Influence of nano-graphite platelet concentration on onset of crystalline degradation in polylactide composites

Nano-carbon fillers offer enhanced thermal and mechanical properties to biodegradable polymer matrices. In this work, we study extruded nano-graphite platelet (NGP) loaded polylactide (PLA) using thermal, mechanical, and microstructural analysis techniques. The influence of NGP loading on polymer crystallization, the Young's modulus, tensile strength, and crystallography of the polymer composite are determined. We establish the optimal NGP loading concentration beyond which agglomeration effects degrade crystalline and structural properties of PLA-NGP composites

Rapid detection of Ganoderma lucidum and assessment of inhibition effect of various control measures by immunoassay and PCR

Molecular and immunological methods have been applied for detecting the Ganoderma disease of coconut. Polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) raised against basidiocarp protein of Ganoderma were used for detection. For polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the primer generated from the internal transcribed spacer region one (ITS 1) of ribosomal DNA gene of Ganoderma, which produced a PCR product of 167 bp in size is used for early detection. Ganoderma disease in apparently healthy palms in two coconut gardens was tested by ELISA test using basidiocarp protein antiserum. Field trials were laid out in these early-diagnosed palms for the management of the disease. Based on the ELISA results,Pseudomonas fluorescens + Trichoderma viride with chitin amended treatments arrested the multiplication of the pathogen and showed below the infection level of optical density (O.D) within six months. Integrated disease management (IDM) and fungicide tridemorph treated palms showed below infection level (O.D value) within seven months and T. harzianum and P. fluorescens + T. viride treatedpalms showed below infection level (OD value) of the disease in eighth months

Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te3 based thermopower wave sources

Exothermic chemical reactions from nitrocellulose are coupled onto Sb2Te3 (antimony telluride) and Bi2Te3 (bismuth telluride) layers to generate self-propagating oscillating thermopower waves. P-type Sb2Te3 and N-type Bi2Te3 are employed due to their large Seebeck coefficients, high electrical conductivities and their complementary semiconducting properties. Sources based on both materials exhibit high power to mass ratios: up to 0.6 kW kg-1 for Sb2Te3 and 1.0 kW kg-1 for Bi2Te3. Having both P- and N-type semiconductors in the system, the combination of the outputs can be used for generating sources with polarities alternating in time

Nanocolumnar Preferentially Oriented PSZT Thin Films Deposited on Thermally Grown Silicon Dioxide

We report the first instance of deposition of preferentially oriented, nanocrystalline, and nanocolumnar strontium-doped lead zirconate titanate (PSZT) ferroelectric thin films directly on thermal silicon dioxide. No intermediate seed or activation layers were used between PSZT and silicon dioxide. The deposited thin films have been characterised using a combination of diffraction and microscopy techniques

ZnO based thermopower wave sources

Exothermic chemical reactions of nitrocellulose are coupled onto thermoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) layers to generate self-propagating thermopower waves resulting in highly oscillatory voltage output of the order of 500 mV. The peak specific power obtained from ZnO based sources is approximately 0.5 kW kg-1

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling under microwave enhanced conditions: Synthesis of 2-(hetero)aryl benzimidazoles

An expedient, palladium-mediated cross-coupling approach to functionalize the benzimidazole-based core under microwave-assisted conditions has been developed and is described. This protocol, which incorporates appendage diversity on this potential scaffold, is found to be compatible with a wide range of electronicallyand sterically-divergent (hetero)aryl boronic acids. The use of the PdCl2/(SPhos) catalytic system allows the formation of a stable and highly active LPd(0) species which was found to be critical for the successful synthesis of these novel, pharmacologically-relevant molecules. © AUTHOR(S).Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: 170300641AThe authors are thankful to SAIF, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, for providing all the analytical data and spectra. Vasiliy A. Bakulev is thankful to Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant # 170300641A)