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In recent years, nanomaterials have piqued the interest of the research community due to intriguing claims in a variety of areas, the primary focus being the mode and methods of synthesis of applicative materials. Numerous methods are now used in the production of various nanomaterials, and these processes have an impact on their properties. Considering that we describe a novel biogenic approach for the synthesis of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using cow urine as a reducing and stabilizing agent, the confirmation and characterization of the synthesized material were accomplished using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The primary confirmation of bio-fabrication of ZnO NPs was done with UV-DRS and the bandgap was found to be 2.96 keV. The Wurtzite structure with 3.99 nm size was confirmed by the XRD pattern, whereas the morphology and purity were confirmed via SEM and EDX techniques. Furthermore, the disc diffusion method's antibacterial activity of characterized ZnO NPs was tested against different bacterial strains. The radical scavenging activity was studied using the OH and DPPH assays.

Parks and other green sites improve urban avenue and environment while also crucial to mitigate climate change. Indian cities are now experiencing high level of pollutions, so trees not only act as carbon sinks but also assist in improving the quality of urban life. Cooch Behar town located in northern part of West Bengal is also experiencing upsurge in urban development and population increase. Therefore the community parks and an institutional campus in the town were assessed for their species richness and the ecosystem services they provide. A total of 75 species represented by 39 families and 67 genera were documented from the urban green sites of Cooch Behar town. The dominant family found was Fabaceae followed by Arecaceae and Moraceae while Ficus was listed as dominant genus. The plant species documented were prominently classified under provisioning type of ecosystem services as 36 species were timbers, 26 species were edible and 24 species were fodder. Other services included species for providing shade (34 species), avenue (27 species) and aesthetic (25 species). The list also included plant species under IUCN Red list category of vulnerable species like Saraca asoca; endangered species like Swietenia mahagoni and Borassus flabellifer and Platycladus orientalis as threatened species. The maintenance of these IUCN Red listed species by the community parks and institutional campus of Cooch Behar town supports the belief that the urban green sites are also a crucial refuge for regional plant diversity in crowded, concrete and human dominated landscape.

In this work, the structural and, morphological properties and electrochemical supercapacitor electrode application of manganese ferrite (MnFe 2 O 4 ) thin films deposited onto glass and stainless-steel substrates using chemical spray method are explored. For confirming the spinel structure and nodule-type morphology of obtained MnFe 2 O 4 film X-ray diffraction pattern and scanning electron microscopy measurements are used. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectrum reveals presence of tetrahedral and octahedral peaks. The specific capacitance values, obtained using cyclic-voltammetry plots of as-deposited ferrite electrode in 1 M KOH, NaOH, Na 2 SO 3 , Na 2 SO 4 aqueous solutions at scan rate of 5 mV s −1 are respectively 313, 295, 146.02, 180.51 Fg −1 . The electrochemical impedance spectrum supports for pseudocapacitance behavior in as-deposited MnFe 2 O 4 film electrode.

We attempt to demonstrate comprehensive analysis of experimentally obtained adverse supercapacitive performance of cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2)-polyaniline (PANI) hybrid nanocomposites (HNs), prepared potentiostatically via electrochemical deposition method, compared to phase pure individual nanostructures. Morphologically amorphous Co(OH)2, PANI and HNs are entirely different from one another. The electrochemical properties of the Co(OH)2, PANI and HNs electrodes have been investigated by cyclic voltammograms, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The specific capacitances of PANI, HNs and Co(OH)2 are found to be 3.06F/g, 215F/g and 868F/g, respectively, at a sweep rate of 10 mV/s in 1.0 M NaOH electrolyte, whereas the stabilities and voltammetric charges, assigned to these electrodes, are 47%, 60% & 55% (after 1000 cycles) and 17.22 mC/cm2, 836.39 mC/cm2 and 1128.73 mC/cm2, respectively. Obtained adverse (inferior) supercapacitive performance values of HNs electrodes have been demonstrated on occurrence of inner and outer charges concept. Our work demonstrates plausible causes for observed smaller supercapacitor performance in hybrid/composite nanostructured electrodes (not a common practice) and useful to researchers working in composite/hybrid symmetric and asymmetric supercapacitor fields.

Thin films of sprayed nickel–manganese ferrite i.e. NixMn1−xFe2O4 (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) were synthesized onto stainless-steel substrate and envisaged for electrochemical supercapacitor application where surface morphology was influenced by ‘x’ factor; confirmed from the scanning electron microscopy digital photo-images and energy dispersive X-ray analysis, respectively. The spinel-type rice-like crystallites of NixMn1−xFe2O4 were 70–80 nm in lengths and 20–30 nm in diameters. Cyclic-voltammograms of NixMn1−xFe2O obtained for different ‘x’ values i.e. morphologies, were used to figure-out the change of the specific capacitance (SC) for different scan rates in 1 M KOH electrolyte. The 147, 120, 131, 185 F g−1 SC values for 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 ‘x’ values were obtained at 5 mV s−1 scan rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements of NixMn1−xFe2O4 film electrodes were performed for knowing the charge transport kinetics where composite i.e. 0.4 and 0.6 ‘x’ valued electrodes confirmed least performance than 0.2 and 0.8 ‘x’ values which could be attributed to availability of number of the surface charges.

This paper reports the electrochemical synthesis of nickel oxide (NiO) onto a substrate template of anodized-brass (Cu–Zn). Structurally and morphologically all the electrodes, i.e. pristine, anodized and NiO-covered Cu–Zn electrodes, are different from one another. NiO-covered Cu–Zn electrodes were annealed at different temperatures (300–600 °C at 100 °C intervals) and appear suitable for electrochemical supercapacitors; a wide potential range (0.1–0.6 V) and optimum specific capacitance (91.43 F g−1) are obtained for 400 °C in 0.5 M NaOH electrolyte at 2 mV s−1 scan rate.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensors of hematite nanostructures viz. nanoparticles, nanoparticle-chains and nanorods, chemically synthesized from iron nitrate, sulfate and chloride precursors, respectively, in presence of urea as pH regulating agent are explored. These nanostructures were examined for their structures and morphologies. The Hematite morphology has an impact on crystal structure, Raman shift and charge transfer resistance value. On the basis of results presented herein, we proposed an importance of hematite nanostructures as a sensing material for the LPG sensors. Superior LPG sensor sensitivity of nanoparticles-chains (77.89%) over nanoparticles (68%) and nanorods (58.80%) at 1000 ppm LPG gas levels are imply that the hematite nanostructure (surface area) plays an important role in mediating charge transfer reaction.

In situ growth of upright-standing SnO2 nanoplates connected to horizontally pointed TiO2 nanoneedles to form a new, high surface area hierarchical nanostructure is proposed for the first time and envisaged in ammonia and liquid petroleum gas sensors. The increased surface area due to a hierarchical nanostructure accounts for enhanced gas sensitivity.

This paper indicated that financial distress in Nepalese enterprises is quite significant. It analyzed how financial ratios deteriorated as the firm moved into financial distress. The financially distressed enterprises have higher operating expense ratio, and lower profitability. Besides, their liquidity, turnover, labor productivity, and coverage ratios were also significantly lower.In Nepal, there are some legal provisions concerning the financial distress but they are quite insufficient. There are various actions that the government can take in favor of financially distressed firms.Despite of significant increase in the number of financially distressed enterprises, the corporate restructuring has not received much attention in Nepal. It is to be understood that liquidation, or privatization in case of public enterprises can be prevented if significant sacrifices are forthcoming from the different stakeholders in the process of restructuring. The study indicated various sacrifices to be made by different stakeholders, such as, labor, suppliers, debtholders (including banks), preferred and common shareholders, and governments, or their agencies or departments.