Potassium is an essential macronutrient for living creatures on earth and in plants, it plays a very significant role in determining the overall health of the plants. Although potassium is present in the soil, it is present in a form that is inaccessible to the plants, and hence synthetic harmful non-eco-friendly potassium fertilizers are used. To overcome this problem, the use of eco-friendly potassium-solubilizing bacteria comes into play. The goal of the present study was to assess the potassium-solubilizing bacteria that inhabit the farm rhizosphere, which demonstrate the presence of enzymes associated with plant growth promotion and antagonistic properties. A total of thirty-four isolates were isolated from the rhizosphere. All these isolates were subjected to a potassium solubilization test on Aleksandrov agar medium, out of which fourteen were found to possess potassium solubilizing ability. On the basis of the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the most potential potassium-solubilizing bacterium was identified as Proteus mirabilis PSCR17. The plant growth promoting abilities and production of biocontrol enzymes of this isolate were evaluated, and the results indicated, in addition to potassium solubilization, the isolate was positive for indole acetic acid production, hydrogen cyanide production, amylase, catalase, cellulase, chitinase, and protease. The use of potassium fertilizers is harmful to the environment and ecosystem; hence, this study concludes that P. mirabilis PSCR17 can be used as a substitute for chemical potassium fertilizers to improve the growth and biocontrol traits of the plants in a sustainable manner after further research.

Phytochemical and antioxidant analysis of some varieties of Capsicum was evaluated. Mature Capsicum varieties were collected across the State. The seeds were removed, sun-dried for 3 days, stored for 2 weeks at 15 ºC–25 ºC in polythene bags before planting. Saponins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides were present in abundant, moderate and trace amounts. Combined anthraquinones were absent in all varieties. Yellow (0.810 ± 0.0006 µg/mL), red long dry (0.211 ± 0.0006 µg/mL) and round peppers (2.527 ± 0.0003 µg/mL) had the largest values for total phenol, flavonoids and tannins. Shombo and yellow peppers had the largest (0.270 ± 0.002 µg/mL) and least (0.102 ± 0.001 µg/mL) capsaicin content. The antioxidant activities varied across the varieties. At 100 µg/mL of methanol, yellow (45%) and round peppers (45%) had largest mean absorbances for 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) Radical Scavenging Activity while sub-shombo pepper (23%) had the least. For Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), yellow (0.63 ± 0.001 µg/mL) and sub-shombo peppers (0.55 ± 0.001µg/mL) had the largest and least values at 100 µg/mL of methanol. At 100 µg/mL of methanol, red long dry (0.112 ± 0.001) and shombo peppers (0.101 ± 0.001) had the largest and least values for the nitric oxide scavenging activity. This study shows that Capsicum varieties exhibit bioactive componds similarities and variations with implications in hybridization, taxonomy and conservation.

Every production day in Nigeria, and in other oil producing countries, millions of barrels of produced water is generated. Being very toxic, remediation of the produced water before discharge into environment or re-use is very essential. An eco-friendly and cost effective approach is hereby reported for remediative pre-treatment of produced water (PW) obtained from Nigerian oilfield. In this approach, Telfairia occidentalis stem extract-silver nanoparticles (TOSE-AgNPs) were synthesized, characterized and applied as bio-based adsorbent for treating the PW in situ. The nanoparticles were of average size 42.8 nm ± 5.3 nm, spherical to round shaped and mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen as major atoms on the surface. Owing to the effect of addition of TOSE-AgNPs, the initially high levels (mg/L) of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and TSS of 607, 3.78 and 48.4 in the PW were reduced to 381, 1.22 and 19.6, respectively, whereas DO and COD improved from 161 and 48.4 to 276 and 19.6 respectively, most of which fell within WHO and US-EPA safe limits. Particularly, the added TOSE-AgNPs efficiently removed Pb (II) ions from the PW at temperatures between 25 ℃ to 50 ℃. Removal of TOSE-AgNPs occurred through the adsorption mechanism and was dependent contact time, temperature and dose of TOSE-AgNPs added. Optimal remediation was achieved with 0.5 g/L TOSE-AgNPs at 30 ℃ after 5 h contact time. Adsorption of Pb (Ⅱ) ions on TOSE-AgNPs was spontaneous and physical in nature with remediation efficiency of over 82% of the Pb (Ⅱ) ions in solution. Instead of discarding the stem of Telfairia occidentalis, it can be extracted and prepared into a new material and applied in the oilfield as reported here for the first time.

Liquid Metal Battery (LMB) technology is a new research area born from a different economic and political climate that has the ability to address the deficiencies of a society where electrical energy storage alternatives are lacking. The United States government has begun to fund scholarly research work at its top industrial and national laboratories. This was to develop Liquid Metal Battery cells for energy storage solutions. This research was encouraged during the Cold War battle for scientific superiority. Intensive research then drifted towards high-energy rechargeable batteries, which work better for automobiles and other applications. Intensive research has been carried out on the development of electrochemical rechargeable all-liquid energy storage batteries. The recent request for green energy transfer and storage for various applications, ranging from small-scale to large-scale power storage, has increased energy storage advancements and explorations. The criteria of high energy density, low cost, and extensive energy storage provision have been met through lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and Liquid Metal Battery development. The objective of this research is to establish that Liquid Metal Battery technology could provide research concepts that give projections of the probable electrode metals that could be harnessed for LMB development. Thus, at the end of this research, it was discovered that the parameter estimation of the Li//Cd-Sb combination is most viable for LMB production when compared with Li//Cd-Bi, Li-Bi, and Li-Cd constituents. This unique constituent of the LMB parameter estimation would yield a better outcome for LMB development.

Recently, carbon nanocomposites have garnered a lot of curiosity because of their distinctive characteristics and extensive variety of possible possibilities. Among all of these applications, the development of sensors with electrochemical properties based on carbon nanocomposites for use in biomedicine has shown as an area with potential. These sensors are suitable for an assortment of biomedical applications, such as prescribing medications, disease diagnostics, and biomarker detection. They have many benefits, including outstanding sensitivity, selectivity, and low limitations on detection. This comprehensive review aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the recent advancements in carbon nanocomposites-based electrochemical sensors for biomedical applications. The different types of carbon nanomaterials used in sensor fabrication, their synthesis methods, and the functionalization techniques employed to enhance their sensing properties have been discussed. Furthermore, we enumerate the numerous biological and biomedical uses of electrochemical sensors based on carbon nanocomposites, among them their employment in illness diagnosis, physiological parameter monitoring, and biomolecule detection. The challenges and prospects of these sensors in biomedical applications are also discussed. Overall, this review highlights the tremendous potential of carbon nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors in revolutionizing biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.