Electric Field Enhancement by Gold Nano-Sphere and Its Clusters

The confinement of electrons in gold nanoparticles results in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), which is characterized by electric field enhancement in the vicinity of these nanoparticles. This property has been extensively studied and applied in various fields. In our research, we conduct a detailed investigation of plasmonic coupling in spherical gold nanoparticles. Specifically, we use the Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) method implemented in DDSCAT to simulate the coupling of electric fields in a doublet of nanoparticles as a function of the distance between them. Our simulations show that the coupling of SPR between two nanoparticles occurs up to a separation of 12 nm. Moreover, we extend our simulations to study the coupling of nanoparticles in linear chains consisting of up to five nanoparticles and in clustered forms. Our results indicate that the SPR coupling in a linear chain occurs, and as the number of nanoparticles increases, the field enhancement also increases. However, we observe that this effect saturates after four nanoparticles in a line. Our study provides insights into the plasmonic coupling in gold nanoparticles, which can aid in the design and optimization of plasmonic devices for various applications

Bacteria assisted green synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles and their potential applications as antimicrobial agents and plant growth stimulants

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) have piqued the interest of agricultural researchers due to their potential application as fungicides, insecticides, and fertilizers. The Serratia sp. ZTB29 strain, which has the NCBI accession number MK773873, was a novel isolate used in this investigation that produced CuO-NPs. This strain can survive concentrations of copper as high as 22.5 mM and can also remove copper by synthesizing pure CuO-NPs. UV-VIS spectroscopy, DLS, Zeta potential, FTIR, TEM, and XRD techniques were used to investigate the pure form of CuO-NPs. The synthesized CuO-NPs were crystalline in nature (average size of 22 nm) with a monoclinic phase according to the XRD pattern. CuO-NPs were found to be polydisperse, spherical, and agglomeration-free. According to TEM and DLS inspection, they ranged in size from 20 to 40 nm, with a typical particle size of 28 nm. CuO-NPs were extremely stable, as demonstrated by their zeta potential of −15.4 mV. The ester (C=O), carboxyl (C=O), amine (NH), thiol (S-H), hydroxyl (OH), alkyne (C-H), and aromatic amine (C-N) groups from bacterial secretion were primarily responsible for reduction and stabilization of CuO-NPs revealed in an FTIR analysis. CuO-NPs at concentrations of 50 μg mL−1 and 200 μg mL−1 displayed antibacterial and antifungal activity against the plant pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas sp. and pathogenic fungus Alternaria sp., respectively. The results of this investigation support the claims that CuO-NPs can be used as an efficient antimicrobial agent and nano-fertilizer, since, compared to the control and higher concentrations of CuO-NPs (100 mg L−1) considerably improved the growth characteristics of maize plants

Borophene: A piezocatalyst

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Borophene: A Piezocatalyst

Borophene was successfully synthesized by modifying the Hummer's approach. Under the influence of ultrasonic vibrations, two-dimensional borophene sheets exhibit exceptional piezocatalytic activity, as exemplified by the decomposition of highly stable organic pollutants in water. After only 1 minute of exposure, the piezocatalytic activity of borophene sheets converted up to 99 percent of the initial molecules of rose bengal dye (50 mg/L) at room temperature, neutral pH. The principal active oxidant species have been identified as superoxide (•O2-) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) formed from H2O and dissolved O2. The induction of polarized electric charges has also been measured during the process. Further elucidation of the piezocatalytic mechanism suggests that the piezocatalytic efficiency can be related to the piezoelectric effect generating electric charges to increase charge transfer during chemical redox reactions. Our research provides new insights into the preparation of borophene and its use as piezo catalysts for environmental catalysis

Borophene: A Piezocatalyst

Borophene was successfully synthesized by modifying the Hummer\u27s approach. Under the influence of ultrasonic vibrations, two-dimensional borophene sheets exhibit exceptional piezocatalytic activity, as exemplified by the decomposition of highly stable organic pollutants in water. After only 1 minute of exposure, the piezocatalytic activity of borophene sheets converted up to 99 percent of the initial molecules of rose bengal dye (50 mg/L) at room temperature, neutral pH. The principal active oxidant species have been identified as superoxide (•O2-) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) formed from H2O and dissolved O2. The induction of polarized electric charges has also been measured during the process. Further elucidation of the piezocatalytic mechanism suggests that the piezocatalytic efficiency can be related to the piezoelectric effect generating electric charges to increase charge transfer during chemical redox reactions. Our research provides new insights into the preparation of borophene and its use as piezo catalysts for environmental catalysis

Giant energy harvesting potential in (100)-oriented 0.68PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–0.32PbTiO3 with Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3/PbOx buffer layer and (001)-oriented 0.67PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–0.33PbTiO3 thin films

This work emphasis on the competence of (100)-oriented PMN–PT buffer layered (0.68PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–0.32PbTiO3 with Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3/PbOx buffer layer) and (001)-oriented PMN–PT (0.67PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–0.33PbTiO3) for low grade thermal energy harvesting using Olsen cycle. Our analysis (based on well-reported experiments in literature) reveals that these films show colossal energy harnessing possibility. Both the films are found to have maximum harnessable energy densities (PMN–PT buffer layered: 8 MJ/m3; PMN–PT: 6.5 MJ/m3) in identical ambient conditions of 30–150°C and 0–600 kV/cm. This energy harnessing plausibility is found to be nearly five times higher than the previously reported values to date