An electrolytic device for preparation of hydrogen and oxygen from water for isotopic analysis

An electrolytic device for decomposition of water has been developed which readily gives hydrogen and oxygen for isotopic measurement with a mass spectrometer. A 20-mul sample can be decomposed quantitatively in 10 min with good reproducibility. The results produced are comparable with those obtained by reduction with uranium.     

Development,In-Vitro Characterization and Preclinical Evaluation of Esomeprazole-Encapsulated Proniosomal Formulation for the Enhancement of Anti-Ulcer Activity

Objective: The present study aimed to develop and optimize esomeprazole loaded proniosomes (EZL-PNs) to improve bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy. Method: EZL-PNs formulation was developed by slurry method and optimized by 33 box-Bhekhen statistical design software. Span 60 (surfactant), cholesterol, EZL concentration were taken as independent variables and their effects were evaluated on vesicle size (nm), entrapment efficiency (%, EE) and drug release (%, DR). Furthermore, optimized EZL-PNs (EZL-PNs-opt) formulation was evaluated for ex vivo permeation, pharmacokinetic and ulcer protection activity. Result: The EZL-PNs-opt formulation showed 616 ± 13.21 nm of vesicle size, and 81.21 ± 2.35% of EE. EZL-PNs-opt exhibited negative zeta potential and spherical confirmed scanning electron microscopy. EZL-PNs-opt showed sustained release of EZL (95.07 ± 2.10% in 12 h) than pure EZL dispersion. The ex-vivo gut permeation result exhibited a significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced flux than pure EZL. The in vivo results revealed 4.02-fold enhancement in bioavailability and 61.65% protection in ulcer than pure EZL dispersion (43.82%). Conclusion: Our findings revealed that EZL-PNs formulation could be an alternative delivery system of EZL to enhance oral bioavailability and antiulcer activity.     

Study of the effect of laser treatment on the initial oxidation behaviour of Al‐coated NiCrAlY bond‐coat

In this study, the initial oxidation behaviour of laser‐treated Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat is investigated. Two approaches, (i) Al film sputtering on the surface of bond‐coat and (ii) laser treatment, have been taken to enhance the oxidation resistance of NiCrAlY bond‐coat. Experimental results showed that after laser treatment, the Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat exhibited a columnar dendritic microstructure without cracks and voids. A dense and continuous α‐Al₂O₃/Cr₂O₃ multilayer was found to form on the bond‐coat surface. Results on the cyclic oxidation at 1200 °C (for time ≤ 204 h) revealed that the laser‐treated Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat exhibited better oxidation resistance compared to as‐sprayed NiCrAlY, Al/NiCrAlY and laser‐remelted NiCrAlY bond‐coat. The formation of θ‐Al₂O₃, NiO, Cr₂O₃ and NiCr₂O₄ spinel oxides was observed to be suppressed due to the preformed α‐Al₂O₃ scale during initial oxidation on the surface of laser pre‐oxidized Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phenylpropanoids from Tanacetum baltistanicum with Nematocidal and Insecticidal Activities

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - One new and seven known secondary metabolites 1–8 were isolated, and the nematocidal and insecticidal activities of major compounds from Tanacetum...     

Synthesis and Characterization of an α-Fe2O3-Decorated g-C3N4 Heterostructure for the Photocatalytic Removal of MO

This study describes the preparation of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), hematite (α-Fe₂O₃), and their g-C₃N₄/α-Fe₂O₃ heterostructure for the photocatalytic removal of methyl orange (MO) under visible light illumination. The facile hydrothermal approach was utilized for the preparation of the nanomaterials. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) were carried out to study the physiochemical and optoelectronic properties of all the synthesized photocatalysts. Based on the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance (DRS) results, an energy level diagram vs. SHE was established. The acquired results indicated that the nanocomposite exhibited a type-II heterojunction and degraded the MO dye by 97%. The degradation ability of the nanocomposite was higher than that of pristine g-C₃N₄ (41%) and α-Fe₂O₃ (30%) photocatalysts under 300 min of light irradiation. The formation of a type-II heterostructure with desirable band alignment and band edge positions for efficient interfacial charge carrier separation along with a larger specific surface area was collectively responsible for the higher photocatalytic efficiency of the g-C₃N₄/α-Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite. The mechanism of the nanocomposite was also studied through results obtained from UV-vis and XPS analyses. A reactive species trapping experiment confirmed the involvement of the superoxide radical anion (O₂^•−) as the key reactive oxygen species for MO removal. The degradation kinetics were also monitored, and the reaction was observed to be pseudo-first order. Moreover, the sustainability of the photocatalyst was also investigated.     

Effect of ferrofluid concentration on electrical and magnetic properties of the Fe3O4/PANI nanocomposites

Magnetic nanocomposites can be controlled and tailored to provide the desired mechanical, physical, chemical, and biomedical properties depending on the final applications. The coating of ferrite nanoparticles with polymers affords the possibility of minimizing agglomeration in large-scale commercial synthesis of nanocomposite materials. The process of coating not only provides effective encapsulation of individual nanoparticles, but also controls the growth in size, thus, yielding a better overall size distribution. In this paper, in-situ polymerization of aniline was carried out in different concentration of the ferrofluid with the aim to obtain agglomerate free nanocomposites. The role of the ferrite concentration was investigated by the spectral, morphological, conductivity, and magnetic properties of Fe₃O₄/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites. XRD revealed the presence of spinel phase of Fe₃O₄ and the particle size was calculated to be 14.3 nm. Spectral analysis confirmed the formation of PANI encapsulated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite. Conductivity of the nanocomposites was found to be in the range of 0.001–0.003 S/cm. Higher saturation magnetization of 3.2 emu/g was observed at 300 K, revealing a super paramagnetic behavior of this nanocomposite.     

Hydrothermal synthesis of MnO2 nanowires: structural characterizations,optical and magnetic properties

In this paper, 1D single-crystalline MnO₂ nanowires have been successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method using KMnO₄ and (NH₄)₂S₂O₈ as raw materials. X-ray diffraction patterns and high-resolution TEM images reveal pure tetragonal MnO₂ phase with diameters of 15–20 nm. Photoluminescence studies exhibited a strong ultraviolet (UV) emission band at 380 nm, blue emission at 452 nm and an extra weak defect-related green emission at 542 nm. UV–visible spectrophotometery was used to determine the absorption behavior of nanostructured MnO₂ and a direct optical band gap of 2.5 eV was acquired by Davis–Mott model. The magnetic properties of the products have been evaluated using vibrating sample magnetometer, which showed that MnO₂ nanowires exhibited a superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. The magnetization versus temperature curve of the as-obtained MnO₂ nanowires shows that antiferromagnetic transition temperature is 99 K.     

Investigations of Viscous Dissipation in Stagnation Point Flow Past a Stretchable Riga Wall: Modern Analysis of Heat Transport

This article scrutinizes the features of viscous dissipation in the stagnation point flow past through a linearly stretched Riga wall by implementing Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model. Viscous dissipation is carried out in Cattaneo-Christov diffusion analysis for the first time in this letter. As a result of Cattaneo-Christov model, some extra terms of viscous dissipation are appeared in the energy equation. These extra terms of viscous dissipation are missing in the literature. On the utilization of suitable transformations, the equations governing the problem are reduced under the boundary layer approximation into the non-linear and dimensionless ordinary differential equations. Convergent approach is utilized to solve the dimensionless governing equations. The solution thus acquired is used to highlight the effects of emerging parameters on velocity distribution and fluid's temperature through the graphs. Features of the drag force (or skin friction co-efficient) are graphically interpreted. It is noticed that the presence of modified Hartman number helps to reduce the fluid's temperature but enhances the velocity profile. Further an enlargement in the value of thermal time relaxation parameter helps to decrease the temperature distribution.     

Microwave Irradiation and Glutamic Acid-Assisted Phytotreatment of Tannery and Surgical Industrial Wastewater by Sorghum

We investigated how different doses of microwave irradiation (MR) affect seed germination in Sorghum, including the level of remediation against textile and surgical wastewater (WW) by modulating biochemical and morpho-physiological mechanisms under glutamic acid (GA) application. The experiment was conducted to determine the impact of foliar-applied GA on Sorghum under wastewater conditions. Plants were treated with or without microwave irradiation (30 s, 2.45 GHz), GA (5 and 10 mM), and wastewater (0, 25, 50, and 100). Growth and photosynthetic pigments were significantly decreased in plants only treated with various concentrations of WW. GA significantly improved the plant growth characteristics both in MR-treated and -untreated plants compared with respective controls. HMs stress increased electrolyte leakage (EL), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content; however, the GA chelation significantly improved the antioxidant enzymes activities such as ascorbate oxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) both in MR-treated and -untreated plants under WW stress compared with respective controls. The results suggested that the MR-treated plants accumulate higher levels of HMs under GA addition in comparison to the WW-only-treated and MR-untreated plants. The maximum increase in Cd accumulation was observed in the range of 14–629% in the roots, 15–2964% in the stems, and 26–4020% in the leaves; the accumulation of Cu was 18–2757% in the roots, 15–4506% in the stems, and 23–4605% in the leaves; and the accumulation of Pb was 13–4122% in the roots, 21–3588% in the stems, and 21–4990% in the leaves under 10 mM GA and MR-treated plants. These findings confirmed that MR-treated sorghum plants had a higher capacity for HMs uptake under GA and could be used as a potential candidate for wastewater treatment.     

High performance LCD for augmented reality and virtual reality displays

For augmented reality and virtual reality displays, high-resolution density, high luminance, and fast response time are critically needed. High-resolution density helps eliminate the screen-door effect; high luminance and fast response time enable low duty ratio operation, which plays a key role for suppressing image blurs. By using a low viscosity material and new diamond-shaped electrode configuration, we demonstrate a fringe field switching liquid crystal display, abbreviated as d-FFS LCD, with high transmittance, fast grey-to-grey response time, low operation voltage, wide viewing angle, and indistinguishable colour shift and gamma shift. We also investigate the rubbing angle (α) effects on transmittance and response time. When α = 0°, the virtual wall effect is strong, resulting in fast response time but compromised transmittance. When α ≥ 1.2°, the virtual walls disappear, as a result, the transmittance increases dramatically, but the trade-off is in slower response time.