Search

Hybrid nanomaterials, which is a combination of two or more nanoparticles have been extensively evaluated as a promising candidate for energy storage and heat transfer applications, benefitting from the rise of synergistic effects between them. The unique form of this emerging combination of nanomaterials not only offers the improved features of the integrated nanoparticles but gives us the opportunity to tailor their physicochemical properties simply by modifying their composition and morphology. Scientific findings have demonstrated that the dispersion of hybrid nanomaterials in the base fluids, known as - hybrid nanofluids gives us the alternative way to replace mono nanofluid and the conventional heat transfer fluids as it provides a much better heat transfer enhancement that is beneficial for advanced heat transfer devices. On the other hand, when hybrid nanomaterials were utilized for energy storage devices, it exhibits an outstanding electrochemical performance, providing a significant contribution to the specific capacitance which permits a new strategy to design new electrodes for advanced energy storage devices. In this article review, we summarised the recent advancements made on the emerging hybrid nanomaterials, comprising of the general overview of the emerging nanomaterials, the synthesis routes for hybrid nanomaterials and their acquired hybrid structures along with their practical applications as electrodes in electrochemical energy storage and as heat transfer fluids for advanced heat transfer devices. Finally, we have also outlined some challenging issues associated with hybrid nanomaterials that requires further attention for future research.

Constructed wetlands (CW) is an environmentally friendly technique for removing pollutants from wastewater and has been applied to municipal wastewater, petroleum refinery wastewater, agriculture drainage, acid mine drainage, etc. The past decade has seen a remarkable number of innovations in the exponentially growing field of microbiology. This manuscript covers a critical review of key aspects of CW, such as various types of CW, the contaminants and their removal mechanisms, degradation pathways, challenges and opportunities, materials, applications, and theory with a focus on recent advances in the last three decades. In addition, an attempt has been taken to project future advances in the field of CW and facilitate these advances by framing key unsolved problems in CW. Guidelines are prepared for the fast-growing CW field through the standardization of key design aspects. This review covers the evaluation of the current state-of-the-art of CW technology and provides definitions and performance metric nomenclature in an effort to unify the fast-growing CW community. It also contains an outlook on the emerging trends in CW and proposes future research and development directions.

This article is a review on energy efficiency standards and labels for household electrical appliances around the world. Through the review of other country experiences on energy efficiency standards and labels, we attempt to identify savings possibilities in Malaysian households. The implementation possibilities of standards and labels for various household electrical appliances in Malaysia are also examined. It is found that various household appliances in Malaysia offer some potential in reducing electricity consumption. Finally, it is concluded that there are many advantages for Malaysia to implement the standards and labels for household electrical appliances as soon as possible in order to reduce electricity bills and energy consumption in Malaysian households.

Saline-sodic shale overburden associated with oil sand mining is a potential source of salt release to surface water and groundwater and can lead to salinization and/or sodification of reclamation covers. Weathering of shale overburden due to oxidation of sulphide minerals within the shale leads to sulphate (SO4 2−) production and increased salinity. The controls on the rates of weathering of a shale overburden dump in the oil sands region of northern Alberta were determined from soil chemistry sampling and in situ monitoring of pore gases (O2, CO2, CH4) in three shallow profiles (1.9–4.45 m deep) and one deep (25 m deep) profile under reclamation covers of varying thickness. Oxidation, defined by the depth over which O2 concentrations were depleted, reached depths of approximately 1.1 m under the reclamation soil covers over a 6 year period after dump placement. Calculations of SO4 2− production rates and weathering depths were consistent with numerical simulations of the diffusion and subsequent consumption of atmospheric O2 in the overburden. The rate of SO4 2− production during the 6 year weathering period estimated from direct measurements of solids chemistry ranged from 0.70 to 8.3 g m−2 day−1. The rates calculated from the oxygen diffusion models were within that same range, between 1.6 and 4.1 g m−2 day−1.

Several different stand-alone pole street lighting (SPSL) models, using a light emitting diode (LED) lamp, were tested over a 1-year period on Penang Island in northern Malaysia. The models were powered by lead–lead dioxide batteries, autonomously recharged by a renewable energy power source (RES): either a photovoltaic (PV) generator or an integrated PV/Wind-turbine generator system. The technical requirements and economic impact (capital and operating costs) of these two configurations are analyzed and compared. Additionally, some of these configurations were programmed with an energy load savings scheme. The impact of operating with this scheme was compared to operations performed at full load. Results of this comparative analysis revealed that the most efficient system for the test environment was the PV generator operating with the energy savings scheme. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 33: 283–289, 2014

Herein, we examine the influence of controllable polarization reversal and built-in electric fields on pyroelectric and electrocaloric effects in a BaTiO3 thin film using a modified indirect method. We find that the magnitude of the sample's change in polarization with temperature is sensitive to the degree of polarization reversal. The pyroelectric response is small at low fractions of switched polarization and grows larger by several factors as larger fractions of polarization are reversed. This polarization reversal-sensitive pyroelectric behavior is the result of an internal built-in field, which has the effect of destabilizing low fractions of switched polarization and producing diminished pyroelectric effect. Greater fractions of switched polarization are more stable against backswitching and permit a larger pyroelectric response. Our findings highlight a characterization method for polarization-dependent pyroelectric effects in ferroelectric thin films, where built-in field effects are also present., J. T. Abiade acknowledges financial support from the U. S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSFDMR-1508220. Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (10.13039/501100011033), through the Severo Ochoa FUNFUTURE (project CEX2019-000917-S funded by MCIN/AEI), project TED2021-130453B-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR, and projects PID2020-112548RB-I00 and PID2019-107727RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI are acknowledged. J. W. Adkins acknowledges the University of Illinois Chicago’s Pipeline to an Inclusive Faculty (PIF) Program. The work (Electronic measurements and part of manuscript preparation) at Argonne National Laboratory were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. Lithographic patterning was conducted using equipment provided by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Nanotechnology Core Facility., With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).