Meraj Alam Khan

Development of PANI/MWCNTs decorated with cobalt oxide nanoparticles towards multiple electrochemical, photocatalytic and biomedical application sites

In the present work, a ternary nanocomposite of Co3O4doped/PANI/MWCNTs (cobalt oxide-doped polyaniline multi-walled carbon nanotubes) was synthesized via the in situ oxidative polymerization of aniline. The composite was fully characterized using instrumental analysis, and further tested for its potential in electrochemical, photocatalytic and biomedical applications. The Co oxide nanoparticles were first synthesized using the sol–gel approach in the presence of starch as a capping agent so as to prevent agglomeration and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX, elemental mapping and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). For the measurement of electrochemical activity, the electrodes were synthesized with MWCNTs and functionalized with a conducting polymer (PANI). For the composite, the Co metal oxide provides a pseudo-capacitance which, in general, improves the performance characteristics of the electrode and has been the focus of many researchers. Further, the specific capacitance of the prepared composite was tested using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy. The capacitive studies reveal that the composite has a synergistic effect and is observed to have the highest specific capacitance of 382 F g−1 run at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1. The composite was also found to have excellent photocatalytic degradation properties and outstanding antibacterial activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains. The minimum MIC (6.25 μg mL−1) and MBC (12.5 μg mL−1) values against E. coli and maximum values against B. amyloliquefaciens (25 and 50 μg mL−1) at fourth dilution were observed. Furthermore, the anticancer efficiency of the composite was tested by making use of two different cancer cell types (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) confirming the importance of its biological activity for biomedical applications.

Ion exchangers as adsorbents for removing metals from aquatic media.

Abstract A polyaniline-based composite cation-exchange material was synthesized by way of sol–gel method and studied to explore its analytical and environmental applications. It was characterized by using instrumental analyses [Fourier transform infrared (spectrometer), X-ray, thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis, standard electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy]. Physicochemical studies, such as ion-exchange capacity, pH titrations, and chemical stability, along with effect of eluent concentration and elution, were also performed to exploit the ion-exchange capabilities. pH titration studies showed that the material presents monofunctional strong cation-exchange behavior. This nanocomposite material is semicrystalline in nature and exhibits improved thermal and chemical stability. The partition coefficient studies of different metal ions in the material were performed in demineralised water and different surfactant media, and it was found to be selective for Pb(II) and Hg(II) ions. To exploit the usefulness of the material as an adsorbent, some important quantitative binary separations of metal ions were performed on polyaniline Zr(IV) molybdophosphate columns. This composite cation exchanger can be applied for the treatment of polluted water to remove heavy metals.

DNA Binding, Cleavage Activity, Molecular Docking, Cytotoxicityand Genotoxicity Studies of Newly Synthesized Copper Based MetalComplexes

The design and synthesis of medicinal chemotherapeutic agents of copper with 2-(benzothiazol-2-yl iminomethyl)-phenol, 2-(benzothiazol-2-yliminomethyl)-valine, cyanoaceto (2-mer- captobenzylidene)-hydrazide, 2-(phenacyl bromide)-aminothiophenol, (2-mercaptobenzaldehyde) thio- semicarbazone, N-(phenacyl bromide)-2- yliminobenzothiazole, 2-aminobenzothiazole, benzothiazol-2-yliminomethyl)-phenol and 2-[(2E¹-aminobenzylidene)- amino]-benzenethiol were synthesized. The characterization was done by FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR, MS, TGA and elemental analysis. Interaction of complexes 8 and 9 with CT DNA was done by using UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy depicting the hyperchromic behaviour of complexes. The intrinsic binding constants (Kb) for complex 8 and 9 were 2.35 × 103 M-1 and 2.12 × 103 M-1. The cleavage studies of complex 8 and 9 were done with pBR322 plasmid showing the potential cleaving ability of the complexes at very low concentration. The gel electrophoresis pattern also demonstrated that the complex 8 alone or in presence of Cu (II) causes the nicking of supercoiled pBR322 and it seems to follow the mechanistic pathway involving generation of hydroxyl radicals that are responsible for initiating DNA strand scission. The molecular docking studies showed the minor groove binding behaviour of the complexes 8 and 9 with DNA. During the MTT assay against different cancer cell lines like SW480, HepG2, HT29 and HL60, all the complexes showed potential cytotoxic behaviour by giving effective IC50 close to Cisplatin. The bioactivity score and PASS analysis also depicted the drug like nature of the complexes. During the comet assay, apoptotic degradation of DNA in the presence of complex 8 and 9 was analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis and visualized by ethidium bromide staining.