Nowadays, the fast development of nanobiotechnology, has led to rapid diagnosis of important infectious diseases such as arboviruses-borne diseases, vector-borne infections and waterborne parasites diseases and others in order to reduce and avoid further dissemination of the infections within the general population. Furthermore, new nanomedicines based on the application of silver and gold nanoparticles which are less toxic, more effective, and that does not generate resistance could help to solve the problems of parasitic disease like leishmaniasis and chagas disease. It turns out that the combination of nanoparticles with antibiotics not only reduces the toxicity of both agents towards human cells but also enhances their ability to destroy bacteria by facilitating the binding of antibiotics to the microbes. Moreover, combining nanoparticles with antimicrobial peptides and essential oils with nanoparticles generates genuine synergy against microbial resistance.

As populations grow, global energy consumption in the next 30 years is predicted to rise by nearly 50%. Nowadays and many years before, the most energy worldwide is provided by fossil fuel which leads to severe pollution and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Hydrogen is the most ideal alternative clean energy, but currently, there is no significant hydrogen production from renewable sources. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of new photocatalysts which will allow a water splitting for hydrogen production. The photocatalytic water splitting using TiO 2 offers a promising approach for clean, low-cost, and environmentally friendly production of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel. This paper reviews some recently used methods of synthesis such as hydrothermal, rapid breakdown anodization method, impregnation method, and sol-gel synthesis for the preparation of modified TiO 2 materials. These methods of synthesis provide the production of ultra-thin mesoporous TiO 2 nanosheets, nanorods, and nanotubes as well as heterojunction structures. Some investigations show that introduction of Ti 3+ atomic defects is beneficial for the photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen generation. Some progress has been achieved by heterocoupling the two or more semiconductors. There is experimental evidence that in the presence of alcohol as a sacrificial agent, H 2 production rates decreased from a higher number of hydroxyl groups i.e. in order 3>2>1. The H 2 generation is also larger when TiO 2 is modified with the addition of small quantity of metal nanoparticles such as Pt, Pd, and Ni. One study has shown that the samples sensitised with Pt nanoparticles were superior to Pd and Ni modified TiO 2 , the other has shown that the co-catalyst activity followed the order Pd>Pt≈Au.

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of temperature extraction on the potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) contents in orange and lemon peel extracts. The extractions were done at 62 ºC and 92 °C for 15 minutes and atmospheric pressure in distilled water. The fruit peel content in the extraction mixture was 5 % (w/v) in all samples. Calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) concentrations have been determined by flame photometric method. This research has revealed that by increasing the temperature of extraction, in particular, the concentration of Ca and K concentrations increased as applied extraction temperatures increased. The concentration of potassium is higher than the concentration of calcium in orange and lemon extracts, respectively. The concentration of K was 308 mg/l at 62 ºC and 361 mg/l at 92 ºC in lemon extracts, while in orange extracts the concentration of K was 476 mg/l at 62 ºC and 483 mg/l at 92 ºC. The concentration of Ca was 70.8 mg/l at 62 ºC and 71.9 mg/l at 92 ºC in lemon extracts, while in orange extracts the concentration of Ca was 91 mg/l at 62 ºC and 93.6 mg/l at 92 ºC. These results confirm that both citrus could be a very valuable source of potassium and calcium which are needed micronutrients to ensure the water and electrolyte balance and to build and maintain strong bones, proper function of muscles and nerves.

Schiff bases are organic compounds formed by the reaction of the primary amine with carbonyl compounds (aldehydes or ketones). These are mainly bi- or tridentate ligands capable of forming very stable complexes with transitional metals. They are used as catalysts in oxygenation, hydrolysis, electro-reduction and decomposition reactions. Many Shiff bases show significant anti-tumor and antimicrobial activity, which is why they are the subject of research by many scientists in the world. In this paper Schiff's base from benzidine and 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedione was synthesized. To characterize the product, FTIR spectroscopy and stereo-microscopy were used. In order to determine biological activity, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity of the product was tested. The results showed that the interaction of benzidine and 1,3-diphenylpropandione results in a Schiff base showing antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity. Keywords: Schiff base, benzidine, FTIR, UV/Vis, antimicrobial activity.

Over the past few years, the interest of material scientists for metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is increasing dramatically because of their unique physicochemical characteristics such as catalytic activity and optical, electronic, antibacterial, and magnetic properties which depend on their size, shape, and chemical surroundings. Recently, several new routes of synthesis of lead monoxide (PbO) nanoparticles have been used, such as chemical synthesis, calcination, sol-gel pyrolysis, anodic oxidation, solvothermal method, thermal decomposition, chemical deposition, laser ablation, and green methods. Essentially, for the structural characterization of lead oxide nanoparticles, several spectroscopic, microscopic, and thermogravimetric methods of analysis are used. Lead oxide has been widely utilized in batteries, gas sensors, pigments, ceramics, and glass industry. Furthermore, lead oxide nanoparticles are graded as toxic and dangerous for the human health and environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new approaches and standardized test procedures to study the potential hazardous effect of nanoparticles on the human health and environment. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the recent trends in synthesis of lead oxide nanoparticles, their characterization, possible applications, and toxicity.

Hydrogels are three-dimensional (3D) network structure materials consisting of hydrophilic polymer chains, which are crosslinked to form matrices with high water content which swells but does not dissolve in water. They are characterized by tunable physical, chemical, biological properties, high biocompatibility and versatility in fabrication, which classified them as a promising materials in several fields. The soft and wet nature makes hydrogels ideal candidates for applications in soft robotics, smart lenses and artificial muscles. Recently, carbon nanomaterials, have been incorporated into various hydrogels, because of their superior electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, which have been widely applied to sensors, actuators and barrier technologies. These unique physicochemical properties of carbon nanomaterials are highly desired for soft robots, enabling them to work in different environments and provide real-time feedback in order to achieve optimal human-robot and robot-robot interfaces. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often used as reinforcing agents to enhance the mechanical properties of hydrogels. A new class of hydrogels, known as nanocomposite hydrogels were obtained by incorporating CNTs in hydrogel formulations, resulting as very tough and electrically conductive hydrogels. Herein, will be discussed more in detail the use of carbon nancomposite hydrogels in the applications as actuators and sensors, conductive hydrogels and tissue engineering and biomedicine.

In a recent time, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted a lot of attention from researchers because of their special properties. In this paper green silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were synthetized from 2, 4 and 8 % w/v orange peel extracts. The synthesis was done by the process of chemical reduction in the presence of 1 mM silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution at 23 °C at 400 rpm for 6 hours. Orange peel extracts were used as capping agent to reduce 1mM solution to silver nanoparticles. The biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized by UVVis spectroscopy in the wavelength range from 300 to 600 nm with maximum of absorption at 460 nm. The results have shown that by increasing the concentration of peel extract increase the formation of silver nanoparticles. The advantage of this green method of synthesis is the use of fruit waste to create new valuable materials with potential antibacterial activity.

The main urgent problem of humanity is related to clean water availability. Shortage of drinking water in most parts of the world has been a growing concern in recent times. This chapter will consider emerging contaminants present in the aquatic environment. The commonly present concentrations are in the range from mg/L to ng/L in wastewater, surface water, ground water, and drinking water. The challenges in wastewater and drinking water purification are dependent on the origin of the water. Solar photocatalysis is a new promising technology for the water purification. With solar, photocatalysis is possible to reduce organic contaminants present in water by using the sunlight. This chapter addresses the fundamental reaction mechanism, different type of photocatalytic nanomaterials based on TiO2, and recent developments in the reactor design for solar photocatalytic water purification from lab scale-up to large-scale application.

excellent resistance to hard water, and is suitable with various kinds of surfactants. Mixing anionic and cationic surfactants is not recommended. The aim of this paper is to show the influence of individual surfactants and their mixtures on the final properties of liquid soaps as well as the antimicrobial activity of surfactants and the advantages of biosurfactants. The highest antimicrobial activity is reported for surfactants containing 10-14 carbon atoms in their chain. The toxicity of cationic surfactants is the highest, then follow anionic and the last one is nonionic. Biosurfactants show the same functionality as the chemical synthetized surfactants, but biosurfactants are more environmentally friendly, with lower toxicity and biodegradable ability.

Micronutrients are trace elements required in very small amounts in the diet. Metals such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) are essential nutrients that are required for various biochemical and physiological functions. Cadmium, which is considered as systemic toxicant that is known to induce multiple organ damage, even at lower levels of exposure, has been also determined. Therefore, in this paper the concentrations of Cu, Fe, Zn and Cd have been determined in the white quinoa and amaranth by ICP-MS analysis. Concentrations of all examined metals were higher in the amaranth. This research has shown that amaranth and white quinoa could be good sources of essential micronutrients. The concentration of cadmium in amaranth was very close to maximum permitted concentration in food.