ZnSe nanoparticles have been synthesized by microwave assisted method by using zinc chloride, selenium powder and ethylene diamine. The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized structurally by FT-IR and XRD as well as morphological characterization was done by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The crystallite size after synthesis was obtained around 30 nm for pure ZnSe nanocrystallites. However, from SEM micrograph, agglomerated ZnSe nanoparticles of irregular shapes were observed. The assynthesized ZnSe nanoparticles at different contents (1 to 5% w/w w.r.t SPI) were incorporated into soy protein isolate (SPI) to produce reinforced SPI films by solution casting method. The ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI suspensions were subjected to molecular mass and specific conductivity studies. Neat and ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI films were structurally and mechanically characterized by FT-IR and tensile properties, respectively. Transmittance and water uptake studies were also carried out for ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI films. The tensile strength and modulus increased from 5.80 MPa to 10.06 MPa and 18.84 MPa to 94.70 MPa with the increase in the contents of ZnSe nanoparticles from 0 to 5%. Moreover, the results also revealed a good antibacterial effect in ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI film. The main application of nanoparticles incorporated SPI film will be in the area of biodegradable packaging.
Polymethacrylic acid grafted psyllium (Psy-g-PMA) was synthesized by microwave assisted method, which involves a microwave irradiation in synergism with silver sulfate as a free radical initiator to initiate grafting reaction. Psy-g-PMA grades have been synthesized and characterized on structural basis (elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, intrinsic viscosity study) as well as morphological and thermal studies, taking psyllium as reference. The effects of reaction time, amount of monomer and silver sulfate (free radical initiator) on grafting of PMA on psyllium backbone have been studied. It is observed that all the grades of Psy-g-PMA have higher intrinsic viscosities than that of psyllium. The best synthesized grade was Psyg-PMA having intrinsic viscosity of 6.93 and 58 % grafting of PMA on the main polymer backbone. Further Psy-g-PMA applications as flocculants for waste water treatment have been investigated. Psy-g-PMA resulted in higher decrease in the flocculation parameters such as total dissolved solid or total solids compared to psyllium. Hence the result shows the possible application of grafted psyllium in wastewater treatment.
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