Photophysical Investigations of Carmoisine Interacting with Conventional Cationic Surfactants Under Different pH Conditions

The present study describes the extent of interactions of an efficient food dye, Carmoisine (CAR), with conventional cationic surfactants, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, and ethylhexadecyldimethylammonium bromide (EHDAB). The study was carried out by quantifying the spectral changes of CAR as a function of premicellar to postmicellar surfactant concentrations at various pH conditions. The quantification of CAR molecules entrapped by cationic micellar systems has been estimated with the help of mathematical models. Binding parameters of each surfactant were calculated using differential spectroscopic method. The enhanced solubilization of dye by switching the pH was observed. In support of the electrostatic forces, the larger and more hydrophobic head group favors the promising solubilization of CAR in the outer region of the micellar interior. These findings extend the proficiency of dye molecule as a reporter for sensing electrostatic environment in lipidic membranes and related organized assemblies.     

Electrochemical study of single wall carbon nanotubes/graphene/ferritin composite for biofuel cell applications

A single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/graphene/ferritin/GOx layer on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) acting as a biofuel cell anode was fabricated using a SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite as an electron transfer mediator from the enzyme to the electrode. In the presence of glucose, the SWNTs/graphene/ferritin/GOx composite showed a higher current response than SWNTs/graphene/GOx composite and the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose on the anode increased linearly with increasing concentration of glucose. The highly distributed SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite acts as a platform for enzyme immobilization resulted in an enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards glucose. The SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite showed an enhanced electron transfer from enzyme to the electrode; therefore, SWNTs/graphene/ferritin/GOx composite can be used as an anode in biofuel cells.     

Profiling of Antifungal Activities and In Silico Studies of Natural Polyphenols from Some Plants

A worldwide increase in the incidence of fungal infections, emergence of new fungal strains, and antifungal resistance to commercially available antibiotics indicate the need to investigate new treatment options for fungal diseases. Therefore, the interest in exploring the antifungal activity of medicinal plants has now been increased to discover phyto-therapeutics in replacement to conventional antifungal drugs. The study was conducted to explore and identify the mechanism of action of antifungal agents of edible plants, including Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cinnamomum tamala, Amomum subulatum, Trigonella foenumgraecum, Mentha piperita, Coriandrum sativum, Lactuca sativa, and Brassica oleraceae var. italica. The antifungal potential was assessed via the disc diffusion method and, subsequently, the extracts were assessed for phytochemicals and total antioxidant activity. Potent polyphenols were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and antifungal mechanism of action was evaluated in silico. Cinnamomum zeylanicum exhibited antifungal activity against all the tested strains while all plant extracts showed antifungal activity against Fusarium solani. Rutin, kaempferol, and quercetin were identified as common polyphenols. In silico studies showed that rutin displayed the greatest affinity with binding pocket of fungal 14-alpha demethylase and nucleoside diphosphokinase with the binding affinity (K_d, −9.4 and −8.9, respectively), as compared to terbinafine. Results indicated that Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Cinnamomum tamala exert their antifungal effect possibly due to kaempferol and rutin, respectively, or possibly by inhibition of nucleoside diphosphokinase (NDK) and 14-alpha demethylase (CYP51), while Amomum subulatum and Trigonella foenum graecum might exhibit antifungal potential due to quercetin. Overall, the study demonstrates that plant-derived products have a high potential to control fungal infections.     

Decolorization of Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Blue 4 Dyes in Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have potential to treat industrial wastewater containing organic compounds and simultaneously generate power. Organic compounds include textile dyes with various chromophore groups, which can be decolorized reductively by microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. In the present study, we examined the decolorization of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) azo dye and Reactive Blue 4 (RBL4) anthraquinone dye under open circuit potential in MFCs with graphite plate and graphite felt electrodes and a microbial consortium originally derived from bovine rumen fluid. RB5 dye was more than 90% decolorized in 120, 165, and 225 min at 50, 100, and 200 mg L^?1 concentrations, respectively. RBL4 dye at 50 and 100 mg L^?1 took 225 and 300 min to decolorize, while 200 mg L^?1 RBL4 dye was not decolorized at all. Under closed circuit conditions, decolorization increased with decrease in external load, whereas current generation increased with external resistance. The results demonstrate that the reductive cleavage of the chromophore was more rapid with RB5 than with RBL4.     

Synthesizing PET and food waste into refuse plastic fuel (RPF): optimization and kinetic modeling

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - With rapid urbanization and industrialization, cheap energy supply from fossil fuels has become a problem of great extent, due to the rising fuel...