The first study on enhanced photoresponsivity of ZnO-TiO2 nanocomposite thin films by anodic polarization

The physical and photoelectrochemical properties of the anodized ZnO-TiO(2) thin films were investigated in this study. Impedance spectroscopy revealed a decrease in charge transfer resistance and Tafel plots determined enhancement of about 200 times in the exchange current (i(0)) after anodization at high positive potential. It was found from XPS analysis that after applying the potential of 5 V to the ZnO-TiO(2) photoelectrode, the lattice oxygen (O(2-)) in the thin film is oxidized to molecular oxygen and then, cations such as Zn(2+) can be solved in the basic electrolyte and passed to the solution. Moreover, according to AFM analysis it was observed that the surface of the samples has been grooved by applying anodic voltage resulting in an increase of effective surface of the film. A mechanism for describing the significant enhancement in the photoresponse of the anodized layer is proposed.     

Effect of initial sol concentration on the microstructure and morphology of carbon aerogels

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - New carbon aerogels were prepared using Novolac sol as precursor. The elaboration process and the structural characterizations of these porous carbon...     

The effect of elevated reactant temperatures on soot nanostructures in a coflow diffusion ethylene flame

The relationship between soot surface growth, soot nanostructure and reactant temperature (T_r) in a coflow diffusion ethylene flame was investigated with multiple experimental techniques. The T_r was raised by heating the coflow air. Three cases, with 300K, 473K, and 673K T_r, respectively, were studied. Laser-induced Incandescence revealed that increasing T_r promotes soot formation. Although soot primary particle diameter (d_p) also increases with T_r, the increase in d_p slows down after 473K T_r, suggesting that there is a deceleration in soot surface growth. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) imaging showed that increased T_r promotes soot aggregation and yields larger and more mature primary particles. The assessment of the Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) patterns indicated that, at 673K T_r, there is a growth of lattice planes. Raman spectroscopy revealed further structural details. By assessing the band intensity ratios, soot for the T_r of 673K has more curved nanostructures. The deceleration of soot surface growth may be explained by surface aging, which is characterized by an increase in curved nanostructures.     

Trace determination of antifungal drugs in biological fluids through a developed approach of hydrogel-based spin-column micro-solid-phase extraction followed by LC-MS/MS analysis

In the present research, a blended polyacrylamide-chitosan hydrogel was synthesized. For the first time, the prepared sorbent was efficiently employed in a hydrogel-based spin-column setup as a promising format. The proposed method was applied for monitoring the trace amounts of ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole in blood samples. Effective adsorption and desorption parameters were optimized using a central composite design and the one-variable-at-a-time method. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curves were linear in the range of 15.0–1000.0, 1.0–1000.0, and 2.0–1000.0 ng mL^–1 for ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole, respectively, along with intra- and interday precision less than 8.4%. Limits of detection were obtained between 0.2 and 5.0 ng mL^–1. The preconcentration factors were found in the range of 5.9–7.8. The introduced method was successfully applied for micro-solid-phase extraction of trace amounts of target antifungal drugs in blood samples, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Satisfactory relative recoveries of 94.5–103.5% were obtained, implying method reliability. Overall, the proposed method provides good accuracy and repeatability, high reusability, and good applicability to determine antifungal drugs in complex biological matrices.     

Magnetic properties of the spin S = 1/2 Heisenberg chain with hexamer modulation of exchange

We consider the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain with alternating spin exchange in the presence of additional modulation of exchange on odd bonds with period 3. We study the ground state magnetic phase diagram of this hexamer spin chain in the limit of very strong antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange on odd bonds using the numerical Lanczos method and bosonization approach. In the limit of strong magnetic field commensurate with the dominating AF exchange, the model is mapped onto an effective XXZ Heisenberg chain in the presence of uniform and spatially modulated fields, which is studied using the standard continuum-limit bosonization approach. In the absence of additional hexamer modulation, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition from a gapped phase into the only one gapless Lüttinger liquid (LL) phase by increasing the magnetic field. In the presence of hexamer modulation, two new gapped phases are identified in the ground state at magnetization equal to [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of the saturation value. These phases reveal themselves also in the magnetization curve as plateaus at corresponding values of magnetization. As a result, the magnetic phase diagram of the hexamer chain shows seven different quantum phases, four gapped and three gapless, and the system is characterized by six critical fields which mark quantum phase transitions between the ordered gapped and the LL gapless phases.     

Modeling adsorption in binary associating solvents using the extended MPTA model

Application of the MPTA model has been extended to associative liquid adsorption. The MPTA model describes fluid–fluid interactions using an equation of state (EoS) term, and fluid–solid interactions using a potential equation. In order to extend the application to associative liquid adsorption, an association term has been considered for fluid–fluid interactions. Sixteen binary mixtures containing associating and non-associating components in equilibrium with various adsorbents have been studied; fluid–fluid interactions have been modeled using the Peng–Robinson, Soave–Redlich–Kwong, volume-translated SRK and CPA equations of state, while the effects of fluid–solid interactions have been taken into account using Dubinin–Radushkevich–Astakhov (DRA) and Steele potential functions. The model parameters have been obtained by fitting the model to experimental data on surface excess. For the studied systems, the accuracy of fitted isotherms has been found to be more dependent on the fluid–solid potential equation rather than the applied EoS. Calculations show that the SRK equation is a suitable choice for non-associating systems, while the CPA equation is found to be more appropriate for associating systems, as would be expected. The results also show that the Steele potential function is in better agreement with experimental data than the DRA potential function.     

Antimicrobial Activity and Physical Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Green Synthesized Using Nitrate Reductase from Fusarium oxysporum

Nanostructures from natural sources have received major attention due to wide array of biological activities and less toxicity for humans, animals, and the environment. In the present study, silver nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using a fungal nitrate reductase, and their biological activity was assessed against human pathogenic fungi and bacteria. The enzyme was isolated from Fusarium oxysporum IRAN 31C after culturing on malt extract-glucose-yeast extract-peptone (MGYP) medium. The enzyme was purified by a combination of ultrafiltration and ion exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex and its molecular weight was estimated by gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300. The purified enzyme had a maximum yield of 50.84 % with a final purification of 70 folds. With a molecular weight of 214 KDa, it is composed of three subunits of 125, 60, and 25 KDa. The purified enzyme was successfully used for synthesis of silver nanoparticles in a way dependent upon NADPH using gelatin as a capping agent. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering spectroscopy, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. These stable nonaggregating nanoparticles were spherical in shape with an average size of 50 nm and a zeta potential of ?34.3. Evaluation of the antimicrobial effects of synthesized nanoparticles by disk diffusion method showed strong growth inhibitory activity against all tested human pathogenic fungi and bacteria as evident from inhibition zones that ranged from 14 to 25 mm. Successful green synthesis of biologically active silver nanoparticles by a nitrate reductase from F. oxysporum in the present work not only reduces laborious downstream steps such as purification of nanoparticle from interfering cellular components, but also provides a constant source of safe biologically-active nanomaterials with potential application in agriculture and medicine.     

Experimental and theoretical characterization of N,N′-bis(2,4-dihydroxybenzylidene)-1,2-diaminobenzene schiff base and its Cu(II) complex

A new Schiff base ligand N,N′-bis(2,4-dihydroxybenzylidene)-1,2-diaminobenzene [=H₂L] and its Cu(II) complex [Cu(L)] are synthesized and characterized by IR, UV-Vis, NMR, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Also, the computational prediction of optimized geometries, IR spectra and NMR chemical shifts is performed using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The DFT optimized geometry of the ligand is not planar, so the three benzene rings are located in separate planes. The phenolic protons are engaged in the intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions. In the optimized geometry of the square comlex, dianionic L^2? acts as a tetradentate ligand, which occupies four coordination positions in the N, N, O^?, O^? manner. The consistency between the calculated and experimental results confirms the validity of the optimized structures for the H₂L ligand and its Cu complex.