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The use of photocatalysts for acquiring direct photon energy from sunlight is a promising way to clean the environment, particularly the remediation of contaminants from water. In this work, firstly π-conjugated organic semiconductor configuring benzoselenadiazole, 4-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) phenyl)-7-(5'-hexyl-[2,2'-bithiophen]-5-yl)-benzo [c] (Kümmerer, 2009; Chen et al., 2018; Randeep et al., 201) selenadiazole, abbreviated as (RTh-Se-F), was synthesized. The designed RTh-Se-F with an extended π-conjugation showed good optical properties in the visible region and estimated a low optical band gap of â¼2.02 eV . The molecular orbitals i.e. HOMO (-5.33 eV) and LUMO (-3.31 eV) for RTh-Se-F organic semiconductor were suitably aligned to energy levels of (Madhavan et al., 2010Madhavan et al., 2010)-Phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl esters (PC71BM) which resulted in the broadening of absorption and covering of entire visible region. RTh-Se-F was integrated with varied weight percentages (wt %) of PC71BM to obtain bulk heterojunction (BHJ) and applied as efficient visible light driven BHJ photocatalyst for an effective oxidation of ibuprofen. RTh-Se-F@PC71BM (1:2, wt %) BHJ photocatalyst showed the superior ibuprofen degradation of â¼93% within 90 min under visible light illumination. The maximum degradation rate by BHJ photocatalyst might be accredited to the broadening of absorption capacity and improved lifetime of photogenerated electron-hole pairs which might be resulted from high absorption properties of RTh-Se-F organic semiconductor.
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Ibuprofeno , Luz , Catálise , OxirreduçãoRESUMO
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles have been extensively studied for catalyzing the photo-degradation of organic pollutants, the photocatalyst being nonselective to the substrate. We, however, found that TiO2 nanoparticles prepared via the sol-gel and hydrothermal synthetic routes each possess a definite specificity to the charge of the substrate for photodegradation. The nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA, and UV-visible spectra, and the photocatalytic degradation under UV-B (285 nm) irradiation of two model compounds, anionic methyl Orange (MO) and cationic methylene blue (MB) was monitored by a UV-visible spectrophotometer. Untreated sol-gel TiO2 nanoparticles (Tsg) preferentially degraded MO over MB (90% versus 40% in two hours), while after calcination at 400 °C for two hours (Tsgc) they showed reversed specificity (50% MO versus 90% MB in one hour). The as-prepared hydrothermal TiO2 nanoparticles (Tht) behaved in the opposite sense of Tsg (41% MO versus 91% MB degraded in one and a half hours); calcination at 400 °C (Thtc) did not reverse the trend but enhanced the efficiency of degradation. The study indicates that TiO2 nanoparticles can be made to degrade a specific class of organic pollutants from an effluent facilitating the recycling of a specific class of pollutants for cost-effective effluent management.
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Herein, we have developed a novel sensing electrode to detect the eco-toxic 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Ag-doped-ZnO nanoflowers were synthesized by facile hydrothermal method and examined by several characterization techniques in order to understand the morphology, crystal structure, composition, and surface properties. Morphological results were confirmed by the formation of Ag-doped ZnO nanoflowers decorated with nanosheets. Ag-doped ZnO/glassy carbon electrode (GCE) electrode-material-matrix was used for electrochemical sensing of toxic 4-NP. Under optimized conditions, Ag-doped ZnO/GCE modified electrode exhibits high-sensitivity and selectivity compared to the bare GCE electrode. The Ag-doped ZnO/GCE modified electrode exhibits high electrocatalytic oxidation towards 4-NP. Anodic peak current of 4-NP is increased linearly by increasing the concentration of nitrophenol. Additionally, Ag-doped ZnO/GCE shows a wide range of sensitivity from 10 µM to 500 µM, and a linear calibration plot with a good detection limit of 3 µM (S/N = 3). The proposed Ag-doped ZnO/GCE modified electrode showed high sensing stability. In addition, the oxidation mechanism was studied. The obtained results revealed that the Ag-ZnO/GCE electrode could be the promising sensing electrode for 4-NP sensing.
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This paper numerically explores the possibility of ultrathin layering and high efficiency of graphene as a back surface field (BSF) based on a CdTe solar cell by Personal computer one-dimensional (PC1D) simulation. CdTe solar cells have been characterized and studied by varying the carrier lifetime, doping concentration, thickness, and bandgap of the graphene layer. With simulation results, the highest short-circuit current (Isc = 2.09 A), power conversion efficiency (h = 15%), and quantum efficiency (QE ~ 85%) were achieved at a carrier lifetime of 1 × 103 ms and a doping concentration of 1 × 1017 cm-3 of graphene as a BSF layer-based CdTe solar cell. The thickness of the graphene BSF layer (1 mm) was proven the ultrathin, optimal, and obtainable for the fabrication of high-performance CdTe solar cells, confirming the suitability of graphene material as a BSF. This simulation confirmed that a CdTe solar cell with the proposed graphene as the BSF layer might be highly efficient with optimized parameters for fabrication.
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In this work, the deposition of double layer ARC on p-type Si solar cells was carried out by simple spin coating using sol-gel derived Al2O3 and TiO2 precursors for the fabrication of crystalline Si solar cells. The first ARC layer was created by freshly prepared sol-gel derived Al2O3 precursor using spin coating technique and then second ARC layer of TiO2 was deposited with sol-gel derived TiO2 precursor, which was finally annealed at 400 °C. The double layer Al2O3/TiO2 ARC on Si wafer exhibited the low average reflectance of 4.74% in the wavelength range of 400 and 1000 nm. The fabricated solar cells based on double TiO2/Al2O3 ARC attained the conversion efficiency of ~13.95% with short circuit current (JSC) of 35.27 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (VOC) of 593.35 mV and fill factor (FF) of 66.67%. Moreover, the fabricated solar cells presented relatively low series resistance (Rs) as compared to single layer ARCs, resulting in the high VOC and FF.
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Surface-doping anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with Mg²âº were prepared via a novel synthetic method, and used as photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image results indicate that the Mg²âº doping has no effect on the crystal phase and morphology of anatase TiO2. The shift in XRD peaks to higher angles, the absorption shift in UV-vis diffuse reflection spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate the incorporation of Mg²âº-ions into the TiO2 lattice. The as-prepared TiO2nanoparticles doped with a low concentration of ions is proven a superior photoanode material than pure anatase TiO2. The energy-conversion efficiency (1) of DSSC based on TiO2 nanoparticles doped with Mg²âº is at a maximum of 5.90%, corresponding to an efficiency improvement of 23.4% as compared to DSSC based on un-doped TiO2. This new synthetic approach using a nanoprecursor provides a simple and versatile method for the preparation of excellent photoanode materials for application in solar energy conversion devices.
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Magnésio/química , Energia Solar , Titânio/químicaRESUMO
A high performance perovskite solar cell was fabricated using the distinguished morphology of polyaniline nanoparticles (PANI-NPs) as an efficient hole transporting layer (HTL) with methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3) as sensitizer. PANI-NPs were simply synthesized by the oxidative chemical polymerization of aniline monomer at 0-5 °C. A reasonable solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency of â¼6.29% with a high short circuit current (JSC) of â¼17.97 mA/cm(2) and open circuit voltage (VOC) of â¼0.877 V were accomplished by Ag/PANI-NPs/CH3NH3PbI3/mp-anatase-TiO2/bl-TiO2/FTO perovskite solar cell. The transient photocurrent and photovoltage studies revealed that the fabricated solar cell showed better charge transport time, diffusion coefficient, diffusion length, and charge collection efficiency. Herein, the use of PANI-NPs as the HTL improved the charge carrier generation and the charge collection efficiency of the fabricated solar cell.
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In recent times, microplastics have become a disturbance to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and the ingestion of these particles can have severe consequences for wildlife, aquatic organisms, and even humans. In this study, two types of biochars were manufactured through the carbonization of naturally found starfish (SF-1) and aloevera (AL-1). The produced biochars were utilized as sensing electrode materials for the electrochemical detection of â¼100 nm polystyrene microplastics (PS). SF-1 and AL-1 based biochars were thoroughly analyzed in terms of morphology, structure, and composition. The detection of microplastics over biochar based electrodes was carried out by electrochemical studies. From electrochemical results, SF-1 based electrode exhibited the detection efficiency of â¼0.2562 µA/µMâcm2 with detection limit of â¼0.44 nM whereas, a high detection efficiency of â¼3.263 µA/µMâcm2 was shown by AL-1 based electrode and detection limit of â¼0.52 nM for PS (100 nm) microplastics. Process contributed to enhancing the sensitivity of AL-1 based electrode might associate to the presence of metal-carbon framework over biochar's surfaces. The AL-1 biochar electrode demonstrated excellent repeatability and detection stability for PS microplastics, suggesting the promising potential of AL-1 biochar for electrochemical microplastics detection.
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Carvão Vegetal , Microplásticos , Poliestirenos , Humanos , Poliestirenos/química , Plásticos , Ecossistema , Efrina-A5 , EletrodosRESUMO
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a prescribed drug for epilepsy but has low oral bioavailability and gastric instability. Because of the direct link between the nasal cavity and the central nervous system, intranasal administration of CBD as nanoemulsions which are the small sized lipid carriers seem to improve the bioavailability. CBD-nanoemulsions (NEs) were made using Capryol 90, Tween 80, and Transcutol P as oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant, respectively, following aqueous titration approach. Then, using the Box-Behnken design, CBD-NE was statistically optimised for the selection of desirable excipient concentrations in order to create the optimal CBD-NE formulation. As independent variables in the statistical design, Capryol 90 (oil; coded asA), Tween 80 (surfactant; coded asB), and Transcutol P (co-surfactant; coded asC) were used. The dependent variables were droplet size (DS; coded asR1) and polydispersity index (PDI; coded asR2). The average DS, PDI, and the zeta potential of the optimized CBD-NEs were observed to be 88.73 ± 2.67 nm, 0.311 ± 0.015, and -2.71 ± 0.52 mV respectively. Pure CBD and lyophilized CBD-NEFourier-transform infraredspectra demonstrated no physicochemical interaction between excipients and the drug. Furthermore, differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction measurements revealed the amorphous CBD in the NE. As compared to pure CBD, the optimised CBD-NE showed considerably betterin vitrodrug release as well asex vivonasal permeability. The drug targeting efficiency and direct transport percentage of the optimised CBD-NEs were found to be 419.64% and 76.17%, respectively, in this research. Additionally, pharmacokinetic investigations after intranasal administration of CBD-NE revealed considerably higher drug concentrations in the brain with better brain targeting efficiency. As a result, the development of CBD-NE may be an excellent alternative for better intranasal delivery.
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Canabidiol , Nanopartículas , Encéfalo , Sistemas de Liberação de Medicamentos , Emulsões/química , Etilenoglicóis , Excipientes/química , Lipídeos , Nanopartículas/química , Tamanho da Partícula , Polímeros , Polissorbatos/química , Propilenoglicóis , Tensoativos/químicaRESUMO
This work narrates the preparation of efficient nanomaterials framework of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoglobules (NGs) with graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for the fabrication of rapid multiple ion field-effect transistor (MI-FET) sensors. Prepared ZnO-NGs@GO and ZnO-NGs@rGO nanocomposites were broadly analyzed by different analytical techniques to study their morphological, structural, compositional, and electrochemical properties. As electrode materials, ZnO-NGs@GO and ZnO-NGs@rGO were used to fabricate MI-FETs sensor for the detection of multiple ions such as Ni (II), Co (II), Cu (II), Cr (III), Fe (II), and Bi (II) ions. ZnO-NGs@GO and ZnO-NGs@rGO modified MI-FETs sensor exhibited excellent responses towards Cr (III) and Cu (II) ions, which presented the remarkable sensitivities of ~49.28 mA µM-1. cm-2 (Cr (III) ions) and ~185.32 mA µM-1. cm-2 (Cu (II) ions), respectively. The fabricated MI-FETs sensor displayed good dynamic linear detection of ions with low limit of detection (LOD) values of ~7.05 µM and ~14.9 µM for ZnO-NGs@GO and ZnO-NGs@rGO electrodes, respectively. Efficient charge transfer over electrode considerably enhanced the trace detection of Cr (III) and Cu (II) ions. The fabricated MI-FETs sensor platform exhibited extraordinary reproducibility and excellent stability of sensing performance and thus, confirmed delightful potential to sprout a useful tool for water maintaining system.
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Grafite , Óxido de Zinco , Íons , Reprodutibilidade dos TestesRESUMO
A heterostructure was fabricated using p-type plasma polymerized polyaniline (PANI) and n-type (single and bilayer) titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin film on FTO glass. The deposition of single and bilayer TiO2 thin film on FTO substrate was achieved through doctor blade followed by dip coating technique before subjected to plasma enhanced polymerization. To fabricate p-n heterostructure, a plasma polymerization of aniline was conducted using RF plasma at 13.5 MHz and at the power of 120 W on the single and bilayer TiO2 thin film electrodes. The morphological, optical and the structural characterizations revealed the formation of p-n heterostructures between PANI and TiO2 thin film. The PANI/bilayer TiO2 heterostructure showed the improved current-voltage (I-V) characteristics due to the substantial deposition of PANI molecules into the bilayer TiO2 thin film which provided good conducting pathway and reduced the degree of excitons recombination. The change of linear I-V behavior of PANI/TiO2 heterostructure to non linear behavior with top Pt contact layer confirmed the formation of Schottky contact at the interfaces of Pt layer and PANI/TiO2 thin film layers.
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Compostos de Anilina/química , Eletrodos , Membranas Artificiais , Nanoestruturas/química , Nanoestruturas/ultraestrutura , Semicondutores , Titânio/química , Condutividade Elétrica , Desenho de Equipamento , Análise de Falha de Equipamento , Gases em Plasma/químicaRESUMO
An inorganic/organic hetrostructure diode was constructed by the electrophoretic deposition of the p-type polyaniline (PANI) on an n-type titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticulate thin film. The bonding and internalization of PANI to TiO2 nanoparticulate thin film were confirmed by the morphological, structural and optical studies of electrophoretically deposited PANI/TIO2 nanoparticulate thin film. The increased size of TiO2 nanoparticles indicated the well penetration of PANI molecules into the pores of mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticulate thin film. The XPS studies of PANI/TiO2 heterostructure exhibited the surface bonding and interaction between PANI molecules and TiO2 nanoparticles. The current-voltage (I-V) characterization of PANI/TiO2 heterostructure was carried out in the forward and the reverse bias at the applied voltage ranges from -1 V to +1 V with a scan rate of 2 mV/s. The constructed Pt/PANI/TiO2 heterostructure device established diodic behavior with non-linear nature of I-V curves.
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We demonstrate the hydrothermal synthesis of three dimension (3D) peony-like morphology of zinc gallate (ZnGa2O4), dominated by assembled nanosheets and applied as electrode material in electrochemical detection of N,N-dimethylmethanamide chemical. The crystalline, structural and compositional characterizations deduced the formation of high quality ZnGa2O4 with spinal crystal structure. Peony-like 3D ZnGa2O4 was benefited by a high surface area of ~62.3 m2 g-1, good pore distribution (mean pore diameter of ~23.3 nm) and large pore volume of ~0.3622 cm3 g-1. N,N-dimethylmethanamide chemical sensor based on peony-like 3D ZnGa2O4 electrode presented a linear curve in the working dynamic range of 1 nM-10 mM. Significantly improved chemical sensitivity of ~154.2 mA mM-1 cm-2 with low detection limit value of ~0.14 µM were achieved. The fabricated sensor based on peony-like 3D ZnGa2O4 electrode endorsed real sample analysis and ascertained the selectivity towards N,N-dimethylmethanamide chemical by analyzing a range of interfering analytes, viz. ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, methyl amine chemical.
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The release of untreated wastewater containing biotoxic substances in the form of heavy metals is one of the most crucial environmental and health challenges faced by our community. The recent advances in microbes derived removal has propelled bioremediation as a better and effective alternative to conventional techniques. Present study investigates the detoxification mechanisms evolved by the nickel (Ni(II)) resistant fungal strains, isolated from the industrial drain sites. The molecular detailing of the isolated fungal isolates confirms their identity as Neurospora crassa and Aspergillus flavus. Laboratory-scale experiments have established influence of different ranges of dose, pH, time, and metal concentration on the removal and uptake trends. Further, the variations in the carbon and nitrogen sources and agitation conditions has revealed the best substratum for achieving optimum results for the industrial exploitation of these microbes. SEM micrographs and FTIR spectra elucidates the superficial alterations on the mycelium of the fungal isolates and the involvement of active functional groups in the bioremediation of Ni(II) respectively. Biosorption of Ni(II) on living biomass has followed the Langmuir adsorption model. The findings of the study have provided a promising insight in the simultaneous action of different mechanistic removal approaches to explore a large scale removal of Ni(II) from the waste generating industries.
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Metais Pesados , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Adsorção , Biodegradação Ambiental , Biomassa , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , Cinética , Níquel , Águas ResiduáriasRESUMO
A novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composite electrolyte was successfully synthesized by the thermal polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with CNTs for solid-state dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The prepared CNTs-PMMA composite electrolytes were characterized by Fourior transformed-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and ionic conductivity. A strong bonding was observed between CNT and PMMA through ester bonding in the CNT-PMMA composite, resulting in the lowering of crystallinity and increasing the ionic conductivity of composite electrolyte. DSSCs fabricated with CNTs-PMMA composite electrolytes achieved relatively high conversion efficiency of 2.9% with an open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 0.567 volt, short circuit current (I(sc)) of 8.9 mA/cm2 and fill factor of 61.8%, which is attributed to enhanced amorphicity and ionic conductivity due to the formation of strong bonding between CNT and PMMA molecules.
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High efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using ZnO nanosheet electrodes. ZnO nanosheets were synthesized on top of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass using Zn(OAc)2 as a precursor in the gold catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method at a temperature of 800-900 degrees C. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Typical DSSCs with ZnO nanosheets achieved moderately good conversion efficiency eta of approximately 2.12% with short-circuit current density J(SC) = 3.56 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage V(OC) = 0.831 V, and fill factor FF = 71%. The high J(SC) and eta are attributed to high dye absorption through high surface ZnO nanosheets, which increased the light harvesting. The lower recombination rate was also observed in the ZnO nanosheet electrodes, resulting in high values of V(OC) and FF in the DSSCs.
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This paper reports the rapid synthesis, characterization, and photovoltaic and sensing applications of TiO2 nanoflowers prepared by a facile low-temperature solution process. The morphological characterizations clearly reveal the high-density growth of a three-dimensional flower-shaped structure composed of small petal-like rods. The detailed properties confirmed that the synthesized nanoflowers exhibited high crystallinity with anatase phase and possessed an energy bandgap of 3.2 eV. The synthesized TiO2 nanoflowers were utilized as photo-anode and electron-mediating materials to fabricate dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and liquid nitroaniline sensor applications. The fabricated DSSC demonstrated a moderate conversion efficiency of ~3.64% with a maximum incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) of ~41% at 540 nm. The fabricated liquid nitroaniline sensor demonstrated a good sensitivity of ~268.9 µA mM-1 cm-2 with a low detection limit of 1.05 mM in a short response time of 10 s.
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This work highlights the utilization of a novel hole-transporting material (HTM) derived from benzothiadiazole: 4-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-7-(5'-hexyl-[2,2'-bithiophen]-5-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (CF-BTz-ThR) and aligned TiO2 nano-bundles (TiO2 NBs) as the electron transporting layer (ETL) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The aligned TiO2 NBs were grown on titanium (Ti)-coated FTO substrates using a facile hydrothermal method. The newly designed CF-BTz-ThR molecule with suitable highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) favored the effective hole injection from perovskite deposited aligned TiO2 NBs thin film. The PSCs demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of â¼15.4% with a short circuit current density (Jsc) of â¼22.42 mA cm-2 and an open circuit voltage (Voc) of â¼1.02 V. The efficiency data show the importance of proper molecular engineering whilst highlighting the advantages of dopant-free HTMs in PSCs.
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This paper reports on the catalytic reaction for the conversion of silicon tetrachloride (STC) to trichlorosilane (TCS) over pretreated ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) catalysts by oxygen (denoted as OMC-O2) and hydrochloric acid (denoted as OMC-HCl) at 300 degrees C under N2 atmosphere. The OMC-O2 shows significantly improved the surface area (1341.2 m2/g) and pore volume (1.65 cm3/g), which results in the highest conversion rate of 7.3% as compared to bare OMC (4.3%) and OMC-HCI (5.7%). It is found that the conversion rate of STC to TCS is proportional to the number of Si-O bond over OMC catalysts, which suggests that Si-O-C bond formation is crucial to the reaction as active sites. The O2 pretreatment seems to promote the generation of oxygenated species for the formation of Si-O-C.
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The leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (Neem) plant was utilized as reducing agent for the green synthesis of Mn3O4 nanoparticles (NPs). The crystalline analysis demonstrated the typical tetragonal hausmannite crystal structure of Mn3O4, which confirmed the formation of Mn3O4 NPs without the existence of other oxides. Green synthesized Mn3O4 NPs were applied for the catalytic thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and as working electrode for fabricating the chemical sensor. The excellent catalytic effect for the thermal decomposition of AP was observed by decreasing the decomposition temperature by 175 °C with single decomposing step. The fabricated chemical sensor based on green synthesized Mn3O4 NPs displayed high, reliable and reproducible sensitivity of â¼569.2 µA mM(-1) cm(-2) with reasonable limit of detection (LOD) of â¼22.1 µM and the response time of â¼10 s toward the detection of 2-butanone chemical. A relatively good linearity in the ranging from â¼20 to 160 µM was detected for Mn3O4 NPs electrode based 2-butanone chemical sensor.