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Snake grass fiber was used as a supporting material in an epoxy matrix. The goal was to develop a lightweight structural material. To enhance the interfacial bonding between the snake grass (Sansevieria ehrenbergii) fiber and polymer matrices, the fiber underwent chemical treatment with NaOH. Samples were prepared with both neat and treated fibers mixed with epoxy at various volume percentages. The mechanical properties of snake grass fiber exhibited improvement with increasing fiber length and fixation, reaching optimal values at 20 mm length and 20% v/v fixation. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) demonstrated superior energy absorption by the composite up to 140 °C, irrespective of repetition. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated rapid degradation of untreated fiber with a residue level of 0.2%, while the snake grass composite (25% v/v) exhibited stable residue content at 11%. Microscopic evaluation using a scanning electron microscope provided insights into the morphology of the fiber surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbal plants have been used, in light of their responsiveness and wide availability, for the construction of a pioneering nanomaterial. In this study, a colloidal suspension of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) was synthesized from an extract of Madhuca longifolia (ML) using chloroauric acid. For biomedical applications, Madhuca longifolia (ML) was used as a bioreductant as well as a capping agent The formed ML-GNPs were analyzed using different analytical techniques, antioxidant assays, and thiazolyl blue formazan assay against A549 cell lines to evaluate clinical relevance. They were further evaluated for their influence on antimicrobial activity using a disc diffusion test against two different microorganisms, Proteus vulgaris and Micrococcus luteus. The ML-GNPs produced had good antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer activities. The conformation of the XRD spectra with prominent characteristic planes was indexed to the face-centered cubic (fcc)-structured GNPs. Surface morphology analysis was used to determine the particle size of the GNPs. Fourier transform infrared spectra of the samples were used to determine the analogs for strong H bonding. The MIC values of biogenic GNPs against both strains of Proteus vulgaris and Micrococcus luteus was calculated as 0.29 and 0.96 g/mL, respectively, and triclosan was considered as 0.4 and 2 g/mL, respectively. The findings of this study will be beneficial for future studies of the therapeutic potential of ML-GNPs. Actively, ML-GNPs can be a capable material for formulating nanomedicines after subsequent clinical experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent advancement in the production of nanomaterials with novel architectures and functionality has allowed for the effective treatment of industrial wastewaters and contaminated soil and, in that view, the current study aimed to investigate the catalytic efficacy of biopolymer-loaded titanium nanocomposite. Therefore, Cerium (Ce)-titanium dioxide (TiO2) loaded chitosan nanocomposite was formed and studied its catalytic efficacy towards the degradation of an industrial dye pollutant. For the production of Ce-TiO2/chitosan nanocomposite, we followed the hydrothermal synthesis route and the formed nanocomposite was thoroughly analyzed for the crystallinity (using powdered X-ray diffraction, XRD), surface bonding, and nature (using Fourier transform infrared, FTIR spectroscopy), morphology (scanning electron microscopy, SEM), elemental composition (electron diffraction analysis by X-rays, EDAX), porosity (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, BET), and particles size in powdered form (transmission electron microscopy, TEM). Then the efficiency of synthesized nanocomposite was tested towards the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B) dye by applying various parameters such as the irradiation time, solution pH, catalyst dosage, and the dye concentration. Further, the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model was employed to investigate the kinetics of RhB degradation and provided a conceivable photocatalytic mechanism. It was indicated based on the catalyst mechanism that the modification of TiO2 nanoparticles with Ce and loading onto chitosan biopolymer may have accelerated the photocurrent transport due to an increase in the number of electrons and holes generated by the photon's irradiation. In this way, the study has witnessed the excellent photocatalytic performance of Ce-TiO2/chitosan with 95% Rh B degradation as against the pure TiO2 nanoparticles thus stressing the importance of developing novel composite photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we derived a γ-Zn(OH)2/Zn(OH)2.0.5H2O/Zn(OH)2@AC nanocomposite-based electrode material from ZIF-8 metal-organic framework (MOF) /activated charcoal with a weight ratio of 1:0.5 by a simple thermolysis process at 400 °C for 4 h. The structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties of the prepared electrode materials were studied using powder XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, XPS, and electrochemical workstations. The electrochemical properties were studied in three-electrode cells with 3M of KOH electrolyte. The specific capacitance of γ-Zn(OH)2/Zn(OH)2.0.5H2O/Zn(OH)2@AC was 560 F/g @1 A/g current density, and it was higher than that of ZIF-8 metal-organic framework (MOF) /activated charcoal (330 F/g @ 1 A/g). The enhanced specific capacitance of γ-Zn(OH)2/Zn(OH)2.0.5H2O/Zn(OH)2@AC is due to the improved electrical conductivity o along with higher active surface area which increased the contact of electrolyte ions with active sites along with electron transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water in heavy crude oil (W/O) emulsions, which are stubborn mixtures of immiscible heavy crude oil and brine, are a ubiquitous challenge in the petroleum industry. They cause serious corrosion problems, increase the viscosity of petroleum and make the production cost very high. This phenomenon appears during the production of crude oil and should be treated to maximize the overall profitability of oil production and meet transportation requirement. Surfactants are some of the most useful demulsifiers and play a pivotal role in breaking brine/oil emulsions. Herein, we aimed to combine ethyleneamine units and ethyleneoxide units to prepare star-shaped surfactants and test the effect of this combination on the demulsification performance. First, diethylenetriamine reacted with glycidyl 4-nonyl ether (GNE) through an epoxy ring opening to prepare trinonyl phenoxy diethylenetriamine (TNDT). Then, ethylene oxide units were introduced via the interaction of hydroxyl groups with 2-(2-chloroethoxy)ethanol to form ethoxylated trinonyl phenoxy diethylenetriamine (ETNDT). The chemical structures of the surfactants were verified via FTIR and NMR characteristic techniques. The surfactants were applied as demulsifiers for W/O emulsions. It was found that the introduction of the ethyleneoxide units enhanced the solubility of the water and the demulsification performance of the prepared surfactants. The demulsification efficiency was enhanced via ethoxylation and reached 100% for ETNDT for most of the W/O emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]