Nofrijon Sofyan

Chitosan-praseodymium complex for adsorption of fluoride ions from water

Abstract Engineering of chitosan by praseodymium has been investigated to improve the adsorption properties as well as physical characteristics of chitosan. Modification of chitosan changes the original properties of chitosan so that it can be more suitable for adsorption of fluoride ions. In this study, chitosan-praseodymium (Chi-Pr) was synthesized by impregnation method. The Chi-Pr complex was characterized by scanning electron microscopic-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and employed as an adsorbent for removal of fluorides ions from water in the batch system. The variables such as contact time, concentration of Pr, adsorbent dose, initial concentration of fluoride ions, and competitor anions were studied. The adsorption efficiency of fluoride ions (η) with increasing Pr loading into chitosan (5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 15 wt.%, 20 wt.% and 25 wt.%) were 35.5%, 56.1%, 72.0%, 68.5% and 62.5%, respectively. The Chi-Pr (15 wt.%) complex had the highest fluoride removal efficiency (72.0%). The experimental data fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm with maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of 15.87 mg/g and an equilibrium constant (kL) of 0.15 mg. Kinetic study revealed that the adsorption of fluoride ions from water followed pseudo-second-order model with a maximum adsorption capacity (q2) of 8.20 mg/g and a rate constant (k2) of 0.01 g/mg·min. Adsorption efficiency of fluoride ions in the simulated drinking water was diminished with the changes in pH levels. The presence of Pr3+ in chitosan increased chitosans performance as an adsorbent for adsorption of fluoride ions.

Nanocrystallinity Enhancement of TiO2 Nanotubes by Post-Hydrothermal Treatment

In the present research, a modified post-hydrothermal treatment with different temperature of 80-150°C has been applied on as-annealed TiO2 nanotubes derived from conventional hydrothermal process. The treatment has two-fold objectives, i.e. enhancing the nanocrystallinity of anatase TiO2, and at the same time maintaining the integrity of nanotube structures. The resulting TiO2 nanotubes were characterized by using XRD and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The XRD analysis revealed that the as dried TiO2 nanotubes contain combined crystalline structures of sodium-titanate and anatase. It was also found that by increasing the post-hydrothermal temperature from 80 to 150°C, the nanocrystallinity of nanotubes enhances as indicated by increasing the crystallite size of anatase TiO2 from 6.93 to 7.81 nm. The anatase crystallite growth affected the optical characteristic of nanotubes, as represented with the reduction of the band gap energy, Eg from 3.75 to 3.67 eV by using Kubelka-Munk analysis for the obtained UV-Vis reflectance spectra. TEM observation confirms that the integrity of nanotubes structure can be well-maintained upon post-hydrothermal treatment.

Modification of chitosan by using samarium for potential use in drug delivery system

In the presence of hydroxyl and amine groups, chitosan is highly reactive; therefore, it could be used as a carrier in drug delivery. For this study, chitosan-Sm complexes with different concentrations of samarium from 2.5 to 25 wt.% have been successfully synthesized by the impregnation method. Chitosan combined with Sm3+ ions produced a drug carrier material with fluorescence properties; thus, it could also be used as an indicator of drug release with ibuprofen (IBU) as a model drug. We evaluated the spectroscopic and interaction properties of chitosan and Sm3+ ions, the interaction of chitosan-Sm matrices with IBU as a model drug, and the effect of Sm3+ ions addition on the chitosan ability to adsorb the drug. The result showed that the hypersensitive fluorescence intensity of chitosan-Sm (2.5 wt.%) is higher than the others, even though the adsorption efficiency of chitosan-Sm 2.5wt.% is lower (29.75%) than that of chitosan-Sm 25 wt.% (33.04%). Chitosan-Sm 25 wt.% showed the highest efficiency of adsorption of ibuprofen (33.04%). In the release process of ibuprofen from the chitosan-Sm-IBU matrix, the intensity of orange fluorescent properties in the hypersensitive peak of 4G5/2→6H7/2 transition at 590 nm was observed. Fluorescent intensity increased with the cumulative amount of IBU released; therefore, the release of IBU from the Sm-modified chitosan complex can be monitored by the changes in fluorescent intensity.

Properties of carbon nanotubes-doped Fe-sheath MgB2 for superconducting wires

Magnesium diboride (MgB2) is a potential superconductor materials that could be applied as superconducting wires due to its relatively high critical temperature. To study the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on MgB2 wire manufacture, CNT-doped MgB2 superconducting wires have been fabricated from MgB2 and CNT powders sheathed in a SS304 stainless steel tube. In the process, the mixtures of MgB2 and CNT powders were inserted into the SS304 tubes and then were rolled and drawn. The properties of the fabricated superconducting wires were then analyzed through the crystal structure, surface morphology and temperature dependence of resistivity. The addition of CNT did not seem to have a significant influence on the crystal structure of Magnesium diboride. However, the addition of CNT caused the particle size of MgB2 became smaller. The temperature dependence of resistivity results showed that the critical temperatures were shifting linearly toward low temperatures due to the addition of CNT.

Characteristic of skin formation using zircon- and graphite-coated mold in thin wall ductile iron fabrication

One of the problems in thin wall ductile iron (TWDI) fabrication is skin formation during the casting. The presence of this skin will decrease strength and strain of the TWDI. One of the ways to control this skin formation is to change the cooling rate during the process through a mold coating. In testing the effectiveness of skin prevention, the following variables were used for the mold coating i.e. (i) graphite: (ii) zirconium; and (iii) double layer of graphite-zirconium. After the process, the plates were characterized by non-etching, etching, tensile test, and SEM observation. The results showed that the average skin formation using graphite: 65 µm; zirconium: 13.04 µm; and double layer of graphite-zirconium: 33.25 µm. It seems that zirconium has the most effect on the skin prevention due to sulfur binding and magnesium locked, which then prevented rapid cooling resulting in less skin formation. The results also showed the number of nodules obtained in specimen with graphite: 703 nodules/mm2 with av...

Effects of Ceramic Fibre Insulation Thickness on Skin Formation and Nodule Characteristics of Thin Wall Ductile Iron Casting

Skin formation has become one of the problems in the thin wall ductile iron casting because it will reduce the mechanical properties of the materials. One of the solutions to reduce this skin formation is by using heat insulator to control the cooling rate. One of the insulators used for this purpose is ceramic fibre. In this research, the thickness of the ceramic fibre heat insulator used in the mould was varied, i.e. 50 mm on one side and 37.5 mm on the other side (A), no heat insulator (B), and 37.5 mm on both sides (C). After the casting process, the results were characterized in terms of metallography by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and tensile test for mechanical properties. The results showed that the skin thickness formed in A is 34.21 μm, 23.38 μm in B, and 27.78 μm in C. The nodule count in A is 541.98 nodule/mm2 (84.7%) with an average diameter of 15.14 μm, 590 nodule/mm2 (86.7%) with an average diameter of 13.18 μm in B, and 549.73 nodule/mm2 (87.2%) with an average diameter of 13.95 μm in C. The average ultimate tensile strength for A was 399 MPa, B was 314 MPa, and C was 415 MPa. Microstructural examination under SEM showed that the materials have a ductile fracture with matrix full of ferrite.

Ex-situ manufacturing of SiC-doped MgB2 used for superconducting wire in medical device applications

Magnesium diboride (MgB2) is a superconductor material with a relatively high critical temperature. Due to its relatively high critical temperature, this material is promising and has the potential to replace Nb3Sn for wire superconducting used in many medical devices. In this work, nanoparticle SiC-doped MgB2 superconducting material has been fabricated through an ex-situ method. The doping of nanoparticle SiC by 10 and 15 wt% was conducted to analyze its effect on specific resistivity of MgB2. The experiment was started by weighing a stoichiometric amount of MgB2 and nanoparticles SiC. Both materials were mixed and grounded for 30 minutes by using an agate mortar. The specimens were then pressed into a 6 mm diameter stainless steel tube, which was then reduced until 3 mm through a wire drawing method. X-ray diffraction analysis was conducted to confirm the phase, whereas the superconductivity of the specimens was analyzed by using resistivity measurement under cryogenic magnetic system. The results indi...

Removal of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solution by Hydroxyapatite/Chitosan Composite

Hydroxyapatite/chitosan (HApC) composite has been prepared by precipitation method and used for removal of heavy metals (Cr6+, Zn2+ and Cd2+) from aqueous solution. The HAp and 3H7C composite with HAp:chitosan ratio of 3:7 (wt%) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The SEM results showed that HAp is spherical-shaped and crystalline, while chitosan has a flat structure. SEM micrograph of 3H7C composite reveals crystalline of HAp uniformly spread over the surface of chitosan. The crystal structure of HAp is maintained in 3H7C composite. Chitosan affects the adsorption capacity of HAp for heavy metal ions; it binds the metal ions as well as HAp. The kinetic data was best described by the pseudo-second order. Surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion take place in the mechanism of adsorption process. The binding of HAp powder with chitosan made the capability of composite to removal of Cr6+, Zn2+ and Cd2+ from aqueous solution effective. The order of removal efficiency (Cr6+ > Cd2+ > Zn2+) was observed.

TiO2 Nanotubes of Enhanced Nanocrystallinity and Well‐Preserved Nanostructure by Pre‐Annealing and Post‐Hydrothermal Treatments

In the current investigation, a modified process combining pre‐annealing and post‐hydrothermal treatments has been applied on the as‐dried TiO2 nanotubes derived from alkaline route of TiO2 P25 nanoparticles in 10 M NaOH solution. The combined treatment is purposely aimed at enhancing the nanocrystallinity of anatase TiO2, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the nanotube hollow structures. The detail of the structure, morphology and crystallinity of the resulting nanotubes were examined by XRD, SEM and TEM, while the optical properties of nanotubes were investigated by UV‐visible spectroscopy. For the nanotube samples which have been previously annealed at 300 °C, the crystallite size of anatase TiO2 in nanotubes increased from 17.20 to 18.30 nm after being subjected to post‐hydrothermal treatment at 100 to 150 °C. The band gap energy (Eg) of the resulting nanotubes is inversely proportional to the crystallite size of anatase phase where the lowest value of 3.21 eV was obtained from the Ti...

The Influence Of Deposition Time And Substrate Temperature Upon Spray Pyrolysis Process On The Resistivity And Optical Trasmittance Of 2 Persenwt Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide (Fto) Glass

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) glasses play important role in many recent modern technologies including its application for dye sensitized solar cell. One of the most commonly used is indium tin oxide (ITO), however its price is rather expensive. Therefore, the main purpose of the current research is aimed at replacing ITO with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) which is easier and more economic for fabrication. For this purpose, tin chloride dehydrate (SnCl2.2H2O) precursor doped with ammonium fluoride (NH4F) source by using sol-gel method and spray pyrolisis technique can be considered as a new breakthrough in the making of conductive glass. In this work, the ammonium floride was doped at a ratio of 2 wt persen to tin chloride precursor with variations of deposition time (10,20 and 30 minutes) and substrate temperature (250, 300 and 350 °C) upon spray pyrolysis technique. The results showed that the longer deposition time the thicker glass layer is, providing smaller resistivity. In this study, the highest transmittance of 75.5 persen and the lowest resistivity of 3,32 x 10-5 Ω.cm resitivitas were obtained from the glass subjected to 20 minutes deposition time and 300 oC substrate heating during the process. International Journal of Technology (2016) 8: 1335-1343