Antimicrobial Activity Enhancement of Poly(ether sulfone) Membranes by in Situ Growth of ZnO Nanorods

Composite poly­(ether sulfone) membranes integrated with ZnO nanostructures either directly blended or grown in situ have enhanced antibacterial activity with improved functionality in reducing the biofouling in water treatment applications. The pore structure and surface properties of the composite were studied to investigate the effect of the addition of ZnO nanostructures. The hydrophilicity of the blended membranes increased with a higher content of ZnO nanoparticles in the membrane (2–6%), which could be further controlled by varying the growth conditions of ZnO nanorods on the polymer surface. Improved water flux, bovine serum albumin rejection, and inhibition of Escherichia coli bacterial growth under visible light irradiation was observed for the membranes decorated with ZnO nanorods compared to those in the membranes simply blended with ZnO nanoparticles. No regrowth of E. coli was recorded even 2 days after the incubation

Development of nano-spherical RuO2 active material on AISI 317 steel substrate via pulse electrodeposition for supercapacitors

The goal of the present study is to develop a thin film hydrous ruthenium oxide (RuO2) electrode material on Ni flashed AISI 317 stainless steel (SS) substrate by pulse electrodeposition (PED) technique for application in supercapacitors. The nickel (Ni) strike thin film is deposited prior to RuO2 in order to improve the adhesion of the active material on the SS substrate. The prepared RuO2 active material on Ni strike SS electrode is characterized using XRD, SEM with EDAX and electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using an IVIUM reference potentiostat. The surface morphologies of the thin film (thickness of 2.3 μm) active materials are nano-spherical shaped and the particles are arranged uniformly without cracks on the SS substrate. The electrochemical impedance and CV profile demonstrates its superior characteristics in the electrochemical system. Moreover, the specific capacitance of RuO2 value is approximately 520 F g− 1 at the scan rate of 1 mV s− 1 and it's indicating a better utilization of active species in supercapacitors