Flexible and porous epoxidised natural rubber (ENR)/polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membranes were prepared via phase inversion technique. The pore formation on ENR/PVC membranes was initiated with the introduction of inorganic particles (silica). Two types of silica, microsilica (microcrystalline silica powder) and nanosilica [generated from Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS)] were used. Effects of silica addition on the membrane structure are investigated by means of FTIR, SEM, TGA, and UTM. FTIR results showed the presence of signature peak of SiAOASi at 1102 and 1088 cm À1 for ENR/PVC/SiO 2 and ENR/PVC/TEOS membrane, respectively. Morphological studies showed that pores developed in ENR/PVC/TEOS membranes were more homogenous as compared to ENR/ PVC/SiO 2 membranes. Thermal and mechanical stability of the membranes improved with the incorporation of silica. ENR/PVC/SiO 2 membrane exhibited better mechanical and thermal properties as compared to ENR/PVC/TEOS membranes. CO 2 and N 2 gas permeation of silica-filled membranes increased with increasing silica content and the permeability of ENR/PVC/SiO 2 membrane toward N 2 and CO 2 gasses was higher than ENR/PVC/TEOS membrane.

Ferroelectric materials of lanthanum (La) doped PbZrTiO3 (PLZT) were investigated via first principles study. The structural, electronic and optical properties of PLZT in tetragonal structure (P4mm space group) were performed in the framework of density functional theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA) methods. The calculated results of structural properties of PLZT were seen to be approximately close to the experimental data. The results of the electronic part were covered with the calculation of energy band gap and density of states (DOS). The highest valence band (VB) which lies at the Fermi level (EF) was dominated by the O 2p at F point. The conduction band (CB) of PLZT occurred at G point, which was primarily dominated by Ti 3d mixed at Pb and La p-state. Whereas the optical part was covered with the refractive index and absorption. The refractive index, n and the extinction coefficient, k were calculated with respect to photon energy. Those results obtained could be such a good prediction in studying parameters and properties of new materials.

This paper studied the potential of a hybrid organic membrane for separation purposes. The ENR/PVC/SiO spontaneous solvent exchange and evaporation techniques. The amount of SiO varied at 1, 3, 5 and 8 wt%. The SEM micrographs showed that pores were developed upon addition of SiO 2. The tensile strength and modulus were also enhanced with increasing amount of SiO 2 up to 5 wt%. At higher SiO membrane decreased due to the agglomeration of SiO done on ENR/PVC/SiO 2 membranes using NO gasses increased with the amount of SiO increase in nanopores. The membranes with SiO

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