Development of Antibacterial,Degradable and pH-Responsive Chitosan/Guar Gum/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blended Hydrogels for Wound Dressing

The present research is based on the fabrication preparation of CS/PVA/GG blended hydrogel with nontoxic tetra orthosilicate (TEOS) for sustained paracetamol release. Different TEOS percentages were used because of their nontoxic behavior to study newly designed hydrogels’ crosslinking and physicochemical properties. These hydrogels were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and wetting to determine the functional, surface morphology, hydrophilic, or hydrophobic properties. The swelling analysis in different media, degradation in PBS, and drug release kinetics were conducted to observe their response against corresponding media. The FTIR analysis confirmed the components added and crosslinking between them, and surface morphology confirmed different surface and wetting behavior due to different crosslinking. In various solvents, including water, buffer, and electrolyte solutions, the swelling behaviour of hydrogel was investigated and observed that TEOS amount caused less hydrogel swelling. In acidic pH, hydrogels swell the most, while they swell the least at pH 7 or higher. These hydrogels are pH-sensitive and appropriate for controlled drug release. These hydrogels demonstrated that, as the ionic concentration was increased, swelling decreased due to decreased osmotic pressure in various electrolyte solutions. The antimicrobial analysis revealed that these hydrogels are highly antibacterial against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. The drug release mechanism was 98% in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) media at pH 7.4 in 140 min. To analyze drug release behaviour, the drug release kinetics was assessed against different mathematical models (such as zero and first order, Higuchi, Baker–Lonsdale, Hixson, and Peppas). It was found that hydrogel (CPG2) follows the Peppas model with the highest value of regression (R² = 0.98509). Hence, from the results, these hydrogels could be a potential biomaterial for wound dressing in biomedical applications.     

Long-Life Lead-Carbon Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage Applications

Owing to the mature technology, natural abundance of raw materials, high recycling efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and high safety of lead-acid batteries (LABs) have received much more attention from large to medium energy storage systems for many years. Lead carbon batteries (LCBs) offer exceptional performance at the high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) and higher charge acceptance than LAB, making them promising for hybrid electric vehicles and stationary energy storage applications. Despite that, adding carbon to the negative active electrode considerably enhances the electrochemical performance. However, carbon brings some adverse effects, such as the severe hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the NAM due to the low overpotential of carbon material, promoting severe water loss in LCBs. From a practical application point of view, the irreversible sulfation of the negative active material (NAM) and extreme shedding and softening of the positive active material (PAM) are the main obstacles for next-generation LCBs. Recently, a lead-carbon composite additive delayed the parasitic hydrogen evolution and eliminated the sulfation problem, ensuring a long life of LCBs for practical aspects. This comprehensive review outlines a brief developmental historical background of LAB, its shifting towards LCB, the failure mode of LAB, and possible potential solutions to tackle the failure problems. The detailed LCB′s development towards long life was discussed in light of the reported literature to guide the researcher to date progress. More emphasis was directed toward the new applications of LCBs for stationary energy storage applications. Finally, state-of-the-art progress and further research gaps were pointed out for future work in this exciting era.     

Experimental and numerical study of swirling subcooled flow boiling of water in a vertical annulus

In this paper, the effect of making swirling flow inside an annulus on the subcooled boiling heat transfer has been studied and discussed both experimentally and numerically. The Eulerian-Eulerian model and control volume technique have been used for numerical modeling of the problem. The experimental results show that the critical heat flux values are enhanced by making swirling flow. The experimental and numerical results also indicate that by making swirling flow inside the annulus, the subcooled boiling heat transfer coefficients are increased. Moreover, the experimental and numerical values of the boiling heat transfer coefficients show good agreement with each other.     

Inverted organic solar cells with solvothermal synthesized vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films as efficient electron transport layer

We investigated the effects of using different thicknesses of pure and vanadium-doped thin films of TiO_2 as the electron transport layer in the inverted configuration of organic photovoltaic cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) P3HT:[6-6] phenyl-(6) butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM). 1% vanadium-doped TiO_2nanoparticles were synthesized via the solvothermal method. Crystalline structure, morphology, and optical properties of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films were studied by different techniques such as x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmittance electron microscopy, and UV–visible transmission spectrum. The doctor blade method which is compatible with roll-2-roll printing was used for deposition of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films with thicknesses of 30 nm and 60 nm. The final results revealed that the best thickness of TiO_2 thin films for our fabricated cells was 30 nm. The cell with vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film showed slightly higher power conversion efficiency and great J_(sc) of 10.7 mA/cm~2 compared with its pure counterpart. In the cells using 60 nm pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 layers, the cell using the doped layer showed much higher efficiency. It is remarkable that the external quantum efficiency of vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film was better in all wavelengths.     

Free vibration analysis of an elliptical plate with eccentric elliptical cut-outs

The elaborated collocation multipole method is employed to obtain a semi-analytical solution, involving proper products of angular and radial Mathieu functions, for the free flexural vibrations of a fully clamped thin elastic plate of elliptical planform containing multiple elliptical cutouts of arbitrary size, location, and orientation. The problem boundary conditions are satisfied by uniformly collocating points on the boundaries, and exactly calculating the normal derivative of plate displacement at the collocation points through use of appropriate directional derivative in each coordinate system. The multipole expansion is truncated to yield a coupled algebraic linear system of equations that is then solved for the nontrivial eigensolutions. Extensive numerical simulations present the first three calculated natural frequencies and the associated deformed mode shapes of an elliptical plate with elliptical/circular cutouts, for a wide range of plate/cutout aspect ratios, and cutout location/orientation parameters. The accuracy of solutions is checked through appropriate convergence studies, and the validity of results is established with the aid of a commercial finite element package as well as by comparison with the data available in the existing literature.     

A novel one-pot pseudo-five-component condensation reaction towards bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds: synthesis of 1H-tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2,3-dicarbonitriles and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepines

A novel and efficient method has been developed for the one-pot synthesis of bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds. 1H-Tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2, 3-dicarbonitrile and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepine derivatives were synthesized in good yields using 2,3-diaminomaleonitrile or an aromatic diamine, ketones, trimethylsilyl azide, and an isocyanide in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid as a catalyst in methanol at room temperature.     

A novel one-pot isocyanide-based four-component reaction: synthesis of highly functionalized 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates

A new protocol has been developed for the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates via a four-component reaction of hydrazine hydrate, dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, isocyanides and various cyclic anhydrides such as succinic anhydride, maleic anhydride and phthalic anhydride in ethanol/acetone (1:1) at room temperature in good to moderate yields.     

Directed segregation in compartmentalized bi-disperse granular gas

A bi-disperse granular gas in an asymmetrical two-compartment system is studied experimentally.The presence of asymmetry within the range of our experimental parameters results in a directed segregated state and a directed clustering state.This deterministic system does not depend on the initial conditions.A modified flux model based on Lohse’s flux model for bi-disperse granular gases is derived.The modified flux model explains qualitatively the experimental results.     

Antibacterial and antioxidant properties of phyto-synthesized silver nanoparticles using Lavandula stoechas extract

Due to environmentally friendly and cost- effective issues, biological methods for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesis are advantageous over chemical and physical ones. In this study, AgNPs synthesized using Lavandula stoechas extract as a reductant and its antioxidant capacity, antibacterial property and cytotoxicity effect were investigated. The phyto-synthesized AgNPs were characterized using various analyses such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The prepared nanoparticles were spherical on shape with the size about 20–50 nm. Antibacterial studies through agar disk diffusion method confirmed the antibacterial potential of phyto-synthesized AgNPs toward two clinical Staphylococus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, although MTT assay demonstrated that S. aureus (MIC = 125 μg/ml) was more susceptible to AgNPs than P. aeruginosa (MIC = 250 μg/ml). Moreover, the cytotoxicity assay of phyto-synthezied AgNPs showed a low cytotoxic effect on RAW264 cell line at 62.5 μg/ml as an effective concentration. Also the considerable antioxidant capacity of the AgNPs confirmed through DPPH assay. Great antibacterial and antioxidant properties along with biocompatibility make the suggested phyto-synthesized AgNPs a great candidate for different biomedical applications including wound healing.