The rGO/Sb nanocomposite formation of nanoribbons from the rGO nanosheets is responsible for high capacity and capacity retention.

Vehicle electrification is one of the most significant solutions that address the challenges of fossil fuel depletion, global warming, CO 2 pollution, and so on. To mitigate these issues, recent research mainly focuses on finding clean energy storage devices such as batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and so forth. Owing to the outstanding energy and power density, lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have captured the market for portable electronics, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and so on. During 1970-1980s, electrode materials for both LIBs and sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) were investigated but higher energy and power density of LIBs have made it a popular candidate for portable electronics. Issues arise on the availability of lithium reserves, so it is high time we take a look at finding alternative energy storage system without compromising on the energy and power density of the state-of-the-art LIBs. Therefore, researchers have revisited NIBs and recent developments have contributed towards discovering new electrode materials to match the energy and power density of LIBs at low cost. While a variety of positive and negative electrode materials have been investigated for NIBs so far, the influence of voltage, capacity, cycle life, and volume expansion of negative electrodes on Na + ion extraction and insertion are more as compared with LIBs. This affects the energy and power density of NIBs but cost-effective partial replacement of LIBs is viable and is widely pursued.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, biofilms cause 65% of infections in developed countries. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm cause life threatening infections in cystic fibrosis infection and they are 1,000 times more tolerant to antibiotic than the planktonic cells. As quorum sensing, hydrophobicity index and extracellular polysaccharide play a crucial role in biofilm formation, extracts from 46 marine bacterial isolates were screened against these factors in P. aeruginosa. Eleven extracts showed antibiofilm activity. Extracts of S6-01 (Bacillus indicus = MTCC 5559) and S6-15 (Bacillus pumilus = MTCC 5560) inhibited the formation of PAO1 biofilm up to 95% in their Biofilm Inhibitory Concentration(BIC) of 50 and 60 microg/ml and 85% and 64% in the subinhibitory concentrations (1/4 and 1/8 of the BIC, respectively). Furthermore, the mature biofilm was disrupted to 70-74% in their BIC. The antibiofilm compound from S6-15 was partially purified using solvent extraction followed by TLC and silica column and further characterized by IR analysis. Current study for the first time reveals the antibiofilm and antiquorum-sensing activity of B. pumilus, B. indicus, Bacillus arsenicus, Halobacillus trueperi, Ferrimonas balearica, and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus from marine habitat.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen frequently associated with nosocomial infections, is emerging as a serious threat due to its resistance to broad spectrum antimicrobials. The biofilm mode of growth confers resistance to antibiotics and novel anti-biofilm agents are urgently needed. Nanoparticle based treatments and therapies have been of recent interest because of their versatile applications. This study investigates the anti-biofilm activity of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) synthesized by the one pot method against P. aeruginosa. Standard physical techniques including UV-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the synthesized CuNPs. CuNP treatments at 100 ng ml(-1) resulted in a 94, 89 and 92% reduction in biofilm, cell surface hydrophobicity and exopolysaccharides respectively, without bactericidal activity. Evidence of biofilm inhibition was also seen with light and confocal microscope analysis. This study highlights the anti-biofilm potential of CuNPs, which could be utilized as coating agents on surgical devices and medical implants to manage biofilm associated infections.

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