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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising porous materials that have huge potential for gas separation when put in the membrane configuration. MOFs have huge potential due to certain salient features of the MOFs such as excellent pore size, ease of tuning the pore chemistry, higher surface area, and chemical and thermal stabilities. MOFs have been explored for various gas separation and storage applications. This review discusses various approaches for fabricating MOFs-based membranes for the separation of H 2 gas from a variety of feeds having various gases CO 2 , CO, N 2 , and CH 4 as impurities. The emphasis has been put on three types of membranes for H 2 separation which include MOFs-based hollow fibrous/tubular/disk membranes, MOFs-based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), and MOFs-based stand-alone membranes. In addition, various challenges such as reducing inhomogeneity between MOFs and polymeric matrices have also been discussed. Similarly, the approaches to successfully decorating MOFs on different supports in different configurations have been explained. The possible ways of improving the MOFs-based membranes for H 2 have also been discussed., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Introduction and Importance: Subglottic stenosis (SGS) appears to be a commonly encountered condition in the paediatric age group. Single stage cricoid split laryngoplasty with costochondral rib grafting in paediatric patients is a unique, innovative, and advanced operation in nature. Morbidity and mortality rates can be minimized with early diagnosis and prompt treatment., Presentation of Case: Presenting the case of a 13-month-old child diagnosed with Grade II SGS who was managed for cricoid split laryngoplasty with a costochondral rib graft. It was a unique strategy for providing infants and neonates with symptomatic SGS with a safe and efficient substitute for long-term tracheostomy. When healing was completed, the patient regained the function of their airway. The approach was successful, and preventable to long-term tracheostomy., Discussion: Performing this procedure early in children has shown higher rates of success and it is safe and effective. Further extensive research and studies need to be conducted in this domain, and every patient's status should be reviewed time and again to tend to their specific needs, and the choice of procedure should be made optimally based on clinical evaluations., Conclusion: Successful management of a 13-month-old child with Grade II subglottic stenosis through cricoid split laryngoplasty with costochondral rib grafting is a challenging and novel approach to treating single-stage SGS., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This paper reports the fabrication, characterization, and environmental impact analysis of a super-oleophobic (under water) and super-hydrophilic mesh membrane for oily water treatment. In order to prepare mesh membrane, Titania nanoparticles (NPs) were spray coated on mesh stainless steel followed by calcination at 500 °C. After that, the Titania-coated mesh membrane was characterized using contact angle goniometry (CA), XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and elemental mapping. The FE-SEM, EDX, elemental mapping and XRD results confirmed that the Titania NPs were successfully coated on the surface of mesh membrane. CA results demonstrated that the prepared mesh membrane is super-hydrophilic and super-oleo phobic under water conditions, making it suitable for oil/water separation. Subsequently, life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to determine the environmental impacts of Titania NPs-coated mesh membrane fabrication process. LCA results indicate that electricity and nitrogen contributed the most toward the eighteen environmental impact categories considered for this study., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Treating oily wastewater streams such as produced water has a huge potential to resolve the issue of wastewater disposal and generate useful water for reuse. Among different techniques employed for oily wastewater (oil-in-water; O/W emulsion) treatment, membrane-based separation is advantageous owing to its lower energy consumption, recycling, ease of operation, and wider scope of tuning the active layer chemistry for enhanced performance. In line with the possibilities of enhancing the performance of the membranes for efficient O/W emulsion separation, the current work is designed to yield five different variants of polyaniline (PANI) active layers with special surface wettability features (superhyrophilic and underwater superoleophobic) on a ceramic alumina support. To achieve variants of PANI on ceramic alumina supports, emulsion polymerization was carried out, and different concentrations of initiator ammonium persulfate (APS) were applied to lead to PANI-A@Aluminum Oxide membrane, PANI-B@Aluminum Oxide membrane, PANI-C@Aluminum Oxide membrane, PANI-D@Aluminum Oxide membrane, and PANI-E@Aluminum Oxide membrane corresponding to 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, and 1.0 M concentrations of initiator. The variation in initiator concentration resulted in different PANI growth patterns; hence, the resultant membranes showed different structural, physical, and performance features. Different characterization techniques including 1 H NMR, SEM, FE-TEM, AFM, water contact angle, XRD, EDX, and ATR-FTIR confirmed a more uniform and continuous growth of PANI (PANI-B) using a 0.25 M initiator concentration. The resultant PANI-B@Aluminum Oxide membrane showed an excellent surfactant stabilized crude O/W emulsion separation reaching >99% with a permeate flux of 2154 L m -2 h -1 (LMH) at 4 bar using a 100 ppm surfactant stabilized crude oil-in-water emulsion. The fouling and cleaning cycles revealed that the membrane can be reused with a 70% recovery of the initial permeate flux.

Reliable modeling of oily wastewater emphasizes the paramount importance of sustainable and health-conscious wastewater management practices, which directly aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) while also meeting the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). This research explores the efficiency of utilizing polypyrrole-coated ceramic-polymeric membranes to model oily wastewater separation efficiency (SE) and permeate flux (PF) based on established experimental procedures. In this area, computational simulation still needs to be explored. The study developed predictive regression models, including robust linear regression (RLR), stepwise linear regression (SWR) and linear regression (LR) for the ceramic-polymeric porous membrane, aiming to interpret its complex performance across diverse conditions and, thus, develop its utility in oily wastewater treatment applications. Subsequently, a novel, simple average ensemble paradigm was explored to reduce errors and improve prediction skills. Prior to the development of the model, stability and reliability analysis of the data was conducted based on Philip Perron tests with the Bartlett kernel estimation method. The accuracy of the SE exhibited a high consistency, averaging 99.92% with minimal variability (standard deviation of 0.026%), potentially simplifying its prediction compared to PF. The modes were validated and evaluated using metrics like MAE, RMSE, Speed, and MSE, in addition to 2D graphical and cumulative distribution function graphs. The LR model emerged as the best with the lowest RMSE =0.21951, indicating superior prediction accuracy, followed closely by RLR with an RMSE = 0.22359. SWLR, while having the highest RMSE = 0.34573, marked its dominance in prediction speed with 110 observations per second. Notably, the RLR model justified a reduction in error by approximately 35.29% compared to SWLR. Moreover, the training efficiency of the LR model exceeded, demanding a mere 2.9252 s, marking a reduction of about 32.54% compared to SWLR. The improved simple ensemble learning proved merit over the three models regarding error accuracy. This study emphasizes the essential role of soft-computing learning in optimizing the design and performance of ceramic-polymeric membranes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Given the huge significance of organic solvents in several industrial processes, the use of membranes for recovering the solvents has evolved into an industrially viable process. The current work has been focused on studying the effect of minor changes in the chemistry of the reacting monomers on the organic solvent nanofiltration/solvent resistance nanofiltration (OSN/SRNF) performance of the membranes. The two aliphatic amines with varying aliphatic chain lengths between primary and secondary amines were selected for this purpose. Based on the structure of the resultant active layer, the Janus nanofiltration performance of the membrane was evaluated. The two membranes, 4A-TPC@crosslinked PAN and 4A-3P@crosslinked PAN were fabricated by using two different tetra-amines, 4A (N,N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)ethylenediamine) and 4A-3P (N,N'-Bis(2-aminoethyl)-1,3-propanediamine) crosslinked with terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) on a crosslinked polyacryonitrile (PAN) support through interfacial polymerization (IP). The presence of multiple hydrophobic -CH 2 - groups in the structures of the aliphatic amines 4A and 4A-3P develops hydrophobic sites in the hydrophilic polyamide active layers of the membranes. In addition, 4A has two secondary amino groups separated by ethylene (-CH 2 -CH 2 -) groups, whereas in 4A-3P, the two secondary amino groups are separated by propylene (-CH 2 -CH 2 -CH 2 -) leading to variation in the structural features and performance of the two membranes. Both membranes were fully characterized by several membrane characterization techniques and applied for OSN/SRNF using both polar (methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol) and non-polar (n-hexane and toluene) solvents. Different dyes (Congo red, Eriochrome black T, and Methylene blue) were used as model solutes during the filtration experiment. The 4A-3P-TPC@crosslinked PAN showed n-hexane and toluene flux of 109.9 LMH and 95.5 LMH, respectively. The Congo red (CR) showed the highest rejection, reaching 99.1% for the 4A-TPC@Crosslinked PAN membrane and 98.8% for the 4A-3P-TPC@Crosslinked PAN membrane., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Trace organic compounds from effluent streams are not completely removed by conventional purification techniques and hence, contaminating groundwater sources. Herein, we report the removal efficiency and rejection mechanisms of three common pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs); caffeine (CFN), omeprazole (OMZ), and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), using commercial nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with different surface characteristics. The RO membranes showed near-complete removal of all PhACs with rejection rates >99%. On the other hand, retention capabilities for the NF membranes varied and were influenced by the characteristics of the PhACs, membranes, and the feed solution. In general, during long-term testing, the rejection did not show much variation and followed a trend compatible with the size exclusion (steric hindrance) mechanism. When a real matrix was used, the rejection of CFN by the more tight NF membranes, HL TFC and NFW decreased by ∼10%, whereas the removal of SMX by the loose NF membrane, XN45, increased by the same ratio. In short-term testing, the rejection of negatively charged SMX increased significantly (∼20-40%) at a higher pH of ∼8 and in the presence of salts. Fouling by the PhACs was more severe on the high-flux NF membranes, HL TFC and XN45, as witnessed by the significant change in Contact angle (CA) values (∼25-50°) as well as the flux decline (∼15%) during long-term testing. To summarize, the removal of PhACs by membranes is a complex phenomenon and depends upon a combination of several factors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Given the significance of dissolved H 2 S, various techniques have been explored in the literature. The current review describes in detail the various membrane-based techniques, such as membrane contactors, for removing dissolved H 2 S from various wastewater streams. Various types of hydrophobic membranes have been used, with more emphasis placed on PVDF hollow fiber membranes. The hydrophobic membranes do not allow water to pass through, whereas H 2 S is readily allowed to pass through the membrane at ambient conditions. In addition, the use of monoethanol amine triazine (MEA-Triazine)- based H 2 S scavengers has also been described in detail, including the possible scavenging mechanism. The possibility of different types of byproducts has also been explained along with the possible routes to get rid of scavenger byproducts, such as apDTZ. The use of peroxy acetic acid has also been explained to oxidize and solubilize apDTZ. Furthermore, the use of vacuum-based dissolved H 2 S gas has also been described in detail. The application of the Knudsen and bulk diffusion models to the separation of dissolved H 2 S through the pores of the hollow fibers has also been explained. Finally, the future challenges and possible solutions along with concluding remarks have also been mentioned in the current review.

Given the huge potential of thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes for desalination and micro-pollutant removal, two different sets of six NF membranes were synthesized. The molecular structure of the polyamide active layer was tuned by using two different cross-linkers, terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC), reacted with tetra-amine solution containing β-Cyclodextrin (BCD). To further tune the structure of the active layers, the time duration of interfacial polymerization (IP) was varied from 1 to 3 min. The membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infra-red (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental mapping and energy dispersive (EDX) analysis. The six fabricated membranes were tested for their ability to reject divalent and monovalent ions followed by rejection of micro-pollutants (pharmaceuticals). Consequently, terephthaloyl chloride turned out to be the most effective crosslinker for the fabrication of membrane active layer with tetra-amine in the presence of β-Cyclodextrin using interfacial polymerization reaction for 1 min. The membrane fabricated using TPC crosslinker (BCD-TA-TPC@PSf) showed higher % rejection for divalent ions (Na 2 SO 4 = 93%; MgSO 4 = 92%; MgCl 2 = 91%; CaCl 2 = 84%) and micro-pollutants (Caffeine = 88%; Sulfamethoxazole = 90%; Amitriptyline HCl = 92%; Loperamide HCl = 94%) compared to the membrane fabricated using TMC crosslinker (BCD-TA-TMC@PSf). For the BCD-TA-TPC@PSf membrane, the flux was increased from 8 LMH (L/m 2 .h) to 36 LMH as the transmembrane pressure was increased from 5 bar to 25 bar.

Sulphate-reducing bacteria wreaks havoc to oil pipelines, as it is an active agent for scale formation in the oil production tubing, and plugging of reservoir rock around the oil wells, and this leads to the degradation of oil quality. In this work, we synthesized copper oxide/titanium dioxide nanocomposite photocatalysts with three different mass contents of copper oxide (10%, 20% and 30%) and used them as an effective photo-catalyst in the process of photo-catalytic deactivation of sulphate-reducing bacteria. The anchoring of copper oxide on titanium dioxide brought about the following positive attributes in copper oxide/titanium dioxide nanocomposite pertained to the photo-catalyst: (i) the material transformed to visible light active with the potential to harness the more efficient visible spectral region of the solar radiation, (ii) increased surface area on the photo-catalyst enhanced the number of active reaction sites in the material, and (iii) efficiently retarded the undesired photo-generated electron hole recombination to promote the photo-catalytic activity. Although, the photo-catalyst effective under both UV and visible light, the deactivation was found to be higher in visible radiation, particularly the nanocomposite with 20%- copper oxide on titanium dioxide showed the highest photocatalytic degradation with of Sulphate-reducing bacteria with a decay constant as high as 1.38 min -1 and the total depletion time as low as 8 min. It was confirmed that the bacterial deactivation was neither due to the bactericidal effect of the nanocomposite nor due to the light mediated deactivation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A photo-responsive TiO 2 -coated stainless-steel mesh membrane (TiO 2 @SSM), possessing unique surface wettability, was fabricated. This TiO 2 @SSM membrane is found to be capable of separating oil and water from oily water and has the potential to carry out photocatalytic self-cleaning and/or the degradation of organic pollutants present in water. The fabrication of TiO 2 @SSM is quite simple: titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles were spray-coated onto stainless steel microporous mesh (SSM) substrates and annealed at the temperature of 500 °C. The fabricated TiO 2 @SSM membrane was structurally and morphologically characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, and elemental mapping. The contact angle measurements using a goniometer showed that the fabricated TiO 2 @SSM membrane surface is superhydrophilic and superoleophilic in air and superoleophobic under water. This is a favorable wetting condition for the water passing oil-water separation membrane, and this water passing property of the membrane eased the common problem of the fast clogging of the membrane by oil. An oil-water separation efficiency of about 99% was achieved, when the TiO 2 @SSM membrane was used as the separating medium in the gravity-driven oil-water separation system, unlike the uncoated stainless steel mesh membrane, which allowed both oil and water to pass together. This confirmed that the oil-water separating functionality of the membrane is attributed to TiO 2 coating on the stainless steel mesh. The photocatalytic degradation property of the TiO 2 @SSM membrane is an added advantage, where the membrane can be potentially used for self-cleaning of the membrane's surface and/or for water purification.

A ceramic-polymeric membrane was fabricated through in-situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole (Py) on alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) ceramic ultrafiltration support. The establishment of polypyrrole (PPy) active layer on the ceramic support led to a new PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane. Various salient features such as surface wettability, surface morphology, composition and functional goups of PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane were determined by various characterization techniques water contact angle (WCA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis and attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR). The PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane showed superhydrophilic nature owing to its under water oil contact angle of ≥160° (superoleophobic). Thanks to stable deposition of PPy active layer on ceramic support, the membrane retained a separation efficiency of >99% for O/W emulsions at varied transmembrane pressures ranging from 0.5 bar to 2 bar with a feed concentration of 125 ppm of oil in water. Moreover, the PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane exhibited an ideal behaviour to the applied transmembrane pressure with a linear increase from 380 LMH to 2112 LMH in permeate flux as the pressure increased from 0.5 bar to 2 bar. As the concentration of oil was raised from 50 ppm to 250 ppm, the separation efficeincy separation remained at >99%. From among the different types of oils (Motor oil, Diesel oil and Crude oil) to mimic the oily waste water streams, the permeate flux was found to be highest in case of motor oil with a value reaching to 1690 LMH at 1 bar. The stability test revealed that the PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane was able to separate >99% of 125 ppm O/W surfactant stabilized emulsion for a period of 420 min., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The wettability of nano-SiO 2 surface was transformed from the inherent hydrophilicity to functional superhyderophobicity by coating Trimethoxy (vinyl)silane modifier, and the resultant surface showed contrasting wettability for water and oil (Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic), which is a desired characteristic for the membranes used in oil-water separation. Initially Trimethoxy (vinyl)silane coated SiO 2 nanoparticles (TMVS@SiO 2 ) were synthesized by hydrolysis and poly-condensation reactions, and this nano dispersion was spray coated on the annealed stainless-steel mesh surface, whose resulting hierarchical surface texture brought about the desired wettability, with the water-surface-air (θ WA ) and oil-surface-air (θ OA ) interfacial contact angles of 150° and 0° respectively. In addition to the wettability studies (contact angles), FTIR, morphological, and elemental characterizations of the TMVS@SiO 2 coated surfaces were carried out to understand the alterations that have taken place on the TMVS@SiO 2 surface that in turn rendered superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity to the surface. The FTIR absorption peaks indicate that after modifying SiO 2 with TMVS, the -OH groups on SiO 2 surface are clearly replaced by -CH 3 . The morphological studies indicated that modification of SiO 2 leads to better cross-linking between coating composition and nanoparticles and EDS spectra and elemental mapping of the modified surface showed the presence of Si, O and C elements. Finally, this surface was tested for its efficiency and stability as a membrane in the process of separating oil and water from the oily water using gravity driven method. The oil-water separation efficiency was estimated to be 99% for this membrane and also it was found to be quite stable as the surface effectively retained this oil-water separation efficiency even after 10 cycles of separation process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The current study was planned to fabricate a new set of membranes to target multiple application areas such as desalting, removal of micropollutants and antibiofouling performance. In-situ incorporated copper oxide to MCM-41 (CuO-MCM-41) was synthesized and amine (-NH 2 ) functionalized by reacting with N1-(3-trimethoxy silylpropyl) diethylenetriamine (NTSDETA) yielding NH 2 -CuO-MCM-41. Different concentrations of NH 2 -CuO-MCM-41 were covalently cross-linked in polyamide active layer during interfacial polymerization (IP) between N, N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)ethylenediamine and terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) on polysulfone/poly ester terephthalate (PS/PET) support. The membranes were extensively characterized by Water Contact Angle (WCA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Elemental mapping and Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD). From among the different versions of X-CuO-MCM-41/PA@PS/PET membranes, the 0.05%-CuO-MCM-41/PA@PS/PET membrane showed best performance in terms of rejecting a variety of salts, micropollutants and antibiofouling. The 0.05%-CuO-MCM-41/PA@PS/PET showed >98% rejection of MgCl 2 and 78% rejection of caffeine with a permeate flux of 16 LMH at 25 bar. The 0.1-NH 2 -CuO-MCM-41inhibited S. aureus growth by 51.7%. Hence, the current strategy of membrane fabrication proved to be highly efficient for multipurpose applications in water treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Appropriate surface wettability of membranes and materials are of an extreme importance for targeting separation of mixtures/emulsions such as oil from water or conversely water from oil. The development of super-wettable membranes and materials surfaces have shown remarkable potential for recovering water from oil-water emulsion while offering maximum resistance to fouling. The availability of clean and potable water has been regarded as an important global challenge for coming human generations. Oil and gas industry is continuously producing immense quantities of waste stream regarded as produced water which contains oil dispersed in water along with other several components. Treating such immense quantities of oily wastewater is of utmost need for recovering precious water for possible reuse or safe disposal. Various technologies have been developed for targeting the separation of oil-water emulsions or mixtures to harness useful potable water and oil as products. Membrane-based separations or use of porous materials such as mesh have been explored in literature for separation of oil-water mixtures/emulsions. Given the unique features of special hydrophilicity, ease of tunability, control of molecular weight, abundant availability, and potential for commercial scale up, chitosan has been extensively used for modifying membranes/meshes or preparing composites with other materials for oil-water separations. This review has described in detail the synthesis, methods of modification and application of chitosan-based super-wettable membranes/meshes and porous materials for oil-water separation. The special wettability features including super-hydrophobicity/superoleophilicity, super-oleophobicity/super-hydrophilicity and super-hydrophilicity/underwater super-oleophobicity of various chitosan-based membranes and materials have been discussed in detail in the review. The strategies for enhancing or developing special wettability for target specific applications have also been discussed. Finally, the challenges, their respective importance have been identified along with a discussion on possible solutions to these challenges., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Membrane-based oil−water separation has shown huge potential as a remedy to challenge oily wastewater with ease and low energy consumption compared to conventional purification techniques. A set of new composite ceramic membranes was fabricated to separate surfactant-stabilized oil/water (O/W) emulsion. Carbide-derived carbon (CDC) was functionalized by 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APTES) and subsequently deposited on a ceramic alumina support and impregnated with piperazine as an additional amine. The APTES functionalized CDC-loaded membrane was then crosslinked using terephthalyol chloride (TPC). Different loadings of functionalized CDC (50 mg, 100 mg and 200 mg) were employed on the ceramic support resulting in three versions of ceramic membranes (M-50, M-100 and M-200). The fabricated membranes were thoroughly characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Attenuated total teflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and elemental mapping. The highest permeate flux of 76.05 LMH (L m−2 h−1) at 1 bar using 67.5 ppm oil-in-water emulsion (as feed) was achieved by the M-50 membrane, while an oil separation efficiency of >99% was achieved by using the M-200 membrane. The tested emulsions and their respective permeates were also characterized by optical microscopy to validate the O/W separation performance of the best membrane (M-100). The effect of feed concentration and pressure on permeate flux and oil−water separation efficiency was also studied. A long-term stability test revealed that the M-100 membrane retained its performance for 720 min of continuous operation with a minor decrease in permeate flux, but the O/W separation efficiency remained intact.

Semiconducting membranes integrated with nanomaterials have placed themselves in new emerging researches tremendously for seawater desalination, oil-water separation, disinfection, removal of inorganic as well as organic pollutants. Howbeit, only nanoparticles unified membranes show quite a lot lags in their performance, although some of these particles associated with the demerits of high cost. In contrast, graphitic carbon nitride incorporated membranes offered improved aforementioned properties corresponding to absolute essential qualities such as cost-effective, environmentally friendly, easy-to-operate, green manufacturing, anti-fouling, and low energy consumption. Moreover, their high mechanical strength, high stability against harsh environment and long-term utilization without flux reduction are strong plus. Even though there are some undeniable downsides of these membranes in real world applications as bulk synthesis, consistent dispersion of graphitic carbon nitride, low photocatalytic efficiency etc. Accordingly, in the present article, these frailties of the membranes having graphitic carbon nitride as a filler and their respective synthesis procedures and properties are discussed. A comprehensive analysis over the application of semiconducting graphitic carbon nitride incorporated membranes with and without special surface modification; and exploration of the future challenges and difficulties associated to these membranes are also reviewed. Consequently, the current article provides brief overview about graphitic carbon nitride integrated composite membranes as well as their applications, and it finished up with new thoughts of further improvements/modifications to overcome their shortcomings in actual environmental conditions., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article reviews the application of highly heat and pressure resistant polyimide material for the development of membranes/materials that exhibit unique super-wettability, the characteristics pivotal for the efficient separation of oil-water mixture and emulsion. The polymerization of imide monomer in polyimide brings about the required porosity in the material, which in turn renders the crucial surface roughness, which is instrumental for establishing the desired super-wettability on the polyimide based membrane materials, in addition to the mechanical and thermal robustness. The membrane as the oil-water filtering medium can be either oil passing or water passing depends on the individual wettability of the membrane surface for oil and water, which in turn depend on the respective solid-liquid interfacial energy and the hierarchical surface roughness. Superhydrophobic/superoleophobic wetting characteristic of the surface repels water and allows oil to pass through the membrane medium, and the major disadvantage of this kind of oil/water separation is the rapid oil fouling of the membrane pores and the consequent less efficiency for oil water separation. On the other hand, the membrane surface engineered to have the Superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic wetting characteristics can be water passing, and the easy fouling of the membrane surface can be minimized. In the case of polyimide materials, there are lot of scopes to engineer the physical properties like surface energy and surface roughness of the membrane surface in order to obtain the required wettability. There have been many works focused on the application of different variants of polyimide materials for developing membrane for oil water separation. In this review, we present an itemized review of various works on polyimide materials based oil/water separation in terms of chemical, physical, structural and surface characteristics of the material., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Fouling not only deteriorates the membrane structure but also compromises the quality of the permeate and has deleterious consequences on the membrane operation. In the current study, a commercial thin film composite nanofiltration membrane (NF90) was modified by sequentially depositing oppositely charged polycation (poly(allylamine hydrochloride)) and polyanion (poly(acrylic acid)) polyelectrolytes using the layer-by-layer assembly method. The water contact angle was decreased by ~10° after the coating process, indicating increased hydrophilicity. The surface roughness of the prepared membranes decreased from 380 nm (M-0) to 306 nm (M-10) and 366 nm (M-20). M-10 membrane showed the highest permeate flux of 120 L m -2 h -1 with a salt rejection of >98% for MgSO 4 and NaCl. The fabricated membranes M-20 and M-30 showed 15% improvement in fouling resistance and maintained the initial permeate flux longer than the pristine membrane.

In this study, the samples of the ZnFe 2 O 4 (ZFO) spinel ferrites nanoparticles (SFNPs), Co 0.5 Ni 0.5 Ga 0.01 Gd 0.01 Fe 1.98 O 4 (CNGaGdFO) SFNPs and (Co 0.5 Ni 0.5 Ga 0.01 Gd 0.01 Fe 1.98 O 4 ) x /(ZnFe 2 O 4 ) y ( x : y = 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1) (CNGaGdFO) x /(ZFO) y spinel ferrite nanocomposites (NC) have been synthesized by both sol-gel and Green pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) approaches. All products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM), elemental mappings and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). It was objected to tune the magnetic properties of a soft spinel ferrite material with a softer one by mixing them with different fractions. Some key findings are as follows. M-H investigations revealed the exhibition of ferrimagnetic phases for all synthesized samples (except ZnFe 2 O 4 ) that were synthesized by sol-gel or PLAL methods at both 300 K and 10 K. ZnFe 2 O 4 ferrite NPs exhibits almost paramagnetic feature at 300 K and glass-like phase at very low temperatures below 19.23 K. At RT analyses, maximum saturation magnetization ( M S ) of 66.53 emu/g belongs to nanocomposite samples that was synthesized by sol-gel method and x:y ratio of 1:3. At 10 K analyses, M S , max = 118.71 emu/g belongs to same nanocomposite samples with ratio of 1:3. Maximum coercivities are 625 Oe belonging to CNGaGdFO and 3564 Oe belonging to NC sample that was obtained by sol-gel route having the 3:1 ratio. Squareness ratio (SQRs = M r / M S ) of NC sample (sol-gel, 4:1 ratio) is 0.371 as maximum and other samples have much lower values until a minimum of 0.121 (laser, 3:1) assign the multi-domain wall structure for all samples at 300 K. At 10 K data, just CNGaGdFO has 0.495 SQR value assigning single domain nature. The maximum values of effective crystal anisotropy constant ( K eff ) are 5.92 × 10 4 Erg/g and 2.4 × 10 5 Erg/g belonging to CNGaGdFO at 300 K and 10 K, respectively. Further, this sample has an internal anisotropy field H a of 1953 Oe as largest at 300 K. At 10 K another sample (sol-gel, 3:1 ratio) has H a,max of 11138 Oe which can also be classified as a soft magnetic material similar to other samples. Briefly, most magnetic parameters of NCs that were synthesized by sol-gel route are stronger than magnetic parameters of the NCs that were synthesized by PLAL at both temperatures. Some NC samples were observed to have stronger magnetic data as compared to magnetic parameters of Co 0.5 Ni 0.5 Ga 0.01 Gd 0.01 Fe 1.98 O 4 NPs at 10 K.

Objective: Different simulation modalities may be utilised in a curricular fashion to benefit from the strengths of each training model. The aim of this study is to evaluate a novel multi-modality ureterorenoscopy (URS) simulation curriculum in terms of educational value, content validity, transfer of skills and inter-rater reliability., Methods: This international prospective study recruited urology residents (n = 46) with ≤ 10 URS experience and no prior simulation training. Participants were guided through each phase of the expert-developed SIMULATE URS curriculum by trainers and followed-up in the operating room (OR). Video recordings were obtained during training. A post-training evaluation survey was distributed to evaluate content validity and educational value, using descriptive statistics. Performance was evaluated using the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) scale to measure improvement in scores throughout the curriculum. Pearson's correlation coefficient and Cohen's kappa tests were utilised to investigate correlation and agreement between raters., Results: Participants reported gaining OR-transferrable skills (Mean: 4.33 ± 0.67) and demonstrated marked improvement in throughout the curriculum, transferred to the OR for both semi-rigid URS (p = 0.004) and flexible URS (p = 0.007). 70% of participants were successfully followed-up in the OR (n = 32). No differences were identified with the additional use of fresh frozen cadavers (p = 0.85, p = 0.90) and the URO Mentor VR simulator (p = 0.13, p = 0.22). A moderate level of correlation was noted on the video OSATS assessments, between two expert assessors (r = 0.70), but a poor agreement with the live rating., Conclusion: The SIMULATE URS training curriculum received high educational value from participants, who demonstrated statistically significant improvement with consecutive cases throughout the curriculum and transferability of skills to the OR in both semi-rigid and flexible URS., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Urolithiasis is one of the most common presentations in urological practice and it is becoming increasingly important to provide structured, simulation-based training using validated training models. This systematic review aims to identify current simulation-based training models and to evaluate their validity and effectiveness. Methods: Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a comprehensive search was performed on the Medline and EMBASE databases for English language articles published between 2000 and 2018 describing and/or assessing validity of simulation models for urolithiasis procedures. Studies were qualitatively assessed for validity using the Messick validity framework and models were assigned levels of recommendation using the McGaghie model of translational outcomes. Results: A total of 98 studies were included in this study assessing 51 models, with 28 studies concerning models for urethrocystoscopy, 46 studies for ureterorenoscopy, and 39 studies for percutaneous access and/or nephrolithotomy. Only four models demonstrated a level of recommendation of 4. The most validated models were the URO/PERC-Mentor (Simbionix, Lod, Israel) with multiple studies for each across various procedural skills. Conclusion: There is a wide spectrum of simulation-based models currently available for urolithiasis procedures, mostly with limited validity evidence from small studies. Further research is required with higher levels of evidence including randomized controlled trials. In addition, long-term transfer of skills to the operating room should be assessed to establish whether there is genuine skill development and retention using simulation models and whether this helps to reduce surgical complications.

The present study reports the preparation of cadmium sulfide (CdS) loaded zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured semiconductor material and its anti-bioactivity studies against cancerous and fungus cells. For composite preparation, two different mass ratios of CdS (10 and 20%) were loaded on ZnO (10%CdS/ZnO, 20%CdS/ZnO) using a 532 nm pulsed laser ablation in water media. The structural and morphological analyses confirmed the successful loading of nanoscaled CdS on the surface of ZnO particles, ZnO particles were largely spherical with average size ~50 nm, while CdS about 12 nm in size. The elemental and electron diffraction analyses reveal that the prepared composite, CdS/ZnO contained both CdS and ZnO, thus reaffirming the production of CdS loaded ZnO. The microscopic examination and MTT assay showed the significant impact of ZnO, CdS, and CdS loaded ZnO on human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116 cells). Our results show that the prepared ZnO had better anticancer activities than individual CdS, and CdS loaded ZnO against cancerous cells. For antifungal efficacy, as-prepared nanomaterials were investigated against Candida albicans by examining minimum inhibitory/fungicidal concentration (MIC/MFC) and morphogenesis. The lowest MIC (0.5 mg/mL), and MFC values (1 mg/mL) were found for 10 and 20%CdS/ZnO. Furthermore, the morphological analyses reveal the severe damage of the cell membrane upon exposure of Candida strains to nanomaterials. The present study suggests that ZnO, CdS, and CdS loaded ZnO nanostructured materials possess potential anti-cancer and anti-fungal activities., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Over the past few years, oil-water separation techniques have been widely researched due to influences of oil pollution. The oil pollution is significantly increasing day-by-day because of ever-increasing usage of oil in daily routine of humans and industrial activities. The separation of water from oil-water emulsions/mixtures through membrane technology has provided absolute necessary qualities such as low cost, eco-friendly, easy-operation and energy efficient. To build up the filter membranes with special super-wettability properties and bearing excellent multifunctional applications is highly attractive research area in current decade. However, evolution of membrane technology suffered many deficiencies including severe fouling, short-standing against high flow speed, surface wettability disorders, non-reusable and limited application. In this review article, we outline the recent advances in membrane technology with respect to special super-wettability properties, enhanced characteristics for purpose to serve oil-water separation, and more specifically its multifunctional applications. Therefore, this study is made for membranes having other than applications, in addition to oil-water separation. Further, the wetting phenomenon of these multifunctional membranes is addressed and highlighted the brief overview of surface wetting types including Superhydrophobic-Superoleophilic membranes, Superhydrophilic-Superoleophobic membranes, and Superhydrophilic-underwater Superoleophobic membranes. Moreover, relative fabrication procedures and multifunctional applications of developed multifunctional super-wetting membranes are also discussed along with wetting behavior. Finally, the current developments and achievements for oil-water separation multifunctional super-wetting membranes are concluded. Besides, it also explores the future challenges and obstacles associated to these membranes. Hence, this article provides brief overview of advancement of oil-water separation based multifunctional super-wetting membranes and ended with new thoughts of further modification/enhancement., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the present research work, copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites were synthesized for the first time using advanced pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) technique for disinfection of drug-resistant pathogenic waterborne biofilm-producing bacterial strains. For this, a series of copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites were synthesized by varying the composition of copper oxide (5%, 10%, and 20%) with titanium dioxide. The pure titanium dioxide and copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites were characterized by advanced instrumental techniques. XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, EDX, elemental mapping and XPS analysis results consistently revealed the successful formation of copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites using PLAL technique. The antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of pure titanium dioxide and copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites were investigated against biofilm-producing strains of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by various methods. Our results revealed that the PLAL synthesized copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites showed enhanced anti-biofilm and antibacterial activity compared to pure titanium dioxide in a dose-dependent manner against targeted pathogens. Furthermore, the effects of pure titanium dioxide and copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites on bacterial morphology, biofilm formation, aggregation and their colonization by targeted pathogens were also examined using scanning electron microscopy. Microscopic images clearly showed that the cell envelope of almost all the cells were rumples, rough, had irregularities and abnormal appearance with the major damage being characterized by the formation of "pits". Many depressions and indentations were also seen in their cell envelope and the original shape of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells changed from normal rod to swollen, large and elongated which indicates the loss of membrane integrity and damage of cell wall and membrane. The findings suggested that PLAL synthesized copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites have good potential for removal of biofilm or killing of pathogenic bacteria in water distribution network and for wastewater treatment, hospital and environmental applications. In addition, cytotoxic activity of pure TiO 2 and PLAL synthesized copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites against normal and healthy cells (HEK-293) and cancerous cells (HCT-116) were also evaluated by MTT assay. The MTT assay results showed no cytotoxic effects on HEK-293 cells, which suggest TiO 2 and PLAL synthesized copper oxide-titanium dioxide nanocomposites are non-toxic to the normal cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The author declares no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The photo catalytic degradation, a proven chemical process used for the decontamination of organic/inorganic pollutants and microorganisms in water was implemented. In this work for the selective killing of cervical cancer cells ( HeLa cells ) by using nano-composite of ZnO (Zinc Oxcide), WO 3 (tungsten oxide) and ( n-WO 3 /ZnO ) as a photo-catalyst under the irradiation of visible light. All the three nanostructured semiconducting materials (WO3, ZnO and n-WO3/ZnO) were synthesized by facile chemical precipitation method and their morphological and optical characterization studies were carried out to elucidate the observed enhancement in the photo-catalytic killing of HeLa cancer cells with n-WO3/ZnO as a photo-catalyst. After 60 min of photo-catalytic reaction with n-WO 3 /ZnO as a photo-catalyst, a survival viability of HeLa cancer cells as low as 15% was achieved (nearly 85% of killing), as compared to 65% of HeLa cancer cell survival viability (nearly 35% of killing) with individual use of WO 3 and ZnO as photo-catalysts under the same irradiation and experimental conditions. This improved photo-catalytic killing of HeLa cancer cells using n-WO 3 /ZnO in the visible spectral region is attributed to the enhanced visible light absorption and reduced electron hole recombination, characteristically brought about in the n-WO 3 /ZnO composite material. As photo-catalytic killing of the cancer cells can be selective, localized and reasonably efficient, in principle, this method can be considered as a non-invasive targeted treatment option for killing any type of cancer cells. HeLa cells, in particular are the cervical cancer cell and the tumors in and around cervix, containing HeLa cells can be non-surgically accessed and photo-catalytically treated with appropriate photo-catalyst and light source., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

A visible-light-active nickel oxide-graphitic carbon nitride (NiO@g-CN) hetero-structured nanocomposite was synthesized for the first time by pulsed laser ablation in liquid and used as a photoanode material in photoelectrochemical water-splitting reaction with a solar simulator. It was found that the photoelectrochemical performance of PLAL synthesized NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode, compared to g-CN as photoanode showed fourfold enhancements in photocurrent density under visible light. FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX consistently showed the proper anchoring of nano-sized NiO on g-CN. UV-DRS and the band gap estimation showed the narrowing down of the band gap energy and consequent enhancement in the visible-light absorption, whereas photoluminescence spectroscopy confirmed the reduction of the recombination of photo-excited electron hole pairs as a result of the anchoring of NiO on g-CN. The photoelectrochemical performance of g-CN and the NiO@g-CN nanocomposite photoanodes was compared by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), Chronoamperometry (I-t), and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). All of these results of the characterization studies account for the observed fourfold enhancement of photocurrent density of NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode in the photoelectrochemical reaction.

Cadmium sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite was synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquid, and it was found from the results of optical and morphological characterizations that the proper anchoring of nanostructured cadmium sulfide on the nano-sheets of graphitic carbon nitride took place, which brought about the positive attributes such as enhanced visible light absorption and reduced photo-generated charge recombination, the key features required for an efficient photo-catalyst by solar light harvesting. The pulsed laser ablation in liquid method adopted for the synthesis of cadmium sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride has the following advantages: the shape and size of the synthesized particles can be controlled by altering the experimental parameters such as laser wavelength, pulse laser duration, the pH of the solution, the surfactants and the temperature of the solution, pulsed laser ablation in liquid method neither requires cumbersome equipment nor does it require intermediate chemicals and catalysts nor does it necessitate the post synthesis purification. The enhancement of photo-catalytic activity of cadmium sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite was tested for the photo-catalytic deactivation of Escherichia coli bacteria in water under visible light radiation. As anticipated, a significant improvement of photo-catalytic deactivation was observed, which is attributed to the enhanced and extended light absorption in the visible spectral region, and the formation of herterojunction between the semiconductors, which is instrumental in inhibiting the undesired recombination of photo-generated charge carriers. Quantitatively, the presence of cadmium sulfide on the graphitic carbon nitride surface contributed to a remarkable 129% increase of photo-catalytic degradation constant compared to pure graphitic carbon nitride, which resulted in the decrease of total depletion time of Escherichia coli from 156 min to 67 min with the cadmium sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquid method. Our results on the efficient photo-catalytic deactivation of Escherichia coli under visible light assures that cadmium sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite can very well be used for photo-catalytic water purification by harvesting the abundant solar light., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chemotherapy, the most commonly used therapeutic method for cancer, has the inherent constraint of low bioavailability. A number of physical cancer therapeutic treatments like radiation, ultrasound, photo-acoustic/photo thermal, microwave therapies are based on locating the afflicted sites with the help of imaging, but the serious drawbacks of these treatment options are that they damage the neighboring normal tissues and/or induce undesired cancer metastasis. In addition, these methods of treatment are very expensive and not in the reach of a common man especially in the developing countries. Therefore, innovative, less invasive and cost effective treatment methods with the help of less toxic drugs have been sought for treating cancer. In this work, photo-catalytic method of killing cancer cells, using the nanostructured silver loaded tungsten oxide (Ag/WO 3 ) as photo-catalysts, in conjunction with broadband UV radiation is presented. Ag/WO 3 with two different mass ratios of Ag and WO 3 (1% Ag/WO 3 and 3% Ag/WO 3 ) were synthesized, characterized and these nanostructured materials served as photo-catalysts in the process of killing cancer cells by photo-catalytic method. The advantage of loading Ag in WO 3 is quite evident from the observed increase in the photo-catalytic killing of the HeLa cells. This photo-catalytic enhancement was effectively caused by the development of Schottky junction between Ag in WO 3 , which led to a substantial inhibition of photo-generated charge recombination and also by the stimulation of surface plasmon resonance in silver nanoparticles, which led to the enhanced visible light absorption by the material.

Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) wreaks havoc in the oil industry by being an agent for oil souring and building corrosion in pipelines and thereby degrade the quality of crude oil. Palladium nanoparticles decorated silicon carbide nanomaterial (Pd-SiC) was synthesized by a facile single step synthesis process and this nanomaterial as a photo-catalyst, as compared to pure silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles showed a significant enhancement in the photo-catalytic efficiency in the process of the photo-catalytic deactivation of hazardous SRB. The morphological characterization studies such as Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy unambiguously revealed that SiC surface was successfully decorated with palladium (Pd) nanoparticles. Also the Pd nanoparticles decorated on the SiC surface was further substantiated by EDX and elemental mapping analysis, which clearly revealed the presence of Pd along with Si and O. The band gap energy estimated using Diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) showed the reduction of band gap energy from 2.82 eV to 2.72 eV. The observed enhancement in the efficiency of photo-catalytic deactivation of SRB with Pd-SiC can be attributed to the significant reduction in the recombination of photo-generated charge carriers, characteristically resulting from the metal (Pd) semiconductor (SiC) junction established by this synthesis process., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this work, pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) technique was applied to synthesize colloidal nanoparticles of zirconium oxide (ZrO2) in three different aqueous media (de-ionized water, ethanol and acetone). The structure, morphology, composition and optical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and FT-IR analysis respectively. The structural analysis by XRD reveals the formation of mixture of monoclinic and tetragonal phases of nanocrystalline zirconia. The average crystallite sizes of ZrO2 by using Scherrer's formula were estimated to be 41.8, 42.6 and 40.3 nm in water, ethanol and acetone respectively for monoclinic phase while 20.1, 24.8 and 18.9 nm were for tetragonal phase of ZrO2 in water, ethanol and acetone respectively. Microstructure of our starting materials was confirmed from SEM analysis and morphology of the synthesized nanostructured ZrO2 was studied by TEM. TEM images show that the average particle size is less than 10 nm with spherical shapes. The XPS analysis reveals the elemental compositions of ZrO2 nanoparticles and their stoichiometric ratios. Optical properties of the synthesized ZrO2 nanoparticles were studied by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Uv-Vis absorption spectroscopy revealed that the nanoparticle produced in water has higher absorption due to higher NPs concentrations suspended in water. The band gap of the synthesized ZrO2 nanoparticles in water, ethanol and acetone were estimated from Tauc's plot to be 5.19, 5.22 and 4.94 eV respectively. FT-IR analysis also ascertained the functional groups of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the three liquid media.

Superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic surfaces were fabricated by facile spray coating of nanostructured WO 3 on stainless steel meshes and compared its performance in oil-water separation with ZnO coated meshes. The gravity driven oil-water separation system was designed using these surfaces as the separation media and it was noticed that WO 3 coated stainless steel mesh showed high separation efficiency (99%), with pore size as high as 150 µm, whereas ZnO coated surfaces failed in the process of oil-water separation when the pore exceeded 50 µm size. Since, nanostructured WO 3 is a well known catalyst, the simultaneous photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants present in the separated water from the oil water separation process were tested using WO 3 coated surfaces under UV radiation and the efficiency of this degradation was found to be quite significant. These results assure that with little improvisation on the oil water separation system, these surfaces can be made multifunctional to work simultaneously for oil-water separation and demineralization of organic pollutants from the separated water. Fabrication of the separating surface, their morphological characteristics, wettability, oil water separation efficiency and photo-catalytic degradation efficiency are enunciated.

In the present work, bismuth oxychloride nanoparticles-a light harvesting semiconductor photocatalyst-were synthesized by a facile hydrolysis route, with sodium bismuthate and hydroxylammonium chloride as the precursor materials. The as-synthesized semiconductor photocatalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. The crystal structure, morphology, composition, and optical properties of these facile synthesized bismuth oxychloride nanoparticles (BiOCl NPs) were compared to those of traditional bismuth oxychloride. In addition, the photocatalytic performance of facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs and traditional BiOCl, as applied to the removal of hazardous organic dyes under visible light illumination, is thoroughly investigated. Our results reveal that facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs display strong UV-Vis light adsorption, improved charge carrier mobility and an inhibited rate of charge carrier recombination, when compared to traditional BiOCl. These enhancements result in an improved photocatalytic degradation rate of hazardous organic dyes under UV-Vis irradiance. For instance, the facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs attained 100% degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange dyes in approximately 30 mins under UV-Vis irradiation, against 55% degradation for traditional BiOCl under similar experimental conditions.

Cancer and pathogenic microbial diseases have terribly affected human health over a longer period of time. In response to the increasing casualties due to cancer and microbial diseases, unique poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate composite were prepared via in-situ oxidative chemical polymerization in this work. The poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate composite were well characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. DNA binding studies by UV-Visible and fluorescence spectroscopic investigations indicated strong binding affinities of poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate nanocomposite; leading to structural damage of DNA. Poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate nanocomposite showed stronger interactions with DNA as compared to poly(3-methylthiophene) and from dye displacement assay it was confirmed that mode of binding of both the formulations was intercalative. The antimicrobial screening revealed that polymer and its composite displayed stronger antibacterial effects than ampicillin against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium. Besides, the poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate nanocomposite showed dose dependent effects towards estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (MCF-7) and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines; with poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate nanocomposite showing better activities against both cell lines. In all in-vitro biological investigations, poly(3-methylthiophene)-titanium(IV)phosphate composite showed superior properties to that of the pure poly(3-methylthiophene), which encouraged us to suggest its potential as future therapeutic gear in drug delivery and other allied fields., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is demonstrated for the spectral analysis of nutritional and toxic elements present in several varieties of date fruit samples available in the Saudi Arabia market. The method analyzes the optical emission of a test sample when subjected to pulsed laser ablation. In this demonstration, our primary focus is on calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), as nutritional elements, and on chromium (Cr), as a toxic element. The local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) condition was confirmed prior to the elemental characterization of date samples to ensure accuracy of the LIBS analysis. This was achieved by measuring parameters associated with the plasma, such as the electron temperature and the electron number density. These plasma parameters aid interpretation of processes such as ionization, dissociation, and excitation occurring in the plasma plume formed by ablating the date palm sample. The minimum detection limit was established from calibration curves that involved plotting the LIBS signal intensity as a function of standard date samples with known concentrations. The concentration of Ca and Mg detected in different varieties of date samples was between 187 and 515 and 35-196mgL(-1) respectively, while Cr concentration measured between 1.72 and 7.76mgL(-1). In order to optimize our LIBS system, we have studied how the LIBS signal intensity depends on the incident laser energy and the delay time. In order to validate our LIBS analysis results, standard techniques such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were also applied on an identical (duplicate) date samples as those used for the LIBS analysis. The LIBS results exhibit remarkable agreement with those obtained from the ICP-MS analysis. In addition, the finger print wavelengths of other elements present in date samples were also identified and are reported here, which has not been previously reported, to the best of our knowledge., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The effect of mechanical stirring on sol-gel synthesis of thorn-like ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and antimicrobial activities is successfully reported in this study. The in-house synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, TGA, DSC and UV-visible spectroscopy. The X-Ray Diffraction analysis revealed the wurtzite crystal lattice for ZnO-NPs with no impurities present. The diametric measurements of the synthesized thorn-like ZnO-NPs (morphology assessed by SEM) were well accounted to be less than 50 nm with the help of TEM. Relative decrease in aspect ratio was observed on increasing the agitation speed. The UV-visible spectroscopy showed the absorption peaks of the ZnO-NPs existed in both UVA and UVB region. A hypsochromic shift in λmax was observed when stirring pace was increased from 500 rpm to 2000 rpm. The FTIR spectroscopy showed the absorption bands of the stretching modes of Zn-O between 500 cm(-1) to 525 cm(-1). The Thermal analysis studies revealed better stability for ZnO-NPs prepared at 2000 rpm (ZnO-2000 rpm). TGA revealed the weight loss between two main temperatures ranges viz. around (90 °C-120 °C) and (240 °C-280 °C). Finally, the effect of ZnO-NPs prepared at different stirring conditions on the growth of Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis), Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria and a fungi (Candida albicans) were examined; which showed good antibacterial as well as antifungal properties. These findings introduce a simple, inexpensive process to synthesize ZnO-NPs using conventional methods without the use of sophisticated equipments and its application as a potent nano-antibiotic.

Tea is one of the most common and popular beverages spanning vast array of cultures all over the world. The main nutritional benefits of drinking tea are its anti-oxidant properties, presumed protection against certain cancers, inhibition of inflammation and possible protective effects against diabetes. Laser induced breakdown spectrometer (LIBS) was assembled as a powerful tool for qualitative and quantitative analysis of various brands of tea samples using 266 nm pulsed UV laser. LIBS spectra for six brands of tea samples in the wavelength range of 200-900 nm was recorded and all elements present in our tea samples were identified. The major toxic elements detected in several brands of tea samples were bromine, chromium and minerals like iron, calcium, potassium and silicon. The spectral assignment was conducted prior to the determination of concentration of each element. For quantitative analysis, calibration curves were drawn for each element using standard samples prepared in known concentration in the tea matrix. The plasma parameters (electron temperature and electron density) were also determined prior to the tea samples spectroscopic analysis. The concentration of iron, chromium, potassium, bromine, copper, silicon and calcium detected in all tea samples was between 378-656, 96-124, 1421-6785, 99-1476, 17-36, 2-11 and 92-130 mg L(-1) respectively. The limits of detection estimated for Fe, Cr, K, Br, Cu, Si, Ca in tea samples were 22, 12, 14, 11, 6, 1 and 12 mg L(-1) respectively. To further confirm the accuracy of our LIBS results, we determined the concentration of each element present in tea samples by using standard analytical technique like ICP-MS. The concentrations detected with our LIBS system are in excellent agreement with ICP-MS results. The system assembled for spectral analysis in this work could be highly applicable for testing the quality and purity of food and also pharmaceuticals products., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Malaria has been teasing human populations from a long time. Presently, several classes of antimalarial drugs are available in market, but the issues of toxicity, lower efficacy and the resistance by malarial parasites have decreased their overall therapeutic indices. Thus, the search for new promising antimalarials continues, however, the battle against malaria is far from over. Ferroquine is a derivative of chloroquine with antimalarial properties. It is the most successful of the chloroquine derivatives. Not only ferroquine, but also its derivatives have shown promising potential as antimalarials of clinical interest. Presently, much research is dedicated to the development of ferroquine derivatives as safe alternatives to antimalarial chemotherapy. The present article describes the structural, chemical and biological features of ferroquine. Several classes of ferroquine derivatives including hydroxyferroquines, trioxaferroquines, chloroquine-bridged ferrocenophanes, thiosemicarbazone derivatives, ferrocene dual conjugates, 4-N-substituted derivatives, and others have been discussed. Besides, the mechanism of action of ferroquine has been discussed. A careful observation has been made into pharmacologically significant ferroquine derivatives with better or equal therapeutic effects to that of chloroquine and ferroquine. A brief discussion of the toxicities of ferroquine derivatives has been made. Finally, efforts have been made to discuss the current challenges and future perspectives of ferroquine-based antimalarial drug development., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the electrically conducting polyaniline-titanium(IV)phosphate (PANI-TiP) cation exchange nanocomposite was synthesized by sol-gel method. The cation exchange nanocomposite based sensor for detection of ammonia vapors was developed at room temperature. It was revealed that the sensor showed good reversible response towards ammonia vapors ranging from 3 to 6%. It was found that the sensor with p-toluene sulphonic acid (p-TSA) doped exhibited higher sensing response than hydrochloric acid doped. This sensor has detection limit ≤1% ammonia. The response of resistivity changes of the cation exchange nanocomposite on exposure to different concentrations of ammonia vapors shows its utility as a sensing material. These studies suggest that the cation exchange nanocomposite could be a good material for ammonia sensor at room temperature., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)