Asian Journal of Physical and Chemical Sciences

The energy spectrum of the radial Schrodinger equation with the molecular Deng Fan potential has been obtained through the WKB approximation scheme. The radial WKB solution yields a transcendental or an implicit equation. The energy eigenvalues for non-physical and real molecular interacting systems are presented. In comparison with the numerical eigenvalues obtained with MATHEMATICA 3.0 package, the WKB approximation method produces improved results over the results obtained with other analytical methods in the literature.

Ocimum basilicum has been widely used in traditional medicine. Rural communities have used fixed oils for variety purposes since a long time ago. They used for cosmetic applications, fuel, medicine and food. The aim of this study was to characterize the physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of O. basilicum seed oil. Lipids were determined by continuous extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus for 6 hours using hexane as solvent. The physicochemical properties of the oil were assessed by standard and established methods. The fatty acids composition of the seed oil was determined by GC-MS. The Pale yellow with camphor odor oil extracted from the seed has the following properties: yield, 18.01%; freezing point, -2°C; melting point, 5°C; boiling point, 215°C; refractive index (25°C), 1.48532; iodine value, 108.6 g/100 g of oil; peroxide value, 4.6 meq. O₂/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 0.20%; acid value, 4.0 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 164.2 mg KOH/g of oil; unsaponifiable matter, 1.6; moisture and volatile value, 4.97 (wt%); density, 0.91372 g/cm³; viscosity, 10.29 mm²/s; specific gravity, 0.9210. Fatty acids composition showed that linolenic- (43.92%) was the major fatty acid and followed by linoleic- (32.18%), palmitic- (13.38%), stearic- (6.55%), palmitoleic- (0.78%), arachidic- (0.72%), anteisomargaric- (0.45%), nonadecylic- (0.28%), gondoic- (0.27%), margaric- (0.20%), behenic- (0.17%), heneicosylic- (0.14%), lignoceric- (0.13%) and myristic acid (0.11%). Therefore, recommended that more and advanced investigations should be undertaken for this abundant oil as natural source for many industrial applications, especially, for applications that require acids like linolenic and linoleic.

Soil quality is an essential factor in Agricultural sustainability and its combination with water and human factors substantially determine the quality of the output (crop) within a particular ecosystem. The goal was attained through: identification of the extant management systems; determination of some key properties in the soil, water and vegetable in the area; comparison of the heavy metals content of plants and soil to confirm whether the concentration of metals in soil is in available form for plant uptake. A total of twenty farm plots were sampled randomly at both upland and lowland areas. Soil, plant and water samples were collected and tested for both micro and macro elements. The results of the analysis revealed that the soils possess moderately acidic pH (6.0) with permissive rate of EC (0.45 mm hos/cm), low N (0,08%), very high P content (27.1 mg/kg), very high values of OC (1.65%), cation exchange indicates low levels of Na (0.2 cmol/kg), medium Ca (6.0 cmol/kg), very high K (3.7 cmol/kg), high Mg (4.3 cmol/kg), medium ECEC (16.0 cmol/kg) using FAO 2006. The results of the water analysis show that Cd, Fe, Pb and Mn are within the recommended threshold while Cu, Ni, Zn are above the threshold. No significant difference in the following soil chemical properties: pH, EC, %OC, %TN, Na, K, Mg, Ca, TEB, Exchange acidity, ECEC, Cu and Ni. Conversely, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb and Cd show significantly higher value between the lowland and upland areas. Upland areas show significantly higher values in few heavy metals. It was concluded that regular monitoring of the macro and micro elements is critical to sustainable productivity.

The clathrates of Hofmann-(en)₂-Td-type, M(en)₂M’(CN)₄.Aniline (M=Cu,Cd; M’=Cd,Zn) and their hosts were synthesized with the confirmation using FTIR spectra. Hydrogen bonding interaction between π-cloud of phenyl ring of the guest molecule and ethylenediamine(en) of the host lattices was deduced from the upward shift in ν(CH)out of plane bending mode of aniline. A second type of hydrogen bonding between C≡N group of the host lattice and NH₂ of aniline guest was also inferred from the downward shift in ν(C≡N) of the clathrates. The relative strength of H-bonding in the clathrates was found to be Hofmann-(en)₂-Type > Hofmann-(en)₂-Td-Phenol > Hofmann-(en)₂-Td-Aniline. The presence of major peaks corresponding to various modes of guest aniline, ligand en and cyanide group in FT Raman spectra also confirms the formation of clathrates. Attempts to synthesize Ni(en)₂M’(CN)₄.Aniline (M’=Cd,Zn) resulted in the formation of M’(en)₂Ni(CN)₄.2Aniline (M’=Cd,Zn) due to the exchange of metal ions and greater stability of Ni(CN)₄ unit.

This study was aimed at using Balanite aegyptiaca seed coats activated carbon (BAAC) as a potential adsorbent to remove safranin dye from aqueous solution. BAAC was prepared from Balanite aegyptiaca seed coats using a one-step procedure with 67.27% yield, 3.23% ash content, 695 m²/g surface area and 203 mg/g iodine number. The FTIR spectroscopy revealed O-H, N-H, C-H, C=C, C-O-H stretching vibrations. The influences of agitation time, initial dye concentration and adsorbent dose were studied in batch experiments at room temperature. The adsorptions were rapid at the first 15 minutes of agitation, with the uptake of 2.746 mg/kg. The adsorption equilibrium was achieved at 90 minutes of agitation. Kinetic studies showed good correlation coefficient for both pseudo-first order and pseudo-second-order kinetics model but fitted well into pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption data fitted well into Langmuir isotherm with correlation coefficient (R²) very close to unity and Langmuir maximum adsorption constant, q_m  1.00. Thus, the fitting into Langmuir indicates monolayer coverage on the adsorbents. The results showed that BAAC has the potential to be applied as alternative low-cost adsorbents in the remediation of dye contamination in wastewater.