Doon University

Surfactants pose a significant hazard to both ecosystems and human well-being. Given their ongoing and detrimental consequences, a growing number of researchers is concentrating on their eradication from aquatic habitats. Cellulosic nanofibrillar structures have garnered substantial attention recently as components in nanocomposites. This can be attributed to their wide availability, renewable and environmentally sustainable attributes, and exceptional mechanical properties. Due to the significant demand for natural fibres, unconventional bioresources, such as invading species that are destroying ecosystems and reducing biodiversity, must be found. Here in, we are reporting a sustainable approach for surfactant removal utilizing biodegradable natural fibres from Solanum viarum Dunal commonly known as Tropical Soda Apple (TSA) found abundantly in the Uttarakhand region. The fibrils are procured by employing a chemical retting process and are subsequently coated with a ZIF-8@ZIF-67 and chitosan to form a composite (ZCCF). The synthesized sample was analysed using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to better comprehend its chemical structure and elemental makeup and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) to understand the morphological changes in coated and non-coated fibres. Furthermore, this study proposes a sustainable approach for anionic surfactant Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) adsorption utilizing ZCCF. The composite demonstrated efficient adsorption of the SLS with a maximum adsorption capacity of 518.66 mg g−1 at pH 6.0.

The rapid escalation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions sustainable and cost-effective carbon capture solutions. For CO2 adsorption, a variety of CO2 sorptive materials were explored. Among them, biochar is one of the materials that is economically viable, and on the other hand, MOF is one of the highly porous materials. This study utilizes an in-situ approach to synthesize a novel hybrid material, CLPB@HKUST-1 (Citrus limetta peel biochar@HKUST-1), without prior chemical activation of the CLPB, to understand its impact on CO2 capture capacity. The materials were synthesized and characterized using powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), FTIR, SEM, BET surface analysis, and TGA, followed by high-pressure CO2 and N-2 adsorption isotherms at 25 degrees C. Pristine CLPB exhibited negligible porosity (surface area 0.12 m(2)& centerdot;g(-1)) with low CO2 uptake (1.54 mmol & centerdot;g(-1) at 10 bar), whereas HKUST-1 showed higher surface area (539.01 m(2)& centerdot;g(-1)) and CO2 capacity (4.83 mmol & centerdot;g(-)(1)). The HKUST-1@CLPB hybrid material displayed a significant enhancement over CLPB, with surface area increased to 132.5 m(2)& centerdot;g(-1), micropore volume to 0.048 cm(3)& centerdot;g(-1), and CO2 uptake to 2.03 mmol & centerdot;g(-1) at 10 bars, corresponding to a 31.3% improvement. The adsorption selectivity of the samples for CO2/N-2 binary mixture, at 10 bar, varies as HKUST-1@CLPB > CLPB > HKUST-1. Structural and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the successful integration of HKUST-1 and the biochar matrix, with interfacial interactions modifying adsorption environments. This study provides critical insights into structure-property-performance relationships in MOF-biochar hybrid material and finds its novelty in the upgrading of the waste-derived biochar into a functional sorbent by combining structural porosity with surface functionalities.

Although, there is an international demand on institutes of higher education to spur on innovative research, there is a gap in the aspiration and actual innovative output that continues to exist, particularly in the emerging economies. University structures and Academic leadership are long established in the literature on the topic as facilitators of innovation in the higher education landscape, yet this research explores the under-researched impact of psychological capital on these variables to spur academic research innovation. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was adopted, and data were gathered from 400 doctoral scholars registered in central, state, deemed, and private universities through stratified random sampling. Data were analysed using Partial Least Square, Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), along with the measurements of common method bias and Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) used to gain analytical understanding. Interpretations of the findings have shown that both academic leadership and university structure have a significant impact on innovation as external facilitators, though it is the psychological capital, self-efficacy, resilience, hope and optimism of the scholar that is the critical conduit in the change between structural support to creative results. The suggested model explains 69.8 percent of the variation in innovation when PsyCap mediates a significant effect on this variation.This paper is not just a typical structural analysis but an empirically confirmed more humanistic, psychologically driven framework of how-to bring innovation in the higher education ecosystem. The research contributes greatly to the theoretical literature by connecting the Positive Psychology theory and Creative Componential theory in scholarly researches in higher education institutions by showing that psychological capital is not merely a personal possession but a key determinant through which research directs and the university systems can realize their innovation impacts.

Natural gas (NG) is the cleanest fossil fuel used to generate energy worldwide. The process of liquified natural gas (LNG) makes transporting and storing NG much more convenient and straightforward. The LNG receiving station employs an emergency shutdown (ESD) system to immediately turn off the pumps and seal off the leakage area to avoid anything untoward occurring. To identify the root causes of unexpected system failures, fault tree analysis (FTA) is employed in a wide range of systems. In this study, intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS) theory has been used to assess the reliability of the ESD-LNG system under uncertain conditions. For this purpose, a novel intuitionistic fuzzy fault tree analysis (IFFTA) has been developed using convex and exponential “AND" type compensatory operators along with the “OR" type operator. The proposed IFFTA applies algebraic t-norm and t-conorm based fuzzy arithmetic operations to compute system intuitionistic fuzzy reliability, while the V-index definition is used to rank the critical basic events in the ESD system. To show the consistency and superiority of the proposed IFFTA method, sensitivity and comparative analyses have also been conducted. The results show that the proposed IFFTA method is flexible and feasible because it uses the concept of compensation.

The presence of phenolic compounds in industrial effluents at high concentrations poses a substantial hazard to ecosystems due to their high toxicity levels. The biodegradation of phenol using oleaginous microorganisms has attracted significant attention in scientific research due to its potential to mitigate these environmental effects. In this study, Rhodococcus opacus PD630 (an oleaginous bacteria) and Rhodosporidium toruloides 9564T (an oleaginous yeast) were used to degrade phenol (0.1–1 g/L) in a minimal salt medium with simultaneous production of lipids. Both microorganisms were found to be capable of degrading phenol at a concentration of 0.7 g/L. R. toruloides 9564T could completely degrade phenol at 72 h, while R. opacus PD630 could completely degrade it at 120 h. Using eight models (Haldane, Yano, Aiba, Webb, Luong, Andrew, Moser, and Edward), the growth and phenol degradation kinetics were studied to assess the degradation capacity of oleaginous microorganisms. The Yano model, which exhibits the best fit (R2 = 0.9) in both microbes, confirms that the substrate inhibition or utilization by both microbes during the growth profile follows the Yano model. The kinetic parameters for R.toruloides 9564T were µmax (168.84 h− 1), Ks (785.69 mg/L), KI (0.0015 mg/L), and K (0.0004 mg/L). Similarly, R. opacus PD630 had µmax (22.37 h− 1), Ks (36.88 mg/L), KI (0.001 mg/L), and K (7147.61 mg/L). Among the eight fitted models, the Moser model exhibited the best performance, with R² values of 0.964 for R. toruloides 9564T and 0.925 for R. opacus PD630. The highest biomass and lipid production from R. toruloides 9564T and R. opacus PD630 were 5.01 g/L (33.14