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Natural fiber-based hybrid composites have been explored in this study as possible structural materials. Detailed investigation of sound insulation property of a series of hybrid and nonhybrid composites has been carried out using impedance tube having four microphones. Hybrid biocomposites were prepared with chopped and randomly oriented coir and banana fibers. Polypropylene was used as a matrix and compression molding technique was used for composite fabrication. The ratio of both fibers in hybrid biocomposites was maintained at 1:1. The effect of fiber loading and arrangement of fibers on sound insulation property of composites was investigated. It was found that fiber loading and hybridization bear a significant role in improving sound insulation property of hybrid composites. Experimental results showed that increase in fiber loading considerably improved the sound insulation up to a certain limit. The sound insulation property of hybrid and nonhybrid composites has been subsequently discussed. The results showed that sound insulation performance can be customized by structural parameters such as volume fraction, dispersion, ratio, and placement of fibers with respect to sound source, without necessitating a change in raw material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fluorescent gel has been prepared by deprotonation of non-fluorescent adipic acid derived ligand (H4AL) with LiOH followed by coordination with Cd(II) in DMF. The mechanism of gelation is examined by IR, 1H NMR, UV-vis, Job's plot, PXRD, SEM and TEM. Chelation enhanced fluorescence by Cd(II) has been established by fluorescence experiments. In addition to synthesis and characterization of this gel, we compared the gel properties by varying the core of the ligand using citric (H6CL) acid derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to develop, optimize and evaluate a nanoemulsion (NE) of Amphotericin B (AmB) using excipients with inherent antifungal activities (Candida albicansandAspergillus niger) for topical delivery. AmB-loaded NE was prepared using Capmul PG8 (CPG8), labrasol and polyethylene glycol-400 by spontaneous titration method and evaluated for mean particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and zone of inhibition (ZOI). NE6 composed of CPG8 (15%w/w), Smix(24%w/w) and water (61%w/w) was finally selected as optimized NE. AmB-NE6 was studied for improvedin vitrorelease,ex vivoskin permeation and deposition using the Franz diffusion cell across the rat skin followed with drug penetration using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) as compared to drug solution (DS) and commercial Fungisome®. The results ofin vitrostudies exhibited the maximum ZOI value of NE6 as 19.1 ± 1.4 and 22.8 ± 2.0 mm againstA. nigerandC. albicans, respectively, along with desired globular size (49.5 ± 1.5 nm), zeta potential (−24.59 mV) and spherical morphology. AmB-NE6 revealed slow and sustained release of AmB as compared to DS in buffer solution (pH 7.4). Furthermore, AmB-NE6 elicited the highest flux rate (22.88 ± 1.7 μg/cm2/h) as compared to DS (2.7 ± 0.02 μg/cm2/h) and Fungisome®(11.5 ± 1.0 μg/cm2/h). Moreover, the enhancement ratio and drug deposition were found to be highest in AmB-NE6 than DS across the stratum corneum barrier. Finally, CLSM results corroborated enhanced penetration of the AmB-NE6 across the skin as compared to Fungisome®and DS suggesting an efficient, stable and sustained topical delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]