In this study, polymer electrolyte films were irradiated with electron beam (EB) and Gamma ray (GR) at 50 and 150 kGy. The induced chemical changes in films due to irradiations have been confirmed from the Fourier Transform Infra red (FT-IR) spectra. The X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) results show that crystallinity decreases by~20% in EB and~10% in GR irradiated films respectively compared to non-irradiated film. The micro structural arrangement was investigated by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and the images reveal that there is a substantial improvement in the surface morphology in irradiated films. The real (ε 0) and imaginary (ε 00) dielectric constant and AC conductivity are found to increase with increase in irradiation dose. Improved dielectric properties and conductivity (1.74 x 10 À4 & 1.15 x 10 À4 S/cm, respectively, for EB and GR irradiated films at room temperature) after irradiation and it confirm that EB and GR irradiation can be simple and effective route to obtaining highly conductive polymer electrolytes. From this study it is confirm that EB is more effectiveness than GR irradiation.

Microorganisms cause variety of diseases that constitutes a severe threat to mankind. Due to the upsurge of many infectious diseases, there is a high requirement and demand for the development of safety products finished with antimicrobial properties. The study involves the antimicrobial activity of natural cotton coated with copper iodide capped with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. flower extract (CuI-FE) which is rich in anthocyanin, cyanidine-3-sophoroside by ultrasonication method. The coated and uncoated cotton fabric was characterised through XRD, SEM, AFM, tensile strength and UV-Visible spectroscopic techniques. XRD confirmed the formation of CuI particles, SEM showed that CuI-FE was prismatic in shape. The average size of CuI-FE particles was found to be 552.45 nm. Anti-bacterial studies showed copper iodide particles to be a potent antimicrobial agent. AFM images confirmed the rupture of bacterial cell walls in the presence of prismatic CuI-FE. In-vitro cytotoxicity investigation of CuI-FE was performed against cancer and spleen cell lines to evaluate the cell viability. Cytotoxicity analysis revealed the IC 50 value of 233.93 μg/mL in the presence of CuI-FE. Molecular docking study was also carried out to understand the interaction of CuI-FE with COVID-19 main protease. This paper has given an insight on the usage of CuI-FE coated on the cotton fabric that has proved to have strong inhibition against the nano ranged bacterial, cancerous cell line and a strong interaction with the COVID-19 protease.Such eco-friendly material will provide a safe environment even after the disposable of medical waste from the infectious diseases like influenza and current pandemic like COVID-19.

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most significant environmental problems globally leading to ecological imbalance. There are many physicochemical and biological methods for the removal of heavy metals. Most of the physicochemical methods are less eco-friendly and less cost-effective, while the biological methods are slow in nature. Recently, nanoparticles have been suggested as efficient alternatives to existing treatment methods, in both resource conservation and environmental remediation of anthropogenic compounds. Nanotechnologies are pervasive solution vectors in our economic environment. Biological synthesis of nanoparticles has grown markedly to create novel materials that are ecofriendly, cost-effective and stable with great importance in wider application in the areas of electronics, medicine and agriculture. Thus, the current work focuses on a comparative remediation of heavy metals using physical, chemical and biological methods and nano-structured copper iodide is used as an adsorbent for the removal of chromium (Cr) and zinc (Zn). In the present study, we have experimented with a few methods in physical (UV light irradiation, adsorption studies using CuI), chemical (UV photocatalysis using CuI) and biological methods (using co-culture bacteria strains). A combination of chemical and biological methods was also probed using CuI-polyvinyl alcohol nano-composite containing bacterial co-cultures. The synthesized nano-composite was characterized using scanning electron microscope. The present study revealed that the most effective and cost-friendly method was using biologically prepared nano-composite of CuI (a combination of both chemical and biological methods) to remediate heavy metals Cr and Zn with a removal efficiency up to ~ 67% for Cr and ~ 55% for Zn at the end of 48 h.

Purging of heavy metals like chromium and manganese from water using various adsorbents is the need of the hour for our environment. Copper iodide nanoparticle (CuI NP) has garnered a lot of attention due to its singular physical and chemical properties. The present study reports the of use of green synthesized CuI NP using Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. flower extract which contains the anthocyanin, cyanidin-3-sophoroside (acts as both reducing and capping agents) in the removal of aqueous Cr(VI) and Mn(VII) ions. The synthesized CuI NP was characterized and was found to be nanocrystalline in nature, showing the presence of some surface crystal defects and having a high surface area making it a good adsorbent with adsorption capacities of 169.5 mg/g for Cr(VI) and 200 mg/g for Mn(VII) ions. The kinetics of metal removal was probed. The removal of metals was also probed using Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models.

Azo dyes released by the textile industries cause severe damage to the environment and living organisms. The degradation of azo dyes is widely studied using enzymatic methods. Laccase is a copper-containing enzyme that degrades the azo dyes into less toxic compounds. In this work, the crude laccase enzyme produced by the alkaliphile Pseudomonas mendocina in the degradation of mixed azo dye showed 0.386 U/mL activity at pH 8.5. A combination of enzymatic and green synthesized nanoparticles was used in the degradation of mixed azo dye. Laccase used in the degradation of mixed azo dyes showed 58.4% in 72 h, while the photocatalytic degradation of mixed azo dyes showed 15.9%. The degradation of azo dyes using copper iodide nanoparticles resulted in 15.8% degradation. However, it was noticed that the combined method of degradation of azo dyes involving both crude laccase and CuI nanoparticles gave a degradation of 62.3% in 60 min. Interaction of laccase enzyme with azo dyes using in silico analysis predicted the binding energy with reactive red (−7.19 kcal/mol), reactive brown (−8.57 kcal/mol), and reactive black dyes (−9.17 kcal/mol) respectively.

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Summary The polymer electrolytes based polyethylene oxide‐cobalt chloride (PEO‐CoCl2) films were prepared by solution casting technique and its structural property was examined by XRD study. The XRD data revealed that the amorphous nature of polymer matrix increased with increase of dopant concentration. The absorption spectra was measured in the wave range from 200–800 nm. The direct optical band gap (Eg) found decreased with increasing the concentration of cobalt chloride. The optical activation energy was evaluated using Urbach‐edges method. The thermal properties of these films were investigated with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The variation in film morphology is examined by scanning electron microscopy examination (SEM). Studies on the structural and optical properties of polymer electrolyte have attracted much attention in view of their application in optical devices like electro‐chromic display devices, fuel cells, gas sensors and solid state batteries.