Charge transport and luminescent properties of PMMA-dehydrate nanotubed titanic acid nanocomposites

In this paper, we doped p-type conductivity dehydrated nanotubed titanic acid (DNTA) into insulator polymer poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The electric properties of this nanocomposite were investigated. The photoluminescence efficiency of fluorescent dye 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB) in PMMA matrix was enhanced by doping with DNTA. Moreover, screen effect by DNTA with high permittivity caused the emission from DCJTB to be blue-shifted.     

Hybrid CO2 laser waterjet heat (LWH) treatment of bindered boron nitride composites with hardness improvement

Boron nitride (BN) material is chemically and thermally stable which makes it desirable for high speed machining in demanding chemical and thermal environments. Although the hardness of BN material is well below that of single polycrystalline diamond (PCD), a laser waterjet heat (LWH) treatment process provides a new potential approach to achieve hardness values that are comparable to diamond hardness. This study investigates the hardness change of LWH-treated bindered cBN/TiN and cBN/AlN composites. Results indicate that measured hardness increase is dependent on the laser beam pass and the distance from the beam center.     

Effects of UV-C treatment on inactivation of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on grape tomato surface and stem scars,microbial loads,and quality

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light inactivation as affected by the location of pathogens on the surface and at stem scars of whole grape tomatoes. A mixed bacterial cocktail containing a three strain mixture of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (C9490, E02128 and F00475) and a three serotype mixture of Salmonella enterica (S. Montevideo G4639, S. Newport H1275, and S. Stanley H0558) were used. Tomatoes were spot inoculated using approximately 100 μL of inocula to achieve a population of about 10^7±1 CFU/tomato. Additionally, the effects of treatment on color, texture, lycopene content, and background microbial loads during post UV-C storage at 4 °C for 21 days were determined. Results showed that UV-C doses of 0.60–6.0 kJ/m² resulted in 2.3–3.5 log CFU per fruit reduction of E. coli O157:H7 compared to 2.15–3.1 log CFU per fruit reduction for Salmonella on the surfaces. Under the same conditions, log reductions achieved at stem scar were 1.7–3.2 logs CFU for E. coli O157:H7 and 1.9–2.8 logs CFU for Salmonella. The treatment was effective in controlling native microbial loads during storage at 4 °C as the total aerobic mesophilic organisms (PCA) and anaerobic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts of treated tomatoes were significantly (p < 0.05) lower during storage compared to the control group and the yeast and mold populations were reduced significantly below the detection limit. Furthermore, the firmness of tomato and its color was not affected by the UV-C doses during storage. UV-C radiation could potentially be used for sanitizing fresh tomatoes and extending shelf-life. The results of this study indicate that the specific location of pathogens on the produce influences the effectiveness of UV-C treatment, which should be taken into consideration for the design of UV-C systems for produce sanitization.     

Preparations and tailoring of structural,magnetic properties of rare earths (REs) doped nanoferrites for microwave high frequency applications

Rare earths (Res) doped Mn spinel nanoferrites with nominal composition MnR_0.2Fe_1·8O₄ (REs = Tb, Pr, Ce, Y and Gd) were synthesized using sol gel method. FTIR, XRD and FESEM were employed to evaluate the structure, phase, vibrational bands, morphology, grain size and microstructure respectively. VSM was employed to investigate the magnetic features of the Mn nanoferrite and REs doped Mn nanoferrites. XRD confirmed the single-phase cubic structure of Mn nanoferrite whereas tetragonal phase was observed for all REs doped Mn nanoferrites. Unit cell software was used to determine the structural features such as lattice parameter, cell volume, ‘da’, ‘db’, ‘dc’ and ‘dv’ respectively. FTIR results demonstrated the absorption peaks of Mn and REs doped Mn ferrite at 647-674 cm⁻¹. FESEM results depicted the irregular shapes of the particles with large agglomerations in the prepared samples. The grain size evaluated by LIM (line intercept method) found in the range of 94 to 213 nm respectively. Saturation magnetization was increased from 1.332 to 38.097 emu/g whereas remanence was increased from 1.096 to 25.379 emu/g respectively. In addition, other magnetic parameters such as initial permeability, magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moments were also increased. Moreover, Y–K angles showed significant response with REs doping in Mn ferrites. Furthermore, high frequency response and switching field distribution (SFD) of Mn ferrite and REs doped Mn ferrites were also determined. It is found that Y doped Mn ferrite depicted better high frequency and SFD response as compared to Mn ferrite and REs doped Mn ferrites. The coercivity of all these pure Mn ferrite and rare earth's substituted Mn ferrites (425–246 Oe) was higher as compared to the pure Mn and yttrium substituted Mn ferrite (107–217 Oe. Therefore, it was suggested that Y doped Mn ferrite was more suitable candidate for switching, and high frequency absorption applications in microwave regime.     

Transglutaminase cross-linking of milk proteins and impact on yoghurt gel properties

A novel yoghurt process was investigated in which milk proteins were covalently cross-linked by a microbial transglutaminase (TG) preparation containing glutathione (TG+GSH). As unheated milk is normally less reactive towards TG, TG+GSH was applied to enable non-inhibited cross-linking without requiring a pre-heat treatment beyond pasteurisation conditions. After the TG+GSH incubation phase, the enzyme was inactivated by heat treatment of the yoghurt milk prior to fermentation. During yoghurt fermentation, no negative effect of TG+GSH on fermentation time was found. Protein cross-linking by TG+GSH was enhanced, resulting in higher apparent viscosity and a higher degree of protein polymerisation than that given by TG without GSH. Furthermore, different ratios of casein to whey proteins (CWP ratios) were used to investigate the effect of both protein fractions on covalently cross-linked yoghurt gel structures. The results showed a relationship between extent of cross-linking, apparent viscosity and CWP ratio of the yoghurt gels. During storage for up to 6 weeks at 4 °C, no changes in rheological properties and degree of protein polymerisation were measurable for stirred yoghurt gels prepared from cross-linked milk proteins.     

Boosting the antimicrobial and Azo dye mineralization activities of ZnO ceramics by enhancing the light-harvesting and charge transport properties

Herein, we report the wet-chemical synthesis of a ferromagnetic nickel-doped ZnO (Zn_1-xNi_xO) nanocatalyst as a novel and visible-light-driven photocatalyst. Through X-ray diffraction, UV/Vis absorption, electronic studies, and current-voltage experiments, the effect of the ferromagnetic nickel dopant on the structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of the synthesized Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalyst was studied. The Ni-doping introduced the structural variation in the Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalyst, exhibiting a visible light-triggered optical band gap of 2.96 eV and an excellent current conductivity of 6.3 × 10⁻⁴ Sm⁻¹. Moreover, the synthesis of the Zn_1-xNi_xO catalyst at the nanoscale enhanced its surface energy, showing a robust affinity to stick with the dye and pathogenic microbes. The synergistic effects of all the mentioned features enable our Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalyst to efficiently generate and transport reactive oxygen species (ROS) under visible light illumination. Regarding antibacterial action, the as-synthesized Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalyst showed 1.7% higher activity against E. coli than that of the drug Ciprofloxacin. In addition, doped nanocatalysts mineralize almost 97% of the Allura red dye in just 80 min with a constant rate value of 0.036 min⁻¹. The impedance study and post-application XRD proposed that our Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalyst has good conductivity and structural stability. Applications studies show the unusual photocatalytic activity of as-synthesized Zn_1-xNi_xO nanocatalysts, which makes it a suitable candidate for industrial discharge treatment applications at the expense of solar light.     

Elucidation the role of Co-MOF on hematite for boosting the photoelectrochemical performance toward water oxidation

Developing an efficient photoanode to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel confronts big challenges owing to the sluggish water oxidation kinetics. Herein, we proposed a feasible method to coat Co-based metal-organic framework (Co-MOF) on Ti doped α-Fe₂O₃ and revealed its functions on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The Co-MOF/Ti–Fe₂O₃ showed a photocurrent density of 1.01 mA/cm² (1.23V_RHE) with a low turn-on voltage (V_on) of 0.80 V_RHE. The significant improvement of photocurrent density which was ca. 3 times higher than the pristine Fe₂O₃, was contributed by the improved charge separation efficiency on the surface rather than in the bulk. And this was validated by the increased trapping capacitance (C_trap) and reduced charge transport resistance (R_ct). Additionally, the low V_on was attributable to the compromise of introduced surface states and the catalytic effect of the Co-MOF. In this work, we discovered the Co-MOF not only offered catalysis sites for OER, but shed light on its influence on the overall PEC water oxidation, and led to an in-depth understanding of cocatalysts on the PEC water splitting.     

Metal doped black phosphorus/molybdenum disulfide (BP/MoS2–Y (Y: Ni,Co)) heterojunctions for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and electrochemical nitrite sensing applications

Recently, 2D semiconductor-based heterojunctions emerge as a focal point of intensive research owing to their unique properties, including efficient charge separation and large interface areas. Herein, Ni or Co-doped black phosphorus/molybdenum disulfide (BP/MoS₂–Y (Y: Ni, Co)) heterojunctions fabricate for photocatalytic H₂ evolution and electrochemical nitrite sensor. Compared to the BP/MoS₂, the BP/MoS₂–Ni and BP/MoS₂–Co exhibit enhanced H₂ performance, as 6.4139 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ and 7.4282 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, respectively, in the presence of Eosin-Y (λ ≥ 420 nm). Furthermore, BP/MoS₂–Co applies as an electrocatalyst on a GCE for the electrochemical detection of nitrite. To optimize the nitrite sensing performance of BP/MoS₂–Co, the effect of the pH, amount of material, scan rates, and other conditions study in detail. The BP/MoS₂–Co displays a linear response within the range of 100–2000 μM with a detection limit of 4.1 μM for DPV. This work can offer an opportunity for hydrogen systems as well as electrochemical sensor applications.     

Investigation of optimum H2 production from date palm waste leaves using different modeling tools

Globally, the productive utilization of biomass has paid serious attention to fulfilling the energy requirements laid out by the international standards, as to reduce related carbon footprints. Therefore, this study investigates date palm waste leaves which aims to produce environment friendly H₂ gas using gasification technology. The results of 25 experimental runs exhibited that the higher H₂ produced at higher temperature which was mainly supported by water-gas-shift and steam-methane reforming reactions. H₂ prediction was modeled using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). The RSM model exhibited a strong interaction with the regression coefficient (R²) and p-value of 0.89 and 0.000000, respectively. ANN data was disseminated thru K-fold contrivance with back-propagation algorithm. Hence, the training (80% data) and validation (20% data) datasets were found with R² and root mean squared error (RSME) of 0.90 and 0.28, and 0.86 and 0.39, respectively. Kinetics of the process estimated the activation energies (Ea) using Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW), Starink (STK), and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) models. Hence, the values of Ea and R² at conversion degrees (α) 0.1 to 0.8 were ranged between 129.40 and 326.64 kJ/mol and 0.92 to 0.97, respectively. Optimum H₂ production of 49.03 vol% (with LHV of 11.10 MJ/Nm³) was produced. This finding is thought to be a better source of energy which can be an appropriate fuel for Fischer Tropsch process for manufacturing of transportation fuels.