Effect of seed layer on the performance of ZnO nanorods-based photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

In this paper, zinc oxide nanorods (ZnONRs) were synthesized by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at 90 °C by using zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylenetetramine as precursors. In a first stage, the ZnO NRs were grown on un-seeded and pre-seeded fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates by direct CBD method to study the effect of the ZnO seed layer on the NRs structural, morphological and optical properties. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis performed on the preseeded NRs revealed a pure ZnO hexagonal wurtzite crystalline phase, while the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) unveiled that the pre-seeded NRs exhibit a smaller diameter, higher density, higher aspect ratio and improved orientation along the c-axiswith respect to the un-seeded NRs. In a second stage, the powder obtained by aging, centrifuging and drying the precipitates formed during the CBD growth was analyzed by XRD to assess its crystal structure and phase purity and subsequently coated on un-seeded and pre-seeded FTO glass substrates by doctor blade technique. The ZnO NRs based seeded and non-seeded films fabricated by the two methods were finally used as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Interestingly, the employment of pre-seeded ZnO NRs films deposited by doctor blade technique in comparison to the counterpart electrodes synthesized by direct CBD growth has led to a noticeable increase in the DSSC photoconversion efficiency from 0.35 to 1.86%. On the other hand, the inclusion of the seed layer has effectively improved the fill factor of the DSSC I-V curves for both the photoanode deposition techniques

EXPLORING THE ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF NEPETA ADENOPHYTA HEDGE IN HEPG2 CELLS AND ITS PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES

The current study is based on the phytochemical isolation and biological activity evaluation of Nepeta adenophyta Hedge. This plant species is traditionally used for abdominal pain, kidney pain, stomach problems, urine problems, and diarrhea and is examined to control bleeding. Five compounds were isolated using column chromatography over normal silica gel from the ethanolic crude extract of Nepeta adenophyta and their structures were characterized with the help of spectroscopic techniques. In addition, the crude extract was evaluated for its antioxidant and antidiabetic potential in a human hepatoma cell line HepG2 cells and the crude extract showed good activities. The phytochemical isolation studies and the biological activities are conducted for the first time on the study sample

دکنی شاعری میں واقعۂ معراج

The most popular poetic form of Deccan Mathnawi had adopted a typical formate. Hamd, Naat and description of Meraj-un-Nabi had become the essential elements not only in religious Mathanwi but also in other epics or mystical love stories. In addition to this partial narration of Meraj, some poets also wrote in constant poetic form “Meraj Nama”. All those litrary pieces have linguistic and stylistic qualities but are not as pensive and thoughtful. Supersitition was a big element of Hindu culture and literature. It also affected Muslim Urdu poets. Hence the Miracle of Prophet (PBUH) was explained with exaggeration so these popular poems were liked and accepted for their rhythms not for research based facts. However we find some exceptions.</p