MgNb O Modified K Na NbO Eco-Piezoceramics: Scalable Processing, Structural Distortion and Complex Impedance at Resonance.

In this work, piezoceramics of the lead-free composition K Na NbO with an increasing amount of MgNb O (0, 0.5, 1, 2 wt.%) were prepared through conventional solid-state synthesis and sintered in air atmosphere at 1100 °C.

synchrotron radiation investigation of VO-NbO metastable compounds: transformational kinetics at high temperatures with a new structural solution for the orthorhombic VNbO phase.

Due to the considerable interest in vanadium niobium oxides as a lithium storage material, the kinetics and transformation processes of the V2O5-5Nb2O5 system have been investigated by in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. The diffraction data after the thermal treatments selected with a view on the most significant features were supplemented with specific ex situ experiments conducted using a laboratory rotating anode X-ray diffractometer. The morphological changes of the mixed powders assuming an amorphous and nanocrystalline solid solution structure as a function of the temperature were inspected by scanning electron microscopy observations.

The potential antimalarial efficacy of hemocompatible silver nanoparticles from Artemisia species against P. falciparum parasite.

Malaria represents one of the most common infectious diseases which becoming an impellent public health problem worldwide. Antimalarial classical medications include quinine-based drugs, like chloroquine, and artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin, a molecule found in the plant Artemisia annua. Such therapeutics are very effective but show heavy side effects like drug resistance.

Carbon Dots from Citric Acid and its Intermediates Formed by Thermal Decomposition.

Thermal decomposition of citric acid is one of the most common synthesis methods for fluorescent carbon dots; the reaction pathway is, however, quite complex and the details are still far from being understood. For instance, several intermediates form during the process and they also give rise to fluorescent species. In the present work, the formation of fluorescent C-dots from citric acid has been studied as a function of reaction time by coupling infrared analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (LC/MS) with the change of the optical properties, absorption and emission.

A mechanochemical route for the synthesis of VNbO and its structural re-investigation using structure solution from powder diffraction data.

A new and solvent-free synthesis route has been adopted and optimized to prepare crystalline VNbO from the mechanochemical reaction between NbO and VO as starting reagents. The substantially amorphous mixture of equimolar pentoxide V and Nb metals observed after extended mechanical treatment transforms into a crystalline powder following calcination under mild conditions at 710 K. The structure solution of the X-ray diffraction pattern using a global optimization approach, combined with Rietveld refinement, points to a space group P222 (no.

Intranasal Delivery of Genistein-Loaded Nanoparticles as a Potential Preventive System against Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Genistein has been reported to have antioxidant and neuroprotective activity. Despite encouraging in vitro and in vivo results, several disadvantages such as poor water solubility, rapid metabolism, and low oral bioavailability limit the clinical application of genistein. The aim of this study was to design and characterize genistein-loaded chitosan nanoparticles for intranasal drug delivery, prepared by the ionic gelation technique by using sodium hexametaphosphate.

Design of Amperometric Biosensors for the Detection of Glucose Prepared by Immobilization of Glucose Oxidase on Conducting (Poly)Thiophene Films.

Enzyme-based sensors have emerged as important analytical tools with application in diverse fields, and biosensors for the detection of glucose using the enzyme glucose oxidase have been widely investigated. In this work, the preparation of biosensors by electrochemical polymerization of (poly)thiophenes, namely 2,2'-bithiophene (2,2'-BT) and 4,4'-bis(2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol)-2,2'-bithiophene (4,4'-bBT), followed by immobilization of glucose oxidase on the films, is described. N-cyclohexyl-N'-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide metho--toluenesulfonate (CMC) was used as a condensing agent, and -benzoquinone (BQ) was used as a redox mediator in solution.