Development and characterization of ZnO, Au/ZnO and Pd/ZnO thin films through their adsorptive and catalytic properties

Structures and optical properties of zinc oxide nanoclusters: a combined experimental and theoretical approach

CONTEXT

In this study, theoretical and experimental analysis of the electrical, optical, and structural properties of a wurtzite-like zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructure has been done. To investigate how quantum confinement affects the optical characteristics, two distinct ZnO clusters in nanowire structures have been investigated. The [(ZnO)₅₅(H₂O)₄] system's HOMO-LUMO band gap (BG) was calculated to be 2.99 eV, which is quite close to the experimental measurement. It was found that the BG decreases with the increase in the number of atoms in the cluster in connection with the quantum confinement in nanoclusters. In addition, the lowest excitation energy in TD-DFT calculations of the identical system is in fairly good agreement with the experimental value with a difference of 0.1 eV. We conclude that the CAM-B3LYP functional has highly successful in reproducing the experimental data reported in the present study and previously reported experimental data.

METHODS

The geometrical optimization of two different sizes of ZnO clusters ([(ZnO)25(H2O)4] and [ZnO)55(H2O)4]) was performed using the CAM-B3LYP functional with no symmetry constraints applied in the gas phase. LANL2DZ basis sets were used for the Zinc (Zn) atom and 6-31G* basis sets for the O and H atoms. To determine their optical and electronic properties, excited state calculations of the pre-optimized structures were performed using the Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. Multiwfn, Gaussum 3.0, and GaussView 5.0 programs were used to visualize the results.

Zinc oxide and gold textured Janus nanowire integration in an impedimetric sensor for leptospirosis DNA-biomarker recognition

A "Janus particle" refers to the production of two materials in a single system and shows a difference in physical characteristics, and two surfaces participate in the formation with different chemistries. This research generated the Janus using a hybrid of zinc oxide (ZnO) and gold (Au) on the sensor surface toward making high-performance DNA sensors. The Janus ZnO/Au-textured film was synthesized via the one-step sol-gel method, which involves a suitable ratio of a mixture of ZnO sol seed solution. The synthesized Janus ZnO/Au-textured film undergoes a low-temperature aqueous hydrothermal route to synthesize quasi-one-dimensional nanowires. The average grain size in the Janus ZnO/Au nanotextured wire was 41.60 nm. The fabricated nanotextured wire was further optimized by tuning the thickness and characterized by XRD and high-resolution microscopy. Electrical characterization was conducted on the Janus ZnO/Au nanotextured wire coupled with an interdigitated electrode sensor to detect the specific leptospirosis DNA strand. The generated device is capable of detecting lower DNA concentration at 1 × 10^-13 M with a sensitivity of 8.54 MΩ M^-1 cm^-2 . The high performance is attained on linear concentrations of 10^-6 -10^-13 M with the determination coefficient, "I = 135437.63C-3609.07" R² = 0.9551. A potential strategy is proposed as a base for developing different high-performance sensors.

Structure-controlled lignin complex for PLA composites with outstanding antibacterial, fluorescent and photothermal conversion properties

Polylactic acid (PLA) is increasingly being considered as an ideal biodegradable candidate to replace petroleum-based polymers. However, its practical applications are often hampered by the poor mechanical robustness and solo functionality. Herein, based on the mechanical property improvement of PLA we proposed a simple process of assembling lignin-hybridized modifier and PLA matrix, as opposed to the traditional trade-off between mechanical strength and functionality, while anchoring a biofluorescent moiety onto lignin surfaces. Specifically, the fluorophore group could act as interfacial compatibilizer of complex and facilitate the shape-tailored hybrids for promoting functionality flexibility. With the bimetallic hetero-particles, the preferable lignin-assembled complex could be controllably configured as an antibacterial, fluorophore and photothermal agent. Thus, mechanical enhancement, fluorescence introduction and favorable photothermal ability of the resulting PLA composites were successfully achieved for integrated unification of structural robustness, geometric integrity and functional multiplicity, which was never seen in the other reports. The results showed that PLA composites containing 5 wt% modified lignin, 10 wt% zinc oxide, and 5 wt% silver presented excellent mechanical, fluorescent, photothermal conversion properties. By controlling the ZnO content and morphology, strong inhibition of Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) than that of Staphylococcus Aureus (Gram-positive) was also observed. The flake-shaped ZnO /Ag hybrids contributed to better overall performance of PLA composites than the rod-shaped ZnO/Ag. In this work we developed a facile strategy to assemble a bioderived fluorophore with lignin particles for constructing a structure-controlled complex as a multitasking modifier, featuring mechanical unity and functional adaptability. Specifically, the lignin reinforcement and bimetallic hybrids with different morphologies were explored as an effective fluorophore, antibacterial and photothermal agent. Through multiple dehydration reactions, a conjugating fluorophore was successfully grafted on lignin surfaces to serve as an interface modifier without physical changing its structural robustness. And morphology-tailored hybrid was advantageously immobilized on predefined hetero-particle carrier of fluorescent lignin and endowed composites with desirable antimicrobial properties. The developed strategy would expand the functional applications of PLA materials in food packaging, biopharmaceuticals and simple fluorescent anti-counterfeiting.

Air pollution effect of SO2 and/or aliphatic hydrocarbons on marble statues in Archaeological Museums

This study allowed the identification of the main physicochemical characteristics of deterioration of the materials used in the construction of Greek ancient statues in order to plan a correct methodology of restoration. The method of Reversed-Flow Inverse Gas Chromatography is appropriate to investigate the influence of air pollutants on authentic pieces from the Greek Archaeological Museum of Kavala, near Salonica. Six local physicochemical quantities which refer to the influence of one or two pollutants (synergistic effect) were determined for each system. These quantities answer the question "when, why and how materials of cultural heritage are attacked".

Time-resolved chromatographic analysis and mechanisms in adsorption and catalysis

The main object of this review is the study of fundamentals of adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis, a benefit for the understanding of adsorptive and catalytic properties. This work aims to define and record, with the utmost accuracy, the phenomena and the possible reactions. A new methodology for the study of the adsorption is presented, which is a version of the well-known inverse gas chromatography. This reversed-flow inverse gas chromatography (RF-IGC) is technically very simple, and it is combined with a mathematical analysis that gives the possibility for the estimation of various physicochemical parameters related to adsorbent or catalyst characterization, under conditions compatible with the operation of real adsorbents and catalysts. On this base, this methodology has been successfully applied to the study of the impact of air pollutants, volatile organic and/or inorganic, on many solids such as marbles, ceramics, oxide-pigments of works of art, building materials, authentic statues of the Greek Archaeological Museums. Moreover, this methodology proved to be a powerful tool for studying the topography of active sites of heterogeneous surfaces in the nano-scale domain. Thus, some very important local quantities for the surface chemistry have been determined experimentally for many solids including thin films. These physicochemical local quantities (among which adsorption energy and entropy, surface diffusion coefficient, probability density function) have been determined from the experimental pairs of height of extra chromatographic peaks and time by a nonlinear least-squares method, through personal computer programs written in GW BASIC and lately in FORTRAN. Through the time-resolved analysis the surface characterization of the examined materials took place. In addition, the kinetic constants responsible for adsorption/desorption and surface chemical reactions have also been calculated. Thus, important answers have been provided to the following essential questions: (1) Can RF-IGC define the gnostic regions of adsorption/desorption, surface diffusion, surface reaction? Yes, irrefutably and undeniably. (2) Can RF-IGC deal with issues of catalysis, the existence of more than one reaction? Certainly yes. Indeed, it is impressive to observe the reactions "on line". (3) Can RF-IGC identify peaks of products and reactants simultaneously? Certainly yes. (4) Can RF-IGC be applied to thin films in a nano-scale domain? The answer is "definitely yes". (5) Can it kinetically follow the above? Yes, again.