Fruit Extract Mediated Green Synthesis of Metallic Nanoparticles: A New Avenue in Pomology Applications

Fruit extracts have natural bioactive molecules that are known to possess significant therapeutic potential. Traditionally, metallic nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical methods, in which the chemical act as the reducing agent. Later, these traditional metallic nanoparticles emerged as the biological risk, which prompted researchers to explore an eco-friendly approach. There are different eco-friendly methods employed for synthesizing these metallic nanoparticles via the usage of microbes and plants, primarily via fruit extract. These explorations have paved the way for using fruit extracts for developing nanoparticles, as they eliminate the usage of reducing and stabilizing agents. Metallic nanoparticles have gained significant attention, and are used for diverse biological applications. The present review discusses the potential activities of phytochemicals, and it intends to summarize the different metallic nanoparticles synthesized using fruit extracts and their associated pharmacological activities like anti-cancerous, antimicrobial, antioxidant and catalytic efficiency.     

Low Cost and Rapidly Processed Randomly Oriented Carbon/Carbon Composite Bipolar Plate for PEM Fuel Cell

The objective of the present work is to develop carbon/carbon (C/C) composite bipolar plate at low cost with rapid processing time by a novel process. Carbon/carbon composite was developed using exfoliated carbon fiber reinforcement, isroaniso as primary matrix precursor, and resole type phenolic resin as secondary matrix precursor. Randomly oriented hybrid carbon fiber (T‐800 and P‐75) reinforced hybrid carbon matrix composite was fabricated. The slicing and channel forming were carried out using simple and conventional machines. The competency of the material was investigated by characterizing and analyzing density, scanning electron miscroscopy (SEM), compressive strength, compressive modulus, flexural strength, tensile strength, impact strength, hardness, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion, permeability, and corrosion current. The C/C composite bipolar plate with exfoliated carbon fibers offered bulk density 1.75 g cm⁻³, tensile strength 45 MPa, flexural strength 98 MPa, compressive strength 205 MPa, electrical conductivity 190 (through‐plane) and 595 S cm⁻¹ (in‐plane), and thermal conductivity 24 (through‐plane) and 51 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ (in‐plane). Further, single cell test was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the C/C composite bipolar plate in the PEM fuel cell and the performance was compared with the commercial graphite bipolar plate at different operating temperatures.     

Numerical Investigation of Flow Patterns and Concentration Profiles in Y‐Mixers

The fluid flow patterns and associated concentration fields in Y‐mixers are investigated using lattice Boltzmann method‐based models. The focus lies on the impact of the mixing angle on the flow and concentration fields, with the mixing angle varying between acute (θ = 10°) and obtuse (θ = 130°) angles. Residence time distributions are determined to study the effect of the angles on the mixing and velocity patterns, in particular, different flow regimes, i.e., stratified laminar, vortex, and engulfment flow. The results from the simulations are validated with literature data and found to be in good agreement. Maximum mixing occurs in the 100° obtuse‐angle Y‐mixer, attributed to the extensive engulfment of flows in the mixing channel.     

Microstructure and Compressive Strength of SiC-Platelet-Reinforced Borosilicate Composites

The microstructure and compressive strength of SiC-platelet-reinforced borosilicate composites have been examined in this study. During sintering, following cold compaction, borosilicate glass crystallized into cristobalite, and the thermal expansion mismatch between the parent glass and the crystallized phase led to extensive microcracking of the matrix. Cristobalite growth (hence cracking) could be suppressed to some extent by opting for a rapid hot-pressing cycle. Composites fabricated with various volume fractions of SiC platelets were tested in compression. A maximum compressive strength of 510 MPa was observed at 40 vol % of platelets. Further, the compressive flow behavior of these composites has been explored in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature. At temperatures above 625°C, borosilicate glass and its composites exhibited Newtonian viscous flow characteristics. Their flow stress at a given strain rate is, however, seen to increase with increasing volume fraction of SiC platelets.     

Intelligent methods for solving inverse problems of backscattering spectra with noise: a comparison between neural networks and simulated annealing

This paper investigates two different intelligent techniques—the neural network (NN) method and the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm for solving the inverse problem of Rutherford backscattering (RBS) with noisy data. The RBS inverse problem is to determine the sample structure information from measured spectra, which can be defined as either a function approximation or a non-linear optimization problem. Early studies emphasized on numerical methods and empirical fitting. In this work, we have applied intelligent techniques and compared their performance and effectiveness for spectral data analysis by solving the inverse problem. Since each RBS spectrum may contain up to 512 data points, principal component analysis is used to make the feature extraction so as to ease the complexity of constructing the network. The innovative aspects of our work include introducing dimensionality reduction and noise modeling. Experiments on RBS spectra from SiGe thin films on a silicon substrate show that the SA is more accurate but the NN is faster, though both methods produce satisfactory results. Both methods are resilient to 10% Poisson noise in the input. These new findings indicate that in RBS data analysis the NN approach should be preferred when fast processing is required; whereas the SA method becomes the first choice should the analysis accuracy be targeted.     

Unveiling the cytotoxicity of phytosynthesised silver nanoparticles using Tinospora cordifolia leaves against human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using plant extract is a cheap, easily accessible and natural process in which the phyto‐constituents of the plants act as capping, stabilising and reducing agent. The present study explored the biosynthesis of AgNPs using aqueous leaf extract of Tinospora cordifolia and characterised via various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X‐ray analysis and X‐ray diffraction. Here, TEM confirmed the spherical morphology with 25–50 nm size of synthesised AgNPs. Further, anticancer efficiency of AgNPs synthesised using T. cordifolia leaves were evaluated against human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 by MTT, trypan blue assay, apoptotic morphological changes using Annexin V‐FITC and Propidium iodide (PI), nuclear morphological changes by DAPI (4, 6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole dihydrochloride) staining, reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial membrane potential determination. Results confirmed the AgNPs synthesised using T. cordifolia leaves are found to be highly toxic against human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549.Inspec keywords: toxicology, cellular biophysics, cancer, silver, biomembranes, drugs, nanofabrication, nanoparticles, transmission electron microscopy, drug delivery systems, nanomedicine, lung, biomedical materials, antibacterial activity, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning‐transmission electron microscopyOther keywords: cytotoxicity, phytosynthesised silver nanoparticles, A549 cell line, biosynthesis, aqueous leaf, transmission electron microscopy, TEM, X‐ray analysis, X‐ray diffraction, spherical morphology, human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, nuclear morphological changes, 4, 6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole dihydrochloride, Tinospora cordifolia leaves, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, energy dispersive X‐ray analysis, Ag, size 25.0 nm to 50.0 nm, anticancer efficiency, trypan blue assay, propidium iodide, Annexin V‐FITC, DAPI staining, reactive oxygen species generation, mitochondrial membrane potential determination     

Surfactant-free CdTe nanoparticles mixed MEH-PPV hybrid solar cell deposited by spin coating technique

Hybrid absorber layers have been deposited using spin coating technique (using surfactant-free CdTe nanoparticles mixed with poly (2-methoxy, 5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenyl vinylene) (MEH-PPV). The blend solution is heated at ∼50 °C prior to the thin film deposition to achieve proper dispersion of CdTe nanoparticles in MEH-PPV. ¹HNMR spectra confirm the chemical attachment of CdTe nanoparticles to alkoxy group of MEH-PPV. For the film deposited with weight ratio CdTe:MEH-PPV (40:3), the absorbance extends from 350 nm to near-IR region and the effect of charge transfer complex (CTC) is also seen. Photoluminescence (PL) measurement confirms the PL quenching for the hybrid layer which is a measure of the degree of dispersion of nanoparticles in the MEH-PPV matrix and also confirms that the required dissociation of excitons is taking place. The solar cell prepared with the CdTe mixed MEH-PPV hybrid absorbing layer shows a power conversion efficiency of ∼0.06%.     

Small scale biomass heating systems: Standards, quality labelling and market driving factors – An EU outlook

In the present study a comparative evaluation of several existing quality labels and standards for small scale biomass heating systems (BHS) and the biomass fuels they use was performed. With the introduction of pellet fuels, biomass heating technology achieved enough maturity to successfully compete with oil/gas heating devices in terms of ease of use, utilization of energy and pollutant emissions.From indoor air quality and related health risks point of view, quality labelling of both BHS and fuel they use leads to stricter emissions, efficiency and safety requirements as compared to National and EU standards. Several measures supporting this green energy market in the active countries (Sweden, Nordic countries, Germany, France and Austria) were investigated. It was found that policies and financial incentives such as the Finance Law (2005–2009) in France and Market Incentives Programme (1999–2006) in Germany are the most successful. German regulations and quality label (Blue Angel) provide the stringent quality requirements for residential BHS.In Belgium, Wallonia is the most active region for biomass energy utilization (83.5 MW for residential heating in 2007). A quality label for small scale BHS however does not yet exist. An equivalent label (Optimaz) exists for oil fired residential boilers. Emphasis has been placed upon using Optimaz as a reference and to compare with other existing quality labels. As a result, an effort had been made to move ahead in the preliminary study for development of a quality label for Belgian.     

The effect of stress state on high-temperature deformation of fine-grained aluminum–magnesium alloy AA5083 sheet

The effect of stress state on high-temperature deformation of fine-grained aluminum–magnesium alloy AA5083 sheet is investigated over a range of temperatures and strain rates for which the grain-boundary-sliding and solute-drag creep mechanisms govern plastic flow. Experimental data from uniaxial tension and biaxial tension are used in conjunction with finite-element-method simulations to examine the role of stress state. Three different material constitutive models derived from uniaxial tensile data are used to simulate bulge-forming experiments. Comparison of simulation results with bulge-forming data indicates that stress state affects grain-boundary-sliding creep by increasing creep rate as hydrostatic stress increases. Thus, creep deformation is faster under biaxial tension than under uniaxial tension for a constant effective stress. No effect of stress state is observed for solute-drag creep. A new material model that accounts for the effect of stress state on grain-boundary-sliding creep is proposed.