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The double layer adsorption of sulfamethoxazole, ketoprofen and carbamazepine on a phosphorus carbon-based adsorbent was analyzed using statistical physics models. The objective of this research was to provide a physicochemical analysis of the adsorption mechanism of these organic compounds via the calculation of both steric and energetic parameters. Results showed that the adsorption mechanism of these pharmaceuticals was multimolecular where the presence of molecular aggregates (mainly dimers) could be expected in the aqueous solution. This adsorbent showed adsorption capacities at saturation from 15 to 36 mg/g for tested pharmaceutical molecules. The ketoprofen adsorption was exothermic, while the adsorption of sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine was endothermic. The adsorption mechanism of these molecules involved physical interaction forces with interaction energies from 5.95 to 19.66 kJ/mol. These results contribute with insights on the adsorption mechanisms of pharmaceutical pollutants. The identification of molecular aggregates, the calculation of maximum adsorption capacities and the characterization of thermodynamic behavior provide crucial information for the understanding of these adsorption systems and to optimize their removal operating conditions. These findings have direct implications for wastewater treatment and environmental remediation associated with pharmaceutical pollution where advanced adsorption technologies are required., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The exclusive features of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, such as high surface-to-volume ratios, tunable electronic properties, and biocompatibility, provide promising opportunities for developing highly sensitive biosensors. However, developing practical biosensors that can promptly detect low concentrations of target analytes remains a challenging task. Here, a field-effect-transistor comprising n-type transition metal dichalcogenide tin disulfide (SnS 2 ) is developed over the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) for the detection of streptavidin protein (Strep.) as a target analyte. A self-designed receptor based on the pyrene-lysine conjugated with biotin (PLCB) is utilized to maintain the sensitivity of the SnS 2 /h-BN FET because of the π-π stacking. The detection capabilities of SnS 2 /h-BN FET are investigated using both Raman spectroscopy and electrical characterizations. The real-time electrical measurements exhibit that the SnS 2 /h-BN FET is capable of detecting streptavidin at a remarkably low concentration of 0.5 pm, within 13.2 s. Additionally, the selectivity of the device is investigated by measuring its response against a Cow-like serum egg white protein (BSA), having a comparative molecular weight to that of the streptavidin. These results indicate a high sensitivity and rapid response of SnS 2 /h-BN biosensor against the selective proteins, which can have significant implications in several fields including point-of-care diagnostics, drug discovery, and environmental monitoring., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The rapid recombination of charges of photogenerated electrons and holes severely limits single semiconductor photocatalytic applications. In this study, a simple and facile sol-gel approach was used to synthesize Ba 2- x Ho x Sr 2- y Ni y Fe 12 O 22 ( x = 0, 0.1 and y = 0, 0.5). The composite of holmium-nickel doped barium-strontium ferrite with MXene (Ba 1.9 Ho 0.1 Sr 1.5 Ni 0.5 Fe 12 O 22 @MXene) was synthesized by ultrasonication method. These synthesized samples were subsequently used to photodegrade rhodamine B (RhB) and pendimethalin under visible light illumination. The results of the experiments demonstrated that MXene, as a cocatalyst, considerably reduces the rate of recombination of charges and broadens absorption of visible light by providing increased surface functional groups to improve the photocatalytic activity of synthesized samples. MXene is thermally stable, have high electrical conductivity, have adjustable bandgap, and hydrophilic in nature. The optimized Ba 1.9 Ho 0.1 Sr 1.5 Ni 0.5 Fe 12 O 22 @MXene composite demonstrated an excellent photocatalytic rate by degrading 78.88% RhB and 75.59% pendimethalin in 140 minutes. Moreover, the scavenging experiment revealed that photogenerated electrons and holes were the primary active species involved in RhB and pendimethalin photodegradation, respectively. Ba 1.9 Ho 0.1 Sr 1.5 Ni 0.5 Fe 12 O 22 @MXene showed increased photocatalytic behavior because it has increased surface area which decreases rate of recombination of electron and hole pair, hence photocatalytic activity increases. It is observed that Ba 1.9 Ho 0.1 Sr 1.5 Ni 0.5 Fe 12 O 22 @MXene has potential application in photocatalytic degradation of harmful pollutants., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to declare for our manuscript being submitted to your journal., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In this research, five distinct small donor molecules (designated as ACR-TPA-X1, ACR-TPA-X2, ACR-TPA-X3, ACR-TPA-X4, ACR-TPA-X5) are constructed by replacing the methoxy groups on both sides of the model molecule (ACR-TPA-R) with thiophene bridged acceptor moieties. We have used the B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) model for our computational studies. Our model molecule's morphological alteration has resulted in a lowered E g of 1.77-2.51 eV as compared to model (ACR-TPA-R=3.84 eV). ACR-TPA-X2 investigated the λ max at 776 nm. ACR-TPA-X4 was found to be most miscible with dichloromethane (DCM). The greatest V OC (1.21 eV) was observed in ACR-TPA-X1. Among all of the variants, ACR-TPA-X1 had the highest PCE (23.42%). It was found that ACR-TPA-X4 had the highest electron mobility (0.00370 eV) and ACR-TPA-X5 had the highest hole mobility (0.00324 eV) of all the materials examined. The findings prove the worth of the methods used, paving the way for the development of effective small donors for OSCs and HTMs for PSCs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)