Layer-by-layer sensor architecture of polymers and nanoparticles for electrochemical detection of uric acid in human urine samples

Excessive uric acid levels in the human body (hyperuricemia) are the main causes of kidney stones and diabetes. In this study, a layer-by-layer arrangement of polymers and nanocomposites is used as a new electrode sensing material for rapid and direct electrochemical determination of uric acid (UA). The electrode surface architecture was constructed by the incorporation of poly (amidoamine) dendrimer with 0.5 generation (poly (amidoamine) [PAMAM] [D-G0.5]) of multiwalled carbon nanotube-silver nanoparticles (MWCNT-AgNP) and a poly (neutral-red) (poly [NR]) polymer. The PAMAM (D-G0.5)/MWCNT-AgNP/poly (NR)-coated electrode has a good electrocatalytic activity for the determination of UA using cyclic voltammetry and showed remarkable enhancement in current response at a low-oxidation potential (0.3 V). Under optimal conditions, the developed electrochemical sensor showed an excellent and wide linear range for the determination of UA (i.e. 0.016 μM–2500 μM), and the limit of detection was found to be 0.005 μM. The modified sensor system demonstrated excellent sensitivity and selectivity toward the detection of UA in the presence of interfering substances, which are commonly found in urine and human fluid samples. Furthermore, the developed sensor has represented both reproducibility and excellent stability for the UA determination in real samples (human urine).     

Delayed impulsive synchronization of nonlinearly coupled Markovian jumping complex dynamical networks with stochastic perturbations

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper focuses on the exponential synchronization of nonlinearly coupled Markovian jumping complex dynamical networks with stochastic perturbations under delayed impulsive...     

Pinning sampled‐data synchronization of complex dynamical networks with Markovian jumping and mixed delays using multiple integral approach

This study deals with the pinning synchronization problem for complex dynamical networks (CDNs) with Markovian jumping parameters and mixed delays under sampled‐data control technique. The mixed delays cover both discrete and distributed delays. The Markovian jumping parameters are modeled as a continuous‐time, finite‐state Markov chain. The sufficient conditions for asymptotic synchronization of considered networks are obtained by utilizing novel Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional and multiple integral approach. The obtained criteria is formulated in terms of LMIs, which can be checked for feasibility by making use of available softwares. Lastly, numerical simulation results are presented to validate the advantage of the propound theoretical results. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 622–632, 2016     

Plasmon induced photoluminescent emission from PED Ag–In alloy

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Blending of two metals possessing localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) alters the optical behavior and aids in tuning the resonance frequency of...     

A Titanium Metal–Organic Framework with Visible‐Light‐Responsive Photocatalytic Activity

The one‐step synthesis and characterization of a new and robust titanium‐based metal–organic framework, ACM‐1 , is reported. In this structure, which is based on infinite Ti?O chains and 4,4′,4′′,4′′′‐(pyrene‐1,3,6,8‐tetrayl) tetrabenzoic acid as a photosensitizer ligand, the combination of highly mobile photogenerated electrons and a strong hole localization at the organic linker results in large charge‐separation lifetimes. The suitable energies for band gap and conduction band minimum (CBM) offer great potential for a wide range of photocatalytic reactions, from hydrogen evolution to the selective oxidation of organic substrates.     

A Titanium Metal–Organic Framework with Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalytic Activity

The one-step synthesis and characterization of a new and robust titanium-based metal–organic framework, ACM-1 , is reported. In this structure, which is based on infinite Ti−O chains and 4,4′,4′′,4′′′-(pyrene-1,3,6,8-tetrayl) tetrabenzoic acid as a photosensitizer ligand, the combination of highly mobile photogenerated electrons and a strong hole localization at the organic linker results in large charge-separation lifetimes. The suitable energies for band gap and conduction band minimum (CBM) offer great potential for a wide range of photocatalytic reactions, from hydrogen evolution to the selective oxidation of organic substrates.     

Amorphous to crystalline transition and optoelectronic properties of nanocrystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) films sputtered with high rf power at room temperature

ITO thin films were deposited on quartz substrates by the rf sputtering technique using various rf power keeping the substrates at room temperature. The influence of rf power on the structural, electrical, optical and morphological properties was studied by varying the rf power in the range 50–350 W. X-ray diffraction results show an amorphous – crystalline transition with nano grains. At a power of 250 W, the ITO film showed preferential orientation along (4 0 0) peak. It is observed from the optical transmission studies that the optical band gap increased from 3.57 to 3.69 eV when the rf power was increased from 50 to 250 W. The resistivity value is minimum and grain size is maximum for the ITO film deposited at 250 W. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Atomic force microscopy AFM results confirm that the ITO films are stoichiometric and the surface contained nano-sized grains distributed uniformly all over the surface. It can be concluded that the ITO film deposited at room temperature with 250 W rf power, can provide the required optical and electrical properties useful for developing optoelectronic devices at lower temperatures.     

Pd–Co alloy as an efficient recyclable catalyst for the reduction of hazardous 4-nitrophenol

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Palladium–Cobalt (Pd–Co) alloys with different atomic ratios were synthesized successfully by borohydride-assisted chemical reduction method....