•Denaturation temperature and enthalpy of sunflower protein isolates were decreased.•SDS-PAGE profile showed a significant reduction in molecular weight.•Increase in surface hydrophobicity and ...sulfhydryl content was observed after ultrasound treatment.•Particle size of sunflower protein isolates was reduced.•All functional properties were improved significantly except water binding capacity.
The influence of high intensity ultrasound (HIUS) on physicochemical and functional properties of sunflower protein isolates was investigated. Protein solutions (10% w/v) were treated with ultrasound probe (20kHz) and ultrasound bath (40kHz) for 5, 10, 20 and 30min. Thermal stability of protein isolates was reduced as indicated by differential scanning calorimetry. Minimum thermal stability was observed at 20min of sonication and increased further with increase in treatment time indicating aggregation at prolonged sonication. SDS-PAGE profile of proteins showed a significant reduction in molecular weight. Further, surface hydrophobicity and sulfhydryl content increased after HIUS treatment indicating partial unfolding of proteins and reduction in the intermolecular interactions. The particle size analysis showed that HIUS treatment reduced the particle size. Less turbid solution were observed largely due to reduction in particle size. HIUS decreased the available lysine content in protein isolates. Solubility, emulsifying capacity, emulsion stability, foaming capacity, foam stability and oil binding capacity were improved significantly, while as, water binding capacity was decreased. The effect of HIUS on physicochemical and functional properties of sunflower protein isolates was more pronounced in probe sonication rather than bath sonication. Protein isolates with improved functional properties can be obtained using high intensity ultrasound technology.
Over the past decades, the field of organic solar cells (OSCs) has witnessed a significant evolution in materials chemistry, which has resulted in a remarkable enhancement of device performance, ...achieving efficiencies of over 19%. The photoactive layer materials in OSCs play a crucial role in light absorption, charge generation, transport and stability. To facilitate the scale-up of OSCs, it is imperative to address the photostability of these electron acceptor and donor materials, as their photochemical degradation process remains a challenge during the photo-to-electric conversion. In this review, we present an overview of the development of electron acceptor and donor materials, emphasizing the crucial aspects of their chemical stability behavior that are linked to the photostability of OSCs. Throughout each section, we highlight the photochemical degradation pathways for electron acceptor and donor materials, and their link to device degradation. We also discuss the existing interdisciplinary challenges and obstacles that impede the development of photostable materials. Finally, we offer insights into strategies aimed at enhancing photochemical stability and discuss future directions for developing photostable photo-active layers, facilitating the commercialization of OSCs.
This review provides a historic overview of the photodegradation mechanisms of photoactive materials in organic solar cells, shedding light on the role of photochemical photodegradation pathways to pave the way for stable organic photovoltaics.
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•Synthesis of 4-((Z)-1-(((Z)-(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylene)hydrazineylidene)ethyl)benzene-1,3-diol (HMHEB).•HMHEB acted as a UV–visible, fluorescence, colorimetric, and ...electrochemical sensor to detect Cu2+ and Pd2+ ions through Photoinduced electron transfer (PET), charge transfer, and d-d transition.•Association affinity, limits of detection, quantification, and linear ranges were determined.•The colorimetric observations checked HMHEB reversibility with Cu2+ and Pd2+ ions.
The colorimetric detection of metal ions is significantly applied for industrial, ecological, and medical applications. Here, we synthesize 4-((Z)-1-(((Z)-(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylene)-hydrazineylidene)ethyl)benzene-1,3-diol a new chemosensor that acts for sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+ and Pd2+ ions to the ligand. The recognition is determined by redshift in UV–visible, emission intensity changes in fluorescence, colorless to yellow coloration, and cyclic voltammetric signal changes with the addition of Cu2+ and Pd2+ ions to the ligand. The insights into the color changes are described visually and under different wavelengths of light. The designed colorimetric sensing model is developed as paper, cotton, and mask-based assay for Pd2+ and Cu2+ ion. The chemosensor reversibility is checked with the addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and color changes are observed with naked eyes. The infrared (IR) spectral analysis describes ligand's binding behavior towards selective metal ions. In addition, the chemosensor works for low detection limit (4.906 × 10-7 M for Cu2+, 9.802 × 10-7 M for Pd2+), limit of quantitation (1.636 × 10-6 M for Cu2+, 3.267 × 10-6 M for Pd2+) with good association affinity (1.273 × 105 M−1 for HMHEB-Cu2+ binding, 6.983 × 1010 M−2 for HMHEB-Pd2+ binding).
In organic semiconductors, a donor/acceptor heterojunction is typically required for efficient dissociation of excitons. Using transient absorption spectroscopy to study the dynamics of excited ...states in non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs), it is shown that NFAs can generate charges without a donor/acceptor interface. This is due to the fact that dielectric solvation provides a driving force sufficient to dissociate the excited state and form the charge‐transfer (CT) state. The CT state is further dissociated into free charges at interfaces between polycrystalline regions in neat NFAs. For IEICO‐4F, incorporating just 9 wt% donor polymer PTB7‐Th in neat films greatly boosts charge generation, enhancing efficient exciton separation into free charges. This property is utilized to fabricate donor‐dilute organic photovoltaics (OPV) delivering a power conversion efficiency of 8.3% in the case of opaque devices with a metal top‐electrode and an active layer average visible transmittance (AVT) of 75%. It is shown that the intrinsic charge generation in low‐bandgap NFAs contributes to the overall photocurrent generation. IEICO‐4F‐based OPVs with limited PTB7‐Th content have high thermal resilience demonstrating little drop in performance over 700 h. PTB7‐Th:IEICO‐4F semitransparent OPVs are leveraged to fabricate an 8‐series connected semitransparent module, demonstrating light‐utilization efficiency of 2.2% alongside an AVT of 63%.
Non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs) can generate charges without a donor–acceptor interface. This is shown using transient absorption measurements and confirmed using computational methods. A small amount of donor material significantly enhances exciton splitting into free charges, resulting in well‐performing donor‐dilute OPVs. Semitransparent OPV modules with 2.2% light utilization efficiency are achieved by employing the optimized donor‐dilute device concept.
In the present research, the AZ31 alloy is machined by wire-cut electric discharge machining (WEDM). The experiments were designed according to the Box-Behnken design (BBD) of response surface ...methodology (RSM). The input process variables, namely servo feed (SF), pulse on-time (Ton), servo voltage (SV), and pulse off-time (Toff), were planned by BBD, and experiments were performed to investigate the cutting rate (CR) and recast layer thickness (RCL). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the influence of machining variables on response characteristics. The empirical models developed for CR and RCL were solved using Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO). Pareto optimal front is used for the collective optimization of CR and RCL. The optimal solution suggested by the hybrid approach of RSM-MOPSO is further verified using a confirmation test on the random setting indicated by the hybrid algorithm. It is found that the minimum RCL (6.34 µm) is obtained at SF: 1700; SV: 51 V; Toff: 10.5 µs; and Ton: 0.5 µs. However, maximum CR (3.18 m/min) is predicted at SF: 1900; SV: 40 V; Toff: 7 µs; and Ton: 0.9 µs. The error percentage of ±5.3% between the experimental results and predicted solutions confirms the suitability of the proposed hybrid approach for WEDM of AZ31.
The influence of different levels of inulin as fat replacer on the quality of ice cream was investigated. Inulin was added at 2, 4 and 6% to replace milk fat and the experimental ice creams were ...compared to a control with 10% milk fat. The chemical composition, overrun, water activity, viscosity, melting rate, hardness and colour value were determined. Sensory properties of the ice cream samples were evaluated during storage. The overall acceptability of ice creams prepared with 2 and 4% substitution were similar to the control.
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•A highly sensitive 5-bromo-1H-indol based sensor for Sm(III) and Dy(III) was reported.•UV–visible and fluorescence studies revealed the selective behavior of the receptor.•The ...quantum yields reported for BIHMPP is 0.29, Sm(III)-BIHMPP complex is 0.38 and Dy(III)-BIHMPP complex is 0.56.•Maximum concentration was measured 1.2 nM and 0.7 nM for Sm(III) and Dy(III) ions respectively.
We have designed 1,3-bis(4-((E)-((Z)-((5-bromo-1H-indol-3-yl)methylene)hydrazono)methyl)-3-methoxyphenoxy)propane (BIHMPP) molecular receptor that posses π–π* and n–π* electronic transitions as well as PET (photo-induced electron transfer). When the receptor BIHMPP was tested with different metal ions under UV–visible and fluorescence techniques, only the introduction of Sm(III) and Dy(III) ions to the solution showed the change in spectra due to interactions between the receptor and metal ions (Sm(III) and Dy(III)). The quantum yields for BIHMPP is 0.29, Sm(III)-BIHMPP complex is 0.38, and Dy(III)-BIHMPP complex is 0.56. The ligand:metal binding stoichiometry observed is 2:1 (metal:BIHMPP) and maximum concentration that could be measured 1.2 nM and 0.7 nM for Sm(III) and Dy(III) ions respectively and with low detection limits. The cyclic voltammetric studies reveal the concomitant changes in electron transfer processes and support the complex formation.
Herbal medicine is safe and effective in treating various diseases. Traditional herbal medicine plays a tremendous role in treatment of various diseases and accompanying complications, hence herbal ...medicine requires remarkable attention in further research for the development of numerous active formulations for treatment of health troubles. The plant needs special consideration for development and research of unidentified compound and characterization of novel active molecules that overcome multiple pathological abnormalities. The genus Manilkara contains 135 plants around the world. This overview discusses all the virtues of most important and commonly used plant
Manilkara zapota
(L.) P. Royen (
M. zapota
), also known as Sapodilla. M. zapota has various traditional beneficial effects in treatment of various diseases and disorders dating back to prehistoric times and used in ancient traditional system of herbal medicine.
Non-fullerene based organic solar cells display a high initial power conversion efficiency but continue to suffer from poor thermal stability, especially in case of devices with thick active layers. ...Mixing of five structurally similar acceptors with similar electron affinities, and blending with a donor polymer is explored, yielding devices with a power conversion efficiency of up to 17.6%. The hexanary device performance is unaffected by thermal annealing of the bulk-heterojunction active layer for at least 23 days at 130 °C in the dark and an inert atmosphere. Moreover, hexanary blends offer a high degree of thermal stability for an active layer thickness of up to 390 nm, which is advantageous for high-throughput processing of organic solar cells. Here, a generic strategy based on multi-component acceptor mixtures is presented that permits to considerably improve the thermal stability of non-fullerene based devices and thus paves the way for large-area organic solar cells.
A new poly(vinyl chloride) membrane based all solid state electrochemical sensor containing synthesized triazole compound namely 4-(5-bromothiophen-2-carboxylidene ...amino)-3-methyl-5-mercapto-s-triazole (BTMMT) as an electroactive material was prepared and investigated as a chromium(III) selective sensor. The optimum composition of the best performing membrane contained triazole:NaTPB (sodiumtetraphenylborate):NPOE (nitrophenyl octyl ether):PVC in the ratio 10:2:50:38 (w/w). The sensor exhibited near Nernstian slope of 19.8±0.2mV/decade of activity in the working concentration range of 2.0×10−7 to 1.0×10−1M. It displayed a stable potential response in the pH range 2.2–5.0. The sensor exhibited a fast response time of 10–15s and could be used for at least three months without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed sensor showed very good selectivity over most of the common cations including Li+, K+, Na+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Cs+, Pb2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Cd2+, Fe3+, and La3+. Also, it was successfully used for the determination of Cr(III) activity in the waste from electroplating, and lather tanning industry.