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Supercapacitors and batteries are essential for sustainable energy development. However, the bottleneck is the associated high cost, which limits bulk use of batteries and supercapacitors. In this context, realizing that the cost of energy‐storage device mainly depends on materials, synthesis processes/procedures, and device fabrication, an effort is made to rationally design and develop novel low‐cost electrode materials with enhanced electrochemical performance in asymmetric supercapacitors. Herein, surface functionalization approach is adopted to design low‐cost 3D mesoporous and nanostructured nickel–nickel oxide electrode materials using facile synthesis for application in supercapacitors. It is demonstrated that the 3D mesoporous Ni provides the high surface area and enhanced ionic conductivity, while germanium functionalization improves the electrical conductivity and reduces the charge‐transfer resistance of NiO. Surface functionalization with Ge demonstrates the significant improvement in specific capacitance of NiO. The asymmetric supercapacitor using these Ge‐functionalized NiO–Ni electrodes provides a specific capacitance of 304 Fg−1 (94 mF cm−2), energy density of 23.8 Wh kg−1 (7.35 μWh cm−2), and power density of 6.8 kW kg−1 (2.1 mW cm−2) with excellent cyclic stability of 92% after 10 000 cycles. To validate their practical applications, powering the digital watch using the asymmetric supercapacitors in laboratory conditions is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report on the design and stabilization of the mechanically hard and electrically resistive β-phase W-Mo nanocrystalline thin films at room-temperature ( RT). The W-Mo films are deposited under different deposition temperatures in the range of Ts = RT-30 °C. Structural analyses indicate that, as deposited at RT, the W-Mo films crystallize in the metastable β-phase, while those deposited at higher Ts (100-300 °C) exhibit the thermodynamically stable α-phase. The phase-effect is significant on the mechanical characteristics; superior hardness ( H); and modulus of elasticity ( Er) are found in β-than in α-phase W-Mo films. At the β-to- α phase transformation, significant reduction occurs in H (40 → 25 GPa) and Er (275 → 225 GPa) coupled with a reduction in electrical-resistivity (320 → 180 µΩ-cm). Their findings and the phase-mechanical-electrical property correlation established may provide further possibilities to design and tailor the performance of W-based thin films for future electronic and electromechanical device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Total Synthesis of Mangiferaelactone" by P. M. Vadhadiya and C. V. Ramana is presented.

An abstract of the study "Total Synthesis of Naturally Occurring Cephalosporolides E/F," by C. Kona and C. V. Ramana that was published in the 2014 issue is presented.

A purple non-sulphur anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides could synthesize L-tryptophan from indole and glycine with intermediate formation of D,L-alanine and L-serine. Presence of externally supplied keto acids has enhanced the rate and yields of L-tryptophan photoproduction.