Fast and efficient degradation of water pollutant dyes and fungicide by novel sulfur-doped graphene oxide-modified Ag3PO4 nanocomposite.

The sulfur-doped graphene oxide (sGO)-integrated Ag3PO4 composite displayed very high catalytic activity toward prominent water pollutants like textile dyes and fungicide under sunlight. The optimum amount of sGO doping was found as 5% for degradation. The novel composite degraded 99% of methylene blue (MB) in only 5 min of sunlight exposure, which is 16 and 8 times faster than Ag3PO4 and 5% GO-Ag3PO4. High mineralization was observed for MB with a total organic carbon (TOC) removal of 98% in 30 min. The composite mineralized rhodamine B, methyl orange, and acid red 18 dyes with a TOC removal above 95%. Moreover, a toxic dithiocarbamate fungicide thiram was degraded in 1 h with a TOC removal of 82% leaving less toxic thiourea. The formation of sGO-Ag3PO4 n-n heterojunction increases charge transport and photocatalytic activity of the composite to incredible extent along with hollow morphology and in situ formed Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs).

Rapid sunlight-driven mineralisation of dyes and fungicide in water by novel sulphur-doped graphene oxide/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite.

A semiconductor photocatalyst was prepared in facile, standard conditions by integrating 1% metal-free, sulphur-doped graphene oxide (sGO) as cocatalyst and Ag3VO4 as photocatalyst and characterised via spectroscopic, microscopic and voltammetric techniques. The catalytic activity was performed on notable water pollutants like textile dyes and fungicide employing various techniques. Cationic dyes such as methylene blue and rhodamine B were degraded > 99% with above 90% organic carbon content removal indicating total mineralisation while anionic dyes were degraded 75-80% in 1 h. For the first time, a dithiocarbamate fungicide thiram is degraded to give thiourea as a product in 1 h. Photocatalysis follows pseudo-first order kinetics with rate 3.67, 49.50 and 3.19 times higher than Ag3VO4, sGO and GO-Ag3VO4 respectively with excellent stability and recyclability. One percent sGO aided excellent carrier separation boosted by electrons and surface defects from sGO, morphology and n-n heterojunction formation. The catalyst efficiently removed 82.8% of the total organic carbon content of a real water sample from the textile mill under 2-h sunlight irradiation.

The use of a newspaper insertion to promote DIY testing of vision in India.

BACKGROUND: The mass media have the potential to motivate people to participate in self appraisal of their own health status. An innovative communication package was designed to help people to examine vision at home. The impact of publishing the "do it yourself" (DIY) kit in Indian newspapers was evaluated. METHODS: A pretested bilingual vision testing kit was published in three newspapers. The kit comprised four tumbling Es corresponding to 6/12 line of Snellen's optotypes. Directions on using the kit were enclosed. 3 -7 days after publication of the kit, a telephone survey of newspaper readers was undertaken to evaluate the impact and cost effectiveness. RESULTS: 603 people were contacted over the telephone. 125 (20.73%) subscribed to the newspaper carrying the DIY insertion. 43.2% (54) noticed the insertion of which 88.89% (48) read the enclosed instructions carefully. 58.33% respondents felt sufficiently motivated to contact an ophthalmologist. Graduates had a 3.83 times higher probability of reading the communication insertion compared with others. Differences in relation to other demographic variables were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Newspapers are an excellent medium for communicating self appraisal kits for vision testing. The medium is cost effective and has significant reach in the urban agglomerates of India.