Numerical simulation and performance optimization of a lead-free inorganic perovskite solar cell using SCAPS-1D.

The perovskite solar cells, founded on lead halides, have garnered significant attention from the photovoltaic industry owing to their superior efficiency, ease of production, lightweight characteristics, and affordability. However, due to the hazardous nature of lead-based compounds, these solar cells are currently unsuitable for commercial production. In this context, a lead-free perovskite, cesium-bismuth iodide (Cs3Bi2I9) is considered as a potential alternative to the lead halide-based cell due to their non-toxicity and stability, but this perovskite cannot be matched with random hole transport layer (HTL) and electron transport layer (ETL) materials compared to lead halide-based perovskite because of their crystal structure and band gap. Therefore, in this study, performance comparison of different ideal HTL and ETL materials for Cs3Bi2I9 perovskite layer were studied using SCAPS-1D device simulation on the basis of open circuit voltage, short circuit current, power conversion efficiency (PCE) and fill factor (FF) as well as several novel PSC configuration models were designed that can direct for further experimental research for PSC device commercialization. Results from this investigation reveals that the maximum efficiency of 20.96 % is obtained for the configuration ITO/WS2/Cs3Bi2I9/NiO/Au with optimized parameters such as thickness 400 nm, band gap 2.1eV, absorber layer defect density 1012 cm-3, donor density of ETL 1018 cm-3 and the acceptor density of HTL 1020 cm-3.

A review of microplastic threat mitigation in Asian lentic environments.

Microplastic (MP) pollution has evolved into a significant worldwide environmental concern due to its widespread sources, enduring presence, and adverse effects on lentic ecosystems and human well-being. The growing awareness of the hidden threat posed by MPs in lentic ecosystems has emphasized the need for more in-depth research. Unlike marine environments, there remain unanswered questions about MP hotspots, ecotoxic effects, transport mechanisms, and fragmentation in lentic ecosystems. The introduction of MPs represents a novel threat to long-term environmental health, posing unresolved challenges for sustainable management. While MP pollution in lentic ecosystems has garnered global attention due to its ecotoxicity, our understanding of MP hotspots in lakes from an Asian perspective remains limited. Hence, the aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of MP hotspots, morphological attributes, ecotoxic impacts, sustainable solutions, and future challenges across Asia. The review summarizes the methods employed in previous studies and the techniques for sampling and analyzing microplastics in lake water and sediment. Notably, most studies concerning lake microplastics tend to follow the order of China > India > Pakistan > Nepal > Turkey > Bangladesh. Additionally, this review critically addresses the analysis of microplastics in lake water and sediment, shedding light on the prevalent net-based sampling methods. Ultimately, this study emphasizes the existing research gaps and suggests new research directions, taking into account recent advancements in the study of microplastics in lentic environments. In conclusion, the review advocates for sustainable interventions to mitigate MP pollution in the future, highlighting the presence of MPs in Asian lakes, water, and sediment, and their potential ecotoxicological repercussions on both the environment and human health.

Advancements in adsorption based carbon dioxide capture technologies- A comprehensive review.

The significant increase in energy consumption has facilitated a rapid increase in offensive greenhouse gas (GHG) and CO2 emissions. The consequences of such emissions are one of the most pivotal concerns of environmental scientists. To protect the environment, they are conducting the necessary research to protect the environment from the greenhouse effect. Among the different sources of CO2 emission, power plants contribute the largest amount of CO2 and as the number of power plants around the world is rising gradually due to increasing energy demand, the amount of CO2 emission is also rising subsequently. Researchers have developed different potential technologies to capture post-combustion CO2 capture from powerplants among which membrane-based, cryogenic, absorption and adsorption-based CO2 processes have gained much attention due to their applicability at the industrial level. In this work, adsorption-based CO2 technologies are comprehensively reviewed and discussed to understand the recent advancements in different adsorption technologies and several adsorbent materials. Researchers and scientists have developed and advanced different adsorption technologies including vacuum swing adsorption, temperature swing adsorption, pressure swing adsorption, and electric swing adsorption, etc. To further improve the CO2 adsorption capacity with a compact CO2 adsorption unit, researchers have integrated different adsorption technologies to investigate their performance, such as temperature vacuum swing adsorption, pressure vacuum swing adsorption, electric temperature pressure swing adsorption, etc. Different adsorbent materials have been tested to evaluate their applicability for CO2 adsorption and among these adsorbents, advanced carbonaceous, non-carbonaceous, polymeric, and nanomaterials have achieved much attention due to their suitable characteristics that are required for adsorbing CO2. Researchers have reported that higher CO2 adsorption capacity can be achieved by integrating different adsorption technologies and employing suitable adsorbent material for that system. This comprehensive review also provides future directions that may assist researchers in developing novel adsorbent materials and gaining a proper understanding of the selection criteria for effective CO2 adsorption processes with suitable adsorbents.

Identification of genetic biomarkers, drug targets and agents for respiratory diseases utilising integrated bioinformatics approaches.

Respiratory diseases (RD) are significant public health burdens and malignant diseases worldwide. However, the RD-related biological information and interconnection still need to be better understood. Thus, this study aims to detect common differential genes and potential hub genes (HubGs), emphasizing their actions, signaling pathways, regulatory biomarkers for diagnosing RD and candidate drugs for treating RD. In this paper we used integrated bioinformatics approaches (such as, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation and network-based molecular interaction analysis). We discovered 73 common DEGs (CDEGs) and ten HubGs (ATAD2B, PPP1CB, FOXO1, AKT3, BCR, PDE4D, ITGB1, PCBP2, CD44 and SMARCA2). Several significant functions and signaling pathways were strongly related to RD. We recognized six transcription factor (TF) proteins (FOXC1, GATA2, FOXL1, YY1, POU2F2 and HINFP) and five microRNAs (hsa-mir-218-5p, hsa-mir-335-5p, hsa-mir-16-5p, hsa-mir-106b-5p and hsa-mir-15b-5p) as the important transcription and post-transcription regulators of RD. Ten HubGs and six major TF proteins were considered drug-specific receptors. Their binding energy analysis study was carried out with the 63 drug agents detected from network analysis. Finally, the five complexes (the PDE4D-benzo[a]pyrene, SMARCA2-benzo[a]pyrene, HINFP-benzo[a]pyrene, CD44-ketotifen and ATAD2B-ponatinib) were selected for RD based on their strong binding affinity scores and stable performance as the most probable repurposable protein-drug complexes. We believe our findings will give readers, wet-lab scientists, and pharmaceuticals a thorough grasp of the biology behind RD.

Integration of ion transport membrane with conventional powerplant to enhance the plant capacity with improved power production.

Ion Transport Membrane (ITM) is an emerging technology for producing O2 by separating air in its membrane. To decrease energy loss in air separation unit and to increase the overall efficiency of a power generation unit ITM is added with the gasification unit in this model. Ceramic materials are generally used to make the ion transport membrane that produces oxygen by conducting oxygen ions at a specified temperature. Potential advantages can be gained by integrating ITM technology with power generation units as 99% pure oxygen is produced from ITM. Using ITM air separator is more beneficial compared to cryogenic air separation as ITM technology helps to improve IGCC overall efficiency and also reduces plant auxiliaries than that of power generation systems integrated with cryogenic. This paper proposed a novel and effective integration of ITM, gas turbine, HRSG system, gas clean up system and gasification unit to produce sustainable energy. Environmental impacts are considered to design this integrated power generation unit. The proposed model achieved a high gross electric efficiency of 47.58% and high net power of 296730 kW which revealed its potentiality compared to available cryogenic ASU-based combine cycle power plants.

Personal protective equipment-derived pollution during Covid-19 era: A critical review of ecotoxicology impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people used personal protective equipment (PPE) to lessen the spread of the virus. The release of microplastics (MPs) from discarded PPE is a new threat to the long-term health of the environment and poses challenges that are not yet clear. PPE-derived MPs have been found in multi-environmental compartments, e.g., water, sediments, air, and soil across the Bay of Bengal (BoB). As COVID-19 spreads, healthcare facilities use more plastic PPE, polluting aquatic ecosystems. Excessive PPE use releases MPs into the ecosystem, which aquatic organisms ingest, distressing the food chain and possibly causing ongoing health problems in humans. Thus, post-COVID-19 sustainability depends on proper intervention strategies for PPE waste, which have received scholarly interest. Although many studies have investigated PPE-induced MPs pollution in the BoB countries (e.g., India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar), the ecotoxicity impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges of PPE-derived waste have largely gone unnoticed. Our study presents a critical literature review covering the ecotoxicity impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges across the BoB countries (e.g., India (162,034.45 tons), Bangladesh (67,996 tons), Sri Lanka (35,707.95 tons), and Myanmar (22,593.5 tons). The ecotoxicity impacts of PPE-derived MPs on human health and other environmental compartments are critically addressed. The review's findings infer a gap in the 5R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Redesign, and Restructure) Strategy's implementation in the BoB coastal regions, hindering the achievement of UN SDG-12. Despite widespread research advancements in the BoB, many questions about PPE-derived MPs pollution from the perspective of the COVID-19 era still need to be answered. In response to the post-COVID-19 environmental remediation concerns, this study highlights the present research gaps and suggests new research directions considering the current MPs' research advancements on COVID-related PPE waste. Finally, the review suggests a framework for proper intervention strategies for reducing and monitoring PPE-derived MPs pollution in the BoB countries.

Metal Oxide Nanosheet: Synthesis Approaches and Applications in Energy Storage Devices (Batteries, Fuel Cells, and Supercapacitors).

In recent years, the increasing energy requirement and consumption necessitates further improvement in energy storage technologies to obtain high cycling stability, power and energy density, and specific capacitance. Two-dimensional metal oxide nanosheets have gained much interest due to their attractive features, such as composition, tunable structure, and large surface area which make them potential materials for energy storage applications. This review focuses on the establishment of synthesis approaches of metal oxide nanosheets (MO nanosheets) and their advancements over time, as well as their applicability in several electrochemical energy storage systems, such as fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors. This review provides a comprehensive comparison of different synthesis approaches of MO nanosheets, as well their suitability in several energy storage applications. Among recent improvements in energy storage systems, micro-supercapacitors, and several hybrid storage systems are rapidly emerging. MO nanosheets can be employed as electrode and catalyst material to improve the performance parameters of energy storage devices. Finally, this review outlines and discusses the prospects, future challenges, and further direction for research and applications of metal oxide nanosheets.