Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences 

About: Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences is an academic journal published by Penerbit UTM Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Boundary layer & Adsorption. It has an ISSN identifier of 2289-599X. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 938 publications have been published receiving 3377 citations. The journal is also known as: MJFAS.

Preparation and characterization of superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles: A short review

Abstract: Magnetic magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles have attracted a great deal of attention in both fundamental research and practical applications over the past decades. Down to the nanoscale, superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with only a single magnetic domain exhibit high magnetic susceptibility, which provides a stronger and faster magnetic response. Their superparamagnetic properties together with other intrinsic properties such as low toxicity, high surface area-to-volume ratio and simple separation methodology, making them ideal for environmental remediation, biomedical, and agricultural applications. This review discusses three conventional wet chemical methods, including chemical co-precipitation, sol-gel synthesis and thermal decomposition for the preparation of superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with controlled size and magnetic properties. Nowadays, with the growing research interest in Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, there is a great amount of researches reported on efficient routes to prepare size-controlled magnetic nanoparticles. Thus, this review is designed to report the recent information from synthesis to the characterization of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles as well as the discussion of future perspective in this research area.

A review on the geotechnical and engineering characteristics of marine clay and the modern methods of improvements

Abstract: Marine clay is a soft soil that could be found widely at the coastal and offshore areas. This type of soil is usually associated with high settlement and instability, poor soil properties that are not suitable for engineering requirements and low unconfined compressive strength of less than 20 kPa. Considerable failure could occur even with light loads and it shows flat or featureless surface. This kind of soil is considered as problematic due to the existence of high moisture content and usually exists as slurry with noticeable percentage of expandable clay minerals. In this paper, the geotechnical, micro-structure and engineering properties of marine clay are thoroughly reviewed and discussed. The properties include moisture content, particle size distribution, specific gravity, Atterberg limits, mineral compositions and shear strength. Moreover, due to the increasing demand of construction at coastal and offshore areas involving the marine clay, many attempts have been made to stabilize this kind of soil in order to solve the geotechnical related problems. Some of the common stabilization methods used to improve the properties of marine clay such as cement grouting, chemical additives and some environmental friendly additives are discussed. In long term, marine clay treatment using cement was found to be the best method. In addition, this paper serves as a guideline for the design and construction of projects on marine soils.

Gold Nanoparticles Embedded on the Surface of Polyvinyl Alcohol Layer

Abstract: A novel method for synthesizing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embedded gold film is presented. Gold particles, in the size range of 20 to 180 nm, were first prepared by the conventional Turkevitch method by the reduction of gold, hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (HAuCl4) with sodium citrate in water. The resulting gold nanoparticles were characterized by ultra violet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy, dark-field microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission electron microscopy (FESEM). In the preparation of PVA embedded gold film, PVA was functionalized with (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) which produced a thiol functionality on the surface. Then, gold particles were embedded on the surface of partially dried functionalized PVA where the gold particles are chemisorbed onto the thiol groups. Their physical properties were studied using Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR), FESEM, TEM and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (UV-Vis DR). Considering that the gold nanoparticles in solution cannot possibly be recovered and reused, the PVA embedded gold film on the other hand, has potential to be reused multiple of times.

Fiber Bragg grating modeling, simulation and characteristics with different grating lengths

Abstract: In this paper we perform a simulation of fiber Bragg grating sensor with different grating lengths. It is shown that the grating length represents as one of the critical parameters in contributing to a high performance fiber Bragg grating sensor. The simulated fiber gratings with different lengths were analyzed and designed by calculating reflection and transmission spectra, and the bandwidth. Such simulations are based on solving coupled mode equations that describe the interaction of guided modes. The coupled mode equations are solved by the Transfer Matrix Method (a fundamental matrix method).

Insights into the physicochemical properties of the Malaysian oil palm leaves as an alternative source of industrial materials and bioenergy

Abstract: This work was aimed at providing a comprehensive physicochemical characterization of the Malaysian oil palm leaves (OPL) that may be useful for industrial applications as well as providing new insights on minimizing the environmental impact of oil palm biomass wastes. The leaves of discarded oil palm fronds were collected, dried and ground. The leaves powder was subjected to acid and thermal treatments prior to physicochemical analyses. Physicochemical characterization included analyses of thermal gravimetry, ultimate analysis, Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen sorption. Ultimate analysis revealed that the untreated OPL contained carbon (46.98 %), hydrogen (6.500 %), nitrogen (1.810 %) and sulfur (0.150 %) with a moderately high calorific value of 19.21 MJ/kg. Thermal gravimetric and derivative thermal gravimetric analyses indicated that OPL is a lignocellulosic material with little moisture and ash contents. X-ray Florescence revealed Ca (39.20 %), K (22.10 %) and Si (19.20 %) as the three major elements in the ash of the untreated sample with Si (95.20%) being predominant for the treated ones. The ash of the acid treated sample was majorly amorphous silica which was slightly mesoporous with surface area of 160.59 m 2 g -1 as shown by X-ray diffraction and nitrogen sorption analyses respectively. These findings confirmed that the Malaysian OPL is a lignocellulosic biomass as well as a good source of amorphous silica, hence may prove useful as a potential renewable source of bioenergy and an alternative silica source for industrial applications.