Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment

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Microparticles of calcium carbonate CaCO3, calcium hydrogen phosphate hydrate CaHPO4.1.9H2O and tricalcium phosphate Ca3(PO4)2 prepared from golden apple snail shells (Pomacea canaliculata)

Somkiat Seesanong, Chamroon Laosinwattana and Banjong Boonchom

Page No. 1-6

The golden apple snail shell was mechanically milled to transform to 400 mesh sizes of calcium carbonate CaCO3. The obtained CaCO3 was reacted with phosphoric acid by a simple rapid reaction to prepare dicalcium phosphate hydrate CaHPO4.1.9H2O. Thermal transformation products of the as-synthesized CaCO3 and CaHPO4.1.9H2O samples occurred at above 750 oC indicating the temperature condition to synthesize tricalcium phosphate Ca3(PO4)2 by solid state route. The as-synthesized CaCO3 and CaHPO4 powders were well mixed in the mole ratio of 1:2, then calcined at 800 oC for 2 hrs. and the obtained product was Ca3(PO4)2.

The XRD and FTIR results indicate that the as-prepared CaCO3, CaHPO4 and Ca3(PO4)2 samples without the presence of any phase impurities crystalize in orthorhombic of aragonite, anorthic, rhombohedral phases respectively, The SEM micrographs show non-uniform, wooden fiber-like, grainy rice-like and irregular and non-uniform shapes for the as-prepared CaCO3, CaHPO4 and Ca3(PO4)2 samples respectively.

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Analytical applications of anhydrous manganese (II) acetate in DMSO: Spectrophotometric determination of Isoniazid, Hydrallazine hydrochloride and Dihydrallazine sulphate and commercial drugs

Singh Jasvir

Page No. 7-13

Rapid, simple, selective and precise spectrophotometric methods for micro determination of Isoniazid, Hydrallazine hydrochloride and dihydrallazine sulphate and commercial drugs have been developed. The method involves the reaction of dithiocarbazates with anhydrous manganese (II) acetate in DMSO to form soluble coloured manganese (II) - dithiocarbazate complexes. The direct colorimetric method consists in adding to an DMSO solution of hydrazino compound an excess of carbon disulphide followed by addition of anhydrous manganese (II) acetate and measuring the resulting colour of metal complex spectrophotometrically at 380 nm (λmax of metal dithiocarbazate complexes).

Alternatively, carbon disulphide has been added to the sample solution in DMSO and resulting solution was titrated photometrically with standard anhydrous manganese (II) acetate at the same wavelength. The method has been successfully applied for analysis of hydrazino drugs. The recoveries have been in the ranges 98.4-100.8; 98.6-99.6 and 98.0-100.8 with RSD's in the range 0.2-0.6; 0.2-0.5 and 0.2-0.4% respectively.

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Isolation and Phytochemical analysis of Terpenoids and Asiaticosides from Centella asiatica for their neuroprotective activities

Jagtap Pratik Kumar and Tapadia Kavita

Page No. 14-19

Centella asiatica also called Indian pennywort belongs to family Apiceae and is used in ayurvedic medicines for various ailments. The present work is cost-effective to improve the mental health of the people suffering from depression. The aim was to prepare an extract of its dried pulverized leaves with different solvents using Soxhlet extraction followed by GC-MS analysis for phytochemical screening and to investigate its antidepressant and neuroprotective properties.

The extraction using Soxhlet apparatus in ethanolic medium and GC-MS technique optimizes the detection of triterpenoids. The λmax for the extract with n-Hexane as solvent at 342 nm was obtained to be 0.4587 and that using ethyl acetate as solvent obtained at 345 nm was 0.4520. The LOD for the detection of triterpenes in the extract was found to be 0.007 µg mL-1.

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Organosomatic Indices of Acute Oral Toxicity Study-Up and Down Procedure on Extract Psidium guajava Linn. Fruit in Mice

Muda Iskandar and Atik Nur

Page No. 20-22

The study aims of this research are to observe organosomatic indices comprising liver and kidney with acute oral toxicity study-up and down procedure on extract Psidium guajava Linn. fruit in mice. Twelve swiss webster mice were in different groups which were control: distilled water, group I: dose of 2000 mg/kg b.w. p.o., group II: dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. p.o. according to acute oral toxicity study-up and down procedure OECD 425. The method was followed by the weighing of organosomatic indices which is organ weight x 100/body weight.

We found that the weighting of organosomatic indices of all groups including control (0.36 ± 0.41), group I (0.28 ± 0.77) and group II (0.62 ± 0.32) did not show any differences (P > 0.05). In conclusion, organosomatic indices of acute oral toxicity study-up and down procedure of the P. guajava Linn. extract did not change the size of the organs.

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An investigation on structural and optical properties of reduced graphene oxide-tin oxide nanocomposite

Benny Sebastian, George Thomas C. and Manoj B.

Page No. 23-30

Graphene-metal oxide composites have attracted tremendous research interest in recent days due to their unique and fascinating properties. In the present study, rGO and SnO2 were synthesized separately by modified Hummers’ method and nitrate–citrate gel combustion technique respectively. One step hydrothermal method was used to prepare reduced graphene oxide–tin oxide nanocomposite of various concentrations of rGO and SnO2.The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM and TEM.

The results of different characterization techniques showed the successful formation of SnO2, rGO and SnO2-rGO composites. X-ray analysis pattern indicates formation of the SnO2 nanoparticles in the graphene matrix. The size of the particles prepared is in nanoscale and was found to be 10-20 nm range. TEM images reveal the incorporation of crystalline SnO2 nanoparticles in graphene layers. Upon incorporation of tin oxide to graphene matrix, one could easily tailor the energy gap of the composite matrix.

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Decolourisation of Azo Dyes by Electrocoagulation Process with Response Surface Methodology

Gautam Kajal, Kumar Sushil and Kamsonlian Suantak

Page No. 31-40

In this investigation, decolourisation of azo dyes such as Acid Red 88 and C.I. Direct Black 38 from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation (EC) was studied in a batch reactor. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with the Box-Behnken experimental design was employed to determine the simple and combined effects of process parameters, inter-electrode distance (1.0 – 2.0 cm), initial pH value (6.5 – 8.5) and initial concentration of the dye solution (1000 – 3000 mg/L) on decolourisation efficiency and optimizing the operating conditions. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed the adequacy of generated model and was able to predict well for both azo dyes (R2 = 0.97 for Acid Red 88 and R2 = 0.92 for C.I Direct Black 38). Under optimal value of operating parameters, maximum percentages of decolourisation were found to be 98.13 % for Acid Red 88 and 96.70 % for C.I Direct Black 38 respectively.

Graphical representation of response surfaces was utilized to detect the optimum point of input variables. The experimental results revealed that EC process with Fe electrode was more proficient and eco-friendly for azo dyes removal from contaminated water.

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A triterpenoid from Aglaia angustifolia Miq stem bark

Ricson P. Hutagaol, Ihsan Rahadian, Desi Harneti, Ace Tatang Hidayat, Khalijah Awang and Unang Supratman

Page No. 41-44

A triterpenoid, (20S,24S)-epoxydammarane-3β,25-diol (1) was isolated from the n-hexane extract of the stem bark of Aglaia angustifolia Miq. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic methods including one and two-dimensional NMR as well as high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis. Additionally, compounds 1 was reported in Aglaia genus for the first time.

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Effect of heavy metals interaction with ammonium on growth behavior of C. vulgaris

Awasthi Mamta

Page No. 45-51

Algal biomass production with ease of harvesting through wastewater is a recent demand for fuel production i.e. biogas, biodiesel or bioethanol. Ammonium is a preferred nitrogen form by algal cells for its metabolism; however, nitrifying bacteria present in wastewater may transform ammonium into nitrate and nitrite and may lead to nitrate pollution. Nitrate pollution is inevitable if it is not consumed by aquatic plants including algae. However, the consumption of nitrate by algae (to be later transformed into ammonium) depends on the presence of enzyme which on the other hand needs cofactors like iron and molybdenum which may or may not be present. The uptake of ammonium by algae may be affected by the presence of heavy metals in wastewater or aquatic ecosystem.

In the present study, the influences of trace metals (Ni, Zn and Cd) on growth and the accumulation of major nutrient (ammonium) in Chlorella vulgaris in both free and immobilized conditions were examined. The uptake was compared by applying Michaelis-Menten kinetics over exposure period (2 h) and (4h). The stress effect varied significantly in free and immobilized state. Uptake exhibited a competitive mode of inhibition in the presence of Ni and Zn in both free and immobilized states of the organism. However, Cd exhibited non-competitive and competitive inhibition in free and immobilized cells respectively. ANOVA (3-way) revealed a significant variation between free and immobilized cells (P<0.05) with respective change in metal type. The influence of metal on nutrient was metal specific.

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Photocatalytic degradation of heavy metals from industrial wastewater using sol-gel synthesized semiconductor nanomaterials ZnO and 2% Fe doped ZnO

Isai Kalpesh Anil and Shrivastava Vinod Shankar

Page No. 52-59

The photocatalytic degradation of heavy metals from industrial wastewater by using sol-gel synthesized semiconductor nanomaterials ZnO and 2% Fe doped ZnO. The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDX analysis. The industrial wastewater samples were collected from various industries. It is also concluded from our previous physicochemical studies that heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, lead and copper were present in wastewater. So, the area of concern is to develop new photocatalytic methods for the treatment of industrial waste and water purification with reference to toxic metals. Here all the experiments were carried out in the batch process.

In this work the amount of chromium was removed using synthesized photocatalyst with UV light. The maximum removal of Cr (VI) was observed at pH 2; out of these photocatalysts, 2% Fe doped ZnO showed highest capacity for Cr (VI) removal than ZnO. The removal of heavy metals has been studied by considering effluent concentration, loading of photocatalyst, pH and contact time as operating variables. The degradation was studied using spectrophotometric analysis.

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Preparation and characterization of TiO2 pillared clay: effect of palladium and photosensitizer on photocatalytic activity

Hadj Bachir D., Khalaf H., Ferroukhi S., Boutoumi Y., Schnee J. and Gaigneaux E.M.

Page No. 60-73

A series of titania pillared Algerian montmorillonite was prepared from Na-montmorillonite using titanium isopropoxide and hydrochloric acid. Next to a reference clay pillared with TiO2 only(Mont-TiO2), a clay pillared with the palladium doped TiO2 was also synthesized(Mont-(TiO2-Pd)) as well as a TiO2-pillared clay photosensitized by the introduction of the methylene blue dye into the suspension of the TiO2-pillared clay(Mont-TiO2)-BM.

The prepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro X-ray fluorescence (µFX), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Differential and thermo-gravimetric analysis (DTA/TGA), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR), specific area and porosity determinations. The prepared materials are porous and exhibit a good thermal stability as indicated by their surface areas after calcination by microwave. Their photocatalytic performance was evaluated in the photodegradation of phenyl urea herbicide (precisely, Linuron). The TiO2 pillared clay (Mont-TiO2) is shown to be the best photocatalyst in term of photocatalytic activity.

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Evaluation of cell viability suppression of purple sweet potato extracts against MCF-7 cell line

Andri Rezano, Raden Ghita Sariwidyantry, Latifah Rahman Nurfazriah, Ludovicus Edwinanto, Afrida Aizzatun Istiqomah, Taufik Gunawan, Firda Ridhayanti and Dany Hilmanto

Page No. 74-79

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy which occurs in women. Purple sweet potato (PSP) (Ipomoea batatas L.) has been known to possess high number of anthocyanins. Few reports are available concerning its anticancer properties against T47D, WiDr, HL60 cell lines. In this study, the anticancer activity of PSP extract and its role on cell viability suppression were examined. PSP was extracted using ethanol. Cell viability and IC50 value were examined by trypan blue exclusion and MTT assay. Viability cell percentage was counted using hemocytometer. Cell morphology was examined using inverted light microscope. DNA fragmentation was examined using the electrophoresis as a marker of apoptosis activation.

The results were analyzed by statistic calculation using ANOVA. The IC50 value was found at the concentration 45 µg/ml (p= 0,016). Viability cell percentage is 61% at 45 µg/ml. Cell morphology shows morphological change that leads to cell death. DNA fragmentation appears on the samples incubated for 6 hours. PSP has the ability to reduce cell viability and it has an anticancer activity by inducing breast cancer cell death.

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Impact of aluminum oxide nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles and their nanocomposites on Vigna radiata Seedling Growth

Dhawale V.P., Mohite K.C. and Kulkarni S.D.

Page No. 80-87

Wide use of nanoparticles (NPs) leading to their possible escape into environment and their interaction with living organisms demands immediate attention. We evaluated impact of nanomaterials (aluminum oxide nanoparticles (Al2O3 NPs), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), nanocomposites of Al2O3 NPs and AgNPs, Al2O3-1wt%Ag, Al2O3-10wt%Ag) in different concentrations on early growth of Vigna radiata. Three concentrations of nanoparticles viz. 50, 100, 150 mg/L were taken for the analysis. Seed germination percent was not affected in all the concentrations of nanomaterials.

A significant positive influence on root length, wet and dry biomass, seedling vigor index was observed for all seeds with respect to those of unexposed control germination. In most nanomaterial concentrations, 100 ml/L showed positive response on dry weight biomass. Inhibition on shoot length varied greatly among nanomaterials and the plant. These results are significant in terms of use and disposal of nanoparticles.

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A study on the bioaccumulation and screening of toxic metal ions in effluents, fodder and milk samples collected from Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore districts

Anuradha J., Gayathri N.S. and Muthulakshmi Andal N.

Page No. 88-93

Water pollution is a serious problem of concern due to the potential health impacts of bioaccumulation in the food chain. Based on this fact, a field study is conducted in the areas of three major polluting industries viz. dyeing, tannery and plating located at Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode pertaining to ground water table contamination due to heavy metals from industrial discharges. The outcome of the field study formed a baseline to investigate the accumulation of toxic metal ions: Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Fe, Co, Cr, Mn and Ni in the effluent, fodder and milk samples. A marked extremity of pollution is recorded against lead and chromium concentrations in comparison to WHO permissible limits for effluents, diminishing reflecting in the inherent increase of 7 and 5 fold times for fodder/ milk samples. Also, reclamation studies are performed using naturally occurring eco-friendly materials to minimize the extent of pollution in all the chosen samples. The analysis and assessment of the results conclude that thus the materials possess excellent metal chelating ability and serve as better choice in the heavy metal bioaccumulation by treating the effluents even before being discharged into the soil environment.

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Dissolved inorganic phosphate uptake of microalgae Oscillatoria sp to predict bioavailable Phosphorus

Askal Maimulyanti

Page No. 94-97

Dissolved inorganic phosphate is the phosphate available for algae growth in aquatic environment. This experiment used microalgae Oscillatoria sp to study phosphate uptake in the aquatic medium. The medium was spiked of phosphate with a concentration of 10-50 ppm and incubation for 14 days. The maximum of phosphate uptake with a spike of 50 ppm phosphate concentration resulted in 26.48 ppm phosphate absorption and the optical density was 0.439.

The correlation between phosphate concentration and phosphate uptake of alga Oscillatoria sp showed the linear correlation with R2 = 0.9919 and y = 0.5462x + 0.5124. The phosphate uptake showed the bioavailability of phosphate to microalgae Oscillatoria sp and can be used to control blooming algae in the aquatic environment.

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Photochemical properties and photodegradation mechanism of the tricyclic antidepressant drug dosulepin

Ahmad Waseem and Chaturvedi Amit K.

Page No. 98-102

Light induced adverse side-effects of drugs are now an important source of concern. In order to understand the mechanism underlying to such effects, an in-depth photochemical study must be carried out. Dosulepin (1) is a photosensitizing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It undergoes photodegradation from its triplet excited state. The UV irradiation of Dosulepin leads to formation of two main photoproducts characterized by N demethylation and keto derivates of dosulepin. It photoionizes through a biphotonic mechanism producing a radical cation and the solvated electron.

The main photoproducts were isolated by column chromatographic procedures and their structure were elucidated by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis.

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Kinetic, Inhibition and Spectroscopic Studies of Thermostable Enzyme Extracted from Persuasive Microbial Consortia Screened from Indian Coastal Saline Shrubland Habitats

Chhabria Talreja Sarika and Maurya Chandra B.

Page No. 103-111

Mangrove Swamps are distinct saline shrubland habitats adapted to life in harsh costal conditions providing a unique ecological site to diverse microbial communities. Marine and estuarine micro-organisms represent one of the most promising sources for probing newfangled enzymes with potential applications in numerous industrial bioprocesses and chemical transformations. Owing to their unique natural habitat, they exhibit explicit physiological attributes, metabolic patterns and nutrient appropriation.

Proteolytic enzymes play a cardinal role in the metabolic processes; hence are imperative for all life forms viz. plants, animals and prokaryotes like fungi, bacteria, viruses etc. The escalated demand of proteases with desirable properties solicits exploration of their novel production sources. The incumbent halophilic organisms in marine environment are effulgent in a variety of proteases with an enormous salinity-stress tolerant capacity. The plentitude of proteases affianced in them is largely unexplored owing to mangrove’s confined ecosphere. With reference to the attributes affecting their culture conditions, productiveness and enzyme characteristics, it was contemplated to be succinct to characterize the enzyme by evaluation of its Kinetic parameters, Inhibition studies and Spectroscopic assay. Thus, the present study focuses on characterization of a thermostable protease extracted from persuasive microbial consortia screened from Indian coastal shrubland habitats for plausible applications.

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Two chalcone derivatives from the tree bark of Cryptocarya morotaiense

Fera Kurniadewi, Muktiningsih, Hanhan Dianhar, Irma Ratna Kartika and Dian Angrianis

Page No. 112-114

Two chalcone derivatives, cryptocaryone (1) and infectocaryone (2) had been isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the tree bark of Cryptocarya morotaiense collected from Papua Island, Indonesia. The chemical structure of these compounds was identified based on their spectroscopic data including UV and NMR spectra. Cytotoxic effect against P-388 cells showed that both compounds were very active with their IC50s less than 2.0 g/mL.

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Synthesis of Ruthenium(II) metallosurfactant complexes: CMC determination, thermodynamic nature and antimicrobial activities

Suganthi Devi R. and Kumaraguru N.

Page No. 115-124

The two metallosurfactant moieties viz. [Ru(PPP)2(CA)Cl](ClO4) (1) and [Ru(PPP)2(CA)2](ClO4)2 (2) [[PPP =pyrido[20,30:5,6]pyrazino[2,3-f][1,10]phenanthroline), CA = cetylamine] were synthesized and characterized. A thorough attempt has been made to apprehend the critical micelle concentration of the synthesized metallosurfactants. The effect on aggregation behavior of the synthesized complexes has been investigated using conductometric techniques. To gain better insight into micelle behavior of surfactant, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactant has been calculated.

Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters of micelle formation viz. change in standard free energy (∆G0m), change in standard enthalpy (∆H0m) and change in standard entropy (∆S0m) have been investigated from the dependence of CMC on temperature. The effect of these ruthenium(II) metallosurfactants against gram positive and gram negative bacterial species along with fungal species has also been tested by measuring zone of inhibition.

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Synthesis, characterization, semiconductor-assisted photocatalysis and antibacterial activity of electrochemically synthesized SnS and NiS/SnS nano photocatalysts

Hosaholalu Balakrishna Uma and Sannaiah Ananda

Page No. 125-135

In the present study, SnS and NiS/SnS nano photocatalysts have been synthesized by simple electrochemical method. Their photocatalytic activity and bacterial inactivation were investigated. The size, morphology, chemical composition and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and Optical absorption spectroscopy. The XRD analysis confirmed the crystalline SnS phase. The band gap estimated from Tauc’s plot was 2.9 eV for SnS and 2.7 eV for NiS/SnS nanoparticles showing that they are photoactive under UV light radiation.

The photocatalytic activity of nanoparticles was studied by degradation of textile dye indigo carmine under ultraviolet radiation and the photocatalytic decolourization of the dye follows first order kinetics. The antibacterial susceptibility of SnS and NiS/SnS nanoparticles was evaluated by disc diffusion Kirby-Bauer method using Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

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Inhibition of HUVECs proliferation and cytotoxic activities of xanthone derivatives from Garcinia mangostana

Elvira Hermawati, Lia Dewi Juliawaty, Euis H. Hakim, Kaoru Kinoshita, Miyuki Fukai, Kunio Takahashi and Kiyotaka Koyama

Page No. 136-139

Six known xanthones, α-mangostin (1), β-mangostin (2), γ-mangostin (3), 8-deoxygartanin (4), gartanin (5) and 9-hydroxycalabaxanthone (6) have been isolated from the CHCl3 extract of the pericarps of Garcinia mangostana (Guttiferae). Structures of these compounds were determined based on spectrocopic data. Evaluation of inhibitory effects of the isolated compounds on proliferation of Human Umbellical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) revealed that β-mangostin (2) is the most active compound with its IC50 value less than 1.0 µg/mL. Preliminary cytotoxic test against P-388 cells showed that gartanin (5) was the most active component with IC50 value at 1.3 g/mL.

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Zinc Ion Selective Membrane Electrode based on [(4-chloro-benzylidene)-thiourea]-amine

Dogra P., Sharma J. and Sharma N.

Page No. 140-147

The performance characteristics of polymeric membrane electrodes based on [(4-chloro-benzylidene)-thiourea]-amine have been prepared for the quantification of Zn2+ relative to a wide variety of other cations. Several membranes having different compositions of epoxy resin and ionophore were fabricated and the best response was observed for the membrane composition, sensor: epoxy in the ratio of 40: 60 (w/w), it exhibited a very good response for Zn2+ in a wide concentration range from 1.0×10−7 to 1.0×10−1 M with a slope of 22.82 ± 0.1mV per decade of Zn2+ ion concentration having fast response time less than 3 second.

It can be used at least for 3 months without any difference in potential and the effect of internal solution concentration was also studied. The working pH range of this sensor was 1.0–9.8 and the practical utility of the sensor has been shown by using it as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration with EDTA.

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Nightmares: The body’s message of toxicity

Shurrab Noura T., Shams Eddin Shahd S., Sammour Marwa A. and Arafa El-Shaimaa A.

Page No. 148-154

Nightmares are undesirable dreams that may cause sleep disturbances. They occur most often during rapid eye movement and usually cause waking up in the middle of the night. They can be triggered by several factors including developmental, genetic, psychological and organic. Mechanisms proposed are disruption of infantile amnesia and disturbances in the normal process of emotional regulations for both sleeping and waking cycle.

Here, we are discussing that chronic nightmares can be a sign of toxicity due to different factors such as carbon monoxide, smoking toxicity as well as mold and fungal contamination in houses. This is an important consideration where neurologist can recommend physiological instead of psychological treatments or counseling for patients to prevent their nightmares by simply checking their blood level for toxic agents. Unfortunately, those minor symptoms are usually ignored or misunderstood to psychology related issues and by time, more severe complications develop which could have been easily avoided.

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