Eng's Notebook

Hello guys, As you know, graphene oxide is an advanced material that can be used in the water purification industry. What is meant by water scarcity and contamination? According to UNISEF , even in countries with sufficient water resources, water scarcity remains a challenge. This issue often arises from factors such as inadequate infrastructure, contamination, conflict, and climate change, as well as human factors and poor management.  In this previous series of articles, we have discussed the basics of graphene oxide (GO) and what makes graphene oxide a key material in modern research. Graphene oxide is used as a filter membrane (with a suitable substrate) for water purification, especially in waste water threats. So, in this article, we will discuss the purification mechanism of graphene oxide-based membranes in waste water purification.  Figure 01: Industrial Wastewater First of all, what is waste water, and why is waste water purification important? Waste water is water t...

This is the second part of the article "Graphene Oxide: The Future of Research.". In this article, let's explore the applications, future directions, and limitations of graphene oxide. Applications of Graphene Oxide  Graphene oxide has a wide range of applications due to its properties, including high surface area, hydrophilicity, and tunable electrical and thermal conductivity. Below are some key applications. 1. Water purification GO membranes can remove heavy metals, organic contaminants, and bacteria from waste water and soften hard water. This is due to functional groups of GO and high surface area. When the amount of functional groups increases, the negative charge of the surface also increases, allowing it to absorb positive ions. This is the mechanism for removing positive ions using GO membranes. And GO has excellent water permeability, rejection rate, and antifouling properties, making it suitable for long-term filtration applications. 2. Energy Storage GO is wi...

  Hello and welcome to the fourth article in Eng's Notebook! In this article, let's explore the MD (Molecular Dynamics) simulation, focusing on how LAMMPS (Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator) can be a powerful tool for enhancing your simulations. As an extra point, let's discuss how we can use Linux-based HPC (high-performance computing) for running simulations efficiently, according to my personal experience. 💡 So, what is molecular dynamics? Molecular dynamics (MD) is a computational simulation technique used to study the behavior of atoms and molecules. It allows for the observation of their interactions and movements over a specified period, providing insights into the dynamic evolution of a system.  In most of the industries, the trial-and-error method is used to solve the problem. It can be an extremely time and resource consuming method. When we use a trial and error method, we can't understand what is happening inside the materials and ca...

🔥 ... Graphene oxide is one of the most exciting material in the field of nanotechnology. It is a derivative of graphene that consists of a single layer of carbon atoms with oxygen-containing functional groups such as hydroxyl, epoxy, and carboxyl groups. These functional groups make GO highly hydrophilic and dispersible in water. Due to its tunable surface properties, it can be applied in various fields, including water purification, energy storage, biomedicine, and flexible electronics. In this article, we’ll explore how graphene oxide is synthesized and its properties. Figure 01 : The structure of GO with functional groups How Is Graphene Oxide Synthesized? Graphene oxide is synthesized by oxidizing graphite and then exfoliating it into thin layers. The most widely used method for synthesizing graphene oxide is the Hummers method. This method is suitable for large-scale production because it produces a high yield of graphene oxide. In this method, first graphite pow...

🔥 ... Hi all! In this article, I will give you a brief introduction to our final-year research project.  The hard water problem is a major issue in Sri Lanka and around the world due to its health risks and unpleasant taste. What is hard water? Hard water is water that has a high concentration of dissolved minerals, mainly calcium (Ca²⁺) and magnesium (Mg²⁺) ions. These minerals come from natural sources, such as limestone or chalk, as water flows through them. Inadequate intakes of calcium have been associated with increased risks of osteoporosis, nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), colorectal cancer, hypertension and stroke, coronary artery disease, insulin resistance, and obesity. Also, there is a potential risk of CKDu (Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology) by hardness. According to the analysis, 26.9% of well water was soft, 15.0% was moderately hard, 15.8% was hard, and 42.2% was very hard in Sri Lanka. Figure 01: Relationship between water hardness and n...

🔥 ... Hello! We’re Imesh Livinston and Manori Jayawardhana , two fourth-year students studying Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa , the top engineering university in Sri Lanka. We’re super excited to welcome you to our very first article here on Eng's Notebook! So, what’s this site all about? In this space, we’re going to share our knowledge of Materials Science and Engineering with you. Our goal is to dive deep into the exciting world of materials science and talk about the projects we’ve worked on, the lessons we’ve learned, and how cool this field is. In this space, we’ll cover some basic materials science theories while also sharing our personal experiences and the projects we’ve been involved in so far. We believe it’s important to be honest with you, so we’ll be transparent about both our successes and failures because both are crucial for growth and learning 💡. Along with that, we’ll provide insights into our ongoing projects...