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    Adil Alshoaibi

    Nanocomposite (NC) films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), lignosulfonate (Lg), and nanosized palladium (Pd) were synthesized by ex-situ casting method. Samples from the synthesized PVA-Lg/Pd NC films were irradiated with 5–100 kGy γ doses. The... more
    Nanocomposite (NC) films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), lignosulfonate (Lg), and nanosized palladium (Pd) were synthesized by ex-situ casting method. Samples from the synthesized PVA-Lg/Pd NC films were irradiated with 5–100 kGy γ doses. The effect of γ doses on the structural, thermal, and optical characteristics of the NC films were studied using different characterization techniques. The results indicated that the γ irradiation improves the decomposition temperature from 227 to 239 °C, signifying an increase in the thermal stability of the NC films. This was accompanied by a reduction of the melting temperature due to the increase of the amorphous phase. This can be attributed to the dominance of crosslinking. On the other hand, the refractive index increased from 2.21 to 2.32 while increasing the γ dose up to 100 kGy. This was associated with a reduction of the optical bandgap from 3.49 to 3.30 eV, which could be attributed to the increase in the amorphous phase as a result of cros...
    Moringa oleifera is rich in bioactive compounds such as beta-carotene, which have high nutritional values and antimicrobial applications. Several studies have confirmed that bioactive-compound-based herbal medicines extracted from the... more
    Moringa oleifera is rich in bioactive compounds such as beta-carotene, which have high nutritional values and antimicrobial applications. Several studies have confirmed that bioactive-compound-based herbal medicines extracted from the leaves, seeds, fruits and shoots of M. oleifera are vital to cure many diseases and infections, and for the healing of wounds. The β-carotene is a naturally occurring bioactive compound encoded by zeta-carotene desaturase (ZDS) and phytoene synthase (PSY) genes. In the current study, computational analyses were performed to identify and characterize ZDS and PSY genes retrieved from Arabidopsis thaliana (as reference) and these were compared with the corresponding genes in M. oleifera, Brassica napus, Brassica rapa, Brassica oleracea and Bixa orellana. The BLAST results revealed that all the plant species considered in this study encode β-carotene genes with 80–100% similarity. The Pfam analysis on β-carotene genes of all the investigated plants confirm...
    Herein, we present an electrocatalyst constructed by zinc oxide hexagonal prisms/phosphorus-doped carbon nitride wrinkles (ZnO HPs/P-CN) prepared via a facile sonochemical method towards the detection of nitrofurantoin (NF). The ZnO... more
    Herein, we present an electrocatalyst constructed by zinc oxide hexagonal prisms/phosphorus-doped carbon nitride wrinkles (ZnO HPs/P-CN) prepared via a facile sonochemical method towards the detection of nitrofurantoin (NF). The ZnO HPs/P-CN-sensing platform showed amplified response and low-peak potential compared with other electrodes. The exceptional electrochemical performance could be credited to ideal architecture, rapid electron/charge transfer, good conductivity, and abundant active sites in the ZnO HPs/P-CN composite. Resulting from these merits, the ZnO HPs/P-CN-modified electrode delivered rapid response (2 s), a low detection limit (2 nM), good linear range (0.01–111 µM), high sensitivity (4.62 µA µM−1 cm2), better selectivity, decent stability (±97.6%), and reproducibility towards electrochemical detection of NF. We further demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed ZnO HPs/P-CN sensor for detecting NF in samples of water and human urine. All the above features make o...
    Porous carbons are highly attractive and demanding materials which could be prepared using biomass waste; thus, they are promising for enhanced electrochemical capacitive performance in capacitors and cycling efficiency in Li-ion... more
    Porous carbons are highly attractive and demanding materials which could be prepared using biomass waste; thus, they are promising for enhanced electrochemical capacitive performance in capacitors and cycling efficiency in Li-ion batteries. Herein, biomass (rice husk)-derived activated carbon was synthesized via a facile chemical route and used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. Various characterization techniques were used to study the structural and morphological properties of the prepared activated carbon. The prepared activated carbon possessed a carbon structure with a certain degree of amorphousness. The morphology of the activated carbon was of spherical shape with a particle size of ~40–90 nm. Raman studies revealed the characteristic peaks of carbon present in the prepared activated carbon. The electrochemical studies evaluated for the fabricated coin cell with the activated carbon anode showed that the cell delivered a discharge capacity of ~321 mAhg−1 at a current d...
    Although, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZRTs) as an anti-cancer agent have been the subject of numerous studies, none of the reports has investigated the impact of the reaction entry time of ion-carriers on the preparation of ZRTs. Therefore,... more
    Although, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZRTs) as an anti-cancer agent have been the subject of numerous studies, none of the reports has investigated the impact of the reaction entry time of ion-carriers on the preparation of ZRTs. Therefore, we synthesized variants of ZRTs by extending the entry time of NaOH (that acts as a carrier of hydroxyl ions) in the reaction mixture. The anti-proliferative action, morphological changes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and nuclear apoptosis of ZRTs on human A431 skin carcinoma cells were observed. The samples revealed crystallinity and purity by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of ZRT-1 (5 min ion carrier entry) and ZRT-2 (10 min ion carrier entry) revealed microtubule like morphology. On prolonging the entry time for ion carrier (NaOH) introduction in the reaction mixture, a relative ascent in the aspect ratio was seen. The typical ZnO band with a slight shift in the absorption maxima was evident with ...
    In this paper, the photocatalytic effect of zirconia/laser-induced graphene on the degradation of methylene blue was comprehensively studied. The average particle size measured by HRTEM is 6 nm for both ZrO2 and ZrO2/G10 samples, which... more
    In this paper, the photocatalytic effect of zirconia/laser-induced graphene on the degradation of methylene blue was comprehensively studied. The average particle size measured by HRTEM is 6 nm for both ZrO2 and ZrO2/G10 samples, which explains the high-quality TEM imaging of isolated squared sections of cubic particles. The weight percentages of Zr, O, and C elements using EDX were 72.16, 18.56, and 9.28, respectively. These results confirm the formation of binary composites. Moreover, Raman scattering exhibited that the spectrum of pure ZrO2 was difficult to be detected due to the high luminescence. However, ZrO2 vibration modes were detected for ZrO2-graphene nanocomposites at 1012, 615, 246, and 150 cm−1. A shift of the D- and G-bands of graphene were observed, where D-peak and G-peak were observed at 1370 and 1575 cm−1 for ZrO2/5G and, 1361 and 1565 cm−1 for ZrO2/10G, respectively. The shift is ascribed to the incorporation of graphene into the surface of the oxide material. Co...
    Water pollution and deficient energy are the main challenges for the scientific society across the world. In this trend, new approaches include designing zinc oxide nanohybrids to be very active in sunlight. In this line, organic and... more
    Water pollution and deficient energy are the main challenges for the scientific society across the world. In this trend, new approaches include designing zinc oxide nanohybrids to be very active in sunlight. In this line, organic and magnetic species intercalate among the nanolayers of Al/Zn to build inorganic-magnetic-organic nanohybrid structures. A series of nanolayered and nanohybrid structures have been prepared through intercalating very fine particles of cobalt iron oxide nanocomposites and long chains of organic fatty acids such as n-capric acid and stearic acid inside the nanolayered structures of Al/Zn. By thermal treatment, zinc oxide nanohybrids have been prepared and used for purifying water from colored pollutants using solar energy. The optical measurements have shown that the nanohybrid structure of zinc oxide leads to a clear reduction of band gap energy from 3.30 eV to 2.60 eV to be effective in sunlight. In this line, a complete removal of the colored pollutants (...
    In the current study, we report on the dielectric behavior of colossal-dielectric-constant Na1/2La1/2Cu3Ti4O12 (NLCTO) ceramics prepared by mechanochemical synthesis and spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 850 °C, 900 °C, and 925 °C for 10... more
    In the current study, we report on the dielectric behavior of colossal-dielectric-constant Na1/2La1/2Cu3Ti4O12 (NLCTO) ceramics prepared by mechanochemical synthesis and spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 850 °C, 900 °C, and 925 °C for 10 min. X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that all the ceramics have a cubic phase. Scanning electron microscope observations revealed an increase in the average grain size from 175 to 300 nm with an increase in the sintering temperature. SPS NLCTO ceramics showed a room-temperature colossal dielectric constant (>103) and a comparatively high dielectric loss (>0.1) over most of the studied frequency range (1 Hz–40 MHz). Two relaxation peaks were observed in the spectra of the electrical modulus and attributed to the response of grain and grain boundary. According to the Nyquist plots of complex impedance, the SPS NLCTO ceramics have semiconductor grains surrounded by electrically resistive grain boundaries. The colossal dielectric constant o...
    In the present work, we studied the effects of substitutional Sm3+ ions on the ionic conduction properties of Li5+2xLa3Nb2−xSmxO12 (LLN-Sm) ceramics with x = 0.0—0.6. The investigated final ceramics, prepared by solid state reaction, were... more
    In the present work, we studied the effects of substitutional Sm3+ ions on the ionic conduction properties of Li5+2xLa3Nb2−xSmxO12 (LLN-Sm) ceramics with x = 0.0—0.6. The investigated final ceramics, prepared by solid state reaction, were sintered at 1000 °C for 12 h. XRD investigations showed the formation of the cubic garnet phase for all of the studied samples. The ionic conductivity was found to increase with Sm3+ content, with the highest value of 7.04 × 10−5 S/cm for the Li5+2xLa3Nb2−xSmxO12 sample compared to 7.49 × 10−6 S/cm for the pure LLN sample, both at RT. Lithium ion mobilities of LLN-Sm garnets at different temperatures were estimated. Considerable enhancement of mobility, the main factor leading to ionic conductivity improvement, was obtained for samples with Sm3+ substitutions. Relaxation processes were studied by the electric modulus, and the corresponding activation energy was found to be very similar to the ionic conduction process.
    Development of optical materials has attracted strong attention from scientists across the world to obtain low band gap energy and become active in field of solar energy. This challenge, which cannot be accomplished by the usual... more
    Development of optical materials has attracted strong attention from scientists across the world to obtain low band gap energy and become active in field of solar energy. This challenge, which cannot be accomplished by the usual techniques, has overcome through the current study using non-conventional techniques. This study has used explosive reactions to convert non-optical alumina to series of new optical nanocomposites with very low band gap energy for the first time. In this trend, alumina nanoparticles were prepared and modified by explosive reactions using ammonium nitrate as a solid fuel. By using methanol or ethanol as a source of carbon species, three nanocomposites were produced indicating a gradual reduction of the band gap energy of alumina from 4.34 eV to 1.60 eV. These nanocomposites were obtained by modifying alumina via two different carbon species; core-shell structure and carbon nanotubes. This modification led to sharp reduction for the band gap energy to become v...
    La2/3Cu3Ti4O12 (LCTO) powder has been synthesized by the mechanochemical milling technique. The pelletized powder was conventionally sintered for 10 h at a temperature range of 975–1025 °C, which is a lower temperature process compared to... more
    La2/3Cu3Ti4O12 (LCTO) powder has been synthesized by the mechanochemical milling technique. The pelletized powder was conventionally sintered for 10 h at a temperature range of 975–1025 °C, which is a lower temperature process compared to the standard solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed a cubic phase for the current LCTO ceramics. The grain size of the sintered ceramics was found to increase from 1.5 ± 0.5 to 2.3 ± 0.5 μm with an increase in sintering temperature from 975 to 1025 °C. The impedance results show that the grain conductivity is more than three orders of magnitude larger than the grain boundary conductivity for LCTO ceramics. All the samples showed a giant dielectric constant (1.7 × 103–3.4 × 103) and dielectric loss (0.09–0.17) at 300 K and 10 kHz. The giant dielectric constant of the current samples was attributed to the effect of internal barrier layer capacitances due to their electrically inhomogeneous structure.
    In this work, we report a new approach for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein (RBD) using the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique. The optical enhancement was obtained thanks to the preparation of nanostructured Ag/Au... more
    In this work, we report a new approach for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein (RBD) using the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique. The optical enhancement was obtained thanks to the preparation of nanostructured Ag/Au substrates. Fabricated Au/Ag nanostructures were used in the SERS experiment for RBD protein detection. SERS substrates show higher capabilities and sensitivity to detect RBD protein in a short time (3 s) and with very low power. We were able to push the detection limit of proteins to a single protein detection level of 1 pM. The latter is equivalent to 1 fM as a detection limit of viruses. Additionally, we have shown that the SERS technique was useful to figure out the presence of RBD protein on antibody functionalized substrates. In this case, the SERS detection was based on protein-antibody recognition, which led to shifts in the Raman peaks and allowed signal discrimination between RBD and other targets such as Bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. A p...
    The presence of heavy metals in increased concentrations in the environment has become a global environmental concern. This rapid increase in heavy metals in the environment is attributed to enhanced industrial and mining activities.... more
    The presence of heavy metals in increased concentrations in the environment has become a global environmental concern. This rapid increase in heavy metals in the environment is attributed to enhanced industrial and mining activities. Metal ions possess a lengthy half-life and property to bioaccumulate, are non-biodegradable and, thus, are a threat to the human health. A number of conventional spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques are being used for the detection of heavy metals, but these suffer from various limitations. Nano-based sensors have emerged as potential candidates for the sensitive and selective detection of heavy metals. Thus, the present study was focused on the synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) by using selenite-reducing bacteria in the development of a heavy metal toxicity biosensor. During the biosynthesis of selenium nanoparticles, supernatants of the overnight-grown culture were treated with Na2SeO32− and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C. The as-synthe...
    The present study aims to enhance the optical properties of barium titanate through narrowing its band gap energy to be effective for photocatalytic reactions in sunlight and be useful for solar cells. This target was achieved through... more
    The present study aims to enhance the optical properties of barium titanate through narrowing its band gap energy to be effective for photocatalytic reactions in sunlight and be useful for solar cells. This target was achieved through growth of the hollandite phase instead of the perovskite phase inside the barium titanate crystals. By using solvent thermal reactions and thermal treatment at different temperatures (250 °C, 600 °C, and 900 °C), the hollandite phase of barium titanate was successfully obtained and confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra and scanning electron microscopy techniques. XRD patterns showed a clear hollandite phase of barium titanium oxides for the sample calcined at 900 °C (BT1-900); however, the samples at 600 °C showed the presence of mixed phases. The mean crystallite size of the BT1-900 sample was found to be 38 nm. Morphological images revealed that the hollandite phase of barium titanate consisted of a mixed morphology of spheres and ...
    Doping processes for optical materials are one of the driving forces for developing efficient and clean technologies for decontamination of aquatic effluents through lowering their band gap energy to become effective in sunlight. The... more
    Doping processes for optical materials are one of the driving forces for developing efficient and clean technologies for decontamination of aquatic effluents through lowering their band gap energy to become effective in sunlight. The current study has used a non-conventional technique for doping zinc oxide by multi metals, non-metals and organic dyes through a one-step process. In this trend, Zn-Al nanolayered structures have been used as hosts for building host–guest interactions. Organic dyes that have inorganic species of iron, nitrogen and sulfur have been used as guests in the intercalation reactions of Zn-Al layered double hydroxides. By intercalating green dyes, organic–inorganic nanohybrids were formed as nanolayered structures with expanding interlayered spacing to 2.1 nm. By changing the concentration of green dyes and thermal treatment, series of nanofibers and nanoplates of zinc oxides were formed and doped by aluminum, iron and sulfur in addition to colored species. The...
    The high risk of morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 has accelerated the development of many potential vaccines. However, these vaccines are designed against SARS-CoV-2 isolated in Wuhan, China, and thereby may not be... more
    The high risk of morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 has accelerated the development of many potential vaccines. However, these vaccines are designed against SARS-CoV-2 isolated in Wuhan, China, and thereby may not be effective against other SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the United Kingdom variant (VUI-202012/01). The UK SARS-CoV-2 variant possesses D614G mutation in the Spike protein, which impart it a high rate of infection. Therefore, newer strategies are warranted to design novel vaccines and drug candidates specifically designed against the mutated forms of SARS-CoV-2. One such strategy is to target ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme2)–Spike protein RBD (receptor binding domain) interaction. Here, we generated a homology model of Spike protein RBD of SARS-CoV-2 UK strain and screened a marine seaweed database employing different computational approaches. On the basis of high-throughput virtual screening, standard precision, and extra precision molecular docking, w...
    CaCu3Ti4-x((A0.05Nb0.05))xO12 ceramics (A: Al and Bi; x = 0, 0.3) were synthesized by high-energy mechanical ball milling and reactive sintering at 1050 °C in air. Rietveld refinement of XRD data revealed the pure and (Al3+, Nb5+)... more
    CaCu3Ti4-x((A0.05Nb0.05))xO12 ceramics (A: Al and Bi; x = 0, 0.3) were synthesized by high-energy mechanical ball milling and reactive sintering at 1050 °C in air. Rietveld refinement of XRD data revealed the pure and (Al3+, Nb5+) cosubstituted ceramics contained a minor CuO secondary phase with a mole fraction of about 3.2% and 6.9%, respectively, along with a CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO)-like cubic structure. In addition, (Bi3+, Nb5+) cosubstituted ceramics had a pyrochlore (Ca2(Ti, Nb)2O7) secondary phase of about 18%. While the (Al3+, Nb5+) cosubstituted CCTO showed the highest relative permittivity (ε’ = 3.9 × 104), pure CCTO showed the lowest dielectric loss (tanδ = 0.023) at 1 kHz and 300 K. Impedance-spectroscopy (IS) measurements showed an electrically heterogeneous structure for the studied ceramics, where a semiconducting grain was surrounded by highly resistive grain boundary. The giant relative permittivity of the ceramics was attributed to the Maxwell–Wagner polarization effect ...
    Vertical Agx/TiO2 nanorods were successfully grown by a simple oxidation method of a Ti-Ag coating. The samples were grown in the phase of ceramic-like materials, which can be reusable for many cycles for photocatalysis applications.... more
    Vertical Agx/TiO2 nanorods were successfully grown by a simple oxidation method of a Ti-Ag coating. The samples were grown in the phase of ceramic-like materials, which can be reusable for many cycles for photocatalysis applications. These ceramic-like Agx/TiO2 nanostructures were prepared by the spin-coating of silver nitrate onto Ti sheets. The presence of silver on the surface of the Ti sheet during the oxidation process helped in the growth of one-dimensional nanostructures. The physical properties of the fabricated ceramic-like nanostructures were studied by varying the concentration of silver on the Ti-sheet before the oxidation. One-dimensional nanostructures with an average size varying within the range of 200–500 nm were grown. The presence of silver made the nanostructure vertically directed. The nanorods were dense at the low and medium concentrations of 5, 10, and 20 mM of silver in contrary to high silver concentrations, where the nanorods were very sparse at 40 mM. Str...
    The researchers report on a new study of the x-ray photoabsorption spectrum of sodium near the K-edge, involving the calculations of the excitation energies and the excitation transition probabilities for K-shell and M-shell electron... more
    The researchers report on a new study of the x-ray photoabsorption spectrum of sodium near the K-edge, involving the calculations of the excitation energies and the excitation transition probabilities for K-shell and M-shell electron excitations transitions in atomic sodium. The calculations were carried out by employing the ‘multi configuration Dirac–Fock method’, Breit interactions and ‘finite nuclear size corrections’ are included in the calculations, the transition probabilities were convoluted into ‘Breit–Wigner’ line shapes, and single 1s photoionization was also taken into account. In addition, the [1s]np and the [1s3s]ns n′p singlet–triplet energy splitting was calculated. Results of the calculations were compared with previous measurements of the photoabsorption spectrum of sodium near the K-edge, and a very good agreement was observed.
    Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelle-templated mesoporous SiO2 particles (MSPs) are synthesized by sol–gel method. The CTAB templated SiO2 particles (SPs) possessed spherical structure with low average surface roughness (Ra)... more
    Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelle-templated mesoporous SiO2 particles (MSPs) are synthesized by sol–gel method. The CTAB templated SiO2 particles (SPs) possessed spherical structure with low average surface roughness (Ra) 1 nm. The CTAB template is effectively removed from SPs by 400 °C heat treatment without any cracks and disruption of the bonding between the functional groups and the SiO2 surface. After CTAB template removal, SiO2 microspheres (SMSs) possessed high surface area 640 m2/g, pore radius 10 nm, and Ra ~ 4.4 nm, making them highly attractive for sensing. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed that SMSs are thermally stable, showing 0.7% weight loss after 429 °C temperature. Phenol red immobilized SMSs show large pKa value 8.1 at 560 nm. Good repeatability, no leaching traces, and fast response time ~0.09 s in basic media suggested that proposed material has potential for opto-chemical sensing/photonic applications. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide assisted mesoporous silica particles were synthesized by sol–gel method. Thermally stable mesoporous silica microspheres (SMSs) possessed high surface area 640 m2/g, and high surface roughness 4.4 nm. SMSs were observed to be thermally stable by 0.7% weight loss after 429 °C temperature. Phenol red immobilized SMSs showed opto-chemical response with large pKa value 8.1 at 560 nm. Low-temperature based SMSs showed good repeatability without any leaching response and fast response time ~0.09. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide assisted mesoporous silica particles were synthesized by sol–gel method. Thermally stable mesoporous silica microspheres (SMSs) possessed high surface area 640 m2/g, and high surface roughness 4.4 nm. SMSs were observed to be thermally stable by 0.7% weight loss after 429 °C temperature. Phenol red immobilized SMSs showed opto-chemical response with large pKa value 8.1 at 560 nm. Low-temperature based SMSs showed good repeatability without any leaching response and fast response time ~0.09.
    In this manuscript, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by using a simple cost-effective domestic microware based chemical route. The Crystal structure of Fe3O4 nanoparticles studied using X-ray diffraction and selective area electron... more
    In this manuscript, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by using a simple cost-effective domestic microware based chemical route. The Crystal structure of Fe3O4 nanoparticles studied using X-ray diffraction and selective area electron diffraction pattern clearly showed that Fe3O4 NPs exhibited single-phase FCC structures. The average crystallite size calculated using the XRD pattern and TEM micrographs was found to be ∼7 and ∼12 nm, respectively. The magnetic hysteresis loop measured at room temperature inferred that Fe3O4 NPs exhibited the soft ferromagnetic behavior. The nanoparticles then immobilized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain JS11. Bacteria have contemporaneous plant growth and biocontrol potential viz indole acetic acid (IAA) production, tri-calcium phosphate solubilization in Pikovskaya’s medium. These auxiliary activities of strain showed remarkable capability in the presence of Fe3O4 NPs at different concentrations. The IAA assay revealed the presence of Fe3O4 NP...
    The recent dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 from Wuhan city to all over the world has created a pandemic. COVID-19 has cost many human lives and created an enormous economic burden. Although many drugs/vaccines are in different stages of... more
    The recent dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 from Wuhan city to all over the world has created a pandemic. COVID-19 has cost many human lives and created an enormous economic burden. Although many drugs/vaccines are in different stages of clinical trials, still none is clinically available. We have screened a marine seaweed database (1110 compounds) against 3CLpro of SARS-CoV-2 using computational approaches. High throughput virtual screening was performed on compounds, and 86 of them with docking score 
    Development of electrochemical supercapacitor electrode is the best way to improve the performance and conductivity of the alone materials and support energy storage devices. In this work, cyanate anions have used as building blocks to... more
    Development of electrochemical supercapacitor electrode is the best way to improve the performance and conductivity of the alone materials and support energy storage devices. In this work, cyanate anions have used as building blocks to build series of nanolayered materials based on Ti/Ni layered double hydroxides (LDHs). The structural and morphological characteristics of the prepared Ti/Ni LDHs were examined using different techniques. The electrochemical supercapacitive behavior of the prepared LDHs was observed in the three-assembly electrochemical cell. These results showed that the optimized ratio of the nickel and titanium plays an important role to enhance the electrochemical performance of the LDHs. The optimized Ti/Ni LDHs, which has the highest content of titanium, showed the highest specific capacitance (675 F/g) value. In this trend, this LDH also retain a high percentage of the cyclic retention after long cyclic charging-discharging process. The enhanced performance cou...
    Nanocomposite films grown by incorporating varying concentrations of Yttrium, a d-block rare-earth ion, into the binary chalcogenide Arsenic selenide host matrix is here presented. Films were grown via the wet-chemical electro-deposition... more
    Nanocomposite films grown by incorporating varying concentrations of Yttrium, a d-block rare-earth ion, into the binary chalcogenide Arsenic selenide host matrix is here presented. Films were grown via the wet-chemical electro-deposition technique and characterized for structural, optical, surface morphology, and photoluminescence (PL) properties. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) result of the host matrix (pristine film) showed films of monoclinic structure with an average grain size of 36.2 nm. The composite films, on the other hand, had both cubic YAs and tetragonal YSe structures with average size within 36.5–46.8 nm. The fairly homogeneous nano-sized films are shown by the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) micrographs while the two phases of the composite films present in the XRD patterns were confirmed by the Raman shifts due to the cleavage of the As-Se host matrix and formation of new structural units. The refractive index peaked at 2.63 within 350–600 nm. The bandgap energy lies...
    Improving the optical properties of zinc oxide to meet the practical requirements of photocatalytic reactions and solar cells is an ongoing challenge. To address this challenge, different nanostructures of ZnO were prepared from an... more
    Improving the optical properties of zinc oxide to meet the practical requirements of photocatalytic reactions and solar cells is an ongoing challenge. To address this challenge, different nanostructures of ZnO were prepared from an organic—inorganic-CNTs nanohybrid. The nanohybrid was formed through intercalation of the long chain fatty acid C17H35COOH and carbon nanotubes into Zn–Al nanolayered structures. X-ray diffraction revealed an increase in the interlayer spacing of the Zn–Al layered double hydroxides from 0.75 nm to 2.1 nm after admixing with the CNTs and organic fatty acid. Thermal analyses and FTIR confirmed the formation of the CNTs–C18–Zn–Al nanohybrid. Three different thermal treatments were used to transform the nanohybrid into nanostructures of doped zinc oxide nanoparticles and zinc aluminum oxide nanocomposites. As a result of changes in the nano size and structure, the band gap energy of the products decreased from 3.3 eV to 1.8 eV, to give efficient photocatalyst...

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