Tin oxide (SnO 2) nanoparticles were synthesised using various surfactants of different charges (n-cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, sodium dodecyl sulphate and TRITON X-100) by the co-precipitation method. The synthesised nanomaterials were characterised using different techniques to study their structural, surface morphological, optical and antibacterial activities. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the formation of a tetragonal rutile structure in pure and surfactants-aided SnO 2 nanoparticles and the results show good agreement with JCPDS data [41-1445]. The crystallite size of SnO 2 nanoparticles was found to decrease with the addition of surfactants. Scanning electron microscopy images exhibit spherical shape morphology with an average diameter of 30-75 nm for pure and surfactants-aided SnO 2 nanoparticles. The band gap energy of the prepared materials was estimated from the UV-visible absorption spectra and a considerable increase in band gap energy was observed in surfactants-aided SnO 2 nanoparticles (3.487, 3.57, 3.50 and 3.3 eV). The antibacterial activities of the synthesised nanoparticles were studied against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

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The necessity for a transition in the building industry towards sustainability has made bamboo-based construction more prevalent in recent decades. This paper demonstrates the development and performance evaluation of a newly developed cementitious composite slab panel containing nano-basalt powder (nBP) modified epoxy-coated bamboo as the reinforcement. The experimental research conducted on six slab panels ((600 × 450 × 50) mm), each having a different reinforcement type, demonstrated that the one with the nBP-modified epoxy-coated bamboo reinforcement showed significantly improved flexural performance by exhibiting better bonding characteristics. When compared to the uncoated bamboo-reinforced slab, the bond strength of the nBP-modified epoxy-coated bamboo-reinforced slab rose by about 32 %, to around 5.65 MPa. A flexural strength of about 73 MPa and a bond strength of about 6.26 MPa were attained due to the use of the nano-basalt powder modified epoxy-coated bamboo reinforcements with glass wrapping (nBGS). Comparing the nBGS slab to a slab of conventional cement concrete revealed an increase in the load-carrying capability of nearly 89 %.

In this paper, we report the preparation of a fluoranthene-thiol derivative, the assembly of the compound onto gold nanoparticles, and their binding to b-cyclodextrin and DNA. The synthesised fluoranthene-thiol is characterised using infra-red (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and mass spectrometric techniques. The gold nanoparticles are characterised using transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis. The size of the nanoparticles is 5 § 1 nm. The thiolgold nanoparticles bind to b-cyclodextrin, and DNA and the fluorescence spectra show enhancement of fluorescence on the binding. The thiol-gold nanoparticles form a host-guest complex with b-cyclodextrin and the binding constant of the complex is 1330 mol ¡1 dm 3 . This reveals the openness of the thiol on the surface of the gold nanoparticles.