Smart Polymer Hydrogels as Matrices for the Controlled Release Applications in Agriculture Sector

Synthetic polymer hydrogels and modified natural polymer hydrogels are widely and increasingly used in agriculture, health care textiles, effluent treatment, drug delivery, tissue engineering, civil concrete structure, etc. Among them, the use of hydrogels in agricultural and horticultural sectors as matrices for the controlled release of water, various primary and secondary nutrients has drawn significant attraction from researchers, scientists, and industry persons due to their smartness with reference to controlled release characteristics based on plant requirement. Since the use of these hydrogels for controlled release application ensures the minimum utilization of water and plant nutrients in fields. Besides, this will bring down the overloading of fertilizer, soil contamination, and water pollution such as eutrophication, nitrate pollution, and micronutrient imbalance. This chapter is focused on the class of hydrogels that are used for the controlled release application in the agricultural and horticultural sectors as matrices, the possible methods of fine-tuning their structures for improving their fertilizer uptake and release behavior, safety aspects, and environmental issues

Investigation on the corrosion inhibition efficiency of 2, 4-diphenyl-3-aza bicyclo[3.3.1] nonan-9-one in carbon steel immersed in acidic media

The current research investigates the corrosion resistant efficiency of 2,4-diphenyl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1] nonan – 9–one (PABN) as inhibitor in carbon steel in 0.5 M H2SO4 environment through experimental and theoretical approaches. The weight loss methodology demonstrates that 0.10 ppm of nonan-9-one compound effectively inhibits corrosion in carbon steel submerged in an acidic environment with an efficiency of inhibition as high as 97.2 %. The polarization studies reveals the function of the compound as an inhibitor at the anodic site, influencing the kinetics of carbon steel corrosion effectively. Impedance spectra under alternating current conditions elucidate the influence of the protective film formed by the action of PABN compound on the electrical behavior and corrosion resistance in carbon steel material. This existence of the protective film composed of carbon steel and PABN compound is affirmed through different techniques such as SEM, EDX and AFM. The DFT analysis anticipates the interaction patterns of the inhibitor with the surface of carbon steel using quantum chemical calculations, analyzing the molecular interactions between the molecules of the inhibitor and the surface of carbon steel, providing insights into PABN's corrosion inhibitory properties

Preparation, characterization, and assessment of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing properties of titanium nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam leaves

In recent decades, nanotechnology is growing rapidly owing to its widespread application in science and industry. The aim of the experiment was chemical characterization and evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing activities of titanium nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam leaves (TiNPs@Ziziphora). These nanoparticles were characterized by fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-visible spectroscopy. The synthesized TiNPs@Ziziphora had great cell viability dose-dependently (Investigating the effect of the plant on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cell line) and revealed this method was nontoxic. Then, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging test was done to assess the antioxidant properties, which indicated similar antioxidant potentials for TiNPs@Ziziphora and butylated hydroxytoluene. Agar diffusion tests were applied to determine the antibacterial and antifungal characteristics. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) were specified by macro-broth dilution assay. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software (Duncan post-hoc test). TiNPs@Ziziphora indicated higher antibacterial and antifungal effects than all standard antibiotics (p <= 0.01). Also, TiNPs@Ziziphora inhibited the growth of all bacteria at 2-16 mg/ml concentrations and removed them at 2-32 mg/ml concentrations (p <= 0.01). In case of antifungal properties of TiNPs@Ziziphora, they prevented the growth of all fungi at 2-8 mg/ml concentrations and destroyed them at 2-16 mg/ml concentrations (p <= 0.01). In vivo experiment, after creating the cutaneous wound, the rats were randomly divided into six groups: untreated control, treatment with Eucerin basal ointment, treatment with 3 tetracycline ointment, treatment with 0.2 TiO2 ointment, treatment with 0.2 Z. clinopodioides ointment, and treatment with 0.2 TiNPs@Ziziphora ointment. These groups were treated for 10 days. For histopathological and biochemical analysis of the healing trend, a 3 x 3 cm section was prepared from all dermal thicknesses at day 10. Use of TiNPs@Ziziphora ointment in the treatment groups substantially reduced (p <= 0.01) the wound area, total cells, neutrophil, and lymphocyte and remarkably raised (p <= 0.01) the wound contracture, hydroxyl proline, hexosamine, hexuronic acid, fibrocyte, and fibrocytes/fibroblast rate compared to other groups. In conclusion, the results revealed the useful non-cytotoxic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing effects of TiNPs@Ziziphora

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing properties of gold nanoparticles produced via a green chemistry synthesis using Gundelia tournefortii L. as a capping and reducing agent

The exploitation of various plant materials for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles is considered a green technology because it does not involve any harmful chemicals. The aim of the experiment was chemical characterization and evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing activities of gold nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Gundelia tournefortii L. leaves (AuNPs@GT). These nanoparticles were characterized by fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-visible spectroscopy. DPPH free radical scavenging test was done to assess the antioxidant properties, which indicated similar antioxidant potentials for AuNPs@GT and butylated hydroxytoluene. Agar diffusion tests were applied to determine the antibacterial and antifungal characteristics. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) were specified by macro-broth dilution assay. AuNPs@GT indicated higher antibacterial and antifungal effects than all standard antibiotics (p <= 0.01). Also, AuNPs@GT inhibited the growth of all bacteria and fungi and removed them at 2-4 mg/mL concentrations (p <= 0.01). In vivo experiment, after creating the cutaneous wound, the rats were randomly divided into six groups: untreated control, treatment with Eucerin basal ointment, treatment with 3 tetracycline ointment, treatment with 0.2 HAuCl4 ointment, treatment with 0.2 G. tournefortii ointment, and treatment with 0.2 AuNPs@GT ointment. These groups were treated for 10 days. For histopathological and biochemical analysis of the healing trend, a 3 x 3 cm section was prepared from all dermal thicknesses at day 10. Use of AuNPs@GT ointment in the treatment groups substantially reduced (p <= 0.01) the wound area, total cells, neutrophil, and lymphocyte and remarkably raised (p <= 0.01) the wound contracture, hydroxyl proline, hexosamine, hexuronic acid, fibrocyte, fibroblast, and fibrocytes/fibroblast rate compared to other groups. The synthesized AuNPs@GT had great cell viability dose-dependently (Investigating the effect of the plant on HUVEC cell line) and revealed this method was nontoxic. The results showed that the leave aqueous extract of G. tournefortii is very good bioreductant in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles for treatment of bacterial, fungal, and skin diseases