Electrochemical Characterization of Cathodized Copper Oxide Thin Films

Cathodic electrodeposited copper oxide thin films were prepared using 0.1 M aqueous (distilled water) copper sulfate solution onto the surface of stainless steel substrates. Deposited samples were characterized by structural and morphological analysis using XRD and SeM. Prepared samples were also analyzed using cyclic voltammetry, charge-discharge, and impedance spectroscopy. electrode shows nearly rectangular capacitive behavior. The highest specific capacitance of 62 F/gm was calculated at a scan rate of 1 mV/sec in 1M Na2SO4 electrolyte. The internal resistance observed from the Nyquist plot which is about 1.95 Ω. Using the ZsimpWin software matched equivalent circuit and circuitry parameters were reported

Trend of Crop Water Requirement at Akola (Maharashtra), India

Climate change scenario badly affects the agriculture. The present study aimed to characterize the trend in maximum temperature and crop water requirement over a last decade at Akola station (Maharashtra State), because of changing trend in meteorological parameters. Study investigated the trends in temperature and reference evapotranspiration using various statistical parameters like mean, coefficient of variation, coefficient of skewness and coefficient of kurtosis. Monthly maximum air temperature showed slightly decreasing trend over summer season while increasing trend over monsoon and winter season. On the contrary, the monthly reference evapotranspiration showed decreasing linear trend over monsoon and winter season, while increasing trend over summer season. The study concluded that as the monthly reference evapotranspiration showed decreasing linear trend over cropping seasons (i.e. monsoon and winter), the crop water requirement at Akola station shall decrease in future

Chemoselective C-benzoylation of phenols by using AlCl3 under solvent-free conditions

Substituted phenols were chemo-selectively reacted with benzoylchloride in presence of aluminum chloride under solvent-free condition to afford the corresponding 2'-hydroxy aryl benzophenones in excellent yields (72-96%). Naphthol benzoylation resulted in lower yields as compared to phenols. Both reactions completed in 5-10 min with quantitative yields providing excellent control over regioselectivity of products. KEY WORDS: Chemoselective C-acylation, F-C reaction, Fries rearrangement Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2015, 29(2), 319-325DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v29i2.1

A convenient method for lactonization of α-allyl esters using iodine in dimethyl- sulphoxide

A simple method for the synthesis of α-γ-disubstituted-γ-butyrolactones by cyclization of α-allyl esters using iodine in dimethylsulphoxide is reported. This method is efficient and operationally simple in comparison to methods using transition metal complexes. KEY WORDS: γ-Butyrolactones, α-Allyl esters, Iodine, Dimethyl sulphoxide Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2014, 28(3), 469-473.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v28i3.1

Maize (Zea mays L.) yield and aflatoxin accumulation responses to exogenous glycinebetaine application

Abstract Exogenously applied glycinebetaine (GB) accumulates at high levels in maize (Zea mays L.). Under water deficit and high temperature conditions GB application produces yield benefits. These sub-optimum conditions often result in high levels of aflatoxin accumulation which reduces grain quality. A 3-year (2008, 2009 and 2010) field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of GB on maize yield and aflatoxin accumulation. Weekly and alternate weekly GB application increased plant biomass by 10 and 13%, respectively. Net photosynthesis increased by 6% with GB application; however, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and electron transport rate were not significantly affected. Grain yield increased by 6 and 13% with GB applied alternate weekly and weekly, respectively, over control plots averaged over years. GB application resulted in a trend of reduced aflatoxin accumulation in inoculated ears compared with non-inoculated controls in 2009 and 2010; however, inherent field and sampling variation did not allow us to conclude statistically any advantage attributable to GB application. We can conclude that GB did not significantly reduce aflatoxin production in the inoculated treatments

Power Generation by Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Electrical power could be a prime necessity for any country for economic development. And power shortage could be a dominant downside, being featured by the foremost of the countries these days. On prime of this, typical fuel sources for generation, i.e., coal, oil deposits square measure quick obtaining depleted. The apparent solution is to shift focus to renewable sources of energy. Statistics reveal that of the big quantity of wind energy. The wind generation created by the motor may be hold on in an exceedingly battery and may later be wont to power the road lights. These wind turbines are transportable and may thus be used on any expressways or busy highways. A system for power generation by utilizing wind draft force from vehicles traveling on route provides a two kind of turbine apparatuses, one sort is for road facet that sits on the facet of a route; another sort is for road center that is put in on at traffic divider line at middle of a roadway. Once vehicle moves at high speed, heaps energy wont to force air in its means, by setting wind turbines on road facet and middle of road, some parts of the wasted energy may be re-captured. The rotary engine may be used commercially for low power applications. The implementation of such a project would scale back the dependence of a corporation or trade on electricity board

Response of Anaerobic Digester Sludge for Activator Aided Rapid Composting and its Effects on Compost Quality

The anaerobic treatment is in growing demand as an advanced methodology rendering sustainable treatment option for organic wastes. The Anaerobic digester sludge (ADS) is the product of anaerobic digestion of organic matter by microbial activity in an oxygen-deficit environment. It is a good supplement to soil as it enriches soil with nutrients, increases the availability of minerals to plants and helps in soil conditioning. Though ADS is frequently used in agriculture, there are opinions supporting the fact that ADS contains more recalcitrant than its nutritional components. Hence, there is a need for the post-processing of ADS to make it compatible for soil application. In the present study, an attempt has made to assess the response of ADS for CA aided composting and to study the effectiveness composting on the quality of finished compost

3D semiconducting nanostructures via inverse lipid cubic phases.

Well-ordered and highly interconnected 3D semiconducting nanostructures of bismuth sulphide were prepared from inverse cubic lipid mesophases. This route offers significant advantages in terms of mild conditions, ease of use and electrode architecture over other routes to nanomaterials synthesis for device applications. The resulting 3D bicontinous nanowire network films exhibited a single diamond topology of symmetry Fd3m (Q227) which was verified by Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and holds great promise for potential applications in optoelectronics, photovoltaics and thermoelectrics

Annealing study and thermal investigation on bismuth sulfide thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition in basic medium

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Applied Physics A 124.2 (2018): 166. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-1584-7Bismuth sulfide thin films were prepared by chemical bath deposition using thiourea as sulfide ion source in basic medium. First, the effects of both the deposition parameters on films growth as well as the annealing effect under argon and sulfur atmosphere on as-deposited thin films were studied. The parameters were found to be influential using the Doehlert matrix experimental design methodology. Ranges for a maximum surface mass of films (3 mg cm-2) were determined. A well crystallized major phase of bismuth sulfide with stoichiometric composition was achieved at 190°C for 3 hours. The prepared thin films were characterized using Grazing Incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Second, the band gap energy value was found to be 1.5 eV. Finally, the thermal properties have been studied for the first time by means of the electropyroelectric (EPE) technique. Indeed, the thermal conductivity varied in the range of 1.20 - 0.60 W m-1 K-1 while the thermal diffusivity values increased in terms of the annealing effect ranging from 1.8 to 3.5 10-7 m2s-1This work was financially supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and by the WINCOST (ENE2016-80788-C5-2-R) project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivenes