Graphene-Doped Hydrogels Promoting Ionic Conductivity in Gel-Valve-Regulated Lead Acid Batteries.

In this study, the impact of graphene-doped poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels on gel-valve-regulated lead acid batteries was examined. The gel formulations were made by adding various amounts of graphene into the gel system comprising poly(vinyl alcohol) and sulfuric acid. Gel formulations were subjected to an ionic conductivity study and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to understand ionic mobility and material interaction, respectively.

Studies on Evaluation of the Thermal Conductivity of Alumina Titania Hybrid Suspension Nanofluids for Enhanced Heat Transfer Applications.

Extensive investigations were made and empirical relations were proposed for the thermal conductivity of mono-nanofluids. The effect of concentration, diameter, and thermal properties of participating nanoparticles is missing in the majority of existing thermal conductivity models. An attempt is made to propose a model that considers the influence of such missing parameters on the thermal conductivity of hybrid nanofluids.

A Short Review on Miniaturized Biosensors for the Detection of Nucleic Acid Biomarkers.

Even today, most biomarker testing is executed in centralized, dedicated laboratories using bulky instruments, automated analyzers, and increased analysis time and expenses. The development of miniaturized, faster, low-cost microdevices is immensely anticipated for substituting for these conventional laboratory-oriented assays and transferring diagnostic results directly onto the patient's smartphone using a cloud server. Pioneering biosensor-based approaches might make it possible to test biomarkers with reliability in a decentralized setting, but there are still a number of issues and restrictions that must be resolved before the development and use of several biosensors for the proper understanding of the measured biomarkers of numerous bioanalytes such as DNA, RNA, urine, and blood.

Recent Advances in Microfluidics-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Foodborne Pathogen Detection.

Using pathogen-infected food that can be unhygienic can result in severe diseases and an increase in mortality rate among humans. This may arise as a serious emergency problem if not appropriately restricted at this point of time. Thus, food science researchers are concerned with precaution, prevention, perception, and immunity to pathogenic bacteria.

Nanobacterial Cellulose Production and Its Antibacterial Activity in Biodegradable Poly(vinyl alcohol) Membranes for Food Packaging Applications.

Nanobacterial cellulose (NBC) was produced and incorporated into biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in different weight ratios to obtain polymer nanocomposite membranes. The physicochemical properties of the membranes were studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, a universal testing machine (UTM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). FTIR confirmed the consolidation of NBC into PVA by exhibiting significant changes in the peaks compared to NBC and PVA individually.

Recent Advancements in Nanobiosensors: Current Trends, Challenges, Applications, and Future Scope.

In recent years, there has been immense advancement in the development of nanobiosensors as these are a fundamental need of the hour that act as a potential candidate integrated with point-of-care-testing for several applications, such as healthcare, the environment, energy harvesting, electronics, and the food industry. Nanomaterials have an important part in efficiently sensing bioreceptors such as cells, enzymes, and antibodies to develop biosensors with high selectivity, peculiarity, and sensibility. It is virtually impossible in science and technology to perform any application without nanomaterials.

Biosensors and Microfluidic Biosensors: From Fabrication to Application.

Biosensors are ubiquitous in a variety of disciplines, such as biochemical, electrochemical, agricultural, and biomedical areas. They can integrate various point-of-care applications, such as in the food, healthcare, environmental monitoring, water quality, forensics, drug development, and biological domains. Multiple strategies have been employed to develop and fabricate miniaturized biosensors, including design, optimization, characterization, and testing.

Fabrication and Characterization of Poly(vinyl alcohol)-chitosan-capped Silver Nanoparticle Hybrid Membranes for Pervaporation Dehydration of Ethanol.

Chitosan-capped silver nanoparticle (CS-capped AgNPs)-incorporated Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hybrid membranes were prepared by a solution-casting technique for ethanol dehydration via pervaporation. The incorporation of CS-capped AgNPs into the PVA membrane and its influence on membrane properties and pervaporation-separation process of azeotropic water/ethanol mixture was studied. The addition of CS-capped AgNPs into the PVA membrane reduced the crystallinity, thereby increasing the hydrophilicity and swelling degree of the hybrid membrane, supported by contact angle (CA) analyzer and swelling degree experiments, respectively.

Development and Characterization of Biocompatible Membranes from Natural Chitosan and Gelatin for Pervaporative Separation of Water-Isopropanol Mixture.

Natural polymers have attracted a lot of interest in researchers of late as they are environmentally friendly, biocompatible, and possess excellent characters. Membranes forming natural polymers have provided a whole new dimension to the separation technology. In this work, chitosan-gelatin blend membranes were fabricated using chitosan as the base and varying the amount of gelatin.

Fabrication and Physicochemical Study of B2SA-Grafted Poly(vinyl Alcohol)-Graphene Hybrid Membranes for Dehydration of Bioethanol by Pervaporation.

Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)-crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution was prepared and treated with benzaldehyde 2 sulphonic sodium salt acid (B2SA) for sulfonation. Different contents of graphene were incorporated into B2SA-grafted PVA-TEOS hybrid membrane to improve the membrane stability, mechanical strength, and overall pervaporation performance of the membranes. Membranes were fabricated using the casting technique.

Novel fabrication of PSSAMA_Na capped silver nanoparticle embedded sodium alginate membranes for pervaporative dehydration of bioethanol.

Polystyrene-4-sulfonic acid co maleic acid sodium salt (PSSAMA_Na) capped silver nanoparticle (Ag_Np) embedded sodium alginate (Na-Alg) nanocomposite membranes have been developed to improve the pervaporation (PV) dehydration of bioethanol. The effect of PSSAMA_Na capped Ag_Nps on the micro-morphology, physicochemical properties and separation performance of the derived membranes was analyzed as a function of temperature at the azeotropic composition of the bioethanol-water mixture. WAXD analysis shows a decrease in crystalline domains with the increase in PSSAMA_Na capped Ag_Nps content and confirms the presence of Ag_Nps.

Charge transfer-induced enhancement of a Raman signal in a hybrid Ag-GaN nanostructure.

A hybrid system consisting of Ag nanoparticles dispersed onto a GaN nanowall network (GaN NWN) exhibited characteristic optical properties and electronic band structure. Surface-sensitive XPS studies of this high-surface-area system revealed the presence of a high surface charge carrier concentration due to dangling bonds, which resulted in a high metal-like surface conductivity. The low coverage of absorbed Ag led to the nanocluster formation, facilitating charge transfer from GaN to Ag, and thereby further increasing the surface charge carriers.