Development of silver-doped copper oxide and chitosan nanocomposites for enhanced antimicrobial activities.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a significant and pressing public health concern, posing serious challenges to effectively preventing and treating persistent diseases. Despite various efforts made in recent years to address this problem, the global trends of AMR continue to escalate without any indication of decline. As AMR is well-known for antibiotics, developing new materials such as metal containing compounds with different mechanisms of action is crucial to effectively address this challenge. Copper, silver, and chitosan in various forms have demonstrated significant biological activities and hold promise for applications in medicine and biotechnology. Exploring the biological properties of these nanoparticles is essential for innovative therapeutic approaches in treating bacterial and fungal infections, cancer, and other diseases. To this end, the present study aimed to synthesize silver@copper oxide (Ag@CuO) nanoparticles and its chitosan nanocomposite (Chi-Ag@CuO) to investigate their antimicrobial efficacy. Various established spectroscopic and microscopic methods were employed for characterization purposes, encompassing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Subsequently, the antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles was assessed through MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration), MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration), and well-disk diffusion assays against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Candida albicans. The size of the CuO-NPs, Ag@CuO, and Chi-Ag@CuO NPs was found to be 70-120 nm with a spherical shape and an almost uniform distribution. The nanocomposites were found to possess a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 5 µg/mL and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 250 µg/mL. Moreover, these nanocomposites generated varying clear inhibition zones, with diameters ranging from a minimum of 9 ± 0.5 mm to a maximum of 25 ± 0.5 mm. Consequently, it is evident that the amalgamation of copper-silver-chitosan nanoparticles has exhibited noteworthy antimicrobial properties in the controlled laboratory environment, surpassing the performance of other types of nanoparticles.

Metal nanoparticles decorated mint-cellulose acetate composite as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of methyl orange.

Water contamination caused by toxic compounds has emerged as one of the most severe challenges worldwide. Biomass-based nanocomposites offer a sustainable and renewable alternative to conventional materials. In this study, a nanocomposite of mint and cellulose acetate (Mint-CA) was prepared and employed as a supportive material for Cu nanoparticles (CuNPs) and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs). The selectivity of CuNPs@mint-CA and AgNPs@mint-CA was assessed by comparing their performance in the reduction reaction of various dyes solutions. AgNPs@mint-CA exhibited superior catalytic performance, with a removal of 95.2 % for methyl orange (MO) compared to 68 % with CuNPs@mint-CA. The absorption spectra of MO exhibited a distinct peak at 464 nm. The reduction reaction of MO by AgNPs@mint-CA followed pseudo-first-order-kinetic with a rate constant of k = 0.0063 min-1 (R2 = 0.928). The highest removal of MO was achieved under the following conditions: a catalyst weight of 40 mg, an initial MO concentration of 0.07 mM, the addition of 0.5 mL of 0.1 M NaBH4, and a temperature of 25 °C. Furthermore, the AgNPs@mint-CA catalyst exhibited exceptional reducibility even after five use cycles, highlighting its potential for efficiently removing MO.

Silver oxide doped iron oxide/alginate nanocomposite coated cotton cloth for selective catalytic reduction of potassium ferricyanide.

Silver oxide doped iron oxide (Ag2O-Fe2O3) nanocatalyst was prepared and coated on cotton cloth (CC) as well as wrapped in sodium alginate (Alg) hydrogel. Ag2O-Fe2O3 coated CC (Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC) and Ag2O-Fe2O3 wrapped Alg (Ag2O-Fe2O3/Alg) were utilized as catalysts in reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB) and potassium ferricyanide (K3[Fe(CN)6]). Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC and Ag2O-Fe2O3/Alg were found to be effective and selective catalyst for the reaction of K3[Fe(CN)6]. Further amount of catalyst, K3[Fe(CN)6] quantity, amount of NaBH4, stability of catalyst and recyclability were optimized for the reaction of K3[Fe(CN)6] reduction. Ag2O-Fe2O3/Alg and Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC were appeared to be the stable catalysts by maintaining high activity during recyclability tests showing highest reaction rate constants (kapp) of 0.3472 and 0.5629 min-1, correspondingly. However, Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC can be easily recovered as compared to Ag2O-Fe2O3/Alg by simply removing from the reaction which is the main advantage of Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC. Moreover, Ag2O-Fe2O3/Alg and Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC were also examined in real samples and found useful for K3[Fe(CN)6] reduction involving real samples. The Ag2O-Fe2O3/CC nanocatalyst is a cost and time saving material for economical reduction of K3[Fe(CN)6] and environmental safety.

Catalytic innovations: Improving wastewater treatment and hydrogen generation technologies.

The effective reduction of hazardous organic pollutants in wastewater is a pressing global concern, necessitating the development of advanced treatment technologies. Pollutants such as nitrophenols and dyes, which pose significant risks to both human and aquatic health, making their reduction particularly crucial. Despite the existence of various methods to eliminate these pollutants, they are not without limitations. The utilization of nanomaterials as catalysts for chemical reduction exhibits a promising alternative owing to their distinguished catalytic activity and substantial surface area. For catalytically reducing the pollutants NaBH4 has been utilized as a useful source for it because it reduces the pollutants quiet efficiently and it also releases hydrogen gas as well which can be used as a source of energy. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent research on different types of nanomaterials that function as catalysts to reduce organic pollutants and also generating hydrogen from NaBH4 methanolysis while also evaluating the positive and negative aspects of nanocatalyst. Additionally, this paper examines the features effecting the process and the mechanism of catalysis. The comparison of different catalysts is based on size of catalyst, reaction time, rate of reaction, hydrogen generation rate, activation energy, and durability. The information obtained from this paper can be used to steer the development of new catalysts for reducing organic pollutants and generation hydrogen by NaBH4 methanolysis.

Zn/Al layered double hydroxide and carboxymethyl cellulose composite beads as support for the catalytic gold nanoparticles and their applications in the reduction of nitroarenes.

Until now, many efficient catalysts have been reported that are used for the reduction of nitroarenes. However, a catalyst reusability is a challenge that is often faced in practical environment. In this report, we designed a hydrogel composite (CMC-LDH), which act as support and making it possible to address this challenge. In this research work, zinc/aluminum based layered double hydroxides (Zn/Al LDH) have been assembled with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to prepare CMC/LDH hydrogel beads. The CMC/LDH hydrogel beads were prepared by the ionotropic gelation method. For CMC/LDH/Au preparation, the already prepared CMC/LDH beads were kept in gold ion (Au3+) solution, and their subsequent reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). For the characterization of the prepared samples different instrumental techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were adopted. For the catalytic evaluation of CMC/LDH/Au, it was utilized as a catalyst in 4-NP and 4-NA reduction reactions. The continuity of the reaction was monitored by a UV-visible spectrophotometer. Rate constant (kapp) of 0.48474 min-1 and 0.7486 min-1 were obtained for 4-NP and 4-NA reduction, respectively. The hydrogel beads were recycled and reused for up to five successive cycles without significantly changing their catalytic efficiency.

Preparation and dye adsorption properties of activated carbon/clay/sodium alginate composite hydrogel membranes.

A hydrogel membrane was prepared using activated carbon and sodium dodecyl sulphate modified montmorillonite clay incorporated into sodium alginate polymer. The activated carbon was prepared from a locally available susbine plant. The physiochemical characteristics of the synthesized hydrogel membrane were investigated using FTIR, SEM, EDX, and TGA techniques. The performance of the membrane was evaluated as an adsorbent by methyl red adsorption from water. The adsorption behavior of the hydrogel membrane was investigated under varying conditions of pH (2-10), membrane dose (0.0025-0.015 mg g-1), equilibrium adsorption time (30-360 minutes), solution temperature (25-45 °C) and dye concentration (100-500 mg L-1). The maximum adsorption capacity of the hydrogel membrane was 248.13 mg g-1. The kinetics of methyl red adsorption on hydrogel membrane best followed the pseudo-second order (PSO). The equilibrium adsorption results suggested that it obeyed the Freundlich isotherm very closely (R2 = 0.994). The thermodynamics of methyl red adsorption on the hydrogel membrane revealed that the adsorption was spontaneous (ΔS° = 16.15 kJ K-1 mol-1), favorable (ΔG° = -3.51 kJ mol-1), and endothermic (ΔH° = -1.48 kJ mol-1) in nature. These investigations suggested that the fabricated hydrogel membrane could be suitably used for methyl red adsorption from the solution.

An efficient wastewater treatment through reduction of organic dyes using Ag nanoparticles supported on cellulose gum beads.

This work reports silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) supported on biopolymer carboxymethyl cellulose beads (Ag-CMC) serves as an efficient catalyst in the reduction process of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) and methyl orange (MO). For Ag-CMC synthesis, first CMC beads were prepared by crosslinking the CMC solution in aluminium nitrate solution and then the CMC beads were introduced into AgNO3 solution to adsorb Ag ions. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis suggests the uniform distribution of Ag nanoparticles on the CMC beads. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the metallic and fcc planes of AgNPs, respectively, in the Ag-CMC catalyst. The Ag-CMC catalyst exhibits remarkable reduction activity for the p-NP and MO dyes with the highest rate constant (kapp) of a chemical reaction is 0.519 and 0.697 min-1, respectively. Comparative reduction studies of Ag-CMC with CMC, Fe-CMC and Co-CMC disclosed that Ag-CMC containing AgNPs is an important factore in reducing the organic pollutants like p-NP and MO dyes. During the recyclability tests, the Ag-CMC also maintained high reduction activity, which suggests that CMC protects the AgNPs from leaching during dye reduction reactions.

SnAg2O3-Coated Adhesive Tape as a Recyclable Catalyst for Efficient Reduction of Methyl Orange.

Silver oxide-doped tin oxide (SnAg2O3) nanoparticles were synthesized and different spectroscopic techniques were used to structurally identify SnAg2O3 nanoparticles. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), and methyl orange (MO) was studied using SnAg2O3 as a catalyst. Only 1.0 min was required to reduce 95% MO; thus, SnAg2O3 was found to be effective with a rate constant of 3.0412 min-1. Being a powder, SnAg2O3 is difficult to recover and recycle multiple times. For this reason, SnAg2O3 was coated on adhesive tape (AT) to make it recyclable for large-scale usage. SnAg2O3@AT catalyst was assessed toward MO reduction under various conditions. The amount of SnAg2O3@AT, NaBH4, and MO was optimized for best possible reduction conditions. The catalyst had a positive effect since it speed up the reduction of MO by adding more SnAg2O3@AT and NaBH4 as well as lowering the MO concentration. SnAg2O3@AT totally reduced MO (98%) in 3.0 min with a rate constant of 1.3669 min-1. These findings confirmed that SnAg2O3@AT is an effective and useful catalyst for MO reduction that can even be utilized on a large scale for industrial purposes.

Association between contrast-enhanced adenosine-stress perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and invasive coronary angiogram for the detection of coronary artery disease: A retrospective analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of stress perfusion CMR for the detection of coronary artery disease. Methods: The was a retrospective cross sectional study in which 43 subjects were included from Cardiac MRI unit in the Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar for study from 1st April 2020 to 30th November 2020. All the subjects who had been referred for stress perfusion CMR with suspected CAD were included in the study. Cardiac MRI both at rest and with adenosine stress perfusion was performed which was followed by invasive coronary angiography. Result: A total of 43 patients were enrolled for the detection or exclusion CAD who underwent stress perfusion CMRI and invasive coronary artery angiography. The study revealed strong and statistically significant association between positive stress perfusion CMR and positive coronary angiogram vs negative stress perfusion CMR and negative coronary angiogram (p= value 0.0001). Conclusions: Stress perfusion CMRI can be considered as a first line, relatively safe, noninvasive test with significant accuracy to diagnose coronary artery disease in patients with suspected CAD without subjecting these patients to invasive coronary angiogram.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Adsorptive Characteristics of Radiation-Grafted Glycidyl Methacrylate Bamboo Fiber Composites.

In the present study, a biosorbent was prepared through the radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) technique by using a glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) monomer. Functionalized bamboo materials were used for grafting. The grafting percentage (G %) of GMA on bamboo fibers was assessed based on the optimization of the absorbed dose and concentration of the monomer. The chemical modification of the polymerized product into the sulfonated form of the grafted biopolymer was carried out by using sodium sulfite solution. The modification of the biopolymer at various stages was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. By performing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the morphological changes of the prepared biopolymer were analyzed. The temperature stability of the synthesized material was assessed by the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique. The prepared sulfonated biosorbent was used in the batch adsorption study for the uptake of copper. We examined a variety of variables, including pH, adsorbent dosage, and time. The adsorption kinetics were studied using pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) models. Adsorption isotherms and thermodynamic parameters were also applied to study the adsorption capacity of the biosorbent. The maximum copper adsorption capacity was found to be 198 mg g-1 from the Langmuir isotherm. Copper adsorption followed PSO kinetics (R2 = 0.999). This inexpensive and eco-friendly biosorbent removed 96% of copper ions from the solution.

Molecular detection of Coxiella spp. in ticks (Ixodidae and Argasidae) infesting domestic and wild animals: with notes on the epidemiology of tick-borne Coxiella burnetii in Asia.

Tick-borne Coxiella spp. are emerging in novel regions infecting different hosts, but information regarding their occurrence is limited. The purpose of this study was the molecular screening of Coxiella spp. in various ticks infesting goats, sheep, camels, cattle, wild mice, and domestic fowls (Gallus gallus domesticus) in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Morphologically identified tick species were confirmed by obtaining their cox1 sequences and were molecularly screened for Coxiella spp. by sequencing GroEL fragments. Almost 345 out of 678 (50.9%) hosts were infested by nine tick species. Regarding the age groups, the hosts having an age >3 years were highly infested (192/345, 55.6%), while gender-wise infestation was higher in female hosts (237/345, 68.7%). In collected ticks, the nymphs were outnumbered (613/1,119, 54.8%), followed by adult females (293/1,119, 26.2%) and males (213/1,119, 19.7%). A total of 227 ticks were processed for molecular identification and detection of Coxiella spp. The obtained cox1 sequences of nine tick species such as Hyalomma dromedarii, Hyalomma anatolicum, Haemaphysalis cornupunctata, Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Haemaphysalis danieli, Haemaphysalis montgomeryi, Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Argas persicus showed maximum identities between 99.6% and 100% with the same species and in the phylogenetic tree, clustered to the corresponding species. All the tick species except Ha. danieli and R. microplus were found positive for Coxiella spp. (40/227, 17.6%), including Coxiella burnetii (15/40, 6.7%), Coxiella endosymbionts (14/40, 6.3%), and different Coxiella spp. (11/40, 4.9%). By the BLAST results, the GroEL fragments of Coxiella spp. showed maximum identity to C. burnetii, Coxiella endosymbionts, and Coxiella sp., and phylogenetically clustered to the corresponding species. This is the first comprehensive report regarding the genetic characterization of Coxiella spp. in Pakistan's ticks infesting domestic and wild hosts. Proper surveillance and management measures should be undertaken to avoid health risks.

Rate of various access sites for temporary transvenous pacing and different outcomes at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar Pakistan.

Objective: To evaluate the various temporary transvenous pacemaker (TPM) access sites, its indications, procedural complications, and outcomes of patients. Methods: This prospective study conducted in a tertiary care hospital of Peshawar, included 100 patients, who underwent TPM for any reasons, via the trans jugular, subclavian, or trans-femoral route. The duration of the study was from October 1st, 2021 to March 31st, 2022. The demographic, procedure -related complications, causes of complete heart block and in hospital outcomes were recorded. Results: Of the 100 patients who underwent temporary transvenous pacing, 56%were males and 44% were females, with an age range of 46-80 years. In majority of the patients, (N =54) internal jugular vein was used as the venous access site followed by the subclavian vein. (N=24). Coronary artery disease was prevalent in 42% of the patients. 50% had complete AV block, 19% had symptomatic second-degree block, and 10% had sinus nodal diseases. Seventy three percent of the patients needed TPM implantation on an emergency basis, which is statistically significant (p=0.009). Almost 40% of the patient ultimately underwent a permanent pacemaker. Out of 100 patients, 16 patients expired. The major procedure related complications were bleeding 16% overall at the puncture site and 14.8% in the internal jugular group. Other complications were local infection 13% at the insertion site followed by hemopericardium 3%, in the internal jugular group. Conclusion: Atrioventricular block is the commonest indication for temporary pacing in our study. The average time the TPM remained in place was significantly higher in the trans jugular approach group along with a higher complication rate in this group.

Adsorptive removal of heavy metals and organic dyes by sodium alginate/coffee waste composite hydrogel.

Heavy metals and dyes used in technological applications have a detrimental influence on human health and the environment. The most used methods for removing pollutants depend on high-cost materials. Therefore, this research was conducted on cost-effective alternatives derived from natural resources and food waste. Herein, we designed a composite hydrogel based on sodium alginate/coffee waste (Alg/coffee) as adsorbent for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from aquatic solutions. The selectivity study displayed that Alg/coffee is more effective in adsorbing Pb(II) and acridine orange dye (AO). Adsorption of Pb(II) and AO was studied at concentration range of 0-170 mgL-1 and 0-40 mgL-1. Adsorption data of Pb(II) and AO reveals their fitting to Langmuir-isotherm and pseudo-second-order-kinetic models. The findings demonstrated that Alg/coffee hydrogel are more effective than coffee powder itself with an adsorption (%) approaching 98.44 % of Pb(II) and 80.53 % of AO. Real sample analysis reveals the efficiency of Alg/coffee hydrogel beads in Pb(II) adsorption. The adsorption cycle was examined four times providing high efficiency toward Pb(II) and AO. Desorption of Pb(II) and AO was easily performed using HCl eluent. Thus, Alg/coffee hydrogel beads could be promising adsorbent for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants.

Novel Synthesis of CuO/GO Nanocomposites and Their Photocatalytic Potential in the Degradation of Hazardous Industrial Effluents.

Photocatalytic degradation of dyes has been the subject of extensive study due to its low cost, eco-friendly operation, and absence of secondary pollutants. Copper oxide/graphene oxide (CuO/GO) nanocomposites are emerging as a new class of fascinating materials due to their low cost, nontoxicity, and distinctive properties such as a narrow band gap and good sunlight absorbency. In this study, copper oxide (CuO), graphene oxide (GO), and CuO/GO were synthesized successfully. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirm the oxidation and production of GO from the graphene of lead pencil. According to the morphological analysis of nanocomposites, CuO nanoparticles of sizes ≤20 nm on the GO sheets were evenly adorned and distributed. Nanocomposites of different CuO:GO ratios (1:1 up to 5:1) were applied for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl red (MR). CuO:GO(1:1) nanocomposites achieved 84% MR dye removal, while CuO:GO(5:1) nanocomposites achieved the highest value (95.48%). The thermodynamic parameters of the reaction for CuO:GO(5:1) were evaluated using the Van't Hoff equation and the activation energy was found to be 44.186 kJ/mol. The reusability test of the nanocomposites showed high stability even after seven cycles. CuO/GO catalysts can be used in the photodegradation of organic pollutants in wastewater at room temperature due to their excellent properties, simple synthesis process, and low cost.

Chitosan hydrogel anchored phthalocyanine supported metal nanoparticles: Bifunctional catalysts for pollutants reduction and hydrogen production.

Metal nanoparticles possess high catalytic activity in various organic transformation reactions. A catalyst must be recovered and re-used effectively and economically to lower the overall reaction cost. The recovery of a catalyst remains a challenge due to their extreme small size. In this research work, catalytic metal nanoparticles were synthesized on Zn-phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and chitosan hydrogel (CH) composite which acts as catalyst support. The ZnPc-CH support facilitate the easy recovery of the loaded metal nanoparticles. Metal nanoparticles (M0) based on Cu0, Ag0, Ni0, Co0 and Fe0 were decorated inside and on ZnPc-CH hydrogel surface. The developed M0@ZnPc-CH were utilized for the enhanced selective reduction of toxins and hydrogen production by methanolysis and hydrolysis of NaBH4. Effective catalytic reduction and hydrogen generation was successfully achieved with Co0@ZnPc-CH and ZnPc-CH. Under optimized conditions, Co0@ZnPc-CH showed complete reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in 8.0 min with the fast 4-NP reduction kinetics (K = 0.611 min-1). Among the developed catalysts, ZnPc-CH showed fast H2 generation with high H2 generation rate (HGR = 4100 mLg-1min-1) under optimized conditions. Metal leaching from Co0@ZnPc-CH was negligible during recycling of the catalyst, suggesting that it could be implemented to 4-NP treatment from real water samples. Similarly, ZnPc-CH could produce same quantity of H2 throughout 4 continuous cycles of durability testing without any deactivation and leaching and ZnPc-CH showed high stability, indicating the effectiveness of the catalyst to be applied for H2 production on large scale.

Carboxymethyl Cellulose/Copper Oxide-Titanium Oxide Based Nanocatalyst Beads for the Reduction of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants.

In this work, we have developed novel beads based on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) encapsulated copper oxide-titanium oxide (CuO-TiO2) nanocomposite (CMC/CuO-TiO2) via Al+3 cross-linking agent. The developed CMC/CuO-TiO2 beads were applied as a promising catalyst for the catalytic reduction of organic and inorganic contaminants; nitrophenols (NP), methyl orange (MO), eosin yellow (EY) and potassium hexacyanoferrate (K3[Fe(CN)6]) in the presence of reducing agent (NaBH4). CMC/CuO-TiO2 nanocatalyst beads exhibited excellent catalytic activity in the reduction of all selected pollutants (4-NP, 2-NP, 2,6-DNP, MO, EY and K3[Fe(CN)6]). Further, the catalytic activity of beads was optimized toward 4-nitrophenol with varying its concentrations and testing different concentrations of NaBH4. Beads stability, reusability, and loss in catalytic activity were investigated using the recyclability method, in which the CMC/CuO-TiO2 nanocomposite beads were tested several times for the reduction of 4-NP. As a result, the designed CMC/CuO-TiO2 nanocomposite beads are strong, stable, and their catalytic activity has been proven.

Analysis of XGaO3 (X = Ba and Cs) cubic based perovskite materials for photocatalytic water splitting applications: a DFT study.

Energy conversion has become an important technology for meeting energy production and consumption in the modern era. Water splitting and solar cell technologies are projected to close the gap between demand and consumption. Therefore, XGaO3 (X = Ba and Cs) compounds having characteristics i.e., electrical, optical, mechanical, and structural are depicted by using a density functional theory (DFT) based CASTEP software with ultrasoft pseudo-potential plane-wave and Generalized Gradient Approximation and Perdew Burke Ernzerhof exchange correlation functional (GGA-PBE). According to the findings, all of these compounds have a cubic "pm3m" structure with space group 221. The CsGaO3 and BaGaO3 have direct and indirect band gaps, with respect to electronic band-structure recreations. Density of states like total density of states (TDOS) and partial density of states (PDOS) commend the extent of localization of electrons in numerous bands. The optical properties of these compounds are explored by adjusting dispersion curve/relation for theoretical dielectric function (DF) scale to the corresponding peaks. As a result, these materials could be used to consume light in the visible zone via photo catalysis. CsGaO3 in combination with BaGaO3 can produce effective results, so these compounds have a remarkable potential application for sensing and water splitting.

SnLa2O5 wrapped carboxymethyl cellulose mixed calcium alginate nanocomposite beads for efficient reduction of pollutants.

In this project, lanthanum oxide doped tin oxide (SnLa2O5) nanomaterial was prepared and characterized morphologically and physiochemically by different techniques. The catalytic performance of SnLa2O5 was assessed toward catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), methyl orange (MO), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB) and potassium ferricyanide (K3[Fe(CN)6]). SnLa2O5 was found to be efficient for K3[Fe(CN)6] in the presence of NaBH4, which reduced in only 8.0 min. SnLa2O5 was further wrapped in carboxymethyl cellulose mixed calcium alginate (CMC-Alg) hydrogel beads because the powder catalyst cannot be simply recovered from reaction media to recycle and use again. SnLa2O5 wrapped CMC-Alg (SnLa2O5/CMC-Alg) was assessed for detail analysis of K3[Fe(CN)6] reduction. The effect of NaBH4, K3[Fe(CN)6] concentration and amount of catalyst was optimized using SnLa2O5/CMC-Alg. The amount of catalyst has positive impact on catalytic reduction of K3[Fe(CN)6]. The kinetic study revealed that K3[Fe(CN)6] reduction by SnLa2O5 and SnLa2O5/CMC-Alg was fast, which completed in 8.0 and 4.0 min with rate constant of 0.4283 min-1 and 0.7461 min-1, respectively. These findings indicated that the developed SnLa2O5/CMC-Alg is best and proficient nanocatalyst for K3[Fe(CN)6] reduction. The efficiency along with cost-effective and simple treatment route of the developed nanocatalyst have prospect to compete and replace the reputable commercial catalysts.

Development and evaluation of polyclonal antibodies based antigen capture ELISA for detection of porcine rotavirus.

Rotaviruses are rising as zoonotic viruses worldwide, causing the lethal dehydrating diarrhea in children, piglets, and other livestock of economic importance. A simple, swift, cost-effective, highly specific, and sensitive antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AC-ELISA) was developed for detection of porcine rotavirus-A (PoRVA) by employing rabbit (capture antibody) and murine polyclonal antibodies (detector antibody) produced against VP6 of PoRVA (RVA/Pig-tc/CHN/TM-a/2009/G9P23). Reactivity of the both polyclonal antibodies was confirmed by using an indirect ELISA, western-blot analysis and indirect fluorescence assay against rVP6 protein and PoRVA. The detection limit of AC-ELISA was found 50 ng/ml of PoRVA protein. The relative sensitivity and specificity of this in-house AC-ELISA were evaluated for detection of PoRVA from 295 porcine diarrhea samples, and results were compared with that of RT-PCR and TaqMan RT-qPCR. The relative sensitivity and specificity of AC-ELISA compared with those of TaqMan RT-qPCR were found as 94.4 and 99.2%, respectively, with the strong agreement (κ -0.58) between these two techniques. Furthermore, AC-ELISA could not detect any cross-reactivity with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, transmissible gastro-enteritis virus, pseudo rabies virus and porcine circovirus-2. This in-house AC-ELISA efficiently detected PoRVA from clinical samples, which suggests that this technique can be used for large-scale surveillance and timely detection of rotavirus infection in the porcine farms.

In this study, we used a Chinese porcine rotavirus-A (PoRVA) strain containing the I5, a dominant VP6-genotype in pigs, for production of VP6 (most conserved) protein based polyclonal antibodies (pAb) in rabbits (as capture Ab) and mouse (as detector Ab) for development of simple, cost effective, highly specific and sensitive AC-ELISA for detection of PoRVA. Furthermore, there is no any previous published report on application of rabbit and mouse pAb against VP6 for developing an AC-ELISA against PoRVA.

Lignin nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide based hydrogel: A novel strategy for environmental applications.

In this work, facile fabrication of lignin nanoparticles (LNP)-based three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide hydrogel (rGO@LNP) has been demonstrated as a novel strategy for environmental applications. Herein, LNP were facilely synthesized from walnut shell waste through a direct chemical route. These LNP were incorporated into the continuous porous network of rGO network to fabricate rGO@LNP hydrogel. Characterization studies were carried out using various analytical techniques viz. scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. The efficiency of rGO@LNP hydrogel as adsorptive platform was evaluated by employing methylene blue and Pb2+ as model pollutants, whilst the effect of various experimental parameters was ascertained for optimal performance. Furthermore, Agar well diffusion method was used to check the antibacterial activities of the hydrogel using two bacterial pathogenic strains, i.e. Klebsiella pneumoniae (gram negative) and Enterococcus faecalis (gram positive). Results showed that after the inclusion of LNP into rGO hydrogel, there was a marked improvement in pollutant's uptake ability and compared to bare LNP and rGO, the composite hydrogel showed enhanced bactericidal effect. Overall, this approach is outstanding because of the synergy of functional properties of nano-lignin and rGO due to multi-interaction sites in the resulting hydrogel. The results presented herein support the application of rGO@LNP as innovative water filter material for scavenging broad spectrum pollutants and bactericidal properties.