Thermal history induced variable relaxor behavior in the high TC ternary ferroelectric 0.6Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.05Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.35PbTiO3

Studies carried out on a perovskite-structured rhombohedral 0.6Bi(Mg_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃–0.05Bi(Zn_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃–0.35PbTiO₃ (xBZT–yBMT–zPT) ceramic quenched from temperatures below 1000 °C show that the dielectric properties are dramatically altered by the thermal history. Samples quenched from temperatures 650 °C–900 °C show classical ferroelectric switching behavior that is not observed on either side of this temperature range. The quenched states lose their switchable ferroelectric properties when heated to temperatures as low as 400 °C. The results demonstrate for the first time that the dielectric and electromechanical response, as observed at room temperature, can be varied between normal to relaxor behavior by changing thermal quenching conditions.     

Use of essential oils and phytochemicals against the mycotoxins producing fungi for shelf-life enhancement and food preservation

Mycotoxin-producing fungi are a significant source of crop and food contamination, posing a significant threat to global food safety and security. Essential oils, plant extracts and phytochemicals have emerged as green preservatives to extend the shelf-life of foods due to their unique antimicrobial properties. Unlike conventional synthetic preservatives, they are a sustainable and safe way to preserve food with no or little harmful effects on the environment. Use of nanoformulations containing essential oils and phytochemicals offer enormous potential as a mitigation strategy to lower mycotoxin contamination incidences in food and crop with enhanced release behaviour to efficiently transport them to the target location for a rapid reaction without much impact from environmental variables. Hence, this review overviews various essential oils and phytochemicals utilized through nanoformulations to control the mycotoxigenic fungi, probable mechanism of actions involved as well as emerging mycotoxins and associated safety concerns to ensure food sustainability.     

Commentary on “New aggregation operators of single-valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set and their application in multi-attribute decision making”

Pattern Analysis and Applications - Liu and Luo (Pattern Anal Appl https://doi.org/10.1007/s10044-017-0635-6 ) proposed a single-valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy ordered weighted aggregation...     

Beneficial compatible microbes enhance antioxidants in chickpea edible parts through synergistic interactions

Rhizosphere microbe-mediated induction of antioxidant mechanisms for disease resistance in plants is known but their impact on nutritional content of the edible parts is not clear. A study was conducted to evaluate potentiality of three compatible rhizosphere microbes, viz., fluorescent Pseudomonas (PHU 094), Trichoderma harzianum (THU 0816) and Mesorhizobium sp. (RL 091), singly and in combinations in modulating antioxidants in chickpea edible parts. Total phenolic and flavonoid content, ascorbic acid, free radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities as well as reducing power in seeds and pericarp in different microbial combinations were significantly high compared to their single application. However, the triple microbe treatment was most effective in enhancing the antioxidant status of chickpea along with enhanced accumulation of phenolics such as shikimic, gallic, tannic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acids as well as rutin and quercetin. Apart from the triple microbe treatment, dual combination of PHU 094 + THU 0816 also showed potentiality in enhancing the antioxidant and phenolic content majorly in pericarp. These findings suggest that synergistic interaction of microbes in the rhizosphere not only improved the antioxidant level in chickpea seeds but the same were also enhanced in the pericarp which is otherwise considered a waste material.     

Estimation of high performance in Schmitt triggers with stacking power‐gating techniques in 45 nm CMOS technology

In the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) nanoscale technology ground bounce noise and power consumption are becoming important metric. In presented paper, low leakage Schmitt trigger circuits are proposed for wave shaping or cleaning process with low ground bounce noise. Schmitt trigger play important role in communication electronics. Power‐gating and stacking power‐gating techniques have provided for maintaining the parameter of Schmitt trigger. An ideal approach has been investigated with stacking power‐gating technique. For further reduction in peak of ground bounce noise during sleep to active (power) mode transition, we have performed simulations using cadence specter 45 nm standard CMOS technology at nominal temperature (27°C) with supply voltage V_dd = 0.7 V and input voltage vary from 0.7 V to 1.5 V. The simulation results show that a proposed design provide efficient 6 T and 4 T Schmitt triggers in term of minimum leakage power (8.18 fW), active power (17.80 pW), ground bounce noise (1.65 μV) and propagation delay (1.98 ns), transconductance (4.51 × 10^?14 S), voltage gain (29.44 dB), hysteresis width (11.07 V) and efficiency (64.68%). Reported devices use for low‐power communication systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morphotropic phase boundary in high temperature ferroelectric xBi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3 − yPbZrO3 − zPbTiO3 perovskite ternary solid solution

A bismuth and lead oxide based perovskite ternary solid solution xBi(Zn_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃ − yPbZrO₃ − zPbTiO₃ (xBZT − yPZ − zPT) was investigated as an attempt to develop a high T_C ferroelectric material for piezoelectric sensor and actuator applications. A morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between rhombohedral and tetragonal phases was determined through an XRD study on a pseudobinary line 0.1BZT − 0.9[xPT − (1 − x)PZ] for composition 0.1Bi(Zn_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃ − 0.5PbZrO₃ − 0.4PbTiO₃. Enhanced piezoelectric and ferroelectric activities were observed for MPB composition with dielectric constant ε_r′ ~ 23,000 at Curie temperature (T_C) ≈ 320 °C, remanent polarization (P_r) = 35 μC/cm², piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) = 300 pC/N, unipolar strain = 0.15%, and electromechanical coupling coefficient (k_P) = 0.45.     

Synthesis of multifunctional high strength,highly swellable,stretchable and self‐healable pH‐responsive ionic double network hydrogels

The multifunctional double network (DN) soft hydrogels reported here are highly swellable and stretchable pH‐responsive smart hydrogel materials with sufficient strength and self‐healing properties. Such multifunctional hydrogels are achieved using double crosslinking structures with multiple physical and chemical crosslinks. They consist of a copolymer network of acrylamide (AM) and sodium acrylate (Na‐AA) and other reversible network of poly(vinyl alcohol)–borax complex. They were characterized by Fourier transform IR analysis and studied for their hydrogen bonding and ionic interaction. The degree of equilibrium swelling was observed to be as high as 5959% (at pH 7.0) for a hydrogel with AM/Na‐AA = 25/75 wt% in the network (GS‐6 sample). The highest degree of swelling was observed to be 6494% at pH 8.5. The maximum tensile strength was measured to be 1670, 580 and 130 kPa for a DN hydrogel (GS‐2 sample: AM/Na‐AA =75/25 wt% with 20, 40 and 60 wt% water content, respectively). The self‐healing efficiency was estimated to be 69% for such a hydrogel. These multifunctional DN hydrogels with amalgamation of many functional properties are unique in hydrogel materials and such materials may find applications in sensors, actuators, smart windows and biomedical applications. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry