Potential of Flax Fiber Reinforced Biopolymer Composites for Cross-Arm Application in Transmission Tower: A Review

Muhammad Rizal Muhammad Asyraf,Mohamad Ridzwan Ishak,Mohd Nor Faiz Norrrahim,Abdul Latif Amir,Norizan Mohd Nurazzi,Rushdan Ahmad Ilyas,Mochamad Asrofi,Mazlan Rafidah,Muhammad Rizal Razman 한국섬유공학회 2022 Fibers and polymers Vol.23 No.4

Man-made composites are vastly implemented in various engineering applications, particularly in cross-arm component of latticed transmission tower. However, their practice in this sector has increased pollutant emissions and landfill areas. Thus, scientists and engineers have been driven to look for other ‘greener’ alternative materials that have low-cost and renewable sources. Flax fibers and poly(lactic) acid (PLA) biopolymer have been extensively used to develop vast green composite structural products because of their great mechanical behaviours. A comprehensive understanding of properties of composite materials is essential to evaluate their applicability, especially in structural applications. This manuscript discusses the physic-mechanical properties and processing and manufacturability of flax fiber, PLA biopolymer and their composites. This review also comprehensively discovers the potential of fabric flax fiber-reinforced PLA composites for cross-arm application. The chemical composition, extraction, treatment and fabrications of these fiber and biopolymer are elaborated deeply given that these aspects are essential for the development of green composite cross-arm.

How Resilience Affects Employee Engagement? A Case Study in Indonesia

AMIR, Muhammad Taufiq,MANGUNDJAYA, Wustari L. Korea Distribution Science Association 2021 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.8 No.2

This study aims to examine the role of resilience in academic engagement and also to evaluate the theoretical model of the relationships between resilience and engagement. A survey of faculty members in 20 study programs from 12 universities in Jakarta was conducted, Where 247 questionnaires were returned from the 495 distributed. Furthermore, 240 valid data were available for evaluation in order to test the model, and a confirmatory Structural Equation Modelling was conducted, using AMOS 20. Criteria of goodness-fit demonstrated the relatively adequate model, and the coefficient of structural path describes the potential of the links. Three out of four paths available significantly showed the role of developmental persistency and positive emotions on work engagement. The participants of the study include only constituted academics of private universities in Indonesia. Thus there is a need for better care in interpreting the level of resilience and engagement, as engagement may vary when used in a different context. The study suggests interventions for practitioners, not only for academia in the higher education context but also for other professionals in managing engagement at the individual or team level. Therefore, combining resilience and engagement programs may contribute to an enhancement in the productivity of employees.

Impact of Debts on Economic Growth of Bangladesh: An Application of ARDL M

Muhammad Amir Hossain,Shabnam Shirin 강원대학교 경영경제연구소 2016 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.7 No.1

This study attempts to investigate the effects of different types of debts on economic growth in Bangladesh using time series data spanning from 2000 to 2015. In this study, the RDL model has been applied to determine the long run relationship among the selected variables. The result of the ARDL model shows that there exists a long term relationship between economic growth and the debt variables. It was evident from the findings that there exists bidirectional causality between public sector external debt and economic growth. Causality between private external debt and economic growth has been found to be insignificant. However, causality between domestic debt and economic growth showed a unidirectional causality from domestic debt to economic growth and not vice versa. Causality tests suggest that impact of domestic debt on economic growth is more effective compared to external debts.

First Thought

Muhammad Amir Danial Mohd Khai,Nor Hidayu Mohd Salimi 한국디자인학회 2022 한국디자인학회 국제초대전도록 Vol.2022 No.11

Enhanced Water Flux by Fabrication of Polysulfone/Alumina Nanocomposite Membrane for Copper(II) Removal

Muhammad Ayaz,Amir Muhammad,Mohammad Younas,Asim Laeeq Khan,Mashallah Rezakazemi 한국고분자학회 2019 Macromolecular Research Vol.27 No.6

In the current study, polysulfone (PSF) membranes incorporated with nano alumina (Al2O3) were synthesized by a phase inversion method to improve the efficiency of the PSF membrane for wastewater treatment. Dimethylformamide was used as solvent while polyvinylpyrrolidone was used as a pore former. Different concentrations of nanoparticles of Al2O3 were used in the casting solution to get an optimum condition for the highest water flux. Cross section morphology of the membranes was investigated through scanning electron microscope. Membranes were characterized by pure water flux, permeability, hydrophilicity, porosity, and retention of Cu(II). All the mixed matrix nanocomposite membranes showed higher water flux than the nascent PSF membrane due to their increased porosity and hydrophilicity with the addition of nano alumina. Cu(II) rejection was also enriched by composite membranes due to a high number of adsorption sites on membranes surface as a result of better hydrophilicity and dispersion of nano alumina. The membrane with 0.1 wt% nano Al2O3showed the best performance in terms of water flux (32.60 L·m-2·h-1) and significant Cu(II) removal (61.95%) compared to other membranes after continuous treatment of 150 min. The reusability test of the PAl0.1 membrane confirmed the durability of the composite membranes after several cycles using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as a regenerator.

Integrated adsorptive and photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutant, ciprofloxacin employing biochar-ZnO composite photocatalysts

Muhammad Amir,Tahir Fazal,Javed Iqbal,Aamir Alaud Din,Ashfaq Ahmed,Asim Ali,Abdul Razzaq,Zulfiqar Ali,Muhammad Saif Ur Rehman,박영권 한국공업화학회 2022 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.115 No.-

The expensive carbonaceous substrates including graphene, reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubeshave been coupled with ZnO to improve the properties and photocatalytic performance of carbon basedZnO photocatalysts. To replace these expensive materials, biochar offers as a low-cost alternative to preparebiochar-based photocatalysts. In this study, Calotropis gigantea leaves derived biochar-ZnO (BC-ZnO)composites were synthesized to overcome the ZnO related problems (charge recombination, wider bandgap, and poor visible light absorption). Different BC-ZnO (BCZ-1–3) composites were characterized toevaluate their intrinsic properties and composites were employed to degrade ciprofloxacin (CIP). BCZ-3composite exhibited slower recombination of electron-hole pairs, lower band gap (2.97 eV), and betterlight absorption in visible region than ZnO. The enhanced adsorptive-photocatalytic degradation efficiencywas attained up to 98.5% using BCZ-3 than BC (46.2%) and ZnO (41.4%). The O2 and OH radicalswithin BCZ-3 are dominant reactive species indulged in CIP photocatalytic degradation. BCZ-3 photocatalystexhibits 80% degradation of CIP after four regeneration cycles. The maximum adsorption capacitywas achieved 54.18 mg g1 for BCZ-3 than BC (46.20 mg g1) and ZnO (15.55 mg g1). The results showthat BCZ-X composites can be used as stable, efficient, economical, and sustainable composite for therecovery of pharmaceutical wastewater.

Gold-graphene oxide nanohybrids: A review on their chemical catalysis

Muhammad Nur Iman Amir,Ahmed Halilu,Nurhidayatullaili Muhd Julkapli,Azman Ma’amor 한국공업화학회 2020 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.83 No.-

The discovery of graphene oxide (GO) has motivated enormous applications of gold (Au) nanoparticles(NPs) in catalysis due to its ability to function as a suitable catalyst support material. This reviewdiscussed the routes for AuNPs-GO synthesis such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electrochemical,sol-gel and hydrothermal methods as it pertains to chemical synthesis. Accordingly, the CVD approachhas the capability of producing a single layer of well-distributed AuNPs over GO to form a nanohybridframework. Although the common application of AuNPs-GO nanohybrids has been in nanosensors,recent reports showed its aptitude in chemical synthesis through hydrogenation and oxidation reactionsinvolving organic molecules. Therefore, due to the existing attributes of AuNPs catalysis, recommen-dations were suggested to guide its usage in the form of AuNPs-GO nanohybrids as a catalyst for specialtychemical production. This report should inspire future use of AuNPs-GO in the industrial catalyticsynthesis of various pharmaceuticals and energy-based platform organic molecules.

DEPENDENCE OF ORGANIC/INORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE PERFORMANCE ON PRECURSOR'S CONCENTRATION USED FOR ELECTROSPUN TiO2 NANOFIBERS

MUHAMMAD TANVEER,AMIR HABIB,MUHAMMAD BILAL KHAN 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2013 NANO Vol.8 No.3

Electrospun TiO2 nanofibers were synthesized by optimizing various electrospinning conditions. The effect of the precursor's concentration present in sol used for electrospinning was studied for the performance of hybrid photovoltaic devices. The synthesized nanofibers were characterized by XRD and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and morphology of the fibers were investigated by FE-SEM. The surface of fibers was modified, and these modified fibers were applied to P3HT/TiO2/ N719 composite nanofibers photovoltaic devices. The device performance was investigated by analysis of the incident photon to current conversion efficiency and a J–V characteristic under 1. 5G illuminations, which show that efficiency of the devices, can be improved from 0.13% to 0.83% by introducing TiO2 nanofibers synthesized by optimum precursor's concentration.

Does Village Fund Transfer Address the Issue of Inequality and Poverty? A Lesson from Indonesia

ARHAM, Muhammad Amir,HATU, Rauf Korea Distribution Science Association 2020 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.7 No.10

This study investigates the impact of fiscal transfer, specifically the Village Fund Transfer, on rural income inequality and rural poverty. Studies on fiscal transfer offers contrasting outcomes, some argues that fiscal transfer suppresses wealth disparity, while others argue that it tends to widen disparity. This study employs descriptive analysis in estimating the elasticity of income inequality and poverty rate before and after the Village Fund Transfer. It develops multiple regressions model on panel datasets of 33 provinces in Indonesia before and after the implementation of Village Fund Transfer. This study suggests that the elasticity of income inequality is higher after the implementation of village fund transfer. Rural poverty tends to decline annually, however, the elasticity changes is lower after the implementation of village fund transfer. Furthermore, this study suggests that village fund transfer is insignificant in coping with the issue of income inequality, while education and the level of labor productivity of agricultural sector appears to be the determinant factor in tackling the issue of income inequality in the rural areas. This study further reveals the significance of village fund transfer in suppressing the rural poverty rate. This study also highlights the significance of human resources quality and agricultural sector in reducing poverty rate in rural areas.

Plasmonic effects and size relation of gold-platinum alloy nanoparticles

Jawad, Muhammad,Ali, Shazia,Waseem, Amir,Rabbani, Faiz,Amin, Bilal Ahmad Zafar,Bilal, Muhammad,Shaikh, Ahson J. Techno-Press 2019 Advances in nano research Vol.7 No.3

Plasmonic effects of gold and platinum alloy nanoparticles (Au-Pt NPs) and their comparison to size was studied. Various factors including ratios of gold and platinum salt, temperature, pH and time of addition of reducing agent were studied for their effect on particle size. The size of gold and platinum alloy nanoparticles increases with increasing concentration of Pt NPs. Temperature dependent synthesis of gold and platinum alloy nanoparticles shows decrease in size at higher temperature while at lower temperature agglomeration occurs. For pH dependent synthesis of Au-Pt nanoparticles, size was found to be increased by increase in pH from 4 to 10. Increasing the time of addition of reducing agent for synthesis of pure and gold-platinum alloy nanoparticles shows gradual increase in size as well as increase in heterogeneity of nanoparticles. The size and elemental analysis of Au-Pt nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, SEM and EDX techniques.