copper titanium phosphate (Cu0.5Ti2(PO4)3) at 1:1 and 2:1 molar ratios of α-TiP to copper (Ⅱ) acetate while the products obtained at 1:2 and 1:1 molar ratios confirmed the formation of copper titanium oxyphosphate (Cu0.5TiOPO4). Moreover, TGA results confirm the development of these mixed metal phosphates which can be further analyzed for applications in the ceramic industry. Therefore, calcination of the reaction mixtures by changing the molar ratios produced different colored stable compounds that can potentially be used as ceramic pigments, coatings, and electrode materials. Keywords: Copper titanium phosphate, α-titanium bismonohydrogen orthophosphate monohydrate, Solid-state reaction rout

Photodecomposition of Urea in the Presence of Titanium Dioxide

Urea is used as a fertilizer, food supplement, and also as raw ingredient for the production of polymers and pharmaceuticals. If urea is not adequately processed, it can accumulate in the environment and pollute groundwater and surface water. Although urea is biodegradable, it has negative impacts on aquatic creatures in the long run. It courses eutrophication and algal blooms in waters. Therefore, as a feasible solution, the development of efficient photocatalysts for the breakdown of urea is essential. In this study, titanium dioxide (Merck 21 nm anatase) was used as a catalyst by applying a thin layer of TiO2 onto glass sheets (1 cm×1 cm), the active surface. Such coated glass sheets were placed in prepared 400 nm urea solution exposed to UV light for 120 minutes. The concentration of urea was detected 15 minutes time intervals for the kinetic analysis. Urea concentration with the UV exposure time was determined by the spectrophotometric method. This approach determines the amount of water soluble urea in the medium via fast, accurate, and low-cost manner. The urea was determined based on its ability to inhibit the reaction between bromate ion with HCl reaction. The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically at 505 nm by decolorization of methyl orange dye with bromine and chlorine produced by the reaction products. Results indicate that urea decomposition in UV irradiated solutions were faster than in the dark under the same conditions. Approx. 22 wt.% of urea was degraded within 120 minutes of UV irradiation when compared to 3.9 wt.% decomposition with the dark condition experiment. In addition, titanium dioxide plated glass sheets proved to be stable in repeated urea degradation cycles. Keywords: Photocatalysis, Urea degradation, Titanium dioxid

Efficient Method for α-TiP Synthesis using Alkaline Decomposition Pretreatment of Ilmenite Natural Beach Sand

The layered, acidic compound; α-TiP is widely popularized as a sorbent material for heavy metal removal from wastewater, as catalysts for biomass conversion and as an intermediate to produce high purity titanium dioxide particles. One of the conventional route for its synthesis is to react ilmenite with orthophosphoric acid under reflux conditions. However, the major drawback of this method is that the titanium recovery is only 35 wt. % and about 10 wt. % of the initial ilmenite remain unreacted as the residue. The conversion of ilmenite into an easily acid digestible compound could be attained via alkaline roasting. The objective of this research was to increase the yield of α-TiP from ilmenite using an additional alkaline roasting pre-treatment step to the acid leaching. Potassium hydroxide was selected for the alkaline roasting step since it is regarded to be an environmentally benign chemical. The pre-treatment of ilmenite with a 1:4 molar ratio of KOH to ilmenite at 700 C generated potassium iron oxides and potassium titanium oxides as intermediate compounds which were then washed with distilled water, filtered and dried at 100 C for 24 hours. The solid compound was reacted with orthophosphoric acid with a solid to liquid ratio of 1/8 under reflux conditions for 4 hours. Then the remaining acid leachate was decanted and the white precipitate from the leach liquor was filtered, washed and dried at 100 C for 24 hours. The obtained powder was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and Raman spectrophotometry and was confirmed to be α-TiP. The parameters; the effect of KOH/ilmenite ore molar ratio, calcination temperature, solid to liquid ratio in the acid leaching step, acid leaching reflux time on the titanium recovery were fine tuned. This research concluded the possibility of increasing the titanium extraction. Therefore the research concludes the increment of α-TiP yield after the pre-treatment step using KOH. Keywords: Ilmenite, Titanium phosphate, Alkaline roasting, Alkaline pretreatmen

Fabrication of Eco-friendly Lithium Titanium Phosphate/Lithium Polysulfide/Graphite Rechargeable Batteries

The average global temperature has not changed by more than 1° C over 10,000 years. It is predicted that the global temperature will rise by 3° C by the year 2100, unless action is taken to limit temperature increment to 1.5° C. Since the beginning of the century, the field of lithium-ion battery development has skyrocketed. Li-ion batteries have become the primary electrical energy storage device for portable electronic devices in today's world. This study aims to innovate high-performance, less toxic, low-cost rechargeable lithium-ion batteries with lithium titanium phosphate as anode material, graphite as cathode material and lithium polysulfide as electrolyte under standard laboratory conditions. Cell performance was analyzed by observing the charge and discharge curves. In this research work, the charge-discharge performance was analyzed using LabJack U3-HV with LabJack software. The cell voltage was recorded with time, and using a fixed resistor, current flow was calculated. The cell showed initial voltage of 1.3 V and 10 mA in the first charge curve, the initial voltage was increased to 3.2 V in the second charge curve, and the current has decreased to 5.1 mA. During the discharging process, fast discharging was observed from 2.2 V to 0.2 V, giving current from 3.1 mA to 0.3 mA across 657 Ω. In the charging curve, small voltage plateaus can be seen around 1.5-2.0 V. It was observed that the voltage of charging cycles increases due to the increasement of the cell's internal resistance with time. When increasing the charging voltage across the cell, the current passing through the circuit was decreased by proving Ohm’s law and discharge curves demonstrated fast discharge within 60 minutes. Keywords: Li-ion, Lithium titanium phosphate, Charge curve, Discharge curv