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Phytotoxicity or allelopathy means poisonous results by a composite on plant growth, composites may be trace metals, pesticides salinity or phytotoxins . Some of the medicinal plants have phytotoxic activities which inhibit the growth of weeds and unwanted plants which are not of our desire. The present study is aimed to investigate the phytotoxic assessment of Centaurea pullata methanolic extract (CPME) roots. Dried plant were ground and extracted with methanol to prepare methanol crude extract. In-vitro phytotoxicity activity was conducted using these methanolic extracts as per standard procedures. The inhibitory effect of Centaurea pullata extract is tested on stalk and root of Portulaca oleracea and using four concentrations (3, 1.5, 0.75 and 0.37mg/ml) of plant extract and distal water in control. The result is noted on 5 th and 10 th days. The results obtained from these experiments showed that the crude methanolic extract of Centaurea pullata slightly inhibits the roots and shoots of Portulaca oleracea seeds as compared to the control plate which was not treated by the above mentioned sample extracts shown in Figures as. From the results obtained that, Phytotoxicity activity of Centaurea pullata methanolic extract showed non-significant results. Purification and in vivo studies of these plant are required for further verification.

Currently, energy storage with superior efficiency, inferior cost and environmentally benign is a solemn matter for the humanity worldwide because of constantly escalating demands of energy. Considering this crisis, many productive approaches were proposed to meet the current and future necessities. However, research is still continuous to develop innovative pathways and to improve the existing methodologies. Supercapacitors have taken the superior position among the talented devices for energy storage. Nanomaterials based on graphene (GN) and metal oxides/hydroxides have emerged as much more pertinent and beneficial resources for supercapacitor devices. In this review, we consider advanced research steps towards various versatile designing strategies for GN-metal oxide/hydroxide composite materials. We portray here very recently demonstrated (latest research of years 2013–2015) supercapacitive manners of GN-metal oxide/hydroxide nanocomposites in terms of specific capacitance and cyclic stability. Furthermore, we accentuate the fabrication challenges and future perspectives of such materials for energy storage.

Commercially accessible and long-lasting resources of energy are among the foremost areas of current research. Supercapacitors have taken the position of very thoughtful candidates in the energy-storing field to meet the modern necessities. Several graphene-based materials have been employed for supercapacitor electrodes. Here, we demonstrated an economical and advanced hydrothermal technique using combination of two reducing materials (urea and starch) for the fabrication of reduced graphene oxide/zinc oxide (RGO/ZnO) composite. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis were carried out to study the structure and of RGO/ZnO composite. The supercapacitive behaviour of RGO/ZnO composite was studied via cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge experiments. The results showed enhanced specific capacitance (313.14 F g−1) with good cyclic stability (1000 cycles).

Graphene-based nanocomposite materials have drawn the serious attention of researchers due to their remarkable applications in the field of energy storage. Here, in the current work, the authors prepared various composite electrode materials composed of iron oxide and reduced graphene oxide. A simple cost-effective and one-step hydrothermal approach was employed, for the first time, using a combination of two reducing agents, namely urea and starch. The formation of composite materials was characterised using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical characteristics of the as-manufactured composite materials were explored using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. It was found that the iron oxide–reduced graphene oxide composite prepared by using two reducing agents exhibits higher specific capacitance (286.6 F g− 1) at scan rate of 5 mV s− 1 in 1M KOH solution.

In this study, we report the successful reduction of graphene oxide (GO) with cost effective and environment friendly methods. In the first method, we irradiated GO with highly energetic UV laser to obtain reduced GO (rGO). Moreover, Ag and Ni nanoparticles (NPs) were also productively deposited on rGO by in situ reduction of metal salts with ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation. In the second method, we employed neem leaf extract as reducing agent to synthesise rGO decorated with Ag and Ni NPs in a one-step approach. The reduction of GO as well as the deposition of Ag and Ni NPs on rGO was examined by Raman spectroscopy. We also performed ultraviolet–visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and SEM analysis to observe absorption in UV-vis range, crystallographic orientations and surface morphology of rGO-NPs composites respectively. Both the reducing sources were found efficient for the reduction of GO and successful deposition of metal NPs on the surface of rGO via in situ reduction of metal salts...

The present study is aimed to investigate the phytochemical screening and biological activities of methanolic extract of Cyperus scariosus roots. Dried plant was grounded and extracted with methanol to prepare methanol crud extract. In vitro biological tests were conducted using this methanolic extracts according to the standard procedure. 100% death rate of brine shrimp was perceived at 3 mg/mL of plant extract after 72 hours. The extract showed action against Aspergillus flavius i.e. 90% followed by A. niger (91%) while the highest activity was shown against A. fumegatrus (94%). Important scavenging results were detected during scavenging of free radicals viz; 92.2% against DPPH, 82.2% to ABTS, 75.8% to hydrogen peroxide, 88.1% to β-carotene, 86.1% to hydroxyl radical and 89.4% against phosphomolybdate at 3 mg/mL were obtained. The results obtained in this study point out that extract showed significant biological activities which might be due to the presence of bioactive constituents.