Laccase-catalyzed,aerobic oxidative coupling of 4-substituted urazoles with sodium arylsulfinates: Green and mild procedure for the synthesis of arylsulfonyl triazolidinediones

The direct aerobic oxidation of 4-substituted urazoles using the laccase enzyme from Trametes versicolor in a phosphate buffer solution at ambient temperature, and subsequent cross-coupling with sodium benzenesulfinates was investigated to afford arylsulfonyl-1,2,4-triazolidine-3,5-dione derivatives in good to high yields.     

Phytochemical fabrication,characterization, and antioxidant application of copper and cobalt oxides nanoparticles using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sesbania sesban</Emphasis> plant

In this work, an ecofriendly and economic strategy for synthesize of CuO and Co₃O₄ were developed using extracted Sesbania sesban solution (ESS) as a reducing and stabilizing agent, and bioreactor. These novel nano metal oxides (NMOs) were characterized by high-resolution-transmission electron microscopy (TEM), EDAX thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Morphology and size of them were investigated by TEM and the average sizes of for spherical CuO and Co₃O₄ nanoparticles are 20–40 and 15–30 nm, respectively. The XRD and EDAX confirmed the high purity for NMOs. The thermal behaviors of the NMOs exhibited good crystallographic stability within the investigated temperature range. The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of NMOs were investigated and compared to manganese(III) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin complex/Ag nanocomposite (Ag/P nanocomposite) synthesizing by ESS. The results obtained from this work showed that copper(II) oxide, cobalt oxide nanoparticles, and Ag/P nanocomposite have DPPH scavenging activity. On the other hand, NMOs have no antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacterial strains. Cobalt oxide nanoparticles have antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, while Ag/P nanocomposite showed the antibacterial activities against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains.     

Sensitive Electrochemical Prostate Specific Antigen Aptasensor: Effect of Carboxylic Acid Functionalized Carbon Nanotube and Glutaraldehyde Linker

The performance of carboxylic acid functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs_(COOH)), chitosan (Chit), carbon nanotubes‐chitosan (CNTs‐Chit and CNTs_(COOH)‐Chit) for immobilizing of amino‐functionalized ssDNA and fabrication of electrochemical prostate specific antigen (PSA) aptasensor were studied in detail using X‐ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The assemblies of capture probe are formed on the surface via two approaches: EDC/NHS chemistry and glutaraldehyde linker. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and EIS techniques were used to investigate the analytical performance of the PSA aptasensor. Under optimum conditions the sensitivity of 0.0026 µA/(ng/ml) and a limit of detection of 0.75 ng/ml (22 pM) were obtained for PSA detection. This protocol offers a new means for sensitive detection of PSA with some advantages in terms of simplicity, selectivity, ease of use and regenerability.     

Simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, uric acid and neurotransmitters with a carbon ceramic electrode prepared by sol-gel technique

A sol-gel carbon composite electrode (CCE) has been prepared by mixing a sol-gel precursor (e.g. methyltrimethoxysilane) and carbon powder without adding any electron transfer mediator or specific reagents. It was demonstrated that this sensor can be used for simultaneous determination ascorbic acid, neurotransmitters (dopamine and adrenaline) and uric acid. Direct electrochemical oxidation of ascorbic acid, uric acid and catecholamines at a carbon composite electrode was investigated. The experimental results were compared with other common carbon based electrodes, specifically, boron doped diamond, glassy carbon, graphite and carbon paste electrodes. It was found that the CCE shows a significantly higher of reversibility for dopamine. In addition, in comparison to the other electrodes used, for CCE the oxidation peaks of uric acid, ascorbic acid and catecholamines in cyclic and square wave voltammetry were well resolved at the low positive potential with good sensitivity. The advantages of this sensor were high sensitivity, inherent stability and simplicity and ability for simultaneous determination of uric acid, catecholamines and ascorbic acid without using any chromatography or separation systems. The analytical performance of this sensor has been evaluated for detection of biological molecules in urine and serum as real samples.     

An ultra-small heterostructure wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) with the ability to select two wavelengths from the s-band

In this article, a photonic crystal channel drop filter (CDF) based on \(2\times 3\) ring resonators is presented. At first, the effects of changing the radius of lattice rods and the lattice dielectric constant on the dropping efficiency of a 3-port CDF with one resonator are investigated. Then by developing this base structure, a new 4-port heterostructure CDF composed of two regions with rods made of silicone and germanium is presented, which can operate in the ‘S’ band of the communication window. The photonic crystal heterostructure CDF consists of a horizontal waveguide and two ring resonators that have been installed, in symmetry to the horizontal axis, in two regions with different refractive indices. These ring resonators act as energy couplers and capture at their resonant frequencies the electromagnetic energy which is propagated in the bus waveguide. For the analysis of transmission characteristics and the band structure of the filter, two methods have been employed: the two-dimensional Finite–difference time domain method and the Plane Wave Expansion method. In the final structure, dropping efficiencies of 97 and 89 % can be achieved at ports D and B, respectively, and also an acceptable quality factor can be obtained in the communication window. The overall size of this device is 174.14  \(\upmu \hbox {m}^{2}\) . Due to its small size, this structure can be used in Wavelength Division Multiplexer applications in the Optical Integrated Circuits.     

Dye doped Eosin yellowish silica nanoparticles as novel fluorophore for a peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system

In this work, we report the preparation and characterization of novel dye doped fluorophore Eosin yellowish silica nanoparticles (ESNPs). We synthesized ESNPs by the St?ber method via encapsulation of Eosin Yellowish in silica particles by the condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate under alkaline condition at room temperature. The resulted ESNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy; UV–Visible, fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The sizes of the nanoparticles have been found to be 300.0 (±1.0), 400.0 (±1.1) and 500.0 (±5.2) nm depending the reaction conditions under which they were synthesized. Furthermore, because of intense light emission, the ESNPs were used as fluorophore in a peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system. The effect of solvent and concentrations of necessary reagents, bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate, sodium salicylate, hydrogen peroxide and the effects of size of the ESNP and temperature on the luminescence efficiency of the system were examined. The activation kinetic parameters of the system were also evaluated from the temperature investigation.     

Thermo-oxidative degradation kinetics and mechanism of the system epoxy nanocomposite reinforced with nano-Al2O3

We have synthesized epoxy nanocomposites with various percents of nanoalumina by using ultrasonic dispersion treatment. Scanning calorimetry studies revealed that the composition having 1% nanoalumina results in the highest value of cross-link density as evidenced by the glass transition temperature (T _g). Thermal degradation of the systems consisting of diglycidyl ether bisphenol A (DGEBA)/1,3-Poropane diamine and with 1% and without nanoalumina were studied by thermogravimetry analysis to determine the reaction mechanism in air. The obtained results indicated that a relatively low concentration of nanoalumina led to an impressive improvement of thermal stability of epoxy resin. The Coats?CRedfern, Van Krevelen, Horowitz?CMetzger, and Criado methods were utilized to find the solid state thermal degradation mechanism. Analysis of our experimental results suggests that the reaction mechanism is depending on the applied thermal history. For the nanocomposite, the mechanism was recognized to be one-dimensional diffusion (D₁) reaction at low heating rates and it changes to be a random nucleation process with one nucleus on the individual particle (F₁) at high heating speeds. The results also indicated that the degradation mechanism of organic phase is influenced by the presence of inorganic nanofiller.     

Fabrication of a renewable syringe carbon paste electrode with a motor rotary blade and using for voltammetric measurement of dipyridamole

In this work, we fabricated a new renewable syringe carbon paste electrode (SCPE) equipped with a motor rotary cutting blade and used for voltammetric determination of dipyridamole (DIP) in aqueous solution, at room temperature. The cutter rotates by a small electrical motor and easily renews the surface of the carbon paste electrode by removing the spotty surface. Electrochemical performance of the constructed electrode was investigated with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and compared to some other previously reported works. The new sensor showed several advantages such as excellent repeatability, high stability, good sensitivity and easily surface renewable. The results indicated that the presence of methyltrioctyl ammonium chloride (MTOAC) could remarkably enhance the oxidation of DIP due to feasible electrical conductivity properties in a phosphate buffer solution. At optimum conditions for the new syringe CPE, the square wave voltammetry (SWV) was used to measure the concentration of DIP in a linear range of 0.08–30.0 µM and a detection limit of 0.02 µM was obtained after 100 s of accumulation time. The sensor was then tested for the simple, rapid and sensitive electrochemical determination of DIP in real samples such as pharmaceutical formulations.