Kasarapu Venkataramana

Enhanced ionic conductivity of co-doped ceria-carbonate nano composite electrolyte material for LT-SOFCs

Co-doped ceria Ce0.8Sm0.1Y0.12-δ and co-doped ceria-carbonate nano composite Ce0.8Sm0.1Y0.1O2-δ – (Na-K)2CO3 used as electrolytes in low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) were synthesized. Structural and morphological studies were characterized by XRD and SEM. Electrical conductivity measurements were carried out by using Impedance Spectroscopy in the temperature range of 100 to 500°C. It was observed that the co-doped ceria-carbonate Nano composite material exhibited high ionic conductivity than that of co-doped ceria making it useful as promising electrolyte material for LT-SOFCs.

Studies on the potency of oral polio vaccine using RD cell line and evaluation of growth using different serum concentration and volume of media

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) proved to be superior in administration eliminating the need of sterile syringes and making the vaccine more suitable for mass vaccination campaigns. Poliovirus is heat sensitive in nature, and thus OPV is stored at low temperature (frozen). The growth medium containing varying concentration of serum such as 6, 8, 10, 12, 14% were prepared. 10 ml of the above mentioned growth media containing different concentration of serum were added to different culture bottles. The culture flasks containing different volumes of growth medium with 10% serum concentration such as 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 ml were added to a series of culture flasks. All the culture flasks were inoculated with the RD cells (10,000 cells/culture flask) and kept at 37°C. The most favoured serum concentration and volume for the growth of RD cells was found and used for testing the potency of vaccine. Vaccines from two manufacturers were kept at three different temperatures, 2-8 ± 0.5°C (refrigerator), 26 ± 0.5°C and 37 ± 0.5°C (Incubator). Cytopathic viruses were titrated by the determination of a tissue culture infectious dose50 (TCID50), vaccine dilutions were seeded in replicate onto cells in multiwell plates (usually 96 wells). After a suitable incubation period, wells were examined microscopically and scored as infected or not infected. The potency of vaccines was tested using the Karber’s Formula.