Activated carbon (AC) is a versatile and extensively employed adsorbent in environmental remediation. It possesses distinct properties that can be enhanced to selectively target specific pollutants through modifications, including chemical impregnation or incorporation into composite materials. In this study, porous calcium alginate beads (PCAB) were synthesized by incorporating AC and natural alginate through ion gelation in a Ca(II) ion-containing solution, with the addition of sodium lauryl sulfate as a surfactant. The prepared PCAB was tested for Cu(II) removal. PCAB exhibited a spherical shape with higher porosity and surface area (160.19 m2. g−1) compared to calcium alginate beads (CAB) (0.04 m2. g−1). The adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-first-order model for PCAB and the pseudo-second-order model for CAB. The Langmuir isotherm model provided the best fit for adsorption on PCAB, while the Freundlich model was suitable for CAB. Notably, PCAB demonstrated a maximum adsorption capacity of 75.54 mg.g−1, significantly higher than CAB's capacity of 9.16 mg. g−1. Desorption studies demonstrated that 0.1 M CaCl2 exhibited the highest efficiency (90%) in desorbing Cu(II) ions from PCAB, followed by 0.1 M HCl and 0.1 M NaCl. PCAB showed efficient reusability for up to four consecutive adsorption– desorption cycles. The fixed-bed column experiment confirmed the match with the Thomas model to the breakthrough curves with qTH of 120.12 mg.g−1 and 68.03 mg.g−1 at a flow rate of 1 mL.min−1 and 2 mL.min−1, respectively. This study indicated that PCAB could be an effective adsorbent for Cu(II) removal, offering insights for further application and design considerations.

With the strong growth of social networking sites such as Facebook in recent years, the potential of exploiting customers on Facebook is increasing. Presently, trading activities on Facebook is rapidly developing. Therefore, businesses have become increasingly competitive when selling products on Facebook, so as to retain customers as well as to satisfy customer, which is of paramount importance. This study was conducted to assess the factors affecting the satisfaction of individual customers in Vietnam when buying goods on Facebook. This study uses multivariate analysis techniques (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling) to determine the factors affecting customer satisfaction when buying goods on Facebook. Research results from 268 individual customers in Vietnam indicated trust and convenience are the two important factors related to customer satisfaction when buying goods on Facebook. Customer satisfaction is the result of consumer experience throughout the different stages of purchase. The more the shopping experience, the more the customers are satisfied when buying products. The price and products do not affect customer satisfaction (prices are easy to compare and products are easily understood on the Internet; hence, these two factors are not considered as determinants of customer satisfaction). Furthermore, this study provides recommendations to improve customer satisfaction.

This research examines the affect of destination image factors on revisit intention of domestic tourists at Ba Ria Vung-Tau (BRVT), by questioning directly 510 domestic tourists. The convenient sampling method is used in dividing the crowds into four groups; the four main surveyed areas in BRVT are: Vung Tau, Long Hai-Phuoc Hai, Xuyen Moc and Con Dao. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies were utilized. A focus group of 10 domestic tourists was set up to review and explore the various factors as well as the conceptual model. An in-depth interview with 12 participants was developed to fine-tune measurement items. The questionnaire applied a 5-point Likert scale. Checking the reliability by Cronbach’s Alpha, exploratory factor analyzing and linear multiple regression were used with the SPSS program. The results show that there are eight main destination image factors affecting domestic tourists revisit intention to BRVT using linear regression and arranged by decreasing importance: Infrastructure, Variety Seeking, Accessibility, Local food, Atmosphere, Environment, Price Value, Leisure and Entertainment. From that, the research offers some suggestions and policy recommendations for the tourism business and provincial policy-makers to identify the main issues and develop better customer services to increase domestic tourists’ revisit intention.