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In our current endeavor, 3-dimensional (3D) tungsten oxide (WO3) nanostructures (nanocubes, nanobars and nanobricks) have been swiftly generated via hydrothermal route at 160 °C for 24 h. Physico-chemical characterization of the resultant powder revealed formation of WO3 nanostructures with predominantly faceted cube, brick and rectangular bar-like morphology. The present study was also aimed at exploring the antimicrobial and anticancer potential of WO3 nanostructures. Antimicrobial activity was tested against different micro-organisms viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus fumigatus. The antibacterial and antifungal activity was ascertained against these micro-organisms by measuring the diameter of inhibition zone in agar well diffusion test which revealed that the resultant WO3 nanostructures acted as excellent antibacterial agents against both bacteria and fungi but were more effective against the fungus, A. fumigatus. To examine the growth curves of bacterial cells, time kill assay was monitored for E. coli, against which significant antibacterial action of WO3 nanostructures was noted. The anti-cancer activity of WO3 nanostructures was found to be concentration-dependent against KB cell line by viable cell count method. In our pilot study, WO3 nanostructures suspension with concentration in the range of 10−1 to 10−5 mg/ml was found to kill KB cells effectively.

We report tunable-morphology oriented facile yet scalable route to synthesize 1D (nanorod) and 2D (nanobelt) MoO3 nanostructures at gram scale using conventional as well as sonochemistry assisted sol–gel technique. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the samples can be befittingly altered by varying the synthesis protocol. The resultant orthorhombic MoO3 nanomorphs demonstrated efficient and expeditious photocatalytic degradation of the pollutant dye, Methylene Blue (MB). We have observed that appreciable photocatalytic MB dye-degradation can be accomplished within 30 minutes with high rate constants of 0.0786 min−1 and 0.233 min−1 for rod and belt-like MoO3-nanostructures, respectively. The pilot results indicate that the resultant MoO3 nanomorphs can be potentially used as solar light driven industrial photocatalyst material with their intrinsic photostability.

In our current endeavor, 3-dimensional (3D) tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanostructures (nanocubes, nanobars and nanobricks) have been swiftly generated via hydrothermal route at 160 °C for 24 h. Physico-chemical characterization of the resultant powder revealed formation of WO₃ nanostructures with predominantly faceted cube, brick and rectangular bar-like morphology. The present study was also aimed at exploring the antimicrobial and anticancer potential of WO₃ nanostructures. Antimicrobial activity was tested against different micro-organisms viz.

Innovative colorimetric biosensing platform has been realized by in-situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles in silk-fibroin matrix derived from domesticated silkworm species Bombyx mori. As-synthesized nano-biocomposite dispersion was characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In a pilot attempt to develop hassle free on-site screening protocol, such green hybrid systems were explored for colorimetric detection of broad range of metal ion targets, viz. toxic heavy metals such as mercury and chromium (which adversely affect hydrosphere, lithosphere, anthroposphere and biosphere) as well as relatively less-toxic metals like copper and iron in a solution. Quite interestingly, our simple biointerfacial-sensing approach reveals highly selective colorimetric sensor response down to ppb level for mercury ions analyte.

We report

We, herein, report the antimicrobial properties of uncapped silver nanoparticles for a Gram positive model organism, Bacillus subtilis. Uncapped silver nanoparticles have been prepared using less-explored DC arc thermal plasma technique by considering its large scale generation capability. It is observed that the resultant nanoparticles show size as well as optical property dependent antimicrobial effect.

Herein we report an extremely simple one-pot synthesis of lead sulphide nanorods inside the engineering thermoplastic (i.e. polyphenylene sulphide) which plays a dual role of stabilizing matrix as well as a chalcogen source. The effect of molar ratios of the reactants on the morphology of the samples was studied. The prima facie observations suggest the effective formation of 1-D PbS nanorods along with cubic lead as an impurity phase. The average aspect ratio is found to be approximately 4 to 42 depending upon the reactant molar ratio.