Metal-organic framework (mof)-pebax-based mixed matrix membranes for post-combustion CO2 capture

Las membranas más interesantes para aplicaciones de separación de CO2 son las denominadas MMM (membranas de matriz mixta), compuestas por una fase polimérica continua y una fase dispersa, también llamada relleno. Por su afinidad hacia el CO2, existen varios MOF (¿metal-organic framework¿) adecuados para fabricar MMM. Sin embargo, la sostenibilidad de los materiales de la membrana presenta limitaciones en términos de síntesis de MOF y de fabricación de MMM, debido al impacto medioambiental de los desechos químicos involucrados. Como caso de estudio más representativo, el ZIF-94 obtenido del reciclado de las aguas madre de su cristalización, se incorporó a MMM aplicadas a la separación CO2/N2. Además, se estableció el reciclado de MMM para extraer sus componentes clave (MOF y polímero) y reutilizarlos en MMM. Por otro lado, se estudió el MIL-178(Fe), otro material poroso unidimensional nanoestructurado, para comprobar su adaptabilidad en MMM aplicadas a la separación CO2/N2 y CO2/CH4.<br /

Study on the recycling of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks and polymer Pebax® 1657 from their mixed matrix membranes applied to CO2 capture

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) consisting of fillers (e.g. metal organic frameworks (MOFs)) in polymer matrix are considered as an interesting alternative for capturing post combustion CO2 towards a sustainable development. This research is focused on the recycling of MMMs made of polymer Pebax® 1657 and MOF ZIF-94. Upon MMM preparation, characterization and testing, MMMs were dissolved to recover polymer and MOFs separately. Recovered products were characterized by SEM, EDX, FTIR, TGA, XRD, DLS, mass spectrometry and N2 adsorption to compare their size, shape and other properties with those of fresh ones. Mean particle size of fresh and recycled ZIF-94 were 148 ± 44 nm and 164 ± 32 nm, respectively. Incorporation of recycled ZIF-94 in MMMs produced defect free membranes which was confirmed by SEM and gas separation measurements. These MMMs, with a 10 wt% ZIF-94 loading, were tested for the separation of the CO2/N2 mixture with a CO2 permeability of 157 ± 6.5 Barrer (with 67 % improvement compared to fresh pure polymer membrane with 94 ± 2 Barrer) and a CO2/N2 selectivity of 27.5 ± 1.4 (5 % lower than that of the fresh MMM, 29.3 ± 1.8, but 20 % higher than the corresponding to the pure polymer membrane, 23 ± 2). Demonstrating its wide feasibility, the proposed methodology was also applicable for recycling of ZIF-8 from Pebax® 1657 based MMMs

Application of Stabilized Cefixime-AgNPs-GO Thin Films as Corrosion Inhibitors for Mild Steel Alloy

In this work, the corrosion inhibition of mild steel at ambient conditions by an antibiotic in a solution that contains silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and graphene oxide (GO) was studied. GO and AGNPs were prepared by one-step simple and ecofriendly method and characterized by different techniques. Different concentrations of the inhibitor were prepared and their inhibition efficiency in acidic media was investigated. The adsorption characteristics of the inhibitor were studied and it was found that the antibiotic (Cefixime) alone and with GO combined with AgNPs inhibit the corrosion of mild steel by being adsorbed on the surface of mild steel by a physical adsorption mechanism. The adsorption of Cefixime and GO with AgNPs on the mild steel surface was found to be spontaneous. Incorporating AgNPs and GO with Cefixime showed an additional inhibition efficiency when compared with using only Cefixime. This indicates the strong inhibition efficiency offered by incorporating the antibiotic with AgNPs and GO

Pebax based mixed matrix membranes and the effect of filler loading and polymer concentration on post-combustion CO2 capture

Trabajo presentado al Young Researchers CIS, celebrado online del 6 al 8 de septiembre de 2021.Peer reviewe

Health Monitoring of Old Buildings in Bangladesh: Detection of Cracks and Dampness Using Image Processing

Numerous buildings in Bangladesh were constructed without following standard building codes. As a result, those are vulnerable to increased earthquake frequency and variable loads. To address this issue, old buildings need to be monitored frequently by non-destructive testing (NDT) to avoid any failures. The identification of cracks and dampness is one of the most important parts of this test. Generally, this detection part is costly and time-consuming to conduct it manually. To resolve this, the current study has been performed for intelligent structural damage identification based on deep learning techniques. A state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based object detection model YOLOv4-tiny has been used to detect cracks and dampness and repair cost analysis of damages. The study outcome suggests that using our proposed deep model, it is possible to detect building cracks with a mean Average Precision (%mAP) of 72.46%. In addition to traditional structural health monitoring, computer vision-based structural health monitoring enables the development of an easily accessible, cost-effective, real-time crack and dampness detection system

Membranas compatibles con Pebax® para la captura de CO2 después de la combustión

Las membranas de matriz mixta (MMM, “mixed matrix membrane”) con estructuras metal-orgánicas tipo MOF (“metal-organic framework”) como relleno son uno de los campos de investigación en crecimiento para la separación de mezclas CO2/N2 de poscombustión. En esta investigación se han usado la matriz de polímero Pebax® MH 1657 y el relleno MOF ZIF-94. El MOF sintetizado en el laboratorio tenía un tamaño medio de partícula de 175 ± 68 nm, adecuado para el propósito planteado. La dispersión homogénea del MOF en el polímero, así como la interacción MOF-polímero, se confirmaron mediante imágenes de microscopía electrónica de barrido. El rendimiento de la membrana de Pebax® mejoró significativamente al incorporar ZIF-94, de modo que la selectividad CO2/N2 máxima obtenida fue de 43.5 para una MMM con 10% en peso de ZIF-94. Este resultado queda bien emplazado en el llamado límite superior de Robeson para la mezcla estudiada. Como trabajo futuro, se propone investigar la reproducción de los resultados a base de preparar nuevas membranas y de realizar más experimentos de permeación.<br /

Synthesis of zeolitic imidazolane frameworks from recycled mother liquors: Application to CO2/N2 separation with Pebax® mixed matrix membranes

Trabajo presentado a la 20th International Zeolite Conference, celebrada en Valencia (España) del 3 al 8 de julio de 2022.This project has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 760944 (MEMBER project). Grant PID2019-104009RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Analysing the Factors Influencing Price Hike on Animal Protein-Based Food in Bangladesh: A Supply Chain Perspective

&lt;p&gt;The&nbsp;increasing&nbsp;prices of livestock products (animal-based protein products), including meat, fish, eggs, and poultry, have become a&nbsp;significant&nbsp;concern in Bangladesh. This research&nbsp;is done to find out the&nbsp;root causes of the price hikes within the livestock products and their supply chain. The research also&nbsp;explores potential strategies for resolution. The study investigates key factors behind the price&nbsp;hike, identifies responsible parties, analyzes the overall cost of production, and proposes effective supply chain management improvements in Bangladesh. By analyzing data collected from various sources, including consumer surveys and expert opinions, the research paper highlights how factors like feed expenses, syndicates, inflation, global conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affect price fluctuations of livestock products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The study emphasizes the necessity for proactive government&nbsp;regulations,&nbsp;continuous&nbsp;market monitoring, and strategic policies to&nbsp;control price hikes&nbsp;and&nbsp;reduce&nbsp;the adverse effects on consumers' purchasing power. Through this comprehensive analysis,&nbsp;the research paper aims to find out the complex entities that contribute to the price hike of livestock products (meat, eggs, poultry, fish, etc.) and provide suggestions to mitigate the adverse situation.&lt;/p&gt

Nanofertilizers towards sustainable agriculture and environment

Precise nutrient management of crops and soil fertility will be a major challenge worldwide in the coming decades because current agricultural practices rely predominantly on chemical fertilizers. The use of conventional fertilizers suffers from low crop nutrient efficiency, negative impacts on the environment, and high loss of water bodies. Nano-biotechnology is emerging as a promising alternative technique and has the potential to revolutionize agricultural systems by delivering nutrients to crops in a controlled release manner. Engineering nanoparticles-based nanofertilizers offer benefits in crop nutrition management by enhancing abiotic stress tolerance and improving agricultural productivity. This review focuses on the design, contribution, and interaction of nano-enabled fertilizers with edible plants based on very recent studies. Also, the review conveys the role of macronutrient, micronutrient-based nanofertilizer as well as nano-biofertilizer towards the development of smart and sustainable future agriculture.This project was done with financial support from the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh (Project ID: PS-2018774).Peer reviewe