Exceptional photocatalytic activity for g-C3N4 activated by H2O2 and integrated with Bi2S3 and Fe3O4 nanoparticles for removal of organic and inorganic pollutants

Herein, hydrogen peroxide activated graphitic carbon nitride (agCN) was combined with Fe₃O₄ and Bi₂S₃ to fabricate agCN/Fe₃O₄/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposites via facile refluxing method, as visible-light-induced photocatalysts for photodegradations of anionic and cationic dyes such as MO, RhB, MB, and photoreduction of Cr(VI). The fabricated samples were explored by XRD, EDX, XPS, TGA, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, VSM, PL, FT-IR, BET, and UV-vis DRS. Photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite with 20% of Bi₂S₃ was 16.6, 40.4, 19.5, and 12.5 times more than that of the pristine gCN in removal of RhB, MB, MO, and Cr(VI), respectively. A plausible photocatalytic mechanism on the agCN/Fe₃O₄/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposites was proposed by construction of n-n heterojunction between gCN and Bi₂S₃. Also, stability of the magnetic hybrid was characterized through cyclic photocatalytic tests.     

High performance humidity sensing properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films by sol–gel spin coating method

The tin doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films prepared by sol–gel spin coating method with In(NO₃)3H₂O and SnCl₄·5H₂O as indium and tin sources respectively is presented. The as deposited samples were annealed at 500 °C for 2 h in order to improve the crystallinity. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the films were analysed by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV–Vis transmission spectra and photoluminescence, spectra analysis. The SEM images ensure the uniform and smooth surface of the as prepared and annealed film. The optical transmittance of more than 85 % has been observed in the UV–Vis region with a band gap of 3.91 and 3.73 eV for the as prepared and annealed films of ITO respectively. The PL spectra reveal that the optical properties were significantly improved due to the annealing effect. The annealed film shows high sensitivity for humidity approximately two order changes in the resistance and the sensitivity increases for different relative humidity from 10 to 90 % due to the physisorption between the water molecules and the surface of the thin films.     

Robust H∞ performance for discrete time T-S fuzzy switched memristive stochasticneural networks with mixed time-varying delays

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we study the robust H _∞ performance for discrete-time T-S fuzzy switched memristive stochastic neural networks with mixed time-varying delays and switching signal design. The neural network under consideration is subject to time-varying and norm bounded parameter uncertainties. Decomposing of the delay interval approach is employed in both the discrete delays and distributed delays. By constructing a proper Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) with triple summation terms and using an improved summation inequality techniques. Sufficient conditions are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) to guarantee the considered discrete-time neural networks to be exponentially stable. Finally, numerical examples with simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed theoretical results.     

Effect of soaking and hydrothermal processing methods on the levels of antinutrients and in vitro protein digestibility of Bauhinia purpurea L. seeds

The effects of various domestic processing methods such as soaking, cooking and autoclaving on the levels of certain antinutritional factors and in vitro protein digestibility of seeds of Bauhinia purpurea L., an underutilised legume collected from South India, were investigated. The raw seeds were found to contain antinutritional factors like total free phenolics (2.75 g/100 g), tannins (2.35 g/100 g), phytic acid (692 mg/100 g) and flatulence factors, raffinose (0.54 g/100 g), stachyose (1.17 g/100 g) and verbascose (0.95 g/100 g). Soaking the seeds in distilled water caused maximum reduction in the phytic acid content (37%), whereas soaking in NaHCO₃ solution reduced significant levels of phenolics and tannins (72% and 78%, respectively). A reduction in the levels of oligosaccharides (raffinose by 63%, stachyose by 42% and verbascose by 79%) was observed during cooking. Of the attempted treatments, autoclaving appeared to be most effective in reducing levels of all the investigated antinutrients, except phytic acid, and also improved the in vitro protein digestibility of B. purpurea seeds.     

Novel approach to control CdS morphology by simple microwave-solvothermal method

Nanosize CdS powders with different microstructures are prepared in different solvents by using rapid microwave irradiation. Effect of solvents and Cd²⁺ precursors are to be able to control the particle size, and microstructures of CdS have been investigated by X-ray diffraction and TEM. The different particle size and morphologies are observed using different Cd²⁺ precursors in different solvents. TEM micrographs clearly show multiarmed nanorods and spherical shape morphologies of CdS powders are obtained in polar solvent like water (H₂O), whereas non-polar polyol solvent like ethylene glycol (EG), prickle and cluster like morphologies of CdS are achieved with different Cd²⁺ precursors such as CdSO₄ and Cd (CH₃COO)₂. The spectroscopy studies of nanosize CdS are examined by photo-luminescence spectra. Band gap and the absorption co-efficient for nano CdS is also evaluated from optical absorption studies.     

Total phenolic content,antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of methanolic extract of raw and traditionally processed Kenyan indigenous food ingredients

Certain indigenous foods commonly consumed by Kenyan vulnerable groups (the malnourished; children under 5 years of age; pregnant and lactating women; malnourished adults in cases of vitamin or mineral deficiencies, TB, diabetes, cancer, AIDS; refugees; orphans the elderly and the disabled) are not yet evaluated for phenolic content and health relevant functionality. The present study was therefore designed to analyze the phenolic content, antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of methanolic extract of raw and traditionally processed food ingredients. The total phenolic contents of the cereals, legumes, oil seeds and vegetables were ranged from 0.41 to 3.00 g/100 g DM. Amaranth grain (Amaranthus cruentus) and drumstick leaves (Moringa oleifera) exhibited significantly higher phenolic content than the other samples. The methanolic extract of the investigated samples showed promising levels of DPPH radical scavenging activity (81–89%); ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP, 44–744 mmolL^?1 Fe[II]/g extract DM); α-amylase (10–45%) and α-glucosidase (13–80%) inhibition activities. The food ingredients with high phenolic content exhibited relatively higher antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. The results indicate that soaking + cooking is the mild processing method to preserve the phenolic compounds and their health relevant functionality in the presently investigated cereal, legume and oil grains, while cooking is suitable treatment for vegetables.     

Antioxidant Potential and Type II Diabetes-Related Enzyme Inhibition of Cassia obtusifolia L.: Effect of Indigenous Processing Methods

The methanolic extract of Cassia obtusifolia L. (Sicklepod) seed, an underutilized food legume from India, was analyzed for antioxidant and health relevant functionality. The total free phenolic content of the raw seeds was 13.33?±?1.73?g catechin equivalent/100?g extract. The extract exhibited 1,292?mmol Fe[II] per milligram extract of ferric reducing/antioxidant power, 49.92% inhibition of ?-carotene degradation, 65.79% of scavenging activity against DPPH, and 50.78% of superoxide radicals. The in vitro starch digestion bioassay of the extract showed 79.80% of ??-amylase and 81.04% of ??-glucosidase enzyme inhibition characteristics. Sprouting?+?oil frying caused an apparent increase on the total free phenolic content with significant improvement on the antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity of C. obtusifolia seeds, while soaking?+?cooking as well as open-pan roasting treatments show diminishing effects. Inhibition of ??-amylase and ??-glucosidase enzyme activity was 23.81% and 42.36%, respectively, following sprouting?+?oil-frying treatment. These enzyme inhibition values were similar to that of synthetic antidiabetic agent acarbose.     

Phrase-level sentence patterns for estimating positive and negative emotions using Neuro-fuzzy model for information retrieval applications

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The paper proposes phrase-level emotion patterns using Neuro-Fuzzy model. At the initial stage, the emotional patterns at phrase level are obtained using POS...     

Novel Ti/Al(OH)3 and Fe/Al(OH)3 Nano Catalyzed 4-Acetamidophenyl 3-((Z)-but-2-enoyl)phenylcarbamate Synthesis and its Molecular Docking,Quantum Chemical Studies

A series of novel 4-acetamidophenyl 3-((Z)-but-2-enoyl)phenylcarbamate based chalcone moieties have been synthesized via green chemical Ti/Al(OH)₃ and Fe/Al(OH)₃ nano catalyzed pathway and spectroscopic authentication of these synthesized molecules were interpreted by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, Mass and elemental analysis. In-silico molecular docking studies of the compounds exhibited excellent binding energy (??8.06 kcal and ??8.94 kcal) towards the essential requirements of targeted compounds for EGFR receptor bearing quinazoline inhibitor (PDB ID: 1M17(Lapitinib). UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy measurements evidenced that there is a significant effect on the absorption and emission spectra. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies reveal that HOMO and LUMO values of the compounds are evidenced that band along with intra molecular charge transfer character (D-π-A). The red shift maxima (500 nm) of the emission spectra in various solvent were increasing with the solvent polarity.

Graphical Abstract