Ghazaleh Bahmanrokh

Visible Light-Induced Degradation of Methylene Blue in the Presence of Photocatalytic ZnS and CdS Nanoparticles

ZnS and CdS nanoparticles were prepared by a simple microwave irradiation method under mild conditions. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM and EDX. The results indicated that high purity of nanosized ZnS and CdS was successfully obtained with cubic and hexagonal crystalline structures, respectively. The band gap energies of ZnS and CdS nanoparticles were estimated using UV-visible absorption spectra to be about 4.22 and 2.64 eV, respectively. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue was carried out using physical mixtures of ZnS and CdS nanoparticles under a 500-W halogen lamp of visible light irradiation. The residual concentration of methylene blue solution was monitored using UV-visible absorption spectrometry. From the study of the variation in composition of ZnS:CdS, a composition of 1:4 (by weight) was found to be very efficient for degradation of methylene blue. In this case the degradation efficiency of the photocatalyst nanoparticles after 6 h irradiation time was about 73% with a reaction rate of 3.61 × 10−3 min−1. Higher degradation efficiency and reaction rate were achieved by increasing the amount of photocatalyst and initial pH of the solution.

Influence of the Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone Concentration on Particle Size and Dispersion of ZnS Nanoparticles Synthesized by Microwave Irradiation

Zinc sulfide semiconductor nanoparticles were synthesized in an aqueous solution of polyvinyl pyrrolidone via a simple microwave irradiation method. The effect of the polymer concentration and the type of sulfur source on the particle size and dispersion of the final ZnS nanoparticle product was carefully examined. Microwave heating generally occurs by two main mechanisms: dipolar polarization of water and ionic conduction of precursors. The introduction of the polymer affects the heating rate by restriction of the rotational motion of dipole molecules and immobilization of ions. Consequently, our results show that the presence of the polymer strongly affects the nucleation and growth rates of the ZnS nanoparticles and therefore determines the average particle size and the dispersion. Moreover, we found that PVP adsorbed on the surface of the ZnS nanoparticles by interaction of the C–N and C=O with the nanoparticle’s surface, thereby affording protection from agglomeration by steric hindrance. Generally, with increasing PVP concentration, mono-dispersed colloidal solutions were obtained and at the optimal PVP concentration (5%), sufficiently small size and narrow size distributions were obtained from both sodium sulfide and thioacetamide sulfur sources. Finally, the sulfur source directly influences the reaction mechanism and the final particle morphology, as well as the average size.

Cytotoxic effect of nanocrystalline MgFe 2 O 4 particles for cancer cure

Nanocrystalline magnesium ferrites (MgFe2O4) were produced with an average grain size of about 20 nm. Their structural, morphological, and magnetic characterizations were studied. The cytotoxic effects of MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in various concentrations (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 µg/mL) against MCF-7 human breast cancer cellswere analyzed. MTT assay findings suggest the increased accumulation of apoptotic bodies with the increasing concentration of MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis shows that MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in 800 µg/mL concentration aremore cytotoxic compared to vehicle-treated MCF-7 cells and suggests their potential utility as a drug carrier in the treatment of cancer.

Phase Controlled Monodispersed CdS Nanocrystals Synthesized in Polymer Solution Using Microwave Irradiation

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocrystals were synthesized in aqueous solution of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) via the simple and rapid microwave irradiation method. It is revealed that sulfur source is a key factor in controlling the phase formation of the resulting nanocrystals. The hexagonal and cubic structure of CdS nanocrystals could be obtained with varying sulfur sources of thioacetamide and sodium sulphide respectively. The interaction mechanism of PVP with precursor ions of cadmium and sulfur sources in the preparation process was proposed. It is found that PVP compounded the CdS nanoparticles and protected them from agglomerating. With increasing of PVP concentration, the average particle size of CdS nanocrystals increased and subsequently their optical band gap decreased. At the appropriate dosage of PVP, well isolated nanoparticles with relatively narrow size distribution were obtained for both sulfur sources. Moreover the stability of CdS nanoparticles enhanced after coating with polymer.

Influence of Annealing Temperature on the Magnetic Properties of Rapidly Quenched (Nd,Pr)2-(Fe,Co,Ga,Ti,C)14B/α-Fe Nanocomposite Ribbons

The effects of different heat treatment temperatures on the structure and magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-B nanocomposite permanent magnetic alloys with nominal composition of Nd9.4Pr0.6Fe74.5Co6B6Ga0.5Ti1.5C1.5 have been investigated. The most practical method to produce nanostructured metallic materials is rapid solidification. Melt spinning with constant wheel speed of  m/s was employed to produce ribbons. As-spun ribbons were examined by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) with Cu-kα radiation. The ribbons were annealed at different temperatures in order to extract the best magnetic properties. The XRD and electron microscopy technique results confirm that grains are in the size of less than 50 nm. In addition, optimum magnetic properties were obtained at 700°C annealed temperature.