Novel molybdenum (Mo)-doped nickel oxide (NiO) Nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by using a simple sonochemical methodology and the synthesized NPs were investigated for antioxidant, and ...antibacterial applications. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the crystal systems of rhombohedral (21.34 nm) and monoclinic (17.76 nm) were observed for pure NiO and Mo-doped NiO NPs respectively. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that the pure NiO NPs possess irregular spherical shape with an average particle size of 93.89 nm while the Mo-doped NiO NPs exhibit spherical morphology with an average particle size of 85.48 nm. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrum further indicated that the pure and Mo-doped NiO NPs exhibited strong absorption band at the wavelengths of 365 and 349 nm, respectively. The free radical scavenging activity of NiO and Mo-doped NiO NPs was also investigated by utilizing several biochemical assays. The Mo-doped NiO NPs showed better antioxidant activity (84.2%) towards ABTS. + at 200 µg/mL in comparison to their pure counterpart which confirmed that not only antioxidant potency of the doped NPs was better than pure NPs but this efficacy was also concentration dependant as well. The NiO and Mo-doped NiO NPs were further evaluated for their antibacterial activity against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. The Mo-doped NiO NPs displayed better antibacterial activity (25 mm) against E. coli in comparison to the pure NPs. The synthesized NPs exhibited excellent aptitude for multi-dimensional applications.
This study reports the electrical properties of a fast-switching photodetector based on a Hafnium Oxide (HfO
2
) thin film (TF) device with gold (Au) Schottky electrodes. It also presents the ...deposition of an HfO
2
TF device using a conventional electron beam evaporation method on p-type Silicon (Si) substrates. XRD analysis confirmed the amorphous structural nature of HfO
2
TF, and cross-sectional FESEM analysis shows growth of ~ 140 nm HfO
2
on the p-Si substrate. Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) analysis confirms the HfO
2
bonding. Furthermore, the UV–Vis spectroscopy demonstrates that the device exhibits predominant absorption within the UV region. At room temperature, the electrical analysis of the HfO
2
TF device was conducted. The device shows a good detectivity (
D*
) of 1.30
×
10
12
Jones, a low noise equivalent power (NEP) value of 3.23
×
10
–12
W, and a responsivity of 300 mA/W with an internal gain of 1.49. It was also observed that the device has a fast-switching response at + 2 V with fall and rise times of 94 ms and 93 ms, respectively, making it a suitable device for photodetector application.
A circular tube fitted with novel corrugated spring tape inserts has been investigated. Air was used as the working fluid. A thorough literature review has been done and this geometry has not been ...studied previously, neither experimentally nor theoretically. A novel experimental investigation of this enhanced geometry can, therefore, be treated as a new substantial contribution in the open literature. Three different spring ratio and depth ratio has been used in this study. Increase in thermal energy transport coefficient is noticed with increase in depth ratio. Corrugated spring tape shows promising results towards heat transfer enhancement. This geometry performs significantly better (60% to 75% increase in heat duty at constant pumping power and 20% to 31% reduction in pumping power at constant heat duty) than simple spring tape. This paper also presented a statistical analysis of the heat transfer and fluid flow by developing an artificial neural network (ANN)-based machine learning (ML) model. The model is evaluated to have an accuracy of 98.00% on unknown test data. These models will help the researchers working in heat transfer enhancement-based experiments to understand and predict the output. As a result, the time and cost of the experiments will reduce. The results of this investigation can be used in designing heat exchangers.
A self-powered photodetector based on copper oxide thin film (Cu
2
O-TF) is deposited using the e-beam evaporation technique. One notable advantage of this fabrication process is that it does not ...require the use of any catalysts. The XRD analysis revealed the presence of cuprous oxide (Cu
2
O) with a distinct peak at ~ 42.66º indicating (200) orientation. SEM analysis confirms the successful growth of the Cu
2
O-TF, revealing a porous semi-spherical structure with a measured thickness of ~ 100 nm. Moreover, electrical analysis was studied for the voltage range of − 2 to 2 V. The Cu
2
O-TF device exhibited a rectification ratio (RR) of 64 at + 1 V. Notably, the device exhibited self-powered characteristics, showing a stable switching response characterized by rise time (τ
r
) values of ~ 0.183 sec and fall time (τ
f
) of ~ 0.236 s at 0 V. Furthermore, the device obtained maximum responsivity in the near IR region, extending from ~ 700 to 800 nm, with peak intensity reaching ~ 720 nm along with responsivity values of ~ 6.6 mA/W. Moreover, the device obtained a detectivity value of ~ 3.45 × 10
11
Jones and a low-noise equivalent power of ~ 8.12 × 10
–12
at 0 V. The overall results highlight the suitability of the device for self-powered photodetector applications.
The continuous and irresponsible addition of environmental pollutants into aqueous reservoirs due to excessive industrialization is a significant contemporary challenge. Nanomaterial-based catalytic ...reduction provides an effective way to convert these materials into environmentally useful products. Responsive polymeric assemblies, complemented with nanomaterials, represent advanced nanocatalysts that are gaining interest within the scientific community. These assemblies exhibit reversible morphological transitions in response to variations induced by external factors such as temperature, pH, or electromagnetic irradiation treatment. The term hybrid microgels has been coined for assemblies that contain both nanomaterial and smart polymeric components. This review presents recent advancements in the field of hybrid microgels as nanocatalysts for conducting reduction reactions on pollutants present in aqueous media. Apart from placing detailed emphasis on the advancements documented for these assemblies, the fundamentals associated with hybrid microgels, as well as the typical catalytic reduction, are also emphasized to develop an understanding for new academicians looking to explore this field. The author hopes that this critical review of the most recent academic literature, including the years spanning 2020 to 2023, will serve as a tutorial for the identification of research gaps in this field, along with its prospective solutions.
Interest in pseudocapacitive materials, especially cuprous oxide, has grown owing to its various advantageous properties and application as electrode materials in the energy storage devices. The work ...presented here, a cubic Cu
O framework was synthesized using a simple and one-step modified polyol-assisted (metal-organic framework) solvothermal method. The structural configuration was rationalized by systematically studying the effect of the reaction time on the morphology and growth of the Cu
O. In addition, a range of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques was employed to further characterize the obtained cubic Cu
O. The morphological effect on the electrochemical supercapacitive performance of the obtained cubic Cu
O was also examined by cyclic-voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic-charge-discharge (G-C-D) method. The obtained outcome shows that the cubic Cu
O synthesized using a reaction time of 12 h (Cu
O-12h; C
~365 Fg
) exhibited superior capacitive performance as compared to the cubic Cu
O synthesized at 8 h (Cu
O-8h; C
~151 Fg
) and 10 h (Cu
O-10h; C
~195 Fg
) at the current density of 0.75 Ag
. Furthermore, the Cu
O-12h electrode exhibits energy density of 16.95 Wh/Kg at a power density of 235.4 W/Kg and higher power density of 2678.5 W/Kg at low current density. In particular, the cube-like Cu
O-12h exhibited excellent capacitive performance and rate capability as compared to Cu
O-8h and Cu
O-10h, owing to its unique three-dimensional morphology, which facilitates the formation of various active sites for intercalation of the electrolyte during the electrochemical process. These results show the as-obtained Cu
O could be a promising supercapacaitive electrode material for various applications.
This work presents the fabrication of Nickel oxide (NiO) Thin Film (TF) on a Si substrate through e-beam evaporation. The successful growth of the NiO TF was confirmed by field emission scanning ...electron microscopy analysis (thickness of ~ 375 nm for as-deposited and ~ 370 nm for annealed sample). Further, the as-deposited sample was then annealed at 400 °C in open-air conditions to investigate the improved structural and electrical properties. The X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates the polycrystalline nature of both samples. The average crystallite size was increased from ~ 13.32 nm (as-deposited) to ~ 15.46 nm after annealing. Also, the electrical properties were examined using an Au electrode for both devices. Responsivity and detectivity values of 0.12 A/W and 3.28 × 10
12
Jones, respectively, were obtained for as-deposited device, which was increased to 0.69 A/W and 10.54 × 10
12
Jones, respectively, after annealing. Furthermore, the device exhibits a quick response time of 0.21 s (rise time) and 0.19 s (fall time) for as-deposited and 0.17 s (rise time) and 0.16 s (fall time) for annealed samples. These performance parameters observed in this fabricated device highlighted the suitability of NiO TF for photodetector applications.
This work reports the fabrication of a Silicon Oxide (SiO
x
) thin film (TF) via an electron beam evaporator on an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) substrate for the application of a non-volatile memory ...device. The TF exhibits a high transmittance of ~ 79.7% in the visible range. The presence of capacitive memory was analyzed for the frequency range from 500 kHz to 1 MHz. An interface trap density of ~ 5.47 × 10
11
eV
−1
cm
−2
was estimated at 1 MHz. In addition, the charge trapping density per unit area was ~ 10
11
cm
−2
at ± 9 V. Furthermore, the fabricated device’s resistive switching (RS) analysis revealed a butterfly-shaped bipolar and forming-free behavior. The device exhibits a good retention time of up to 10
4
s and a stable endurance for 1000 repeated switching cycles. The conduction mechanisms: Ohmic conduction and Space Charge Limited Current conduction were responsible for the RS mechanisms in the fabricated device. The outcomes of our study suggest that the Au/SiO
x
/ITO TF device can be a promising candidate for integration into next-generation transparent, non-volatile memory devices.
Cancer incidence varies around the globe, implying a relationship between food and cancer risk. Plant polyphenols are a class of secondary metabolites that have recently attracted attention as ...possible anticancer agents. The subclass of polyphenols, known as isoflavones, includes genistein and daidzein, which are present in soybeans and are regarded as potent chemopreventive agents. According to epidemiological studies, those who eat soy have a lower risk of developing certain cancers. Several mechanisms for the anticancer effects of isoflavones have been proposed, but none are conclusive. We show that isoflavones suppress prostate cancer cell growth by mobilizing endogenous copper. The copper-specific chelator neocuproine decreases the apoptotic potential of isoflavones, whereas the iron and zinc chelators desferroxamine mesylate and histidine do not, confirming the role of copper. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers reduce isoflavone-induced apoptosis in these cells, implying that ROS are cell death effectors. Our research also clearly shows that isoflavones interfere with the expression of the two copper transporter genes,
and
, in cancerous cells. Copper levels are widely known to be significantly raised in all malignancies, and we confirm that isoflavones can target endogenous copper, causing prooxidant signaling and, eventually, cell death. These results highlight the importance of copper dynamics within cancer cells and provide new insight into the potential of isoflavones as cancer-fighting nutraceuticals.
Several parts of the
plant have revealed incredible potential for water quality improvement. However, the purification potential of a combined leaf and seed extract of
plants remains unexplored. To ...the best of our knowledge, this research would be the first to work towards exploiting the combined potential of a leaf and seed extract of the
plant in the process of water purification. In this study, we investigated the combined effectiveness of the leaf and seed extract in the purification of groundwater. The jar test method was used to analyze the effectiveness of
plant extract (in combination) on different quality parameters of groundwater. Treatment with the combined plant extract (seed and leaf) resulted in significant improvement of various physicochemical (hardness, pH, turbidity, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), and metallic impurities) and biological parameters (
count) over individual seed and leaf extracts in groundwater samples. Experimental findings have strongly shown the enhanced purification efficacy of the hexane extract of combined plant materials in comparison to the individual extracts, thereby providing us with a potent natural coagulant that could combat the side effects of chemical coagulants.
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