Anticorrosive and microbial inhibition performance of a coating loaded with Andrographis paniculata on stainless steel in seawater

With the trend for green technology, the study focused on utilizing a forgotten herb to produce an eco-friendly coating. Andrographis paniculata or the kalmegh leaves extract (KLE) has been investigated for its abilities in retarding the corrosion process due to its excellent anti-oxidative and antimicrobial properties. Here, KLE was employed as a novel additive in coatings and formulations were made by varying its wt%: 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12. These were applied to stainless steel 316L immersed in seawater for up to 50 days. The samples were characterized and analyzed to measure effectiveness of inhibition of corrosion and microbial growth. The best concentration was revealed to be 6 wt% KLE; it exhibited the highest performance in improving the ionic resistance of the coating and reducing the growth of bacteria

Distribution of zooplankton community in Toli shad (Tenualosa toli) habitats, Sarawak, Malaysia

The river ecosystems of Sarawak has been identified as important-spawning ground for economically important Toli shad (Tenualosa toli) fisheries. In these river ecosystems, zooplankton serves as a secondary producer to the different types of fish larvae including Toli shad. The productivity and biomass of zooplankton are important factors to control the production of higher trophic level organisms like fish larvae and fishes in different stages including T. toli larvae. In this viewpoint, the composition and abundance of zooplankton were investigated at 5 (five) sampling stations (considered to be spawning and nursing areas of Toli shad) at Batang Lupar and Batang Sadong estuaries from July 2016 to June 2017. A total of 29 zooplankton taxa were recorded that belong to 14 major groups comprised of Copepoda (Arthropoda), Crustacean nauplii (Arthropoda), Fish larvae (Chordata), Mollusca (Mollusca), Luciferidae (Arthropoda), Cnidaria (Cnidaria), Ostracoda (Arthropoda), Cirripedia (Arthropoda), Polychaete larvae (Annelida), Chaetognatha (Chaetognatha), Appendicularia (Chordata), Amphipoda (Arthropoda), Echinodermata larvae (Echinodermata) and Cladoceran (Arthropoda). Copepod was dominant group of zooplankton (82.40-94.41%) at all stations, contributing 477.37-25921.89 ind/m3 and 88.38% of total abundance. The second highest was crustacean larvae (2.45-9.38%) in all stations, contributing 0-2391.7 ind/m3 and 5.88% of total abundance. Zooplankton abundance was higher at downstream station 1 (8460.72 ind/m³) followed by station 2 (5479.80 indi/m³), station 3 (4571.95 ind/m³), station 4 (4394.20 ind/m³) and upstream station 5 (4156.73 ind/m³). Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that the abundance of copepods was highly influenced by total turbidity and nitrate in the riverine and estuarine ecosystems. Abundance of zooplankton was relatively higher (9549.31 ind/m³) during the post-monsoon and lower (3534.56 ind/m³) during the southwest monsoon

Preparation & characterization of microcrystalline cellulose from agriculture waste

In this work, microcrystalline cellulose was prepared from oil palm trunk by water treated fibre process and alkali bleaching. The prepared samples were characterized by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FTIR-ATR spectra analysis indicates the presence of the hydroxyl group, alcohol, alkane/alkene and imine group. XRD patterns revealed the amorphous nature of the samples and the crystallinity index for extracted cellulose is 48.7 %. SEM images showed the fibrous structure of the microcrystalline cellulose with a size of 50 μm. This research proved that the synthesized microcrystalline cellulose could be potentially used as reinforcement in bio composite for better performance and ductility