Table of contents

Preface

It is our great pleasure to introduce you the proceedings of 2017 2nd International Conference on Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology (ICMEN2017) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during May 12-14, 2017. ICMEN2017 is dedicated to issues related to Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology.

The conference program covered keynote, oral and poster presentations from scholars working in the areas of materials science and engineering to establish platforms for collaborative research projects in this field, and to find potential opportunities for international cooperation. This conference covered recent trends and progresses made in the field of materials engineering and nanotechnology.

The major goal and feature of the conference is to bring academic scientists, engineers, industry researchers together to exchange and share their experiences and research results, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted. Professors from Malaysia and Turkey were invited to deliver keynote speeches regarding latest information in their respective expertise areas.

Distinguished scientists and experts in the area delivered the latest knowledge in their respective expertise fields. International scientific activities, like conference, symposium and workshop are big scientific platforms for knowledge exchange among the scientists from all over the world. International scientific activities are golden opportunities for the students, researchers and engineers to interact with the experts and specialists to get their advice or consultation on technical matters. The theme of this conference was the key issues associated with science and technology in this rapidly evolving field of research and to promote contact between basic researches and technological needs for real advanced materials and nanotechnology.

These proceedings present a selection from papers submitted to the conference from universities, research institutes and industries. All of the papers were subjected to peer-review by conference committee members and international reviewers. The papers selected depended on their quality and their relevancy to the conference. The volume tends to present to the readers the recent advances in the field of Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology. And various related areas, such as Nanotechnology, Nanomaterials, Nanoelectronics, Nanosystems, Nanomechanics, Nanomagnetism, etc.

We want to express our gratitude to all the members of conference committee, and reviewers who spared their valuable time, for their advice which have certainly helped to improve the quality, accuracy, relevance and the sincere efforts to maintain the quality of each paper selected for conference program and volume for publication. Also, we would like to thank all the authors who have contributed to this conference and also to the organizing committee, reviewers, speakers, chairpersons, sponsors and all the conference participants for their support to ICMEN 2017.

Prof. Dr. Mohd Hamdi Abdul Shukor, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Prof. Osman Adiguzel, Firat University, Department of Physics, Turkey 19. 05, 2017

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES

Prof. Chii-Ruey Lin, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Prof. Dr. Mohd Hamdi Bin Abd Shukor, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Prof. Ir. Dr. Farid Nasir bin Haji Ani, Universiti Technologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Prof. Osman Adiguzel, Firat University, Department of Physics, Turkey

PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Prof. Arunachala Kannan, Arizona State University, USA

Prof. Ram Mohan, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, USA

INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

Prof. Lee Yok Heng, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

Prof. Iis Sopyan, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia

Prof. Md. Mujibur Rahman, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia

Prof. Ramesh Singh, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Dr. Li Yang, Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, P. R. China

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Norasmah Surip, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia

Prof. Mohamed Agouzoul, EMI RAbat & INSA Rouen france, Morocco

Prof. Vasily LUTSYK, Buryat State University, Russia

Mahendran Samykano, Universiti Malaysia, Malaysia

Prof. Hyun Do Yun, Chungnam National University, Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Daejeon, South Korea

Fatimah Noor, ITB, Indonesia

Assoc. Prof. Jun Xu, South China University of Technology, China

Assoc. Prof. Megat Ahmad Kamal Megat Hanafiah, Universitit Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang, Malaysia

Zhang Tingting, Dalian University of Technology, China

Dr. Zhenlin Wu, Dalian University of Technology, China

Asst. Prof. Kaykhosrow Khojier, Department of physics, Chalous branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran.

Prof. Ch. Sanjay, GITAM University Hyderabad, India

Dr. Ervina Efzan binti Mhd Noor, Multimedia University, Malaysia

Khadijah Khalid, Universitit Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang, Malaysia

Asst. Prof. Jeyashelly Andas, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Asst. Prof. Jully Tan, UCSI University, Malaysia

Chalongrat Daengngam, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

Asst. Prof. Gobinda Gopal Khan, Tripura University (A Central University), Tripura, India

Asst. Prof. Perumal Elumalai, Pondicherry University, India

Asst. Prof. Karthik Silaipillayarputhur, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

Salmia Beddu, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia

SITI KHOLIJAH BINTI ABDUL MUDALIP, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia

Hilton Ahmad, UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA, Malaysia

All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the proceedings Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

The hot deformation behavior of HSLA steel was investigated by using a MMS-200 thermal mechanical machine at different conditions and with deformation temperature of 800-1100 °C and strain rate of 0.1-10 S^-1. FEM was analyzed the deformation characteristics of hot compression through Deform-3D software. It was discovered that the flow stress increases with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature. The activation energy and stress exponent during hot deformation were calculated using hyperbolic sine constitutive equations. The result from the experiment represents the activation energy and stress exponent during hot compression of 222.256 kJ/mol. and 10.84. The prediction of distribution stress values from the constitutive equation in Deform-3D can be matched with the experimental results.

This work studies the melting temperature, wettability, metallurgical and hardness properties of the Sn-58Bi (SB) lead-free solder alloy incorporated with nano-3%Al₂O₃. The melting temperature was observed at 143.44°C upon the additions of the nano-3%Al₂O₃ with a low contact angle of 20.4°. A well-distributed microstructure with narrower lamellar structure and finer intermetallic compounds and Sn grains was detected for the nano-3%Al₂O₃ added SB solder alloy. Hardness evaluation based on the Vickers hardness value was as high as 17.1Hv. Overall, the Sn-58Bi + 3% Al₂O₃ solder alloy appears to harvest beneficial results for these properties and can be used as potential replacement in the current electronic packaging industry.

In this paper, the microstructure and oxidation behaviour of Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.2Si-0.5W-0.8B, Ti-45Al-8Nb-2Cr-0.2Si-0.5W-0.8B, Ti-45Al-8Nb-2Mo-0.2Si-0.5W-0.8B, Ti-45Al-8Nb-2Cr-2Mo-0.2Si-0.5W-0.8B were studied.The alloys were designed and fabricated via vacuum arc melting in the protection of argon shield. The oxidation experiments were carried out at 1073K for 200h in laboratory air. Microstructure evolution, elemental analysis as well as the composition distribution of the oxide scale were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, respectively. The results showed that the microstructure could be refined by adding of Cr and Mo to a smaller grain size.The heat treatment has a good impact on composition homogenization as well as the generation of γ-TiAl phase. The oxidation test shows that Cr and Mo modified alloy cannot improve the oxidation resistance of the alloy. The 0Cr2Mo alloy shows the poorest oxidation resistance in the three, while the Cr modified alloy can apparently slows down the oxidation rate after 50h, which owing to the formation of a compact oxidation scale.

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is important material used for the medicine and aerospace industry due to its characteristics called the shape memory effect, which involves the recovery of deformed alloy to its original state through the application of temperature or stress. Consumers in modern society demand stability in parts. Electrochemical machining is one of the methods for obtained these stabilities in parts requirements. These parts of shape memory alloy require fine patterns in some applications. In order to machine a fine pattern, the electrochemical machining method is suitable. For precision electrochemical machining using different shape electrodes, the current density should be controlled precisely. And electrode shape is required for precise electrochemical machining. It is possible to obtain precise square holes on the SMA if the insulation layer controlled the unnecessary current between electrode and workpiece. If it is adjusting the unnecessary current to obtain the desired shape, it will be a great contribution to the medical industry and the aerospace industry. It is possible to process a desired shape to the shape memory alloy by micro controlling the unnecessary current. In case of the square electrode without insulation layer, it derives inexact square holes due to the unnecessary current. The results using the insulated electrode in only side show precise square holes. The removal rate improved in case of insulated electrode than others because insulation layer concentrate the applied current to the machining zone.

Lap joints of 6061 aluminium alloys were obtained using friction stir welding. The welding parameters used are: rotational speed, welding speed and pin Length. There were two levels of each factor involved. Rotational speed levels were 900 and 1120 rpm, welding speed levels were 1 and 1.5 mm/sec and pin length levels were 4.5 and 5.5 mm. Successful lap joints were produced for the different combinations of the above welding parameters. The joints quality tested under tensile testing and the microstructure of the welding zone were studied. Fracture mostly occurred in the base metal for most lap-shear welded joints. The exception was joints with welding parameters as follows: rotational speed 900 rpm, the welding speed 1.5 mm/sec and pin length 4.5 mm. In this case, the fracture occurred in the welding zone.

The influence of milled bagasse particle size on their reducing sugar and lignin content during dilute acid hydrolysis followed by enzymolysis was investigated. The biomass crystal structures of hydrolyzed residues and enzymolyzed substrates were studied with X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The results showed that the conversion ratio of reducing sugar declined with decreasing milled bagasse particle size. The conversion ratio of reducing sugar after acid hydrolysis decreased from 31.3% to 28.9%. The smaller of the milled bagasse particle size was, the higher of the klason lignin content of hydrolyzed residuals was, which resulted in a decline in conversion ratio of reducing sugar during enzymolysis. In this study, the optimal size of milled bagasse particles was 10 to 20 meshes. The total reducing sugar conversion ratio was 61.5%, consisting of 31.3% in hydrolysis and 30.2% in enzymolysis. After hydrolysis, the specific surface area and pore size increased, and the fiber length was shortened. The inner microfiber bundles were exposed, which improved the accessibility of cellulase and the efficiency of enzymolysis.

Polymer-clay composites films based on cellulose acetate (CA) and 12-aminolauric acid-modified montmorillonite (AMMT) were prepared by solution intercalation method with clay loadings 1, 5, 10, 15 to 20%wt. Cellulose acetate is a good material resource due to its green qualities and ease with which it is processed, and using this material in combination with naturally derived material, montmorillonite, is a good means tune and improve the materials properties. To achieve compatabilization between the polymer and the clay, 12-aminolauric acid (12-ALA) was ionically exchanged with the Na⁺-counter ions of the clay, producing an organically modified clay. The 12-ALA modifier is also an attractive resource due to its biocompatibility and relative abundance. The composites were characterized based on their chemical properties by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), thermal properties by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), morphological characteristics by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed the presence of polymer intercalated and/or completely exfoliated silicate structures within the composites.

Cellulose acetate (CA) was grafted with poly(ε-caprolactone) PCL oligomers via the ring-opening of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) monomer initiated by the hydroxyl functionality of CA. The incorporation of short PCL oligomers in CA's structure caused the transformation of it crystalline domains into amorphous phases (internal plasticization) as observed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Another evidence of plasticization induced by grafting was the significant reduction of the degradation temperature and stiffness of the copolymers. Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR), Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopies and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) verified success the grafting as suggested by the attachment of PCL on the glucose ring and increase in polymer molecular weights after the reaction. Due to the good films forming ability of the synthesized CA grafted with PCL (CA-g-PCL) material, it was loaded with silver nitrate (AgNO₃) and the composite was observed to be have bactericidal against a gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, and a gram positive bacteria, Bacillus subtilis.

A new adsorbent of plant waste origin from coconut processing food factory was explored for removing Ni(II) from aqueous solutions. Several parameters such as pH, dosage, concentration and contact time were studied to obtain optimum conditions for treatment of Ni(II) contaminated wastewater. Spent grated coconut (Cocos nucifera) treated with sulfuric acid (SSGC) showed good adsorption capacity for Ni(II) ion. The amount adsorbed was affected by solution pH with the highest value achieved at pH 5. Other optimum conditions found were; dosage of 0.02 g, and 60 min of equilibrium time. Ni(II) adsorption obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetic model which suggested that chemisorption mechanism occurred in the adsorption process. The equilibrium data presented a better fitting to the Langmuir isotherm model, an indication that monolayer adsorption occurred onto a homogeneous surface. The maximum adsorption capacity, q_max was 97.09 mg g^-1, thus SSGC can be classified as good and comparable with other plant waste adsorbents.

Chromium metal(VI) is a valuable metal but in contrary has high toxicity, so the separation and recovery from waste are very important. One method that can be used for the separation and recovery of chromium (VI) is a Supported Liquid Membrane (SLM). SLM system contains of three main components: a supporting membrane, organic solvents and carrier compounds. The supported Membrane used in this research is Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), organic solvent is kerosene, and the carrier compound used is aliquat 336. The supported liquid membrane is placed between two phases, namely, feed phase as the source of analyte (Cr(VI)) and the receiving phase as the result of separation. Feed phase is the electroplating waste which contains of chromium metal with pH variation about 4, 6 and 9. Whereas the receiving phase are the solution of HCl, NaOH, HCl-NaCl and NaOH-NaCl with pH variation about 1, 3, 5 and 7. The efficiency separation is determined by measurement of chromium in the feed and the receiving phase using AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry). The experiment results show that transport of Chrom (VI) by Supported Liquid membrane (SLM) is influenced by pH solution in feed phase and receiving phase as well as NaCl in receiving phase. The highest chromium metal is transported from feed phase about 97,78%, whereas in receiving phase shows about 58,09%. The highest chromium metal transport happens on pH 6 in feed phase, pH 7 in receiving phase with the mixture of NaOH and NaCl using carrier compound aliquat 336.

This paper made a systematic analysis on the influence of the construction, environment, water and loads on the void beneath road slabs, and also introduced the formation process of structural void and pumping void, and summarizes the deep reasons for the bottom of the cement concrete pavement. Based on the analysis above, this paper has found out the evolution law of the void under slabs which claimed that the void usually appeared in the slab corners and then the cross joint, resulting void in the four sides with the void area under the front slab larger than the rear one.

Calcium phosphate cement has been prepared via chemical precipitation method for injectable bone filling materials. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂, and diammonium hydrogen phosphate, (NH₄)₂HPO₄, were used as calcium and phosphorus precursors respectively. The synthesized powder was mixed with water at different powder-to-liquid (P/L) ratios, which was adjusted at 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2. The influence of P/L ratio on the injectability, setting time and mechanical strength of calcium phosphate cement paste has been evaluated. The synthesized powder appeared as purely hydroxyapatite with nanosized and agglomerated spherical particles. All cement pastes show excellent injectability except for the paste with P/L ratio 1.2. Calcium phosphate cement with P/L ratio 1.1 shows the ideal cement for bone filler application with good injectability, the initial and final setting times of 30 min and 160 min, and the compression strength of 2.47 MPa. The result indicated that the newly developed calcium phosphate cement is physically suitable for bone filler application. This paper presents our investigation on the effect of P/L ratio on the handling and mechanical properties of calcium phosphate cement prepared via wet chemical precipitation method.

The effect of addition of poly(vinyl alcohol) on hydrothermal derived calcium phosphate cement has been studied. The precursors used to prepare the cement were calcium oxide (CaO) and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH₄H₂PO₄); the reaction was conducted in water at 80-100°C. To improve properties of CPC, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) of 1wt% and 2wt% was added to the liquid phase of CPC and the results were compared to CPC without PVA addition. The addition of PVA was proved to bring remarkable effects on cohesion, setting time and mechanical strength of CPC which make it suitable physically for injectable bone filler applications.

In practice, when feeding the electrical and electronic components, they generate heat by Joule's effect, which will cause an increase in temperature and provoking mechanical deformations related to the expansion of the materials. It is therefore this aspect that is the subject of our study on the thermal and thermomechanical characterization of a ferrite power inductor by experimental and numerical channels. For this purpose, a finite element model was developed and calibrated by comparing its results to the experimental results obtained via thermal measurements and measurements by speckle interferometry system. A reliability analysis on the power inductor was performed numerically, based on the coupling between finite element model validated and the methods of Monte Carlo, FORM and SORM.

Natural fibre composites find wide range of applications and usage in the automobile and manufacturing industries. They find lack in desired properties, which are required for present applications. In current scenario, many developments in composite materials involve the synthesis of Hybrid composite materials to overcome some of the lacking properties. In this present investigation, two sandwich structured hybrid composite materials have been made by reinforcing Aloe Vera-Ceramic Fibre Wool-Glass fibre with Epoxy resin matrix and Sisal fibre-Ceramic Fibre Wool-Glass fibre with Epoxy resin matrix and its mechanical properties such as Tensile, Flexural and Impact are tested and analyzed. The test results from the two samples are compared and the results show that sisal fibre reinforced hybrid composite has better mechanical properties than aloe vera reinforced hybrid composite.

As a new passive sensor, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have provided a new idea for the SRM shell damage detection, which is to integrate the FBG sensor network in the material interior or to the surface to monitor the shell structure. However, it is difficult to embed the FBG sensor in filament wound composite material structure for the reason of large tension and high temperature in process of manufacture. Therefore we propose a new method that embed FBG sensor network between the composite shell surface and the thermal protective coating. The calibration of sensor is presented by tensile test and the strain transfer coefficient is gotten. It is certified by the hydrostatic test that the FBG sensors could precisely describe the strain variation and distribution of the composite shell and effectively improve the survival rate by embedding the FBG sensors between the composite shell surface and the thermal protective coating.

In this study, the effect of 0.07 wt.% graphene nanosheets (GNSs) on the thermal, microstructure and intermetallic compounds (IMC) growth kinetics were investigated. Experimental results showed that addition of GNSs to the Sn-3.5Ag solder alloy slightly increased the melting temperature. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph revealed that with the addition of GNSs has transformed the morphologies of the interfacial IMC from scalloped to more planar-shaped after isothermal aging for 500 hours. Growth kinetics calculations show that the k value was reduced from 9.08 × 10^-14 cm²/s to 5.73 × 10^-14 cm²/s with the addition of graphene. Thereby, it indicates that the addition of GNSs suppressed the growth of the IMC layers hence retarded the IMC's growth.

The stability of the mechanical properties of the materials used for lunar soil sampler at different temperatures is one of the key factors to ensure the success of the lunar sampling task. In this paper, two kinds of poly(pphenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fiber fabric used for lunar soil sampler, flexible tube and wireline, are tested for mechanical properties. The results show that the mechanical properties of the PBO flexible tube and wireline raised 8.3% and 5.7% respectively in -194°C environment comparing with the room temperature of 25°C. When the temperature rises to 300°C, the deviation is -38.6% and -46.4% respectively.

Natural fibers are potentially used as reinforcing materials and combined with epoxy resin as matrix system to form a superior specific strength (or stiffness) materials known as composite materials. The advantages of implementing natural fibers such as kenaf fibers are renewable, less hazardous during fabrication and handling process; and relatively cheap compared to synthetic fibers. The aim of current work is to conduct a parametric study on static strength of adhesively bonded woven fabric kenaf composite plates. Fabrication of composite panels were conducted using hand lay-up techniques, with variation of stacking sequence, over-lap length, joint types and lay-up types as identified in testing series. Quasi-static testing was carried out using mechanical testing following code of practice. Load-displacement profiles were analyzed to study its structural response prior to ultimate failures. It was found that cross-ply lay-up demonstrates better static strength compared to quasi-isotropic lay-up counterparts due to larger volume of 0° plies exhibited in cross-ply lay-up. Consequently, larger overlap length gives better joining strength, as expected, however this promotes to weight penalty in the joining structure. Most samples showed failures within adhesive region known as cohesive failure modes, however, few sample demonstrated interface failure. Good correlations of parametric study were found and discussed in the respective section.

In this paper, energy absorption capability and failure modes of partially wrapped aluminium tubes have been studied. These tubes are used in the front side of automobiles and aircraft applications. Filament winding technique was used for partial wrapping of these tubes. Partially wrapping on the external surface of aluminium tubes was done with glass fibers, and epoxy resin, which is a composite material. Various composite layers and fiber angles were used in partial wrapping, which includes 4, 6 and 8 composite layers of ± 55° fiber angle. These tubes were subjected to axial crushing using the universal ‎testing machine, and testing speed was 5mm/min. Failure modes and energy absorption analysis were carried out after testing. The experimental results revealed that partially wrapped aluminium tubes are 3.81%, 8.13% and 17.06% more efficient in energy absorption as compared to the tubes without wrapping. Furthermore, the effect of composite layers and failure modes has also been described.

Invar is made up of 64% iron and 36% nickel. Invar has a characteristic of low thermal expansion coefficient that hardly causes a change of dimension according to temperature change. It is used for shadow mask fabrication by using this feature. Shadow mask is an important element for enhancing the pixels of the display. Therefore, Wet etching is an important machining technique because it is economical and mass-producible to make shadow mask. In this study, the machining depth was compared and analyzed with the machining time by using a 30μm invar thin film. As the machining time increased, the machining depth of the hole increased and a perfect hole array occurred when the machining time was 5 minutes. Through the same processing conditions, a 5.5-inch large-area shadow mask with uniform hole size was fabricated.

Microspheres are spherical particles that can be distinguished into two categories; solid or hollow. Microspheres typical ranges from 1 to 200 μm in diameter. Microsphere are made from glass, ceramic, carbon or plastic depending on applications. Solid glass microsphere is manufactured by direct burning of glass powders while hollow glass microspheres is produced by adding blowing agent to glass powder. This paper presented the production of glass microspheres by using the vertical thermal flame (VTF) process. Pre-treated soda lime glass powder with particle sized range from 90 to 125μm was used in this work. The results showed that glass microspheres produced by two passes through the flame have a more spherical shape as compared with the single pass. Under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), it is observed that there is a morphology changed from uneven surface of glass powders to smooth spherical surface particles. Qualitative analysis for density of the pre-burned and burned particles was performed. Burned particles floats in water while pre-burned particles sank indicated the change of density of the particles. Further improvements of the VTF process in terms of the VTF set-up are required to increase the transformation of glass powders to glass microspheres.

The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) was treated via alkaline hydrothermal treatment to change the porous structure of g-C₃N₄ to "tube-like" structure. The developed alkaline treated g-C₃N₄ (A-g-C₃N₄) was combined with P25 Degussa TiO₂ for the competent removal of methylene blue (MB). The morphological changes increased the crystallite size and pore size of g-C₃N₄, causing a decrease in the specific surface area of A-g-C₃N₄. The pure g-C₃N₄ demonstrated the best degradation efficiency among the all samples due to its high specific surface area, low band gap energy and small pore size. The combination of both A-g-C₃N₄ and g-C₃N₄ with TiO₂ did not exert significant effect on the degradation efficiency of MB owing to the low specific surface area, high band gap and large pore size. Thus concluding the degradation efficiency of organic dye is attributed predominantly to the factors of energy band gap, specific surface area and pore sizes.

The study focuses on the synthesis of fluorinated polystyrene (F-PS) as a hydrophobic film coating and on the investigation of the consequent effects of thermal treatment time and treatment temperature on its contact angle. The fluorinated polystyrene is synthesized via Friedel-Crafts acylation of the benzoic rings by electrophilic substitution of trifluoroacetic anhydride in the presence of AlCl3 in an environment of dichloromethane as the aprotic solvent with a reaction temperature of 36°C. The reaction yielded fluorinated polystyrene characterized by a solid brown substance. FT-IR analysis of the substance had shown band peaks at 1150 cm^-1, a wavenumber indicating the presence of fluorine in the synthesized material, which lowers its surface energy. SEM images of the F-PS show nucleation sites giving rise to hierarchical structures on the surface of the material due to the action of fluorination. The contact angle of fluorinated polystyrene, upon application of thermal treatment, increased to as much as 29.26% when compared to the unmodified polystyrene manifesting a preferentially more hydrophobic behavior. It was also found that the contact angle increases linearly with treatment temperature while statistical analysis shows that thermal treatment time has no significant effect on the hydrophobicity of the F- PS.

This study investigate the effect of cooling rates on mefenamic acid crystallisation in ethyl acetate. The cooling rate was varied from 0.2 to 5 °C/min. The in-line conductivity system and turbidity system were employed to detect the onset of the crystallization process. The crystals produced were analysed using optical microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that the crystals produced at different cooling rates were needle-like and exhibit polymorphic form type I. However, the aspect ratio and crystal size distributions were varied with the increased of cooling rate. A high crystals aspect ratio and narrower CSD (100–900 μm) was obtained at cooling rate of 0.5 °C/min. Thus, can be suggested as the most suitable cooling rate for crystallization of mefenamic acid in ethyl acetate.

The adsorption of congo red onto aluminium dross was studied in batch process. The objective of this study is to adsorption capacity between untreated and treated aluminium dross in the removal of congo red. Aluminium dross was leached with 250 ml of 1% of NaOH and and precipitated with 30% H₂O₂. The treated aluminium dross being calcined at 600°C for 3 hours. The surface area for untreated and treated aluminium dross was 10.06 m2/g and 79.80 m2/g respectively. Then the adsorption process was carried out on an orbital shaker at 200 rpm for 4 hours. In the effect of pH, it was found that untreated removes more congo red compared to the treated while in the effect of concentration solution and dosage of adsorbent, treated aluminium dross removes more congo red. In conclusion, this adsorbent was found to be effective and economically viable in the removal of congo red in waste water treatment.

In the age where application of nanotechnology in our society has proven to be eminent, different routes of synthesizing nanoparticles have emerged. In this study nanoparticles of cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) doped with different amounts of europium was prepared by using solution precursor route approach with the aid of ultrasonic sound. Copper sulphate and europium (III) nitrate pentahydrate was used as source for copper ions and europium ions respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to elucidate the cubic crystal structure and organic impurities present on Cu₂Onanoparticles. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to determine the absorption spectrum of the nanoparticles in the wavelength range of 400nm to 700nm. The bandgap of the undoped and doped Cu₂O were found to fall between 2.1eV - 2.3eV. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive x-ray was used to observe the dendritic and rodlike morphology and the presence of europium in the synthesized Cu₂O nanoparticles. The observed effect on the absorbance of Cu₂O upon adding Eu and a facile way of synthesizing Cu₂O nanoparticles could bring a positive impact on the production of functional devices for optoelectronic and energy applications.

Controlling the morphology in the nanoscale has proven to be an effective way to drastically change the properties of materials. In this study, several morphologies of cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) were synthesized by employing a two-step solution route. A Co₃O₄ seed layer was first deposited on the glass substrate via spin Coating using a Cobalt acetate precursor followed by chemical bath deposition of another Co₃O₄ layer using cobalt nitrate precursor. The effect of the seed layer and the deposition times on the morphology of the secondary Co₃O₄ nanostructures was verified by employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Morphologies like nanoplatelets, nanorods, nanofibrils and porous nanowalls were observed in the SEM. Other characterization techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) were used to elucidate the formation of Co₃O₄. Furthermore, the surface of the seed layer was determined via atomic force microscope. It was found that the roughness of the seed layer ranges from ~0.3 to 3 nm depending on the concentration of the cobalt precursor used. Results showed that the morphology of Co₃O₄ can be easily modified using the two-step solution route technique. The alterations of the morphology of Co₃O₄ could lead to morphologies with unique properties and development of functional materials applicable in the field of energy and electronics.

The aviation and mechanical industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years. While these trends only continue, the materials on development of better fabrication technologies. Spongy materials are projected as favourable materials for the future as porous in nature. The current paper devotes to enhance mechanical properties by the use of Manganese sponge doped with TiO₂ possess an outstanding array of properties not readily achievable with other materials. Samples were synthesized by Kroll process and solid-state reaction. The specified materials compares well with the presently used aeromechanical materials in all terms. The scope for further research work in this area will be outlined.

This paper mainly researched the hydrothermal synthesis of Natrolite, using amorphous silicon source from the purified attapulgite. The effects of silicon source, silicon aluminum ratio, crystallization time and crystallization temperature on the synthesis of natrolite were investigated. The results showed that the optimal synthesis condition of natrolite was: Hydrothermal activated ATP with NaOH was silicon source, silicon aluminum ratio was 10:1, crystallization time lasted to 72h and crystallization temperature was 150°C, the template was removed by calcining 8 hours at 550°C. The structural formula of obtained natrolite is Na₂Al₂Si₃O₁₀•2H₂O.

In this paper, the results of the statistical analysis of corrosion processes and moisture saturation of glued laminated timber structures and their joints in corrosive environment are shown. This paper includes calculation results for dowel connections of wood structures using steel and carbon fiber reinforced plastic cylindrical dowel pins in accordance with applicable regulatory documents by means of finite element analysis in ANSYS software, as well as experimental findings. Dependence diagrams are shown; comparative analysis of the results obtained is conducted.

In this paper, the optimization of an electric power transmission material is presented giving specific consideration on material configuration and characteristics. The nature of electric power transmission networks makes it hard to manage. Thus, giving need for optimization. So the problem of optimization of electric power transmission as considered in this paper is improving the performance and reliability of the electricity pylon; the objective is to maximize resistance to load while reducing material usage and cost. For this purpose, we suggest a new version of PSO algorithm that allows the amelioration of its performance by introducing its parallelization associated to the concept of evolutionary neighborhoods. According to the experimental results, the proposed method is effective and outperforms basic PSO in terms of solution quality, accuracy, constraint handling, and time consuming.

Using FBG (fiber bragg grating) technology in clinometers can solve the technological problem facing by wireless transmission devices like big data transfer volume and poor stability, which has been receiving more and more attention. This paper discusses a new clinometer that is designed and transformed based on upgrading current clinometers, installing fiber grating strain gauges and fiber thermometers, and carrying out studies on such aspects as equipment upgrading, on-site setting, and data acquisition and analysis. In addition, it brings up the method of calculating displacement change based on wavelength change; this method is used in safety monitoring of the right side slope of Longyong Expressway ZK56+860 ~ ZK56+940 Section. Data shows that the device is operating well with a higher accuracy, and the slope is currently in a steady state. The equipment improvement and the method together provide reference data for safety analysis of the side slope.