Pesticide usage is one of the significant issues in modern agricultural practices; hence, monitoring pesticide content and its degradation is of utmost importance. A novel and simple one-pot deep eutectic solvent-based solvothermal method has been developed for the synthesis of FeVO₄/reduced graphene oxide (FeV/RGO) nanocomposite. The band gap of FeV decreased upon anchoring with RGO. Enhanced activity in the detection and photocatalytic degradation has been achieved in the FeV/RGO nanocomposite compared to pure FeV and RGO. FeV/RGO was used to modify glassy carbon electrode (GCE), and the fabricated electrode was evaluated for its electrochemical detection of methyl parathion (MP). The amperometric technique was found to be more sensitive with a 0.001-260 μM (two linear ranges; 0.001-20 and 25-260 μM) wide linear range and low limit of detection value (0.70 nM). The practical applicability of modified GCE is more selective and sensitive to real samples like river water and green beans. Photocatalytic degradation of MP has been examined using FeV, RGO, and FeV/RGO nanocomposite. FeV/RGO managed to degrade 95% of MP under solar light in 80 min. Degradation parameters were optimized carefully to attain maximum efficiency. Degradation intermediates were identified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The degradation mechanism has been studied in detail. FeV/RGO could serve as a material of choice in the field of electrochemical sensors as well as heterogeneous catalysis toward environmental remediation.

In this study, the effect of Co2+x:Eu2O3 (x = 5, 10 wt. %) bimetallic oxide nanostructures (NS) on dielectric and cis-trans photoisomerization of liquid crystals (LC) has been studied. First, the Co2+:Eu2O3 NS were synthesized by facile coprecipitation method, and then the as-synthesized NS were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer Emmett Teller, and UV-visible analytical techniques. New composite structures were prepared by doping Co2+:Eu2O3 (5, 10 wt. %) over liquid crystal (LC) molecules (compounds 4 and 5) containing oxazole moiety. Optical absorption spectra of liquid crystalline NS (LCNS) showed a maximum absorption peak (λmax) between 350 and 450 nm. A significant improvement in the dielectric constants (ɛ′ and ɛ″) was noticed for LC-4 (compound 4)/LC-5 (compound 5) doped with Co2+ (10 wt. %):Eu2O3 NS. The photoisomerization studies of the Co2+ (10 wt. %):Eu2O3 doped to LC-5 (LCNS-2) containing oxazole moiety showed enhanced properties in solution and exhibited photoisomerization in 40 s whereas reverse process (thermal back relaxation) takes 358 s. Furthermore, it was observed that semiconductor NS especially Co2+ (10 wt. %):Eu2O3 NS doped LC-compounds showed enhanced dielectric and photoisomerization properties and can be a potential candidate for optoelectronics and photonic applications.