Spectroscopic and morphological study of laser ablated Titanium

The optical characteristics of biological tissues sampled from the anterior abdominal wall of laboratory rats are for the first time experimentally studied in a wide wavelength range (350-2500 nm). The experiments have been performed in vitro using a LAMBDA 950 (PerkinElmer, United States) spectrophotometer. Inverse Monte Carlo simulation is used to restore the spectral dependences for scattering and absorption coefficients, as well as the scattering anisotropy factor for biological tissue based on the recorded spectra of diffuse reflection and total and collimated transmissions.     

Dual-Function HKUST-1: Templating and Catalyzing Formation of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Quantum Dots Under Mild Conditions

Graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (g-CNQDs) are highly promising photoresponsive materials. However, synthesis of monodispersed g-CNQDs remains challenging. Here we report the dual function of MOF [Cu₃BTC₂] (HKUST-1) as a catalyst and template simultaneously to prepare g-CNQDs under mild conditions. Cyanamide (CA), a graphitic carbon nitride precursor, catalytically dimerized inside the larger MOF cavities at 90 °C and condensed into g-CNQDs at 120 °C in a controlled fashion. The HKUST-1 template was stable under the reaction conditions, leading to uniform g-CNQDs with a particle size of 2.22±0.68 nm. The as prepared g-CNQDs showed photoluminescence emission with a quantum yield of 3.1 %. This concept (MOF dual functionality) for catalyzing CA polycondensation (open metal sites (OMSs) effect) and controlling the produced particle size (pore-templating effect), together with the tunable MOF porosity, is expected to produce unique g-CNQDs with controllable size, morphology, and surface functionality.     

Quantum Corrections for Regular Black Holes with Charge and Coupling Constant

In this paper, we use semi-classical tunneling approach to calculate the quantum corrections to the Hawking temperature as well as entropy of the Kehagias-Sftesos asymptotically flat black hole solution and charged regular black hole with Fermi-Dirac distribution. For this purpose, we apply the first law of black hole thermodynamics to investigate the semi-classical entropy of both black holes having mass as well as charge or coupling constant. For both black holes, the entropy corrections contain the logarithmic term as a leading order correction term. For Kehagias-Sftesos asymptotically flat black hole, the semi-classical Hawking temperature and black hole entropy will behave asymptotically by considering the vanishing coupling constant b = 0. We have obtained the same analysis for the corrected thermodynamical quantities for this BH. For charged regular black hole with Fermi-Dirac distribution, if we neglect the charged effects in our analysis, i.e., q = 0, then these corrections approximately leads to the Schwarzschild black hole which is already given in the literature.     

Comparison of photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of allotropes of graphene doped Sm2O3 nanocomposites: Optical,thermal, and structural studies

This study mainly focuses on the synthesis of two allotropes of graphene, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), by the modified Hummers' method and chemical reduction method, respectively. Sm₂O₃/GO and Sm₂O₃/rGO nanocomposites were further synthesized in the presence of the cationic surfactant CTAB via the sol–gel method followed by the reflux method. Synthesized nanocomposites were subjected to characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and UV–Visible spectroscopy to explore structural, thermal, optical, and photocatalytic properties. Characteristic FTIR peaks were observed in nanocomposites, and the bond length of the Sm-O bond was calculated. The Coats-Redfern method was employed to calculate the kinetics and thermodynamic parameters. Hexagonal crystallite shapes of Sm₂O₃/GO and Sm₂O₃/rGO nanocomposites with 11.8 and 13.13 nm crystallite sizes and 3.9 and 2.5 eV optical band gaps were observed. The photocatalytic efficiency of Sm₂O₃/GO and Sm₂O₃/rGO nanocomposites was assessed against the degradation of methylene blue in the presence of sunlight, and its degradation was confirmed through FTIR. The antimicrobial activities were also performed against the bacterial strains Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.     

The Development of Highly Fluorescent Hemicyanine and Dicyanoisophorone Dyes for Applications in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Journal of Fluorescence - Ruthenium-based metal complex dyes have been employed extensively in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as photosensitizers, but the cost and toxicity of metal complexes...     

Facile protic hydration of acetonitrile to protonated acetamide at oxygen mediated by chloroauric acid: insights from experimental and calculations

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Chemical transformations such as nitrile hydration or carbon–oxygen bond formation reactions under gentle conditions are important in the pharmaceutical...     

Combined effect of graphene oxide and MWCNTs on microwave absorbing performance of epoxy composites

Currently, carbon nanotube (CNT) ‐based composites have been considered as microwave absorbers because of the fascinating properties of CNTs. In this work, multi‐walled CNTs (MWCNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) ‐based epoxy composites (i.e. MWCNT/EPr and GO‐MWCNT/EPr), with sample thickness of 2 mm, were prepared to study microwave absorbing properties in the frequency band of 8–18 GHz. Uniform dispersion of MWCNTs in the organic solvent and polymer matrix was achieved by preparation of GO. The test for electromagnetic parameters, i.e. complex permittivity and the permeability of the samples, was carried out with vector network analyzer (VNA) using reflection‐transmission waveguides. Results showed that GO‐MWCNT/EPr composites have better absorption capability than MWCNT/EPr composites. The improved reflection loss for the composites with 0.4 wt% and 0.6 wt% of GO (out of total filler loading 6 wt%) were ?14.32 dB and ?14.29 dB, respectively. The improvement in reflection loss and absorption bandwidth for GO‐MWCNTs composites suggested that MA features are synergistically effected by GO and MWCNTs. Further skin depth and shielding effectiveness terms are studied to observe overall mechanism of electromagnetic (EM) shielding which showed that multiple reflections also play a role in EM shielding. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.