Publications by authors named "Zumaira Siddique"
The study explored a sustainable and greener conversion of wheat straw to lignin for wastewater treatment application. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were incorporated into wheat straw extracted lignin (WSEL) to design WSEL@ZnO composite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed a crystalline structure (25 nm) of WSEL@ZnO composite, with enhanced direct orange 26 (DO26) adsorption and photocatalytic efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, we report the band gap tuning of ternary ZnCdS quantum dots (QDs) by varying the concentration of the capping ligand, mercaptoacetic acid (MAA). The functionalization of QDs leads to the control of their size and band gap due to the quantum confinement effect, causing blue shift in the absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra with a gradual change in the concentration of the capping ligand from 0.5 to 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, we report the synthesis of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) by hydrothermal method and surface modified CdS quantum dots (QDs) via the colloidal method and the fabrication of their dyad. The CdS QDs functionalized by mercaptoacetic acid (MAA) attach to the GQDs via electrostatic interactions. Spectral overlapping between the emission spectrum of GQDs and the absorption spectrum of CdS QDs allows efficient Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from GQDs to the CdS QDs in the GQDs-CdS QDs dyads.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA series of xanthan gum/titanium dioxide-based polyurethane elastomers were synthesized through the prepolymer method by the step growth polymerization. In the present work, xanthan gum was used as a bioactive material, with TiO as a nanofiller. The structural characterization of newly prepared polyurethane samples was carried out with the help of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigated how altering the chain length of soft segments in polyurethane elastomers (PUEs) affects their structural properties.
- The focus was on using polycaprolactone diol (PCL) for the soft segments, while hard segments were created with 4,4'-cyclohexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) and 1,6-hexanediol (HDO).
- Techniques like FTIR, SEM, and AFM were employed to examine changes in chemical composition, morphology, and crystallinity, revealing that longer PCL chains led to enhanced microphase separation and increased crystallinity, while also affecting the materials' hydrophilicity and surface energy.