ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanostructures based gas sensor for sensing Acetone gas at room temperature

In this paper  ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanostructures are used to fabricate the gas sensor which can sense low concentration of acetone gas at room temperature. Due to its reducing properties, acetone gas releases electrons to the surface of the core/shell nanorods. Therefore a sharp increase in conductivity of the sensing material was observed when the sensor was exposed to the acetone gas. The fabricated sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity towards acetone gas at room temperature and is capable of detecting it to a minimum concentration of 10 ppm.  Â

Comprehensive studies on the electrical transport of some chalcogenide semiconductors: frequency- and temperature-dependent AC conductivity

The AC conductivity of chalcogenide semiconductors doped with Ag2S was extensively studied, not only for applications in devices but also for academic interests. X-ray diffraction studies reveal the presence of GeS, Ag2S, Se5.1S1.9, Se2.57S5.43, Ag2Se, S3Se5, Se4.7S3.3, and Ag8S nanocrystallites. The characteristic vibration that appeared in the range 500–600 cm−1 is due to the Ag–S bond, and the vibrations at 3,700 and 1600 cm−1 can be assigned as the bending and stretching vibrations of the O–H bond, which may be formed due to the adsorption of H2O molecules on the Ag2S surface. DC electrical conductivity can be increased by optical phonon frequency, which may be involved in the enhancement of structural vibrations. At low temperatures, the “density of states” increases from 3.337 × 1019 to 2.396 × 1021 eV−1 cm−3, and at high temperatures, it enhances from 3.417 × 1028 to 1.1356 × 1031 eV– 1 cm−3. The correlated barrier hopping model explores the maximum barrier height for composition, x = 0.1 as 0.0292 eV. The modified non-overlapping small polaron tunnelling model reveals the polaron transfer activation energy for x = 0.2 as 0.09110 eV. The independence of the electrical relaxation process of the system on temperature and its dependence on composition were exhibited by the scaling of the conductivity spectra

Effect of Nano-DAP on Soil Characteristics and Qualities of Cabbage

An investigation was carried out at the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, A.A.U., Jorhat during 2021-2022 to study the effect of nano-DAP on quality and soil characteristics of cabbage. The experiment was laid out in Randomised Block Design with thirteen treatments and three replications. The quality and soil characters showed significant differences among the treatments. The maximum compact heads (39.84) were obtained in T3 and among nano-DAP treatments (29.88) in T7. Observations recorded at harvesting stage showed highest number of wrapper and non-wrapper leaves at T12 (16.80) and T3 (31.93). Leaf chlorophyll content was maximum in T11 (1.36 mg/g fw), T5 (1.65 mg/g fw) and T7 (1.66 mg/g fw) at 30, 60 DAT & at harvest. N content in leaves was highest in T10 (3.62%), T3 attained the maximum P (0.46%) and K (3.95%). The maximum available NPK in soil was obtained in T9 (291.03 kg/ha), T13 (20.88 kg/ha) and T4 (95.04 kg/ha). Thus nano-DAP can be a good economic and eco-friendly alternative to conventional inorganic fertilizers, reducing the quantity of application while sustaining the quality of the produce