Publications

In this communication, we report a two-step strategy for low-temperature construction of Ni2P nanoparticle films supported on a Ti plate (Ni2P/Ti). When used as an integrated hydrogen evolution cathode, the Ni2P/Ti electrode exhibits remarkable catalytic activity, superior stability and nearly 100% Faradaic efficiency in acidic solutions, and it needs overpotentials of 138 and 188 mV to afford current densities of 20 and 100 mA cm(-2), respectively.

Curcumin is a natural product with enormous biological potential. In this study, curcumin synthesis was revisited using different reaction solvents, a catalyst (n-butylamine) and a water scavenger [(n-BuO)3B], to develop the optimal procedure for its rapid acquisition. During synthesis, solvent choice was found to be an important parameter for better curcumin yield and high purity. In a typical reaction, acetyl acetone was treated with boron trioxide, followed by condensation with vanillin in the presence of tri-n-butyl borate as water scavenger and n-butylamine as catalyst at 80 °C in ethyl acetate to afford curcumin. Moreover, curcumin was also extracted from turmeric powder and spectroscopic properties such as IR, MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR with synthetic curcumin were established to identify any impurity. The purity of synthetic and extracted curcumin was also checked by TLC and HPLC-DAD. To computationally assess its therapeutic potential against cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs), curcumin was docked in different isoforms of CDKs. It was observed that it did not dock at the active sites of CDK2 and CDK6. However, it could enter into weak interactions with CDK4 protein.

Background: The huge quantity of wastewater, containing poisonous and hazardous dyes, is released by various industries which pollute water in direct and indirect ways. Most of the dyes are a dangerous class of water contaminants which have affected the environment drastically. Some dyes such as congo red, rhodamine B, methylene blue, methyl violet, and crystal violet are a serious threat to human beings. Remediation Method: Numerous methods are available for the removal of dyes from water. Adsorption, being a superior and eco-friendly technique, has advantage of eliminating organic dyes because of the availability of materials as adsorbents. The inexpensive nanomaterials are a more attractive choice for remediation of various dyes due to their unique properties and offer an adequate pathway to adsorb any organic dye from water to overcome its hazardous effects on human health. Results: In this review, we have discussed the latest literature related to various types of synthesis, characterization and uses as adsorbent for highly adsorptive removal capacity of nanoparticles for organic dyes. Conclusion: Adsorption technology provides an attractive pathway for further research and improvement in more efficient nanoparticles, with higher adsorption capacity, for numerous dyes to eliminate the dyes discharged from various industries and thus reduce the contamination of water. Therefore, nanocomposites may contribute to future prospective water treatment process.

It is highly desired but still remains challenging to design and develop a Co-based nanoparticle-encapsulated conductive nanoarray at room temperature for high-performance water oxidation electrocatalysis. Here, it is reported that room-temperature anodization of a Co(TCNQ)₂ (TCNQ = tetracyanoquinodimethane) nanowire array on copper foam at alkaline pH leads to in situ electrochemcial oxidation of TCNQ^- into water-insoluable TCNQ nanoarray embedding Co(OH)₂ nanoparticles. Such Co(OH)₂ -TCNQ/CF shows superior catalytic activity for water oxidation and demands only a low overpotential of 276 mV to drive a geometrical current density of 25 mA cm^-2 in 1.0 m KOH. Notably, it also demonstrates strong long-term electrochemical durability with its activity being retrained for at least 25 h, a high turnover frequency of 0.97 s^-1 at an overpotential of 450 mV and 100% Faradic efficiency. This study provides an exciting new method for the rational design and development of a conductive TCNQ-based nanoarray as an interesting 3D material for advanced electrochemical applications.

This study presents the fabrication and investigation of flexible photo-thermo electrochemical cells based on Cu/orange dye aqueous solution/Cu. The cell consists of flexible polymer tube casing and Cu electrodes. The polymer casing is filled with 5 wt.% aqueous solution of orange dye, which is an organic semiconductor. Between two copper electrodes the temperature gradient (ΔT) of 7-10 °C is created by low power electric heater or light. It is found that at temperature gradient of 10 °C the open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (Isc) and the Seebeck coefficient are equal to 18-20 mV, 0.4-0.5 μA and 1.9-2.2 mV/°C, respectively. The output electric power of one cell is up to 0.26 μW on average.

Ginger rhizome powder was used for the synthesis of supported metallic nanoparticle catalysts. A simple and novel adsorption method was used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles loaded on ginger powder (Ag/GP), copper on ginger powder (Cu/GP) and nickel on ginger powder (Ni/GP). Among these, Ag/GP showed selective reduction of methyl orange and was used for further reactions. The prepared nanomaterials were characterized through X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. The prepared Ag/GP catalyst was employed in the catalytic reduction of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP), 2‐nitrophenol (2‐NP), rhodamine B, methyl red and congo red. Ag/GP showed excellent catalytic reduction activity, the rate constants being 1.26 × 10 −3 and 2.38 × 10 −3 s −1 for 2‐NP and 4‐NP, respectively. The turnover frequency reached 1.06 min −1 for 2‐NP and 1.16 min −1 for 4‐NP when using the Ag/GP catalyst. The prepared Ag/GP catalyst demonstrated outstanding activity for the degradation of a mixed solution of dyes. Also, stability and reusability of the prepared catalyst were investigated, which showed outstanding reusability up to five times and was stable up to five days.

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ into various chemicals and fuels provides an attractive pathway for environmental and energy sustainability. It is now shown that a FeP nanoarray on Ti mesh (FeP NA/TM) acts as an efficient 3D catalyst electrode for the CO₂ reduction reaction to convert CO₂ into alcohols with high selectivity. In 0.5 m KHCO₃ , such FeP NA/TM is capable of achieving a high Faradaic efficiency (FE <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mi>CH</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi></mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) up to 80.2 %, with a total FE <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mi>CH</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>H</mml:mi> <mml:msub><mml:mrow></mml:mrow> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:msub> <mml:mi>OH</mml:mi></mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> of 94.3 % at -0.20 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the FeP(211) surface significantly promotes the adsorption and reduction of CO₂ toward CH₃ OH owing to the synergistic effect of two adjacent Fe atoms, and the potential-determining step is the hydrogenation process of *CO.