No abstract

No abstract

Geopolymer concrete with designed strength of 40 Mpa has been mixed from coarse aggregates, sands and geopolymer pastes. Two kinds of pastes are synthesized from different precursors, i.e. fly ash and dehydroxylated kaolin, using sodium silicate solution as the activator. Compression test pieces of 15x15x15 cm3 of both geopolymer and ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concretes (ASTM C39) have been cast and cured. Curing was done at room temperature for 1 day while Portland cement concretes were immersed in water for 28 days to provide complete hydration. After curing, the samples were immersed in ASTM seawater (ASTM D1141-90) for 7, 28, 56 and 90 days. It is found that geopolymer concretes were in general more durable upon seawater immersion than OPC concrete, This is indicated by the compressive strength retained after immersion. Dehydroxylated kaolin geopolymers show the best performance whose strength did not decrease with time of immersion. The strength of fly ash geopolymers decreased by about 20% during 56-day immersion but did not decrease further. Calcium content is suspected to cause the decrease in strength upon immersion. Kaolin geopolymers containing no calcium showed the best performance, while OPC which consist mostly of calcium silicate hydrates as the strength contributor, showed consistent decrease in strength. It is also found from the experiment that room temperature curing of fly ash geopolymer was slow but continued to progress until 28 days both under dry condition (not immersed) and immersed in water.

Abstract. The microsphere formulations of Chit/TPP/Sm/Fe3O4/Rn were prepared by an ionic gelation technique, where Chit = chitosan, TPP = tripolyphosphate, Sm = samarium and Rn = ranitidine. Optimum of microsphere formulation exhibit magnetic and fluorescent properties with adsorption efficiency of ~92% was obtained for Chit/TPP/Sm/Fe3O4/Rn with ratio 400:500:50:1:20. Fluorescence intensity of microsphere formulations increased with the cumulative amount release of ranitidine, so that the changing of fluorescence intensity at wavelength of 590 nm referring to the Sm 3+ ion could be used as indicator in DDS. With the demonstration of sustained release from microsphere formulation, it allows to investigate the applications to other drugs.

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.