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Procedure describes the synthesis of silica monoliths functionalised with metal hexacyanoferrate (MHCF) using a high internal phase emulsion template. The materials exhibit excellent Cs ion sorption properties.

In-situ transesterification method is a simplified method for biodiesel production where the oil was simultaneously extracted and transesterified into alkyl ester in-situ in one single process. This process combines the steps of lipid (oil) extraction and transesterification. The alcohol used was methanol as it is widely available and economically feasible. In this study, in situ transesterification was conducted using solid coconut waste and a novel heterogeneous catalyst synthesized from eggshells and solid coconut waste by calcination. Reaction temperature, catalyst loading, and methanol to solid ratio were varied from 70 to 120˚C, 0.5 to 10.5 wt %, and 8:1 to 12:1 respectively. Meanwhile, reaction time was fixed to 3 hrs. Heterogeneous catalyst can help to reduce the steps in separation and purification of the product. Moreover, utilizing waste in the production can lower the production cost as well as help to save and clean the environment. The highest biodiesel yield was observed at the condition of 95˚C, 0.5 wt % catalyst, and 10:1 methanol to solid ratio.

The aim of this study was to screen few fungal isolates from local cocoa pod husks (CPH) which able to secrete cellulases. The isolates were plated on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar plates which then incubated for two days at 28ºC. Then, these plates were stained with congo red dye for 0.5-1 h followed by destaining with 1 M NaCl solution for 15-20 minutes to observe its cellulolytic activity. One isolates which exposed the largest cellulolytic zone on CMC agar plate was selected for further study. In this study, culture conditions with respect to pH, incubation time, amount of substrate (CPH) and temperature were screened using Design expert @version 8.0 by employing two-level factorial design. The selected fungus isolate was cultured in shake flask at 37°C with agitation of 200 rpm for 5 days in incubator shaker. During fermentation period, samples were collected every day for fungal-cellulases activity of filter paper activity (FPase) and carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) activity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of this study showed that the most significant parameters that affects the production of cellulases from the selected fungi isolates were the amount of substrate (CPH) used followed by the interaction of amount of substrate with pH (p< 0.05). It showed that the cellulases activity was high when the pH 9 with more amount of substrate used. However, it was observed that less significant changes of celllulases activity when different amount of substrate was used at same pH of 3. Based on the microscopic observation of isolate, it morphology was closed to Rhizopus sp.. In conclusion, it is suggested to optimize the selected culture parameters obtained in this study in order to maximize the activity of cellulases from the selected isolates.