Advanced Materials Research Vol. 1113

Abstract: This paper presents the processing of Nickel Titanium (NiTi) alloy from elemental powders of Nickel and Titanium by conventional powder metallurgy process. Two batches of feedstock containing 2 different formulations (1) Ti-50.4at% Ni and (2) Ti-50.8at% Ni were prepared. The feedstocks for each composition were warm-pressed and subsequently sintered in vacuum at 1150°C. Based on the XRD result, it clearly showed that the conventional sintering following warm-press method is promising in producing greater amount of the predominant NiTi (B2) phase and a minor fraction of martensitic NiTi (B19’) phase. The reversible phase transformation and the microstructure of the sintered samples have also been observed and discussed.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the tensile properties of biodegradable Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) impregnated with commercial grade starch succinate (SS). PVA is a hydrophilic and hygroscopic polymer, and inclusion of SS reduces PVA's hygroscopicity and hydrophilicity. The compounding of PVA with SS was prepared by using a twin screw extruder with fixed flow modifier. The ratios of SS were varied between 5% to 20%. Melt flow index, tensile properties, soil burial and sun exposure degradability were investigated in this study. Tensile strength was observed to increase proportionate to the amount of SS incorporated while the blends were found to have greater flexibility as their elongation increases as their modulus dropped. SS was found to have greater flexibility chain which imparted greater elongation during stretching test. Higher content of SS was found to impart better degradation rate as derived from visual observation of the samples exposed to sunlight and soil burial.

Abstract: The effect of natural rubber and glycerol addition on the mechanical performance of Tacca leontopetaloides biopolymer was investigated in this paper. The samples were formulated by varying blend ratios of latex natural rubber to glycerol; 40/30 (GM1), 50/5.85 (GM2), 60/30 (GM3), 40/10 (GM4) and 50/20 (GM5). The samples (GMs) were compounded by using two roll mill machine followed by vulcanization process with the presence of stearic acid and sulphur that act as curing agent. The sheet formed was cut into desired sizes, based on the analysis conducted. The mechanical performance of GMs was investigated by conducting tensile test, morphological structural analysis and water absorption test. The mechanical properties of GM2 showed a high tensile strength with low Young’s modulus compared to other GMs, thus indicating that GM2 was the superior combination of natural rubber to glycerol blend ratio. This, therefore, may be applied for the development of biopolymer with the properties of thermoplastic elastomer.

Abstract: The high percentage of porosity in porous concrete pavement tends to decrease its strength. In concrete industry, nano silica is one of the most popular materials that will improve the properties of cementitious materials. This paper, prepared to review the effect of nano silica in cement paste and mortar related to porous concrete pavement. It was found that, by incorporating nano silica with the right composition in cement paste and mortar, it will improve their mechanical properties. By incorporating nano silica in the mixture, it can be predicted that the strengthening effect of nano silica would be further enhanced in porous concrete because the nano silica improve not only the cement paste, but also the interface between paste and aggregate.

Abstract: Mesoporous SnO₂ was successfully synthesized via nanocasting route using various silica matrices likely KIT-6, SBA-15 and SBA-16 as hard templates. The chemical and structural properties of these materials were characterized by means of XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption and TEM analyses. All replica products exhibited well-defined mesoporous structures and large surface areas as well as highly crystalline frameworks. Sensors were fabricated from the as-prepared mesoporous SnO₂ replicas and used to test the response to 1000 ppm of ethanol vapour at different operating temperatures. The results showed that the mesoporous SnO₂ sensors nanocasted from KIT-6, SBA-15 and SBA-16 silica templates exhibits excellent gas response as compared to a bulk SnO₂ material, suggesting the potential application of the sensor for detecting ethanol vapour. Maximum sensitivity (~ 18.7) was reached at 300 °C using mesoporous SnO₂ sensor nanocasted from KIT-6 silica. It can be explained by the large surface area and well-defined mesostructure of SnO_2(KIT-6), which lead to highly effective surface interaction between the ethanol molecules and the surface active sites.

Abstract: In this paper, the formation, characterizaton, properties and applications of nanoemulsions are reviewed and summarized. Nanoemulsions are under extensive investigation as it can aid to recover the residual oil from reservoir rock in Oil Recovery application because of the submicron sized emulsion. Nanoemulsion is thermodynamically or kinetically stable system in which two or more immiscible phases that is made up at least one phase dispersed in others by mechanical shearing with appropriate surfactants. Nanoemulsions possess stability against creaming or sedimentation due to their small particle size while Ostwald ripening forming the main mechanism of nanoemulsion breakdown. Nanoemulsion has droplet sizes of the internal phase less than 500nm. Particle size and surface properties of droplets of nanoemulsion plays an important factor in the biological behavior of the formulation. Nanoemulsion shows great promise for the future of oil industries and biotechnologies, cosmetics and drug therapies.

Abstract: There are significant changes observed in concrete materials, the properties of innovated concrete have also experiencing revolutionize through hi-tech encroachment. Instead of new changes in the materials used in concrete making, the adjustment in concrete is started from conventional concrete strength and slowly tracked by high-strength concrete and high-performance concrete. Recently, the exploitation of by-products waste in the self-compacting concrete (SCC) had achieved massive interest among researchers due to practicable and beneficial features. Most of the prior works focused on SCC combining with supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, coal bottom ash, silica fume, ground granulated glass blast-furnace slag and rice husk ash. Concrete with these cementitious materials have been used extensively throughout the world. These materials used as mineral admixtures in concrete and strengthen the durability and concrete properties. The concrete applications are increasing with the passage of time due to their superior structural performance, environmental friendliness and low impact on energy utilization. Through these understanding, this research points out the idea of cementitious materials in concrete, especially SCC possess with numerous positive features such as durability, flowability and overall performance of concrete. It can be seen that cementitious materials have high benefit and lead to curing potential. However, it is important to understand that these materials are relatively expensive. Thus, this is a main reason behind their less adoption compared to add as mixtures in Portland cement.

Abstract: Density and viscosity are two major rheological properties that determine the performance of an isopropyl laurate (IPL) ester based drilling fluid. In this study, the effect of barite particle size on the IPL drilling fluid system settling behaviour was investigated using five particle sizes namely-32, 32-45, 45-75, +75μm and the unsieved barite. Stokes’ law of separation theory was employed in the analysis. It was found that smaller barite particle sizes (<75μm) enhances the settling resistance. An ideal barite particle size of-32μm was chosen and used in the subsequent formulations to obtain optimum rheological properties by varying the amount of viscosifier used at 4.0, 10.0 and 20.0g marked as sample (a), (b) and (c). These samples were analysed for their rheology by using the conventional Fann viscometer calibrated using Bingham model. The results showed that sample (b) exhibited the most promising performance based on the plastic viscosity, yield point and gel strength rheological analyses. Moreover, IPL drilling fluid sample (b) showed improve particle suspension ability for more than 78 hours when compared to IPL drilling fluid system prepared using unsieved barite particles. The results suggested that palm oil based isopropyl laurate ester has the potential to be used as based fluid in the ester based drilling fluid system.

Abstract: Ceramic is mainly being used as raw material in the production of building finishes. The production processes of this material generated a great amount of waste and by-product in the form of dust, broken tiles and sludge which will lead to environment pollution. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential utilisation of ceramic dust as alternative raw material in the production of sustainable construction components. Target materials of ceramic dust (CD) and laterite clay (LC) on its own or combination of both were stabilised with Portland cement (PC) and hydrated lime (HL) on its own or combination with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) by-product from steel industry. A blended binder of GGBS and waste paper sludge ash (WPSA) was also used to develop 100% sustainable stabiliser to stabilise the target materials. Compacted cylindrical specimens of 50 mm Ø and 100 mm height were fabricated at 20% dosage of binders concentration and moist cured for 7, 28, and 60 days before tested for compressive strength and water absorption. The results obtained show that stabilised CD with partial substitution of HL and PC with GGBS as stabilisers gave higher compressive strength and has potential to be used in the production of sustainable construction components. This suggests a solution towards a greener future and sustainable use of environmental friendly construction components.

Abstract: Momordica charantia is an anti-diabetic which is used as carminative, emmenagogue, in the treatment of colics, as antiviral, anthelmintic, antimalarial and antimicrobic remedy. The Momordica charantia was treated with Aspergillus niger pectinase at various concentration (0-500 U/ml), temperature (4-40°C) and times (0-10 min). Aspergillus niger was selected as a promising producer of pectinase via solid state fermentation (SSF) using oil palm leaf (OPL) as substrate because it is abundantly available in Malaysia and rich with carbon source that needed for Aspergillus niger’s growth. The optimum treatment conditions were at 30°C, at pH between 6-6.5 at time 10 min with 472.257 U/ml. The enzymatic treatment was followed by ultrafiltration (15kDa). Analysis of the clarified juice indicate that the enzyme permitted a higher permeate flux and high juice quality.