Trinity College of Arts and Sciences

Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) were synthesized from Rheodiscolor leaf extract using Soxhlet extraction followed by a hydrothermal process in four variants: S1 (raw CQDs), S2 (5 % ethanol-CQDs), S3, and S4. UV-Visible absorption bands at 211-339 nm and excitation-dependent photoluminescence (315-475 nm) confirmed moderate quantum confinement. FTIR spectra identified O-H (similar to 3400 cm(-)(1)) and CO (similar to 1645 cm(-)(1)) groups, with additional C-H and CC bands in S2-S4 enhancing solubility. Electrochemical characterization using GCD and cyclic voltammetry (CV) revealed contrasting outcomes: GCD showed reduced capacitance of GCE for all CQD variants compared to KOH, with S1 retaining 45-54 % and S4 only 20-38 %, whereas CV indicated strong, stable performance of GCE for CQDs (S1-S3) (similar to 80-88 % of KOH) and moderate retention for CQD (S4) (43-60 %). These findings suggest that Rheodiscolor leaf-derived CQDs, especially S1-S3, are promising, sustainable, and tunable electrolyte materials for energy storage applications, with properties strongly influenced by synthesis conditions.

Purpose: Hypertension (HTN) disproportionately affects marginalized communities due to persistent healthcare disparities and socioeconomic barriers. Less than half of patients with HTN achieve blood pressure (BP) control, with Black Americans on antihypertensive medication experiencing lower rates of BP control (34.9%) compared to non-Hispanic Whites (45.0%). This pilot study evaluates the effectiveness of a telephone outreach intervention designed to improve BP control through self-management in a historically underserved population. Major Findings: This single-cohort, pre-post intervention study was conducted at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Patients with severe hypertension were identified and contacted by trained student ambassadors (SAs). These SAs provided hypertension-specific health education, health goal-setting, guidance for self-monitoring blood pressure, and referrals to address health-related social needs (HRSN). During in-person classes, patients were educated on BP self-monitoring and goal setting regarding healthy lifestyle practices. Results from this study showed a reduction in SBP and DBP among engaged patients and improved hypertension knowledge. Conclusion: These findings suggest that telephone outreach, when combined with skill-based in-person education, can improve hypertension control in Black American populations.

Water is obviously an essential need for all living beings. The most important aspect is water quality for drinking purposes. In January 2024, water samples from Courtallam and Karaiyar were collected in order to test the water quality. In the current work, an attempt has been made to study the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of collected water. The obtained data were analysed with BIS. Additionally, an approach has been made to study the efficacy of Strychnos potatorum seed (SPS), a natural coagulant, for purpose of treating water. According to BIS, before treatment with SPS, both the collected water samples have shown the physical and chemical qualities as potable, but not biologically which shows the Fecal coliform is uncountable in both samples. After treating with SPS, as a remedial measure, the Fecal coliform is countable (decreases) and physically potable but chemically not potable as the value of pH is below the minimum permissible limit and the value of NH3 exceeds the maximum permissible limit. The study strongly recommends to constantly monitor the quality of drinking water in the region and also suggest the natural coagulant, for removal of bacteria and turbidity from water to protect the health of the people.

Graphene can be used to store energy as well as a supercapacitor material because of its unique physical and chemical properties, including high specific surface area, high chemical stability, high mechan-ical strength, and oxidation resistance. In this report, a facile, green, and cost-effective approach has been adopted to synthesize graphene sheets through an electrochemical exfoliation technique for supercapacitor applications. Graphene sheets were synthesized using aqueous electrolyte (Ag/AgCl, 0.1 M H2SO4) with four different exfoliation potentials such as 3, 5, 7 and 9 V. The prepared graphene sheets were subjected to charac-terization techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Raman results revealed that the defect density and thickness of the graphene layers increased with increased in the exfoliation potential and then eventually decreased. Among all potentials, the maximum crystalline size of graphene was observed for the potential of 5 V, an inter-mediate crystalline size of 9 V, and minimum for 7 V, showing that the exfoliated graphene layer was sensitive to the exfoliation potential. XPS study shows the structural oxidation (relative percentage of carbon and oxy-gen) of the exfoliated graphene at different potentials. The results indicate that electrochemically exfoliated graphene (5 V) has been successfully produced. The behaviour of 5 V graphene has been examined using a charge-discharge (CD) curve and cyclic voltammetry (CV) for supercapacitor applications. The maximum value of specific capacitance obtained is 198 F & BULL;g-1 at a current density of 0.14 A & BULL;g-1 in 6 M KOH. The highest value obtained for energy density and power density is 17 W & BULL;h & BULL;kg-1 and 1176 W & BULL;kg-1.