Recent advances in metal oxide/hydroxide on three-dimensional nickel foam substrate for high performance pseudocapacitive electrodes

The high demand for long-lasting and portable energy storage devices with enhanced energy and power densities has attracted researcher's interest globally. The three-dimensional (3D) nickel foam is a promising electrode material for storing energy in various devices because they possess large surface area, are very conductive and enjoy a continuous permeable 3D system. This article provides a review and detailed information on the uses of 3D nickel foam-based electrodes with metal oxides/hydroxides of different morphologies for high-performance pseudocapacitors. We assess the limitations and future prospects of 3D nickel foam-based electrodes with metal oxides/hydroxides for industrial application towards enhancing pseudocapacitors' energy storage capability.     

Depolymerization Study of Pakistani Coal Solvent Evaluation Study

Depolymerization of an indigenous coal was studied in a variety of solvents at a temperature of 400 ± 10 °C in a hydrogen environment using a micro autoclave reactor for a time duration of 30 minutes. Some aliphatic, aromatic solvents as well as viscous petroleum based oils and pitches were used for evaluating them as liquefaction solvents. Amongst aliphatic solvents, 2‐propanol, and amongst aromatics, p‐creosol, gave highest yields. Petroleum pitches also proved effective, particularly their blends which caused significant depolymerization of the coal under study leading to formation of liquid products.     

Miscibility studies of PVC/Aramid blends

Blends containing PVC and aramid (Ar) matrices were probed for their miscibility. In this respect, Ar chains were synthesized by aromatic diamine and diacid chloride in amide solvent. The Ar thus synthesized was characterized through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and molecular weight determination. Blend system Ar/PVC was investigated over a range of Ar/PVC ratios. Their mechanical profiles in terms of maximum stress, maximum strain, toughness, and initial moduli have been explored. Thermal properties and morphology of the blends were estimated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A good correlation was observed between thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the blends. The presence of hydrogen bonding among polymers was evaluated through FTIR spectroscopy, which is believed to be responsible for the blend miscibility. Optimal thermal and mechanical profiles were depicted by the blend containing 40-wt% PVC in the Ar matrix.     

Synthesis of Sheet Like Nanostructures of NiO Using Potassium Dichromate as Surface Modifying Agent for the Sensitive and Selective Determination of Amlodipine Besylate (ADB) Drug

The monitoring of hypertension drugs is very critical and important to sustain a healthy life. In this study, we have synthesized nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructures using potassium dichromate as surface modifying agent by hydrothermal method. These NiO nanostructures were found highly active for the oxidation of ADB besylate (ADB). The unit cell structure and morphology were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The SEM study has confirmed the nano sheet like morphology and XRD analysis has described the cubic unit arrays of NiO. After the physical characterization, NiO nanostructures were used to modify the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by drop casting method. Then cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to characterize the electrochemical activity of NiO nanostructures in the0.1 M phosphate buffer solution of pH 10.0 and a well resolved oxidation peak was identified at 0.70 V. The linear range for the NiO nanostructures was observed from 20–90 nM with a regression coefficient of 0.99 using CV. The calculated limit of detection (LOD) was 2.125 nM and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 4.08 nM. Further to validate the CV calibration plot, an amperometry experiment was performed on the NiO nanostructures and sensors exhibited a linear range of 10 nM to 115 nM with LOD of 1.15 nM. The proposed approach was successfully used for the determination of ADB from commercial tablets and it reveals that the sensor could be capitalized to monitor ADB concentrations from pharmaceutical products. The use of potassium dichromate as a surface modifying agent for the metal oxide nanostructures may be of great interest to manipulate their crystal and surface properties for the extended range of biomedical and energy related applications.     

Surface plasmon resonance excited electron induction greatly extends H2 evolution and pollutant degradation activity of g-C3N4 under visible light irradiation

Energy crises and environmental pollution have sparked tremendous research work to handle their impacts. Herein, we fabricated Au/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites to produce H₂ and degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) under visible light and at different wavelengths. Interestingly, the optimized photocatalyst generated 114 μmol H₂ and degraded 25% 2,4-DCP in 1 hr as compared with 10 μmol H₂ generation and 8% 2,4-DCP degradation by pure g-C₃N₄. This improvement is credited to the extended light absorption and improved charge induction from gold to g-C₃N₄ even at 590 nm as confirmed from photoluminescence, surface photovoltage, and photoelectrochemical study of the samples. Moreover, the surface catalytic property of g-C₃N₄ was much improved after loading a proper amount of gold nanoparticles. We hope that this technique to photosensitize semiconductors with noble metal nanoparticles may provide a feasible way to construct surface plasmon resonance-assisted photocatalysts to cope with energy crises and environmental pollution simultaneously.     

Upper and Lower Bounds for the Stanley Depth of Certain Classes of Monomial Ideals and Their Residue Class Rings

We give an upper bound for the Stanley depth of the edge ideal of a complete k-partite hypergraph and as an application we give an upper bound for the Stanley depth of a monomial ideal in a polynomial ring S. We also give a lower and an upper bound for the cyclic module S/I associated to the complete k-partite hypergraph.     

Physicochemical studies on cross-linked thorium(IV)–alginate complex especially the electrical conductivity and chemical equilibrium related to the coordination geometry

The electrical conductivity of cross-linked thorium(IV)–alginate complex in the form of circular disc has been investigated as a function of temperature. The Arrhenius plot of log σ vs. 1/T showed a simple parabolic shape at the early stages, followed by a sharply increase in o values with raising the temperature at the final stages. This behaviour was interpreted by the formation of free-radicals at the initial stages, followed by the degradation of the complex at elevated temperatures to give rise to thorium oxide product. The heterogeneous chemical equilibrium for exchange of Th⁴⁺ counter ions in the complex by H⁺ ions has been investigated by titrimetric and complexometric techniques. The thermodynamic equilibrium constant was found to be 26 ± 0.25 dm⁹ mol^?3 at 25 °C. The X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that thorium(IV)–alginate complex is amorphous in nature. Infrared absorption spectra indicated that Th⁴⁺ is chelated to alginate macromolecular chains and displayed υ_s OCO^? and υ_as OCO^? in the ranges of 1419 and 1635 cm^?1, respectively. A geometrical structure for chelation of thorium(IV) to the functional groups of alginate macromolecule is suggested and discussed in terms of complex stability.     

Synthesis and spectroscopic studies of complexes containing the Schiff base 1-acetylferrocene(thio)semicarbazone

Summary [RuCl₂(CO)₂] _n reacts with the Schiff base 1-acetylferrocenethiosemicarbazone, [Fe(-Cp)(-C₅H₄MeC=NN-HCSNH₂)] to give [Fe(-Cp)(-C₅H₄MeC=NN-HCSNH₂)RuCl₂(CO)₂] and with 1-acetylferrocenesemicarbazone [Fe(-Cp)(-C₅H₄MeC=NN-HCSNH₂)] to give [Fe(-Cp)(-C₅H₄MeC=NN-HCSNH₂)RuCl₂-(CO) ₂]. Spectroscopic data indicate that the Schiff bases act as bidentate ligands and coordinate to ruthenium via the hydrazinic N and either the S or O atoms, respectively, giving stable heterobimetallic complexes, which have been characterized by i.r. and ¹H-n.m.r. spectroscopies, and elemental analyses.Part of this work was presented at the First International Conference in Chemistry and its applications in Doha, Qatar, 1993.     

In-beam neutron activation analysis of stainless steel and iron ore

Pulse radiolysis of MIT and DIT irradiated to doses from 2.8·10⁴ to 85·10⁴ rads is studied by ascending chromatography. The 3-iodo-4,5-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA-I) and 3-iodo-4-hydroxyphenylalanine have been identified as first stages of degradations of MIT and DIT, respectively. G values are 0.015 for MIT (10⁻⁵M) and 0.004 for DIT (0.5·10⁻⁵M). By self decomposition MIT is degraded less rapidly than DIT and there is no formation of DOPA-I.