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The contamination of natural water bodies with toxic pollutants are alarmingly increasing in recent decades. The development of advanced wastewater treatment techniques and their utilization is sought for the effective removal of pollutants especially pharmaceutical and pesticide compounds (PPCs). The present study focused on the green synthesis of a novel heterojunction NiCu2S4 QDs@Fe3O4 nanocomposite (NCs) using Dunica erecta plant extract for the photo-Fenton catalytic degradation of bromoxynil (BRX) and cefixime (CEF). The morphological, structural, and physiochemical properties of the fabricated nanomaterial were analysed via SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, Raman, UV–Vis DRS, BET, PL, EIS, and ESR spectroscopy techniques. The NiCu2S4 QDs@30% Fe3O4 showed 97.5 and 81% degradation of BRX and CEF within 200 and 180 min of visible light irradiation, respectively. The excellent photocatalytic efficiency of NCs was attributed to high visible light harvesting ability, efficient charge carriers’ separation, and migration across the heterostructure interface. Various initial parameters including nanomaterial dosage, pollutant concentration, pH, and ions were optimized. A possible photodegradation pathway was predicted based on the intermediates identified from GC-MS/MS analysis, and their non-toxic nature on daphnia, green algae, and fishes was determined by the ECOSAR program. The fabricated NiCu2S4 QDs@Fe3O4 NCs have shown excellent reusability efficiency of 98.7%. The reusability and structural stability were confirmed by six-cycle experiments, XRD, and XPS analysis. In addition, the photocatalyst exhibited 99% of degradation of industrial effluent. The prepared NiCu2S4 QDs@Fe3O4 NCs with superior photocatalytic performance can be used as a promising photocatalyst for the treatment of industrial effluents.

Rumex vesicarius (R. vesicarius or RV) is an annual plant having rounded leaves, with flowers containing seeds. RV protects liver, resists cancer, and removes free radicals in cells. The aim of this study was to illustrate the effect of the R. vesicarius water seeds extract (RVWSE) treatment on mice before and during pregnancy, and its action on the liver and kidney histology and enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, the blood urea nitrogen, the creatinine, and the uric acid. The seeds of R. vesicarius were collected, extracted, and its component analyzed via Gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Mice treated with 10 mg kg−1 RVWSE via feeding tube for 1 week before mating, or during pregnancy. The number of offspring or litter size was recorded and the blood sample was collected at the end of the experiment to test the kidney and liver enzymes, and their histology. Results showed that RVWSE contains different phytochemicals consisting of some hexane and chloroform compounds. The fertility rate of 1st treated pre-pregnancy group is 30% and the 2nd group is 35%. The offspring rate of 1st treated group showed higher new born rate (8 new born/female) than 2nd treated group (5.4 new born/female). The blood enzyme levels of the kidney and liver showed some variation between the two groups and their histology illustrates some non-significant variation between the treated and control groups of mice. The implications of the results of this study illustrate the safe use of the RVWSE, its effectiveness in improving mice fertility, and positive impact on biomarker of serum enzymes of liver and kidney with their histopathology.

S-Scheme photocatalytic mechanism of a fabricated nano-heterojunction.

The development of a low-cost, efficient and sustainable technology is considered to be of paramount for the efficient degradation of toxic pollutants.

Vitamin E plays an exemplary role in living organisms. α-Tocopherol is the most superior and active form of naturally occurring vitamin E that meets the requirements of human beings as it possesses the α-tocopherol transfer protein (α-TTP). α-Tocopherol deficiency can lead to severe anemia, certain cancers, several neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, and most importantly male infertility. As a result of the depletion of its natural sources, researchers have tried to employ metabolic engineering to enhance α-tocopherol production to meet the human consumption demand. However, the metabolic engineering approach relies on the metabolic flux of a metabolite in its biosynthetic pathway. Analysis of the metabolic flux of a metabolite needs a method that can monitor the α-tocopherol level in living cells. This study was undertaken to construct a FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer)-based nanosensor for monitoring the α-tocopherol flux in prokaryotic and eukaryotic living cells. The human α-TTP was sandwiched between a pair of FRET fluorophores to construct the nanosensor, which was denoted as FLIP-α (the fluorescence indicator for α-tocopherol). FLIP-α showed excellence in monitoring the α-tocopherol flux with high specificity. The sensor was examined for its pH stability for physiological applications, where it shows no pH hindrance to its activity. The calculated affinity of this nanosensor was 100 μM. It monitored the real-time flux of α-tocopherol in bacterial and yeast cells, proving its biocompatibility in monitoring the α-tocopherol dynamics in living cells. Being noninvasive, FLIP-α provides high temporal and spatial resolutions, which holds an indispensable significance in bioimaging metabolic pathways that are highly compartmentalized.

The validation of underexplored traditional plant remedies represents a reservoir of novel leads for drug discovery. In line with this, in vitro total phenolics and flavonoids content, multimode antioxidants, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, and protein kinase inhibition assays were conducted on C. ambrosioides seed extracts in addition to RP-HPLC. Methanol extract exhibited highest total phenolics ( 64.6 ± 0.6 μ g gallic acid equivalent/mg) and flavonoids ( 50.9 ± 0.5 μ g quercetin equivalent/mg) content. RP-HPLC quantified rutin (1.98 μg/mg) in methanol extract whereas quercetin (0.322 μg/mg) and kaempferol (2.86 μg/mg) in methanol-distilled water extract. Methanol extract exhibited highest ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE) free radical (DPPH) scavenging (IC50 of 110.7 ± 5 μ g / ml ), total antioxidant capacity ( 110.6 ± 2.2 μ g AAE/mg), and total reducing power ( 94.30 ± 0.46 μ g AAE/mg). Highest antibacterial activity against K. pneumonia ( 14 ± 1.61 mm ZOI) and antifungal activity against F. solani ( 17 ± 1.38 mm ZOI) were shown by n-hexane and chloroform extracts, respectively. Ethyl acetate extract exhibited highest brine shrimps cytotoxicity (LC50 of 125 μg/ml). A noteworthy protein kinase inhibitory potential was shown by ethanol extract with a 20 ± 1.27 mm bald zone. Therapeutic potential of medicinal plants can be completely explored by using multiple solvent system. This study makes C. ambrosioides, a resourceful prospect for the bioactivity-guided isolation of lead compounds.

Photocatalytic induction of electron/hole recombination, surface property and light response ability effectively enhance the photocatalytic activity of nanomaterial. In this work, the effective charge carrier separating Sn/ Mn-ZnFe2O4-CdFe2O4-Ag3PO4 Quantum dots (M/SZFO-CFO-AP QDs) was fabricated for photocatalytic degradation of doxycycline (doxy) antibiotic. The result showed enhanced photocatalytic activity of doxy and the degradation efficiency of doxy was about 98.8% in short span of time. The calculated WH plot and urbach energy of prepared photocatalyst exhibited evidence for the prevalence of point defects and its contribution to efficient charge separation and transferability. The total organic carbon (TOC) removal was found to be 98.9%, which depicts the complete mineralization of doxy. The synergetic charge transfer of n-p-n heterojunction enables the effective removal of doxy under visible light irradiation. Further, the genotoxicity study was determined by interacting the SZFO-CFO-AP QDs with Allium Cepa. The results depict that SZFO-CFO-AP QDs show lower toxicity level and there were no trace of defective mitotic phases and micro nuclei. Further, the progression and development of bean plant was determined after treating with prepared nanomaterials and the result showed the enhanced growth in SZFO-CFO-AP QDs treated bean plant compared to the counterparts. Therefore, the pre-pared SZFO-CFO-AP QDs was can be used as an environmental friendly photocatalyst for effective treatment of antibiotic present in the water bodies.

Synthesis of MnO2/CuFe2O4 nanocomposites (NCs) was performed by chemical co-precipitation with the assistance of thermal treatment and ultrasonication. Transmission electron microscopic image (TEM) confirmed that CuFe2O4 is embedded over MnO2 with the existence of clear lattice fringes. The SAED pattern attributed to the polycrystallinity of MnO2/CuFe2O4 NCs. Elemental mapping and Energy dispersive analysis (EDAX) affirms the existence of elements such as Mn, O, Cu and Fe. XRD confirmed the effective construction of crystalline MnO2/CuFe2O4 NCs with the coexistence of MnO2 and CuFe2O4. The degradation rate constant for MB dye by MnO2/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 under white light irradiation was 0.0011 min−1 which is 2.75 times and 2.2 times higher in comparison with their counter NPs, CuFe2O4 (0.004 min−1) and MnO2 (0.005 min−1) respectively. The current study confessed the insights into the S-scheme photocatalysts which led to retaining of e− and h+ in the CB of reduction photocatalysts (RP) and VB of oxidation photocatalysts (OP) introducing a strong redox potential. Built-in electric filed between MnO2 and CuFe2O4 was substantiated through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and free radical assay. Degradation process admits the pseudo-first order kinetics. The mechanism behind the photocatalysis was explained through the application of free radicals scavengers. The significant generation of .OH− by NCs brings forth the degradation of MB dye. The structural stability and reusability of NCs were validated with degradation efficiency by carrying out six cycles of experiments consecutively. There is no difference in the degradation of MB by MnO2/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 until 4th cycles. The efficiency of reusability was found to be 98.91% owing to their photocatalytic activity of 92.5%. The ultimate role of the synthesized MnO2/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 was confessed with the results obtained and it expressed a greater potential to be a photocatalyst to eliminate toxic pollutants from the aquatic resources.