Advances in Porous Adsorbents for CO2 Capture and Storage

The steady increase of anthropogenic CO2 in ambient air, owing to the fossil fuel, power plants, chemical processing and deforestation caused by the usage of land, is a key challenge in the on-going effort to diminish the effect of greenhouse gases on global climate change by developing efficient techniques for CO2 capture. Global warming as a consequence of high CO2 level in the atmosphere is considered as one of the major long lasting problems in the twenty-first century. Concern over these major issues with regard to severe climate change and ocean acidification motivated us to develop the technologies that capture the evolved CO2 from entering into the carbon cycle. Therefore, CO2 capture and storage technology is attracting increasing interest in order to reduce carbon level in the atmosphere which in turn mitigates global climate issues. In this regard, highly efficient adsorbents e.g.; zeolites, alkali metal oxides, activated carbon, porous silica show considerable progress in post combustion CO2 capture. Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic polymers (POPs), porous clays, N-doped carbon etc. are explored as versatile and quite elegant way for next-generation CO2 capture. In this chapter, we will discuss the broad prospect of MOFs, POPs, nanoporous clays and porous carbon for CO2 storage and sequestration through utilization of their nanospace chemistry

(RE) MAPPING EMPOWERMENT OUTCOMES AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN RURAL INDIA: A PANEL DATA STUDY

Purpose of the study: This paper endeavours to re-examine the socio-economic factors influencing empowerment among married women in rural India over two points of time, 2005 and 2012. It examines the interplay of the work status of rural married women and the poverty status of their household in influencing empowerment. Methodology: The study uses the nationally representative multi-topic India Human Development Survey (IHDS). IHDS panel data has been utilized to assess the entry and exit from a workforce of rural married women, to define the components of empowerment among rural married women and analyze the socio-economic factors influencing the empowerment among rural married women. Main Findings: The outcomes show the increase in the overall empowerment rates in spite of their mobility constraints seem to have badly risen during the period 2005-2012, especially in the context of deteriorating work input among rural women. Moreover, working rural married women from BPL (Below Poverty Line) rural households are less likely to be empowered as compared to working rural married women from APL (Above Poverty Line) households. Applications of this study: The rural female work participation rate is declining in the phase of rising economic growth and education. In this context, their empowerment would not only benefit their personal lives but also impact their economic lives, thus contribute to the country`s GDP. This makes it vital to analyze as to what comprises their empowerment in the first place so that it can be promoted through various schemes. Novelty/Originality of this study: Women’s economic empowerment and their participation in work are essential to bringing in the fullest demographic dividend for inclusive economic escalation and sustainable development in India. Thus, empowerment which may not necessarily be implied by employment is conditioned upon the poverty status of the household. However, the empowerment of rural married women is facilitated by higher education of self, husband and other family members

Imag(in)ing Decolonial Ecology: Exploring Tropical Eco-Graphic Narratives

Decoloniality is a critical approach that seeks to dismantle the hegemonic and oppressive structures of Eurocentric epistemologies. It promotes reflection on how texts and knowledge production perpetuate othering and oppression. Imag(in)ing decoloniality along with ecocritical thinking, this paper envisions tropical ecology as transcending the constraints of dominant discourses and explores how graphic narrative aids in reconfiguring the boundaries between human subjectivity and decolonial-ecocritical aesthetics. The article emphasises the potential of multimodality to proffer novel approaches for considering the connections between human/non-human, nature/culture and the tropical/temperate, and advocates a decanonisation of literary genres to decentralise the power of logocentric discourse. More specifically, the paper examines three eco-graphic narratives—Martina and the Bridge of Time (2020), Dengue (2015), and Bhimayana (2011)—to demonstrate their capacity in articulating coloniality in the tropical environment to highlight the importance of addressing historical and cultural wounds. This intersection of decoloniality, ecocriticism, and graphic narrative, along with the notion of tropicality, allows us to witness the evolution of the fields in an exciting and complex way. In sum, we examine how graphic narrative can act as a decolonial option for the tropics

Designing The Functional Building Blocks For Syntheses Of Organic And Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Porous Materials

The research embodied in the present thesis entitled “Designing The Functional Building Blocks For Syntheses Of Organic And Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Porous Materials” deals with synthesis and characterization of several novel nanoporous organic and hybrid organicinorganic materials and their applications in the field of gas adsorption and storage, heterogeneous catalysis, ion-exchange, chromatography and so on. Template directed synthesis of phloroglucinol diimine functionalized pore wall has been developed and showed as outstanding catalytic support for metal mediated catalysis. Further surfactant templating approach for allylic polymerization of Triazine based monomer for the formation of pure organic polymer with hexagonal arrangement of mesopores has been shown to have excellent scaffold for metal mediated catalysis. On the other hand porphyrin functionalized pure organic polymers are synthesized which act as good sorbent for adsorption and storage of CO2; thereby largely contributes to curb global pollution.The research was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Asim Bhaumik of the Materials Science division under SMS [School of Materials Sciences]The research was conducted under CSIR fellowship and research gran

Palladium Nanoparticles Tethered in Amine-Functionalized Hypercrosslinked Organic Tubes as an Efficient Catalyst for Suzuki Coupling in Water

It is highly desirable to design functionalized supports in heterogeneous catalysis regarding the stabilization of active sites. Pd immobilization in porous polymers and henceforth its application is a rapidly growing field. In virtue of its’ scalable synthesis and high stability in reaction conditions, amorphous polymers are considered an excellent scaffold for metal mediated catalysis, but the majority of them are found as either agglomerated particles or composed of rough spheres. Owing to several important applications of hollow organic tubes in diverse research areas, we aimed to utilize them as support for the immobilization of Pd nanoparticles. Pd immobilization in nanoporous polymer tubes shows high activity in Suzuki cross coupling reactions between aryl halides and sodium phenyl trihydroxyborate in water, which deserves environmental merit

A Journey from Innocence to Experience: Feminist Approach to Nagesh Kukunoor’s Film Lakshmi (2014)

Society has created some specific categorisations for women: sweet daughter, loving wife, and caring mother. If a woman does not fit into these predestined roles, she will be recognised as a monster. The patriarchal society has injected these notions into her from her early childhood. She has been treated as a profitable product and procreating machine, which is evident from the age-old dowry system. She has been called “item” sometimes, and society has normalised it by playing Bollywood item songs repeatedly. Even women do not object to it because it seems natural to them. Feminists argue that a woman’s body has been represented as seductive, procreative, material and sexual. In Nagesh Kukunoor’s film Lakshmi (2014), the materialistic image of a woman has been revealed through the acts of child trafficking and child prostitution. The protagonist has been named after the Hindu goddess, LAKSHMI. She is the goddess of wealth, love, beauty, joy and prosperity. An Indian woman has been called Lakshmilike when her behaviour appears docile and submissive. In this film, Lakshmi, a fourteen-year-old girl, has been sold off by her father to acquire Lakshmi, which is money! Society’s materialistic portrayal of women has merged both the goddess and a real woman. The purchaser has imposed prostitution upon the girl child forcefully. In 2012, the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012” was legislated to offer protection to children that may have suffered from sexual violence. In this film, the girl called Lakshmi did not remain silent about this abominable act. She protests and succeeds in shedding off her objective position and achieves the subjective status in punishing her perpetrators legally. Another victim, Jyothi, punishes the oppression of the patriarchal society by castrating one of its male agents, Chinna, at the end of the film. The patriarchal society strategically sets some features regarding an ideal woman: weak, sweet in nature, caring, gentle, and submissive, only to subjugate her and keep her in control. But in this film, society fails to control her innocence about its ideological tricks. She no longer becomes the object of the male gaze but achieves a life where she becomes the master of her own life. Her journey is from Object to Subject, from Innocence to Experience.  &nbsp

Palladium Nanoparticles Tethered in Amine-Functionalized Hypercrosslinked Organic Tubes as an Efficient Catalyst for Suzuki Coupling in Water

It is highly desirable to design functionalized supports in heterogeneous catalysis regarding the stabilization of active sites. Pd immobilization in porous polymers and henceforth its application is a rapidly growing field. In virtue of its’ scalable synthesis and high stability in reaction conditions, amorphous polymers are considered an excellent scaffold for metal mediated catalysis, but the majority of them are found as either agglomerated particles or composed of rough spheres. Owing to several important applications of hollow organic tubes in diverse research areas, we aimed to utilize them as support for the immobilization of Pd nanoparticles. Pd immobilization in nanoporous polymer tubes shows high activity in Suzuki cross coupling reactions between aryl halides and sodium phenyl trihydroxyborate in water, which deserves environmental merit

A State-of-the-Art Review on the Technological Advancements for the Sustainable Management of Plastic Waste in Consort with the Generation of Energy and Value-Added Chemicals

Plastic waste poses a serious threat to the environment and it has been increasing at an alarming rate. In 2022, global plastic waste generation was reported to be around 380 million tonnes as compared to 353 million tonnes in 2019. Production of liquid fuel from plastic waste is regarded as a viable method for disposing of the plastic and utilizing its energy. Currently, a wide range of technologies have been explored for turning plastic waste into fuel, including the conventional pyrolysis, incineration, gasification and advanced oxidation. However, a systematic summary and comparative analysis of various technologies has still not reported. Traditional non-biodegradable plastic waste (NPW) treatment methods include landfilling and incineration, but these methods encounter bottlenecks and are unable to adequately address NPW issues. This review attempts to present a thorough summary of treatment methods for plastic waste (both conventional and novel treatment technologies that have recently been reported), examine their mechanism and their current state of development. Furthermore, the superiority and drawbacks of each technology are analysed and the prospects of technology application are proposed. By tackling the problems of white pollution and energy scarcity, this review intends to inspire the use of solid waste as a source of energy