On the hydrothermal features of radiative Fe3O4–graphene hybrid nanofluid flow over a slippery bended surface with heat source/sink

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The present investigation concentrates on the hydrothermal features of both hybrid nanofluid and usual nanofluid flow over a slippery permeable bent...     

In Vitro and In Silico Screening and Characterization of Antimicrobial Napin Bioactive Protein in Brassica juncea and Moringa oleifera

The study aimed to investigate the antibacterial activity of Mustard (Brassica juncea) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf extracts and coagulant protein for their potential application in water treatment. Bacterial cell aggregation and growth kinetics studies were employed for thirteen bacterial strains with different concentrations of leaf extracts and coagulant protein. Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MOS) and coagulant protein showed cell aggregation against ten bacterial strains, whereas leaf extract alone showed growth inhibition of five bacterial strains for up to 6 h and five bacterial strains for up to 3 h. Brassica juncea leaf extract (BJS) showed growth inhibition for up to 6 h, and three bacterial strains showed inhibition for up to 3 h. The highest inhibition concentration with 2.5 mg/mL was 19 mm, and furthermore, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) (0.5 mg/mL) and MBC (1.5 mg/mL) were determined to have a higher antibacterial effect for <3 KDa peptides. Based on LCMS analysis, napin was identified in both MOS and BJS; furthermore, the mode of action of napin peptide was determined on lipoprotein X complex (LpxC) and four-chained structured binding protein of bacterial type II topoisomerase (4PLB). The docking analysis has exhibited moderate to potent inhibition with a range of dock score −912.9 Kcal/mol. Thus, it possesses antibacterial-coagulant potential bioactive peptides present in the Moringa oleifera purified protein (MOP) and Brassica juncea purified protein (BJP) that could act as an effective antimicrobial agent to replace currently available antibiotics. The result implies that MOP and Brassica juncea purified coagulant (BJP) proteins may perform a wide degree of antibacterial functions against different pathogens.     

Effect of melting heat transfer and thermal radiation on Casson fluid flow in porous medium over moving surface with magnetohydrodynamics

In this study, the effects of variable fluid properties on heat transfer in MHD Casson fluid melts over a moving surface in a porous medium in the presence of the radiation are examined. The relevant similarity transformations are used to reduce the governing equations into a system of highly nonlinear ordinary differential equations and those are then solved numerically using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlbergmethod. The effects of different controlling parameters, namely, the Casson parameter,melting and radiation parameters, Prandtl number,magnetic field, porosity, viscosity and the thermal conductivity parameters on flow and heat transfer are investigated. The numerical results for the dimensionless velocity and temperature as well as friction factor and reducedNusselt number are presented graphically and discussed. It is found that the rate of heat transfer increases as the Casson parameter increases.     

A low-voltage electrokinetic nanochannel drug delivery system

Recent work has elucidated the potential of important new therapeutic paradigms, including metronomic delivery and chronotherapy, in which the precise timing and location of therapeutic administration has a significant impact on efficacy and toxicity. New drug delivery architectures are needed to not only release drug continuously at precise rates, but also synchronize their release with circadian cycles. We present an actively controlled nanofluidic membrane that exploits electrophoresis to control the magnitude, duration, and timing of drug release. The membrane, produced using high precision silicon fabrication techniques, has platinum electrodes integrated at the inlet and outlet that allow both amplification and reversal of analyte delivery with low applied voltage (at or below 2 VDC). Device operation was demonstrated with solutions of both fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated bovine serum albumin and lysozyme using fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and a lysozyme specific bio-assay and has been characterized for long-term molecular release and release reversibility. Through a combination of theoretical and experimental analysis, the relative contributions of electrophoresis and electroosmosis have been investigated. The membrane's clinically relevant electrophoretic release rate at 2 VDC exceeds the passive release by nearly one order of magnitude, demonstrating the potential to realize the therapeutic paradigm goal.     

Conversion of Waste Tyres into Carbon Black and their Utilization as Adsorbent

Pyrolysis has the potential of transforming used tyres into useful recyclable products. Pyrolytic carbon black is one of the most important products of tyre pyrolysis. Waste tyres were pyrolysed at 450 °C in a batch reactor under atmospheric pressure. The recovered pyrolytic carbon black residues were studied to investigate their characteristics for use as a possible adsorbent. EDX elemental analysis and surface area determinations were used to investigate the distinctive features of pyrolytic carbon black. Due to various inorganic additives of the original tyre that contaminated the carbon black obtained, it was treated with acid for demineralization. The demineralized carbon black was activated at 900 °C in a furnace. It was observed that acid treatment and activation increased the surface areas and decreased the concentration of contaminants. Furthermore, adsorption characteristics of methylene blue on acid‐treated and activated carbon black (prepared via acid treatment) were compared with those of commercial activated carbon in liquid phase adsorption. It was found that adsorption capacity of methylene blue on acid‐treated activated carbon black was greater.     

Significance of viscous dissipation on the dynamics of ethylene glycol conveying diamond and silica nanoparticles through a diverging and converging channel

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The enhancement of heat transfer in a new kind of hybrid nanofluid is more than that of a single nanoparticle. Also, the thermal conductivity of...     

Visible light-excited surface plasmon resonance charge transfer significantly improves the photocatalytic activities of ZnO semiconductor for pollutants degradation

To effectively address environmental pollution, we synthesized Au-loaded ZnO nanocomposites and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) under visible light irradiation. The as-prepared nanophotocatalysts delivered much improved photocatalytic degradation activities as compared to the bare ZnO nanoparticles and 32% of the pollutant was degraded with 2AuZnO in 1 hr. These improved photoactivities are attributed to the extended visible light absorption due to the surface plasmon resonance property of the loaded Au nanoparticles. Moreover, Au nanoparticles played important role in charge separation by inducting excited electrons to the conduction band of ZnO photocatalyst and surface catalysis as confirmed from photoluminescence spectra and amount of the generated hydroxyl radicals. The trapping experiments confirmed that positive holes were the major degrading species during the photocatalytic degradation of 2-CP. This work provides a feasible way to improve the photocatalysis by introducing a proper amount of noble metals over the surface of semiconductor photocatalysts.