Synthesis of Uniform Size Rutile TiO2 Microrods by Simple Molten-Salt Method and Its Photoluminescence Activity

Electrochemical Determination of Cyclobenzaprine Hydrochloride Muscle Relaxant Using Novel S-GCN/TiO2-Based Carbon Electrode

We have successfully prepared the titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) and sulfur-incorporated graphitic carbon nitride (S-GCN)-modified carbon paste electrode (CPE). The CPEs modified with TiO2 NPs and S-GCN were employed for detecting and quantifying the skeletal muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride (CBP) using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques. Optimal electrochemical conditions were indicated by the pH study results, with the highest peak current observed at a physiological pH of 7.4. The electrochemical process was determined to involve an equivalent number of protons (H+) and electrons (e-). The concentration variation of CBP (ranging from 0.06 to 10 × 10-7 mol L-1) was explored using SWV. The limits of detection and quantification were determined as 6.4 × 10-9 and 2.1 × 10-8 M, respectively. The proposed electrode configuration was applied to analyze real samples, including water, biomedical, and pharmaceutical specimens.

Pure Epigallocatechin-3-gallate-Assisted Green Synthesis of Highly Stable Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles (NPs) are conventionally produced by using physical and chemical methods that are no longer in alignment with current society's demand for a low environmental impact. Accordingly, green synthesis approaches are considered a potential alternative due to the plant extracts that substitute some of the hazardous reagents. The general mechanism is based on the reducing power of natural products that allows the formation of NPs from a precursor solution. In this context, our study proposes a simple, innovative, and reproducible green approach for the synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO2 NPs) that uses, for the first time, the major component of green tea (Camellia sinensis)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a non-toxic, dietary, accessible, and bioactive molecule. The influence of EGCG on the formation of TiO2 NPs was analyzed by comparing the physicochemical characteristics of green synthesized NPs with the chemically obtained ones. The synthesis of bare TiO2 NPs was performed by hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide in distilled water, and green TiO2 NPs were obtained in the same conditions, but in the presence of a 1 mM EGCG aqueous solution. The formation of TiO2 NPs was confirmed by UV-VIS and FTIR spectroscopy. SEM micrographs showed spherical particles with relatively low diameters. Our findings also revealed that green synthesized NPs were more stable in colloids than the chemically synthesized ones. However, the phytocompound negatively influenced the formation of a crystalline structure in the green synthesized TiO2 NPs. Furthermore, the synthesis of EGCG-TiO2 NPs could become a versatile choice for applications extending beyond photocatalysis, including promising prospects in the biomedical field.

Special Issue "Synthesis of TiO2 Nanoparticles and Their Catalytic Activity"

The current advances in the development of technologies for solar light utilization are largely due to the environmental and energy crisis caused by the rapid consumption of fossil fuels, and consequently, various applications have been implemented in domestic heating devices, the field of spaceflight, vehicles with clean energy, self-cleaning devices, the bio-pharmaceutical field, etc [...].

Characterization and photocatalytic activity of CoCr2O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for water treatment

One of the materials that has recently been used to remove environmental pollution from industrial effluents with photocatalytic technology is cobalt chromate (CoCr₂O₄) nanoparticles. An effective way to improve the photocatalytic properties of materials is to composite them with other photocatalysts to prevent recombination of electron-holes and accelerate the transfer of oxidation/reduction agents. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) is an excellent choice due to its unique properties. In this research, CoCr₂O₄ and its composite with g-C₃N₄ (5, 10, and 15%) were synthesized by polyacrylamide gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. The photocatalytic behavior of synthesized nanoparticles was investigated in the degradation process of methylene blue dye. The results showed that the composite samples have higher efficiency in photocatalytic activity than the pure CoCr₂O₄ sample. Using CoCr₂O₄-15 wt%g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite, after 80 min, methylene blue was completely degraded. The mechanism of degradation by CoCr₂O₄-g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite was the superoxide radical produced by the reaction of electrons with oxygen absorbed on the catalyst surface, as well as optically produced holes directly.