Transdermal therapeutic system: Study of cellulose nanocrystals influenced methylcellulose-chitosan bionanocomposites.

Over the past few years, there is a drive toward the fabrication and application of bio-based non-cytotoxic drug carriers. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have gotten immense research attention as a promising bioderived material in the biomedical field due to its remarkable properties. The delivery of analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, ketorolac tromethamine (KT) by transdermal route is stipulated herewith to fabricate suitable transdermal therapeutic systems. We have synthesized CNCs from jute fibers and aim to develop a non-cytotoxic polymer-based bionanocomposites (BNCs) transdermal patch, formulated with methylcellulose (MC), chitosan (CH), along with exploration of CNCs for sustained delivery of KT, where CNCs act as nanofiller and elegant nanocarrier. CNCs reinforced MCCH blends were prepared via the solvent evaporation technique. The chemical structure, morphology, and thermal stability of the prepared bionanocomposites formulations were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), TGA, DSC, DMA, and SEM. The In vitro drug release studies were executed using Franz diffusion cells. The BNC patches showed in-vitro cytocompatibility and the drug release study revealed that BNC containing 1 wt% CNCs presented the best-sustained drug release profile. The bioderived CNCs appear to enhance the BNCs drug's bioavailability, which could have a broad prospect for TDD applications.

Cotton soot derived carbon nanoparticles for NiO supported processing temperature tuned ambient perovskite solar cells.

The emergence of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in a "catfish effect" of other conventional photovoltaic technologies with the massive growth of high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) has given a new direction to the entire solar energy field. Replacing traditional metal-based electrodes with carbon-based materials is one of the front-runners among many other investigations in this field due to its cost-effective processability and high stability. Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (c-PSCs) have shown great potential for the development of large scale photovoltaics. First of its kind, here we introduce a facile and cost-effective large scale carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) synthesis from mustard oil assisted cotton combustion for utilization in the mesoporous carbon-based perovskite solar cell (PSC). Also, we instigate two different directions of utilizing the carbon nanoparticles for a composite high temperature processed electrode (HTCN) and a low temperature processed electrode (LTCN) with detailed performance comparison. NiO/CNP composite thin film was used in high temperature processed electrodes, and for low temperature processed electrodes, separate NiO and CNP layers were deposited. The HTCN devices with the cell structure FTO/c-TiO2/m-TiO2/m-ZrO2/high-temperature NiO-CNP composite paste/infiltrated MAPI (CH3NH3PbI3) achieved a maximum PCE of 13.2%. In addition, high temperature based carbon devices had remarkable stability of ~ 1000 h (ambient condition), retaining almost 90% of their initial efficiency. In contrast, LTCN devices with configuration FTO/c-TiO2/m-TiO2/m-ZrO2/NiO/MAPI/low-temperature CNP had a PCE limit of 14.2%, maintaining ~ 72% of the initial PCE after 1000 h. Nevertheless, we believe this promising approach and the comparative study between the two different techniques would be highly suitable and adequate for the upcoming cutting-edge experimentations of PSC.

Development of an Efficient Immunosensing Platform by Exploring Single-Walled Carbon Nanohorns (SWCNHs) and Nitrogen Doped Graphene Quantum Dot (N-GQD) Nanocomposite for Early Detection of Cancer Biomarker.

In this work, a novel electrochemical immunosensor based on nitrogen doped graphene quantum dot (N-GQD) and single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWCNHs) was developed for the detection of α-fetoprotein (AFP), a cancer biomarker. Thus, to fabricate the platform of the immunosensor, nanocomposite architecture was developed by decorating N-GQD on the surface of the SWCNHs. The resulting hybrid architecture (N-GQD@SWCNHs) functioned as an exceptional base for the immobilization of antibody (Anti-AFP) through carbodiimide reaction with good stability and bioactivity. The immunosensor was prepared by evenly distributing the bioconjugates (N-GQD@SWCNHs/Anti-AFP) dispersion on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode, and subsequently blocking the remaining active sites by bovine serum albumin to prevent the nonspecific adsorption. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique was employed to investigate the assembly process of the immunosensor. Under optimal conditions, the immunosensor exhibited a broad dynamic range in between 0.001 ng/mL to 200 ng/mL and a low detection limit of 0.25 pg/mL. Furthermore, the sensor showed high selectivity, desirable stability, and reproducibility. Measurements of AFP in human serum gave outstanding recovery within 99.2% and 102.1%. Thus, this investigation and the amplification strategy exhibited a potential role of the developed nanocomposite based sensor for early clinical screening of cancer biomarkers.

Facile one-pot in-situ synthesis of novel graphene oxide-cellulose nanocomposite for enhanced azo dye adsorption at optimized conditions.

This is the first report on utilization of modified Hummers' method for in-situ synthesis of novel graphene oxide-cellulose nanocrystals nanocomposite in a single reaction vessel. Cellulose used for nanocomposite preparation was extracted from waste jute. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized with FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDX, DLS, and Zeta potential analyzer. It was applied as an adsorbent for the removal of toxic dye methylene blue from aqueous solutions. Around 98 % MB removal was achieved in 135 min. Under optimum experimental conditions recommended by response surface methodology, adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite was found to be 334.19 mg g-1 while the maximum adsorption capacity as determined by Langmuir isotherm 751.88 mg g-1. Further analysis revealed that the process was guided by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm and followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. This cost-effective synthesis route and efficient adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite indicate its immense potential for large-scale application in wastewater treatment.