(ZnSn)_1-xCu_xO nanocomposites (NCs) with nanorods and nanosheet morphologies were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal technique. (ZnSn)_1-xCu_xO NCs exhibited a gradual band gap redshift from UV to visible spectral region with increasing Cu-content. The room temperature magnetic hysteresis loop indicated the improvement of room temperature ferromagnetic (RTFM) behavior of (ZnSn)_1-xCu_xO NCs compared with nanostructured ZnSnO NCs induced by the exchange interaction of Cu-bound polarons with the localized spins and free carriers. The (ZnSn)₆₀Cu₄₀O NCs exhibited the highest saturation magnetization (M_s) of 0.539 emu·g⁻¹. Further increase in Cu-content resulted in the deterioration of crystalline domains and the reduction of M_s to 0.259 emu·g⁻¹. This behavior revealed that the electronic and magnetic properties of (ZnSn)_1-xCu_xO NCs were so sensitive to the dopant concentration that need to be utilized for improving their performance as good candidate NCs for spintronic applications.

The North African realm is one of the major oil and gas producing regions in the world, which contains several world class basins. The petroleum systems of the Egyptian North Western Desert are mostly confined to the Mesozoic (Middle Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous, and Upper Cretaceous) sandstone reservoirs, which are charged from the Middle Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous shale source rocks, and sealed with the Upper Jurassic and Lower and Upper Cretaceous shales and carbonates. In contrast, the Gulf of Suez contains multiple Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic carbonate and shale source rocks and sandstone and carbonate reservoir rocks, with the later units are sealed by Mesozoic (Upper Cretaceous) shales and Cenozoic (Paleocene, Lower and Upper Miocene) shale and evaporite deposits. The Nile Delta contains Cenozoic (Upper Miocene and Upper Pliocene) sandstone reservoirs, which are charged from the Cenozoic (Lower-Middle Miocene and Pliocene) shale source rocks. The petroleum traps vary between Late Cretaceous structural traps in the North Western Desert to younger Miocene syn-rift and Pliocene post-rift structural traps in the Gulf of Suez, and to much younger Pliocene and post-Pliocene combined structural-stratigraphic traps in the Nile Delta and the Eastern Mediterranean Exclusive Economic Zone of Egypt. The Libyan petroleum systems in Sirte Basin are comprised of late Mesozoic (Upper Cretaceous)-early Cenozoic (Paleocene-Eocene) carbonate reservoirs, which are charged form the Upper Cretaceous shales and sealed by the Paleocene carbonates and the Eocene evaporites. The western part of Libya shares the other Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) in having multiple petroleum systems that are restricted to the Paleozoic (Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian)-Triassic reservoirs and the Paleozoic (Lower Silurian, and Middle-Upper Devonian) hot shale source rocks. The Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogeny formed lineament and fault systems in the Maghreb countries. These structures were later reactivated by the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic events and formed the structural traps and controlled the source rock maturation, petroleum expulsion, and developed the migration pathways of generated petroleum. The Uppermost Triassic-Lower Jurassic evaporites are regional sealing units of the Triassic reservoirs, while Paleozoic intraformational shales ac as sealing units for the Paleozoic secondary reservoirs. Deposition of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic thick sedimentary sequences in eastern North Africa (Egypt and Libya) and thick Paleozoic sequences in the Maghreb countries (including Libya) provided essential overburden needed to the thermal maturation of the source rocks.

The subsurface Wakar Formation (Fm) has been identified in all wells of the offshore concessions in the eastern
Mediterranean in Egypt. This formation is important because it represents the end member of the Late Miocene
(Tortonian) siliciclastic sedimentary rock of a vertical thickness between 500 and 900 m in these fields and is a
promising formation for gas production in Egypt. There are no comprehensive studies on the geochemistry and
palynofacies of this Wakar Fm in literature. Therefore, sixteen collected ditch samples of the entire thickness of
the Wakar Fm from a PFM-SE -1 well were investigated. The main objective is to reveal the history of depositional
events that prevailed in North Africa at this time. TOC content (average = 0.81 wt%) and generative
potential of the Wakar Fm are of poor and fair quantity. The organic matter (OM) belongs to types IIIC and III of
coastal and delta settings as revealed by the palynofacies and geochemical data. The Tmax of the samples does
not exceed 435 ◦C (419–432 ◦C) of the immature stage, which corresponds to the carbon preference index (CPI
>1) (1.15–1.4). The thermal alteration index range between 2 and 2+, indicating immature to marginally mature
OM. GC of the two extracted samples shows a predominance of short-chain and mid-chain n-alkanes derived
mainly from algae and seagrass; the Pr/Ph ratio (3.24–3.02; suboxic) and low terrigenous/aquatic ratio (TAR;
0.23–0.47) indicate that the OM bearing sediments were accumulated in a transitional setting of the suboxic
aqueous medium. The dominance of terrestrial OM and low amorphous organic matter also suggests deposition
in a marginal basin under dysoxic-anoxic to suboxic-anoxic conditions. Pr/n-C17 versus Ph/n-C18 diagrams
confirm that preservation occurred in weakly oxidized environments from a source of kerogen type III gathered
from a swamp and transitional marine zones. The inorganic geochemical analyses (XRD and XRF) and the
calculated paleoenvironmental indices (i.e; log (Fe2O3/K2O) versus log (SiO2/Al2O3)) indicate that the main
composition of the Wakar Fm is a combination of iron shale and sandstone facies. The Fe-sandstone facies occupies
the middle part of the formation with a thickness of 170 m, which is the pay zone in the present
concession. The parent protolith of Wakar Fm is a combination of intermediate and mafic igneous rocks. The
prevailing paleoclimate is arid and semi-arid conditions synchronize the base, and top of the Wakar Fm, which is
responsible for weak to moderate chemical weathering as revealed from chemical index of alteration values (CIA
average = 67.99). Discriminant functions exhibit a depositional setting belonging to an active continental margin
and oceanic island arc between marine and terrestrial zones under oxic-dysoxic environments.

Integrated organic petrographic and geochemical analyses were made on
organic-rich marine carbonate and mixed clastic-carbonate rocks of
Middle–Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age from the Shushan Basin, Egypt
to evaluate their hydrocarbon potential. Analyses allowed the identification of
depositional settings, paleoclimate, and three third order genetic stratigraphic
sequences (SQ) with deposits assigned to highstand (HST), lowstand (LST) and
transgressive systems tracts (TST). Deposition of the source rocks in the rifting
Shushan Basin resulted from the interaction between Neotethyan sea level
changes, tectonic, and climate. The good reducing conditions developed
during the Neotethyan Middle–Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Kimmeridgian) second
order sea level rises and the climatically induced carbonate sedimentation resulted
in the deposition of the organic-rich carbonates of the Khatatba Formation (SQ 1,
early–middle TST) in inner–middle shelf settings under anoxic–dysoxic
conditions. The Late Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian) uplifting resulted in the
deposition of the organic-lean mixed clastic–carbonate strata of the Masajid
Formation (SQ 1, latest TST) in the same shelfal and reducing conditions, which
experienced a notable dilution of organic matter. The late TST deposits of SQ 1 are
good to very good oil-producing source rocks, where they show average good to
very good generative potential of late mature (late oil-to early wet gas-window)
highly oil-prone organic matter. The Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Albian)
uplifting associated with the rifting of the Shushan Basin overprinted the
Neotethyan late Valanginian–Hauterivian second order sea level rises, Aptian
second order highstand sea level, and Albian second order sea level rise. The
coeval climatic shift toward more humid conditions resulted in the clasticdominated
deposition of the organic-lean regressive units of SQ 2 (HST and
LST of Alam El Bueib, Alamein, and Dahab formations) and SQ 3 (HST and LST of the lower–upper Kharita Formation) in marginal marine settings under
anoxic–dysoxic to oxic conditions. The HST and LST deposits of the SQ 2 and
SQ 3 show poor to good organic richness of early–mid mature (early–peak oilwindow)
oil/gas-prone and gas/oil-prone organic matter, respectively and exhibit
average fair oil source rock potential with no gas generation.

The presence of sulfamethazine (SMZ) in the environment poses significant risks to both ecological systems and human health, necessitating the development of efficient degradation methods. This study presents a novel approach for synthesizing green carbon dots (G-CDs) using expired folic acid tablets as a single precursor through a one-pot hydrothermal process for the photodegradation of SMZ, which has not been reported before. Notably, green-synthesized carbon dots (G-CDs) exhibited superior performance compared to those synthesized from pure folic acid (FA-CDs) toward SMZ photodegradation. The results demonstrated that under simulated sunlight irradiation, G-CDs achieved over 94% degradation of SMZ within 75 min, while FA-CDs only degraded around 10% of SMZ. Full SMZ photodegradation was realized under optimal conditions. Further investigation into the kinetics and photogenerated charge carriers revealed that the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of SMZ was mainly due to holes, hydroxyl radical and superoxide anions. These findings emphasize the potential of green-synthesized G-CDs as highly efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation applications, particularly in the degradation of organic pollutants.