Development of cost-effective fluorescent carbon nanoparticles as security ink for anticounterfeiting and fingerprint visualization

Anticounterfeiting and latent fingerprinting have become ever-growing global demands, impacting national economies, defence and various technological fields. This has led to an increasing need for photoluminescent materials that are nontoxic, highly luminous, photostable, more sensitive and low- cost. However, there is a lack of research reports that offer a detailed exploration of photoluminescent materials for both anticounterfeiting and latent fingerprinting. Thus, we explored waste pistachio shell biomass-derived tunable fluorescent carbon nanoparticles as an invisible/security ink for latent fingerprint visualization and anticounterfeiting labels. Three levels of security characteristics for fingerprint analysis were investigated to enable a more comprehensive exploration of the synthesised fluorescent carbon nanoparticles. The invisible distinctive impression of the ridges, grooves, and furrows of the fingers was visible on the thin layer chromatographic plate after fluorescent carbon nanoparticle- based ink was applied to the finger under UV-light excitation. The anticounterfeiting study was performed after labelling the prepared ink on Whatman filter paper, TLC plates, PVA films and Indian currency to investigate its diversified applications. This study provides a new prospect for low-cost and non-toxic photoluminescent carbon nanoparticles as invisible ink for security, encryption, and label

Failure Mechanism of a Large Wedge in Open Cast Mine Composed of a Granite Porphyry Rock Mass of Aravali Region - A Case Study

The present study aims to investigate the mechanism involved in a massive wedge failure disaster at the Dadam Granite Mines in Haryana. This failure, with a block volume of about 2700 m³, occurred on the night of December 31, 2021. The wedge failure took place at the boundary junction of adjoining Pit Nos. 37 and 38, near the Aravali hills revenue forest area. In light of this accident, large wedges formation, initiation, and translation were studied. Field investigations revealed that kinematically unfavourable joints led to the massive wedge failure. Water inflow within the open and highly persistent joints (22 to 55 m) washed out the soft-infilled materials (clay and silts). This created a slip surface along the oblique joint, causing a sudden decrease in shear strength along the basal joint plane. The surface joint acted as a release plane, with flow imprints of the infilled materials visible on the leftover vertical and daylighted oblique joint walls. The back-calculated Slope Mass Rating (SMR) using the continuous function placed the kinematic potential wedge into Class IV and V, indicating entirely unstable conditions. Based on detailed field investigation and kinematic analysis, the study discusses the potential processes underlying such catastrophic wedge failures

Development of Coal Quality Exploration Technique based on Convolutional Neural Network and Hyperspectral Imaging

Coal is India's prime energy source, contributing about 60% of total electricity production. Coal India, a major coal-producing public sector unit, has produced record 703.2 million tons of coal during the year 2022–2023. Therefore, this paper proposes an idea of instant prediction of coal quality parameters using hyperspectral imaging and deep neural network. We have collected coal samples from 35 different coal mines of all areas of Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), and 257 different types of samples have been generated. All 257 coal samples were imaged using camera PIKA NIR 320. The RegNet model was applied to predict coal quality based on moisture, ash, volatile matter, gross calorific value, fixed carbon, and sulphur. The results were validated through chemical analysis results received from the lab. The proposed approach achieved good prediction accuracy, nearly 96% for coal quality parameters. Moisture showed the highest accuracy, 96.09% in quality prediction. [Received: October 25, 2023; Accepted: April 14, 2024

Coupled effect of joint orientation and blast-induced damage zone on the stability of jointed rock slopes

The present study examines and discusses the coupled effect of Blast-Induced Damage Zones (BIDZ) and joint orientation on the stability of vulnerable road cut slopes along the strategic National Highway-5 in Himachal Pradesh, India by using the continuum numerical modelling approach. In this study, the field conditions of BIDZ in jointed rock slopes have been presented and its impact on failure behaviour has been analysed considering cases of daylight and anti-dip joint orientations. Subsequently, Low-Dip (LD) and High-Dip (HD) in the case of daylighted joints and Anti-Dip (AD) along with combinations of LD, HD and AD were considered to investigate the effect of BIDZ. Additionally, the Joint Persistence Factor was also taken into account to investigate the effect of the areal extent of joint due to blasting within BIDZ. The outcomes of this work highlight that anti-dip (AD) joints show low deformation and shear strain changes indicating increased stability even in the presence of blast disturbance whereas Low-Dip (LD) and High-Dip (HD) joints show a progressive decline in critical strength reduction factor from low-dip to high dip and at same time increase in total displacement and maximum shear strain. The patterns in failure behaviour are observed to be highly influenced by blast damage zones coupled with joint orientation and its persistence factor. The high joint persistence factor significantly affects the areal extent of rock mass deformation and failure patterns, particularly in LD joint conditions. These results provide important new information derived from investigations and modelling on blast damage zones in rock slopes, and they have significant consequences in the planning and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in hilly areas. It is crucial to use these findings while designing appropriate stabilization measures in order to ensure the stability of road cut slopes, thereby the safety of transport infrastructure in difficult geological environments

House Dust Mite Diversity and Abundance in the Human Dwellings of the Coal Mining Area of Dhanbad, India

House dust mites (HDM) are one of the major causes of allergic diseases all over the world as well as in India. However, there is limited information on HDM diversity and abundance in the human dwellings of coal mining areas of India. Therefore, the objective of this study was to document the species richness, diversity, and abundance of HDM in the coal mining areas of Dhanabad, India in three dominant types of human dwellings. Pyroglyphidae family (36%) occupied the highest percentage among the isolated mites, followed by the Glycyphagidae (24–28%) family. The study, based on weekly sampling for two consecutive years, found significant differences in the house dust mites density and dust mite species composition among three types of houses. Thirteen dust mite species were identified including 8 species that were common in all types of houses. Three principal HDM, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was abundantly present in all the houses, Dermatophagoides farinae was very poor (0–9%), and Euroglyphus maynei was not found in any of the samples. The study recorded a higher abundance of Dermanyssus gallinae (poultry red mite), which is very rarely reported in the house dust sample

Genesis of coexisting authigenic ferric illite and glauconite in the Deodongar Sandstones, Chattisgarh Basin, India: Unraveling redox dynamics of a Mesoproterozoic Sea

This study investigates the co-occurrence of ferric illite and glauconite in the Deodongar sandstone of the Mesoproterozoic Chattisgarh Supergroup in India. Forming a Member within the stromatolitic Chandi Formation, these glauconitic arenites were deposited in a shallow marine setting, as revealed by field relationships. Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA) data shows that these ferric illites and glauconites are rich in magnesium and aluminum, although they exhibit considerable variation in iron and potassium content. Oxide cross-plots indicate that ferric illite and glauconite followed different geochemical pathways of formation. Textural observations indicate that these minerals formed over K-feldspar, quartz and chert fragments as authigenic phases. Mass balance calculations suggest that potassium released during the conversion of K-feldspar to glauconitic minerals may aid in transforming quartz/chert fragments to these minerals, though additional sources for iron, magnesium and aluminum ions are necessary. Thermodynamic calculations show that ferric illite formation is favorable than glauconite at 1 atmospheric pressure and 298 Kelvin temperature. Yet, occurrence of ferric illite and glauconite forming over adjacent substrates suggests that each substrate acted as a closed independent chemical system for mineral authigenesis

Investigating Pore Characteristics and Their Dependence on Shale Composition: Case Study from a Permian Basin in India

Shale reservoirs, often acting as caprocks for conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, exhibit moderate to high porosity and remarkably low permeability. Organic-rich shales serve as reservoirs for unconventional hydrocarbons. This study focused on evaluating the characteristics of the source rocks and the factors influencing pore parameters in organic-rich shale from a Permian Basin in India, exploring its feasibility as both a CO2 sink and a natural gas source. Experimental techniques were employed to explore the mineral and the organic matter characteristics along with attributes of the pores hosted within them. The investigated shales displayed diverse thermal maturity levels, spanning from that in oil-prone to gas-prone zones, with the total organic carbon content varying from 0.72 to 24.98 wt %, indicating substantial organic richness. Rock-Eval pyrolysis results revealed a range of thermal maturity (Tmax) values between 426 and 474 °C, while X-ray diffraction analysis indicated significant quantities of illite and kaolinite, along with trace amounts of pyrite in certain samples. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy imaging and its detailed interpretation provided valuable insights into the pore structure and arrangement. In our study, we found that both the clay content and the organic matter significantly contribute to gas adsorption. While clay content strongly influences mesopore attributes, the organic matter predominantly affects micropore attributes. Furthermore, a direct relationship among fractal dimension, surface area, and pore volume, indicating increased complexities with these variables. Our examination of mesopore fractal attributes revealed that smaller mesopores exhibit a more convoluted and irregular configuration in comparison to the larger ones. These findings provide significant insights into the pore morphology of the analyzed shale sample

Structural and maturity evolution of lignite using Raman spectroscopy and organic petrology of the Barmer basin, Rajasthan, India

This study investigates the structural and thermal evolution of lignite from the Barmer Basin, Rajasthan, India, using Raman spectroscopy and organic petrology. Lignite samples were collected from active mines in Kapurdi, Giral, and Sonari and analyzed through proximate and ultimate analyses, petrography and Raman spectroscopic techniques to assess their rank and structural characteristics. Vitrinite reflectance measurements, ranging from 0.24% to 0.38%, to assess maturation of organic matter. The volatile matter, a conventional maturity parameter, ranges from 38.5% to 46.5%, indicating low rank and limited thermal evolution. Ash yield values vary from 2.32% to 28.24%. Petrographically, the lignite’s are rich in huminite, ranging from 58.0% to 77.4%, with inertinite content between 3.6% and 13.6% and liptinite concentration from 5.4% to 13.0%. The maceral composition suggests carbonaceous materials in an early diagenetic phase. Raman spectroscopy reveal the presence of D and G bands, typical spectral signatures of carbon-rich natural materials. The Raman shift for the D band ranges from 1343 to 1391 cm−1 and for the G band, from 1565 to 1588 cm−1. The intensity ratio of the ID/IG band ranged from 0.71 to 0.97, while the (G-D1) parameter varied from 187 to 238 cm−1, indicating sample heterogeneity. However, the AD1/AG ratio shows an irregular pattern, with values between 1.19 and 2.74. The study demonstrates that integrating Raman spectroscopy with Vitrinite reflectance (VRo) provides insights into the structural attributes of immature kerogen which denotes organic matter that has not yet undergone sufficient thermal evolution to generate oil or gas, which is typical of low-rank coals like lignite. The petrological, proximate and ultimate analyses collectively confirm the carbonaceous, coaly material in its early coalification stages. This study emphasizes the use of Raman spectroscopy and Organic petrology as a proxy to evaluate lignite thermal evolution, enhance the interpretation of carbon structural disorder (e.g., D/G band ratios) and offer deeper insights into the aromaticity, maturity and heterogeneity of lignite, comparing its results with traditional maturity indicators

Interfacial engineering of CuSe2/FeSe2 heterojunctions for water splitting: a pathway to high-performance hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions

The efficiency of green hydrogen production via water electrolysis is critically constrained by high energy barriers, particularly during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this study, CuSe2 /FeSe2 heterojunctions are introduced as cost-effective and highly active bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water split- ting. Leveraging the abundant and tunable properties of Cu- and Fe-based chalcogenides, this work demonstrates how charge redistribution and interfacial electronic coupling in the heterostructure significantly enhance catalytic activity. High surface area CuSe2/FeSe2 heterojunctions enhance hydrogen and oxygen adsorption and accelerate charge transfer, achieving low overpotentials (666 mV for the HER and 490 mV for the OER at 10 mA cm−2 ), a high OER current density (135 mA cm−2), and a reduced Tafel slope (137 mV dec−1). The catalyst maintained stable performance over 24 hours of continuous operation at 10 mA cm−2 , confirming its structural robustness and practical viability. These findings position CuSe2/ FeSe2 heterojunctions as promising candidates for scalable, sustainable hydrogen production and advanced electrochemical energy technologie

Investigating Blast Vibration Characteristics Across Diverse Indian Geological Formations

The inevitable and undesirable outcome of the blasting process is ground vibration. Numerous empirical methods and formulas, for the impact of travel pathways, have been examined and produced. Among these, when both explosive charge and distance vary, the scaled distance technique for the prediction of particle velocity on the ground has shown notable advancements. These correlations, however, are unable to identify the significance of variations in the characteristics of the rock and the uncertainty of the in-situ conditions. This is evident that the ground anisotropy and the presence of structural geological characteristics from various strata affect blast induced ground vibrations and associated frequencies. This study is an attempt to explore various rock mass characteristics affected the frequencies and amplitudes of ground vibration waves at six distinct locations having different six rock types. The investigation was done for the wave natures of many rock types, including basalt, Iron Ore, limestone, schist, sandstone, and bauxite. The main findings come from examining how the amplitudes and frequency characteristics of blast waves vary based on the transmitting rock or ore and surface where sensors were placed. It was also discovered that there are notable differences in the rock types in terms of vibration amplitudes and persistence when measured at identical distances from the source. The in-situ structural features were also responsible for the vibration anomalies, in addition to the variation in wave type caused by the various types of rock. The signature (single) hole analysis and interval analysis was performed for all the six rock types to mitigate the ground vibration and frequency problems associated with blasting