The biosynthesis of nanoparticles has been proposed as a cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical and physical methods. The present work investigates the synthesis of titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) by green approach using Strychnos spinosa and Blighia sapida leave extracts. The detailed characterization of the TiO2 NPs was carried out using UV-Visible Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X- ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The green synthesized TiO2 NPs excitation was confirmed using UV–Vis spectrophotometer at 270 and 290 nm for Strychnos spinosa and Blighia sapida respectively. SEM revealed that the synthesized TiO2 NPs were spherical and crystalline in nature. The overall sizes are 40 and 50 nm for Strychnos spinosa and Blighia sapida respectively. FTIR spectroscopic analysisshowed the presence of flavonoids, polyphenols and amide groups likely to be responsible for the green synthesis of titanium oxide nanoparticles using S. Spinosa and B .sapida aqueous leaf extracts. The XRD pattern showed the characteristic Bragg peaks of (111), (200), (220) and (311) facets of the anatase titanium oxide nanoparticles and confirmed that these nanoparticles were crystalline and spherical in nature. Furthermore, the green synthesized TiO2 NPs wound healing activity was examined in the excision wound model by measuring wound closure, histopathology and protein profiling. This revealed significant wound healing activity in Albino rats. In the present study, topical application ofnanoformulated extracts of B. sapidaa nd S. spinosa significantly accelerated wound healing with 20% nanoformulated ointment having the highest percentage wound contraction ability comparable with gentamicin (a commercially sold antimicrobial agent used in dressing wounds). In conclusion, this work proved the capability of using TiO2 NPs to deliver a novel therapeutic route for wound treatment in clinical practice. Keywords: Wound healing activity; SEM; TiO2; XRD; FTIR; UV–Vis spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT:The aim of this study was to evaluate some physico-chemical properties of four major general purpose cement (As, Br, De and Sk) sold in Nigerian market using standard methods; due to the persistent collapse of buildings. The results showed that Br cement recorded the least CaO content (56.17%) while De cement had the highest CaO content being 63.48%. All the samples have Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 and Fe 2 O 3 contents within the acceptable limits with the exception of De with SiO 2 content being below the required standard. The MgO and SO 3 compositions were generally below the recommended limit; C 3 S content in De was above the recommended limit while it was below the standard in As. The C 3 A, C 4 AF, LSR, AR and SR of all the brands of cement were within the recommended standards for general purpose cement, with the exception of SR in As. The longest setting time for the cement samples was recorded in Br; LOI and IR were significantly high in all the samples. Sk and Br cements had the highest compressive strength of 50.42 and 50.43 N/mm 2 respectively after 28 days. The results indicate that the properties of the four brands of cement are comparable and are all of good quality.

The need for new antimicrobial agent has drawn attention on developing new and emerging materials based on nanoparticles with antimicrobial activity. The aim of this research was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles of titanium dioxide. A green synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles was done using a plant extract of H. thelbiecea and Ananos seneglensisa The presence of various photochemical like flavonoids, steroids, polyphenols, and terpenoids was investigated by following standard biochemical methods. The titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) synthesized was confirmed by their change of colour to brown and reddish brown due to the phenomenon of surface Plasmon resonance. The characterization studied was done by UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The green synthesized TiO2 NPs excitation was confirmed using UV–Vis spectrophotometer at 270 and 290 nm. SEM revealed that the synthesized TiO2 NPs are spherical and crystalline in nature. The overall sizes are 40 and 50 nm for H. thelbiecea and Ananos respectively. FTIR spectroscopy analysis showed the presence of flavonoid, polyphenols and amide groups likely to be responsible for the green synthesis of titanium oxide nanoparticles using H. thelbiecea and Ananos seneglensis aqueous leaf extracts .The XRD pattern showed the characteristic Bragg peaks of (111), (200), (220) and (311) facets of the anatase titanium oxide nanoparticles and confirmed that these nanoparticles are crystalline and spherical in nature. The two plants used to synthesized titanium oxide nanoparticle (H. thelbiecea and ananos seneglensisa) showed good antimicrobial activity against clinically important pathogens.. The antimicrobial study of TiO2 NPs shows that 20 μg/ml TiO2 NPs is effective for complete inactivation of Gram positive, Gram negative as well as fungal cultures. This effective microbial inactivation is mainly attributed to its ability to cause damage to the cell membrane.Keywords: Titanium oxide, phytochemicals, antimicrobial activity, H. thelbiecea, Ananos seneglensisa

The photocatalysts Pd/TiO2, Ag/TiO2 and Ag/Pd-TiO2 were prepared using the sol immobilization method. The photocatalysts were characterized by the use of diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photoluminescence spectra. Analysis of Ag/TiO2 and Ag/Pd-TiO2 using diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) indicated reduction of band gap energy from 3.2 eV to 2.7 eV for Ag/Pd-TiO2 which makes it possible for the use of sunlight as excitation energy. Photo luminescence spectra analysis carried out on the dopants of Ag/TiO2, Pd/TiO2 and Ag/Pd-TiO2 measured the intensity which gives the rate of recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs in TiO2. The result indicated that reduction in intensity was highest for the co-doped Ag/Pd-TiO2. This accounts for its increase in photo catalytic property. Therefore, modification of TiO2 with Ag and Pd will provide the platform for its enhanced photocatalytic performance relevant in environmental science.

Pectin is a polysaccharide used as rheology modifier in products such as food and beverages. This work assessed the effect of UV light, pH and temperature on the thickening property of pectin extracted from banana, orange and lime peels. Pectin was extracted using alcohol precipitation method and was analyzed using FT-IR spectrometer and GCMS. pH and UV light degradation/depolymerization of pectin solutions were carried out using viscometric and statistical methods. Increase in temperature negatively affects the viscosity of the samples. The viscosity of the banana, orange and lime pectin samples decreased on exposure to UV light for both 30 and 60 days. The observed decrease in the kinematic viscosity of the samples might be attributable to depolymerization which might have occurred with the samples on exposure to the UV light. The viscosity of the samples remained the same at the pH of 4, 7 and 10. Analysis of variance (one way) indicated significant difference in the kinematic viscosity measured to determine the effect of ultraviolet light and temperature (p < 0.05). No significant difference in viscosity was observed in the effect of pH (p > 0.05). Therefore, exposure to sunlight of pectin containing food drinks can cause decline in the quality of the product.