Analytical Biosensing of Hydrogen Peroxide on Brilliant Cresyl Blue/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

A cationic quinine‐imide dye brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were co‐immobilized within ormosil on multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode for the fabrication of highly sensitive and selective hydrogen peroxide biosensor. The presence of epoxy group in ormosil as organic moiety improves the mechanical strength and transparency of the film and amino group provides biocompatible microenvironment for the immobilization of enzyme. The presence of MWCNTs improved the conductivity of the nanocomposite film. The surface characterization of MWCNT modified ormosil nanocomposite film was performed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cyclic voltammetry and amperometry measurements were used to study and optimize the performance of the resulting peroxide biosensor. The apparent Michaelis–Menten constant was determined to be 1.5 mM. The proposed H₂O₂ biosensor exhibited wide linear range from 3×10^?7 to 1×10^?4 M, and low detection limit 1×10^?7 M (S/N=3) with fast response time <5 s. The probable interferences in bio‐matrix were selected to test the selectivity and no significant response was observed in the biosensor. This biosensor possessed good analytical performance and long term storage stability.     

Nanoengineering of methylene blue loaded silica encapsulated magnetite nanospheres and nanocapsules for photodynamic therapy

Core–shell nanostructures have emerged as an important class of functional materials with potential applications in diverse fields, especially in health sciences. In this article, nanoengineering of novel magnetic colloidal dispersion containing surface modifiable silica with a core of single domain magnetite nanoparticles loaded with photosensitizer (PS) drug “Methylene blue” (MB) has been described. Magnetite core is produced by the well-established chemical coprecipitation technique and silica shell is formed over it by the modified hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate). Conditions for reaction kinetics have been established to tailor the core–shell structures in the form of nanospheres and nanocapsules. MB is loaded into the nanostructures by demethylation reaction. The major conclusion drawn from this study is that the synthesis route yields stable, non-aggregated MB loaded superparamagnetic magnetite-silica nanostructures with tailored morphology, tunable loading, and excellent magnetic properties.     

Structural characterization of microwave-synthesized zinc-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

Microwave combustion technique modified by post treatment procedure is used to synthesize single-phase spinel ferrites of cobalt, zinc, and substituted magnetic nanoparticles of typical size 390 Å. The post treatment does not alter the crystal structure but increases the crystallinity. This is confirmed by powder x-ray diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) studies. Citric acid is used as a fuel. The fresh synthesized sample shows an impurity phase in x-ray and in FTIR. This is due to the unreacted citrate molecule adsorbed on the particle surface. It is shown that by treating the sample with 0.1 M HCl, we can eliminate the impurity phase, and one can obtain a pure single phase. The magnetization at 8 kOe increases by nearly 8% after the removal of impurity. In order to remove surface adsorbed OH^? ion, samples are treated with NaCl and heated to 200°C for four hours. The XRD result indicates that after the treatment neither the crystallite size nor the distribution changes, but it removes OH^? ion. This is also confirmed by FTIR analysis. Thus, this modified technique can be used to synthesize pure nanocrystalline samples of spinel ferrites.     

Correlation between the refractive index and average energy gap for simple and complex binary compounds

An empirical correlation between refractive index and corresponding average energy gap, proposed by Reddy et al, has been examined for different solids and it has been shown that the validity of such a relation is highly questionable. A new theoretical correlation is established instead of empirical correlation which is found applicable to a large number of binary A^NB^8-N type solids as well as for complex binary A₂B, AB₂, A₃B and A₃B₂ semiconductors.     

NMR investigation on the interaction of β-cyclodextrin and ampicillin

The penetration of ampicillin molecule into the β-cyclodextrin cavity in aqueous solution is studied by ¹ H NMR, 2D COSY and ROESY spectroscopy. Obtained data suggest that the phenyl moiety of ampicillin is included inside the hydrophobic cavity of β-cyclodextrin molecule in the solution, and the mode and depth of this inclusion is confirmed on the basis of 2D ROESY spectral data.     

Temperature dependent small-angle neutron scattering of CTABr—magnetic fluid emulsion

Small-angle neutron scattering studies have been carried out to check the structural integrity of citryltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) micelles in a magnetic fluid for different magnetic fluid concentrations at two different temperatures 303 and 333 K. It is found that the CTABr micelles grow with increasing magnetic fluid concentration and there is a decrease in the micellar size with increase in temperature.     

Practicing Reform‐Based Science Curriculum in an Urban Classroom: A Hispanic Elementary School Teacher's Thinking and Decisions

This study explores the thinking and decisions of Vera (pseudonym), a Hispanic elementary teacher, while she enacted a reform‐based science curriculum in an urban school in the southern United States. Vera's thinking, decisions, experiences, and practices were documented over a 2‐year period. Using the data collected from semistructured interviews, participant observations and classroom documents, a rich and complex case study of Vera is developed in this paper. This case study describes how Vera makes curricular choices from reform‐based science curricula such as the LiFE curriculum; how she enacts those choices to empower poor urban minority students; how Vera believes that preparing students for the high‐stakes test is empowering because it ensures continued schooling for students; how, for Vera, teaching connected science using students' lived experiences is a risky act; and how she uses negotiation in her science teaching.     

Soft mode dynamics of perovskite type crystals

The soft mode dynamics and related properties of perovskite, ABO₃-type crystals have been studied using the operator form of the model Hamiltonian proposed by Pytte. The correlations have been evaluated using the double time thermal Green’s function technique and Dyson’s equation. Without any decoupling, the higher order correlations, appearing in the dynamical equation, have been evaluated using the renormalized Hamiltonian. The dielectric properties are directly related to the optical soft mode. The phonon width and shift have been calculated for different structural phases. The analysis of the temperature dependence of microwave loss tangent and dielectric constant explains the experimental results.     

A novel piezoelectric immunosensor for the detection of malarial Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein-2 antigen

A novel piezoelectric (PZ) immunosensor for the direct detection of malarial Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein-2 (PfHRP-2) antigen was developed. The mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thioctic acid and 1-dodecanethiol were formed on gold surface of quartz crystal. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and surface Raman spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize the mixed SAMs. The rabbit anti-PfHRP-2 antibodies were coupled on mixed SAM modified gold surface of quartz crystal via NHS/EDC activation method. The PZ immunosensor was applied to detect PfHRP-2 in the linear range of 15-60 ng/ml with a detection limit of 12 ng/ml. It was also found that even after 14 days of storage, 50% of the activity still remained. Clinical human serum samples were tested with this method, and the results were in agreement with those obtained from commercially available ICT kit (NOW^® Malaria).     

Natural dye-based photoelectrode for improvement of solar cell performance

In the present paper, photovoltaic studies of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on betacyanin/TiO₂ and betacyanin/WO₃–TiO₂ have been done. The cell performances were compared through I–V curves and wavelength dependant photocurrent measurements for the two new types of DSSCs. The TiO₂-coated DSSC showed the photovoltage and photocurrent of 300 mV and 4.96 mA/cm², whereas the cell employing WO₃–TiO₂ photoelectrode showed the values 435 mV and 9.86 mA/cm², respectively. The conversion efficiency of TiO₂ based dye-sensitized solar cell was found to be 0.69 %, while WO₃–TiO₂-based cell exhibited a higher conversion efficiency of 2.2 %. The better performance of the WO₃–TiO₂ dye-sensitized solar cell photoelectrode is thought to be due to an inherent energy barrier at the electrode/electrolyte interface leading to the reduced recombination of photoinduced electrons.