Photocatalytic degradation of phenol

In this study photocatalytic degradation of phenol in thepresence of UV irradiated TiO₂ catalyst andH₂O₂was investigated. Effects of TiO₂ andH₂O₂concentrations and pH on photocatalytic degradation were examined. The rate constants for photocatalytic degradation wereevaluated as a function of TiO₂ and H₂O₂ concentrations and pH of the solution. It was found thatphotodegradation is an effective method for the removal of phenoland disappearance of phenol obeyed first order kinetics. The amount of CO₂h produced during photocatalytic degradation wascorresponding to the complete mineralization. Photodegradationcan be an alternative method for the treatment of phenol containing wastewaters.     

Stabilization and utilization of hospital waste as road and asphalt aggregate

This article reports the operational results of the effective utilization of hospital waste molten slag produced using a high-temperature melting system, and being operated at a hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. The hospital waste is incinerated and subsequently melted at 1200°C. Scanning election microscope (SEM)/EDX results showed that the slag produced after melting contained amounts of SiO₂, CaO, and Al₂O₃ in excess of 53%, 9%, and 16%, respectively. The results from a leaching analysis on the slag produced proved that the melting process had successfully stabilized the heavy metals. The use of this slag as an alternative material to replace conventional aggregates for road construction was studied. The results from aggregate and asphalt mix tests showed that the slag produced fulfills all the requirements of an alternative aggregate. The average asphalt content, or the optimum asphalt content to be mixed with hospital waste molten slag, was found to be about 5.53%.     

Influence of polymethyl acrylate additive on the formation of particulate matter and NOX emission of a biodiesel–diesel-fueled engine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the polymethyl acrylate (PMA) additive on the formation of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen...     

Investigation on the effect of sintering temperature on kaolin hollow fibre membrane for dye filtration

Despite its extraordinary price, ceramic membrane can still be able to surpass polymeric membrane in the applications that require high temperature and pressure conditions, as well as harsh chemical environment. In order to alleviate the high cost of ceramic material that still becomes one of the major factors that contributes to the high production cost of ceramic membrane, various attempts have been made to use low cost ceramic materials as alternatives to well-known expensive ceramic materials such as alumina, silica, and zirconia in the fabrication of ceramic membrane. Thus, local Malaysian kaolin has been chosen as the ceramic material in this study for the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane since it is inexpensive and naturally abundant in Malaysia. Due to the fact that the sintering process plays a prominent role in obtaining the desired morphology, properties, and performances of prepared ceramic membrane, the aim of this work was to study the effect of different sintering temperatures applied (ranging from 1200 to 1500 °C) in the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane via dry/wet phase inversion-based spinning technique and sintering process. The morphology and properties of membrane were then characterised by SEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, and three-point bending test, while the performances of membrane were investigated by conducting water permeation and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye rejection tests. From the experimental results obtained, the sintering temperature of 1400 °C could be selected as the optimum sintering temperature in preparing the kaolin hollow fibre membrane with the dense sponge-like structure of separation layer that resulted in the good mechanical strength of 70 MPa with the appreciable water permeation of 75 L/h m² bar and RB5 rejection of 68%.     

Do renewable energy and globalization enhance ecological footprint: an analysis of top renewable energy countries?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper aims at estimating the dynamic impact of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, globalization, urbanization, and economic growth...     

Ethanol mediated As(III) adsorption onto Zn-loaded pinecone biochar: Experimental investigation, modeling, and optimization using hybrid artificial neural network-genetic algorithm approach

Organic matters (OMs) and their oxidization products often influence the fate and transport of heavy metals in the subsurface aqueous systems through interaction with the mineral surfaces. This study investigates the ethanol (EtOH)-mediated As(III) adsorption onto Zn-loaded pinecone (PC) biochar through batch experiments conducted under Box–Behnken design. The effect of EtOH on As(III) adsorption mechanism was quantitatively elucidated by fitting the experimental data using artificial neural network and quadratic modeling approaches. The quadratic model could describe the limiting nature of EtOH and pH on As(III) adsorption, whereas neural network revealed the stronger influence of EtOH (64.5%) followed by pH (20.75%) and As(III) concentration (14.75%) on the adsorption phenomena. Besides, the interaction among process variables indicated that EtOH enhances As(III) adsorption over a pH range of 2 to 7, possibly due to facilitation of ligand–metal(Zn) binding complexation mechanism. Eventually, hybrid response surface model–genetic algorithm (RSM–GA) approach predicted a better optimal solution than RSM, i.e., the adsorptive removal of As(III) (10.47 μg/g) is facilitated at 30.22 mg C/L of EtOH with initial As(III) concentration of 196.77 μg/L at pH 5.8. The implication of this investigation might help in understanding the application of biochar for removal of various As(III) species in the presence of OM.     

Air and groundwater pollution in an agricultural region of the Turkish Mediterranean coast

Air pollution and groundwater pollution in conjunction with agricultural activity were investigated in Antayla province on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The air pollution was investigated in terms of gas-phase nitric acid (HNO3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3), and particulate matter for a 6-month period in the atmosphere using a "filter pack" system, which was developed and optimized in our laboratory. Ozone was measured by using an automated analyzer. Among all of the gas-phase pollutants, HNO3 had the lowest concentration (0.42 microg x m(-3)) followed by NH3. Agricultural activities seem to be the major source of observed NH3 in the air. The current state of water pollution was investigated in terms of organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides around the greenhouses, in which mainly tomato, pepper, and eggplant are cultivated. Water samples were collected from 40 points, 28 of which were wells and 12 of which were surface water. The pesticide concentrations in water samples were determined by means of solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by a gas chromatography (GC)-electron capture detector (ECD)/nitrogen phosphorus detector (NPD) system. In general, surface water samples were more polluted by the pesticides than groundwater samples. The most frequently observed pesticides were chlorpyriphos (57%) and aldrin (79%) in groundwater, and chlorpyriphos (75%), aldrin, and endosulfan sulfate (83%) in surface water samples. The highest concentrations were observed for fenamiphos (394.8 ng/L) and aldrin (68.51 ng/L) in groundwater, and dichlorvos (322.2 ng/L) and endosulfan sulfate (89.5 ng/L) in surface water samples. At least one pesticide had a concentration above the health limit in 38% of all the water samples analyzed.     

A two-generational reproductive toxicity study of zinc in rats

A two-generation reproductive toxicity study of zinc chloride (ZnCl(2)) was conducted in rats. F(o) male and female rats were administered 0.00 (control), 7.50 (low), 15.00 (mid) and 30.00 (high) mg/kg/day of ZnCl(2). Selected F(1) male and female rats were exposed to the same doses received by their parents (F(o)). Exposure of F(0) parental rats to ZnCl(2) showed significant reduction in fertility, viability (days 0 and 4), and the body weight of F(1) pups from the high-dose group but caused no effects on litter size, weaning index, and sex ratio. Similarly, the continued exposure of F(1) parental rats to ZnCl(2) also reduced fertility, liter size, viability (day 0), and the body weight of F(2) pups within the high-dose group but caused no effects on weaning index and sex ratio. Exposure of ZnCl(2) to F(0) and F(1) parental males resulted in a significant reduction in their body weights, and the F(0) and F(1) parental females did not show any significant difference in their body weights compared to their control groups. However, the postpartum dam weights of both F(0) and F(1) female rats were significantly reduced compared to their controls. Exposure of ZnCl(2) to F(o) and F(1) generation parental rats did not produce any significant change of their clinical signs as well as their clinical pathology parameters, except the alkaline phosphotase (ALK) level, which showed an upward trend in both sexes of both generations. Exposure of ZnCl(2) to F(0) rats resulted in a reduction of brain, liver, kidney, spleen and seminal vesicles weights of males and in the spleen and uterus of females. Similarly, exposure of F(1) rats to ZnCl(2) also resulted in reduction of brain, liver, kidney, adrenal, spleen, prostate and seminal vesicles weights of males and in spleen and uterus of females. ZnCl(2) exposure resulted in grossly observed gastro-intestianla (GI) tract, lymphoreticular/hematopoietic, and reproductive tract lesions in parental rats in both generations. Reduced body fat was also recorded in F(1) parental rats.     

The potentials of internalising social banking among the Malaysian Islamic banks

Islamic banking has established for the last 40 years, yet only recently researchers acknowledge social failures of Islamic banking and finance. This has led to a proposition of forming new forms of banking and non-banking institutions that include social banking. It is argued that in considering the developmentalist needs of the Muslim societies in Malaysia, there is a need to go back to fundamentals of Islamic finance in realising the aspirational Islamic moral economy that emphasises on the social good, capacity development at the individual and social levels. This paper aims to explore the concept of social banking and search for the possibilities for internalisation in Malaysian Islamic banking. To gain understanding on this pertinent issue, an empirical investigation was conducted at 17 Islamic banks in Malaysia. A mixed method was employed. For the primary data collection, 477 respondents of Islamic banks clients and employees participated in a self-administrated survey, and 11 respondents from the executive and managerial level of eight Islamic banks involved in a semi-structured interview survey. The integrated analysis implies that Islamic banking significantly contributes to socio-economic development. On the contrary, financial and economic practices in everyday life do not reflect the social economic justice. The result further illustrates that the Islamic banks lack social contributions as they prone to practice efficiency-oriented institutions. Hence, a social banking model is needed to solve the lack of socio-economic development issue in the current practice of Islamic bank.     

Modelling equilibrium adsorption of single,binary, and ternary combinations of Cu,Pb, and Zn onto granular activated carbon

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Elevated concentrations of heavy metals in water can be toxic to humans, animals, and aquatic organisms. A study was conducted on the removal of Cu,...