High biocompatible nitrogen and sulfur Co-doped carbon dots for Hg(II) detection and their long-term biological stability in living cells.

Fluorescent carbon dots have been highly reported nanomaterials in recent times because of their excellent physio-chemical properties and various field of applications. Herein, a one-step hydrothermal approach was used to synthesize high biocompatible nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots, and examined their chemical sensing (Hg2+) and biological imaging properties. The N,S-CDs exhibited blue light, demonstrating a high quantum yield of up to 44.5% and excitation-independent fluorescent characteristics. Cytotoxicity was observed by CCK-8 assay using T-ca cells as a target source. Cell viability was recorded over 80% even after 7 days of treatment with a concentration up to 400 µg/mL, indicating low-toxicity of N,S-CDs. Notably, the bright blue fluorescence of N,S-CDs was quenched by introducing toxic Hg2+ ions into the solution. The detection limit was calculated to be about ∼3.5 nM, which is quite impressive compared to previous reports. Because of their low-toxicity, nano-size, and environment friendly properties, N,S-CDs could be excellent fluorescent agents for bio-imaging applications. The biological stability of fluorescent N,S-CDs was tested over time, and the findings were significant even after 8 days of incubation with T-ca cells. Because of good biocompatibility and bright fluorescence, N,S-CDs were suitable for in vivo imaging.

Antimicrobial potentials of medicinal plant's extract and their derived silver nanoparticles: A focus on honey bee pathogen.

Infectious (or Communicable) diseases are not only the past but also the present problem in developing as well as developed countries. It is caused by various pathogenic microbes like fungi, bacteria, parasites and virus etc. The medicinal plants and nano-silver have been used against the pathogenic microbes. Herbal medicines are generally used for healthcare because they have low price and wealthy source of antimicrobial properties. Like medicinal plants, silver nanoparticles also have emergent applications in biomedical fields due to their immanent therapeutic performance. Here, we also explore the various plant parts such as bark, stem, leaf, fruit and seed against Gram negative and Gram-positive bacteria, using different solvents for extraction i.e. methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, acetone, n. hexane, butanol, petroleum ether and benzene. Since ancient to date most of the countries have been used herbal medicines, but in Asia, some medicinal plants are commonly used in rural and backward areas as a treatment for infectious diseases. In this review, we provide simple information about medicinal plants and Silver nanoparticles with their potentialities such as antiviral, bactericidal and fungicidal. Additionally, the present review to highlights the versatile applications of medicinal plants against honey bee pathogen such as fungi (Ascosphaera apis), mites (Varroa spp. and Tropilaelaps sp.), bacteria (Melissococcus plutonius Paenibacillus larvae), and microsporidia (Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae). In conclusion, promising nonchemical (plant extracts) are innocuous to adult bees. So, we strongly believed that this effort was made to evaluate the status of medicinal plants researches globally.

Ca3Lu(AlO)3(BO3)4 : Sm3+: a novel red-emitting phosphor with high colour purity for NUV-based warm white LEDs.

In the present work, we described the synthesis of a novel phosphor Ca3Lu(AlO)3(BO3)4 (CLAB) activated with Sm3+ via high temperature solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectra, diffuse reflection spectra, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and fluorescence decay curves were used to characterize the as-synthesized samples. The morphology and chemical composition were measured by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and X-ray energy diffraction spectroscopy (EDAX). The structure refinements from XRD data revealed the isostructural arrangement of CLAB : Sm3+ to gaudefroyite with a hexagonal P63/m space group in which the AlO6 octahedral chains are interconnected by BO3 triangles in the ab plane to form a Kagome-type lattice (star-shaped), leaving trigonal and apatite-like-tunnels. Under 404 nm excitation, the as-synthesized phosphor shows an intensely red emission peaked at 614 nm with CIE coordinates of (0.615, 0.380) and high colour purity up to 98.53%. The quantum yield of the phosphor was found to be 15.5% with a desired doping concentration of 5 mol% Sm3+ ions. The red emission intensity of CLAB : 0.05Sm3+ at 425 K is 86.6% of that at 300 K. All these good properties make the phosphor of CLAB : Sm3+ exhibit a great potential for application in UV-based warm white LEDs used in displays.