PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a new model, namely service quality measurement in higher education in India (SQM‐HEI) for the measurement of service quality in higher educational institutions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by means of a structured questionnaire comprising six sections. Section A consists of ten questions pertaining to teaching methodology (TM). Sections B consists of five questions pertaining to environmental change in study factor (ECSF). Section C consists of eight questions relating to disciplinary measures taken by the institutions. Section D consists of five questions related to the placement‐related activities and in part E two questions provide an overall rating of the service quality, satisfaction level. Finally, in part F 13 questions pertaining to student respondent's demographic profile information were given. All the items in Sections A‐E were presented as statements on the questionnaire, with the same rating scale used throughout, and measured on a seven‐point, Likert‐type. In addition to the main scale addressing individual items, respondents were asked in Section E to provide an overall rating of the service quality, satisfaction level. For conducting an empirical study, data were collected from final‐year students of higher educational institutions across Tamil Nadu. The sampling procedure used for the study was stratified random sampling. The stratification has been done based on the region Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and nature of institution, government university, government college, aided college, private university and self‐financing college. While selecting the institutions from each category, non‐probabilistic convenience and judgmental sampling technique were used. However, within such institutions, the respondents were selected by stratified random sampling.FindingsThe SQM‐HEI‐mediated model argued that the placement is the better interactions of the quality of education in India. The model reveals that the quality of education is based on the best faculty (TM), the excellent physical resources (ECSF), a wide range of disciplines (DA) which paved the diverse student body and to improve the employability of the graduates (placement as mediating factor) coming out of the higher educational institutions in India. The above model proves that the placement is the mediated factor for various dimensions of quality education. SQM‐HEI model would help in identify three service areas to be focused in the higher educational institutions for improving the quality of . These three dimensions of quality correlated between the sub‐dimension variables and it is very necessary for improving the quality of higher education in India. The educationist says that, education is a change of behavior of students. Hence, the higher educational institutions should come forward to adapt the sub‐dimensions of quality variables to enhance the outcome of education.Originality/valueThe model described in this paper will assist academic institutions whe...

Glycerol, as the major by‐product of biodiesel, can be oxidized into diverse value‐added chemical products via either traditional chemical methods or electrochemical routes. Electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) driven by renewable‐derived electricity (e.g., wind and solar) is a promising pathway for fine chemicals production. In an electrochemical cell, GOR can be coupled with various cathodic reactions, including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); in this manner, different benefits of either energy effectiveness or additional value‐added products can be obtained depending on the cathode reduction reaction selected. Comprehensively understanding of electrocatalytic GOR and the associated processes is of great significance to promote its industrial application. Herein, recent progress of GOR is focused on. The background of biomass‐derived glycerol valorization to energy and value‐added chemicals as well as the electrochemical conversion techniques via GOR is introduced. Then, the electrocatalytic reaction pathways, the potential application of GOR, and the measurement method for products are also discussed and summarized. Special emphasis is put on the design and the development of high‐selectivity and high‐activity electrocatalysts for GOR. Finally, the challenges and the future prospects in the fields of GOR are highlighted.

reaction (OER), [4] which limited the stability of the catalyst and the DUFC performance.In general, OER occurs at the anodic surface under a higher electrode potential, and it is hypothesized that decreasing the anode UOR potential would effectively eliminate the OER. On the other hand, ORR suffers from sluggish reaction kinetics due to the large activation process involved in cleaving the double bonds in an O 2 molecule. [5] Despite the vast interest in this area, all reported DUFCs are based on precious metal ORR catalysts, including Pt/C, [1] Pd, [6] Pd/C@Ti, [7] and Ag/C, [2] which defeats the cost advantages of DUFCs. Furthermore, all of the efforts on DUFCs have been based on the use of two different catalysts for UOR and ORR. Recently, cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 )-based nanocatalysts have emerged as a potential bifunctional catalyst due to their ability to effectively eliminate the OER constraints and their preferable adsorption of O 2 molecules via the Pauling mode (Co … (O ads O)). [8] However, the UOR activity of Co 3 O 4 is hampered by the poisoning of the catalyst surface by the oxidation intermediates. [9] The peroxide species (HO 2− ) generated under an alkaline medium during the ORR deteriorates the catalytic stability of Co 3 O 4 . [10] These challenges could be overcome with a surface engineering of Co 3 O 4 nanostructures with specific UOR and ORR catalysts in the form of core-shell architectures.Furthermore, the conventional techniques used for the modification of DUFC electrodes with nanocatalysts involve tedious protocols such as substrate pretreatment, slurry preparation, tedious catalyst loading/coating, binder selection, blockage of active sites via binder, time consumption, high resistance, etc. [11] These difficulties could be circumvented if the nanocatalysts could be directly grown over the electrode materials. Accordingly, we present here a direct growth of core-shell nanostructures over carbon cloth (CC) fibers and address the challenges of Co 3 O 4 toward UOR and ORR electrokinetics via a decoration of Co 3 O 4 core with, respectively, NiO and MnO 2 shells. Results and DiscussionThe scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the bare CC (Figure 1a) clearly reveals the ordered woven structure with a smooth surface and interconnected 2D carbon fibers. From Figure 1b,c, it is clear that the CC nanofibers are homogeneously enveloped with the smooth surfaced and uniformly aligned Co 3 O 4 nanowires with sharp tips. The mean diameter and length of Co 3 O 4 nanowires are found to be 40 nm and 1.7 µm, respectively.Bifunctional cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) nanowire catalysts grown on carbon cloth (CC) fibers and their modification with nickel oxide (NiO) and manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) to produce core-shell nanoarchitectures are explored as catalysts for urea oxidation reaction and oxygen reduction reaction in direct urea fuel cells (DUFC). Based on a systematic electrochemical characterization of the catalyst, the as-developed core-shell nanoarchitectures are optimized toward DUFC performance....

The novelty of this present work is the investigation of the anti-bacterial, anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant and in vitro cytotoxicity activities of green synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using leaf aqueous extract of Tectona grandis (L.).

A 3D NiCo2O4 hierarchical architecture composed of interlaced and self-stacked 2D nanoflakes is realized as a urea oxidation reaction catalyst for the generation of green energy in direct urea fuel cells.

Highly selective and efficient nonenzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors were fabricated by using electrospun polyvinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVdF-HFP) composite nanofiber membranes. The homogeneous, smooth and strongly interconnected nanofibers were identified for the bare PVdF-HFP membrane and beads in the PVdF-HFP nanofibers were observed for the PVdF-HFP/Ni and PVdF-HFP/Ni/Co nanofiber membranes. The face-centered cubic structure of Ni nanoparticles doped in the PVdF-HFP nanofibers has not been altered, even after the alloy formation with Co. The electrochemical oxidation of glucose in an alkaline medium was chosen as a probe for the detection of glucose and was achieved through the fabricated nanofiber membranes. Among the fabricated nanofiber membranes, the PVdF-HFP/Ni/Co membrane exhibited an excellent sensing behavior toward glucose with the low limit of detection and linear range of 0.26 μM and 1 μM to 7 mM, respectively. Furthermore, the fabricated nanofiber membrane exhibited good selectivity, high stability and reproducibility, which promises its applications in nonenzymatic glucose sensors.

In this study, rapid and cost-effective biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was synthesized by using Piper longum (P. longum) catkin extract. The bioreduction of AgNPs was initially confirmed by using UV-visible spectroscopy which exhibits characteristic absorption peak at 450 nm in 120 s when exposed to sunlight. The phytoconstituents responsible for the reduction of AgNO 3 to Ag NPs were examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The crystalline nature of Ag NPs was confirmed using the X-ray diffraction pattern. Morphological studies confirmed the synthesized Ag NPs were monodispersed and spherical in shape with the size ranging from 15 to 40 nm. The zeta potential analysis of the synthesized AgNPs exhibit negative value (− 24.3 mV), which indicates higher stability. Further, the proficiency of the synthesized AgNPs was evaluated against mastitis-causing bacteria. Hence, the Ag NPs showed the maximum zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (12.45 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.34 mm), and Bacillus subtilis (9.75 mm). In addition, the catalytic efficiency of Ag NPs was investigated for the conversion of methyl orange to hydrazine derivatives, methylene blue to leuco methylene blue, and o-nitrophenol to o-aminophenol in 4, 5 and 3 min, respectively. Hence, this study explores the doctrine of green chemistry for the rapid production of AgNPs that act as a potential candidate to alleviate mastitis-causing bacteria and clear up diverse environmental problems.

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