A multitude of dietary factors from dietary fat to macro and micronutrients intakes have been associated with breast cancer, yet data are still equivocal. Therefore, utilizing data from the large, ...multi-year, cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we applied a novel, modern statistical shrinkage technique, logistic least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, to examine the association between dietary intakes in women, ≥50 years, with self-reported breast cancer (
= 286) compared with women without self-reported breast cancer (1144) from the 1999-2010 NHANES cycle. Logistic LASSO regression was used to examine the relationship between twenty-nine variables, including dietary variables from food, as well as well-established/known breast cancer risk factors, and to subsequently identify the most relevant variables associated with self-reported breast cancer. We observed that as the penalty factor (λ) increased in the logistic LASSO regression, well-established breast cancer risk factors, including age (β = 0.83) and parity (β = -0.05) remained in the model. For dietary macro and micronutrient intakes, only vitamin B12 (β = 0.07) was positively associated with self-reported breast cancer. Caffeine (β = -0.01) and alcohol (β = 0.03) use also continued to remain in the model. These data suggest that a diet high in vitamin B12, as well as alcohol use may be associated with self-reported breast cancer. Nonetheless, additional prospective studies should apply more recent statistical techniques to dietary data and cancer outcomes to replicate and confirm the present findings.
Exploring highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst for the elimination organic pollutants is a great concern for constructing sustainable green energy systems. In the current work, a novel ...hybrid ternary WO3@g-C3N4@MWCNT nanocomposites have been fabricated for visible-light-driven photocatalyst by self-assembly method. The as-prepared photocatalyst was examined by XRD, Raman, FESEM, HRTEM, XPS EDS, EIS, UV–visible DRS, and PL analysis. The experimental results revealed that the photocatalytic activity of WO3@g-C3N4@MWCNT nanocomposites on the degradation of Tetracycline (TC) is 79.54% at 120 min, which is higher than the binary WO3@g-C3N4 composite and pristine WO3. The improved degradation performance towards TC is recognized for its higher surface area, intense light absorption towards the visible region, and enhanced charge separation efficiency. Consequently, the fabricated catalyst endows a promising application for antibiotic degradation.
Display omitted
•We fabricated WO3/g-C3N4/MWCNT hybrid nanostructure by simple low temperature hydrothermal process.•Photocatalytic degradation of TC were observed under visible light.•WO3/g-C3N4/MWCNT sample showed excellent degradation of tetracycline.•WO3/g-C3N4/MWCNT hybrid structure has been probed as a potential applicant for visible light driven photocatalyst.
Numerous inorganic and organic counter electrodes (CEs) have been fabricated for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) instead of platinum (Pt) CE. However, MoS2 and carbon nanocomposite have played an ...important role in CEs due to their superior electrochemical properties and high chemical stability. N-doped graphene quantum dot (N-GQD) @ MoS2 @ reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite was synthesized by the two-step hydrothermal method. The morphology of as-synthesized nanocomposites was studied using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). It confirms the formation of sphere-like MoS2 composed of nanosheets on the surface of rGO sheets. The N-GQD@MoS2@rGO composites confirmed the presence of MoS2, rGO, and N-GQD by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra. The chemical composition and purity of N-GQD@MoS2@rGO was examined by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis technique. The electrochemical property of the as-fabricated CEs was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis by using the iodine-based electrolyte. The N-GQD@MoS2@rGO shows the superior catalytic property due to more electrochemical active site and electrical conductivity property of rGO and MoS2. The DSSCs device assembled with as-fabricated CEs and their photovoltaic power conversion efficiency (η) of MoS2 was 2.01%, MoS2@rGO was 3.92%, N-GQD@MoS2 was 3.53%, N-GQD@MoS2@rGO was 4.65%, and Pt was 5.17%.
schematic diagram of DSSCs fabrication with N-GQD@MoS2@rGO CEs. Display omitted
•The decoration of CuO on the surface of ZnO were synthesized by hydrothermal growth.•The functional properties of the ZnO/CuO nanostructures were extensively studied.•The formation of ZnO/CuO ...hetero-junction improved the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes which results in enhanced activity.•The enhanced photocatalytic activity is 10 times higher than pure ZnO.
Degradation of organic pollutant using ZnO/CuO composites has become an attractive method for detoxification of water. The effect of copper acetate concentration and the functional properties of nanocomposites were investigated. The morphological analysis revealed that CuO nanoparticles dispersed uniformly on the surface of ZnO nanorods. X-ray photoelectron spectra analysis showed peak shift in the electronic states of Zn and Cu states. Elemental clearly confirms the presence of CuO were uniformly distributed on the surface of ZnO. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO/CuO composites was enhanced compared to pure ZnO under visible light irradiation. The optimal CuO content for the photocatalytic activity of the ZnO/CuO composites is 1%, which is almost ten times higher than that of pure ZnO. Owing to these synergic advantages, the degradation efficiency of ZnO/CuO composites reached 92.52% after 5min of irradiation. The synergistic photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the photodegradation results.
Display omitted
Phonon scattering by intrinsic defects and nanostructures has been the primary strategy for minimizing the thermal conductivity in thermoelectric materials. In this work, we present ...the effect of Isovalent substitution as a method to decouple the Seebeck coefficient and the thermal conductivity of antimony (Sb) substituted bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3). Transmission electron microscopy studies present the nanostructured Bi2-xSbxSe3 thermoelectric system represents the coexistence of hierarchical defect structure and dislocations. The observed giant reduction in thermal conductivity is due to the multi-scale phonon scattering caused by a combination of stacking faults, lattice dislocations and grain boundary scattering. This study reveals that a large number of dislocations about ∼1.09 × 1016 m−2 are particularly effective at lowering thermal conductivity. We achieved one of the ultra-low thermal conductivity values (∼0.26 W/m K) for the maximized dislocation concentration. Moreover, Isovalent substitution provides a new avenue for the reduction in thermal conductivity and significant enhancement in the Seebeck coefficient of thermoelectric materials.
Display omitted
•Ag intercalated Bi2Se3 samples were synthesised by hydrothermal method followed by cold pressing technique.•HRTEM images and IFFT pattern confirms the presence of stacking ...faults.•The slight fermi energy shift towards conduction band significantly improved the electrical conductivity.•Low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.3 W/mK obtained at 543 K by various scattering mechanism.•The peak zT of 0.3 was attained at 543 K due to the synergy of enhanced power factor and low lattice thermal conductivity.
Bismuth Selenide is a Tellurium free topological insulator in V-VI compounds with an excellent thermoelectric performance from room temperature to mid-temperature region. Herein, hydrothermally prepared polycrystalline Bi2AgxSe3 nanostructures have been reported for thermoelectric application. The crystal structure identification and morphology with the elemental presence were analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), HR-SEM with EDS (High resolution scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray), and HR-TEM (High-resolution transmission electron microscope) measurements. The reduced lattice thermal conductivity and enhanced electrical transport properties synergistically boost the thermoelectric properties through the highly-dense stacking faults with the presence of dislocations. The IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) pattern reveals the existence of stacking faults and dislocations. These highly dense stacking faults and dislocations act as active phonon scattering centers, which can contribute to effective phonon scattering resultsin extremely low lattice thermal conduction of 0.3 W/mK at 543 K. On the other hand, the involvement of phonon–phonon scattering primarily reduced the lattice thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. In addition, phonon-carrier scattering was less compared to phonon–phonon scattering at elevated temperature region. Moreover, the enhancement of electrical conductivity and controlled reduction of the Seebeck coefficient plays a vital role in achieving the maximum power factor of 335 μW/mK2 at 543 K due to the energy filtering effect. The synergistic combination of low thermal conduction and the maximum power factor helps to achieve the high peak zT of 0.3 at 543 K.
2-D-layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and MoS2/TiO2 nanocomposite were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The effects of the concentration of TiO2 on the formation of MoS2/TiO2 composites and ...functional properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the formation of hexagonal and anatase structure of MoS2 and TiO2, respectively. Core-level X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of Mo and Ti interaction by a significant peak shift. Morphological analysis revealed the formation of TiO2 on the surface of the MoS2 nanosheets. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous suspension was employed to evaluate the visible-light activity of the as-prepared composite photocatalyst. The MB absorption peaks completely disappeared after 12 min with 99.33% of degradation under visible-light irradiation at the TiO2 concentration of 0.005 M. It was found that hydroxyl radical (&z.rad; OH) played an important role in the degradation of MB under visible-light irradiation. The possible charge-transfer mechanism has been proposed in this study.
•A novel RGO/WO3-nanohybrids were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method.•The bandgap was found to be reduced from 2.80 to 2.32 eV with the incorporation of RGO into WO3 matrix.•The WRG-40 ...nanocomposite exhibited high mineralization ability for RhB and CIP degradation.•The maximum photocatalytic activity of RhB (96%) and CIP (90%) was observed by WRG-40 composite.
Display omitted
This proposed work suggests the fabrication of hybrid WO3/reduced graphene oxide (WRG) composites with rod-like structures through the facile hydrothermal method. The WO3 nanorod has been grown on the GO sheet, concurrent reduction of GO has been made, and the as-prepared WRG is employed as photocatalyst. The fabricated samples structural and morphological properties were scrutinized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). The chemical composition and surface binding energy were monitored by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The WRG composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for decomposing organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) & antibiotic pollutants like Ciprofloxacin (CIP) under visible light irradiation. The adequate loading of GO on WO3 matrix reduced the charge carrier's recombination and enhanced the degradation performance. Hybrid photocatalyst exhibit higher rate constant values; 2.76 × 10−2 min−1 and 2.07 × 10−2 min−1 for RhB and CIP pollutants, respectively.
Specifically engineered three‐dimensional (3D) and 1D morphologies are expected to play significant roles in the development of next‐generation dye‐sensitized solar cells. In this study, using a ...hydrothermal approach without a surfactant or template, we attempted to synthesize a 3D hierarchical rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2) architecture by varying the growth temperature and time. X‐ray diffraction patterns of the synthesized TiO2 correlated well with rutile TiO2. Scanning electron microscopy images exhibited different nanostructures, such as nanorods, aggregated nanorods, and 3D TiO2 microflowers comprised of nanorods at 100°C, 130°C, and 160°C, respectively, after growth for 6 h. A significantly improved efficiency was observed for the TiO2 microflowers. The TiO2 microflowers exhibited an efficiency of 1.16%, short‐circuit current density of 12.8 mA cm−2, open‐circuit voltage of 0.692 V, and fill factor of 0.67.
TiO2 hierarchical structures synthesized by varying time and temperature. The spray technique was utilized to fabricate the 3D TiO2 photoanode. OH− and Cl− ions played a vital role in the formation of nanostructure. TiO2 microflowers showed Jsc = 12.8 mA cm−2, VOC = 0.692 V, and FF = 0.67.
PDF
