Abstract The present work is focused on the influence of zinc trivalent plating on laser shot peened AISI 304 stainless steel samples to improve the corrosion resistance of the steel surface. AISI 304 steel samples were heat treated by annealing and polished to perform Laser Shot Peening (LSP) process using Nd-YAG laser functioning at a pulse interval of 10ns with different energies of 200 mJ, 300 mJ and 400 mJ on each sample. The highest magnitude of compressive residual stresses is induced using the pulse density of 2500 pulses/cm2. The laser treated sample was characterized by surface hardness using Vickers micro hardness test and surface morphology using an optical microscope and SEM analysis. The surface hardness of the sample is increased by increasing laser energy. The prepared zinc trivalent is plated using electro deposition on the laser treated surface by maintaining current between 1.5 to 4 amps/Dm2, and temperature between 20 to 40 deg C. MAHR’s roughness tests were performed to find the surface roughness of the sample. The surface roughness has drastically increased on zinc- coated samples compared to samples without coating. The Vickers micro hardness test conducted on zinc trivalent plated sample revealed the increase in hardness value of 200 mJ by 24% compared with 200 mJ sample without coating. SEM and EDAX were carried out to know the changes occurred in the chemical composition of the samples before and after coating.

The corrosion inhibition of zinc coated steel sheets immersed in 3.5% NaCl with sulfisoxazole (SSZ) has been reported by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, hydrogen permeation studies and quantum mechanical studies. All these techniques indicate that SSZ significantly inhibits zinc coated steel corrosion in a 3.5% NaCl medium. Polarization studies confirmed that the inhibition mode follows a mixed type. The adsorption of the compounds onto the zinc coated steel surface obeyed Langmuir adsorption isotherm.

Abstract Background Venoms comprise mixtures of numerous bioactive compounds that have a wide range of pharmacologic actions. Toxins from venomous animals have attracted the attention of researchers because of their affinity for primary sites responsible for lethality and their efficacy at extremely low concentrations. The venoms of marine stingrays have not been extensively studied and limited data is available on them. The present study aims to evaluate the antiproliferative and biochemical properties of the venom obtained from a species of marine stingray (Dasyatis sephen) on human cervical cancer cell line HeLa. Methods The antiproliferative effect of D. sephen venom was determined by MTT assay, and the oxidative stress was determined by lipid peroxidation method along with assessment of changes in the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant status. We observed intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels by DCFH-DA method, mitochondrial membrane potential alterations by rhodamine 123 staining and apoptotic morphological changes by acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining method. Results D. sephen venom enhances lipid peroxidative markers such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, conjugated diene, and lipid hydroperoxide in HeLa cell lines. Stingray venom enhances the ROS levels, which is evidenced by the increased 2–7-diacetyl dichlorofluorescein fluorescence. Further, D. sephen venom treatment altered the mitochondrial membrane potential in HeLa cells. Additionally, we observed increased apoptotic morphological changes in D. sephen venom-treated groups. Conclusions Dasyatis sephen venom exhibits potent antiproliferative effect on HeLa cell line and upon further purification it could be a promising antiproliferative agent.

Electroless nickel (EN) process is the controlled auto catalytic reduction of nickel ions using suitable reducing agent such as sodium hypophosphite on certain catalytic surfaces, which results in the production of sound, coherent coatings for a number of applications. Frequently the rate of deposition of EN with hypophosphite as reducing agent is below 20 microns per hour. Hence the deposition of the electroless nickel with hypophosphite solution in the presence of small concentration of thiourea and its derivatives as accelerators is investigated. The mechanism of accelerated deposition is studied by impedance measurements. The performance of various additives during the plating process is being evaluated by increased Constant Phase Element (CPE) and decreased charge transfer resistance values. A model is proposed for the adsorptive behavior of additives.