Investigation of crystal structure,dielectric properties,impedance spectroscopy and magnetic properties of (1-x)BaTiO3 – (x)Ba0.9Ca0.1 Fe12O19 multiferroic composites

Composites having composition (1-x)BaTiO₃?(x)Ba_0.9Ca_0.1Fe₁₂O₁₉ (x = 0.10, 0.20, 0.30) were synthesized by conventional solid-state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to examine the phase formation. Rietveld refinement has been done using the FullProf suite which predicted the dual phase symmetry consisting hexagonal (P63/mmc) and tetragonal (P4mm) phases in the prepared composites. The dielectric properties of the obtained composites were investigated at different temperatures as a function of frequency in the range of 100 Hz to 7 MHz. The dielectric constant increases with an increase in Ca doped barium ferrite content. The composites showed usual dielectric dispersive behaviour with increasing frequency. The conduction mechanism and dielectric relaxation were examined by complex impedance spectroscopy (CIS). Nyquist plots of all composites showed two semicircles and their centers lied below the real axis. Magnetic characterization was performed by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) up to a field of 15 kOe at room temperature. The hysteresis loops reveal the ferromagnetic nature of the composites. The values of saturation magnetization, magnetic moment per formula unit, and corresponding coercivity increases with ferrite content and are maximum at x = 0.3. AC conductivity also increases with ferrite content. The variation of frequency exponent ‘n' of the power-law with temperature suggests that the overlapping large polaron tunneling (OLPT) model is appropriate to explain the mode of conduction in all samples.     

Amphiphilic chitosan/acrylic acid/thiourea based semi-interpenetrating hydrogel: Solvothermal synthesis and evaluation for controlled release of organophosphate pesticide,triazophos

The current study reports the solvothermal synthesis of amphiphilic chitosan-based semi-interpenetrating (CAT-SIPH) hydrogel for controlled release of an organophosphate pesticide, triazophos. CAT-SIPH is prepared from natural backbone polymer chitosan (CS) and monomer, acrylic acid (AA) employing initiator (K₂S₂O₈), and cross-linker, thiourea (CSN₂H₄) using solvothermal technique under 7 Psi pressure in an autoclave. The polymerization reaction variables like reaction time, the volume of solvent, concentration of initiator, cross-linker, and monomer are optimized to get the best product yield in terms of percentage grafting. The optimized conditions for solvothermal polymerization reaction carried out for 60 min are solvent volume (10 ml), concentrations of acrylic acid (0.2 mol/L), K₂S₂O₈ (0.45 × 10⁻²mol/L) and thiourea (1.75 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L). The swelling behavior of CAT-SIPH hydrogel synthesized under optimized conditions is studied in the terms of swelling ratio. CAT-SIPH is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), ^IHNMR, thermal analysis (TA), Zeta potential, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The potential of cross-linked hydrogel CAT-SIPH for controlled release of an organophosphate pesticide, Triazophos on to sandy loam soil is assessed. The experimental investigations proved that synthesized hydrogel can be effectively employed as a pesticide carrier for controlled release on to loamy soil as the maximum release (53%) is observed even after 25 days at pH 6 and value get lowered under acidic and basic conditions. The present investigation demonstrated the potential of chitosan-based CAT-SIPH hydrogel as a pH-responsive release vehicle for agrochemicals onto the soil matrix and offers a potential solution for the prevention of surface and groundwater contamination.     

Behavior evaluation of geogrid-reinforced ballast-subballast interface under shear condition

The effective functioning of a railway track under operating conditions depends largely on the performance of various rail track interfaces (e.g. ballast-subballast interface, subballast-subgrade interface). In this context, a series of large-scale direct shear tests were conducted to investigate the shear behavior of unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced ballast-subballast interfaces at different normal stresses (σ_n) and rates of shearing (S_r). Fresh granite ballast and subballast having average particle size (D₅₀) of 42?mm and 3.5?mm respectively, and five geogrids with different aperture shapes and sizes were used in this study. Tests were performed at different normal stresses (σ_n) ranging from 20 to 100?kPa and shearing rates (S_r) ranging from 2.5 to 10.0?mm/min. The laboratory test results confirmed that the shear strength of ballast-subballast interface was highly influenced by the applied normal stress (σ_n) and rate of shearing (S_r). The friction angle (φ) of unreinforced ballast-subballast interface was found to decrease from 63.24° to 47.82° and dilation angle (ψ) from 14.56° to 5.23° as the values of σ_n and S_r increased from 20 to 100?kPa and 2.5–10.0?mm/min, respectively. Further, the breakage of ballast (B_g) was found to increase from 2.84 to 6.69%. However, geogrid inclusions enhanced the shear strength of the ballast-subballast interface and also reduced the extent of B_g. The results indicate that it is possible to establish a relationship between the friction angle (φ) and breakage of ballast (B_g), wherein the friction angle (φ) of both unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced interfaces reduces with the increase in breakage (B_g). The interface efficiency factor, defined as the ratio of the shear strength of the geogrid-reinforced ballast-subballast interface to the original shear strength of ballast-subballast interface varies from 1.04 to 1.22. Moreover, the current study revealed that the shear behavior of ballast-subballast interface was influenced by geogrid aperture size (A).     

Adsorption capacity,kinetics, and mechanism of copper(II) uptake on gelatin‐based hydrogels

Gelatin‐based hydrogels were synthesized and characterized for use as Cu²⁺‐ion sorbents. Gelatin was crosslinked in the presence of two different monomers, that is, acrylamide (AAm) and/or 2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate, with N,N‐methylenebisacrylamide, ammonium persulfate, and sodium bicarbonate. The as‐prepared hydrogels were further characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform spectroscopy, and the study of their swelling behavior as a function of temperature, time, and pH to evaluate their structure–property relationships. The hydrogels were observed to be good sorbents of Cu²⁺, and a maximum uptake of 84.8% was observed within 2 h at 37°C and with 10 ppm of the Cu²⁺‐ion solution for the gelatin and polyacrylamide hydrogel, which also exhibited the maximum retention capacity at 14.9 mg/g after four feeds. All of the experimental data exhibited good matches with the Langmuir isotherm and followed pseudo‐second‐order kinetics. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Non-Darcy Non-Newtonian Free Convection Flow Over a Horizontal Cylinder in a Saturated Porous Medium

Steady state solutions are obtained for non-Darcy free convection flow along a horizontal cylinder in a non-Newtonian fluid saturated porous medium. The boundary-layer equations governing the flow are solved numerically by using an implicit finite-difference method developed by Keller. Numerical results are obtained for the velocity and heat transfer at the wall for various values of the parameters namely, the Ergun number, Rayleigh number, power-law index and transpiration parameter.     

Novel dye-substituted polyanilines: conducting and antimicrobial properties

Conducting and antimicrobial properties of chemically synthesized dye-substituted polyanilines were found to be affected by varying the dye moieties. The dye-polyanilines were characterized by various analytical techniques including UV–visible spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, AC impedance and thermo-gravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. The temperature dependence of DC conductivity was studied by two-probe method to learn about the conduction behavior in the synthesized compounds. The conductivity of the dye-substituted polyanilines was found to be in the range of 10^?3–10^?2 Scm^?1. For the study of antimicrobial behavior of the synthesized polyanilines, different microorganisms, including the bacteria Escherichia coli (MTCC 442), Pseudomonas aeurginosa (MTCC 441), Staphylococus aureus (MTCC 96), and S. pyogenus (MTCC 443) and fungal strains Candida albicans (MTCC 227), Aspergillus niger (MTCC 282) and A. clavatus (MTCC 1323), were chosen based on their clinical and pharmacological importance.     

Nanotechnology in Agri-Food Sector

The emergence of nanotechnology developments using nanodevices/nanomaterials opens up potential novel applications in agriculture and food sector. Smart delivery systems, biosensors, and nanoarrays are being designed to solve the problems faced in agriculture sector. Similarly, food sector is also benefited through the use of smart biosensors, packaging materials, and nanonutraceuticals. Despite the great potential of nanotechnology in agri-food sector, people are ambiguous about use in food applications because of suspected potential health risks and environmental concerns. Nanoparticles, due to their unique characteristics, including small size, shape, high surface area, charge, chemical properties, solubility and degree of agglomeration can cross cell boundaries or pass directly from the lungs into the blood stream and ultimately reach to all of the organs in the body. This is the reason why they may pose higher risk than the same mass and material of larger particles. In this paper, we have made an attempt to give an overview of nanotechnology developments in agri-food sector, risks associated with nanomaterials and toxicity regulations for policy framework.