University of Madras

About: University of Madras is a education organization based out in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Ring (chemistry) & Lipid peroxidation. The organization has 8496 authors who have published 11369 publications receiving 211152 citations. The organization is also known as: Madras University & University of Chennai.

Line defect Ce3+ induced Ag/CeO2/ZnO nanostructure for visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract: This article reports, synthesis and characterization of the ternary Ag/CeO2/ZnO nanostructure which was tested for visible light photocatalytic degradation of industrial textile effluent. The HR-TEM and XPS results confirms the presence of line dislocation linear defect induced oxygen vacancy in the ternary Ag/CeO2/ZnO nanostructure. The oxygen vacancy creates narrow band gap (2.66 eV) was confirmed by DRS. The ternary Ag/CeO2/ZnO nanostructure showed superior photocatalytic activity compared with pure ZnO, ZnO/Ag and ZnO/CeO2 results because of the narrow band gap, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag nanoparticles, synergistic effects, and defects (Ce3+ and oxygen vacancy) in CeO2 and ZnO.

Biogenic synthesis, characterization of gold and silver nanoparticles from Coleus forskohlii and their clinical importance.

Abstract: In modern era, the great interest and demand among chemists and researchers for metal nanoparticles is increasing in the application of biomedical fields, textiles, cosmetics and various sectors. Consequently, the present study reports an eco-friendly, cost-effective, rapid and easy method to produce environment-friendly metal nanoparticles to prevent exhaustion of metal resources. In this context, gold and silver metal nanoparticles were green synthesized using the Root Extract of Coleous forskohlii (RECo) as capping and reducing agent. The synthesized gold (GNPs) and silver nanoparticles (SNPs) were characterized using UV-Visible spectrophotometer, High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Particle size analysis (PSA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD). Their clinical importance was analysed using anti-oxidant assay (DPPH - 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and Phosphomolybdenum PMA) and cytotoxicity (MTT assay) against HEPG2 (liver cancer cell lines). Further, the antimicrobial activity against two microorganisms were tested using disc diffusion method against Proteus vulgaris pathogen and Micrococcus luteus pathogen. RECo-GNPs and SNPs were found to be stable in aqueous medium for a longer time and exhibited favorable anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. The phytoconstituents present in the root extract of Coleous forskohlii was elucidated using GC-MS analysis.

Versatility of electrospinning in the fabrication of fibrous mat and mesh nanostructures of bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) and their magnetic and photocatalytic activities

Abstract: This study demonstrates the fabrication of electrospun bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3/BFO) fiber mat and fibrous mesh nanostructures consisting of aligned and random fibers respectively. The formation of these one dimensional (1D) nanostructures was mediated by the drum and plate collectors in the electrospinning process that yielded aligned and random nanofibers of BFO respectively. The single phase and rhombohedral crystal structure of the fabricated 1D BFO nanostructures are confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies indicated that the fabricated fibers are stoichiometric BFO with native oxidation states +3. The surface texture and morphology are analyzed using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques. The average size of fibers in mat and mesh nanostructures is found to be 200 nm and 150 nm respectively. The band gap energy of BFO mat and mesh deduced from their UV diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS) was found to be 2.44 eV and 2.39 eV, respectively, which evidenced the improved visible light receptivity of BFO mesh compared to that of the mat. Magnetization studies using a super conducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer revealed the weak ferromagnetic properties of BFO mesh and mat nanostructures that could emerge due to the dimension induced suppression of cycloidal spin structures. The photocatalytic degradation properties of the fibrous mesh are found to be enhanced compared to that of the mat. This could be attributed to the reduced band gap energy and an improved semiconductor band-bending phenomenon in the mesh that favoured the transportation of excited charge carriers to the photocatalyst–dye interfaces and the production of more number of reactive species that lead to the effective degradation of the dye molecules.