The fabrication of carbon-free, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective electrode materials exhibiting excellent energy density, power density, and stability is at the core of the supercapacitor field of research. In this study, we have synthesized strontium–copper oxide (SCO) material by the hydrothermal process and reported the effect of various Mn doping concentrations (3 wt.

Doped and undoped Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via co-precipitation protocol. Transition metals Co and Cu are used as dopants with 10

The reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based nickel oxide (NiO) hybrid material holds significant potential for advancing ammonia sensing technology due to its synergistic properties, enabling high sensitivity, selectivity, and rapid response. In this study, rGO-based nickel oxide hybrid materials were hydrothermally synthesized with varying concentrations of rGO (5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt%) to evaluate their response to ammonia gas exposure. The as-synthesized hybrid structures were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to determine their crystalline structure, morphology, and elemental composition. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) revealed that increasing the graphene content decreased the bandgap to 3.18 eV for 15 wt% of rGO, compared to NiO's bandgap of 3.6 eV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided insights into the chemical composition of rGO and the electronic states of nickel. A four-probe IV analysis was conducted to investigate conductivity and ammonia-sensing behavior. Exposure of pure nickel oxide to ammonia gas increased the material's current and resistance from 400 nA to 1 mA and 250 M Omega to 1 k Omega, respectively. When hybrid structures with 15 wt% rGO were used to detect ammonia gas, the current and resistance changed from 16 mu A to 19 mA and 62.5 k Omega to 52.6 Omega, respectively. The hybrid sensing layer demonstrated a significantly more desirable response than pure NiO. Therefore, the sample with 15 wt% rGO exhibited optimal conductivity and sensing capabilities.

This research aims to develop and synthesize cost-effective photocatalysts for degrading organic contaminants in industrial wastewater and shows the innovative application of manganese-doped CrFe₂O₄/CNTs composite. Chromium ferrite (CF) and Mn-decorated chromium ferrite (MCF) were synthesized using coprecipitation, while MCF/CNTs composites were fabricated via ultrasonication techniques, respectively. Ferrites are considered promising photocatalysts due to their innovative properties, such as a small bandgap, stability against chemical and thermal degradation, high oxidation potential, and highly efficient photocatalytic activities for environmental remediation. The effects of manganese doping on pure CrFe₂O₄ and the strong interaction between CrFe₂O₄ and CNTs were examined using various physical and electrochemical techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and PL analysis. XRD analysis confirmed the cubic crystal structure, with crystallite sizes of 25.5 nm for CF, 22.1 nm for MCF, and 19.3 nm for MCF/CNTs. Bandgap energies calculated from Tauc plots were 2.15 eV for CF and 1.93 eV for MCF, demonstrating improved light absorption. Photocatalytic testing showed that MCF/CNTs composites achieved superior degradation efficiencies of 78

Semiconductor-based heterojunctions have emerged as an efficient approach for environmental purification due to their low bandgap and reduced recombination rates. In this study, Bi2WO6 (BWO), CrFe2O4 (CFO), Ho decorated CrFe2O4 (HoCFO), heterojunction between Bi2WO6 and Ho-doped CrFe2O4 (BWO/HoCFO), and Bi2WO6/Ho-doped CrFe2O4 ternary nanocomposite with carbon nanotubes were synthesized using coprecipitation and ultrasonication route. The optical band gap of fabricated samples was decreased from 4.20 eV to 2.16 eV due to electron mediator (rare earth metal) which promotes transfer of electrons between photocatalysts by incorporating fermi levels. The nanocrystallite size of BWO, CFO, HoCFO, BWO/HoCFO, and BWO/HoCFO@CNTs was found to be 7.34 nm, 11.2 nm, 12.3 nm, 8.4 nm, and 8.34 nm respectively. This decrease in crystallite size is attributed to low bandgap, higher density of defects, and oxygen vacancies. The highest degradation efficiency against dye, which is 87.8 % at 0.013 min(- 1) and against a drug is 82.7 % at 0.012 min(-1) was exhibited by CNTs based ternary nanocomposite. This can be attributed to their greater surface area, a larger number of active sites, good oxidizing ability, and greater stability. The quenching results showed that superoxide radicals (O-2(center dot-)) play an important role in degradation mechanism. BWO/HoCFO@CNTs has potential implementations in the photodegradation of synthetic effluents.

Water treatment faces challenges due to the low efficiency and stability of current photocatalysts in degrading persistent pollutants in wastewater. A photocatalyst should have a larger surface area, better electronic conductivity, a minimum charge recombination rate, and a visible light active narrow optical band gap probability. The Co3O4 (CO) and Cu/Zr co-doped Co3O4 (CZCO) were synthesized by the co-precipitation route. Then carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were incorporated via ultrasonication route to enhance their efficiency by increasing surface area and tuning the band gap energy. The degradation of two model pollutants, Amoxicillin (AMX) and Bromothymol blue dye (BTB), investigated the photocatalytic efficiency of the fabricated samples. Characterization techniques, like FTIR, XRD, UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminous spectroscopy, EDX, SEM, and TOC analyses confirmed the successful fabrication. Electrical conductivity and charge transfer resistance were analyzed by Mott Schottky and EIS analysis, respectively. Cu/Zr co-doped Co3O4@CNTs (CZCO/C) showed 83.45 % AMX and 89.55 % BTB degradation within 90 min. CZCO/C showed enhanced performance due to reduced bandgap energy, and charge recombination rate than CO and CZCO. Overall, the results indicated that the CZCO/C nano-composite is a promising material for effective photocatalytic applications in environmental remediation.

Silicon is a promising candidate for future-generation negative electrodes in lithium batteries owing to its exceptional specific gravimetric and volumetric capacities, enhanced conductivity, low operational potential, abundance, cost effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. However, the electrode structure of silicon undergoes significant degradation due to volumetric fluctuations during lithiation and delithiation processes. This results in rapid capacity fading, reduced conductivity, and markedly diminished cyclic stability. Over the past decade, substantial advancements have been made in enhancing the cycling life and maintaining the high performance of silicon-negative electrodes in Li-ion batteries. However, comprehensive data from previous reports are scarce. This review provides a detailed summary of recent developments in the electrochemical behavior and cycling stability of silicon-based anode materials. This approach addresses critical challenges, including extensive volumetric changes, low average coulombic efficiency, reduced reversible capacity, and safety issues. We have systematically documented the various strategies used for Si as anode material to improve battery performance and cycling stability. These state-of-the-art advancements include material size reduction, doping, alloying, the formation of nanocomposites, the development of hierarchical structures, and the application of hybrid coatings. Our comprehensive review aims to foster further research into silicon-based materials for use as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. We hope this review will serve as a valuable resource in advancing the field of silicon-based next-generation anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

The hydrothermal route was adopted to fabricate Ni3V2O8, Ag/Ni3V2O8. The ultrasonication method was followed to prepare its nanocomposite with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Ni3V2O8, Ag/Ni3V2O8 and Ag/ Ni3V2O8@CNTs were synthesized to remove industrial waste and for anti-bacterial study. Photocatalytic activity of these synthesized samples was analyzed to degrade antibiotic ciprofloxacin and rhodamine B dye. The optical bandgap of Ag/Ni3V2O8 and Ag/Ni3V2O8@CNTs were 2.50 and 2.24 eV, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin and rhodamine B dye under xenon lamp showed that degradation ability of pristine sample was enhanced by addition of CNTs. The nanocomposite Ag/Ni3V2O8@CNTs showed good photocatalytic activity by degrading CIP (69.81 %) and RhB (84.21 %) in 135 min with higher rate constant (k) in comparison to Ni3V2O8 and Ag/Ni3V2O8. Ag/Ni3V2O8@CNTs (80 mg/mL) also showed good anti-bacterial activity with large inhibition zone for S. aureus.

The synergistic effect of vanadium doping and MXene on the catalytic performance of copper oxide was investigated for photodegradation of levofloxacin, malachite green and paracetamol. The bare and vanadium doped copper oxide (CP-1, CP-2) was fabricated using co-precipitation approach. An ultrasonication route was employed for the fabrication of composite of CP-2 with MXene (CP-3). The generation of defects in the structure of the catalyst was accessed via x-rays diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. CP-3 showed good degradation of levofloxacin (73.94 % at 0.012 min- 1), malachite green (87.6 % at 0.018 min- 1), and paracetamol (66.92 % at 0.01 min- 1) than CP-1 and CP-2. The increased efficiency of CP-3 is due to the addition of vanadium ions and MXene sheets. MXene sheets help to improve the conductivity for the fast transfer of electrons during catalytic redox reactions. It also offers greater surface area in addition to the area of bare catalyst. The increased surface area provides enough reaction sites to carry out the reaction easily. Based on the results, CP-3 nanocatalyst can be used as a potential catalyst for environmental remediation.

This research aims to comprehensively evaluate the structure, elasticity, mechanics, anisotropy, electrical properties, and optical attributes of TlPbF3 at pressures from 0 to 60 GPa. A cubic structure of the material remains same without any phase changes, but there is a reduction in the lattice parameters. The material is determined to be mechanically secure by doing calculations on a variety of mechanical and elastic characteristics, including bulk, shear, and Young's modulus, stiff, and not particularly flexible. It also shows a significant resistance to shear force. The material's ability to withstand high pressures, its metallic bond nature, and ductility have been shown by the Kleinman's parameter, Poisson's ratio, Cauchy pressure, and Pugh ratio. Anisotropy can be confirmed by activating specific anisotropy factors. When we consider the electronic band structure, we observe a transition from a broad gap in the band (3.719 eV) comparable with a small band distance (0.65 eV), and converts to a metal (0 eV). To explore this, we have estimated the total, partial and elemental partial density of states. Additionally, we have computed the real and imaginary functions of dielectric, absorption factor, refractive index, extinction coefficient, loss function, reflectivity and real/imaginary conductivity to assess the material's applicability. As pressure is applied, the static values of epsilon 1(omega) and n(omega) increase. This material is also well-suited for optoelectronic devices due to its high conductivity, reflectivity, absorption, and refractive index.

The efficient bioconversion of the lignocellulosic agro-waste has immense importance in biorefinery processing in extracting the cellulose and saccharide fractions. To achieve this, a series of chemical pretreatments is employed, thus concerning environmental threats limit its use. Therefore, an ionic liquid is employed for pretreatment before sustainable extractions owing to its safe manipulation, recycling, and reusability. Specifically, microwave-assisted ionic liquid (MWAIL) pretreatment has significant importance in extracting high cellulose yield at less thermal power consumption. In this study, the leftover stalks of Hamelia patens were subjected to MWAIL pretreatment at 60, 70, 80, and 90 °C to extract microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Subsequently, the MCC was fabricated into cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) through hydrolytic treatment using acidic and ionic liquids and denoted as CNC-AH and CNC-ILH. Thus obtained CNC was characterized by FTIR, FESEM, XRD, and TGA to investigate the influence of solvent on its morphology, crystallinity, and thermal stability of CNC. The results support that the CNC-ILH has comparatively more thermal and dispersal stability with a reduced crystallinity index than CNC-AH. The surprising results of CNC-ILH signify its utilization in diverse applications in the food and industrial sectors.

We use multiple dopants to examine changes in the physical properties of the pure compound RbPbF3. The structure of the pure compound remains cubic atMg, Caand Sr doping at 1.40%, but at 4.22% and 7.04%, it reverts to a cubic pseudo-tetragonal phase. Pure and doped material show semiconducting behaviour across the whole doping concentration range. The increase in the refractive index n(ω) and loss function L(ω) are also visible in optical characteristics. From elastic properties we inspect that the material is mechanically stable on all the percentage of doping except at 1.40% Ca. Numerous properties including bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (G), young's modulus (E), B/G ratio and Poisson ratio have been computed in order to evaluate the mechanical behavior of doped compounds, including their brittleness and ductility. At the doping concentration of 1.40% of Sr the material is ductile while rest of the doping concentrations show brittleness.

The main motive of this study is to investigate the structural, mechanical, and optoelectronic changes upon applied pressure from 0–174 GPa on SrCeO3. We are keen to observe changes in the electronic band gap and how they affect optical properties. From structural properties, it is observed that there is no phase shift, and a reduction in the lattice parameters is seen with applied pressure. The transition from p-type semiconductor (2.266 eV) to conductor (0 eV) is noticed from the electronic band structure results. The SrCeO3 satisfies Born's stability requirements up to 100 GPa pressure, and above 100 GPa structure is not mechanically stable. Pugh ratio and Frantsevich ratio tell that SrCeO3 exhibits ductile behavior at every pressure. Cauchy pressure and the Poisson ratio also support the same behavior, and the nature of bonding is metallic. The static refractive index n(ω) moves toward higher energy values from 2.281 to 3.241. We know that metals have a high refractive index, so increasing the refractive index on applied pressure confirms the transition from semiconductor to conductor. We observed that this material would act effectively as a UV filter application from the optical properties because its absorption spectra lie within the ultraviolet region.

The main objective of this study is to present a comprehensive computational analysis, with Generalized Gradient Approximations (GGA) and Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE03) correlation functionals, of the structural, optoelectronic, photocatalytic and elastic properties of Rubidium Lead Fluoride (RbPbF 3 ) under the systematic isotropic pressure range of 0–55 GPa. Under stress a systematic decrease in lattice parameters and band gap (4.869 eV − 1.105 eV) is observed upto 55 GPa. For comprehensive evaluation of band gap, PDOS and EPDOS have also been determined. Photocatalytic properties of RbPbF 3 under stress demonstrate the best photocatalytic water-splitting potential, aligning with the band gap estimation. The significant variation in optical parameters is found with a varying stress array from 0–55 GPa. Optically this compound can be utilized as a UV detector because absorption bands are seen in the UV spectrum. The material exhibits mechanical stability, and ductile behavior, with ionic and covalent bonding. The anisotropic nature is observed in our estimated results.

Effect of laser irradiation on different properties of copper, zinc and their alloy cupronickel (79% copper, 20% zinc and 1% nickel) is investigated. Experimentation is carried out in two portions. Firstly, polished samples are treated with Nd:YAG laser (1.064 mu m,-12 ns, 10 mJ) in air at different number of laser pulses (10, 20, 30) by making grid on sample. In second portion of experiment, the samples are irradiated separately by Ti:sapphire laser (800 nm,-25 fs,-0.012pJ) for different exposure time (30, 60 and 90 min). After laser exposure, the surface modifications, electrical conductivity and hardness are analyzed using optical microscope, four-point probe equipment and Vickers hardness tester respectively. Nanosecond laser exposure causes surface roughness, nonuniform heat conduction from crater to outer edges, formation and melting of ripples and heat-affected zone. Laser irradiation leads to decrease in electrical conductivity of the target materials. Laser treatments causes non-linear increase of hardness inside the target materials.

In this research work, Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites have been synthesized via an eco-friendly green synthesis technique, solgel route and co-precipitation method respectively for the assessment of antibacterial activity as well as in vivo toxicity. The XRD patterns confirm the formation of Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites showing monoclinic structures. Crystallite size and lattice strain are calculated by Scherrer equation, Scherrer plot and Willimson Hall plot methods. Average crystallite size measured for Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites by Scherrer equation, Scherrer plot and WH-plot methods are (5.1, 13.9, 11.5)nm, (5.4, 14.2, 11.3)nm and (5.2, 13.5, 12.0)nm respectively. Optical properties such as absorption peaks and band-gap energies are studied by UV–vis spectroscopy. The FTIR peaks at 513 cm −1 , 553 cm −1 and 855 cm −1 confirms the successful synthesis of Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites. The antibacterial activity of synthesized Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites is examined against two gram-negative ( Escherichia coli and pseudomonas) as well as gram-positive bacteria ( Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus ) at dose 25 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg by disk diffusion technique. Zone of inhibition for Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO at dose 40 mg/kg against E. coli (gram − ve) are 12 mm, 17 mm and 18 mm respectively and against Pseudomonas (gram − ve) are 28 mm, 19 mm and 21 mm respectively. While the zone of inhibition for Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO at dose 40 mg/kg against B. cereus (gram + ve) are 8 mm and 8.5 mm respectively and against S. aureus (gram + ve) are 5 mm and 10.5 mm respectively. These amazing results reveal that Bi 2 O 3 , Bi 2 O 3 /GO and Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposite as a kind of antibacterial content, have enormous potential for biomedical applications. In addition, the in vivo toxicity of synthesized Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposite is investigated on Swiss Albino mice at dose of 20 mg/kg by evaluating immune response, hematology and biochemistry at the time period of 2, 7, 14 and 30 days. No severe damage is observed in mice during whole treatment. The p value calculated by statistical analysis of hematological and biochemistry tests is nonsignificant which ensures that synthesized nanocomposites are safe and non-toxic as they do not affect mice significantly. This study proves that Bi 2 O 3 /CuO/GO nanocomposites are biocompatible and can be explored further for different biomedical applications.

We synthesized Mg 1-x Cu x O (x = 0, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) nanoparticles by coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Visible), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photocatalytic studies were carried out to analyze the prepared nanoparticles. The XRD results confirmed the cubic structure of Mg 1-x Cu x O nanoparticles. Moreover, crystallite size, dislocation density and microstrain were investigated by Debye Scherrer and Williamson Hall (W-H) methods. The UV-visible studies of Mg 1-x Cu x O nanoparticles revealed a reduction in optical band gap energy from 5.34 to 3.74 eV. The SEM micrographs showed uniformly dispersed spherical nanoparticles of average diameter of 54.25 nm with increasing Cu concentration up to 8%. The photocatalytic studies indicated that 8% Cu dopant concentration can reduce the absorption intensity of methylene blue (MB) dye to 31% of its original intensity under sunlight exposure for 120 min. Hence, Cu doped MgO nanoparticles can be used as a photocatalyst in industrial application for water treatment.

Neodymium and manganese oxide-based nanocomposites (Nd2O3/Mn3O4-0, Nd2O3/Mn3O4-1, and Nd2O3/Mn3O4-2) along with pure nanoparticles of Nd 2 0 3 have been synthesized by the hydrothermal process. X-ray diffraction analysis presents that nanocomposites exhibit the mutual effect of hexagonal and tetragonal crystal structures of Nd2O3 and Mn3O4 respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopic results display the interconnected Nd2O3 nanoparticles and irregular nanograins of Mn3O4. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy proves the presence of constituting elements in the prepared materials. A type IV isotherm with H-3 type hysteresis loop and pore size in the range of 30-45 angstrom, confirms the mesoporosity of all the prepared materials by nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis. Electrochemical results display that Nd2O3/Mn3O4-1 electrode with mass ratio 63:37, owns excellent specific capacitance of 205.29 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 5 mV s(-1) as compared to other electrodes. This pseudocapacitance of Nd2O3/Mn3O4-1 electrode is likely ascribed to the pragmatic synergistic effects among the redox-active Nd2O3 and Mn3O4 metal oxides. The cycling stability of 67% over long cycles at 50 mV s(-1) as well as high-coulombic efficiency of 99.64% at 5A g(-1), making the Nd2O3/Mn3O4-1 electrode as an auspicious electrode material for supercapacitor applications. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.