Green synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles using bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC) natural extract: assessment of the synthesis process.

Background: Nanoparticles are globally synthesized for their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, catalytic, magnetic, optical, and electronic properties that have put them at the forefront of a wide variety of studies. Among them, zinc oxide (ZnO) has received much consideration due to its technological and medicinal applications. In this study, we report on the synthesis process of ZnO nanoparticles using Athrixia phylicoides DC natural extract as a reducing agent. Methods: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to identify the compounds responsible for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles. Structural, morphological and optical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Results: LC-MS results showed that different flavonoids and polyphenols, as well as Coumarin, an aromatic compound, reacted with the precursor to form ZnO nanoparticles. XRD and UV-Vis analysis confirmed the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles, with a spherical shape showed in SEM images. The quasi-spherical ZnO crystals had an average crystallite size of 24 nm. EDS and FTIR analysis confirmed that the powders were pure with no other phase or impurity. Conclusions: This study successfully demonstrated that the natural plant extract of A. phylicoides DC. can be used in the bio-reduction of zinc nitrate hexahydrate to prepare pure ZnO nanoparticles, thus, extending the use of this plant to an industrial level.

Synthesis, growth and characterization of L-Leucine Magnesium Nitrate Hexahydrate crystal

L-Leucine Magnesium Nitrate HexaHydrate ([Formula: see text]) crystal is a nonlinear optical (NLO) material of semiorganic type. It has grown using a slow evaporation solution growth (SEST) technique at elevated temperature (40∘C) by dissolving LL+MNHH in double distilled water. It was crystalized and recrystalized from a supersaturated solution by stirring it for several hours to get high optical perfection. The X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the presence of the intermixed compound in the [Formula: see text] crystal and possess monoclinic structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum identified the functional groups of the grown crystal. The crystal has very good optical absorption and transparency in the UV–Vis region. The thermal analysis revealed the thermal stability of the crystal. The dielectric study shows that dielectric constant and dielectric loss decrease at higher frequencies. The crystal showed nonlinear property by second-harmonic generation (SHG) study. This type of material with fair nonlinearity is useful in optoelectronics application devices.

EPR Study of CeO2 Nano Particles

In this paper, we have studied the EPR spectra, X-ray diffraction and Raman Analysis, Microstructures-morphology of the Ceria NPs calcined at different temperatures of 700 °C, 850 °C ,these materials have been synthesized by Co precipitation (CPT) method by using Cerium tri-nitrate hexahydrate and potassium carbonate solutions. Then synthesized precipitate was heated at 70 °C for 20 hour. Slow grinding of the precipitate and calcined for 3 hours at different temperatures viz. 700 °C and 850 °C to form fine Cerium oxide powder-Ceria NPs. The EPR measurements were made using continuous wave spectrometer (X-band, Bruker Biospin EMX Plus). The g values were obtained by using diphynelpirichylhydrageyl (DPPH-C18H12N5O6) sample and got g value is around 1.97. This g tensor is decreased when the calcined temperature are increased, EPR parameters are also changed as the calcined temperature increases. When the calcined temperature is increased from 700 °C to 850 °C, a doublet separated, intensity increased. The X-Ray diffraction pattern shows the nature of the Ceria NPs crystal, with a cubic structure and got the lattice parameters 5.392 Å for samples calcined at temperature of 700 °C and 5.357 Å at 850 °C which shows decreasing trend in lattice parameter with calcination temperature. The intensity of Raman peaks is also shifted upwards with a rise in temperature. This intensity difference could be because of the rise in vibrational amplitudes of the closest neighboring bonds because of the increase in particle size 11.3± 1.0 to 15.6± 1.0 nm at calcination temperatures of 700 °C and 850 °C and the Raman peak of peak I, 461 cm-1 and peak II, 463 cm-1 respectively. Other peaks were not observed in this Raman pattern. The EDS analysis confirms the presence of the Ce and O atoms in the synthesized samples. Spherical shapes and homogeneously distributed Ceria NPs and a rather tendency for agglomeration were confirmed.

Development of Inorganic Impregnated Phase Change Material(PCM) in the Pores of Activated Carbon

Objectives : Recently, energy-related research has shifted from developing alternative energy to the efficient management technology of the produced energy. As an alternative, research on phase change materials (PCMs) capable of absorbing and releasing heat as an energy medium has been conducted. This study developed a more efficient heat storage medium using activated carbon as a medium for the phase change material. At the same time, we developed a method for efficiently impregnating the phase change material into the activated carbon pores.Methods : The activated carbon used in this experiment was charcoal powder activated carbon (250-350 mesh) and granular activated carbon. The inorganic phase change materials used in the experiment was manganese nitrate hexahydrate. The method for impregnating the phase change material was pressurization method and dilution method. The heat absorption / emission capacity of the developed material was examined within the range of 10℃ to 50℃.Results and Discussion : The Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX) analysis showed that the phase change material was filled in the pore of activated carbon. When the phase change material is filled by the pressurized method, the material properties of manganese nitrate hexahydrate are reflected, resulting in absorption and release of heat at each phase change temperature. As a result of experiments for the selection of the optimum solvent in the phase change material filling study using the dilution method, when ethanol was used as the solvent, the heat absorption was clearly observed even after the phase change material was loaded. As a result of selecting the optimal dilution ratio, the ratio of ethanol was determined to be 1:1 as the dilution ratio with the lowest amount of floating activated carbon. The optimal solvent removal method experimental results show that the heat absorption/release section occurred when the ethanol was removed by evaporation at 85℃ temperature.Conclusions : 1) Both the pressurization method and the dilution method are filling methods in which inorganic phase change materials can be immobilized inside activated carbon, and heat absorption and release characteristics are maintained even after loading. 2) The heat absorption release was maintained for ethanol and the optimal dilution ratio was 1:1. 3) In case of the dilute solvent removal method, the heat absorption/release capacity was maintained when the solvent was removed using only the vaporization method.

Structural and Electrochemical Studies of Cobalt(II) and Nickel(II) Coordination Polymers with 6-Oxonicotinate and 4,4′-Bipyridine

The 6-oxonicotinate (6-Onic) salts of a one-dimensional cationic cobalt(II) or nickel(II) coordination polymers with 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bpy), namely {[Co(4,4′-bpy)(H2O)4](6-Onic)2·2H2O}n (1) and {[Ni(4,4′-bpy)(H2O)4](6-Onic)2·2H2O}n (2), were prepared hydrothermally by reactions of cobalt(II) nitrate hexahydrate or nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate, respectively, 6-hydroxynicotinic acid and 4,4′-bipyridine in a mixture of ethanol and water. In the hydrogen-bonded frameworks of 1 and 2, the one-dimensional polymeric chains of {[M(4,4′-bpy)(H2O)4]2+}n (M = Co, Ni), the 6-oxonicotinate anions and the lattice water molecules were assembled via strong intermolecular O–H···O and N–H···O hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions, leading to the formation of the representative hydrogen-bond ring motifs: trimeric R23(10) motif, the centrosymmetric tetrameric R24(8) and R24(12) motifs and the pentameric R45(12) motif. The isostructural coordination polymers 1 and 2 exhibited a different electrochemical behavior, as observed by cyclic voltammetry, which can be attributed to the nature of the metal ions (cobalt(II) vs. nickel(II)).

Biosynthesis and Characterization of ZnO: Ag2O Nanocomposite for Antifungal Efficacy

In this study, biosynthesis zinc and silver oxide nanocomposite (Bs-ZANc) were prepared using an eco-friendly biological synthesis method using silver nitrate, zinc nitrate hexahydrate, and Lawsonia inermis (Henna) plant extract with four different concentrations; (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) molar. The detailed characterization of Bs-ZANc was performed using Grazing X-ray diffraction technique (G-XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), Zeta Potential (Z.P.), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). In addition to studying the spectroscopic properties using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The result showed good inhibitory efficiency of Bs-ZANc against some types of fungal such as; Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., and Candida Albicans. Further, a comparison was made between Bs-ZANc and Lawsonia inermis (Henna) plant extract only regarding antfungal efficacy.

Dual-function of the ZnO nano-sheets as light absorber scaffold and electron transport material in perovskite solar cells

Recent advances in the development of perovskite solar cells using CH3NH3PbI3 as the absorber material have reached over 18.7% in power conversion efficiency. The best performance perovskite-based cells required support of a mesoporous charge collector. In this work we present a new process for preparing perovskite solar cells with the structure of AZO/Au/AZO(AAA)/ZnO-sheets/CH3NH3PbI3/HTM/Au. Herein, ZnO nanosheets layer was prepared by electrochemical deposition method using zinc nitrate hexahydrate as nutrient solution, then annealed at 150 °C in ambient air. The results show that high crystal ZnO sheets assembled simply from AZO top layer could act as electron transporter and scaffold for perovskite layer. The presentation of ZnO scaffold was exploited to improve 19% in power conversion efficiency, offering great promise for further improvement of the low-temperature, low-cost processing solar technology.

Synthesis of ZIF-67- Effect of solvent on the structure

In the present paper, ZIF-67 material was synthesized from cobalt (II) nitrate hexahydrate and 2-methyl imidazole in three different solvents (methanol, ethanol and acetone) at room temperature. The obtained samples were characterized using XRD, SEM, FTIR, TGA and nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. The results show that the synthesized ZIF-67 materials had a high purity, nano-size, and uniformity with the sharp dodecahedrons structure of ZIF-67. Solvents had an influence on the size and nature of the ZIF-67 crystal. The average crystalline size of the nanoparticles calculated by Scherrer equation were 64 nm for sample in acetone solvent, 128 nm for sample in ethanol solvent and 132 nm for sample in methanol solvent. The obtained samples had high thermal stability ( 320 °C). The ZIF-67 material with ethanol solvent had a high specific surface area (SBET) of 1506 m2/g. The synthesized samples exhibited better adsorption capacity of methyl oranges than that of rhodamine B.

Organic and inorganic compounds as corrosion inhibitors to reduce galvanic effect for the hybrid structure AA2024-CFPR

The effect of the galvanic corrosion process taking place between aluminium alloy (AA2024-T3) and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) immersed in 0.05 M NaCl was studied using organic and inorganic compounds as corrosion inhibitors. Electrochemical approaches such as electrochemical noise analysis (ENA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were carried out to evaluate efficiencies of 1,2,4-triazole (C2H3N3) and cerium nitrate hexahydrate (Ce(NO3)3·6H2O) as corrosion inhibitors. The highest efficiency was reached for Ce(NO3)3.6H2O, with some improvement observed by adding C2H3N3 in a mixed inhibitor solution. The noise resistance (Rn) and polarization resistance (Rp) values calculated from ENA and EIS data showed almost identical behavior with different magni­tudes but similar trends. Adsorption isotherm models estimated with fractional surface coverage (q) parameter were fitted better to Langmuir model for C2H3N3 and Temkin model for Ce(NO3)3·6H2O. The calculated values of Gibbs free energy suggested physi­sorption and chemisorption as spontaneous interactions between a metal surface and both inhibitors. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was carried out before and after immersing AA2024-T3 in the electrolyte, identifying rich zones in copper with cerium deposited over it and confirming the presence of rare-earth oxide deposition and oxide film products. The EDS analysis for CFRP revealed the deposition of Ce and Al particles over its surface after immersion in the electrolyte, especially in the areas rich in carbon.

Experimental Research of the Heat Storage Performance of a Magnesium Nitrate Hexahydrate-Based Phase Change Material for Building Heating

Phase change heat storage material is a preferred material in solar building heating or off-peak electric-heat storage heating technology and is the research focus. A compact phase change thermal storage device has been designed and experimentally studied for improving heating system load in this work. A new type, magnesium nitrate hexahydrate-based phase change material has been studied to improve the cooling degree and crystallization difficulty. The focus of this study is on the heat charging and discharging characteristics of this new phase change material. The heat storage device has two groups of coils, the inner side which carries water and the outer side which is the phase change material. A testing system was built up to value the thermal cycling performance of the heat storage device. The measurement data include phase change material temperature field, water inlet and water outlet mean temperature, heat charging and heat discharging depth, and flow rates over the operating period. The results show the phase change material has a quick response with the operating temperature range of 20–99 °C. Its latent heat is 151.3 J/g at 91.8 °C. The heat storage density of this phase change material is about 420 MJ/m3. The thermal performance degradation is about 1.8% after 800 operation cycles. The phase change thermal storage device shows flexibility and a great potential to improve the capacity and economy of heating systems.