Flux-Assisted Synthesis of Y2Ti2O5S2 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions

Photocatalytic water splitting is an ideal means of producing hydrogen in a sustainable manner, and developing highly efficient photocatalysts is a vital aspect of realizing this process. The photocatalyst Y₂Ti₂O₅S₂ (YTOS) is capable of absorbing at wavelengths up to 650 nm and exhibits outstanding thermal and chemical durability compared with other oxysulfides. However, the photocatalytic performance of YTOS synthesized using the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) process is limited owing to the large particle sizes and structural defects associated with this synthetic method. Herein, we report the synthesis of YTOS particles by a flux-assisted technique. The enhanced mass transfer efficiency in the flux significantly reduced the preparation time compared with the SSR method. In addition, the resulting YTOS showed improved photocatalytic H₂ and O₂ evolution activity when loaded with Rh and Co₃O₄ co-catalysts, respectively. These improvements are attributed to the reduced particle size and enhanced crystallinity of the material as well as the slower decay of photogenerated carriers on a nanosecond to sub-microsecond time range. Further optimization of this flux-assisted method together with suitable surface modification is expected to produce high-quality YTOS crystals with superior photocatalytic activity.     

Correction to: Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Efficient Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Agent

Journal of Cluster Science - The authors claimed that acknowledgement in published article is not same as provided in revised/accepted paper.     

Synthesis,characterization, and applications with the manifestation of antifungal activity and seed germination properties of nickel doped zinc oxide nano platform by biochemical contrivance

In the recent era, nanotechnology, a rapidly emerging field, has been explored as the most studied field worldwide. The goal of this study is to use neem leaves extract as an effective ‘reducing agent’ and ‘stabilizing agent’ in the green synthesis of bio-medically important Zn_1-XNi_XO (X = 0.00, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12) nanoparticles. The molar concentrations of nickel nitrate and zinc nitrate are varied to produce nickel-doped ZnO nanoparticles. Color change is the first indicator of nanoparticle formation during this biosynthesis. The hexagonal wurtzite structure with good crystallinity is confirmed by X-ray diffraction. FTIR analysis reveals the fact that the Zn–O stretching vibration shifts with the introduction of impurities into the ZnO matrix. UV–Vis spectra show the typical surface plasma resonance around 370 nm and the hydrodynamic diameter is larger than the size calculated from the XRD value, according to DLS. The main finding of this study is that Ni_0.12Zn_0.88O has a strong antifungal activity against and a significant growth rate after treating wheat seeds with biologically synthesized Ni_0.12Zn_0.88O nanoparticles.     

Effect of temperature on the ML of Au doped(Zn,Cd)S mixed phosphors

In this paper the effect of temperature on the mechanoluminescence of Au doped phosphors of(Zn,Cd)S is described.It is found that the ML disappears beyond a particular temperature.The temperature dependence of ML intensity follows the relation I =I_T~O(1-TIT_C)~n,where I_T~O is a constant,n is the slop of log I_T versus log(1- TIT_C) plot which lies between 0.9 and 1.10,T_C is the temperature at which ML disappear.It is found that the ML intensity in(Zn,Cd)S:Au disappear at 600 K.     

A uniformly convergent B-spline collocation method on a nonuniform mesh for singularly perturbed one-dimensional time-dependent linear convection–diffusion problem

A numerical method is proposed for solving singularly perturbed one-dimensional parabolic convection–diffusion problems. The method comprises a standard implicit finite difference scheme to discretize in temporal direction on a uniform mesh by means of Rothe's method and B-spline collocation method in spatial direction on a piecewise uniform mesh of Shishkin type. The method is shown to be unconditionally stable and accurate of order O((Δx)²+Δt). An extensive amount of analysis has been carried out to prove the uniform convergence with respect to the singular perturbation parameter. Several numerical experiments have been carried out in support of the theoretical results. Comparisons of the numerical solutions are performed with an upwind finite difference scheme on a piecewise uniform mesh and exponentially fitted method on a uniform mesh to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.     

Application of a Sensitive, Rapid and Validated LC–MS–MS Method for the Determination of Carvedilol in Human Plasma

Carvedilol was quantified in human plasma after a single 25 mg oral dose of the drug was given to 26 healthy volunteers. An applied Biosystems Sciex API 3200 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring mode, using electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode was used. Simple solid phase extraction was followed by C₁₈ reverse phase chromatography and tandem mass spectrometric detection using propranalol as the internal standard. The mean recovery for carvedilol was 91.2% with a lower limit of quantification of 0.5 ng mL^?1. This validated assay method makes use of the increased sensitivity and selectivity of tandem mass spectrometry detection to allow for a more rapid and selective method for the determination of carvedilol in human plasma.