This research highlights the potential of the Brassica carinata as a sustainable substitute in the lubricant industry by examining its viability and effectiveness in producing biolubricants. In the present work, the biolubricant was synthesized via a double transesterification method. Initially, Brassica carinata oil undergoes transesterification with KOH and methanol to yield FAMEs. Subsequently, these FAMEs react with 2-ethylhexanol using para-toluene sulphonic acid (p-TSA) as a catalyst to produce Brassica carinata-based ethyl hexyl ester. The central composite design of the experiment was chosen to optimize and examine the effects of production variables, such as temperature, FAME-to-2-ethyl hexanol molar ratio, and catalyst concentration. The optimum bio-lubricant yield of 84.3

The high surface area, increased enzyme activity, active site accessibility and improved stability of the enzyme-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers have garnered significant attention in recent years. In this study, we have synthesized magnetic β-glucosidase-Cu3(PO4)2 nanoflowers (BGL@MNF) using the co-precipitation method. In the presence of magnetic nanoparticles, the catalytic efficiency (Kcat/Km) of β-glucosidase is 56.20 % and 24.79 % higher than the free enzyme and nanoflowers without magnetic nanoparticles. Additionally, the Km value of BGL@MNF (319.93 μM) decreased compared to the free enzyme (372.25 μM), indicating the higher affinity of the enzyme towards the substrate post-immobilization. The product inhibition assay revealed that BGL@MNF are more resistant to inhibition by glucose, even at higher concentrations. Moreover, after 10 cycles of reusability, 69.97 % glucose yield was obtained, suggesting that the formed floral hybrid structure shows a promising way to improve the catalytic features of the enzyme.

The successful application of enzymes in industries encounters challenges related to high costs, stability, and reuse. In this study, β-glucosidase (BGL) was immobilized via a covalent method after the synthesis of different generations (G0-2) of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers modified magnetic spent coffee grounds (SCGs). With the increase in PAMAM generation, BGL immobilization (163.123 and 218.99 mg protein/g support in G1 and G2, respectively) on the support increased. Exceptional stability (> 80% residual activity) was observed for immobilized BGL at varying pH (3 to 6) and temperature (30°C to 80°C) after a 2 h incubation period. The higher generations of PAMAM dendrimers were more tolerant to glucose inhibition than the free enzyme. PAMAM G1 and G2 generations showed > 75% residual activity at 200 mM glucose concentration compared to free enzyme, with only 50% residual activity at 100 mM glucose concentration. After employing BGL@MSCG3@G0-2 for cellobiose hydrolysis, > 69% glucose yield for 10 cycles was maintained.

Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) is a versatile compound used in various applications, including resins, polymers, and high-energy-density (HED) fuels, such as exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD). DCPD reaction mixtures are typically analyzed using gas chromatography (GC), but this process can be challenging due to its thermal instability. At temperatures above 150°C, it can undergo a reverse Diels-Alder reaction (RDAR), decomposing into cyclopentadiene (CPD). This decomposition can lead to significant errors in quantitative measurements, including conversion and yield. To address this issue, we conducted GC analyses at temperatures exceeding the RDAR threshold to investigate DCPD dissociation under various conditions, including GC inlet temperatures, gas flow rates, and solvents. Our study reveals that at inlet temperatures above 200°C, accurately determining DCPD conversion is extremely difficult. Additionally, we report that the flow rate of the carrier gas has a negligible impact on the DCPD dissociation, while the choice of solvent significantly affects the detection of the CPD formed. Among the three solvents examined, dichloromethane (DCM) was found to be the most effective for detecting dissociated CPD.

The polycrystalline samples of Mn1.90Cr0.10O3(MCO) and Mn1.90Fe0.10O3(MFO) have been investigated for their temperature dependent magnetic and structural properties. The Cr and Fe substitutions have significant effect on the magnetic and structural properties of Mn2O3. Like pristine Mn2O3, the Cr and Fe substituted samples MCO and MFO also exhibit two antiferromagnetic transitions; one at ∼77 K, ∼80 K, respectively and another at ∼40 K. Our room temperature synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (SXRD) results confirm that both the MCO and MFO samples crystallize in cubic symmetry. The temperature dependent SXRD results demonstrate the cubic to orthorhombic structural transition for the studied samples. The pristine Mn2O3shows cubic to orthorhombic transition around 310 K, whereas this structural transition shifted towards lower temperature side with these substitutions i.e. around 240 K for MCO and 260 K for MFO. Interestingly, the centrosymmetricPcabto non-centrosymmetricPca21change in symmetry is also resolved at the ferroelectric ordering temperature for MCO.

Piezo-actuated x-ray deformable mirrors (PXDMs) can effectively control the surface profile with sub-nanometre accuracy for adaptive focusing and correct the wavefront distortion generated due to imperfections in optical components or other extraneous effects like heat load, minor misalignments of synchrotron radiation beamline. Generating and controlling the desired shape of PXDMs with sub-nanometre accuracy is very challenging due to the presence of a large number of actuators and constraints related to nonlinearity of piezoactuator, boundary conditions, fabrication related limitations and the requirement for ex-situ as well as in-situ characterization of PXDM. To accomplish this, a PXDM of zerodur with multiple electrodes on a piezoactuator has been developed for vertical focusing of synchrotron x-rays for the first time in India. The PXDM has been fabricated and characterized by in-house developed technologies. The iterative piezo response function-based optimization technique is used to optimize the electric fields of individual piezoactuators in order to achieve the desired parabolic shape of the PXDM. The ex-situ characterization showed that the PXDM can achieve the target parabolic profile with 42 nm root-mean-square error. Furthermore, in-situ characterization at a beamline, BL-12, of Indus-2 synchrotron radiation source using PXDM has confirmed the focusing of collimated x-ray beam in the vertical direction from FWHM 235 mu m to FWHM 83 mu m.

Atomic-level tailoring of active sites is an efficient strategy for designing high-performance photocatalysts for clean energy. Asymmetric atomic sites (AAS) like M-SA-O-v-M-2 created through hetero-metal single atoms (M-SA) doping on defect-rich metal oxides (M-2-O-v-M-2) are favored for better activation of targeted molecules. However, creating AAS typically demands high energy input, hindering their widespread use in photocatalytic H-2 production. Furthermore, precise control over surface defects to create AAS remains challenging. Here, Cu-SA-O-v-Ti-3c highly asymmetric atomic sites catalyst (HAASC) is constructed by strategically trapping Cu single atoms on high-index (111) faceted TiO2. This material combines single-atom catalysis and facet engineering, achieving unprecedented H-2 production rates (8.3 mmol h(-1) g(-1) in pure water and 784.5 mmol h(-1) g(-1) in water/methanol mixture). Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal Cu-SA substituting five-coordinated Ti atoms (Ti-5c) next to three-coordinated (Ti-3c) ones, forming Cu-SA-O-v-Ti-3c HAAS. HAAS plays multiple roles in i) improving light harvesting, charge-transfer dynamics, and redox capability of photoexcited electrons; ii) enhanced adsorption and polarization of H2O molecules; iii) facilitating electron transfer from Cu-SA-O-v-Ti-3c to H2O molecules, and iv) raising d-band center toward Fermi level resulting in approximate to 250-fold enhanced H-2 production than Ti-5c-O-Ti-3c AASC. This work opens new avenues for future structural designs in heterogeneous catalysis for energy-related applications.

m-FeCTB was synthesized by chemical precipitation. This work reports a cost-effective nanomaterial with surface acidity of 26 μmol g −1 , high crystallinity, ferromagnetic and catalytically active for the hydrolysis of biomass-derived cellobiose to glucose and HMF.

BACKGROUND: The industrial-scale application of enzymes faces obstacles due to elevated costs and difficulties in stability and reuse. In this study, magnetic spent coffee grounds, an ecotoxic waste, have been utilized successfully for the first time to immobilize beta-glucosidase to overcome these challenges. RESULTS: The spent coffee grounds were magnetized and amine-functionalized, followed by characterization using various techniques. Under optimized conditions, forming an imine bond between the functionalized support and beta-glucosidase resulted in a 62% immobilization yield (92.81 mg g(-1) enzyme loading) and 12.5 U mg(-1) activity after immobilization. A relatively small kinetic change was observed in the K-m value (902 to 946 mu mol L-1) after immobilization, suggesting minimal hindrance by AMSCG(3) on substrate access or product release. Moreover, Glu@AMSCG(3) showed exceptional stability (>90% residual activity) within a pH range of 3 to 6 after 2 h of incubation at 25 degrees C. A residual activity of 87.94% was maintained even at 80 degrees C and pH 5 after 2 h of incubation compared to the free beta-glucosidase, which showed only 6.5% residual activity at the same temperature. When cellobiose was hydrolyzed using Glu@AMSCG(3) under optimum conditions, 91.33% cellobiose conversion was achieved initially, and over 79% conversion was maintained for 10 reusability cycles. CONCLUSION: The improved stability of beta-glucosidase after covalent immobilization on amine-modified magnetically separable spent coffee grounds indicates their potential as a support matrix for application in enzyme immobilization. (c) 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

The rapid development of road networks needs huge construction materials. Mining and industrial wastes can be used as sustainable road construction materials and will be alternatives to fulfill the huge demand in road construction. Zinc tailing is one such mining waste and has the potential for road construction. This material was collected from Zawar mines (Rajasthan), and characterization was carried out for embankment/subgrade applications. A physical model test was conducted in the laboratory to examine the stress-settlement behavior. To improve the modulus value of tailing, it was reinforced with geogrid in two different laying patterns, viz. layer/loop and stress-settlement behavior was studied. Different parameters were studied: reinforcement depth, layer of reinforcement, number of loops, and depth of loop of reinforcement. The experimental result was validated with the numerical finite element method (SoilWorks). Tailing comprises fine-grained silt-size particles (61%) with no swelling behavior and non-plastic nature. It has values of MDD and OMC as 1.86 g/cm(3) and 11%, respectively. It has a higher value of CBR (12%) and internal friction angle (34.6o) with cohesionless nature. The variation of settlement with stress is linear for reinforced and unreinforced tailing fill. As the depth of reinforcement increases, settlement increases in both layer and loop reinforcement. The settlement trajectory obtained from a numerical method closely resembles that of a laboratory physical model, particularly when the applied stress is up to 600 kPa. The modulus of elasticity of tailing was significantly improved with the introduction of geogrid reinforcement either in layer or loop.

In this study, we synthesized Pd-graphene oxide (Pd-GO) nanocomposite layers on SiO2/Si substrates using chemical method. Pd-GO layers were treated with swift heavy ion irra-diation (100 MeV Ag ions, 1013 ions/cm2). The structural properties of the pristine as well as the ion irradiated samples were investigated using synchrotron grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. XRD shows peaks corresponding to Pd (FCC, space group-Fd-3m), GO and synthetic graphite. The relative graphite peak intensities increased after ion irradiation, indicating reduction of GO. The sensor responses of nanocomposite layers towards exposure of 35 ppm H2 at 100 degrees C, were measured for several cycles. Ion-irradiated Pd-GO samples show enhancement in the sensing response of H2 gas by about 24% and with lower recovery times (25%), as compared to pristine Pd-GO nanocomposite samples. The change in type of conductivity from p-type gas sensing layer in pristine nanocomposite to n-type conduc-tivity, along with an increase in conductivity (about 500 times) in ion irradiated samples were observed. The change in type of conductivity on ion-irradiation is attributed to the reduction of GO layer and the changes in conductivity on hydrogen exposure is explained due to hydrogen spill-over effect in the two-component system. The improvement in sensitivity upon ion-irradiation was due to the increase in concentration of structural defects due to electronic energy loss, as studied by SRIM simulation. This study points towards using ion induced electronic energy loss as a new tool for varying the gas sensing properties of GO based sensors. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this study, a magnetically separable graphene oxide support has been successfully synthesized and employed for immobilizing industrial cellulase (Cellic Ctec2) via physical adsorption. The support material has been thoroughly characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The research focuses on critical factors crucial for industrial applications, including enzyme loading capacity, the impact of substrate loading on glucose yield, and the reusability of the immobilized enzyme. The results demonstrate an impressive 270 mg/g enzyme loading capacity for the support material (FeGO-E). Additionally, 87

Vanadium-tellurite glasses, tetragonal TeO2 and orthorhombic V2O5 crystalline samples were characterized for their atomic structure properties by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, reverse Monte Carlo simulations (RMC) and Rietveld analysis. The pair correlation function, G(r), of V2O5 shows the first peak at 1.61 Å. G(r) of TeO2 shows three peaks at 1.57, 2.13 and 2.88 Å due to Te-O linkages of three different lengths, whereas the Te-Te atomic pair correlation shows a peak at 3.85 Å. The average coordination number of V with O in crystalline V2O5 is 4.39 while that of Te with O in crystalline TeO2 is 3.71. G(r) of the vanadium tellurite glass shows the first peak at 1.90 Å due to overlapping Te-O and V-O atomic pair correlations. The RMC analysis on diffraction data of glasses found that the V-O coordination number is in the range 5.27-5.59 and the Te-O coordination number is 5.39-5.67. However, it is found that these coordination numbers cannot be clearly defined due to short-range disorder.

This study investigates the co-hydroprocessing of light cycle oil (LCO) with waste cooking oil (WCO) as a potential strategy to enhance LCO ' s qualities and overall performance. The study involves the integration of LCO with WCO in three different ratios, facilitating a combined hydrotreatment process within a fixed bed continuous down-flow reactor. The findings reveal that incorporating WCO into LCO hydrotreatment enhances LCO ' s properties, albeit with a minor reduction in hydrodesulfurization efficacy. WCO demonstrates approximately 10.7 % density and 26 % cetane number improvements compared to the LCO/WCO (70/30) blend at 380 C-degrees. The most significant reduction in di and poly-aromatic compounds is observed at 340 C-degrees for pure LCO, while WCO inclusion has minimal impact on poly-aromatic saturation. The yield range for medium distillates across all products is between 87 % and 93 %. The time-on-stream study suggests excellent catalyst stability and activity up to 456 h, which is one of the highest lifetimes reported so far. TGA study of the spent catalyst indicates 22 wt % coke deposition complemented by TEM results. FTIR analysis revealed absorptions of alicyclic hydrocarbons-type compounds deposited over the catalyst surface. This research contributes to the development of innovative catalysts for selectively converting LCO and WCO into diesel-range hydrocarbons through single-step process.

This study discusses CO2 valorization and water splitting via photocatalysis using non-noble metal magnetically separable Fe-supported EDTA-g-C3N4. A mesoporous and magnetically separable Fe3O4@EDTA-g-C3N4 (F-E-g-CN ) hybrid photocatalyst was synthesized for the first time with abundant catalytic sites. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) played crucial roles in the heterostructured catalysts, such as linking Fe3O4 and g-CN together and enhancing charge transfer facilitating a reduced band gap from 2.23 to 0.67 eV in F-E-g-CN (1 : 1). The results indicate a promising yield of methanol (375.56 mu mol g(cat)(-1)), formic acid (18.70 mu mol g(cat)(-1)), and hydrogen (59.49 mu mol hg(cat)(-1)) under the optimized reaction conditions. The catalyst revealed an increase in photoactivity for CO2 conversion and water splitting by factor of 12.38 and 12.05 for methanol and 100-fold higher for hydrogen production than the pure g-CN and E-g-CN, respectively. An isotopic tracer experiment was carried out using (CO2)-C-13, confirming the carbon source of methanol. This research will offer additional in-depth insights into the design of photocatalytic CO2 reduction and water-splitting reactions based on g-CN.

The present study covers the optimization of reaction parameters in the conversion of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) to exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD), emphasizing the isomerization reaction of endo-tetrahy-drodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDPCD) to exo-THDCPD. This process involves the (i) hydrogenation of DCPD to endo-THDCPD over Pd/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst and (ii) isomerization of endo-THDCPD to exo-THDCPD using AlCl3. The repeatability of the hydrogenation catalyst, Pd/gamma-Al2O3 effectively, with > 98.5 % purity of endo-THDCPD, was established for 18 cycles without solvent. Reaction parameters for the isomerization reaction were optimized and found that 1 wt% of AlCl3 at 23.5 degrees C reaction temperature in dichloromethane (DCM) solvent is sufficient for the reaction to obtain > 99 % purity of exo-THDCPD. The computational and experimental studies reveal that DCM as a solvent is necessary with such a low amount of AlCl3 (i.e., 1 wt%) to isomerize endo-THDCPD to exo-THDCPD (purity > 99 %). DCM provides the best condition for monomeric AlCl3 to participate in the isomerization reaction. The calculated intermediates (cation + anion) energies (using DFT calculations) in different solvent environments were found to be in the order DCM < carbon tetrachloride < chloroform.