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A condensation reaction of salicylic acid with formaldehyde in the presence of sulfuric acid led to the synthesization of the bis(2-hydroxy-3-carboxyphenyl)methane (BHCM) ligand, which was subsequently allowed to bind with nickel (II) ions. In light of the information obtained from the elemental analyses (C, H, and M), spectral (IR, MS, 1H-NMR, and UV–Vis) and thermal and magnetic measurements, the most likely structures of the ligand and complex have been identified. It has been suggested that the BHCM coordinates in a tetradentate manner with two Ni(II) ions to produce an octahedral binuclear complex. The SEM and TEM morphology of the compounds showed spherical shapes. An X-ray diffraction analysis indicated a considerable difference in the diffraction patterns between BHCM (crystalline) and Ni–BHCM (amorphous), and the Scherrer equation was used to calculate the crystallite size. Some optical characteristics were estimated from UV–Vis spectra. The ligand and its nickel(II) complex underlie the range of semiconductors. It was verified that for human lung (A-549) cancer, the BHCM compound displayed a significant barrier to the proliferation test in noncancerous cells (human lung fibroblasts, WI-38), which was also undertaken. To demonstrate the binding affinities of the chosen compounds (BHCM and Ni–BHCM) in the receptor protein's active site [PDB ID: 5CAO], a molecular docking (MD) study was carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research article, the investigations of how nano-zinc oxide (N-ZnO) could be changed the functional and antimicrobial features of cellulose acetate (CA) films were established. As a result, three forms of CA films comprising 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% N-ZnO have been assembled. Following that, the physicochemical and barrier properties were assessed. Further, the anti-bacterial activities of prepared nanocomposite films towards Escherichia coli have been investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The obtained results demonstrated that 2.0% N-ZnO had the greatest impact on physicochemical and barrier properties. The FTIR spectra revealed that all N-ZnO concentration interactions were physical, with no chemical reactions between the nanoparticles and CA framework. The incorporation of N-ZnO improved the humidity level, water absorption, and uptake capability of CA films, which are essential factors in packaging manufacturing. The anti-bacterial effect of 2.0% N-ZnO formulation exhibited a stronger anti-bacterial impact compared to the remaining formulations. Subsequently, N-ZnO improved the overall properties of CA films and the most satisfactory concentration for utilizing N-ZnO in CA-based nanocomposite films was 2% N-ZnO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel type of highly photosensitive narrowband AuPd/SiO2/n-Si Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) structure is developed for selective photodetection in near-infrared and energy harvesting. The MIS structure has been developed and optimized, in particular with the growth of a novel type of transparent electrode of 15 nm thick AuPd and the optimization of interface states density (NSS) at the semiconductor/insulator interface (less than 4.109 eV−1 cm−2) via novel surface chemical treatment and the growth of high quality of insulator layer by rapid thermal oxidation, which promotes efficient carriers collection and dark current reduction. Several experimental techniques of structural, electrical, and dielectric characterizations, such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), current-tension (I–V) spectroscopy, impedance spectroscopy, and photocurrent spectroscopy, have been combined to characterize and evaluate the performance and the equivalent circuit of this novel type of photodetector. The analysis of the operating characteristics of this AuPd/SiO2/n-Si MIS photodetector has made it possible to specify some particular properties obtained: improved barrier height of 0.8 eV, very low density of the dark current, high photosensitivity greater than 5.102, a wavelength-selective spectral response with a narrow bandwidth at λ = 1.025 μm and linearly dependent on the energy of the light source. These results show that this novel type of MIS structure is very promising for infrared photo detection and energy harvesting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]