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The environment and public health are currently being threatened by the water pollution caused by dyes. Finding eco-friendly and economically viable photocatalysts has been a hot issue in recent years, as photocatalytic dye degradation is essential for eliminating dye from contaminated water as compared to other methods because of the cost factor and efficiency in removing organic contaminants. Using un-doped ZnSe for degrading activity has very seldom been attempted up to this point. Therefore, the current research focuses on the use of zinc selenide nanomaterials, which are produced via a green synthesis process from the organic waste peels of orange and potato using the hydrothermal method, and utilizes them as photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes using sunlight as a natural source of light. The crystal structure, bandgap, and surface morphology and analysis of the synthesized materials serve as indicators of their characteristics. Citrate in orange peel-mediated synthesis assists in forming a particle size of 1.85 nm and a large surface area of 17.078 m2/g enabling more surface-active sites resulting in degradation efficiency of 97.16% and 93.61% for methylene blue and Congo red dye, respectively, which outperforms commercial ZnSe in the dye degradation. The presented work maintains overall sustainability in real-practical applications by utilizing sunlight in photocatalytic degradation activity instead of sophisticated equipment and using waste peels as a capping and stabilizing agent in the green synthesis method for the preparation of photocatalysts.

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Infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance have become one of the extreme health threats of this century. Overuse of antibiotics leads to pollution. To overcome this threat, the current strategy is to develop a substitute for these antibiotics that are extracted from natural sources. In this study, nanocellulose (NC) was isolated from an agricultural waste (wheat straw) and then oxidized with the help of sodium periodate to obtain dialdehyde nanocellulose (DA-NC). Then, chitosan (Ch) and DA-NC are both crosslinked with each other in different weight ratios, to obtain NC/Ch composite hydrogels. The resulted hydrogel is also characterized to confirm its structure, morphology and composition. The hydrogel was also tested for antimicrobial activities against bacteria, algae as well as fungal species to check its applicability for biomedical applications. The six microbes used for the ananlysis are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium solani. The antimicrobial assessment of the hydrogel is evaluated via inhibition zone and optical density analysis. The resulted nanocellulose/chitosan (NC/Ch) hydrogel shows the uniform distribution of nanocellulose in the composite and the synergistic effect of their properties. Hydrogel serves excellent antimicrobial results which makes it a promising candidate for various biomedical applications.

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The excessive use of traditional antibiotic and antibacterial agents has globally increased the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that poses serious health risks. Therefore, the development of new generation antibacterial or antimicrobial agents for effective inhibition of bacterial growth is highly desired. In this study, we report a facile one-step synthesis approach for the preparation of a nanocomposite composed of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated with sulfur-doped graphene quantum dots (S-GQDs). The nanocomposite was comprehensively characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis absorption spectra, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characterization results demonstrated that the AgNPs were closely and uniformly surrounded by the S-GQDs, and consequently, this ensured the dispersion and stability of the so formed nanocomposite (Ag@S-GQDs). Further, the antibacterial activity of the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite was investigated and compared with bare S-GQDs and AgNPs against Gram-positive S. aureus (MTCC 737) and Gram-negative P. aeruginosa (MTCC 424) bacteria using macrodilution and agar well diffusion methods. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 70 and 35 µg mL-1 of the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite were found to be sufficient to hinder the growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. A fractional inhibition concentration (FIC) index below 0.5 confirmed the existence of a synergistic effect between AgNPs and S-GQDs in the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite, AgNPs and S-GQDs was also investigated using HEK 293 cell lines. Interestingly, the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite exhibited superior cell viability as compared to AgNPs and S-GQDs. These improved antibacterial and biocompatibility data demonstrate that the Ag@S-GQDs nanocomposite can serve as a promising antibacterial agent for industry to fabricate next-generation self-sterile textiles, antibacterial coatings and useful health care products supporting cell viability.

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Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are one of the most promising luminescent carbon derived nanomaterials decorated with multiple useful functional groups and remarkable optoelectronic properties. Heteroatom doping of hexagonal carbon sheet of GQDs is an effective strategy to tailor their properties to meet desired application. In this work, sulfur doped GQDs (S-GQDs) were synthesized by simply pyrolyzing citric acid (CA) as a source of carbon and 3-Mercaptopropionic acid as a source of sulfur dopant. The optimal reaction conditions (ratio of the carbon to dopant source, temperature and time of reaction) were obtained while investigating their effect on the quantum yield and fluorescence properties of GQDs and, are hereby, reported for the first time. The as-synthesized S-GQDs were extensively characterized by different analytical techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis Spectroscopy (UV), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. S-GQDs were found uniform in size (∼4 nm) and spherical in shape with strong blue fluorescence. Further, for in-depth analysis of experimental results and underlying phenomena, theoretical studies based on density functional theory were performed for chemical structure optimization, possible sites of doping and density of states calculation. The synthesized S-GQDs exhibited excellent solubility in water, a stronger fluorescence and desirably higher quantum yield (57.44%) as compared to that of previously reported undoped GQDs. These successfully demonstrated unique and improved properties of S-GQDs present them as a potential candidate for biomedical, optical, electrical and chemical applications.

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We report results of the studies relating to fabrication of nanostructured metal oxide (NMO) based cancer biosensor. With the help of 2D electroactive reduced graphene oxide (RGO), we successfully inhibited the Brownian motion of NMO that led to reduced agglomeration of NMO. The nanostructured hafnium oxide (nHfO2) was used as a model NMO. The reduced agglomeration of nHfO2 was achieved through controlled hydrothermal synthesis and investigated via nanoparticles tracking analysis (NTA). X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques were used for phase identification as well as morphological analysis of the synthesized nanohybrid (nHfO2@RGO) material. The 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) was used for the functionalization of nHfO2@RGO and electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique was used for its deposition onto ITO coated glass electrode. Further, antibodies of cancer biomarker (anti-CYFRA-21-1) were immobilized via EDC-NHS chemistry and Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used for blocking of the non-specific binding sites. The electrochemical response studies of fabricated immunoelectrode (BSA/anti-CYFRA-21-1/APTES/nHfO2@RGO/ITO) revealed higher sensitivity (18.24µAmLng-1), wide linear detection range (0 to 30ngmL-1), with remarkable lower detection limit (0.16ngmL-1). The obtained results showed good agreement with the concentration of CYFRA-21-1 obtained through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in saliva samples of oral cancer patients.

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BACKGROUND: Radionuclides in the phosphate fertilizers belonging to (232)Th and (238)U and (40) K are the major contributors to the outdoor terrestrial natural radiation. These radionuclides are transferred from fertilizer to food through soil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Present work deals with the alpha activity in the different parts of the potato (Solanum Tuberosum) plants grown under controlled pots experiment using different amounts of phosphate fertilizers and urea. Alpha activities have been measured by track etch technique using the solid-state nuclear track detectors (LR-115). RESULTS: Translocation factor for the fruit (edible Part) varied from 0.13 (for DAP) to 0.73 (for PF) with an average of 0.40 ± 0.26 for the plant grown with 20 g of fertilizers. Translocation factors increased with the increase in amount of fertilizers having value 0.51 ± 0.31 for the plant grown with 50 g of fertilizers. The translocation factor for the lower and the upper part of leaves varied from 0.44 to 0.67 and 0.22 to 0.83 with an average value 0.55 ± 0.15 and 0.45 ± 0.23 respectively. The transfer factor (TF's) for the potato plants varied from 1.5 × 10(-2) to 1.03 × 10(-1) for root, from 1.3 × 10(-2) to 1.23 × 10(-1) for stem, from 2.1 × 10(-3) to 4.5 × 10(-2) for fruit and from 5.4 × 10(-3) to 5.8 × 10(-3) for lower part of the leaves after 105 days of the plantation. CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed that the alpha activity in the potato plants was higher in case of the plants grown with the use of phosphate fertilizers than with other fertilizers.

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BACKGROUND: People are exposed to ionizing radin from the radionuclides that are present in different types of natural sources, of which phosphate fertilizer is one of the most important sources. Fertilizers are commonly used in agricultural field worldwide to enhance the crop yield. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present investigation, a control study was carried out on the lady's finger plants grown in earthen pots. To observe the effect of fertilizers their equal amounts were added to the soil just before the plantation. The alpha track densities were measured using solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs), a sensitive detector for alpha particles. RESULTS: The measured alpha track densities (T cm(-2)d(-1)) in lady's finger plants on top and bottom face of leaves after 30, 50 and 70 days of plantation varied from 49 ± 11 to 206 ± 2.6, 49 ± 16 to 248 ± 16 and 57 ± 8.5 to 265 ± 32 respectively in various leaf samples. CONCLUSIONS: The alpha track densities were found to vary with nature of fertilizers added to the soil and an increase was also observed with time. The alpha track densities were also measured in soil samples mixed with different fertilizers. The radon exhalation rates in various soil samples and soil to plant transfer factor (TF) of alpha tracks were also calculated.