Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye by Aligned Arrays of Self-Assembled Hydrogen Titanate Nanotubes

We show that an aligned array of hydrothermally grown, multiwalled hydrogen titanate (H2Ti3O7) nanotubes—anchored to both faces of a metallic Ti foil—acts as an efficient photocatalyst. We studied the degradation of rhodamine B dye in the presence of the nanostructured photocatalyst under UV irradiation, by monitoring the optical absorption of the dye. Rhodamine B was chosen as a representative—and particularly harmful—industrial pollutant dye. The inner and outer diameters of the H2Ti3O7 nanotubes were 5 nm and 10 nm, respectively. The nanotube array catalyst is recyclable and structurally stable. Most importantly, it shows comparable or higher photodecomposition rate constant than those of both H2Ti3O7 nanotube powder and P-25 (Degussa). The enhanced photocatalytic performance may be ascribed to the nanotube array having a superhydrophilic surface with a high accessible surface area

Two-Dimensional Nanostrips of Hydrophobic Copper Tetradecanoate for Making Self-Cleaning Glasses

We report a simple, solution-based technique for coating arbitrary surfaces with thin layers of self-assembled copper tetradecanoate (CTD) nanostrips, resulting in an optically transparent, superhydrophobic coating. The nanostrip-coated surfaces show water contact angles close to 150° and roll-off angles as small as 2°-3°. Importantly, CTD retains its hydrophobic nature even after annealing the self-assembled nanostrips at 200°C, which does not alter the crystal structure but “melts” the surface microstructure. This clearly indicates that the hydrophobicity in CTD is likely to be intrinsic in nature and not induced by the surface microstructure (as has been suggested earlier). Strong hydrophobicity in CTD over a relatively wide temperature range presumably results from the presence of the long aliphatic (tetradecanoate) chains in its structure. Importantly, the self-assembled copper tetradecanoate nanostrips can be dip-coated on glass to render it hydrophobic and at the same time retain a significant level of transparency over the entire visible region. Such nanostructured thin films may be expected to find applications not only as a self-cleaning glass, but also as a corrosion resistant coating, in gas storage (due to the layered structure), and as an active catalyst because of the visible absorbance

A one-step densification approach of porous La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ coatings towards high-temperature oxidation resistance application

In high-temperature applications specifically in solid oxide fuel cells, the utilization of ceramic coatings on metal substrates is of utmost importance as it provides significant resistance to oxidation. In this study, for the first time, a simple and effective electrophoretic deposition approach is used to fabricate dense La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) coatings treated with methyl hydrogen polysiloxane (MHP). The structural and morphological analysis of pre-and post-treated LSCF coatings are extensively investigated using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and SEM. Both densification and adhesion strength are observed to be enhanced significantly with the utilization of MHP solution. The wetting characteristics of the LSCF coating show a remarkable improvement over the underlying metallic substrate. After post-treatment of LSCF coating using MHP as the binder, the oxidation scaling rate was reduced by a factor of 3.6 and 2.6 compared to bare steel and LSCF untreated samples, respectively

Band Gap Tuning and Room-Temperature Photoluminescence of a Physically Self-Assembled Cu₂O Nanocolumn Array

The morphology modification of nanostructured materials is of great interest due to controllable and unusual inherent properties in such materials. In this work, growth and morphology evolution of a well-separated Cu₂O nanocolumn array is explored by tuning deposition angle and substrate rotation speed in oblique angle deposition (OAD). X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements reveal that crystal quality and optical properties crucially depend on the morphology of the nanostructures. An intense room-temperature photoluminescence (RTPL) signal at 525 nm indicates that the Cu₂O nanocolumn arrays exhibit strong green luminescence. The morphology-dependent band gap tuning makes this approach of great potential for nanoscale optoelectronic applications

Fabrication of rice bran oil nanoemulsion and conventional emulsion with Mustard Protein Isolate as a novel excipient: Focus on shelf-life stability, lipid digestibility and cellular bioavailability

Proteins are one of the many effective biomolecules found in oilseed meals. In order to formulate an oil-in-water nanoemulsion based lipophilic nutraceutical delivery vehicle for Rice Bran oil (RBO) rich in γ-oryzanol, we used mustard seed meal protein isolate (MPI) as a novel natural surfactant together with a small molecular weight co-surfactant Tween 20 in various ratios (3:1, 1:1, 1:3) to stabilize the heterogeneous system. The oxidative stability, physico-chemical characterization in response to pH and ionic strength, shelf-life, and storage of the nanoemulsions containing 1% surfactant in total, comprising different ratios of MPI and Tween 20 were optimised to form an efficient biphasic surfactant system. The oil-in-water nanoemulsions fabricated utilizing high energy approach, i.e. high pressure homogenisation method was found to reduce dispersed phase particles size in the range of 150–160 nm. Minimal non-significant variation in droplet size and surface charge over the 8 weeks storage periods proves their excellent shelf-life stability. The use of MPI as surfactant for the delivery system also increased the lipid fraction digestibility releasing 70% of the fatty acids from dispersed phase oil droplets in simulated intestinal phase of three step in vitro digestion of nanoemulsion as compared to its conventional counterpart. The γ-oryzanol rich nanoemulsions improved prophylactic effectiveness against ROS in terms of overall cell survival and cell membrane integrity. The results will pave new domains to use MPI as surface active agents for delivery system formulation enriched with nutraceuticals and phytochemicals possessing superior functional advantages, bioavailability and antioxidative potentials

Fabrication of ZnS Hollow Spheres and RGO-ZnS Nanocomposite Using Cysteamine as Novel Sulfur Source: Photocatalytic Performance on Industrial Dyes and Effluent

A facile one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of hollow ball-like ZnS nanostructures is reported using cysteamine, an ecofriendly sulfur source. Following similar protocol, a heterostructure of RGO-ZnS nanocomposite have been synthesized. The as-synthesized samples are structurally and optically characterized using different techniques. The photocatalytic activity of RGO-ZnS has been found to be ∼9% higher than that of ball-like ZnS nanostructures at a dose of 0.4 g/L. This result is attributed to the improved charge transport by hindering charge recombination of photoinduced excitons. One of the significant findings of this work is that the model anionic dye degraded better under alkaline condition with ZnS whereas the trend is reversed for RGO-ZnS composite. The removal efficiency of both the systems is allied with structural, morphological, and optical properties to understand the underlying mechanism of synthesis as well as photocatalysis process

Hyaluronic acid-graphene oxide quantum dots nanoconjugate as dual purpose drug delivery and therapeutic agent in meta-inflammation

Abstract Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) predominantly considered a metabolic disease is now being considered an inflammatory disease as well due to the involvement of meta-inflammation. Obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation (ATI) is one of the earliest phenomena in the case of meta-inflammation, leading to the advent of insulin resistance (IR) and T2DM. The key events of ATI are orchestrated by macrophages, which aggravate the inflammatory state in the tissue upon activation, ultimately leading to systemic chronic low-grade inflammation and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) through the involvement of proinflammatory cytokines. The CD44 receptor on macrophages is overexpressed in ATI, NASH, and IR. Therefore, we developed a CD44 targeted Hyaluronic Acid functionalized Graphene Oxide Quantum Dots (GOQD-HA) nanocomposite for tissue-specific delivery of metformin. Metformin-loaded GOQD-HA (GOQD-HA-Met) successfully downregulated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and restored antioxidant status at lower doses than free metformin in both palmitic acid-induced RAW264.7 cells and diet induced obese mice. Our study revealed that the GOQD-HA nanocarrier enhanced the efficacy of Metformin primarily by acting as a therapeutic agent apart from being a drug delivery platform. The therapeutic properties of GOQD-HA stem from both HA and GOQD having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties respectively. This study unravels the function of GOQD-HA as a targeted drug delivery option for metformin in meta-inflammation where the nanocarrier itself acts as a therapeutic agent. Graphical Abstrac

Abstracts of National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020

This book presents the abstracts of the papers presented to the Online National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020 (RDMPMC-2020) held on 26th and 27th August 2020 organized by the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Science in Association with the Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. Conference Title: National Conference on Research and Developments in Material Processing, Modelling and Characterization 2020Conference Acronym: RDMPMC-2020Conference Date: 26–27 August 2020Conference Location: Online (Virtual Mode)Conference Organizer: Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology JamshedpurCo-organizer: Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, IndiaConference Sponsor: TEQIP-