Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

About: Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science is a education organization based out in Kolkata, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Excited state. The organization has 3867 authors who have published 10457 publications receiving 220098 citations.

The mechanical properties of vinylester resin matrix composites reinforced with alkali-treated jute fibres

Abstract: Jute fibres were subjected to alkali treatment with 5% NaOH solution for 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 h at 30°C. The modulus of the jute fibres improved by 12, 68 and 79% after 4, 6 and 8 h of treatment, respectively. The tenacity of the fibres improved by 46% after 6 and 8 h treatment and the % breaking strain was reduced by 23% after 8 h treatment. For 35% composites with 4 h-treated fibres, the flexural strength improved from 199.1 to 238.9 MPa by 20%, modulus improved from 11.89 to 14.69 GPa by 23% and laminar shear strength increased from 0.238 to 0.283 MPa by 19%. On plotting different values of slopes obtained from the rates of improvement of flexural strength and modulus, against NaOH treatment time, two different failure modes were apparent before and after 4 h of NaOH treatment. In the first region between 0 and 4 h, fibre pull out was predominant whereas in the second region between 6 and 8 h, transverse fracture occurred with minimum fibre pull out. This observation was well supported by the SEM investigations of the fracture surfaces.

Functional and multifunctional nanoparticles for bioimaging and biosensing.

Abstract: Herein, we describe the synthesis of functional and multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs), derived from our recent work, for bioimaging and biosensing applications. The functionalized NPs involve quantum dots (QDs), magnetic particles (MPs) and noble metal NPs for the aforementioned applications. A diverse silica coating approaches (reverse microemulsion and thin silanization) are delineated for the design of water-soluble NPs. We also review the synthesis of silica-coated bifunctional NPs consisting of MPs and QDs for live cell imaging of human liver cancer cells (HepG2) and mouse fibroblast cells (NIH-3T3). Using silica coated NPs, various NPs that are functionalized with antibody, oligonucleotide, biotin and dextran are efficiently used for protein detection.

Synthesis and Catalytic Application of Nanostructured Silver Dendrites

Abstract: We demonstrate a simple templateless and surfactant-free wet-chemical method of preparing silver (Ag) nanostructures with different dendritic morphologies at room temperature. This has been accomplished by aging the aqueous mixture of AgNO3 and citrate salts, carrying different cations for different time periods. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the formation of single-crystalline dendritic Ag nanostructures. It has been found that the nature and the concentration of citrate salt have a significant effect on the morphology of the formed Ag nanostructures. A possible formation mechanism has also been discussed on the basis of monitoring the surface plasmon resonance properties and TEM images with time during the course of formation of silver dendrites. The formed dendritic silver nanostructures showed excellent catalytic activity in the borohydride reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol compared to the spherical silver nanoparticles.