Magnetic Energy Morphing, Capacitive Concept for Ni0.3Zn0.4Ca0.3Fe2O4 Nanoparticles Embedded in Graphene Oxide Matrix, and Studies of Wideband Tunable Microwave Absorption.

Nanoparticles of Ni0.3Zn0.4Ca0.3Fe2O4 (NZCF) were successfully prepared by the facile wet chemical method coupled with the sonochemical method. These nanoparticles were embedded in a graphene oxide (GO) matrix (NZCFG). Rietveld analyses of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were carried out to extract different relevant information regarding the structure, morphology, and ionic state. A major improvement in saturation magnetization is achieved due to substitution of Ca2+ in the ferrite lattice. Interestingly, the observed value of electromagnetic absorption for a sample thickness of 1.5 mm is ∼-67.7 dB at 13.3 GHz, and the corresponding bandwidth is 5.73 GHz. The Cole-Cole plot, the Jonscher power-law fitting, and the Nyquist plot confirm the probability of improved hopping conductance and attractive capacitive behavior in NZCFG. The presence of magnetic energy morphing in combination with a higher attenuation constant, lower skin depth, and various forms of resonance and relaxation makes NZCFG the most suitable for microwave absorption.

Contrasting spectroscopic response of human hemoglobin in presence of graphene oxides and its reduced form: Comparative approach with carbon quantum dots.

Recently, a considerable amount of research is being directed towards study of graphene oxide (GO) and its reduced form (RGO) since their exposed functional groups make them better candidates in nanobiotechnolgy. In order to assess their biocompatibility, the nature of interactions between Human Hemoglobin (HHb) and GO/RGO are monitored since a comparative spectroscopic approach towards understanding their nature of interactions has not been investigated previously. UV-vis spectroscopy reveals hyperchromicity for HHb-GO system and hypochromicity for HHb-RGO system in the region of absorption of tryptophan/tyrosine residues. Notably, although steady-state fluorescence static quenching of HHb for GO and enhancement of fluorescence for RGO is noticed, but average fluorescence-lifetime is remaining unchanged in presence of GO/RGO. Calorimetric data illustrates three-site and five-site binding model to be the best-fit model for GO and RGO respectively. Also, synchronous fluorescence quenching corresponding to alterations in microenvironment of tryptophan/ tyrosine residues is observed only in presence of GO. Likewise FTIR spectroscopy elucidates involvement of both amide I and amide II bond of HHb backbone through H-bonding interaction only for GO. Furthermore RLS spectra demonstrate an increase and a decrease in signal for GO and RGO respectively. Surprisingly, secondary structure of HHb is maintained upon interaction with both GO/RGO, as revealed by CD spectroscopy, thus supporting their potential application in biological microenvironment. Thus it appears that the spectroscopic properties of HHb upon interaction with GO is altered upon its reduction to RGO. Furthermore the role of HHb as good candidate for bimolecular interaction has been highlighted.

Microwave Absorption and the Magnetic Hyperthermia Applications of Li0.3Zn0.3Co0.1Fe2.3O4 Nanoparticles in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Matrix.

Nanoparticles of Li0.3Zn0.3Co0.1Fe2.3O4 (LZC) were prepared by the sol-gel method and dried in a furnace at ∼200 °C. The dried sample was annealed at 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C for 5 h each. Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction patterns confirms the cubic Fd3̅m phase formation with lattice parameters ranged from 8.376 up to 8.390 Å and allows the crystallite sizes (dcryst) to be estimated. To enhance microwave (MW) absorption as well as the effectiveness for hyperthermia treatment, nanoparticles are taken in the matrix of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the morphology of the so-prepared samples (LZC@MWCNT) was studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Both static and dynamic magnetic properties were investigated on the samples of LZC nanoparticles and compared to those of the samples of LZC@MWCNT. The samples annealed at 500, 600, and 800 °C are excellent candidates in cancer treatment as ac magnetic heating analysis shows that the hyperthermia temperature (42 °C) was successfully achieved for an applied ac magnetic field of 420 Oe and 300 kHz frequency. MW absorption study also reveals that the samples of LZC@MWCNT could be used as a potential MW absorbing material for which a maximum reflection loss (RL) of ∼-21 dB was achieved at a frequency of 15.27 GHz for only 1 mm layer thickness.

Correlation of cation distribution with the hyperfine and magnetic behaviour of Ni0.3Zn0.4Co0.2Cu0.1Fe2O4 nanoparticles and their microwave absorption properties when encapsulated in multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

Nanocrystalline samples of Ni0.3Zn0.4Co0.2Cu0.1Fe2O4 (NZCCF) are prepared by a simple co-precipitation method. To obtain nanoparticles of different sizes, the as prepared sample is annealed at 400, 600, 800 and 1000 °C. Nanoparticles of the sample annealed at 600 °C are encapsulated in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). To confirm the crystallographic phase, x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns are analyzed by the Rietveld method and cation distribution in A- and B-sites is estimated from the analysis. Occupancy of Zn2+ ions in A-site and that of Fe3+ ions in B-site increase with the increase of annealing temperature (T A) and lattice parameters lie within 8.365-8.398 Å. Morphology of the encapsulated sample is examined by taking micrographs in high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Hyperfine behaviour of the prepared samples is studied by analyzing Mössbauer spectra recorded at room temperature (RT) and 77 K. Average values of isomer shift (IS) are found to decrease with the increase of crystallite size. Static and dynamic magnetic hysteresis loops are recorded to analyze the magnetic properties of the sample. Maximum saturation magnetization of ~75 emu g-1 is obtained for the sample of NZCCF annealed at 800 °C with crystallite size of ~48 nm. Microwave absorption capability of the encapsulated sample is measured by recording the reflection loss in X and K u bands of microwave region of frequency. Maximum value of reflection loss is -25.71 dB observed at 15.24 GHz for a sample layer thickness of 1 mm. Moreover, the reflection loss is less than -10 dB for the entire range of observation (8-18 GHz) which shows that MWCNT encapsulated NZCCF could be considered as a potential candidate for applications in microwave devices.