Iron oxide nanoparticle (ION)-based ferro-nanofluids (FNs) have been used for different technological applications owing to their excellent magneto-rheological properties. A comprehensive overview of the current advancement of FNs based on IONs for various engineering applications is unquestionably necessary. Hence, in this review article, various important advanced technological applications of ION-based FNs concerning different engineering fields are critically summarized. The chemical engineering applications are mainly focused on mass transfer processes. Similarly, the electrical and electronics engineering applications are mainly focused on magnetic field sensors, FN-based temperature sensors and tilt sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and on-chip components, actuators, and cooling for electronic devices and photovoltaic thermal systems. On the other hand, environmental engineering applications encompass water and air purification. Moreover, mechanical engineering or magneto-rheological applications include dampers and sealings. This review article provides up-to-date information related to the technological advancements and emerging trends in ION-based FN research concerning various engineering fields, as well as discusses the challenges and future perspectives.

Excessive urban construction is primarily driven by uncontrolled population growth, which has serious consequences for the environment, energy, cost, and human life in general when building materials are massively used. In terms of energy and economic efficiency, buildings that make use of sustainable construction materials and technologies perform better. This is because building in an eco-friendly way results in less waste. Agro-industrial by-products and insulating materials are two examples of sustainable materials that have been put to good use in the climate change mitigation effort and to preserve the environment. Precast components are emphasized as a viable option that is suitable for this purpose and may potentially fulfill the need for housing units. Thus, this study investigated the viability of employing agricultural waste consisting of pomegranate peel waste to produce fired clay bricks. Results demonstrated that the optimum amount of pomegranate peel waste was determined to be 15%, and the optimal firing temperature was determined to be 900 °C. The thermal conductivity of all test samples was lower than that of conventional brick. Furthermore, when compared to conventional wall brick, all the tested samples of manufactured brick reduced energy consumption by 17.55% to 33.13% and carbon dioxide emissions by 7.50% to 24.50%. In addition, the economic feasibility of employing each synthetic sample was evaluated by computing the simple payback time (SPP). It was determined that 1.88–10.74 years were required for the brick samples to provide a return on their initial investment. Due to its ability to decrease heat gain, preserve energy, minimize CO₂ emissions, and shorten the payback time, burned clay bricks manufactured from pomegranate peel waste are regarded as a feasible building material. Hence, manufactured bricks are usually considered an exceptional contribution to environmental sustainability.

The present work has undertaken a meticulous glance on optimizing the performance of an SGMD configuration utilized a porous poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-co-HFP) membrane. This was carried out by conducting a systematic framework for investigating and optimizing the pertinent parameters such as sweeping gas flow rate, feed temperature, feed concentration and feed flow rate on the permeate flux. For this purpose, the Taguchi method and design of experiment techniques were harnessed to statistically determine optimum operational conditions. Besides that, a comprehensive surface and permeation characterization was conducted against the hand-made membranes. Results showcased that the membrane performance was ultimately controlled by the feed temperature and was nearly (~680) % higher when the temperature raised from 45 to 65 °C. Also, to a lesser extent, the system was dominated by the feed flow rate. As the adopted feed flow rate increases (from 0.2 to 0.6 L/min), around 47.5% increment was bestowed on water permeability characteristics. In contra, 34.5% flux decline was witnessed when higher saline feed concentration (100 g/L) was utilized. In the meantime, with raising the sweeping gas flow rate (from 120 to 300 L/h), the distillate was nearly 129% higher. Based on Taguchi design, the maximum permeate flux (17.3 and 17 kg/m²·h) was secured at 35 g/L, 0.4 L/min, 65 °C and 300 L/h, for both commercial and prepared membranes, respectively.

This study explores the potential for making lightweight bricks via the use of dry, pulverized spent mushroom materials (SMM) as a thermal insulator. There are five distinct replacement proportions of SMM that are used, and they range from 0% to 15% of the weight of the clay. The firing of the fabricated bricks at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900 °C led to the development of pores on the interior surface of the bricks as a consequence of the decomposition of SMM. The impact of SMM on the physicomechanical characteristics of fabricated bricks is assessed based on standard codes. Compressive strength, bulk density, and thermal conductivity decreased as the SMM content increased, reaching up to 8.7 MPa, 1420 kg/m³, and 0.29 W/mK at 900 °C and 15% substitution percentage. However, cold water absorption, boiling water absorption, linear drying shrinkage, linear firing shrinkage, and apparent porosity increased with the increase in SMM, reaching 23.6%, 25.3%, and 36.6% at 900 °C and 15% substitution percentage. In the study simulation model, there was a significant improvement in energy consumption, which reached an overall reduction of 29.23% and 21.49% in Cario and Jazan cities, respectively.

Sodium borohydride (SBH) hydrolysis in the presence of cheap and efficient catalysts has been proposed as a safe and efficient method for generating clean hydrogen energy for use in portable applications. In this work, we synthesized bimetallic NiPd nanoparticles (NPs) supported on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) nanofibers (PVDF-HFP NFs) via the electrospinning approach and reported an in-situ reduction procedure of the NPs being prepared by alloying Ni and Pd with varying Pd percentages. The physicochemical characterization provided evidence for the development of a NiPd@PVDF-HFP NFs membrane. The bimetallic hybrid NF membranes exhibited higher H₂ production as compared to Ni@PVDF-HFP and Pd@PVDF-HFP counterparts. This may be due to the synergistic effect of binary components. The bimetallic Ni_1−xPd_x(x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3)@PVDF-HFP nanofiber membranes exhibit composition-dependent catalysis, in which Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP NF membranes demonstrate the best catalytic activity. The full H₂ generation volumes (118 mL) were obtained at a temperature of 298 K and times 16, 22, 34 and 42 min for 250, 200, 150, and 100 mg dosages of Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP, respectively, in the presence of 1 mmol SBH. Hydrolysis utilizing Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP was shown to be first order with respect to Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP amount and zero order with respect to the [NaBH₄] in a kinetics study. The reaction time of H₂ production was reduced as the reaction temperature increased, with 118 mL of H₂ being produced in 14, 20, 32 and 42 min at 328, 318, 308 and 298 K, respectively. The values of the three thermodynamic parameters, activation energy, enthalpy, and entropy, were determined toward being 31.43 kJ mol⁻¹, 28.82 kJ mol⁻¹, and 0.057 kJ mol⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively. It is simple to separate and reuse the synthesized membrane, which facilitates their implementation in H₂ energy systems.