Due to the growing energy demands and increased concern over environmental deterioration and energy climate catastrophe, bio-energy based mechanisms had gained interest over recent years and had attained acknowledgment as the “greener” energy self-sustainable technologies of the future. A new micro-fluidic bio-solar cell modeling and their integration using COMSOL multi-physics have been proposed in order to convert solar energy into bioelectricity. Synechocystis PCC6803 is used as the microbial source due to its electrical property for generating electrons through an anodic chamber. Using COMSOL multi-physics platform, the microfluidic bio-solar cell was designed with five functioning layers. Each layer is been assigned with the suitable electrical/electrode properties of the polymer and the anodic chamber layer been assigned with the properties of the microalgae. Finally, the microfluidic bio-solar cell was modeled to create interfaces between optical and electrical physics in order to determine their material transport, heat transfer, electrochemical behavior, current density and voltage distribution behavior of the microfluidic bio-solar cell. The open circuit voltage of about 0.42 V is been obtained with 80% of absorption capacity. This modeling can be further developed into an extensible bio-solar panel by fabricating it using a microfluidic chamber for further application enhancement, which can replace inorganic solar cells with bio-solar cells for an eco-friendly environment with less production cost. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Santhakumar K

Department of Chemistry

School of Advanced Sciences

Vellore Campus

Reshma L

Chaitanyakumar A

Aditya A.L.G.N

Ramaraj B

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Algal Research

We explored the photophysics of an all polymeric solar system based on the combination of the wide bandgap polymers poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as donor and low bandgap polymer poly{[N,N-9-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,59-(2,29-bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD-T2)) as an acceptor blend active layer in 2-methyl anisole using airbrush spray coating method. Polyethyleneimine ethoxylated (PEIE) is used as the surface modifier and SnO2 as an anode, to minimize the chemical damage of the transparent conducting electrode. The molecular aggregations were investigated by means of absorbance, photoluminescence measurements and atomic force microscopy. The current density–voltage characteristics were examined using an Oriel 1000W solar simulator under the illumination condition through the simulated solar light with 100 mW cm−2 (AM 1.5G). The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of about 5.6% is been reported for the photovoltaic device and this outcome indicates that these spray coating method can be a feasible technique when compared with other high-cost vacuum deposition techniques for mass production and low-cost roll to roll based fabrication. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Electrochimica Acta

High-Efficiency fullerene-free organic solar cell based on P3HT: P(NDI2OD-T2) co-polymers through integrated molecular and interfacial engineering​

Synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles using novel methodologies always attracts great importance in research. The use of plant extract to synthesize nano-particle has been considered as one of the eco-friendly methods. This paper describes the biosynthetic route of preparation of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) from the Lagerstroemia speciosa leaf extract. This approach appears to be low-cost preparation and alternative method to conventional methods. Highly stable and hexagonal phase ZnO NPs with average particle size of 40nm were synthesized and characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy (surface Plasmon resonance), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (surface functionalities), X-ray Diffraction analysis (crystallinity), TEM and SEM (size and morphology), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (elemental composition), Thermogravimetric analysis (weight loss) and Zeta potential (stability). The preliminary phytochemical experiments identify the possible chemical groups present in leaves extract. The photocatalytic properties of ZnO NPs were studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy by exposing methyl orange to sunlight and it is found to be degraded up to 93.5% within 2h. The COD values were significantly reduced from 5600mg/L to 374mg/L after 100min of solar radiation. The hemolytic activity of synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles was performed on human erythrocyte cells. Thus the present study provides a simple and eco-friendly method for the preparation of multifunctional property of ZnO NPs utilizing the biosynthetic route.

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology

Facile biosynthesis, characterization, and solar assisted photocatalytic effect of ZnO nanoparticles mediated by leaves of L. speciosa

The investigation was conducted to analyse the bioactive compounds from the leaf extracts of L. speciosa by GC–MS. The extracts were screened for antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against potential clinical strains. The bioactive compounds from the leaves of L. speciosa were extracted by soxhlet continuous extraction method and their chemical composition was analysed by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectroscopy (GC–MS). The antibacterial activity was evaluated against clinical strain like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi by well diffusion technique. We also screened for antibacterial property against common food borne pathogens namely Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus at varied concentration 250 μ ml− 1 to 1000 μ ml− 1. Thereafter antibiofilm assay was carried out at from 250 to 1000 μg/ml against P. aeruginosa (high biofilm forming pathogen) clinical strain by cover slip technique and the morphology of the pathogen was observed using Scanning Electron Microscopy-(SEM). It was observed that diverse class of secondary metabolites were found by GC–MS analysis for all the extracts upon the continuous extraction. It was found that only minimum inhibition was seen in alcoholic extract for antibacterial activity, whereas all other extracts showed negligible activity. P. aeruginosa biofilm inhibited to 93.0 ± 2% and 91 ± 2% at higher concentration (1000 μg/ml) for methanolic and ethanolic extract respectively. Absence of extracellular matrix structure and the surface cracking of biofilm were viewed by SEM, which confirmed the antibiofilm activity. Hence this study reveals that L. speciosa showed significant antibiofilm activity against P. aeruginosa due to the phytoconstituents present in the leaf extracts which was well documented in the alcoholic extracts by GC–MS analysis. The methanolic and ethanolic extract showed good photocatalytic activity of 77.44% and 96.66% against azo dye degradation respectively. Further, isolating the novel phyto-compounds would yield better promising biological activities. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Biofilm inhibition formation of clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutans, photocatalytic activity of azo dye and GC–MS analysis of leaves of Lagerstroemia speciosa

The aim of this study was to prepare silver nanoparticles by a green method using the aqueous leaves extract of Lagerstroemia speciosa. The prepared silver nanoparticles were characterized, studied for its photocatalytic and biofilm inhibition studies. The maximum absorbance peak was found at 427 nm and thus confirming the formation of silver nanoparticles. The average size of silver nanoparticles synthesized was found to be 12 nm using XRD and it was spherical in shape. The nanoparticles synthesized was investigated for photocatalytic activity for to two different dye molecules, methyl orange and methylene blue showing 310 and 290 min degradation time respectively. The silver nanoparticles biofilm inhibition assay against clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed lowest accumulation at a lower concentration. The biofilm inhibition was also studied by visual interpretation through Scanning Electron Microscopy states that 50 μg mL− 1 exerts the highest inhibition compared against the control. This evident helps to analysis the silver nanoparticles for various applications in future. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Phytoremediation of dyes using Lagerstroemia speciosa mediated silver nanoparticles and its biofilm activity against clinical strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The investigation was aimed to quantify the Gallic acid present in Lagerstroemia speciosa leaves (Lythraceae). The High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) quantification was performed for acetone (AE), methanolic (ME) and chloroform (CE) extract of leaves of L. speciosa. The pre-coated silica gel 60 F254 was used for complete separation of compounds using the mobile phase pet. Ether: ethyl acetate: formic acid (5:5:1 v/v).The validation of the extracts was carried out using ICH guidelines for precision, repeatability and accuracy showing the Rf 0.49 against standard Gallic acid. Linearity range for Gallic acid was done from 200 to 1000 ng/spot (AE) and200 ng to 600 ng/spot (ME), with Correlation, coefficient r = 0.99 (AE) and 0.54 (ME) in the said concentrations. The composition in crude leaf extract was determined to be of 49.712 mg (AE) and 20.125 mg (ME), while it was not found in chloroform extract against standard Gallic acid. Hence the proposed method was very simple, precise, accurate and easy for the screening of the bioactive compounds present in the acetone and methanolic extracts of the leaves of L. speciosa. It was observed that the acetone extract subjected to cytotoxicity showed promising activity at higher concentrations (100 and 200 μg/ml) showed 92.9% and 87.13% inhibition against MCF-7 cell lines respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the acetone and methanolic extracts of methyl orange was found to be 90.25% (190 min) and 89.03% (180 min) respectively. Therefore this can be used as an indicator of purity of herbal drugs and formulation containing L. speciosa. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Solar catalysed activity against methyl orange dye, cytotoxicity activity of MCF-7 cell lines and identification of marker compound by HPTLC of Lagerstroemia speciosa

Twelve surfactant Schiff base ligands were synthesized from salicylaldehyde and its chloro-, bromo- and methoxy- derivatives by condensation with long-chain aliphatic primary amines, and a number of mixed ligand cobalt(III) surfactant Schiff base coordination complexes of the type [Co(trien)A] 2+ were synthesized from the corresponding dihalogeno complexes by ligand substitution. The Schiff bases and their complexes were characterized by physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. The complexes form foams in aqueous solution upon shaking. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the complexes in aqueous solution were obtained from conductance measurements. Specific conductivity data (at 303-323 K) served for the evaluation of the thermodynamics of micellization (δGmo, δH mo, δSmo). The complexes were tested for its antimicrobial activity. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Journal	Data powered by TypesetAlgal Research
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier BV
ISSN	2211-9264
Open Access	No