The demand for clean water is rapidly growing, which has prompted further development of nanomaterials for environmental purification and biomedical research. Photocatalysis is a highly promising oxidation method for the removal of organic and biological pollutants. It is quite evident that there is a serious and pressing demand to design economic treatment techniques, which are cheap and energy independent. In this study, we described the fabrication of Z-scheme heterostructure Er doped ZrO2/Bi2WO6 that effectively enhances visible-light-driven charge separation and redox ability, leading to superior photocatalytic degradation and antibacterial performance. The dual-functionality and high mineralization efficiency demonstrated in this study highlight the potential of the developed photocatalyst for sustainable wastewater treatment and biomedical-related environmental applications. The composite and its constituents were synthesized by hydrothermal approach and characterized in terms of their structural, optical, functional, morphological, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. The optimized Er-doped ZrO2/Bi2WO6 nanocomposite exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance, achieving 97.02% degradation of the moxifloxacin (MOX) drug under visible light and showed good antibacterial capability against four bacterial strains the order of Escherichia coli > Bacillus fortis > Staphylococcus aureus > Streptococcus canis. Reactive-species scavenging analysis proved that the role of superoxide radicals (•O2−) and hydroxyl (•OH) plays a significant role in the photocatalytic degradation of MOX. The current study highlights the enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of the Z-scheme Er doped ZrO2/Bi2WO6 heterostructure due to their design and engineering, with applications in multifunctional industries, particularly environmental cleaning and biomedical research.
This study examines the structural, optical, and electrical properties of NaBa(PO3)3 to evaluate its potential in solid-state ionic devices. Phase-pure NaBa(PO3)3 was synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction and characterized using XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis, and AC impedance spectroscopy. Rietveld refinement confirmed the formation of an orthorhombic P212121 structure. The material exhibits a wide optical band gap and thermally activated Na+ conduction consistent with polaron hopping, highlighting its potential for high-temperature ionic and dielectric applications. Impedance and modulus analyses reveal non-Debye relaxation and distinct grain and grain-boundary contributions. Its negative temperature coefficient of resistivity and high sensitivity index highlight strong potential for high-temperature thermistor and solid-state electrolyte applications.
The growing demand for flexible, high-performance materials in optoelectronics and energy storage has driven interest in polymer nanocomposites with tunable optical and dielectric properties. This study aims to enhance the structural, optical, and dielectric performance of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by incorporating lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and indium-doped zinc tungstate (ZnW₁₋xInxO₄) nanofillers. The composites were fabricated using solution casting for the polymer matrix and solid-state reaction for the nanofillers. Structural and morphological analyses confirmed successful integration of the fillers into the PMMA matrix. Key optical findings reveal a substantial reduction in both direct and indirect bandgaps—from 5.07 to 4.87 eV for pure PMMA to as low as 3.83 eV and 3.52 eV, respectively—along with enhanced refractive index, optical conductivity, and nonlinear optical response, particularly for fillers with x = 0 and 0.1. Dielectrically, the incorporation of ZnWO4 significantly increased the real and imaginary permittivity values (13.827 and 0.684 at 1 kHz) compared to undoped PMMA (10.234 and 0.487), while the sample with x = 0.1 exhibited the highest AC conductivity. Argand plot analysis further indicated improved capacitance in LiTFSI-filled samples. These enhancements position the developed composites as promising candidates for UV-protective coatings, photovoltaic cells, flexible energy storage devices, and advanced photonic applications.
This study comprehensively investigates the temperature-dependent dielectric and electrical properties of lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) ceramics synthesized via the Pechini method. FE-SEM analysis revealed a porous, foam-like morphology composed of aggregated, non-uniform particles, while EDX confirmed the presence of La, Al, and O with carbon impurities. This work provides a detailed analysis of impedance, while the synthesis and structural characteristics were previously reported [1], AC conductivity, dielectric constant, epsilon r, and dielectric loss, tan(S), across the temperature range from 20oC to 245oC range with 15oC for each increase step, were investigated. Results show clear thermally activated AC conductivity, consistent with a hopping conduction model mediated by localized charge carriers, likely oxygen vacancies. Crucially, the activation energy, Ea, derived from the AC conduction (0.40 eV) is nearly identical to the Ea obtained from the dielectric relaxation process (0.41 eV). This equivalence provides strong evidence that the observed loss mechanism is directly controlled by the hopping motion of the same localized charge carriers. Furthermore, strong low-frequency dispersion in epsilon r and tan(S) is attributed to Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarization. Analysis of the dielectric modulus confirms a non-Debye relaxation with a distribution of relaxation times, underscoring the influence of the LaAlO3 microstructure. These findings demonstrate that the Pechini method yields a material with reproducible and thermally stable dielectric characteristics, positioning LaAlO3 as a promising candidate for demanding high-frequency electronic applications.
The study examined the role of knowledge sharing with suppliers as one knowledge management (KM) practice and the challenges associated with implementing sustainable green supply chain management (GSCM) to achieve environmental sustainability. A mixed-methods approach was used to draw on the views of management supervisors in an industrial gases company. The findings contribute to the KM literature by highlighting the most significant obstacles to implementing GSCM in businesses operating in the industrial gases industry, including the increasing costs of green raw materials and the need for government support. This study offers theoretically and empirically grounded insights for managers and policymakers related to implementing sustainable GSCM practices in organizational and industrial contexts within the field of KM. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first in the field of KM to offer a practical framework for how knowledge sharing enables sustainable GSCM practices.
