Hue University Journal of Science: Natural Science

Development of heavyweight concrete incorporating steel slag as aggregate for potential application of wave-dissipating blocks in Vietnam

2026-05-07T14:22:49+07:00

In 2024, Vietnam ranked as the 11th largest steel producer worldwide, with an annual crude steel output of approximately 22 million tonnes, generating a substantial amount of steel slag (SS). As most major steel plants in Vietnam employ Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) technology, BOF slag represents the dominant type of SS produced. This study proposes and evaluates the use of mixed BOF and cast SS, based on actual production proportions at the Formosa steel plant, as coarse aggregates for heavyweight concrete (SS concretes) under Vietnamese conditions. Four qualified SS types were combined and applied in concrete mixtures across three grading scenarios. The results show that SS concretes exhibit more consistent compressive strength development and more significant strain at failure than conventional concretes made with natural aggregates. The 28-day compressive strength of the SS concretes reached 113.6–117.8% of the target strength for M400 concrete. Owing to the higher density of the SS aggregates (1.23–1.42 times that of natural aggregates), the resulting concretes achieved densities 1.13–1.16 times greater than conventional mixes, with average values ranging from 2.64 to 2.73 t/m³, meeting the requirements for heavyweight concrete. These findings indicate that SS concrete has potential for applications such as wave-dissipating blocks; however, further hydraulic investigations are required to confirm this performance.

Novel MIL-53(Fe)-encapsulated gelatinous boehmite granules and their enhanced photocatalytic performance towards tetracycline

2026-03-17T01:27:42+07:00

Developing materials with high photocatalytic activity and easy recovery remains a challenge in industry. In this work, MIL-53(Fe) crystal powder was effectively encapsulated within gelatinous boehmite to produce millimetre-scale AlOOH@MIL-53(Fe) granules using the oil-drop method. The materials were utilised for the photodegradation of tetracycline (TC). These granules underwent detailed characterisation by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, N₂ sorption, TGA, and UV-Vis DRS techniques. The resulting granular composites exhibited improved porosity and visible-light absorption. Photocatalytic testing under energy-efficient visible LED light demonstrated that the AlOOH@MIL-53(Fe) granules achieved a removal efficiency of 93% for TC, higher than that of the original MOF (82%) and the AlOOH granules without loaded MOF (54%). Kinetic analysis indicated that the photodegradation of TC followed a pseudo-second-order model, with rate constants in the following decreasing order: AlOOH@MIL-53(Fe) (0.0021 mg^–1.L.min^–1), MIL-53(Fe) (0.00074 mg^–1.L.min^–1), and AlOOH(0.00016 mg^–1.L.min^–1). Notably, the developed granules are easy to recover and retain suitable reusability in photocatalytic processes, highlighting their significant potential for real-world wastewater treatment applications.

Chemical composition of Homalomena occulta essential oil and molecular docking-ADMET evaluation against antimicrobial targets

2026-02-06T16:18:16+07:00

Homalomena occulta (H. occulta) essential oil was obtained via steam distillation, and its chemical composition was characterised using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. A total of 43 compounds, predominantly oxygenated monoterpenes with linalool (40.35%), terpinen-4-ol (8.54%), and a-terpineol (3.05%) as the most abundant components, were identified. These compounds were evaluated in silico through molecular docking simulations using MOE 2022.10 software against three antimicrobial-related targets associated with pathogenic strains, namely Streptococcus pyogenes (P0C0C7), Streptococcus pneumoniae (Q8DQF8), and Candida albicans (4ESW). Several promising candidates with strong predicted inhibitory potentials were identified and ranked for each target as follows: P0C0C7: 40 (–11.2 kcal.mol^–1) > 27 (–11.0 kcal.mol^–1) > 4 (–10.9 kcal.mol^–1) » 36 (–10.9 kcal.mol^–1) > 29 (–10.4 kcal.mol^–1); Q8DQF8: 27 (–9.6 kcal.mol^–1) > 29 (–9.4 kcal.mol^–1) > 25 (–9.3 kcal.mol^–1) ≈ 41 (–9.3 kcal.mol^–1) > 36 (–9.2 kcal.mol^–1); 4ESW 42 (–11.3 kcal.mol^–1) > 38 (–10.8 kcal.mol^–1) > 21 (–10.7 kcal.mol^–1) > 32 (–10.3 kcal.mol^–1) » 41 (–10.3 kcal.mol^–1). A drug-likeness study based on Lipinski’s rule of five was generally favourable (MW < 500 Da for 43/43 compounds; logP < 5 for 41/43 compounds). The ADMET prediction results suggested good absorption and permeability, along with a low risk of major transporter- and metabolism-related issues. Overall, these findings provide a strong in silico basis, supporting further experimental antimicrobial testing for H. occulta essential oil.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae’s culture conditions for heterologous expression: A detailed investigation using reporter gene eGFP and Escherichia coli’s heat-labile toxin B subunit

2025-12-26T08:01:54+07:00

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae recombinant expression host 2805 has been employed extensively for various applications, ranging from recombinant enzyme production, oral vaccine development, and viral antigen production. For all of its previous applications, recombinant yeast cells have been cultured under a conventional three-stage protocol: after being revived and grown on selective agar plates, (i) cells are seeded in 5 mL Uracil deficient medium (–Ura medium) for two days; (ii) cells are diluted at a 1:8 ratio in the complete medium YEPD and cultured for 16 hours; (iii) flask culture in YEPD for 1 to 5 days at 30 °C. Despite its routine use, the rationale and performance of this culture regime have not been systematically examined. In this study, using a synthetic, yeast codon optimised gene encoding the B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin (LTB) fused to the reporter enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (eGFP), we employed flow cytometry to monitor the expression dynamics in the recombinant 2805 yeast strains across all cultural stages. The results show that LTB-eGFP expression peaked on day 1 of the first seeding in the –Ura medium, dropped on day 2, then increased again after being transferred to YEPD, and then declined steadily in flask culture from day 1 to day 5. Across conditions, the percentage of fluorescent positive cells was approximately 45–60%. These results indicate that the re-optimisation of the culture protocol is necessary in order to maximise the expression efficiency.

Development and validation of modified QuEChERS- GC/MS method for simultaneous determination of current-use pesticide residues in soil

2026-01-27T06:28:10+07:00

Pesticide residues in soil pose potential risks to ecosystems and human health, necessitating reliable and efficient analytical methods for their determination. This study developed and validated a modified QuEChERS-based extraction procedure combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the simultaneous analysis of eight commonly used pesticides in soil, including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Key extraction parameters were optimised for soil matrices, focusing on solvent composition and primary-secondary amine (PSA) clean-up levels. Optimal performance was achieved with 1% acetic acid in acetonitrile and 25 mg PSA per 1 mL of extract. The method was validated according to European Commission SANTE guidelines, demonstrating good linearity (R² > 0.99), low limits of detection (3–8 µg/kg), acceptable recoveries (69–114%), and satisfactory repeatability (RSD < 13%). The validated procedure was successfully applied to agricultural soil samples from central Vietnam, where residues of pretilachlor, fluazifop-p-butyl, and trifloxystrobin were detected. The results confirm that the proposed method is reliable, cost-effective, and suitable for routine monitoring of pesticide residues in soil.

Antioxidant, anti-diabetic activity and chemical composition of n-hexane extract of artichoke flowers (Cynara scolymus L.)

2026-01-27T06:35:36+07:00

This study investigated the chemical composition and antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of the n-hexane extract of artichoke flowers (Cynara scolymus L.). The GC-MS analysis of the extract identified 17 compounds belonging to different groups, including hydrocarbons, esters, alcohols and polyols, heterocyclic compounds, silicon-containing compounds, and carboxylic acids. Among these groups, carboxylic acids and esters accounted for the majority, including n-hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, oleic acid, elaidic acid, palmitic acid, linolelaidic acid methyl ester, 9-octadecenoic acid, and linoleic acid methyl ester. In vitro bioassays show that the artichoke extract exhibited significant antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀ of 43.8 ± 1.75 µg/mL by using the DPPH scavenging method and 45.2 ± 2.01 µg/mL with the ABTS method. In addition, the artichoke extract exhibited significant anti-diabetic activity with an IC₅₀ of 696.7 ± 13.63 µg/mL through the ability to inhibit α-amylase and 643.2 ± 9.45 µg/mL through the ability to inhibit α-glucosidase. These findings indicate the antioxidant and antidiabetic potential of artichoke flower extracts under in vitro conditions. Further studies are required to isolate and identify the key active constituents, elucidate their mechanisms of action, and evaluate their safety and efficacy in vivo to determine their biological relevance and potential for future applications.

Effective NiO channel engineering for performance enhancement of lateral perovskite-based UV photodetectors

2026-04-08T07:51:57+07:00

Lateral perovskite-based ultraviolet photodetectors (UV PDs) are attractive for their simple fabrication and easy integration, but their performance is often limited owing to nonuniform film formation on patterned substrates and trap-assisted recombination during lateral charge transport. In this paper, a ~70 nm sputtered NiO thin film is introduced as an interfacial channel layer prior to solution processing of halide perovskite on patterned ITO/glass with a 1 mm electrode gap. The NiO underlayer provides a crystalline wide-bandgap platform that improves perovskite film uniformity and promotes larger grains with fewer grain boundaries. Photoluminescence quenching and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques further indicate reduced recombination and lower charge-transfer resistance, which is consistent with enhanced hole transport in the NiO-assisted architecture. Consequently, the NiO-integrated device exhibits a markedly increased photocurrent (0.476 to 1.28 µA at 370.92 µW/cm² under 254 nm illumination), together with improved responsivity (17.4 to 33.04 mA/W) and EQE (8.5% to 16.2%). These results demonstrate that sputtered NiO serves as an effective interfacial channel to simultaneously improve film formation and charge extraction in lateral perovskite UV photodetectors.