Appraisal of Comparative Therapeutic Potential of Undoped and Nitrogen-Doped Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles.

Nitrogen-doped and undoped titanium dioxide nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by simple chemical method and characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The reduction in crystalline size of TiO2 nanoparticles (from 20-25 nm to 10-15 nm) was observed by TEM after doping with N. Antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antidiabetic, protein kinase inhibition and cytotoxic properties were assessed in vitro to compare the therapeutic potential of both kinds of TiO2 nanoparticles. All biological activities depicted significant enhancement as a result of addition of N as doping agent to TiO2 nanoparticles. Klebsiella pneumoniae has been illuminated to be the most susceptible bacterial strain out of various Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates of bacteria used in this study. Good fungicidal activity has been revealed against Aspergillus flavus. 38.2% of antidiabetic activity and 80% of cytotoxicity has been elucidated by N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles towards alpha-amylase enzyme and Artemia salina (brine shrimps), respectively. Moreover, notable protein kinase inhibition against Streptomyces and antioxidant effect including reducing power and % inhibition of DPPH has been demonstrated. This investigation unveils the more effective nature of N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles in comparison to undoped TiO2 nanoparticles indicated by various biological tests. Hence, N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles have more potential to be employed in biomedicine for the cure of numerous infections.

Preparation of low-cost sludge-based mesoporous carbon and its adsorption of tetracycline antibiotics.

Preparation of sludge-derived mesoporous carbon materials (SMCs) through pyrolysis of excess activated sludge from urban municipal sewage plants is an effective means of reducing pollution and utilizing a waste resource. This paper presented a method of SMC preparation in which calcium oxide (CaO), polyacrylamide (PAM), and chitosan (CAS) flocculating agents were used as pore-forming additives. Physical and chemical characterizations of the prepared SMCs were conducted by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The prepared SMCs were used to adsorb a tetracycline (TC) antibiotic pollutant. The influences of pH, adsorption time, temperature, and pollutant concentration on TC adsorption capacity were determined. The experiments demonstrated that weakly acidic conditions were conducive to TC adsorption, which mainly occurs via electrostatic and π-π interactions. The TC adsorption process by SMCs conformed better to the pseudo-second-order models, indicating that chemical adsorption was the dominant adsorption process. The isothermal adsorption of TC by the SMCs conformed to the Freundlich model. This implied that TC easily adhered onto the SMC surfaces via multilayer homogeneous adsorption. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption of TC onto SMCs was spontaneous and endothermic.