Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

About: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is a education organization based out in Kharagpur, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Natural rubber & Dielectric. The organization has 16887 authors who have published 38658 publications receiving 714526 citations.

Hierarchical nanostructured WO3-SnO2 for selective sensing of volatile organic compounds.

Abstract: It remains a challenge to find a suitable gas sensing material that shows a high response and shows selectivity towards various gases simultaneously. Here, we report a mixed metal oxide WO3-SnO2 nanostructured material synthesized in situ by a simple, single-step, one-pot hydrothermal method at 200 °C in 12 h, and demonstrate its superior sensing behavior towards volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as ammonia, ethanol and acetone. SnO2 nanoparticles with controlled size and density were uniformly grown on WO3 nanoplates by varying the tin precursor. The density of the SnO2 nanoparticles on the WO3 nanoplates plays a crucial role in the VOC selectivity. The responses of the present mixed metal oxides are found to be much higher than the previously reported results based on single/mixed oxides and noble metal-doped oxides. In addition, the VOC selectivity is found to be highly temperature-dependent, with optimum performance obtained at 200 °C, 300 °C and 350 °C for ammonia, ethanol and acetone, respectively. The present results on the cost-effective noble metal-free WO3-SnO2 sensor could find potential application in human breath analysis by non-invasive detection.

Solubility, Emulsifying, and Foaming Properties of Rice Bran Protein Concentrates

Abstract: Rice bran protein concentrates were prepared from full-fat and defatted raw rice bran. Selected functional properties, viz. nitrogen solubility, emulsification properties, and foaming properties were measured over the pH range 2.0 to 10.5 and in three dispersion media including water, 0.1M NaCl (low salt) and 1.0M NaCl (high salt). Below and above the isoelectric pH (4.5) the nitrogen solubility increased. Higher pH enhanced the nitrogen solubility and, thereby, considerably improved the functional properties. In higher salt concentration, nitrogen solubility was reduced which also altered the properties of emulsification and foaming. Multiple regression analysis showed that pH was the primary determinant of nitrogen solubility, emulsification and foaming properties. Multiple regression models including pH, salt concentration and nitrogen solubility as independent variables were found to be more accurate in predicting other functional properties.