Ismayadi Ismail

Phase Transformations of α-Alumina Made from Waste Aluminum via a Precipitation Technique

We report on a recycling project in which α-Al2O3 was produced from aluminum cans because no such work has been reported in literature. Heated aluminum cans were mixed with 8.0 M of H2SO4 solution to form an Al2(SO4)3 solution. The Al2(SO4)3 salt was contained in a white semi-liquid solution with excess H2SO4; some unreacted aluminum pieces were also present. The solution was filtered and mixed with ethanol in a ratio of 2:3, to form a white solid of Al2(SO4)3·18H2O. The Al2(SO4)3·18H2O was calcined in an electrical furnace for 3 h at temperatures of 400–1400 °C. The heating and cooling rates were 10 °C/min. XRD was used to investigate the phase changes at different temperatures and XRF was used to determine the elemental composition in the alumina produced. A series of different alumina compositions, made by repeated dehydration and desulfonation of the Al2(SO4)3·18H2O, is reported. All transitional alumina phases produced at low temperatures were converted to α-Al2O3 at high temperatures. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the α-Al2O3 phase was realized when the calcination temperature was at 1200 °C or higher.

Cytotoxic effect of nanocrystalline MgFe 2 O 4 particles for cancer cure

Nanocrystalline magnesium ferrites (MgFe2O4) were produced with an average grain size of about 20 nm. Their structural, morphological, and magnetic characterizations were studied. The cytotoxic effects of MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in various concentrations (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 µg/mL) against MCF-7 human breast cancer cellswere analyzed. MTT assay findings suggest the increased accumulation of apoptotic bodies with the increasing concentration of MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis shows that MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in 800 µg/mL concentration aremore cytotoxic compared to vehicle-treated MCF-7 cells and suggests their potential utility as a drug carrier in the treatment of cancer.

Synthesis, Characterization and in Vitro Evaluation of Manganese Ferrite (MnFe2O4) Nanoparticles for Their Biocompatibility with Murine Breast Cancer Cells (4T1)

Manganese ferrite (MnFe2O4) magnetic nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a sol-gel self-combustion technique using iron nitrate and manganese nitrate, followed by calcination at 150 °C for 24 h. Calcined sample was systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrational sample magnetometry (VSM) in order to identify the crystalline phase, functional group, morphology, particle size, shape and magnetic behavior. It was observed that the resultant spinal ferrites obtained at low temperature exhibit single phase, nanoparticle size and good magnetic behavior. The study results have revealed the existence of a potent dose dependent cytotoxic effect of MnFe2O4 nanoparticles against 4T1 cell lines at varying concentrations with IC50 values of 210, 198 and 171 μg/mL after 24 h, 48 h and 72 h of incubation, respectively. Cells exposed to higher concentrations of nanoparticles showed a progressive increase of apoptotic and necrotic activity. Below 125 μg/mL concentration the nanoparticles were biocompatible with 4T1 cells.

Influence of Milling Time on the Crystallization, Morphology and Magnetic Properties of Polycrystalline Yttrium Iron Garnet

The polycrystalline Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) powder with the chemical formula Y3Fe5O12 has been synthesized by using High Energy Ball Milling technique. The effect of various preparation parameters on the crystallinity, morphology and complex permeability of YIG, which includes milling time and annealing temperature were studied respectively by using XRD, SEM and Impedance Material Analyzer. The frequency dependence of complex permeability namely real permeability, µ’ and magnetic loss, µ’’ were measured at room temperature for samples sintered from 600°C to 1400°C, in the frequency range 10 MHz to 1 GHz. The results showed that milling time plays a role in determining the crystallinity of the milled powder where higher milling time results in better crystallinity due to high reactivity of the particles. From complex permeability measurement, it was observed that the initial permeability and magnetic loss increased with increasing grain size. The permeability values increased with annealing temperature and the absolute values of permeability decreased after attaining the natural resonance frequency of the material.

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Cytotoxicity Activities of Copper Ferrite (CuFe2O4) and Zinc Ferrite (ZnFe2O4) Nanoparticles Synthesized by Sol-Gel Self-Combustion Method

Spinel copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) and zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) nanoparticles were synthesized using a sol-gel self-combustion technique. The structural, functional, morphological and magnetic properties of the samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). XRD patterns conform to the copper ferrite and zinc ferrite formation, and the average particle sizes were calculated by using a transmission electron microscope, the measured particle sizes being 56 nm for CuFe2O4 and 68 nm for ZnFe2O4. Both spinel ferrite nanoparticles exhibit ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization of 31 emug−1 for copper ferrite (50.63 Am2/Kg) and 28.8 Am2/Kg for zinc ferrite. Both synthesized ferrite nanoparticles were equally effective in scavenging 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) free radicals. ZnFe2O4 and CuFe2O4 nanoparticles showed 30.57% ± 1.0% and 28.69% ± 1.14% scavenging activity at 125 µg/mL concentrations. In vitro cytotoxicity study revealed higher concentrations (>125 µg/mL) of ZnFe2O4 and CuFe2O4 with increased toxicity against MCF-7 cells, but were found to be non-toxic at lower concentrations suggesting their biocompatibility.

Synthesis of Y-tip graphitic nanoribbons from alcohol catalytic chemical vapor deposition on piezoelectric substrate

We report the synthesis of Graphitic Nanoribbons (GNRs) using Alcohol Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition (ACCVD). Bulk GNR was synthesized directly on a piezoelectric substrate using one-step ACCVD. The synthesized GNRs were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Raman spectroscopy. The characterization results showed Y-tip morphology of bulk and filamentous as-grown GNR having varying width that lies between tens and hundreds of nm and length of several microns. Based on the thickness obtained from the AFM and the analysis from the Raman spectroscopy, it was concluded that the synthesized GNRs are multiple-layered and graphitic in nature. With the direct synthesis of GNR on a piezoelectric substrate, it could have applications in the sensor industries, while the Y-tip GNR could have potentialities in semiconductor applications.

Microstructural and Dielectric Properties of Zr Doped Microwave Sintered Synthesized by Sol-Gel Route

Polycrystalline samples with the chemical formula CaCu3O12 (, 0.02, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 0.1) CCTZO were synthesized from metal nitrate solutions by the sol-gel method, followed by conventional and microwave heat treatments. The X-ray diffraction pattern of powder calcined at 800°C in conventional furnace for 3 h showed formation of a single phase. The crystal structure did not change on doping with zirconium and it remained cubic in the five studied compositions. The surface morphology of samples sintered at 1000°C in microwave furnace for 10 min was observed using a high resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM). The grain sizes were in the range of 250 nm–5 μm for these samples. HRSEM results show that doping with Zr enhanced grain growth or densification. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) confirmed the presence of Zr. The dielectric characteristics of Zr doped CCTO were studied with an LCR meter in the frequency range of 50 Hz–1 MHz. A very high dielectric constant 21,500 was observed for the sample doped with Zr (0.02 mol%) at 50 Hz.

Magnetic and Microwave Properties of Polycrystalline Gadolinium Iron Garnet

The microwave loss in nanosized GdIG particles synthesized using mechanical alloying technique was investigated. There were very few of research on the microwave properties of nanosized particle GdIG and there is no attempt investigating on the material at C-band frequency range and its correlation with the microstructure. Gadolinium (III) iron oxide and iron (III) oxide, α-Fe2O3 were used as the starting materials. The mixed powder was then milled in a high-energy ball mixer/mill SPEX8000D for 3 hours. The samples were sintered at temperature 1200°C for 10 hours in an ambient air environment. The phase formation of the sintered samples was analyzed using a Philips X’Pert Diffractometer with Cu-Kα radiation. Complex permeability constitutes of real permeability and magnetic loss factor were measured using an Agilent HP4291A Impedance Material Analyzer in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 1 GHz. A PNA-N5227 Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) was used to obtain the information on ferromagnetic linewidth broadening, ΔH that represents the microwave loss in the samples in in frequency range of 4 to 8 GHz (C-band). The ΔH value was calculated from the transmission (S21) data acquired from VNA. The single phase GdIG showed low initial permeability and low magnetic loss when applied with low-frequency range energy. From these data, it is validated that GdIG is a suitable material for microwave devices for the high-frequency range.

Influence of Microstructural Evolution on the Magnetically Group Dominance in Polycrystalline Y3Fe5O12 Multi-Samples

In present work, the effect of changing microstructure on magnetic properties which evolves in parallel, in particular from amorphous-to-crystalline development, in yttrium iron garnet was investigated. 9 toroidal samples of polycrystalline yttrium iron garnets were prepared by using the mechanical alloying technique and sintered at low to high sintering temperature for microstructure-dependent-magnetic evolutions. A brief, yet revealing characterization of the samples were carried out by using an X-ray Diffraction, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Impedance Material Analyzer, LCR-meter and, Picoammeter. It is believed that microstructural features such as amorphous phase, grain boundary, secondary phase and intergranular pores contribute significant additional magnetic anisotropy and demagnetizing fields, thus affecting the initial permeability accordingly. A scrutinizing observation of the permeability component results show that they tend to fall into three groups of magnetic permeability according to degree of magnetic behaviour dominance. The Curie temperature remained relatively stable and unaffected by the evolution, thus confirming its intrinsic character of being dependent only on the crystal structure and compositional stoichiometry. The increased electrical resistivity while the microstructure was evolving is believed to strongly indicate improved phase purity and compositional stoichiometry.

MAGNETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF WEB-LIKE CARBON NANOTUBES CATALYZED BY Fe2O3 VIA PULSED LASER ABLATION DEPOSITION (PLAD) TECHNIQUE

Web-like carbon nanotubes were synthesized via Laser Ablation Deposition (PLAD) in a T-shape stainless steel chamber. An Nd-YAG laser with a 532 nm wavelength was used to irradiate a target of graphite and a catalyst, with a 5–7 ns pulsed width. Fe2O3 was used as a catalyst to produce a reactive graphite target. The vacuum level was kept at 5 Torr with argon gas flowing from the bottom of the chamber. The plume that was deposited on a glass substrate was then characterized using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), and a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Web-like CNT structures were deposited on the glass substrate. These web-like structures were randomly aligned with sizes of 99 nm to 234 nm. TEM images confirmed that these web-like structures were CNTs. VSM results showed that the encapsulation of the Fe2O3 catalyst had influenced the magnetic properties of the CNTs. The magnetic property of CNTs was increased with the increasing amount of the Fe2O3 catalyst filling the CNTs. We assert that the starting catalyst material was transformed from hematite to magnetite via maghemite by a structural change under a reduced oxygen atmosphere during the laser ablation.