The quick and efficient analysis of antibiotic residues in food and environmental samples is a major challenge. In the current work, a ternary rGO-Fe3O4/TiO2 nanocomposite was prepared and used as an effective electrocatalytic sensing platform to electrochemically detect chloramphenicol (CAP). The synergistic co-assembly of the conductive reduced graphene oxide (rGO), redox-active Fe3O4 NPs, and semiconducting TiO2 was able to create a heterostructured interface to allow fast transfer of electrons and increase surface-active sites. The success of the hybrid nanocomposite with the uniform dispersion of metal oxides all over the rGO sheets was confirmed with the help of structural and morphological characterization. Electrochemical studies revealed a large reduction in current towards CAP as opposed to that of the single components, and this is a strong sign of electrocatalytic activity. The modified electrode was found to have high sensitivity, a large linear detection range, a low detection limit, excellent repeatability, and reasonable selectivity in the presence of possible interfering species. In particular, quantitative parameters like the limit of detection (LOD = 0.88 & micro;M), limit of quantification (LOQ = 2.95 & micro;M), sensitivity (4.01 & micro;A & micro;M-1 cm-2), linear range of detection (2-100 & micro;M), relative standard deviation (RSD = 1.79%) in reproducibility. These extensions give a more accurate picture of the sensor in terms of its analytical capabilities and usability. The findings provide a more concise emphasis on the importance, robustness, and sensitivity of the developed rGO-Fe3O4/TiO2-based electrochemical sensor to detect chloramphenicol. Moreover, the sensor was found to be stable in real sample analysis, which implies its potential use in environmental and food safety monitoring. The synergistic interactions between charge-transfer and the higher adsorption capacity of the rGO-Fe3O4/TiO2 ternary system are responsible for the enhanced sensing performance.

Polymer oleogel lubricants are susceptible to structural collapse and failure with increasing temperature owing to enthalpy-dominated crosslinking interactions. Such polymer oleogels show limited lubricity at high temperature because of oil creeping and leakage. In this work, we demonstrate a high temperature resistance physical network formed by poly(stearyl methacrylate) (PSMA, LS-1) in base oils, maintaining nearly constant modulus across temperature variation. The oleogel formation of the homopolymer originates from a synergistic combination of intermolecular side-chain associations and backbone entanglements. In the linear viscoelastic regime, the phase angle delta remains below 45 degrees with increasing temperature, indicating rubber-like behavior of the oleogel. Moreover, both van Gurp-Palmen plots and Burgers model parameters reveal thermorheological complexity of the oleogel. The increase in strain drives the transition of the oleogel's viscoelastic response from linear to nonlinear, and elevated temperatures accelerate this transformation. The polymer oleogel shows a strainstiffening behavior by the intermolecular side-chain interactions that can be further enhanced by both elevated temperature and increased strain amplitude. Consequently, such an intermolecular side-chain interactions oleogel demonstrates an anti-creep property of base oils at high temperatures, providing a novel strategy to create high-temperature oleogel lubricants.

In this work, we present the first systematic study of a metal coordination compound (MCC) based on nickel and 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (quinizarin) as an OER catalyst.

Chili peppers (Capsicum annuum L.), valued for their flavor-enhancing properties, are rich in fiber, essential oils, vitamins, and bioactive compounds and exhibit strong antioxidant activity. Due to their high moisture, fresh chilies are dried using conventional methods to preserve quality; however, microwave drying has emerged as an alternative method for food drying applications, including chili pepper drying. Our objectives were to investigate the effect of microwave power levels (120-600 W) on moisture loss and color degradation using a kinetic modeling approach and to assess dried chili total color difference (Delta E), browning index (BI), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant properties (DPPH, ABTS+, and FRAP). Microwave drying at higher power levels significantly reduced drying times (p <= 0.05): 60 min at 120 W, 10.5 min at 480 W, and 7 min at 600 W. Drying at lower powers (120-240 W) yielded minimal color change, whereas BI increased at >= 300 W. Microwave power levels did not affect TPC and ABTS+ antioxidant value. By contrast, DPPH antioxidant values decreased (from 185.44 to 101.00 mu mol Trolox equiv. [TE] g-1) as the microwave power was increased from 240 to 600 W, and the FRAP values decreased significantly from 129.5 to 25.76 mu mol TE g-1 at 120 and 360 W, respectively. Although the Midilli primary model provided the best fit, the secondary Weibull/power law model was found more suitable for predicting the moisture loss kinetics of chili peppers under different microwave power levels (root mean squared error [RMSE] 0.013-0.029). Given the rising consumer demand for chili-based products, microwave drying can achieve similar product qualities as traditional drying while significantly reducing drying time. These findings can serve as a reference for spice processors to optimize color and antioxidant retention while increasing drying efficiency.

Magnetically active membranes based on GO/Fe3O4 and Ag-GO/Fe3O4 have been synthesized via the resin-infiltration technique, achieving significant improvements in rejection and antifouling properties, followed by their characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-rays spectroscopy (EDX) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The increasing demand for efficient water purification technologies is challenged by low separation efficiency, poor resistance to fouling, and limited tunability in dynamic environments, as well as low rejection performance. This study addresses the research gap by developing and evaluating GO/Fe3O4 and Ag-GO/Fe3O4 membranes to enhance water treatment performance through improved rejection rates and antifouling capabilities. It exhibits separation efficiency, fouling resistance, and high thermomechanical stability with the added advantage of magnetic responsiveness - a combination that addresses multiple persistent issues in membrane-based water treatment. GO/Fe3O4 and Ag-GO/Fe3O4 improved the flux recovery ratio of pristine PVDF-co-HFP membrane from 50.8 to 89.9 and 92.3%, while the rejection % of paraquat (PQ) herbicide increased up to 92.7%. This research is important because magnetically active membranes do not need external magnetic fields to move the magnetic particles to the membrane's surface.

Herein, different concentrations of polyacrylic acid p(AAc) cryogels were synthesized at -12 degrees C by varying concentrations of crosslinker and monomer using cryo-polymerization method. Furthermore, silver metal nanoparticles were loaded in p(AAc) cryogels using NaBH4 as a reducing agent through the chemical reduction method. The as-synthesized materials were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX. These results indicate that Ag loaded poly acrylic acid p(AAc) cryogels were successfully synthesized. The swelling properties of synthesized cryogels were also studied. The hybrid cryogels were utilized for the catalytic reduction of methyl orange (MO) dye by varying different parameters (pH and dose of catalyst). The 95 % Ag-p(AAc) cryogels showed the highest catalytic efficiency due to high porosity with optimized Ag distribution and large surface area. The antibacterial activity of p(AAc) and Ag-p(AAc) cryogels were evaluated against P.aeruginosa and E. Coli by optical density (OD) measurement. The Ag-p(AAc) showed excellent antibacterial activity against E.coli and P. aeruginosa with an inhibition zone of 50 % and 80 % respectively. These results showed that the synthesized Ag-p (AAc) cryogels have great potential for water purification and biomedical applications.

Polysulfone (PSf) membranes are used to treat contaminated waters due to their stability toward chemicals contact at elevated temperatures. However, polysulfone membranes possesses poor surface hydrophilicity, causing filtration and fouling related issues; hence, the usability of PSf membranes decreases. In this study, PSf-, graphene oxide- (GO-), and titania-based hydrophilic nanocomposite membranes were prepared using the solution casting method. The synthesized membranes were characterized and examined through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle, thermogravimetric analysis, porosity, solvent content, and tensile strength studies. The synthesized membranes demonstrated better hydrophilicity and higher porosity. The addition of nanofillers reduced the water contact angle from 80.87 (polysulfone, PSf) to 59.77 (polysulfone and GO titania, PSf/GO-TiO2). Similarly, the addition of nanofillers increased the porosity from 0.0067 (PSf) to 0.027 (PSf/GO-TiO2). Young's modulus, elongation at break, and toughness increased from 3,928.56 to 4,802.88 MPa, 2.288% to 2.857%, and 74.11 to 76.890 J/g for PSf and PSf/GO-TiO2, respectively. The synthesized membranes displayed self-cleaning and water-oil mixture separation properties. The membranes were applied by following the decrease in the absorption maxima for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). At room temperature, native PSf membrane caused 29% and 43% photocatalytic degradation of MO and 4-NP, respectively, whereas polysulfone, GO, and TiO2 composite membrane (PGT) caused a maximum of 54% and 62% degradation of MO and 4-NP, respectively.

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a popular spice, and its use has increased significantly in recent years, particularly in Western countries. Our objectives were to evaluate the effect of hot-air (60 degrees C), vacuum, infra-red, and freeze-drying on the quality of dried chilies. Physico-chemical properties evaluated were total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant properties (ABTS(+), FRAP, DPPH), instrumental color (L*, a*, and b* values), total color difference (Delta E), browning-index (BI), bulk-density, and texture. The TPC values of dried chilies varied from 498.40 to 528.07 mg GAE/g, db. The DPPH and ABTS(+) values (mu mol TE/g, db) ranged between 184.00 (infra-red) to 195.56 (hot-air) and 167.13 (freeze) to 181.30 (vacuum), respectively, with no significant differences across drying methods (p > 0.05). Freeze- and vacuum-drying retained significantly higher (p < 0.05) FRAP values (155-158 mol TE/g db) than hot-air or infra-red drying. There were no differences in Hunter color L* and b* values, however, vacuum- and freeze-drying retained higher color a* values (44.38-44.48) than hot-air dried sample (36.59). The Delta E and American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) values were not different across drying methods (p >0 .05), whereas the BI values were lower in freeze-dried chilies. These findings highlighted the importance of optimizing drying techniques to maintain the quality and marketability of chili peppers.

ABSTRACTAn incompressible steady‐state flow of viscous fluid subjected to a variable thickness rotating surface is examined. The laminar flow stream is also affected by the disk stretching. A horizontal magnetic field is applied along the disk to stabilize the flow dynamics depending on its orientation and strength. The implication of a horizontal magnetic field is also effective in regulating the thermal energy in high‐temperature environments such as turbines and nuclear reactors. The thermal features are also characterized by thermal radiation and melting heating. The melting phenomenon is useful in phase‐change materials for efficient thermal storage and release like polymer molding or metal casting. Similarity transformations that account for the variable thickness of the disk surface are utilized to dimensionalize the flow equations and to obtain a self‐similar solution. The numerical scheme Runge‐Kutta‐Fehlberg (RKF‐45) built‐in package is used for the solution of the normalized flow model. The salient nature of the physical parameters is illustrated in the momentum and thermal fields. The numerical data on skin‐friction coefficient and local Nusselt number at the stretchable surface is also calculated. The graphical results indicate that the flow and temperature profiles are strongly influenced by the physical parameters under consideration. It can be deduced that melting decreases the fluid resistance close to the surface, reducing drag, and in turn increasing flow velocity. The latent energy absorbed during the melting process reduces the effective thermal energy into the fluid that reduces the temperature gradients in the thermal boundary layer flow. The stabilizing effect of the horizontal magnetic field on the flow phenomenon along the radial direction is observed for the angle varying from 0 to 30 degrees. It is seen that the dimensionless radius facilitates the thermal transport phenomenon from the disk surface to the fluid, thus resulting in reduction of the thermal field.

Salmonella contamination in low‐moisture foods remains a continuing food safety and public health problem. The World Health Organization ranked unprocessed red chili peppers as the spice with the highest risk of Salmonella contamination in a risk assessment‐based report in 2022. Therefore, appropriate mitigation strategies are required to control Salmonella contamination in dried chilies. The objectives of this research were to investigate thermal inactivation of Salmonella on dried chili peppers at a w 0.33–0.97 and estimate thermal resistance parameters under isothermal and dynamic conditions. The dried chili peppers were inoculated with S . Montevideo and conditioned in a humidity‐controlled chamber to achieve the a w of 0.33, 0.50, and 0.97. The samples were placed into 1‐mm thick aluminum test cells and heated at 55, 60, 65, and 70°C to estimate the thermal inactivation parameters using the log‐linear/modified‐Bigelow model. The results showed that the a w played a key role in accurately describing Salmonella lethality on dried chili pepper. At 65°C, a 3‐log reduction of S . Montevideo required 100 min at a w = 0.33, compared to only 20 min at a w = 0.50. The modified Bigelow model under dynamic conditions described inactivation significantly better (root mean squared error [RMSE] = 0.646 and corrected Akaike information criterion [AIC c ] = −120.97) than the modified Bigelow model under isothermal conditions (RMSE = 0.707 and AIC c = −76.71). This study provides the food industry with valuable data to optimize thermal processing conditions and improve safety protocols for chili‐based products, thereby reducing the risk of Salmonella contamination.

Poly-Acryl amide macro-porous cryogels p(AAm)CG incorporated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized through a thermal reduction approach. The cryogel particles were prepared at-4 degrees C via the redoxinitiated cryopolymerization method. The characteristics of the synthesized p(AAm) CG and p(AAm)-AgNPs composite were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and swelling degree (SD) measurements for composition and morphology. The p(AAm) CG particles exhibited uniform and highly interconnected macroporous structures, with diameters ranging from 60 to 170 mu m. The Ag presence in p(AAm) CG was confirmed by EDX analysis. The water-absorbing capacity of cryogels was determined by a swelling degree test. The prepared (97 %, 95 %, and 93 %) p(AAm)-AgNPs hybrid cryogels composite demonstrated promising catalytic performance in the reduction of Rhodamine B (Rh-B) dye, achieving maximum rates of 0.102, 0.066, and 0.040 min- 1 , respectively. Different experimental conditions (catalyst dose, temperature, and pH) were optimized to get maximum efficiency. The hybrid cryogels with a higher monomer concentration (97 %) exhibited good catalytic activity in comparison to corresponding hybrid cryogels with monomer concentrations of 95 % and 93 %. The improved catalytic performance was due to higher monomer concentration, which allows a higher nanoparticle loading in the cryogel (97 %) leading to a denser and more interconnected polymer network. The optical density approach was used for the study of the antibacterial activity of prepared cryogels. The p(AAm)-AgNPs composite showed better antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) with inhibition zones (1-0.74 cells /ml) and didn't show activity for Gram-negative E. coli (1-1.54 cells/ml).

Nonionic surfactants have drawn tremendous attention for micellar solubilization, sustained release of the drug, encapsulation of pharmaceutically active ingredients, and permeabilization due to their distinct physicochemical characteristics. Concise solubility investigations are required for the appropriate selection of nonionic surfactant that is to be used for a formulation. In the present research, a cluster of micelles was developed that relies on trapping and stabilizing piracetam by balancing the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces of nonionic surfactants. Tween 80 and Triton-X 100 and a mixture of these surfactants were used to clarify the drug-surfactant interaction in an aqueous and micellar medium. The interaction was investigated in premicellar, micellar, and post-micellar regions by using UV/Visible spectroscopy. Spectroscopic parameters were calculated to determine the degree of solubilization in terms of the partition coefficient (Kx), binding constant (Kb), and their respective energies in terms of Gibbs free energy of partition (ΔGp) and Gibbs free energy of binding (ΔGb) for piracetam. The solubilization of piracetam is enhanced by mixing an adequate amount of both nonionic surfactants. The obtained results demonstrated that solubilization is spontaneous and entropically favorable and the cluster of micelles in both single and mixed micellar mediums are stable due to the presence of a much more hydrophobic and hydrophilic culture which provides a synergistic link between the two surfactants.

Although conventional lubricant additives containing sulfur and phosphorus elements have been widely utilized to lower friction and wear, harmful emissions caused by the lubrication processes have resulted in serious environmental concerns. In this work, a series of polymer-nanoparticle networks have been in situ constructed in base oil by coupling phenylboronic ester-containing telechelic polymers and silica or titania nanoparticles via dynamic B-O covalent bonds. These sulfur- and phosphorus-free composites appear as the form of oleogels, wherein the nanoparticles show long-time dispersible stability. Ball-on-disc reciprocating sliding tribological tests display that the dynamic covalent networks give rise to remarkable reductions of the base oil in coefficient of friction (up to 52%) and wear volume (up to 93%). Moreover, high bearing loads of the polymer-nanoparticle composites are readily realized at 1100 N, which is higher than those of the telechelic polymers (900 N) or nanoparticles (600 N) alone. Such positive cooperativity in load-bearing capacity originates from nanometric thick tribofilms containing both B2O3 and beta-SiC or TiC formed at the rubbing interfaces. The present concept of combining nanoparticles with dynamic covalent chemistry provides a promising approach to create high-performance green lubricants.

The TiO2/AC nanosorbent was prepared via the impregnation method. The prepared material was characterised by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Infra-Red (FT-IR), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-rays (EDX) to examine crystalline size and structure, purity, morphology, surface area and thermal stability. The prepared TiO2/AC nanosorbent exhibits enhanced surface area and high porosity. The adsorption capacity of the TiO2/AC nanosorbent was evaluated at both laboratory and industrial scales. The effect of contact time, adsorbent dose and heavy metals' initial concentration on the adsorption rate of Pb (II) and Cd (II) were also examined to optimise the adsorption performance of nanosorbent. Under the optimised condition, the percent removal efficiency for Pb (II) and Cd (II) was 91.48 and 93.13, respectively. Different isotherms and kinetic models have been applied to study the adsorption mechanism which suggested that adsorption is exothermic and physical in nature. The maximum adsorption capacity for Pb (II) and Cd (II) obtained by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm was found to be 101.01 and 24.45 mg/g, respectively. Among different kinetic models, Elovich and Weber-Morris intraparticle diffusion fitted well which suggested that the adsorption involves intraparticle diffusion. In addition, the fixed bed column prototype was designed to treat steel industry samples.

The existence of magnetic field is beneficial to stabilize the fluid flow patterns in modern era industrial implications and engineering problems. A constant horizontal magnetized field is implemented to stabilize the swirl viscous fluid flow created by disk rotation. The heat transmission equation is expressed by the variable fluid property that the thermal conductivity is dependent on temperature. Buongiorno nanofluid model is applied to express the role of thermophoresis and Brownian movement. The flow governing equations are normalized through the von Karman classical similarity variables. The impacts of magnetic and other physical parameters on velocity, thermal and concentration fields are investigated in numerical way using RKF-45 (Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg) built-in procedure. The critical part of horizontal magnetic field and dimensionless parameters onto physical quantities such as wall shears, thermal rate, and concentration rate are highlighted. Regression analysis is also performed to evaluate the impact of obtained numerical values of such physical quantities on flow rates. Unlike the familiar impacts of a uniformly applied transverse magnetic field that concerns the velocity field stabilizing and decreasing the thermal rate, it is established that the horizontal magnetized field is valuable for stabilizing/destabilizing the flow phenomenon. The results also matched with the published work in limiting case.

Herein, superporous hydrophilic cryogels of poly(acrylic acid) p(AAc) have been synthesized via free radical polymerization at freezing conditions by varying the concentration of monomer and cross-linker. A simple reduction method has been adopted to incorporate palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) in p(AAc) pores. The as-synthesized hybrid cryogels were characterized through FTIR, XRD SEM, EDX, and TEM techniques. To study the water absorption capacity of as-synthesized cryogels, a swelling degree test has been conducted. The catalytic performance of the modified cryogels was evaluated for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye using NaBH4 as a reducing agent. Different experimental parameters, for example, pH, amount of catalyst, and temperature were investigated to achieve optimized catalytic conditions. In brief, the catalytic activity of 97-AAc (3

This study examines the distribution of an antidiabetic drug metformin hydrochloride (MNH) between water and mixed micellar environments produced by nonionic surfactants Tween 80 (TW-80) and Triton X-100 (TX-100). In our research, we described the UV-visible absorption spectra of a drug at various surfactant concentrations above and below critical micelle concentration (CMC). When employing TX-100, the absorbance spectra appeared to shift towards shorter wavelengths (blue shift) and there was an increase in absorbance intensity (hyperchromic shift), while using Tween 80, absorbance intensity increased (hyperchromic shift). We estimated the partition coefficient (K-x) from differential absorption data and utilized it to derive the free energy of partition (triangle G(p)). The partition coefficient in a single micellar system was found to be 7.82x10(6) and 1.79x10(6) in the presence of TW-80 and TX-100, respectively. The partition coefficient for the MNH/TW-80 system in a mixed micellar system reaches its maximum value of 1.08x10(7) when TX-100 is present at 1.26x10(6) M, indicating a considerable increase in the solubilizing power of micelles. The results showed that mixed micelles of TX-100/TW-80 were more effective for the solubilization of MNH than their individual micelles. It was crystal clear from the negative values of triangle G(b) that binding is also spontaneous.

The reported work is focused on the solubility of Rhodamine B (cationic dye), as an important methodology to investigate the extent of incorporation or penetration of dye inside the micelles spectroscopically, so the solubilised dye can be filtered via Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration process to keep our environment safe from toxic effects of industrial effluent. Solutions were prepared by using micellar media of anionic surfactants i.e. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Sodium Oleate (SO) as well as mixed micellar media of said anionics with non-ionic surfactant i.e. Triton X-100 (TX-100). The extent of solubilisation has been, quantitatively, calculated using data of differential spectroscopy, in terms of partition coefficient K-x and Gibbs energy of partition, increment G(p). It has been observed that mixed micellar media has better solubilisation capacity than micellar solution of individual surfactants. A better micellar solubilisation and ultimately the high Gibbs energy of partition, increment G(p) with SO/TX-100 system i.e. -40.89 as compared to SDS/TX-100 system (-37.03) has been observed due to the presence of long carbon chain in SO.