864 research outputs found
Green tea polyphenol-reduced graphene oxide: derivatisation, reduction efficiency, reduction mechanism and cytotoxicity
This paper reports on the derivatisation, reduction efficiency, reduction mechanism and cytotoxicity of green tea polyphenol-reduced graphene oxide (GTP-RGO). The reduction of graphene oxide (GO) at 90°C using a weight ratio (WR) of GTP/GO=1 resulted in the production of a stable GTP-RGO dispersion in aqueous media, as indicated by the results of ultravioletvisible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the measurement of zeta potential and electrophoretic mobility. In addition, the results from UV-Vis spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated the comparable reduction ability of GTP relative to the standard reducing agent, hydrazine (N2H4). The removal mechanism of epoxy group from GO via reduction reaction with GTP was investigated by implementing hybrid functional method of Becke-3-parameters-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP)using Gaussian 09 software. The energy and frequency calculations showed that the GO reduction using GTP was more spontaneous and relatively took place faster than the reduction using N2H4, as evidenced by higher entropy change (ΔS) (0.039 kcal/mol·K) and lower Gibbs free energy (ΔG) barrier (58.880 kcal/mol).The cytotoxicities of GO and GTP-RGO samples were evaluated against human colonic fibroblasts cells (CCD-18Co). The GO sample was determined to be toxic even at low concentration (6.25 μg/mL), while the GTP-RGO sample possesses notably low toxicity at the same concentration. The cell culture experiments revealed that the incorporation of GTP led to a decrease in the toxicity of GTP-RGO samples
Future scope and directions of nanotechnology in creating next-generation supercapacitors
The primary global research scheme of the 21st century is nanotechnology. Looking forward to the future, nanotechnologies’ generalized diffusion will seem to turn them into supplies, generating more space for privileged and superior values of applications such as information technology, nanoenergy, nanobiotechnologies, and nanomaterials.1-5 In general, nanotechnology is the understanding and controlling of the matters of dimensions of approximately 1-100 nm, in which a unique phenomenon facilitates novel applications.2 The application domains covered by nanotechnology are discussed in detail in this chapter
Optimization of pH as a strategy to improve enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw for enhancing bioethanol production
In this work, wheat straw (WS) was used as a lignocellulosic substrate to investigate the influence of pH on enzymatic saccharification. The optimum enzymatic hydrolysis occurred at pH range 5.8 – 6.0, instead of 4.8 - 5.0 as has been widely reported in research. Two enzymes cocktails, Celluclast® 1.5L with Novozymes 188, Cellic® CTec2 and endo-1, 4-β-Xylanase, were used for the pH investigation over a pH range of 3.0 – 7.0. The highest concentration of total reduced sugar was found at pH 6.0 for all the different enzymes used in this study. The total reduced sugar produced from the enzymatic saccharification at pH 6.0 was found to be 7.0, 7.4 and 10.8 (g L-1) for Celluclast® 1.5L with Novozymes 188, endo-1, 4-β-Xylanase and Cellic® CTec2, respectively. By increasing the pH from 4.8 to 6.0, the total reduced sugar yield increased by 25% for Celluclast® 1.5L with Novozymes 188 and endo-1, 4-β-Xylanase and 21% for Cellic® CTec2. The results from this study indicate that WS hydrolysis can be improved significantly by elevating the pH at which the reaction occurs to the range of 5.8 to 6.0
Investigation of the chemocatalytic and biocatalytic valorization of a range of different lignin preparations: The importance of β-O-4 content
A set of seven different lignin preparations was generated from a range of organosolv (acidic, alkaline, ammonia-treated, and dioxane-based), ionic liquid, autohydrolysis, and Kraft pretreatments of lignocelluloses. Each lignin was characterized by 2D HSQC NMR spectroscopy, showing significant variability in the β-O-4 content of the different lignin samples. Each lignin was then valorised using three biocatalytic methods (microbial biotransformation with Rhodococcus jostii RHA045, treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens Dyp1B or Sphingobacterium sp. T2 manganese superoxide dismutase) and two chemocatalytic methods (catalytic hydrogenation using Pt/alumina catalyst, DDQ benzylic oxidation/Zn reduction). Highest product yields for DDQ/Zn valorization were observed from poplar ammonia percolation-organosolv lignin, which had the highest β-O-4 content of the investigated lignins and also gave the highest yield of syringaldehyde (243 mg L -1 ) when using R. jostii RHA045 and the most enzymatic products using P. fluorescens Dyp1B. The highest product yield from the Pt/alumina hydrogenation was observed using oak dioxasolv lignin, which also had a high β-O-4 content. In general, highest product yields for both chemocatalytic and biocatalytic valorization methods were obtained from preparations that showed highest β-O-4 content, while variable yields were obtained with preparations containing intermediate β-O-4 content, and little or no product was obtained with preparations containing low β-O-4 content
The collapsed tetragonal phase as a strongly covalent and fully nonmagnetic state: persistent magnetism with interlayer As-As bond formation in Rh-doped CaSrFeAs
A well-known feature of CaFeAs-based superconductors is the
pressure-induced collapsed tetragonal phase that is commonly ascribed to the
formation of an interlayer As-As bond. Using detailed X-ray scattering and
spectroscopy, we find that Rh-doped CaSrFeAs does
not undergo a first-order phase transition and that local Fe moments persist
despite the formation of interlayer As-As bonds. Our density functional theory
calculations reveal that the Fe-As bond geometry is critical for stabilizing
magnetism and that the pressure-induced drop in the lattice parameter
observed in pure CaFeAs is mostly due to a constriction within the
FeAs planes. These phenomena are best understood using an often overlooked
explanation for the equilibrium Fe-As bond geometry, which is set by a
competition between covalent bonding and exchange splitting between strongly
hybridized Fe and As states. In this framework, the collapsed
tetragonal phase emerges when covalent bonding completely wins out over
exchange splitting. Thus the collapsed tetragonal phase is properly understood
as a strong, covalent phase that is fully nonmagnetic with the As-As bond
forming as a byproduct.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, and 1 table. Supplemental materials are available
by reques
Linear-response theory and lattice dynamics: a muffin-tin orbital approach
A detailed description of a method for calculating static linear-response
functions in the problem of lattice dynamics is presented. The method is based
on density functional theory and it uses linear muffin-tin orbitals as a basis
for representing first-order corrections to the one-electron wave functions. As
an application we calculate phonon dispersions in Si and NbC and find good
agreement with experiments.Comment: 18 pages, Revtex, 2 ps figures, uuencoded, gzip'ed, tar'ed fil
Electron-phonon relaxation and excited electron distribution in zinc oxide and anatase
We propose a first-principle method for evaluations of the time-dependent
electron distribution function of excited electrons in the conduction band of
semiconductors. The method takes into account the excitations of electrons by
external source and the relaxation to the bottom of conduction band via
electron-phonon coupling. The methods permits calculations of the
non-equilibrium electron distribution function, the quasi-stationary
distribution function with steady-in-time source of light, the time of setting
of the quasi-stationary distribution and the time of energy loss via relaxation
to the bottom of conduction band. The actual calculations have been performed
for titanium dioxide in the anatase structure and zinc oxide in the wurtzite
structure. We find that the quasi-stationary electron distribution function for
ZnO is a fermi-like curve that rises linearly with increasing excitation energy
whereas the analogous curve for anatase consists of a main peak and a shoulder.
The calculations demonstrate that the relaxation of excited electrons and the
setting of the quasi-stationary distribution occur within the time no more than
500 fsec for ZnO and 100 fsec for anatase.
We also discuss the applicability of the effective phonon model with
energy-independent electron-phonon transition probability. We find that the
model only reproduces the trends in changing of the characteristic times
whereas the precision of such calculations is not high. The rate of energy
transfer to phonons at the quasi-stationary electron distribution also have
been evaluated and the effect of this transfer on the photocatalyses has been
discussed. We found that for ZnO this rate is about 5 times less than in
anatase.Comment: 21 p., 9 figure
CeRuSn: a strongly correlated material with nontrivial topology
Topological insulators form a novel state of matter that provides new
opportunities to create unique quantum phenomena. While the materials used so
far are based on semiconductors, recent theoretical studies predict that also
strongly correlated systems can show non-trivial topological properties,
thereby allowing even the emergence of surface phenomena that are not possible
with topological band insulators. From a practical point of view, it is also
expected that strong correlations will reduce the disturbing impact of defects
or impurities, and at the same increase the Fermi velocities of the topological
surface states. The challenge is now to discover such correlated materials.
Here, using advanced x-ray spectroscopies in combination with band structure
calculations, we infer that CeRuSn is a strongly correlated material
with non-trivial topology.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Scientific Report
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