Mohammad Azmi Bustam

Improvement of Hydrophobicity of Urea Modified Tapioca Starch Film with Lignin for Slow Release Fertilizer

Tapioca starch was chemically modified with urea in the presence of borate as crosslinker and catalyst. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and viscosity were performed to measure qualitatively the reactivity of the mixture. To improve the hydrophobicity, 10% of lignin (10%L) was then added into the starch-urea-borate (SUB) system. The incorporation of lignin leads to lower water uptake film. It was found that lignin retards the urea release and the SUB10%L film is stable and stayed intact for one month after immersing in water which shows high potential as a biopolymer for slow release fertilizer.

Effect of Modified MIL-53 with Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers on CO2 Adsorption

There is a growing need of counter assessing the increase of releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide by researching an alternative technology that can help to reduce carbon dioxide content in atmosphere. This research work investigates the potential of MIL-53 as CO2 capture and storage candidate by conducting an experiment with different pressure between the synthesised and modified MIL-53. To investigate the effect of the Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in MIL-53 towards CO2 adsorption performance. The synthesised samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) techniques. A significant change is observed in the region of the aromatic deformation vibrations due to the different substitution patterns of the aromatic ring. BET surface area for MWCNT@MIL-53 is higher than CNF@MIL-53 and MIL-53. MWCNTs showed the adsorption of CO2 uptake is 0.3mmole-1/g at 100Kpa.

Study of CO2 Solubility in Aqueous Blend of Potassium Carbonate Promoted with Glycine

CO2 solubility in aqueous potassium carbonate promoted with amino acid (glycine) was measured at temperatures (303.15, 313.15, and 333.15) K over the partial pressure range from 200 to 1000 kPa. The solubility of CO2 is reported as the loading capacity of the CO2 in the solvent, defined as (moles of CO2 per mole of solvent). It was found that the loading capacity of the CO2 increases by increasing the partial pressure of the CO2, whereas, it reduces with increase in temperature. CO2 loading capacity in aqueous potassium carbonate (PC) promoted with glycine (GLY) was also compared with different solvents, which shows that the new solvent blend is considerably better than various solvents.

Solubility of CO2 in Piperazine (PZ) Activated Aqueous Solutions of 2-Amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) at Elevated Pressures

The solubility of carbon dioxide (CO2) was measured in aqueous solutions of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) and Piperazine (PZ) activated aqueous solutions of (AMP) at two different temperatures (303.15 and 333.15)K and at various concentrations of studied solvents. The measurements were made over the pressure range of 5 to 60 bar. The results are presented as a function of pressure. It has been found that the addition of PZ to the aqueous solutions gives significantly higher CO2 loadings at higher pressures. The influence of pressure on solubility is found to be positive. However, solubility decreases with the increase of temperature.

Developments in Mercury Removal from Natural Gas - A Short Review

Almost all hydrocarbons contain mercury up to different levels depending upon the locality and region. In the case of natural gas and natural gas liquids, it is likely to be present as elemental mercury. However in crude oil, it may also be present as organo-metallic and ionic mercury. The presence of mercury in refinery hydrocarbon streams not only results in detrimental effects, including catalyst poisoning, corrosion, safety issues but also anthropogenic increase of mercury level in environment which has provoked the search for environmental friendly techniques to capture the mercury from process streams. In this paper, the available techniques, current limitations and future prospects for mercury removal from natural gas are discussed.

Solid Supported [hmim][Tf2N] for CO2 Adsorption

Ionic liquids are new alternative solvents that can be used to separate carbon dioxide in the gas separation process. However, the high viscosity of ionic liquids limits the mass transfer of solutes into ionic liquids. In this work, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([hmi [Tf2) was impregnated onto porous Al2O3 and SiO2 and tested for CO2 adsorption at pressure up to 40 bar at 25 °C. The screening process showed that [hmi [Tf2-Si gave higher CO2 adsorption capacity compared to [hmi [Tf2-Al and pure [hmi [Tf2. The experimental work was further investigated by varying the composition of [hmi [Tf2 inside SiO2 pores. The composition of [hmi [Tf2 was varied from 10 wt% to 40 wt%. The result showed the 10 wt% composition gave the highest CO2 adsorption compared to 20 wt%, 30 wt% and 40 wt%. The lower CO2 adsorption by 20 wt%, 30 wt% and 40 wt% might be due to the blockage of SiO2 pores by excess [hmi [Tf2. From this research, it proved that porous solid support can provide high surface area that is necessary to accommodate intimate contact between CO2 and solid supported ionic liquid and increases the CO2 adsorption capacity.

Selection of ILs for Separation of Benzene from n-Hexane Using COSMO-RS. A Quantum Chemical Approach

onic Liquids (ILs) provide an alternative green solvent for separating aromatic from its mixture with aliphatic hydrocarbon. The present work demonstrates the screening of potential IL for separation of benzene (aromatic) from n-hexane (aliphatic) using COSMO-RS. A total of 10 imidazolium based cations and 52 different anions resulting in 520 possible combinations of ILs were studied. The COSMO-RS was used to theoretically calculate the activity coefficient at infinite dilution (γ) for benzene and n-hexane in each of the ILs. Consequently, from the activity coefficient (γ) value, the capacity (C) and selectivity (S) at infinite dilution for each ILs with regards to the benzene/n-heptane separation were calculated. The Performance Index (PI) which is the product of the capacity (C) and selectivity (S) is then determined and compared against sulfolane as the benchmarking solvent, used widely by industry for the separation of benzene and aliphatic hydrocarbon. The result showed 20 ILs with C, S, and PI value higher than sulfolane thus making them as potential candidate for the separation application.

Solubility of carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions of Piperazine (PZ) at elevated pressures

The solubility of carbon dioxide (CO2) was measured in (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 & 1.2) molars of aqueous solutions of Piperazine (PZ) at three temperatures (30, 40 and 60) °C. The measurements were made over the pressure range of 5 to 60 bar. The results are presented as a function of pressure. It has been found that PZ gives significantly higher CO2 loadings at higher pressures. The influence of pressure on solubility is found to be positive. However, solubility decreases with the increase of temperature and PZ concentration.

Carbon Dioxide Retention on Bentonite Clay Adsorbents Modified by Mono-, Di- and Triethanolamine Compounds

A series of organic-inorganic hybrids were developed via intercalation process of primary, secondary and tertiary ammonium cations into different alkali and alkaline earth and transition metal cation forms of bentonite clay to be used as adsorbent materials for CO2 capture under ambient temperature and slightly high pressure. The effect of the molar mass of amines on the structural characteristics, surface properties and CO2 loading capacity of bentonite clay were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method and Magnetic Suspension Balance equipment, respectively. X-ray diffraction results revealed that the basal spacing of bentonite clay after modification with amines was increased with the molar mass of amine used, while BET results showed an inverse effect of the molar mass of amines on the surface area of the synthesized materials. The CO2 loading capacity of the examined samples revealed that bentonite clay modified with monoethanolammonium cations retained higher CO2 amount compared to those modified with di-and triethanolammonium cations. CO2 adsorption isotherms on MEA+-Mg-MMT were conducted at 298, 323 and 348 K and different pressures. A decrease in CO2 uptake with increasing temperature was observed, suggesting the exothermic nature of the adsorption process.

Mesoporous Tin Phosphate as Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Cells

Mesoporous SnP2O7 was synthesized via a surfactant templating method where an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate was used. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicates presence of mesostructure when the precursors were calcined at 200, 300 and 400 °C. Cyclic voltammetry tests carried out within 0-2.0 V (vs. Li/Li+) indicated that irreversible reduction of tin phosphate to form lithium phosphate phases and metallic tin occurred around 1.10 V and 0.69 V whereas the reversible alloying and de-alloying reaction involving lithium with tin occurred at 0.19 V and 0.52 V, respectively. Galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling tests carried out within 0-1.2V (vs. Li/Li+) showed that the mesoporous tin phosphate calcined at 400 °C exhibited a reversible discharge capacity of 738 mAh/g in the second cycle and upon reaching the tenth cycle, it retained a discharge capacity of 461 mAh/g. The relatively high capacity obtained for this anode was attributed to the mesoporous framework which provided larger surface area for reaction with lithium and minimized effect of volume changes experienced by the anode during repeated charging and discharging cycling.