Government Engineering College, Banka is a government engineering college in Banka district of Bihar. It was established in the year 2018 under Department of Science and Technology, Bihar. It is affiliated with Aryabhatta Knowledge University and approved by All India Council for Technical Education.
Heavy metal pollution and pesticide residues in environmental and food samples seriously threaten human health and ecosystems. This research presents a novel electrochemical sensing platform for the detection of pesticide CLP utilizing a gold working electrode modified with a graphene oxide-zinc oxide (GO-ZnO) NC in PBS. GO NSs were synthesized via a modified Hummers' approach, and ZnO NPs were prepared via the coprecipitation technique; the GO-ZnO nanocomposite was fabricated as a homogeneous dispersion by utilizing functional surface integration via a sonocatalytic route. The morphology of synthesized nanomaterials was characterized by XRD and SEM. Their functional groups were characterized by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy. The electrochemical behavior and sensing response were assessed by EIS, LSV, CV, and CC. Diffusion-controlled mechanisms at the electrode-electrolyte interface were developed through experiments with varying scan speeds. The effective surface area was estimated through chrono coulometry, achieving a LOQ of 160 fM and LOD of 48.8 fM. The complementary contributions of GO and ZnO have led to a significant increase in charge transfer efficiency as well as the electrocatalytic activity of the sensor. Reproducibility and stability assessments demonstrated excellent performance, and interference studies showed great selectivity against common interferents. It highlights surface-functionalized carbon nanostructures coupled with ZnO, which can provide sensitive and specific electrochemical pesticide detection, allowing for in situ measurement strategies to monitor the ecosystems in damaged areas.
Ultra-high performance concrete exhibits excellent mechanical properties, such as high compressive strength, good durability, and structural reliability. However, its application is currently hampered by very high cement consumption and a considerable amount of embodied carbon, which is significantly dependent on the energy intensive use of steel fibers. The study conducts a technical and bibliometric review of sustainable UHPC systems that employ hybrid fiber reinforcement and supplementary cementitious materials. A systematic literature review on SCMs and UHPC has been analysed through VOSviewer to identify trends of research, collaboration networks, and thematic clusters of UHPC research. The findings show an increasing trend towards sustainability-oriented mix design in the field of UHPC, characterized by the use of high volume SCMs, optimization of particle packing, and hybrid fiber systems that combine steel fibers with polypropylene, basalt, or glass fibers. Sustainability assessments also indicate that cement production and steel fibers are the largest contributors to embodied carbon in UHPC, and that SCM substitution and hybrid fiber optimization can provide a reduction of up to 40-50 % in global warming potential of UHPC. Although encouraging laboratory scale performances were obtained, large scale implementations are still hindered by material variability, fiber dispersion, cost issues, and lack of standardization.
