Afza Shafie

Application of ZnO Nanoparticles EM Wave Detector Prepared by Sol- gel and Self-Combustion Techniques

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has found many important applications such as optoelectronic devices, sensors and varistors. The challenging part however is synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles and its utilisation as EM detectors. Sol-gel and self-combustion techniques were chosen in this study due to the ability to produce single phase and nano-size samples. The starting mixture consists of 10 grams of zinc (II) nitrate, Zn(NO3)2.6H2O salt which was dissolved in 50 mL of nitric acid, HNO3.The solution was stirred at 250 rpm continuously for 1 day. The mixture was then gradually heated for every 15 minutes until it combusted at 110oC for the self-combustion technique. For the sol-gel technique, the dissolved mixture was heated at 40oC, 50oC, 60oC and 70oC until the gelatine was formed. After the drying process, the as-prepared samples were annealed at 100oC and 200 oC for 1 hour for each technique. Characterizations were performed by using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectra and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).The XRD analysis showed a major peak of [101] plane at 2Ө for the self-combustion technique and the sol-gel technique. Raman results for the samples prepared via sol-gel and self-combustion techniques had shown the major peak of ZnO that is located at the Raman shifts of 437.67 cm-1. Using the Scherrer equation, single crystal nano particle of ZnO was successfully obtained in the range of 38.49 nm to 50.70 nm for the sample prepared via the sol gel technique. By the self-combustion technique, the average dimension of the as-prepared sample is in the range of 34-49 nm. Further heat treatment resulted in a major change of the Raman shift corresponding to the single phase ZnO nano particles. The best samples were used as electromagnetic (EM) detectors. The EM detectors are polymer based composite which were prepared using a casting technique.

A preliminary study on local folktales exposures to support the development of animated courseware

Although Malaysia has a wide variety of folktales, childrens knowledge about local folktales are less compared to foreign folktales. Until this moment, not much Malay folktales animation courseware was developed and published in the market, as well as the application for tablet. This paper discusses a preliminary study conducted for the research on developing an animation courseware for Malay folktales. In order to choose the genres to be developed for this courseware, a preliminary study has been carried out, which comprises of a survey using questionnaire distributed to 394 children aged from 9 to 11 years old assisted by their teachers. The results of this preliminary study showed that children are interested in animal, humour and exemplary stories. The results also proved that children are more familiar with foreign folktales compared to local folktales. Children preferred foreign folktales over local folktales because of the animation, graphic, character and colours presented in the story.

Application of Electromagnetic Waves and Dielectric Nanoparticles in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) refers to the recovery of oil that is left behind in a reservoir after primary and secondary recovery methods, either due to exhaustion or no longer economical, through application of thermal, chemical or miscible gas processes. Most conventional methods are not applicable in recovering oil from reservoirs with high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) due to the degradation of the chemicals in the environment. As an alternative, electromagnetic (EM) energy has been used as a thermal method to reduce the viscosity of the oil in a reservoir which increased the production of the oil. Application of nanotechnology in EOR has also been investigated. In this study, a non-invasive method of injecting dielectric nanofluids into the oil reservoir simultaneously with electromagnetic irradiation, with the intention to create disturbance at oil-water interfaces and increase oil production was investigated. During the core displacement tests, it has been demonstrated that in the absence of EM irradiation, both ZnO and Al2O3 nanofluids recovered higher residual oil volumes in comparison with commercial surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). When subjected to EM irradiation, an even higher residual oil was recovered in comparison to the case when no irradiation is present. It was also demonstrated that a change in the viscosity of dielectric nanofluids when irradiated with EM wave will improve sweep efficiency and hence, gives a higher oil recovery.

A study on design principles and requirements for multimedia application development: MFolktales application for children's education

MFolktales is a multimedia application that contains Animation Module and interactivity modules which aim to promote Malay folk stories to children. This research is limited to children aged 5 to 7 years old. Therefore, approaches in developing animated multimedia applications are studied so that they can suit the childrens interest and at the same time can act as a tool for learning. This paper discusses the study on design principles and requirements for multimedia application development which covers suitable learning theories, learning taxonomy, modules, user interface principles, and usability that are appropriate with the application developed. MFolktales application was developed based on the results of the study. This paper also provides some discussions regarding the guidelines utilized in developing the prototype. Finally, a set of usability questions was given to 30 parents who have children aged between 3 to 12 years old to evaluate the usability level of the developed prototype. The results showed that majority of the respondents gave a positive feedback on the developed MFolktales application.

Number skills mobile application for down syndrome children

Down syndrome (DS) children seem to have difficulties in learning numbers compared to reading. They need customized learning in numbers due to their slower pace of learning. Unfortunately, there is limited theory to guide DS children to learn and master in mathematics. With the advancement of technology, the learning style of special children has been improved from time to time from the paper and pen method, to the use of computer application such as courseware to the latest technology such as mobile application in smart phones and tablets. As for now, there is no personalized mathematics learning mobile application for DS children. The objectives of this paper are to report on the development of a mobile application on learning the basic numbers for DS children and to evaluate the user acceptance on the developed mobile application. The study will be focusing on the DS children with moderate level of IQ who are learning to recognize basic numbers. The method used to achieve the objectives is Rapid Application Development (RAD). The mobile application was developed using Eclipse Android Development Tool (ADT). An observation has been conducted to 5 DS children who have different level of IQ. The finding shows that the mobile application is really suitable for DS children who have moderate level IQ.

SynMax: A Mathematics Application Tool for Down Syndrome Children

Research has shown that the number skills delayed relative to reading skills for Down Syndrome (DS) children. The DS children use the same learning strategy as the normal children, but their learning stages develop more slowly. A possible solution using computer based application, which the children can interact with material that have the integration of visual information and auditory. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a computer application for learning basic numeracy skills for DS. This application consists of three modules; learning identifying numbers, matching and counting. Dual Coding theory, Schema learning theory and Rapid Application Development (RAD) is employed in the design. Initial user acceptance test of the prototype has shown positive results.

Improved Oil Recovery by High Magnetic Flux Density Subjected to Iron Oxide Nanofluids

Oil recovery in offshore environments can be increased by using nanofluids with electromagnetic waves generated from an antenna in the oil reservoir. In the case of offshore environments, these constraints can be avoided if a horizontal antenna is towed close to the seabed, which maximises the electromagnetic energy transferred from the overburden to the reservoir and nanofluids in the reservoir. In this research, a new enhanced antenna is used with iron oxide (Fe2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluids for oil recovery applications at the laboratory scale. In the antenna study, it was observed that the curve antenna with magnetic feeders gave a 1978% increase in the magnetic field signal strength compared to the case without magnetic feeders. The curve antenna with magnetic feeders produced a 473% increase in the electric field signal strength compared to the case without magnetic feeders. Iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel method. The iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticle sizes were in the range of 30.27-37.60 nm. FESEM and HRTEM images show that the samples have good crystallinity and that the grain size increased as temperature increased. Iron oxide (Fe2O3) samples sintered at 500°C showed a high initial permeability and Q-factor and a low loss factor compared to samples sintered at 500°C. The sample had a very high initial permeability and a low loss at low frequencies; therefore, it was suitable for the preparation of the nanofluid and oil recovery applications. Oil recovery through the usage of 0.1 % (w/w) iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanofluid with an EM field generated from the curve antenna with magnetic feeders was 33.45% of OOIP (original oil in place). In a similar case where 0.1 % (w/w) zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluid with an EM field was used, 22.46 % of OOIP was recovered. These results imply that injecting 0.1% w/w iron oxide nanofluid coupled to the curve antenna with magnetic feeders has potential for oil recovery for improved water flooding systems because the high magnetic flux density that acts on the nanoparticles is proportional to the magnetic field strength.

The Band Structures of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and ZnO Nanoparticles Used for Oil Recovery in Water Flooding System

A major challenge for the oil industry is increasing the oil recovery from reservoirs. Nanofluid injection with the aid of electromagnetic (EM) waves can improve oil recovery. Nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO) were synthesised using a sol-gel method and characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Nanofluids of SWCNT and zinc oxide (ZnO) were used in this oil recovery study. It was observed that curved antennae with magnetic feeders gave a 472% larger D-field signal than those without magnetic feeders. The Dmol3 simulations showed that the band gap of ZnO is 1.088 eV, and the band gap of the SWCNT was 0.326 eV. The particle sizes of the ZnO nanoparticles were in the range of 30-39 nm. FESEM and HRTEM images showed that the samples were highly crystalline, and the grain size increased as the temperature increased. As a result, these nanoparticles were suitable for the preparation of the nanofluid and oil recovery applications. Oil recovery using 0.001% (w/w) ZnO nanofluid and EM was 16.10 % of OOIP, and using 0.01% SWNT nanofluid yielded an oil recovery of 23 ROIP %. These results imply that injecting a ZnO oxide nanofluid of 0.001% w/w coupled with a curved antenna and magnetic feeders has the potential to improve oil recovery in waterflooding systems.

Modeling Determinants of Health Expenditures in Malaysia: Evidence from Time Series Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to model the determinants of health care expenditures (HCE) and investigate the short-run, long-run equilibrium dynamic causal relationship between health care and income per capita within the time series framework from 1981 to 2014 in Malaysia. For appropriate model specification and forecasting accuracy, different econometric diagnostic tests were applied. Ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to estimate the long run parameters. Long run co-integration was investigated by Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) Bound approach, whereas, for causality analysis the Engle-Granger method was used. Income, population structure, and population growth was identified as the significant contributing factors to explain variations in HCE. The estimated income elasticity for HCE was found 0.99 < 1 showing health care was a necessity. The results confirmed a feed-back hypothesis between health expenditure and income per capita. Money spending and health care expenditure relationship has long been established (Getzen, 2014). Better health has been identified as an important factor to raise economic growth and increased productivity. A healthy population of any country is of important importance and has positive connections to economic growth (Sachs, 2002; Khan et al., 2015). However, rapidly growing HCE is a matter of grave concern for policy and decision makers across countries in the world. The fast growth rate of health care spending exerts pressure on various sectors of the economy, which might slow down the economic growth sustainability (Jakovljevic and Milovanovic, 2015; Jakovljevic, 2016) create poverty trap, as more out-of-pocket health expenditure hugely affects household income (Khan et al., 2015). Health care expenditure and the Malaysia case Malaysia with a total land area of 329,758 square kilometers is one of the leading and fast growing high middle-income economies in the Southeast Asian countries. The total population of the country is approximately 29,717 million which is distributed within 14 states, with a per capita gross national income of US

Development of novel electromagnetic antenna for deep target marine CSEM survey

22 (international PPP); and life expectancy rate ranging from 72 to 76 years at birth of male and female respectively. It spends US