Aloe barbadensis: how a miraculous plant becomes reality

Aloe barbadensis Miller is a plant that is native to North and East Africa and has accompanied man for over 5,000 years. The aloe vera plant has been endowed with digestive, dermatological, culinary and cosmetic virtues. On this basis, aloe provides a range of possibilities for fascinating studies from several points of view, including the analysis of chemical composition, the biochemistry involved in various activities and its application in pharmacology, as well as from horticultural and economic standpoints. The use of aloe vera as a medicinal plant is mentioned in numerous ancient texts such as the Bible. This multitude of medicinal uses has been described and discussed for centuries, thus transforming this miracle plant into reality. A summary of the historical uses, chemical composition and biological activities of this species is presented in this review. The latest clinical studies involved in vivo and in vitro assays conducted with aloe vera gel or its metabolites and the results of these studies are reviewed

Thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluid by adding multiwalled carbon nanotubes: Characterization and numerical modeling patterns

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Nanofluid is divided in two major section, mono nanofluid (MN) and hybrid nanofluid (HN). MN is created when a solid nanoparticle disperses in a fluid, whereas HN has more than one solid nanomaterial. In this research, iron (III) oxide (Fe3O4) is MN, and Fe3O4 plus multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) is HN, whereas both are mixed and dispersed into the water basefluid. Thermal conductivity (TC) of Fe3O4/water and MWCNT/Fe3O4/water was measured after preparation and numerical model performed on the resulted data. After that, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was studied for microstructural observation of nanoparticles. MN and HN TC were studied at temperature ranges of 25 to 50°C and volume fractions of 0.2% to 1.0%. For MN and HN, thermal conductivity enhancement (TCE) of 32.76% and 33.23% was measured at 50°C temperature—1.0% volume fraction, individually. Different correlations have been calculated for numerical modeling, with R2 = 0.9. Deviation of 0.6007% and 0.6096% was calculated for given correlations for MN and HN individually. Deviation of 0.5862% and 0.6057% was calculated for trained models, for MN and HN individually. Thus, by adding MWCNT to Fe3O4-H2O nanofluid, TC is enhanced 0.47%, and this HN has agreeable heat transfer potential