Transport phenomena in the electrodeionization of cesium from AMP-PAN

Electrodeionization (EDI) of cesium from cesium-sorbed ammonium molybdophosphate-polyacrylonitrile (AMP-PAN) was investigated by passing eluant through the packed bed of ion-exchange resin in an electrodialysis cell. The deionized cesium from the packed bed was recovered in catholyte by migration and in the eluant by convection. Recovery percentage of Cs by migration increased while the recovery by convection decreased with increase in current density from 20 to 40 mA/cm². Increased eluant concentration resulted in low migration percentage of cesium. Increased catholyte concentration had a negligible effect on total recovery. Apparent diffusion coefficients evaluated using the Nernst–Plank relation increased with increase in current density and catholyte concentration while a decreasing trend was observed with increase in eluant concentration.     

Lead‐Free Polycrystalline Ferroelectric Nanowires with Enhanced Curie Temperature

Ferroelectrics are important technological materials with wide‐ranging applications in electronics, communication, health, and energy. While lead‐based ferroelectrics have remained the predominant mainstay of industry for decades, environmentally friendly lead‐free alternatives are limited due to relatively low Curie temperatures (T _C) and/or high cost in many cases. Efforts have been made to enhance T _C through strain engineering, often involving energy‐intensive and expensive fabrication of thin epitaxial films on lattice‐mismatched substrates. Here, a relatively simple and scalable sol–gel synthesis route to fabricate polycrystalline (Ba_0.85Ca_0.15)(Zr_0.1Ti_0.9)O₃ nanowires within porous templates is presented, with an observed enhancement of T _C up to ≈300 °C as compared to ≈90 °C in the bulk. By combining experiments and theoretical calculations, this effect is attributed to the volume reduction in the template‐grown nanowires that modifies the balance between different structural instabilities. The results offer a cost‐effective solution‐based approach for strain‐tuning in a promising lead‐free ferroelectric system, thus widening their current applicability.     

A Novel Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensor Based on ZnO/SBA‐15 Hybrid Nanocomposite

This work deals with the study of hydrothermally synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO) loaded mesoporous SBA‐15 hybrid nanocomposite for relative humidity sensing (RH) at room temperature. The sensor exhibits an excellent ~5 orders impedance change along with excellent linearity, quick response time (17 s), rapid recovery time (18 s), negligible hysteresis (1.2%), good repeatability, and stability (1.8%) in 11%–98% RH range. In addition, complex impedance spectra of the sensor at different RHs were analyzed to understand the humidity sensing mechanism. Our study can open a new way for realizing ZnO/SBA‐15 hybrid nanocomposite for fabrication of high‐performance RH sensors.     

A Qualitative Review on Tunnel Field Effect Transistor- Operation,Advances, and Applications

Silicon - Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (TFET) has become one of the promising devices to be part of Integrated circuits as the technology advances to the nanoscale. A TFET has many advantages...     

Role of Microstructure and Temperature on the Tensile Fracture Behavior of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened 18Cr Ferritic Steel

The tensile fracture behavior of oxide dispersion strengthened 18Cr (ODS-18Cr) ferritic steels milled for varying times was studied along with the oxide-free 18Cr steel (NODS) at 25, 200, 400, 600, and 800 °C. At all the test temperatures, the strengths of ODS–18Cr steels increased and total elongation decreased with the duration of milling time. Oxide dispersed 18Cr steel with optimum milling exhibited enhanced yield strength of 156 pct at room temperature and 300 pct at 800 °C when compared to oxide-free 18Cr steel. The ductility values of ODS-18Cr steels are in the range 20 to 35 pct for a temperature range 25 to 800 °C, whereas NODS alloy exhibited higher ductility of 37 to 82 pct. The enhanced strength of ODS steels when compared to oxide-free steel is due to the development of ultrafine grained structure along with nanosized dispersion of complex oxide particles. While the pre-necking elongation decreased with increasing temperature and milling time, post-necking elongation showed no change with the test temperature. Fractographic examination of both ODS and NODS 18Cr steel fractured tensile samples, revealed that the failure was in ductile fracture mode with distinct neck and shear lip formation for all milling times and at all test temperatures. The fracture mechanism is in general followed the sequence; microvoid nucleation at second phase particles, void growth and coalescence. The quantified dimple sizes and numbers per unit area were found to be in linear relation with the size and number density of dispersoids. It is clearly evident that even nanosized dispersoids acted as sites for microvoid nucleation at larger strains and assisted in dimple rupture.

     

Exploring the Bioactive Potentials of C60-AgNPs Nano-Composites against Malignancies and Microbial Infections

At present, the potential role of the AgNPs/endo-fullerene molecule metal nano-composite has been evaluated over the biosystems in-vitro. The intra-atomic configuration of the fullerene molecule (C₆₀) has been studied in-vitro for the anti-proliferative activity of human breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231) cell lines and antimicrobial activity against a few human pathogens that have been augmented with the pristine surface plasmonic electrons and antibiotic activity of AgNPs. Furthermore, FTIR revealed the basic vibrational signatures at ~3300 cm⁻¹, 1023 cm⁻¹, 1400 cm⁻¹ for O-H, C-O, and C-H groups, respectively, for the carbon and oxygen atoms of the C₆₀ molecule. NMR studies exhibited the different footprints and magnetic moments at ~7.285 ppm, explaining the unique underlying electrochemical attributes of the fullerene molecule. Such unique electronic and physico-chemical properties of the caged carbon structure raise hope for applications into the drug delivery domain. The in-vitro dose-dependent application of C₆₀ elicits a toxic response against both the breast adenocarcinoma cell lines and pathogenic microbes. That enables the use of AgNPs decorated C₆₀ endo fullerene molecules to design an effective anti-cancerous drug delivery and antimicrobial agent in the future, bringing a revolutionary change in the perspective of a treatment regime.     

Carborane-Containing Matrix Metalloprotease (MMP) Ligands as Candidates for Boron Neutron-Capture Therapy (BNCT)

Based on the previously reported potent and selective sulfone hydroxamate inhibitors SC-76276, SC-78080 (SD-2590), and SC-77964, potent MMP inhibitors have been designed and synthesized to append a boron-rich carborane cluster by employing click chemistry to target tumor cells that are known to upregulate gelatinases. Docking against MMP-2 suggests binding involving the hydroxamate zinc-binding group, key H-bonds by the sulfone moiety with the peptide backbone residues Leu82 and Leu83, and a hydrophobic interaction with the deep P1’ pocket. The more potent of the two triazole regioisomers exhibits an IC₅₀ of 3.7 nM versus MMP-2 and IC₅₀ of 46 nM versus MMP-9.