Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

About: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is a education organization based out in Guwahati, Assam, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Adsorption & Catalysis. The organization has 6933 authors who have published 17102 publications receiving 257351 citations.

Aqueous polyfluorene probe for the detection and estimation of Fe3+ and inorganic phosphate in blood serum

Abstract: A novel anionic polyfluorene derivative, poly(9,9-bis(6′-sulfate)hexyl) fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene sodium salt (P1) is synthesized. P1 exhibits exemplary activity towards the selective detection of Fe3+ and phosphates (Pi) under physiological conditions. On binding to Fe3+, exceptional fluorescence quenching of P1 occurred, demonstrated by a >97% reduction in the fluorescence intensity. Furthermore, the P1–Fe3+ assay is highly selective for inorganic phosphate (Pi) anions at biological pH values, observed by complete fluorescence dequenching and confirmed through a >95% fluorescence enhancement. In order to validate its diagnostic potential, this assay was employed to monitor the Pi levels in a competing biological environment like blood serum. At pH 7.4 this assay showed a high specific activity to detect Pi in the bioassay environment, observed by the unique enhancements in fluorescence intensities for varying and low Pi concentrations. Since this assay performed Pi detection at very low concentrations we utilized it successfully for the fluorometric estimation of Pi in blood serum with high accuracy and within short duration. This remarkable ability of P1 to accomplish in situ monitoring and estimation of indispensable biological targets like Fe3+ and Pi rapidly and in label-free conditions, corroborates the extension of this assay system for clinical application.

Characterization of biomasses available in the region of North-East India for production of biofuels.

Abstract: The lignocellulosic materials are cheap and readily available either in the form of agricultural waste or forest residues. These materials can be used as a source for energy production either in the gaseous form (CO, H 2 etc) or in liquid form (ethanol, butanol etc) to meet the rising demand of energy. The reign of lignocellulosic materials for energy production is a proven fact in this era of energy research. The present study focuses on characterization of three biomass samples namely areca nut husk ( Areca catheu ), moj ( Albizia lucida ) and bonbogori ( Ziziphus rugosa ), available in the region of North-East India. Physical and chemical analysis of these lignocellulosic biomass samples were performed using X-ray diffraction techniques, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and CHNSO analysis. Maximum crystalinity was observed in areca nut husk fiber (63.84%) followed by moj (46.43%) and bonbogori (42.46%). The calorific values of all the biomasses were found within the range of 17 MJ/kg to 22 MJ/kg. All these properties combined together per se shows that areca nut husk, bonbogori and moj are potential sources for biofuel production.