Hyb-blended learning is a novel method that can serve as a substitute for conventional classroom-based learning activities, demonstrating effectiveness in both pandemics like COVID-19 and other crises, as well as in non-pandemic situations. The successful application of this method in the field of education depends on the users' intentions to adopt it. Therefore, this study aims to understand the behavioral intentions of teachers and students at Bangladeshi universities toward the adoption of the hyb-blended learning method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
November 2024
Water pollution caused by dyes and industrial wastewater poses a significant threat to ecosystems. The purification of such pollutants presents a major challenge. Photocatalysis based on semiconductor materials is a potential wastewater treatment process due to its safety and cost-effectiveness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHotspots are high-intensity electromagnetic zones that form, for example, at the interstitials of plasmonic nanoaggregates, resulting in a considerable rise in the enhancement factor. However, it is inevitable to achieve specific nanometric geometry as well as a suitable technique to capture the details of hotspots. We report near-field surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy of a well-defined gold nanoaggregate of a few nanoparticles adsorbed with a small number of target analytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: The prevalence of depression among the elderly is a growing concern, and this study examines the differences between urban and rural areas in terms of geriatric depression.
Methods: Using a two-stage random sampling approach in urban areas and a multistage random sampling approach in rural areas, the study surveyed 944 elderly individuals of both sexes.
Results: The results indicate that the prevalence of depression was high, with 52.
Chemiresistive sensing lies in its ability to provide fast, accurate, and reliable detection of various gases in a cost-effective and non-invasive manner. In this context, graphene-functionalized metal oxides play crucial role in hydrogen gas sensing. However, a cost-effective, defect-free, and large production schemes of graphene-based sensors are required for industrial applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrior studies in Bangladesh examined the effects of financial progress and inward remittances on economic growth and postulated a symmetrical relationship, ignoring the potential asymmetrical relationship between variables. Therefore, this study intends to explore the asymmetrical effects of financial progress and remittances on economic growth in Bangladesh. The study used yearly time series data from 1988 to 2020 and employed the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRich and highly dense surface-enhanced Raman (SERS) hotspots available in the SERS-active platform are highly anticipated in SERS measurements. In this work, conventional silicon wafer was treated to have wide exposure to terraces available within the silicon nanostructures (Si-NSs). High-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) investigations confirmed that the terraces were several microns wide and spread over different steps.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study reports the synthesis of Au-decorated MCM-41 mesoporous nanoparticles using a laser-ablation technique. It was observed that the number of Au attached to MCM-41 nanostructures was dependent on the amount of encapsulated Cationic surfactant (cetyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) volume. The chemical group of the prepared nanoparticles was analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy, where different absorption peaks corresponding to Au and MCM-41 were observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dimension of plasmonic nanostructures does matter in localizing electromagnetic (EM) field and improving surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity. Zero-dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) plasmonic nanostructures are promising candidates to validate SERS enhancement and the mechanisms thereof. In this work, silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), nanoneedles (NNs) and nanorings (NRs) have been considered to demonstrate the impact of EM near-field distributions on SERS of the corresponding 0D ( Ag-NPs), 1D ( Ag-NNs) and 2D ( Ag-NRs) nanostructures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA simple and hands-on one-step process has been implemented to fabricate polymer-templated hydrophobic nanostructures as hydrogen gas sensing platforms. Topographic measurements have confirmed irregular hills and dips of various dimensions that are responsible for creating air bubble pockets that satisfy the Cassie-Baxter state of hydrophobicity. High-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) has revealed double-layer structures consisting of fine microscopic flower-like structures of nanoscale petals on the top of base nanostructures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCorrelated localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR), surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and localized electromagnetic (EM) field distributions of pure and modified gold (Au) nanoassemblies have been demonstrated. The Au nanoassemblies were decorated as half-raspberry-like nanostructures by silver (Ag) mists, and the characteristics of their SPR and SERS were observed at the same spatial position with and without decoration. The decoration of Au nanoassemblies was analyzed in-depth and confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
December 2021
Plasmonic nanostructures, particularly irregular surfaces of ring-like silver (Ag) nanostructures are promising candidates in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. In this work, clusters-based Ag nanorings have been fabricated and characterized as SERS-active substrates. The rim of the as-fabricated Ag nanorings was found neither discontinuous nor linear aggregation of nanoparticles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new route has been developed to design plasmonic pollen grain-like nanostructures (PGNSs) as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active substrate. The nanostructures consisting of silver (Ag) and gold (Au) nanoparticles along with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoclusters as spacers were found highly SERS-active. The morphology of PGNSs and those obtained in the intermediate stage along with each elemental evolution has been investigated by a high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Frailty is associated with healthy ageing, and it has been identified as a means of measuring older adults' physio-psychosocial health. We know about the ageing trends and common diseases of older adults living in South Asia, but literature to date does not widely feature their health status based on frailty, especially in Bangladesh. This study aims to understand the prevalence of frailty in Bangladeshi older adults; classify their health status; and investigate associated risk factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerein, we have successfully constructed a solid-state Z-scheme photosystem with enhanced light absorption capacity by combining the optoelectrical properties of AgNPs with those of the MoS/RGO/NiWO (Ag-MRGON) heterostructure. The Ag-MRGON Z-scheme system demonstrates improved photo-electrochemical (PEC) water-splitting performance in terms of applied bias photon-to-current conversion efficiency (ABPE), which is 0.52%, and 17.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
December 2020
Nanoassembly of gold nanoparticles has been achieved through a simple and facile process without using any surfactants or linkers. Atomic force microscopy confirmed assemblies of several tens of microns, whereas tiny interparticle gaps less than 5 nm was revealed by scanning electron microscopy. Such nanoassemblies with tiny interparticle gaps were found to be highly surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active with enhancement factor in the order of 6 to 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectric current responsive magnetic composite particles are prepared in three steps. In the first step, spherical and mesoporous submicrometer-sized magnetic iron oxide (FeO) core particles are prepared by solvothermal method. Then magnetic FeO particles are functionalized with amine groups using glycine, where the COO- group of glycine formed a bridging bidentate interaction with the hydroxyl groups on FeO particle surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study focuses on a solid solution series, Ca(LaCe )S (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), where the f electron density is absent in CaLaS and is progressively increased until it is maximized in CaCeS. Correspondingly, these samples, synthesized by a sealed ampule method, showed progressive variations in color ranging from gray for CaLaS to orange-red for CaCeS. The crystal structural nuances of both the end members and three solid solutions with x = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, a new application method for SERS named "reversed reporting agent" method is proposed for selective detection of biomolecules with a thiol group. In this method reporting agents such as rhodamine 6G (R6G) are capped on surfaces of silver colloidal nanoparticles. Analytes having a thiol group will replace the positions of reporting agents due to the strong interactions between silver and the thiol group, and then the SERS intensity of the reporting agents will be reduced.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper reports the characteristics of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) using a unique SERS-active substrate comprised of a single layer and a double layer of two-dimensional (2D) gold nanostructure. Colloidal gold nanoparticles were immobilized on a glass substrate and a multi-purpose experimental setup was adopted to obtain surface plasmon resonance (SPR), SERS and SEF on a single platform. Inhomogeneous intensity distribution was observed in correlated images of SPR and SERS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpatial distribution of surface enhanced Raman activity is visualized for two-dimensional (2D) nearly close-packed and well-ordered monolayer array of gold nanoparticles by using scanning near-field optical microscope. The 2D arrays exhibit highly nonuniform enhancement in Raman scattering, i.e.
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