Globally, environmental challenges have been recognised as a matter of concern. Among these challenges are the reduced availability and quality of drinking water, and greenhouse gases that give rise to change in climate by entrapping heat, which result in respirational illness from smog and air pollution. Globally, the rate of demand for the use of freshwater has outgrown the rate of population increase; as the rapid growth in town and cities place a huge pressure on neighbouring water resources. Besides, the rapid growth in anthropogenic activities, such as the generation of energy and its conveyance, release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, warming the planet. Polymer nanocomposite has played a significant role in finding solutions to current environmental problems. It has found interest due to its high potential for the reduction of gas emission, and elimination of pollutants, heavy metals, dyes, and oil in wastewater. The revolution of integrating developed novel nanomaterials such as nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, nanofibers and activated carbon, in polymers, have instigated revitalizing and favourable inventive nanotechnologies for the treatment of wastewater and gas separation. This review discusses the effective employment of polymer nanocomposites for environmental utilizations. Polymer nanocomposite membranes for wastewater treatment and gas separation were reviewed together with their mechanisms. The use of polymer nanocomposites as an adsorbent for toxic metals ions removal and an adsorbent for dye removal were also discussed, together with the mechanism of the adsorption process. Patents in the utilization of innovative polymeric nanocomposite membranes for environmental utilizations were discussed.
A concern over the toxicity of chemicals used during the activation stage in the preparation of activated carbon is beginning to gain attention. The study therefore looked into the possibility of using bio-activators (lemon juice and potash leached from the peel of unripe plantain) as activating chemicals, for environmentally friendly activated carbon. Coconut shell and the peel from unripe plantain were used as feedstock and pyrolyzed at 400 and 450 °c. An impregnation ratio of 0.25:1 was used while laboratory grade potassium hydroxide was used as a base activating agent as a control setup. Characterization of the activated carbon was carried out using parameters like bulk density and yield which were obtained using standard procedures. Results showed that activating carbon using bio-activators as activating agents had very good characteristics when compared with the control. Bio-activators are therefore recommended for the production of bio based activated carbon especially in the fields of medicine, food and pharmaceuticals. The effect of carbonization temperature on adsorption efficiency and pore structure were investigated using methylene blue as adsorbate and SEM respectively
Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are a known health threat with no respect for age. The need to understand the initiation and progress of the disease is expedient in proper diagnosis and management of the disease. Objective: The work is targeted at simulating the effect of elevated blood pressure on the initiation and development of plaque over time concerning wall shear stress, WSS and plaque wall stress, and PWS. Methods: Conditions such as blood velocity, pressure, and arterial wall conditions associated with blood flow in arteries, as well as patient-specific characterization related to these variables and conditions, were plugged into modified models in the COMSOL multiphysics software. The artery was modeled as an idealized 2-D carotid artery model. Results: Results showed that the WSS distribution with respect to changes with a blood pressure of 500 Pa gave the highest WSS value at the plaque neck and 1500 Pa gave the highest WSS value in the regions close to the plaque root. It was also observed that as the plaque size increased, the region experiencing severely high values for WSS also expanded. Conclusion: It can be recommended that blood pressure monitoring is necessary to curb the attendant cardiovascular diseases associated with high blood pressure.
This study exploited the solvent extraction and mechanical agitation techniques for the remediation of soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The removal of pollutants from diesel contaminated site through ethanol, hexane, and ethanol-hexane mixtures was evaluated. 50 g dried contaminated soil was placed in a Soxhlet extractor and 250 ml solvent (ethanol, or hexane, or ethanol-hexane mixture) was added with extraction occurring at different temperatures of 30, 35, 45, 50, and 60 °C for 16 h. Mechanically agitated method was carried out by weighing out an equal amount of 50 g of the contaminated soil, thoroughly washing with 250 ml of ethanol, hexane, and equal ratio of ethanol to hexane. Qualitative analysis recovered PAHs was done by Agilent series gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector. The chromatographic evaluations of the solvent extraction of the contaminated soil showed that more of the polluted compounds were removed when hexane was the solvent. The maximum yield of extracted diesel by the solvent hexane was 11.84% at 60 °C. Extracted diesel removal was also directly proportional to periods of extraction.
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