Anil K. Nigam

Applications of Ionic Liquids in Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors

Ionic liquids (ILs) are salt that exist in the liquid phase at and around 298 K and are comprised of a bulky, asymmetric organic cation and the anion usually inorganic ion but some ILs also with organic anion. ILs have attracted much attention as a replacement for traditional organic solvents as they possess many attractive properties. Among these properties, intrinsic ion conductivity, low volatility, high chemical and thermal stability, low combustibility, and wide electrochemical windows are few. Due to negligible or nonzero volatility of these solvents, they are considered “greener” for the environment as they do not evaporate like volatile organic compounds (VOCs). ILs have been widely used in electrodeposition, electrosynthesis, electrocatalysis, electrochemical capacitor, lubricants, plasticizers, solvent, lithium batteries, solvents to manufacture nanomaterials, extraction, gas absorption agents, and so forth. Besides a brief discussion of the introduction, history, and properties of ILs the major purpose of this review paper is to provide an overview on the advantages of ILs for the synthesis of conducting polymer and nanoparticle when compared to conventional media and also to focus on the electrochemical sensors and biosensors based on IL/composite modified macrodisk electrodes. Subsequently, recent developments and major strategies for enhancing sensing performance are discussed.

Impregnated silica nanoparticles for the reactive removal of sulphur mustard from solutions

High surface area (887.3m(2)/g) silica nanoparticles were synthesized using aerogel route and thereafter, characterized by N(2)-Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), SEM and TEM techniques. The data indicated the formation of nanoparticles of silica in the size range of 24-75 nm with mesoporous characteristics. Later, these were impregnated with reactive chemicals such as N-chloro compounds, oxaziridines, polyoxometalates, etc., which have already been proven to be effective against sulphur mustard (HD). Thus, developed novel mesoporous reactive sorbents were tested for their self-decontaminating feature by conducting studies on kinetics of adsorptive removal of HD from solution. Trichloroisocyanuric acid impregnated silica nanoparticles (10%, w/w)-based system was found to be the best with least half-life value (t(1/2)=2.8 min) among prepared systems to remove and detoxify HD into nontoxic degradation products. Hydrolysis, dehydrohalogenation and oxidation reactions were found to be the route of degradation of HD over prepared sorbents. The study also inferred that 10% loading of impregnants over high surface area and low density silica nanoparticles enhances the rate of reaction kinetics and seems to be useful in the field of heterogeneous reaction kinetics.

Thermal decomposition studies of riot control agent ω-chloroacetophenone (CN) by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Pyrolysis-GC/MS system with on-line micro-furnace was used to make rapid evaluation of ω-chloroacetophenone (CN) decomposition under inert thermal atmospheres. The volatile products evolved during pyrolysis were analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Py-GC/MS to obtain specific thermogram and pyrogram. Thermal gravimetric analysis results showed that CN undergoes sublimation at 167°C prior to its decomposition at 229°C. Totally 45 degradation products were identified based on mass spectral library matching with the aid of correlation of the values of boiling point (bp) and retention time. A large number of mono-aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were observed beyond 600°C. In addition to the aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygenated compounds were also observed during the pyrolysis process. The pyrolysis mechanism was proposed based on the determined pyrolysates and their relative abundance with temperature. The investigation results can provide significant information for understanding the thermal behavior of CN and evaluation of the potential influence of the pyrolysates to living being and the environment.