Synthesis, Structure and (Photo)Catalytic Behavior of Ce-MOFs Containing Perfluoroalkylcarboxylate Linkers: Experimental and Theoretical Insights.

Cerium-based Metal-Organic frameworks (Ce-MOFs) are attracting increasing interest due to their similar structural features to zirconium MOFs. The redox behavior of Ce(III/IV) adds a range of properties to the compounds. Recently, perfluorinated linkers have been used in the synthesis of MOFs to introduce new characteristic into the structure. We report the synthesis and structural characterization of Ce(IV)-based MOFs constructed using two perfluorinated alkyl linkers. Their structure, based on hexanuclear Ce6O4(OH)4 12+ clusters linked to each other by the dicarboxylate ions, has been solved ab-initio from X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method. The crystallization kinetics and the MOF formation mechanism was also invesitigated by Synchrotron radiation with XAS spectroscopies (EXAFS and XANES). The MOFs present the same fcu cubic topology as observed in MOF-801 and UiO-66, and they showed good stability in water at different pH conditions. The electronic structure of these MOFs has been studied by DFT calculations in order to obtain insights into the density of states structure of the reported compounds, resulting in band gaps in the range of 2.8-3.1 eV. Their catalytic properties were tested both thermally and under visible light irradiation for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye.

Optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of novel stable lead-free cubic double perovskites A2NaIO6 (A = Ca, Sr) for renewable energy applications.

Over the past decade, perovskites have received considerable attention because of their record power conversion efficiency (25.7%) in solar cells. These materials have also received recent research interest in thermoelectrics, most likely due to their high carrier mobility, large power factor, and ultralow thermal conductivity. Therefore, in the present work, we have examined the optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of A2NaIO6 (A = Ca, Sr) double perovskites using first-principles calculations. Stability has been confirmed using reliable and accurate descriptors of formation energy and phonon calculations. The optimized lattice constant and volume show an increasing tendency with changing A site cation (Ca → Sr). The computed band structures depict the semiconducting nature with direct band gap values of 2.64 eV (Ca2NaIO6) and 2.48 eV (Sr2NaIO6). The absorption was found to start in the visible range where the reflectivity was less than 10%. Moreover, the high Seebeck coefficient, large electrical conductivity, and fairly low thermal conductivity result in ZT values of 0.724 for Ca2NaIO6 and 0.686 for Sr2NaIO6 at 1000 K. With their optimum band gap, excellent light absorption capacity, and high ZT values, A2NaIO6 emerge as promising candidates for optoelectronic and thermoelectric applications.

CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite layers perform as an ultrasensitive electrochemical sensor for the detection of antioxidant rutin.

The focus of this paper is laid on synthesizing layered compounds of CuMoO4 and Ti3C2Tx using a simple wet chemical etching method and sonochemical method to enable rapid detection of rutin using an electrochemical sensor. Following structural examinations using XRD, surface morphology analysis using SEM, and chemical composition state analysis using XPS, the obtained CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite electrocatalyst was confirmed and characterized. By employing cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, the electrochemical properties of rutin on a CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx modified electrode were examined, including its stability and response to variations in pH, loading, sweep rate, and interference. The CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx modified electrode demonstrates rapid rutin sensing under optimal conditions and offers a linear range of 1 µΜ to 15 µΜ, thereby improving the minimal detection limit (LOD) to 42.9 nM. According to electrochemical analysis, the CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx electrode also demonstrated cyclic stability and long-lasting anti-interference capabilities. The CuMoO4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite demonstrated acceptable recoveries when used to sense RT in apple and grape samples. In comparison to other interfering sample analytes encountered in the current study, the developed sensor demonstrated high selectivity and anti-interference performance. As a result, our research to design of high-performance electrochemical sensors in the biomedical and therapeutic fields.

Comparative study of ZIF-8-materials for removal of hazardous compounds using physio-chemical remediation techniques.

The inherent toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of dyes that are discharged into aquatic ecosystems, harming the health of humans and animals. ZIF-8 based composites are regarded as good adsorbents for the breakdown of dyes in order to remove or degrade them. In the course of this research, metal-organic framework materials known as ZIF-8 and its two stable composites, ZIF-8/BiCoO3 (MZBC) and ZIF-8/BiYO3 (MZBY), were produced via a hydrothermal process and solvothermal process, respectively, for the dangerous Congo red (CR) dye removal from the solution in water using adsorption method. According to the findings, the most significant amount of CR dye that could be adsorbed is onto MZBC, followed by MZBY and ZIF-8. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model was used effectively to match the data for adsorption behavior and was confirmed using the Langmuir isotherm equation. There is a possibility that the pH and amount of adsorbent might influence the adsorption behavior of the adsorbents. According to the experiment results, the technique featured an endothermic adsorption reaction that spontaneously occurred. The higher adsorption capability of MZBC is because of the large surface area. This results in strong interactions between the functional groups on the surface of MZBC and CR dye molecules. In addition to the electrostatic connection between functional group Zn-O-H on the surface of ZIF-8 in MZBC and the -NH2 or SO3 functional group areas in CR molecules, it also includes the strong π-π interaction of biphenyl rings.

An electrochemical sensing of phenolic derivative 4-Cyanophenol in environmental water using a facile-constructed Aurivillius-structured Bi2MoO6.

Harmful chemicals are always found in the environment and it is necessary to construct a viable sensor to detect those chemicals. In order to construct an electrochemical sensing platform, designing an electrode using bismuth mixed oxides are more important and which grabbed more attention due to its high electrocatalytic ability and conductivity. In this literature, we report a facile synthesis of thorn apple like structured pure bismuth molybdate (Bi2MoO6) using a simple hydrothermal assisted one-step calcination method and we report a facile method to sense 4-cyanophenol by electrochemical technique. Bi2MoO6 modified (Glassy Carbon electrode) GCE possess two linear ranges 0.1-39.1 µM and 46.6-110.1 µM with excellent detection limit 0.008297 µM and 0.01097 µM. Also, this novel sensor is steady with good stability, repeatability, and reproducibility. Successfully, the environmental water sample is analyzed as a real sample with a feasible and quantification results which were compared with HPLC analysis.

Lanthanide type of cerium sulfide embedded carbon nitride composite modified electrode for potential electrochemical detection of sulfaguanidine.

Environmental sustainability is threatened by the widespread exploitation and unfettered release of chemical pollutants that require immediate detection and eradication. An instantaneous quantification technique is essential to understand the physiological roles of the antibacterial drug sulfaguanidine (SGN) in biological systems. The present work features the green and environmentally benign synthesis of rare earth metal sulfide nanorods incorporated carbon nitrides sheets (Ce2S3@CNS) by deep eutectic solvent-based fabrication with remarkable electrochemical properties. The morphological and structural analyses of the prepared electrocatalyst were characterized using various techniques including SEM, XRD, XPS, and EIS. The heterojunction of regimented structures bids synergistic quantum confinement effects and refines charge carriers endorsing enormous active sites. Furthermore, the obtained Ce2S3@CNS/GCE possess an exceedingly lower limit of detection (0.0053 µM) and high sensitivity of 8.685 µA·µM-1·cm-2 with superior electrocatalytic action and virtuous stability for the detection of SGN. This modified electrode could afford linearity in the range 0.01-1131.5 µM measured at 0.95 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) correlated to the concentration of SGN. Examining the real samples with this advanced electrocatalyst would support its hands-on applications in everyday life. Development of such innovative architectures with fewer energy necessities and nominal by-products scripts the superiority in characteristic synthetic methodology following the guidelines of green chemistry.

Hydrothermally synthesized cubical zinc manganite nanostructure for electrocatalytic detection of sulfadiazine.

An electrocatalyst modified electrode has been investigated to develop the rapid detection of antibiotics. The modified electrocatalyst was intended for the determination of sulfadiazine (SFZ) in biological fluids by electrochemical methods. Nanocube of zinc manganite (ZnMn2O4-NC) is prepared by hydrothermal method and a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) has been modified with the zinc manganite. The ZnMn2O4/GCE exhibit enhanced detection performances towards SFZ drug owing to their selective adsorption ability and the combination of electrostatic attraction of nanocube with SFZ. The modified electrocatalyst shows excellent electrocatalytic interactions with antibiotic drug. Besides, the modified sensors exhibit nanomolar detection limit (0.0021 µM) in 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH = 7.0) using differential pulse voltammetric method. The working range of the modified electrode is 0.008-1264 µM, and the sensitivity of the SFZ sensor is 11.44 µA µM-1 cm-2. The modified sensor stability and reproducibility performances have been examined by electrochemical method. In addition, the obtained results of real sample analysis with different concentrations of SFZ in biological fluids are satisfactory with good recovery.

Pseudocapacitive Lithium Storage of Cauliflower-Like CoFe2 O4 for Low-Temperature Battery Operation.

Binary transition-metal oxides (BTMOs) with hierarchical micro-nano-structures have attracted great interest as potential anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we report the fabrication of hierarchical cauliflower-like CoFe2 O4 (cl-CoFe2 O4 ) via a facile room-temperature co-precipitation method followed by post-synthetic annealing. The obtained cauliflower structure is constructed by the assembly of microrods, which themselves are composed of small nanoparticles. Such hierarchical micro-nano-structure can promote fast ion transport and stable electrode-electrolyte interfaces. As a result, the cl-CoFe2 O4 can deliver a high specific capacity (1019.9 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 ), excellent rate capability (626.0 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 ), and good cyclability (675.4 mAh g-1 at 4 A g-1 for over 400 cycles) as an anode material for LIBs. Even at low temperatures of 0 °C and -25 °C, the cl-CoFe2 O4 anode can deliver high capacities of 907.5 and 664.5 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 , respectively, indicating its wide operating temperature. More importantly, the full-cell assembled with a commercial LiFePO4 cathode exhibits a high rate performance (214.2 mAh g-1 at 5000 mA g-1 ) and an impressive cycling performance (612.7 mAh g-1 over 140 cycles at 300 mA g-1 ) in the voltage range of 0.5-3.6 V. Kinetic analysis reveals that the electrochemical performance of cl-CoFe2 O4 is dominated by pseudocapacitive behavior, leading to fast Li+ insertion/extraction and good cycling life.

A competent synthesis and efficient anti-inflammatory responses of isatinimino acridinedione moiety via suppression of in vivo NF-κB, COX-2 and iNOS signaling.

A potent Nonsterodial Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) candidates has been conceived and built by an assembly of a hydrophilic, fluorescent and COX-2 inhibiting units in the same molecule. The isatinimino-acridinedione core (TM-7) was achieved in a simple three step synthetic procedure viz (i) a multicomponent reaction between dimedone, aldehyde and amine to furnish the nitroacridinedione (4), (ii) reduction step and (iii) schiff's-base condensation with isatin. The excellent anti-inflammatory pharmacological efficiency of the drug was established by in vivo biological experiments. Accordingly, it was found that the treatment with the synthesized isatinimino analogues (dosage: 30 mg/kg) inhibited protein expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) as well as production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1beta (IL-1ß), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels induced by carrageenan. Further, a comparative molecular modeling analysis of TM-7 carried out with the crystal structure of aspirin acetylated human COX-2 suggested effectively binding and efficient accommodation inside the active site's gorge.

Optimization of Electrochemical Sensitivity in Anticancer Drug Quantification through ZnS@CNS Nanosheets: Synthesis via Accelerated Sonochemical Methodology.

Zinc sulfide/graphitic Carbon Nitride binary nanosheets were synthesized by using a novel sonochemical pathway with high electrocatalytic ability. The as- obtained samples were characterized by various analytical methods such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to evaluate the properties of ZnS@CNS synthesized by this new route. Subsequently, the electrical and electrochemical performance of the proposed electrodes were characterized by using EIS and CV to establish an electroactive ability of the nanocomposites. The complete properties like structural and physical of ZnS@CNS were analyzed. As-prepared binary nanocomposite was applied towards the detection of anticancer drug (flutamide) by various electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and amperometry. The glassy carbon electrode modified with a ZnS@CNS composite demonstrates a remarkable electrocatalytic efficiency for detecting flutamide in a pH 7.0 (PBS). The composite modified electrode shows synergistic effect of ZnS and CNS catalyst. The electrochemical sensing performance of the linear range was improved significantly due to high electroactive sites and rapid electron transport pathways. Crucially, the electrochemical method was successfully demonstrated in biological fluids which reveals its potential real-time applicability in the analysis of drug.

A universal ligand for lead coordination and tailored crystal growth in perovskite solar cells.

Chemical environment and precursor-coordinating molecular interactions within a perovskite precursor solution can lead to important implications in structural defects and crystallization kinetics of a perovskite film. Thus, the opto-electronic quality of such films can be boosted by carefully fine-tuning the coordination chemistry of perovskite precursors via controllable introduction of additives, capable of forming intermediate complexes. In this work, we employed a new type of ligand, namely 1-phenylguanidine (PGua), which coordinates strongly with the PbI2 complexes in the perovskite precursor, forming new intermediate species. These strong interactions effectively retard the perovskite crystallization process and form homogeneous films with enlarged grain sizes and reduced density of defects. In combination with an interfacial treatment, the resulted champion devices exhibit a 24.6% efficiency with outstanding operational stability. Unprecedently, PGua can be applied in various PSCs with different perovskite compositions and even in both configurations: n-i-p and p-i-n, highlighting the universality of this ligand.

Investigation of gadolinium doped manganese nano spinel ferrites via magnetic hypothermia therapy effect towards MCF-7 breast cancer.

Magnetic spinel ferrite nanoparticles (MSF-NPs) are potential candidates for biomedical applications, especially in cancer diagnosis and therapy due to their excellent physiochemical and magnetic properties. In the current study, MSF-NPs were fabricated by sol-gel auto combustion method. The crystal structure and surface morphology were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The magnetic properties were studied by VSM (vibrating sample magnetometer). As increasing Gd3+ concentration, the saturation magnetization values decreased from (17.8-2.3) emu/g, while the coercivity decreased from (499-133) Oe at room temperature. Finally, the fabricated MSF-NPs were tested against anticancer activity by MTT assay. The IC50 = 21.27 µg/mL value was observed, showing the strong antiproliferative activity of these nanoparticles. These results suggested that the obtained MSF-NPs would be useful for remote-controlled hyperthermia therapy for cancer treatment and MRI application due to their excellent magnetic properties. These distinct properties make MSF-NPs most suitable for cancer treatment and bright Contrast Agents (T1-MRI).

Fabrication of photoluminescent electrically conductive and flame-retardant cellulose fabric incorporating polyaniline/strontium aluminate nanocomposite for a plethora of useful applications.

The pad dry cure method was used to coat linen fibers with a smart nanocomposite that has photoluminescence, electrical conductivity, flame resistance, and hydrophobic properties. Environmentally benign silicone rubber (RTV) was utilized to encapsulate rare-earth activated strontium aluminate nanoparticles (RESAN; 10-18 nm), polyaniline (PANi) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) into linen surface. The flame resistance of the treated linen fabrics was evaluated for their self-extinguishing capabilities. The flame-retardant qualities of linen were retained for 24 washings. Additionally, the superhydrophobicity of the treated linen has markedly improved upon increasing the concentration of RESAN. The colorless luminous film deposited onto linen surface was excited at 365 nm and emitted a wavelength of 518 nm. In accordance with the results of CIE (Commission internationale de l'éclairage) Lab and luminescence analysis, the photoluminescent linen gave rise to diverse colors, including off-white in daylight, green beneath UV radiation and greenish-yellow in a darkened room. The treated linen displayed sustained phosphorescence, as evidenced by decay time spectroscopy. The bending length and air permeability of linen were evaluated for their mechanical and comfort assessment. Finally, the coated linens exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity along with strong UV protection.

Electrophoretic Fabrication of ZnO/CuO and ZnO/CuO/rGO Heterostructures-based Thin Films as Environmental Benign Flexible Electrode for Supercapacitor.

Sustainable fabrication of flexible hybrid supercapacitor electrodes is extensively investigated during the current era to solve global energy problems. Herein, we used a cost-effective and efficient electrophoretic deposition (EPD) approach to fabricate a hybrid supercapacitor electrode. ZnO/CuO and ZnO/CuO/rGO heterostructure were prepared by sol-gel synthesis route and were electrophoretically deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate as a thin uniform layer using 1 V for 20 min at 50 mV/s. ZnO/CuO and ZnO/CuO/rGO heterostructure coated ITOs were then employed as the working electrode in a three-electrode setup for supercapacitor measurements. The fabricated electrodes have been investigated by Galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) to study their charge storage properties. ZnO/CuO revealed a specific capacitance of 1945 F g-1 at 2 mV/s and 999 F g-1 at 5 A g-1. However, an increased specific capacitance of 2305 F g-1 was measured for ZnO/CuO/rGO heterostructure at 2 mV/s and 1235 F g-1 at 5 A g-1. The lower internal resistance was observed for ZnO/CuO/rGO heterostructure, indicating good conductivity of the electrode material. Thus, the overall results of the current study suggest that EPD-assisted ZnO/CuO/rGO heterostructure hybrid electrode possess a substantial potential for energy storage as a supercapacitor.

A promising sensing platform for explosive markers: Zeolite-like metal-organic framework based monolithic composite as a case study.

Preconcentration for on-site detection or subsequent determination is a promising technique for selective sensing explosive markers at low concentrations. Here, we report divinylbenzene monolithic polymer in its blank form (neat-DVB) and as a composite incorporated with sodalite topology zeolite-like metal-organic frameworks (3-ZMOF@DVB), as a sensitive, selective, and cost-effective porous preconcentrator for aliphatic nitroalkanes in the vapor phase as explosive markers at infinite dilution. The developed materials were fabricated as 18 cm gas chromatography (GC) monolithic capillary columns to study their separation performance of nitroalkane mixture and the subsequent physicochemical study of adsorption using the inverse gas chromatography (IGC) technique. A strong preconcentration effect was indicated by a specific retention volume adsorption/desorption ratio equal to 3 for nitromethane on the neat-DVB monolith host-guest interaction, and a 14% higher ratio was observed using the 3-ZMOF@DVB monolithic composite despite the low percentage of 0.7 wt.% of sod-ZMOF added. Furthermore, Incorporating ZMOF resulted in a higher percentage of micropores, increasing the degree of freedom more than bringing stronger adsorption and entropic-driven interaction more than enthalpic. The specific free energy of adsorption (ΔGS) values increased for polar probes and nitroalkanes, denoting that adding ZMOFs earned the DVB monolithic matrix a more specific character. Afterward, Lewis acid-base properties were calculated, estimating the electron acceptor (KA) and electron donor (KB) constants. The neat-DVB was found to have a Lewis basic character with KB/KA = 7.71, and the 3-ZMOF@DVB had a less Lewis basic character with KB/KA = 3.82. An increased electron-accepting nature can be directly related to incorporating sod-ZMOF into the DVB monolithic matrix. This work considers the initial step in presenting a portable explosives detector or preconcentrating explosive markers trace prior to more sophisticated analysis. Additionally, the IGC technique allows for understanding the factors that led to the superior adsorption of nitroalkanes for the developed materials.

CuO-decorated MOF derived ZnO polyhedral nanostructures for exceptional H2S gas detection.

Considering that H2S is a hazardous gas that poses a significant risk to people's lives, research into H2S gas sensors has garnered a lot of interest. This work reports a CuO/ZnO multifaceted nanostructures(NS) created by heat treating Cu2+/ZIF-8 impregnation precursors, and their microstructure and gas sensing characteristics were examined using various characterization techniques (XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, and BET). The as-prepared hollow CuO/ZnO multifunctional nanostructures had a high gas response value (425@50 ppm H2S gas), quick response and recovery times (57/191s @20 ppm), a low limit of detection (1.6@500 ppb H2S), good humidity resistance and highly selective towards H2S gas. The hollow CuO/ZnO multifaceted nanostructures possessed enhanced gas sensing capabilities which may be related to their porous hollow nanostructures, the manufactured p-CuO/n-ZnO heterojunctions, and the spillover effect between CuO and H2S.

In-situ construction of binder-free MnO2/MnSe heterostructure membrane for high-performance energy storage in pseudocapacitors.

Manganese (Mn)-based oxides are considered suitable positive electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs). However, their cycle stability and specific capacitance are significantly hindered by key restrictions such as structural instability and low conductivity. Herein, we demonstrated a novel nanorod (NR)-shaped heterostructured manganese dioxide/manganese selenide membrane (MnO2/MnSe) on carbon cloth (CC) (denoted as MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC) with a high aspect ratio by a straightforward and facile hydrothermal process. Experiments have demonstrated that doping selenium atoms to oxygen sites reduce electronegativity, increasing the intrinsic electronic conductivity of MnO2, decreasing electrostatic interactions with electrolyte ions, and thus boosting the reaction kinetics. Further, the selenium doping results in an amorphous surface with extensive oxygen defects, which contributed to the emergence of additional charge storage sites with pseudocapacitive characteristics. As expected, novel heterostructured MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC as an electrode for SC exhibits a high capacitance of 740.63 F/g at a current density of 1.5 A/g, with excellent cycling performance (93% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles). The MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC exhibited outstanding charge storage capability, dominating capacitive charge storage (84.6% capacitive at 6 mV/s). To examine the practical applications of MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC-ASC as a positive electrode, MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC//AC device was fabricated. The MnO2/MnSe-NR@CC//AC-ASC device performed exceptionally well, with a maximum capacitance of 166.66 F/g at 2 A/g, with a capacitance retention of 94%, after 500 GCD cycles. Additionally, it delivers an energy density of 75.06 Wh/kg at a power density of 1805.1 W/kg and maintains 55.044 Wh/kg at a maximum power density of 18,159 W/kg. This research sheds fresh information on the anionic doping method and has the potential to be applied to the synthesis of positive electrode materials for energy storage applications.

Sonochemical construction of hierarchical strontium doped lanthanum trisulfide electrocatalyst: An efficient electrode for highly sensitive detection of ecological pollutant in food and water.

Herbicides are used constantly in agriculture to enhance productivity across the globe. This herbicide monitoring requires utmost importance since its high dose leads to ecological imbalance and a negative impact on the environment. Moreover, a quantification of toxic herbicide is one of the important problems in the food analysis. In this work, deals with the development of a simple, and facile one-pot sonochemical synthesis of strontium doped La2S3 (Sr@La2S3). Morphological and structural characterization confirms the doping of Sr@La2S3 to generate a hierarchical layered structure. The electrochemical performance of modified with rotating disk electrode (RDE) using Sr@La2S3 composite is high, compared to La2S3 and bare electrodes towards the quantitative detection of mesotrione (MTO) in phosphate buffer. Sr@La2S3/RDE showed good sensitivity for MTO detection and it exhibit a range of 0.01-307.01 µM and limit of detection of 2.4 nM. Besides, the selectivity of fabricated electrode is high as it can electrochemically reduce MTO particularly, even in the presence of other chemicals, biological molecules and inorganic ions. The repeatability of MTO detection is high even after 30 days with a lower RSD values. Hence, simple fabrication of Sr@La2S3/RDE could be a novel electrode for the sensitive, selective, and reproducible determination of herbicides in real-time applications.

Metal-organic frameworks-derived In2O3/ZnO porous hollow nanocages for highly sensitive H2S gas sensor.

The detection of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is critical because of its potential harm and widespread presence in the oil and gas sectors. The zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) derived ZnO nanostructures manufactured as gas sensors have exceptional sensitivity and selectivity for H2S gas. In/Zn-ZIF-8 template material was synthesized by a simple one-step co-precipitation method followed by thermal annealing in air. The heat treatment resulted in In2O3/ZnO nanostructures with mixed heterostructures. The crystal structure (XRD), morphology (SEM/TEM), chemical state (XPS), surface area (BET), etc were investigated to ascertain the nature of the as-prepared material. SEM imagery revealed that the as-prepared In2O3/ZnO sensitive material had a microstructure of porous hollow nanocages with an average particle size of about 200 nm, which is beneficial to the diffusion and adsorption of gas molecules. The gas sensing performance test results of the In2O3/ZnO hollow nanocages show that their response to H2S gas is significantly improved 67.5 @50 ppm H2S (about 11 times that of pure ZnO nanocages) at an optimal temperature of 200 °C, better selectivity, lower theoretical detection limit and good linearity between gas concentration and response values. The enhanced gas sensing feat to H2S gas is mainly attributed to the formation of n-n heterojunction and the wide surface area of the newly formed In2O3/ZnO porous hollow nanocages.

Recyclable Cu-Ag bimetallic nanocatalyst for radical scavenging, dyes removal and antimicrobial applications.

An ecofriendly and cost effective green method has been used for the synthesis of recyclable, high functional nanoparticles. Bimetallic nanoparticles (BmNPs), Cu-Ag, have been synthesized using beetroot extract as reducing and capping agent. Formation of BmNPs was initially confirmed by UV-visible analysis, having distinct peaks of Ag at 429 nm and Cu at 628 nm. FTIR analysis also confirmed the association of bioactive phytochemicals with Cu-Ag nanoparticles. Crystallinity and morphology of BmNPs was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). The size of spherical shape Cu-Ag BmNPs was found to be 75.58 nm and EDAX studies confirmed the percent elemental composition of Cu and Ag in synthesized nanocatalyst. Results of different analysis provided supported evidences regarding the formation of BmNPs. Catalytic potential of BmNPs was tested for the degradation of rhodamine B (Rh-B), methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes. Cu-Ag BmNPs exhibited outstanding catalytic activity for the degradation of selected organic dyes and percent degradation was recorded more than 90% for each dye. In addition, antiradical property of BmNPs was tested employing DPPH● and ABTS●+ assays and it was found to be promising. Synthesized BmNPs also exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhimurium and Bacillus subtilis. Recyclability of nanoparticles was also evaluated and recovery from dye degradation reaction mixture was successfully achieved. The recovered nanoparticles exhibited same catalytic potential for the degradation of Rh-B. The objective of the current study was to synthesize BmNPs Cu-Ag employing a cost effective green method having promising catalytic, antiradical and antimicrobial potential. Further, BmNPs were reused after recovery from catalytic reactions, proving that BmNPs can be recycled having the same efficiency as that of a freshly prepared Cu-Ag BmNPs.