Structural characterization and optical constants of p-toluene sulfonic acid doped polyaniline and its composites of chitosan and reduced graphene-oxide
Para-Toluene sulfonic acid doped polyaniline (PANI), PANI/chitosan composites, PANI/reduced graphene-oxide composites and a ternary composite comprising of PANI, chitosan and reduced graphene-oxide have synthesised via oxidative polymerisation of aniline by Ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS). FTIR, XRD, FESEM and UV-VIS techniques were performed for the confirmation of the successful synthesis. The fundamental optical parameters such as, complex refractive index, complex dielectric constants and optical conductivity of the PANI and the composites were investigated in the UV-VIS-NIR range. The results show a clear dependence on the constituent component such as sulphur as well as the absorbance …
Correlated randomness and switching phenomena
One challenge of biology, medicine, and economics is that the systems treated by these serious scientific disciplines have no perfect metronome in time and no perfect spatial architecture—crystalline or otherwise. Nonetheless, as if by magic, out of nothing but randomness one finds remarkably fine-tuned processes in time and remarkably fine-tuned structures in space. Further, many of these processes and structures have the remarkable feature of “switching” from one behavior to another as if by magic. The past century has, philosophically, been concerned with placing aside the human tendency to see the universe as a fine-tuned machine. Here we will address the challenge of uncovering how, th…
Exogenous Growth Regulators and Water Stress Enhance Long-Term Storage Quality Characteristics of Onion
Exogenous growth regulators (GRs) play a crucial role in alleviating water stress and sustaining crop yields in water-stressed areas. However, their effects on onions post-harvest quality, particularly post-monsoon onion—often preferred for long-term storage—were never studied. Therefore, this led us to investigate the interaction between water stress and GRs on the physiochemical and functional quality attributes of onions during long-term storage (9 months, at 25 ± 1 °C and 65 ± 5% RH). Onion crop was raised under four water stress levels i.e., 1.00–0.85, 0.84–0.70, 0.69–0.40, and 0.39–0.10 IW: CPE, designated as no, low, medium, and s…