The production of functional activated carbon materials starting from inexpensive natural precursors using environmentally friendly and economically effective processes has attracted much attention in the areas of material science and technology. In particular, the use of plant biomass to produce functional carbonaceous materials has attracted a great deal of attention in various aspects. In this study the preparation of activated carbon has been attempted from rice husks via a chemical activation-assisted microwave system. The rice husks were milled via attrition milling with aluminum balls, and then carbonized under purified N2. The operational parameters including the activation agents, chemical impregnation weight ratio of the calcined rice husk to KOH (1:1, 1:2 and 1:4), microwave power heating within irradiation time (3-5 min), and the second activation process on the adsorption capability were investigated. Experimental results were investigated using XRD, FT-IR, and SEM. It was found that the BET surface area of activated carbons irrespective of the activation agent resulted in surface area. The activated carbons prepared by microwave heating with an activation process have higher surface area and larger average pore size than those prepared by activation without microwave heating when the ratio with KOH solution was the same. The activation time using microwave heating and the chemical impregnation ratio with KOH solution were varied to determine the optimal method for obtaining high surface area activated carbon (1505 m2/g).

In this study, 3 mol% yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) nanoparticles were synthesized by the glycothermal method under various reaction temperatures and times. The co-precipitated precursor of 3Y-TZP was prepared by adding NH4OH to starting solutions, and then the mixtures were placed in an autoclave reactor. Tetragonal yttria-doped zirconia nanoparticles were afforded through a glycothermal reaction at a temperature as low as 220˚C, using co-precipitated gels of ZrCl4 and YCl3·6H2O as precursors and 1,4-butanediol as the solvent. The synthesized 3Y-TZP particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The 3Y-TZP particles have a stable tetragonal phase only at glycothermal temperatures above 200˚C. To investigate phase transition, the 3Y-TZP particles were heat treated from 400 to 1400˚C for 2 h. Raman analysis indicated that, after heat treatment, the tetragonal phase of the 3Y-TZP particles remained stable. The results of this study, therefore, suggest that 3Y-TZP powders can be prepared by the glycothermal method.

The static and dynamic hydrophobicities of the water droplets placed on a hydrophobic surface coated using a fluoroalkylsilanes monolayer with different molecular chain lengths were investigated through direct observation of the actual droplet motion during the sliding process. The surface roughness of both was found to be less than 1 nm. The static contact angles of the coated FAS-3 and FAS-17 were respectively 80˚ and 108˚ at 150˚C, 1 h. The slope of sliding acceleration against the water droplet mass exhibited an inflection point, thus suggesting the switching of the dominant sliding mode from slipping to rolling. While their sliding angles were similar in value, notable differences were exhibited in terms of their sliding behavior. This can be understood as being due to the contribution of the shear stress difference at the interface between the solid surface and water during the sliding process. These results show that the sliding acceleration of the water droplets depends strongly on the balance between gravitational and retentive forces on the hydrophobic surface.