Anti-Arthritic Potential of the Plant Justicia Gendarussa Burm F

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the anti-arthritic potential of the plant Justicia gendarussa using two different rat models. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The anti-arthritic potential of the alcoholic extract of the plant Justicia gendarussa was evaluated using the Freund's adjuvant-induced and collagen-induced arthritic rat models. The rats were treated with the ethanolic extract of Justicia gendarussa and with standard aspirin. RESULTS: The ethanolic extract of Justicia gendarussa showed significant anti-arthritic activity that was statistically similar to that of aspirin. Our results suggest that the alcoholic extract of Justicia gendarussa exhibits significant anti-arthritic potential

A topologically substituted boron nitride hybrid aerogel for highly selective CO2 uptake

A topologically mediated synthesis of porous boron nitride aerogel has been experimentally and theoretically investigated for carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake. Replacement of the carbon atoms in a precursor aerogel of graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes was achieved using an elemental substitution reaction, to obtain a boron and nitrogen framework. The newly prepared BN aerogel possessed a specific surface area of 716.56 m2/g and exhibited an unprecedented twentyfold increase in CO2 uptake over N2, adsorbing 100 cc/g at 273 K and 80 cc/g in ambient conditions, as verified by adsorption isotherms via the multipoint Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. Density functional theory calculations were performed to give hints on the mechanism of such high selectivity of CO2 over N2 adsorption in BN aerogel, which may be due to the interaction between the intrinsic polar nature of B–N bonds and the high quadrupole moment of CO2 over N2.MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore

Photopolymerization of Diacetylene on Aligned Multiwall Carbon Nanotube Microfibers for High-Performance Energy Devices

Linear two-dimensional materials have recently attracted an intense interest for supercapacitors because of their potential uses as electrodes in next-generation wearable electronics. However, enhancing the electrochemical properties of these materials without complicated structural modifications remains a challenge. Herein, we present the preparation of a hybrid electrode system via polydiacetylene (PDA) cloaking on the surface of aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through self-assembly based in situ photopolymerization. This strategy eliminates the need for initiators and binders that hinder electrochemical performance in conventional conducting polymer based composite electrodes. As noncovalent PDA cloaking did not alter the chemical structure of MWCNTs, high inherent conductivity from sp² hybridized carbon was preserved. The resulting hybrid microfiber (MWCNT@PDA) exhibited a significant increase in specific capacitance (1111 F g^–1) when compared to bare MWCNTs (500 F g^–1) and PDA (666.7 F g^–1) in a voltage window of 0–1.2 V at a current density of 3 A g^–1 in 0.5 M K₂SO₄ electrolyte. The specific capacitance was retained (ca. 95%) after 7000 charge/discharge cycles. The present results suggest that aligned MWCNTs cloaked with conjugated polymers could meet the demands for future flexible electronics