RSC Advances最新文献

Green diesel as a second-generation biofuel has received enormous attention owing to the huge demand for renewable fuel for addressing the net zero target in 2050. This study examines the development of green diesel research through a bibliometric analysis. The state-of-the-art green diesel research is studied based upon 1285 documents (1153 articles and 132 reviews) retrieved from the Scopus database related to the used keywords. The analysis focused on three categories: publication outcomes, most cited papers, and research area identification. The VOSviewer and RStudio (bibliometrix) were applied to analyse the data, rationalized within the framework of author, affiliation, country, citation analysis, cross-dimensional keyword analysis, research streams, and research gaps. The general result of the study highlighted a continuous incline in article numbers classified into three stages: initiation, exploration, and elevation. Those articles were mainly published in bioenergy-themed journals, including Fuel, Energy & Fuels, and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Taufiq-Yap Yun Hin is the highest contributor with 41 articles, and Fuel published 110 articles. The rapid growth of green diesel was also inferred by the extensive spread of research maps worldwide. Amid those swift developments, the state of the art on green diesel through bibliometric analysis is not available to the best of our knowledge as far. Subsequently, this review aims to display the state of the art, research gap, and future forecast of green diesel research.

Inflammatory diseases exert a significant influence on the periodontium, serving as a primary contributor to the development of periodontitis. The advancement of periodontitis, characterized by manifestations, such as gingival recession, increased periodontal pocket depth and resorption across the alveolar bone, cementum and periodontal ligaments, poses a significant risk of dental detachment. Untreated or delayed treatment further worsens these deleterious outcomes. This emphasizes the critical importance of timely and effective interventions in reducing the consequences associated with periodontitis. Addressing these challenges requires to focus on the fabrication of bioactive materials, particularly scaffolds, as pivotal elements in tissue engineering processes aimed at alveolar bone regeneration. The incorporation of natural polymers, particularly their amalgamation with clays and clay minerals, such as montmorillonite and LAPONITE®, has been identified as a prospective pathway for advancing biomaterials in the realm of dentistry. This amalgamation holds significant potential for the production of biomaterials with enhanced properties, underscoring its relevance and applicability in dental research. This review paper explores the current advancements in natural polymer-based biomaterials employed in various dental applications, including oral caries, regenerative medicine and alveolar bone regeneration. The principal aim of this investigation is to briefly compile and present the existing knowledge while updating information on the utilization of natural polymers in the formulation of biomaterials. Additionally, the paper aims to elucidate their applications within contemporary research trends and developments in the field of odontology. This article extensively delves into pertinent research to assess the progress of nanotechnology in the context of tissue regeneration and the treatment of oral diseases.

Soft magnetic materials, like Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄, require high temperatures and regulated environments for their manufacture and processing, which can be highly energy intensive. These requirements therefore result in higher production costs and energy consumption. To address this issue, the development of composite materials based on soft magnetic ferrites has become a prominent research area. The type of particles and their size distribution, shape, and dispersion within the polymer matrix can be crucial for controlling the magnetic properties. In this context, and to reduce energy consumption, the parameters of solid-state reaction (such as calcination temperature, calcination time, and milling time) were optimized in this work to produce magnetic particles with suitable shape and size for filling a thermoplastic matrix. The impact of these parameters on phase purity, morphology, particle size, and magnetic properties was thoroughly evaluated. The results highlight that the sample synthesized at 1200 °C for 6 hours achieved an impressive saturation magnetization value of 80.07 emu g⁻¹, showcasing exceptional magnetic performance.

Regular occurrences of oil leaks are recognized as a significant contributor to water pollution, resulting in substantial environmental and ecological challenges, as well as posing potential for fires and explosions. Therefore, it is imperative to create a cost-effective and exceptionally effective absorbent material for separating oil and water. Hydrophobic, foam-like materials have garnered considerable attention as potential absorbers for addressing oil spills and recovering oil from water sources. In this experimental study, simple, low-cost, environmentally friendly, highly hydrophobic, and super oleophilic g-C₃N₄/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite-coated melamine foam was introduced for oily wastewater treatment. The g-C₃N₄ and Bi₂S₃ were synthesized by thermal decomposition and hydrothermal methods, and the g-C₃N₄/Bi₂S₃ composite-coated foam was prepared by a simple dip-coated method. The g-C₃N₄/Bi₂S₃ composite-coated melamine foam shows excellent absorption capacity, and it can absorb various oils and solvents and separate different oils and solvents from water. Hence, the developed g-C₃N₄/Bi₂S₃ foam absorbent has excellent potential in oil/water separation applications.

This study investigates the structural, electrical, and dielectric properties of GdCrO₃ (GCO) compounds. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of the perovskite phase of GCO, crystallizing with the Pbnm space group. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to examine the morphology and chemical composition of the powder, ensuring compound homogeneity, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provided insights into the internal structure and finer morphology of the GCO sample. Electrical measurements revealed that GCO exhibits semiconductor behavior, with a notable increase in conductivity as temperature rises, attributed to enhanced charge carrier mobility and hopping conduction mechanisms. Dielectric analysis demonstrated significant frequency-dependent behavior, characterized by various polarization effects and relaxation phenomena. GCO is a promising material for energy storage due to its giant permittivity and low energy loss. The activation energies derived from the electrical and dielectric measurements indicate higher resistance within the grains compared to the grain boundaries, suggesting complex conduction processes. Additionally, the dielectric loss spectra revealed substantial losses, likely due to defect states such as oxygen vacancies and mixed valence states, indicating a highly disordered material. These comprehensive insights into the structural and functional properties of GCO highlight its potential applications in electronic and electrical devices where controlled conductivity and dielectric properties are crucial.

Two compounds, benzyl-2-(amino(pyrazin-2-yl)methylene)-1-methylhydrazine-1-carbodithioate (L) and its copper(II) complex Cu(L) were synthesized and studied in terms of their physicochemical properties, including single crystal, spectroscopic and magnetic properties; in silico simulations, including DFT calculations and pharmacokinetic profile analysis; and in vitro biological activity. The Cu(L) compound was found to exhibit good anticancer activity against A375, PANC-1, MKN-74, T-47D, HeLa, and NCI-H1563 cells, with the IC₅₀ value against the HeLa cell line reaching 17.50 μM, significantly surpassing the activity of the organic ligand. Moreover, at the same time, the Cu(L) complex did not exhibit significant toxicity towards healthy cells. Mechanism of action studies revealed that its activity is connected with the oxidative stress and redox imbalance caused by the upregulation of genes encoding superoxide dismutase (SOD2) and catalase (CAT) antioxidant enzymes. The reported results further underscore the anticancer potential of pyrazine-based copper(II) complexes.

Green fluorescent carbon dots (GCDs) were synthesized using o-phenylenediamine and ethylenediamine through a one-step hydrothermal method, thereby eliminating the need for further processing. The GCDs exhibited strong green fluorescence that was effectively quenched by Hg²⁺ and Fe³⁺, with minimal interference from other metal ions, anions, and small biological molecules. By optimizing the buffer solution, interference from Fe³⁺ was mitigated, which enhanced the robustness of the GCDs as a fluorescence probe for Hg²⁺ detection. The detection range for Hg²⁺ was 0–100 μM, with a detection limit of 300 nM. The quenching mechanism was thoroughly investigated, and the GCDs were successfully applied to detect Hg²⁺ in real water samples, yielding satisfactory results. This work highlights the potential of GCDs for practical environmental monitoring and water quality analysis.

A CaMnO₃/g-C₃N₄ heterostructure, demonstrating promising photocatalytic performance for tetracycline (TC), was successfully synthesized using a straightforward calcination approach in this study. A series of characterization methods were employed to assess the physicochemical properties and visible-light responsiveness of the synthesized photocatalysts. The photocatalytic degradation rates of TC for the three prepared samples were evaluated. The results indicate that the CaMnO₃/g-C₃N₄ composite exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation, surpassing that of the individual components. Specifically, the degradation rate of CaMnO₃/g-C₃N₄ is 0.031 min⁻¹, which is 2.07 and 2.82 times greater than that of the pristine g-C₃N₄ and CaMnO₃, respectively. Our findings highlight the significant potential of eco-friendly perovskites in developing visible-light-activated g-C₃N₄-based heterostructures for practical photocatalytic applications.

Biogenic synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles is a rapidly growing research area in the field of nanotechnology owing to their immense potential in multifaceted biomedical and environmental applications. In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) were biosynthesized from the Citrullus lanatus rind extract to elucidate their potential antimicrobial and dye degradation activity. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of the NPs were examined using various analytical techniques. UV-vis spectra showed a λ_max at 370 nm and the optical band gap was determined to be 3.2 eV for the ZnO nanocomposite. The FTIR spectrum denoted the functional groups responsible for the reduction of zinc acetate precursor to ZnO NPs. XRD demonstrated that the mean crystalline size of the nanocomposites was 20.36 nm while DLS, ζ-potential, FE-SEM, and EDX analysis of synthesized NPs confirmed their hydrodynamic size distribution, stability, morphological features, and elemental compositions, respectively. Biogenic ZnO NPs unveiled potent antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans, showing 13 to 22 mm ZOI. This bactericidal activity of ZnO NPs was further elucidated using molecular docking analysis. The results showed a favorable lowest binding energy between ZnO NPs and microbial proteins (AusA for S. aureus, and CAT III for E. coli), which led to a possible mechanistic approach for ZnO NPs. Furthermore, the remarkable photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs was revealed by the degradation of 99.02% of methylene blue (MB) dye within 120 min. Therefore, the above findings suggest that green synthesized ZnO NPs can be exploited as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic substances and a unique promising candidate for therapeutic applications and environmental remediation.

The two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal group IV–V family has attracted significant attention due to their unique properties and potential applications in electronics, spintronics, and photocatalysis. In this study, we report the discovery of a stable tetragonal allotrope, termed the Td4 phase, of 2D IV–V monolayers through a structural search utilizing an adaptive genetic algorithm. We investigate the geometric structures, structural stabilities, and band structures of the Td4-phase 2D IV–V monolayers (where IV = Si, Ge, Sn; V = P, As, Sb) based on the first-principles calculations. All the investigated 2D IV–V monolayers are dynamically and thermodynamically stable, and exhibit metallic behavior in their pristine form. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of surface hydrogenation on the electronic structures of these monolayers. Except for the hydrogenated GeSb monolayer, the remaining 2D IV–V monolayers turn into indirect semiconductors, with band gap values ranging from 0.15 to 1.12 eV. This work expands the known structural motifs within the 2D group IV–V family and contributes to the ongoing exploration of low-dimensional materials.