Journal of Physical Science最新文献

{"title":"Mesophase behaviour of a cyanobiphenyl molecule in polar aprotic solvent: Rigidity effect","authors":"S. Nayak, P. L. Praveen","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.3.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.3.3","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, a theoretical study has been carried out on a liquid crystal compound named p-n-propyl cyanobiphenyl (3CB). The different modes of interaction energy values in a polar aprotic solvent (ethyl acetate) for small amount of translation and rotation are calculated. The corresponding probabilities have been calculated at both room temperature (300 K) and transition temperature (303.3 K). The rigidity parameter for stacking and in-plane interactions has been estimated and then the stability of molecule according to probability and rigidity at definite translation and rotation has been concluded. The change in the characteristics and stability of the compound at transition temperature has been observed. The dependence of mesophase behaviour with change in the certain configurations and orientation of the molecules have been discussed. These observed results provide an insight about the process of mesophase structure and its formation. The present compound may guide in establishing the other molecular models with transition temperature nearer to room temperature.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"106 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79271316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of preparation factors on physical characteristics of chitosan nanoparticles","authors":"Norra Shamiela Ruslan, N. Mohtar, S. S. F. Rahiman, A. M. Gazzali","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"Chitosan has been shown to have great potentials in various pharmaceuticals and biomedical applications, including drug delivery. Derived from chitin abundantly available in the shells of crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps, this naturally occurring polysaccharide is classified based on its molecular weight: low, medium or high. This study aimed to explore the production of chitosan nanoparticles (NP) and the influence of different factors on the physical properties of the NP produced. These factors were the concentrations of acetic acid, chitosan flakes and tripolyphosphate (TPP). The design of experiment (DoE) approach was used to determine the optimum conditions for the production of chitosan NP, with particle size (nm) and polydispersity index (PdI) being set as the responses. The chitosan flakes were solubilised in acetic acid at a specific concentration determined by the DoE before dropwise addition of TPP in an ice bath. The mixture was stirred at room temperature and subsequently centrifuged to remove the unformed materials, and then was spray-dried into powder. The size, surface charge, shape and morphology of the particles produced were characterised and infrared analysis was conducted. The results showed that the particles were spherical, slightly positively charged (ζ-potential: +2.89 at pH 7) and the infrared analysis displayed important peaks of the chitosan NP. The DoE results showed that not all combinations of parameters could produce NP; hence, determination of concentration for each parameter is essential. The equation produced by the DoE will be a useful guide to minimise error in this circumstance. In conclusion, the acetic acid and chitosan flakes concentrations were found to influence the particle size positively, whilst the increment in TPP concentration will adversely affect the particle size. Similar pattern of response was also observed for the PdI of the particles. The methods used in this study has successfully produced spherical particles, with evidence of interactions between TPP and chitosan in the NP as shown in the infrared spectrum.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80351732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of Polymer Blending of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate for CO2/N2 Separation","authors":"S. Ng, Z. Jawad, P. Tan, Fui Chin Bridgid Lai, Lee Ren Jie","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.1.5","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has increased significantly. To overcome this issue, carbon capture and storage was implemented to remove CO2 due to its low energy consumption and economic advantages. As a result, membrane technology was introduced as one of the technologies for CO2 separation to capture CO2 from industrial processes. Cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) was selected as the material for polymeric membrane due to its high CO2 solubility. The CAB membrane was fabricated by blending two CAB polymers at different molecular weights of 70000 and 65000 using the wet-phase inversion method. A study of the parameter was carried out as it affected the structure and separation performance of the membrane in particular, polymer concentration. The results showed the satisfactory performance of CAB membrane blended with molecular weights of 70000 and 65000 at a ratio of 40:60 (M3) where, the CO2 permeance, nitrogen (N2) permeance and CO2 /N2 selectivity were 26.39 GPU, 7.73 GPU and 3.41 GPU, respectively. Hence, it is expected that this research may apply to membrane gas separation in industries such as power plants to separate CO2 from exhaust gas and reduce CO2 emissions.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76287013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping Buried Alluvial Layer Using Integrated Seismic Refraction and 2-D Resistivity Inversions at Sungai Batu, Kedah, Malaysia","authors":"R. Yusoh, N. Rosli, Nazrin Rahman, R. Saad, M. Saidin","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.1.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.1.8","url":null,"abstract":"Resistivity and seismic refraction are conventional methods in preinvestigations of subsurface structures, which are commonly employed and interpreted separately to reduce ambiguities from each method. Although integration of the two methods’ models into a single model was recently introduced, the integration still requires enhancement to generate an accurate subsurface profile. Therefore, an enhanced algorithm called closure coupling technique was developed to integrate 2-dimensional (2-D) models of resistivity and seismic refraction to become a single integrated model where one model influences the other model. The resultant integrated model is superior in mapping the subsurface compared with singular resistivity and seismic models. These methods were then applied on a pre-investigative field dataset in finding ancient river for archaeological point of interest. Due to complex geology, only slight changes were observed in the inverted model of the integrated data inversion for this archetype. Still, the combined model enhanced subsurface interpretation by highlighting the distribution of buried alluvial soil.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79318607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Discrete Phase Modelling Governing the Dynamics of Biomass Particles Inside a Fast Pyrolysis Reactor","authors":"Mohd Rahman Omar, N. Abdullah, A. Rais","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.1.7","url":null,"abstract":": The influences of several important biomass pyrolysis process parameters such as the biomass feedstock type, flow pressure, biomass feeding rate and biomass particle size play an important role to ensure an efficient pyrolysis process. Unfortunately, the determination of these parameters can be cumbersome and often requires the method of trial and error. As a result, our work discusses the idea of the application of discrete phase modelling (DPM) in the fast pyrolysis process so that the optimum value of these essential parameters can be determined numerically. The numerical test demonstrated in this paper involving the fast pyrolysis of wood indicates that the application of DPM in the simulation is feasible for obtaining the initial prediction of the optimum process parameters.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80213656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Influence of Embedding Different Loadings of MWCNTs on the Structure and Permeation of CAB Blended Membrane","authors":"Anas Khalid Abdelsalam Abdelgadir, Z. Jawad, Tan Peng Chee, Wee Siaw Khur","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.1.2","url":null,"abstract":"Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been widely known to be the main contributor to global warming and temperature fluctuations. The CO2 gas is primarily found in the combustion of fossil fuels and natural gases. Several approaches were considered in the industry to minimise CO2 emissions such as ammonia scrubbing and membrane technology. In recent years, membrane technology has exhibited excellent CO2 separation performance especially the mixed matrix membrane (MMM) due to its combined properties of organic and inorganic materials. The small footprint and high efficiency of the membrane technology compared with the traditional gas separation processes has given it a distinct advantage. In this work, the MMMs are synthesised from the cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) polymer and the functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through Chen’s soft-cutting method. This study aims to synthesise an excellent MMM with high separation performance by studying the effects of incorporating different amounts of MWCNTs fillers into the CAB blended membrane. The fabricated MMM was developed using 4 wt% of CAB with molecular weights of 12000, 65000 and 70000 mixed in a ratio of 1:1:1. The functionalised MWCNTs were incorporated into the CAB matrix with different filler loadings ranging from 0.0125 wt% to 0.2 wt%. The separation performance of the fabricated MMM was successfully conducted towards CO2/N2 separation. The highest CO2 and N2 gas permeance were exhibited from the MMM-0.025 with average values of 36.0 ± 0.4 GPU and 28.0 ± 0.2 GPU, respectively. Further, the highest CO2/N2 selectivity Influence of Different MWCNTs Loadings 16 exhibited from the MMM-0.025 was 1.3 ± 0.1. The outcome of this research confirmed the positive effects of different Mn and MWCNTs filler amounts on the performance of the MMM.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82946295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biodiesel Synthesis through Methanolysis of Palm Olein Using Calcium Oxide Catalyst Derived from Staghorn Coral","authors":"Nabilah Atiqah Zul, Shangeetha Ganesan, M. Hussin","doi":"10.21315/jps2020.31.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2020.31.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"This study explored the synthesis of a heterogeneous catalyst derived from staghorn coral where it was utilised to convert palm olein into methyl esters through transesterification process. The prepared catalyst was characterised by various methods, namely Hammett indicator method, benzoic acid titration method, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET)-N2 adsorption analysis, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on the results acquired from ATR-FTIR and XRD analyses, it was evident that staghorn coral was converted into calcium oxide (CaO) upon thermal activation at 900°C. The impacts of catalyst loading, reaction time and methanol/oil molar ratio on biodiesel content were investigated to determine the optimum reaction conditions. The methyl esters content of 62.07% was achieved under optimised parameters comprising 6 wt% catalyst loading, reaction time of 4 h and methanol to oil molar ratio of 15:1. All in all, despite the low percentage of biodiesel production, staghorn coral has shown to be a potent catalyst and its catalytic ability could be improved to a whole new level through further modifications.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91078655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Different Prehydrolysis Processes on Lignin Extractability of Coconut Husk Fibres","authors":"B. Carre, M. Hébrant, N. Brosse, Nur Hanis Abd Latif, M. Hussin","doi":"10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.18","url":null,"abstract":"Lignin is a biopolymer usable in many ways once it has been separated and delignified from biomass. In this training report, delignification of coconut husk fibres is performed, with the aim of recovering isolated lignin. In order to do so, different processes are carried out (autohydrolysis, dilute acid, organosolv and soda pulping treatments). The obtained lignin is characterised afterwards through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in order to check lignin presence and quality. Analyses show that lignin is indeed obtained in both experiments, though the yield is greater for the treatment with autohydrolysis. However, the global yield is quite low, adjustments of experimental parameters (time, temperature, ratio) shall be carried out.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82576555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The In-silico Studies of Benzylidene Indanone Derivatives Towards Dengue Virus Type-2 NS2B/NS3 Protease","authors":"Nadirah Zawani Mohd Nesfu, D. Laurain-Mattar, E. Kamarulzaman, H. Wahab, Iffah Izzati Zakaria, M. Hassan, N. Brosse, H. Osman","doi":"10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.16","url":null,"abstract":"This research focuses on the in-silico study of ten synthesised indanone derivatives as dengue virus type-2 (DENV-2) NS2B/NS3 protease inhibitor using Wilchapong et al. 's homology protein crystal structure. The effort to prevent the infection and cure the disease were escalating as the dengue virus transmission has been classified as an emerging infectious disease. The Lamarckian genetic algorithm was employed in Autodock 4.2 to determine the binding modes and synthesised compounds conformation towards DENV-2 NS2B/NS3 protease homology protein crystal structure. The in-silico study reveals that the compound, 3g and 3h have the highest binding affinity and fit into the allosteric pocket of DENV-2 NS2B/NS3 serine protease with hydrogen bonding, the π-π stacking interaction and hydrophobic interaction.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80444093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preliminary Assays on Electrochemically Modulated Liquid-liquid Extraction of Metformin","authors":"Maizatul Najwa Jajuli, M. Hussin, A. A. Rahim, B. Saad, M. Hébrant, Grégoire Herzog","doi":"10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21315/jps2019.30.s2.13","url":null,"abstract":"Liquid-liquid extraction is one of the analytical methods that is commonly used for separation of various analytes. Nevertheless, the method is not capable to operate with hydrophobic medical drugs, particularly metformin where the drug is essentially used as an antidiabetic (Type II diabetes). Preliminary studies on extractions of metformin, phenyl biguanide and propranolol were accomplished using electrochemically modulated liquid-liquid extraction (EMLLE) method as a sample preparation method. The principle is based on application of electrically driving force to transfer the desired ions across the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES). The extraction of three cationic drugs from artificial urine to 1, 2-dichoroethane, is controlled by external polarisation. By using ITIES cells, all of the drugs are found to transfer within the available potential window. The application of different galvani potential differences enables the selective extraction of drugs. Potential window of artificial urine shorter than lithium chloride as aqueous phase. Nevertheless, for both cases, the first drug to be extracted is propranolol which is the most hydrophobic drug and hence a lower potential is needed to transfer this cationic molecule across the interface as followed by phenylbiguanide and metformin.","PeriodicalId":16757,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Science","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78238358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}