Preliminary Synthesis of Calcium Silicates using Oil Palm Leaves and Eggshells.

A new synthetic procedure is described for the synthesis of calcium silicate derivatives, using natural resources such as eggshell (ES) for calcium and oil palm leaves (OPL) for silica, which do not require prepurification. The reaction is performed by directly converting two weight ratio of the precursors, ES:3OPL and ES:6OPL, to dried-powder form by heat treatment at 900 °C for two hours. The results demonstrate that the concentration of the precursors has an effect on the morphology and crystallinity of the calcium silicate derivatives, mainly Ca2SiO4 and CaSiO3. X-ray diffraction results reveal that the reaction product obtained using a 1:3 ratio is quite pure, and mainly consisted of calcium silicate in the form of Ca2SiO4. The CaSiO3 was also identified in ES:6OPL, together with a small amount of excess non-reacted crystalline silica. Furthermore, a scanning electron microscopy analysis shows that both reaction products have a coarse surface. Copyright © 2020 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Fabrication of Silver-Silica Composite using the Carbo-thermal Degradation of Oil Palm Leaves for the Reduction of p-nitrophenol

Oil palm leaves are natural sources of bio-silica. In situ carbothermal degradation was conducted at 600°C using silver nitrate as a metallic silver (Ag) precursor and oil palm leaves as a silica (SiO2) source. X-ray diffraction of the solid product (Ag@OPLA600) revealed the presence of Ag and SiO2 from the oil palm leaves. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed an absorbance consistent with the presence of SiO2. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a solid surface with cavities. Ag@OPLA600 was used as a heterogeneous mediator to reduce p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol within 15 minutes. This work provides a new approach for the utilization of sustainable natural resources as a metal Ag supporting material to produce a mediator for the conversion of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol in a simple manner

Electrolysis of aqueous copper (ii) sulphate and sodium hydroxide & electrochemistry: electroplating handbook

This handbook is prepared in order to integrate the microscale approach into the chemistry curriculum of Malaysian secondary schools taking into consideration the limited funding in terms of chemicals, glassware and laboratory facilitie

Determination of empirical formula of copper (ii) oxide and constructing balanced chemical equations handbook

This handbook is prepared in order to integrate the microscale approach into the chemistry curriculum of Malaysian secondary schools taking into consideration the limited funding in terms of chemicals, glassware and laboratory facilitie

Acid-based titration and cation test handbook

This handbook is prepared in order to integrate the microscale approach into the chemistry curriculum of Malaysian secondary schools taking into consideration the limited funding in terms of chemicals, glassware and laboratory facilities

SiO2-rich sugar cane bagasse ash catalyst for transesterification of palm oil

This study demonstrated the performance of the sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) impregnated with calcium oxide (CaO) as a novel heterogeneous basic catalyst in biodiesel production. The SCBAwas prepared by calcination for 2 h at 500 to 800 °C and impregnated with CaO loadings (10 to 40 wt.%). The prepared SCBA/CaO catalyst was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectros-copy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed desorption of carbon dioxide(TPD-CO2), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface characteristics. A series of transesterification reactions were conducted to evaluate the performance of the catalysts. As a result, highest FAME yield of 93.8% was obtained by using SCBA600°CCaO (40%) catalyst at 20:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, reaction temperature of65 °C, with 6 wt.% catalyst in 3 h. Besides, the catalyst can be reused up to 5 reaction cycles with biodiesel yield of 93.0% and 70.3%at first and fifth cycles, respectively. In this work, it was found that the natural SiO2in the SCBA has a significant role to enhance the catalytic performance and reduce the catalyst’s deactivation drawback by minimizing the leaching of active sites

Highly porous bi(III) modified rice husk silica photocatalyst for the photocatalytic removal of cationic methylene blue

A series of bismuth-silicate photocatalysts were synthesized via the sol-gel method for photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under sunlight irradiation, utilizing rice husk ash as a silica precursor. The scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) analysis detected Bi content in 3-10 wt% range. Furthermore, it can be seen that the porosity decreased as the Bi concentration increased. The N2 adsorption-desorption analysis indicates the presence of mesopores with an average diameter of 297-554 Å with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 5.6-30.5 m2/g. The photocatalyst with a Bi concentration of 4 wt% (RHSBi-A2) was the most active in the photodegradation of MB; the removal reached 90% within 4 h. The photodegradation is proposed to be driven by superoxide (O2⦁−), hydroxyl (•OH) radicals, and hole (h+) based on the valence band (VB) and conduction band (CB) potentials. The porous silica framework is proposed to act as an electron reservoir, allowing better MB adsorption and enhancing light absorption

Effective Strategies, Mechanisms, and Photocatalytic Efficiency of Semiconductor Nanomaterials Incorporating rGO for Environmental Contaminant Degradation

The water pollution problems severely affect the natural water resources due to the large disposal of dyes, heavy metals, antibiotics, and pesticides. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been developed using semiconductor nanomaterials as photocatalysts for water treatment as an essential strategy to minimize environmental pollution. Significant research efforts have been dedicated over the past few years to enhancing the photocatalytic efficiencies of semiconductor nanomaterials. Graphene-based composites created by integrating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) into various semiconductor nanomaterials enable the unique characteristics of graphene, such as the extended range of light absorption, the separation of charges, and the high capacity of adsorption of pollutants. Therefore, rGO-based composites improve the overall visible-light photocatalytic efficiency and lead to a new pathway for high-performance photocatalysts’ potential applications. This brief review illustrates the strategies of combining rGO with various semiconductor nanomaterials and focuses primarily on modification and efficiency towards environmental contaminants

Activated carbon from biomass waste candlenut shells (Aleurites moluccana) doped ZIF-67/Fe3O4 as advanced materials for supercapacitor

Biomass waste candlenut shells, such as adsorbent carbon, can be utilized. Fe3O4 has great electrical conductivity, and ZIF-67 has diverse pores. Activated carbon, Fe3O4, and ZIF-67 were prepared to obtain a combination of these materials using the co-precipitation method. FTIR spectra show a peak at 1341 cm−1, which depicts the Fe-O bending vibration. At peak 1558 cm−1 shows C = N streching. The top of 1412 cm−1 and 991 cm−1 extend the full ring. The sp2 aromatic peak may be seen at 1150 cm-1C-H bond. The surface area is 17.76 m2/g, and the pore size is 14.99 nm. Coercivity is 119.63 Oe, which shows a strong magnet. The highlight of the study was activated carbon from biomass waste candlenut shells (Aleurites moluccana) doped ZIF-67 supported Fe3O4 with specific capacitance shows high. The diffusion percentage shows fewer electrolyte ions entering the active material, and resistance also showed low results. It can increase the percentage of capacitive ions, thus improving the electrode. Electrochemical results show 1335F/g of high specific capacity at 1 A/g current density. It indicates a suitable candidate material for supercapacitor electrodes