GPTMS-Modified Bredigite/PHBV Nanofibrous Bone Scaffolds with Enhanced Mechanical and Biological Properties

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Bioceramic nanoparticles with high specific surface area often tend to agglomerate in the polymer matrix, which results in undesirable mechanical properties...     

Catalytic Reduction of p‐Nitrophenol and Hexacyanoferrate (III) by Borohydride Using Green Synthesized Gold Nanoparticles

A simple and green approach for the synthesis of well‐stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using gum Acacia (GA) is presented here. The gum acacia acts as the reductant and stabilizer. The synthesized gold nanoparticles were characterized by using ultraviolet visible (UV‐Vis), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x‐ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The UV‐Vis study revealed a distinct surface plasmon resonance at 520 – 550 nm, due to the formation of AuNPs. FTIR analysis showed the evidence that –OH groups present in the gum matrix were responsible in reducing the tetra chloroauric acid into AuNPs. XRD studies confirmed the formation of well crystalline nanoparticles with fcc structure and the particle size ranges from 4 – 29 nm, as indicated by TEM analysis. The synthesized gold nanoparticles exhibited homogeneous catalytic activity. The two model reactions studied were the reduction of p‐nitro phenol and the reduction of hexacyanoferrate (III) by borohydride ions. Both the reactions were monitored by UV‐Vis spectroscopy. The kinetic investigations were carried out for the AuNPs‐catalyzed reactions at different temperatures and different amount of catalyst.     

A facile and convenient synthesis of novel imidazo[1,2-b] isoxazoles and their Mannich bases as potential biodynamic agents

A series of novel imidazo[1,2-b]isoxazoles 3 and their Mannich bases 4–6 were synthesized via convenient reactions. The reaction of 3-aminoisoxazole 1 with substituted phenacyl bromides 2 in dry ethanol afforded the corresponding 6-methyl-3-aryl imidazo[1,2-b]isoxazoles 3 in good yields.Compounds 3 on treatment with 37% formaline and secondary amines furnished the corresponding novel Mannich bases viz., 6-methyl-3-aryl-2-(morpholine/pyrrolidin-1-yl/piperidin-1-yl)-methyl-imidazo[1,2-b]isoxazoles 4–6.     

Charge carrier decay and diffusion in organic–inorganic CH3NH3PbI3–xClx perovskite based solar cell

In recent years, organic–inorganic lead halides attracted widespread interest, mainly due to their impressive photoconversion properties and low‐cost solution processing. In this study, we employed small amplitude transient photovoltage and photocurrent spectroscopy to investigate charge transport and recombination properties of perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI_3–xCl_x solar cell under realistic light harvesting conditions (<1 sun). Cell structure resembles outlay commonly found in organic photovoltaics, with perovskite absorber being sandwiched between two thin layers of organic polymers. Tested device displayed high power conversion efficiency (10.3%), good fill factor and negligible hysteresis effect. Fundamental device parameters were characterized at various open‐circuit voltages (V_oc) by examination of small voltage and current perturbations created by the low intensity pulsed laser excitations. The obtained results exhibit long charge carrier lifetimes and fast charge transport over the full range of applied optical bias, as well as remarkable diffusion lengths exceeding 1 μm. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Numerical analysis on flow and performance characteristics of a small-scale solar updraft tower (SUT) with horizontal absorber plate and collector glass

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A numerical analysis has been performed to examine and assess the flow and performance characteristics of the solar updraft tower (SUT) power plant. A...     

Reduced dimensionality (3,2)D NMR experiments and their automated analysis: implications to high‐throughput structural studies on proteins

Protein NMR spectroscopy has expanded dramatically over the last decade into a powerful tool for the study of their structure, dynamics, and interactions. The primary requirement for all such investigations is sequence‐specific resonance assignment. The demand now is to obtain this information as rapidly as possible and in all types of protein systems, stable/unstable, soluble/insoluble, small/big, structured/unstructured, and so on. In this context, we introduce here two reduced dimensionality experiments – (3,2)D‐hNCO canH and (3,2)D‐hN coCA nH – which enhance the previously described 2D NMR‐based assignment methods quite significantly. Both the experiments can be recorded in just about 2–3 h each and hence would be of immense value for high‐throughput structural proteomics and drug discovery research. The applicability of the method has been demonstrated using alpha‐helical bovine apo calbindin‐D9k P43M mutant (75 aa) protein. Automated assignment of this data using AUTOBA has been presented, which enhances the utility of these experiments. The backbone resonance assignments so derived are utilized to estimate secondary structures and the backbone fold using Web‐based algorithms. Taken together, we believe that the method and the protocol proposed here can be used for routine high‐throughput structural studies of proteins. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

I2–DMSO promoted intramolecular oxidative cyclization of 2-(aryl or alkyl amino)-acetophenones for the synthesis of isatins

An I₂–DMSO promoted novel and efficient method is described for the synthesis of isatins from 2-aminoaryl methyl ketone. A series of alkyl or aryl isatin derivatives were successfully synthesized under the optimized reaction conditions.