In recent years, the increasing level of CO₂ in the atmosphere has not only contributed to global warming but has also triggered considerable interest in photocatalytic reduction of CO₂. The reduction of CO₂ with H₂O using sunlight is an innovative way to solve the current growing environmental challenges. This paper reviews the basic principles of photocatalysis and photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, discusses the measures of the photocatalytic efficiency and summarizes current advances in the exploration of this technology using different types of semiconductor photocatalysts, such as TiO₂ and modified TiO₂, layered-perovskite Ag/ALa₄Ti₄O₁₅ (A = Ca, Ba, Sr), ferroelectric LiNbO₃, and plasmonic photocatalysts. Visible light harvesting, novel plasmonic photocatalysts offer potential solutions for some of the main drawbacks in this reduction process. Effective plasmonic photocatalysts that have shown reduction activities towards CO₂ with H₂O are highlighted here. Although this technology is still at an embryonic stage, further studies with standard theoretical and comprehensive format are suggested to develop photocatalysts with high production rates and selectivity. Based on the collected results, the immense prospects and opportunities that exist in this technique are also reviewed here.

Relatively inexpensive, stable Schiff bases, namely 3-((4-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-2-methylquinazolin-4(3H)-one (BZ3) and 3-((4-(dimethylamino)benzylidene)amino)-2-methylquinazolin-4(3H)-one (BZ4), were employed as highly efficient inhibitors of mild steel corrosion by corrosive acid. The inhibition efficiencies were estimated based on weight loss method. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the inhibition mechanism. The synthesized Schiff bases were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and micro-elemental analysis. The inhibition efficiency depends on three factors: the amount of nitrogen in the inhibitor, the inhibitor concentration and the inhibitor molecular weight. Inhibition efficiencies of 96 and 92% were achieved with BZ4 and BZ3, respectively, at the maximum tested concentration. Density functional theory calculations of BZ3 and BZ4 were performed to compare the effects of hydroxyl and N,N-dimethylamino substituents on the inhibition efficiency, providing insight for designing new molecular structures that exhibit enhanced inhibition efficiencies.

The effect of the soft and hard polyurethane (PU) segments caused by the hydrogen link in phase-separation kinetics was studied to investigate the morphological annealing of PU and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The significance of the segmented PUs is to achieve enough stability for further applications in biomedical and environmental fields. In addition, other research focuses on widening the plastic features and adjusting the PU–polyimide ratio to create elastomer of the poly(urethane-imide). Regarding TPU- and PU-nanocomposite, numerous studies investigated the incorporation of inorganic nanofillers such as carbon or clay to incorporating TPU-nanocomposite in several applications. Additionally, the complete exfoliation was observed up to 5% and 3% of TPU–clay modified with 12 amino lauric acid and benzidine, respectively. PU-nanocomposite of 5 wt.% Cloisite^®30B showed an increase in modulus and tensile strength by 110% and 160%, respectively. However, the nanocomposite PU-0.5 wt.% Carbone Nanotubes (CNTs) show an increase in the tensile modulus by 30% to 90% for blown and flat films, respectively. Coating PU influences stress-strain behavior because of the interaction between the soft segment and physical crosslinkers. The thermophysical properties of the TPU matrix have shown two glass transition temperatures (T_g’s) corresponding to the soft and the hard segment. Adding a small amount of tethered clay shifts T_g for both segments by 44 °C and 13 °C, respectively, while adding clay from 1 to 5 wt.% results in increasing the thermal stability of TPU composite from 12 to 34 °C, respectively. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to investigate the phase structure of PU dispersion, showing an increase in thermal stability, solubility, and flexibility. Regarding the electrical properties, the maximum piezoresistivity (10 S/m) of 7.4 wt.% MWCNT was enhanced by 92.92%. The chemical structure of the PU–CNT composite has shown a degree of agglomeration under disruption of the sp2 carbon structure. However, with extended graphene loading to 5.7 wt.%, piezoresistivity could hit 10⁻¹ S/m, less than 100 times that of PU. In addition to electrical properties, the acoustic behavior of MWCNT (0.35 wt.%)/SiO₂ (0.2 wt.%)/PU has shown sound absorption of 80 dB compared to the PU foam sample. Other nanofillers, such as SiO₂, TiO₂, ZnO, Al₂O₃, were studied showing an improvement in the thermal stability of the polymer and enhancing scratch and abrasion resistance.

Corrosion of a material by reaction with a corrosive environment is a common problem across many industries. Iraq is an oil country and corrosion represents a large portion of the total costs for oil producing and a natural potential hazard associated with oil production and transportation. The synthesis of novel thiosemicarbazone, namely 2-(2,4-dimethoxybenzylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide (DMBHC), was conducted and the chemical structure was elucidated via the ¹H and ¹³C NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance), and FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared) spectroscopic spectroscopic techniques in addition to carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen analyses (CHN analyses). The inhibition properties of the investigated thiosemicarbazone were evaluated for mild steel (MS) corrosion in 1N H₂SO₄ using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), weight loss method, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrochemical and weight loss techniques revealed that the tested thiosemicarbazone acted as a superior inhibitor for the acidic corrosion of MS and the efficiency increased with increasing concentrations. The EIS results revealed that thiosemicarbazone demonstrated the highest inhibition efficiency of 94.86%, at a concentration of 0.5 mM. Results from the weight loss technique suggested that the thiosemicarbazone acted as a mixed type corrosion inhibitor. The impact of temperature on the mechanism of inhibition of the new synthesized inhibitor of the surface of MS in 1N H₂SO₄ was investigated at various temperatures (30–60 °C) where the inhibitive efficiency diminished with increasing temperatures. The mechanism of inhibition was additionally verified with the methodological data.

The acid corrosion inhibition process of mild steel in 1 M HCl by 4-[(2-amino-1, 3, 4-thiadiazol-5-yl)methoxy]coumarin (ATC), has been investigated using weight loss technique and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). ATC was synthesized, and its chemical structure was elucidated and confirmed using spectroscopic techniques (infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy). The results indicated that inhibition efficiencies were enhanced with an increase in concentration of inhibitor and decreased with a rise in temperature. The adsorption equilibrium constant (K) and standard free energy of adsorption (ΔGads) were calculated. Quantum chemical parameters such as highest occupied molecular orbital energy, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy (EHOMO and ELUMO, respectively) and dipole moment (μ) were calculated and discussed. The results showed that the corrosion inhibition efficiency increased with an increase in both the EHOMO and μ values but with a decrease in the ELUMO value. Our research show that the synthesized macromolecule represents an excellent inhibitor for materials in acidic solutions. The efficiency of this macromolecule had maximum inhibition efficiency up to 96 % at 0.5 mM and diminishes with a higher temperature degree, which is revealing of chemical adsorption. An inhibitor molecule were absorbed by metal surface and follow Langmuir isotherms low and establishes an efficient macromolecule inhibitor having excellent inhibitive properties due to entity of S (sulfur) atom, N (nitrogen) atom and O (oxygen) atom.

Many people suffer from myopia or hyperopia due to the refractive errors of the cornea all over the world. The use of high refractive index (RI), Abbe number (ν_d), and visible light transmittance (T%) polymeric contact lenses (CLs) holds great promise in vision error treatment as an alternative solution to the irreversible laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) have been suggested as a good candidate to rise the RI and maintain high transparency of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-TiO₂ nanocomposite. This work includes a preparation of TiO₂ NPs using the sol gel method as well as a synthesis of pure PMMA by free radical polarization and PMMA-TiO₂ CLs using a cast molding method of 0.005 and 0.01 w/v concentrations and a study of their effect on the aberrated human eye. ZEMAX optical design software was used for eye modeling based on the Liou and Brennan eye model and then the pure and doped CLs were applied. Ocular performance was evaluated by modulation transfer function (MTF), spot diagram, and image simulation. The used criteria show that the best vision correction was obtained by the CL of higher doping content (p < 0.0001) and that the generated spherical and chromatic aberrations in the eye had been reduced.