Search

Lead‐free tin halide perovskites, particularly Cs2SnBr6, are gaining significant attention for their potential in optoelectronic applications. In this study, we investigate the material's electrical and vibrational properties under varying illumination conditions, providing novel insights into the impact of light on its conduction mechanisms. Cs2SnBr6 was synthesized via liquid‐phase and solid‐state reactions, and we report comprehensive analyses of its impedance, AC conductivity, and dielectric properties over a wide frequency range. Notably, our results reveal that light‐induced photogenerated charge carriers enhance conductivity, which is well explained by the overlapping large‐polaron tunneling (OLPT) model, while in darkness, the material follows the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model. Moreover, Raman spectroscopy highlights structural changes, including a slight shortening of Sn–Br bond distances under illumination, which influences the vibrational frequencies and intensities. These findings emphasize the crucial role of illumination in tuning the electrical and dielectric responses of Cs2SnBr6, thus demonstrating its considerable promise for future optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells and photodetectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants offer a bountiful source of natural pest control solutions through their essential oils. This research introduces and analyzes an eco-friendly natural essential oil for red flour beetle control. Therefore, the current study was included to show the chemical profile and the insecticidal efficacy of resin essential oil (REO) and its fractions (F1–3), resulting from chromatographic separation, from the plant Schinus molle against Tribolium castaneum adults. The trunk bark resin essential oil and its fractions' composition were analyzed by GC-MS. Overall, 33 constituents with 98.3% of the total EO composition were identified. REO and F1–3 displayed impressive repellent properties at a concentration of 0.12 µL/cm2. After 120 min of exposure, repellency ranged from 73.3% to a remarkable 96.7%. They also exhibited noteworthy fumigant properties, with median lethal doses of LD50 = 120.6–160.8 μL/L. The fractions F1 and F3 showed the most notable topical toxicity at a concentration of 10%, with LD50 values of 8.6% and 5.6%, respectively. Fractions F3 and F2 demonstrated the most effective inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, providing insight into their insecticidal mechanisms. The in silico molecular docking and DFT studies corroborate the results of in vitro tests performed to identify new insecticide products derived from natural sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the optimization of the electrochemical advanced oxidation treatment for the degradation of Clopidogrel was investigated. This study examined the influence of various experimental parameters including applied current, initial Clopidogrel concentration, and ferrous ion concentration by the use of the Doehlert design within a response surface methodology framework. The improved grey wolf optimizer was applied in order to define the optimum operating conditions. The monitoring of clopidogrel concentration during treatment revealed that complete disappearance of clopidogrel was achieved under an initial clopidogrel concentration of 0.02 mM, current intensity of 0.55 A, Fe2+concentration of 0.7 mM, and a reaction time of 20 min in a solution containing 50 mM Na2SO4 at pH 3. A quadratic polynomial model was developed, and its statistical significance was confirmed through the analysis of variance, demonstrating a high level of confidence in the model (R2 = 0.98 and p-value < 0.05). Furthermore, following electrolysis treatment for 480 min, the synthetic clopidogrel solutions underwent mineralization, achieving a 70.4% removal rate of total organic carbon. Subsequently, the applicability of the optimized process was tested on real pharmaceutical wastewater, and mineralization was investigated under the identified optimal conditions, resulting in a total organic carbon removal rate of 87% after 480 min of electrolysis time. The energy consumption for this system was calculated to be 1.4 kWh·kg−1 of the total organic carbon removed. These findings underscore the effectiveness and potential applicability of the electrochemical advanced oxidation for industrial wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ligno-cellulosic biomasses had been recognized for their potential use to produce chemicals and biomaterials. The current study focused on the use of a new cellulosic Robinia Pseudoacacia fiber and extracted lignin as adsorbents for methylene blue (a cationic dye). The biomaterials were analyzed using FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, XRD, and TGA-DTA techniques. The surface of Robinia fibers was rough and porous. The crystallinity index (CrI) value for Robinia fibers was found to be 32%. The ability of the studied samples to remove methylene blue from water was assessed under the variation of time, pH, dye concentration, temperature, and NaCl concentration. The maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue reached 191 mg/g for Robinia fibers and it achieved 22 mg/g for the extracted lignin (T = 20 °C, pH = 6, and time = 90 min). The adsorption data complied with the pseudo second-order kinetic model and both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Based on these findings, the process suggested the occurrence of many physicochemical interactions between methylene blue molecules and the studied biomaterials. The adsorption mechanism was exothermic, non-spontaneous, and it was described by the decrease of the disorder. Adsorption results proved that Robinia fiber was an attractive candidate for the removal of cationic dyes from water. A low-cost and abundant Robinia Pseudoacacia fiber and its extracted lignin are characterized and further studied as adsorbents for cationic dyes under the change of the experimental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin films of Cu2O were deposited on ITO glass substrates by using the electrodeposition method. The prepared samples were annealed at different temperatures range varying from 200 to 350°C. Chemical, structural and optical properties of samples were studied using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, U-V–visible and photoluminescence spectroscopies. The results revealed that all samples at temperatures lower than 300°C are mainly single cubic Cu2O phase. However, after increasing the annealing temperature to 350°C, Cu2O films are partially oxidized and contain two phases of Cu2O and CuO. Raman results agree with the crystallite size results where the intensity of Raman peaks increases simultaneously with increasing grain size. The optical measurements showed that the band gaps values of the electrodeposited samples increase from 2.12 to 2.24 eV. Two optical gaps were observed at 1.58 and 2.26 eV for the sample annealed at 350°C which confirms the presence of two phases CuO and Cu2O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we reported the first highly stable β-CD-based humidity sensor without the need of pre-functionalization of the QCM transducer surface. Two partially benzylated β-cyclodextrins (β-CDBn, x = 7 and 14) were prepared via a green and one-pot synthesis in aqueous media. The macromolecular structures were methodically investigated by means of NMR, FT-IR and MALDI-TOF spectroscopies and studied with DFT calculations. XRD analysis and thermal analysis revealed an amorphous morphology with better thermal stability in comparison with pristine β-CD. AFM characterization proved that the obtained water-insoluble cyclodextrin thin films exhibited good solution-processing characteristics and film-forming quality. Contact angle measurements evidenced a systematic increase in the surface hydrophobicity with the benzylation rate. These organic materials were investigated as sensitive membranes for humidity detection based on quartz crystal microbalance technique. The experimental investigation showed that the QCM coated with β-CDBn sensitive layer exhibited good sensing performances within a wide relative humidity range of 11-98% including high sensitivity, good linearity, fast response (15 s), desirable reproducibility and high stability even at high humidity level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]