Welcome Note from Editor-in-Chief

It is with great pleasure that I write this editorial to welcome you to the first issue of this new International journal, “Pakistan Biomedical Journal” (PBMJ). The topics covered by the journal are certainly broad and interesting. Biomedical science is a collection of applied sciences that help us understand, research, and innovate within the field of healthcare. It includes disciplines like molecular biology, clinical virology, bioinformatics, and biomedical engineering, among others. It's designed to apply the biological sciences to advance not only individual health but also the area of public health. Biomedical Research can help health professions better understand things like the human body and cell biology, making advances in our understanding of epidemics, health initiatives, and human health in the age of longer life expectancy. It aids our understanding of infectious disease and provides research opportunities into some of our most troubling health issues. The journal will continue to publish high quality clinical and biomedical research in health and disease later in life. Peer review will remain a vital component of our assessment of submitted articles.I am very happy to have a team of excellent editors and editorial board members from the top international league covering in depth the related topics. They will ensure the highest standards of quality for the published manuscripts and, at the same time, keep the process time as short as possible. We hope to bring best researches in the field of biomedical sciences that may serve as a guideline in health awareness, understanding the mechanisms and its management in future.   We definitely look forward to receiving your excellent studies to making PBMJ synonymous with high quality in the biomedical science domain.

Nitrogen Doped Carbon Materials Ndcms from Organic Ionic Salts and Biopolymer Resources for Supercapcitor Application

Nitrogen doped carbon materials (NDCMs) have been successfully synthesized, characterized and investigated as an electrode material for supercapacitor application. The synthesized NDCMs exhibited remarkable capacitor performance in terms of specific capacitances, rate capability, % capacitance retention and long cycle stability in a variety of aqueous electrolytes. Firstly, organic ionic dyes namely; eriochrome black-T (EBT) and murexide (MDE) were employed as N-rich precursors for the synthesis of NDCMs via a facile high temperature carbonization route. The effect of different experimental parameters such as heating profile, annealing temperature, post chemical activation and inert atmosphere was investigated in detail on NDCMs derived from EBT. Later, waste biopolymer; chicken feathers (CFs) were used as a low cost versatile N-rich precursor for the synthesis of NDCMs. Prior to carbonization, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of all precursors was performed to evaluate the yield of carbon residue. The synthesized NDCMs were characterized by Raman analysis (RA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area and porosity analysis (BET and BJH), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Afterwards, supercapacitor performance evaluation, electroanalytical techniques viz. cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were performed. After detailed physicochemical investigation of NDCMs, it was established that these NDCMs have achieved good graphitization, amorphous/crystalline phases coexistence, homogeneous distribution of nitrogen and oxygen, three different types of nitrogen configurations (pyridinic N- 6, pyrrolic N-5 and quaternary N-Q), porous sheet like morphology, and moderate surface area with hierarchical porosity (micro, meso and macroporosity). The electrochemical investigations in acidic (1.0 M H2SO4), alkaline (6.0 M KOH) and neutral (0.5 M Na2SO4) electrolytes revealed that acidic electrolyte 1.0 M H2SO4 was the most promising electrolyte for supercapacitor application because of its small ion-size and high mobility which provide pseudocapacitive contribution. Whereas, among different alkali metal sulfate solutions (Li2SO4, Na2SO4, K2SO4) studied as an electrolyte for supercapacitor study of synthesized NDCMs, Li2SO4 proved to be a good choice. In addition, among the four different concentrations of Li2SO4 (0.5 M, 1.0 M, 1.5 M and 2.5 M), the optimized concentration for supercapacitor study of NCM(CF)-700A electrode material was found to be 1.5 M Li2SO4 due to its neutral character and large hydrated Li ion size associated with low mobility. Moreover, the operational voltage window for NCM(CF)-700A material was successfully extended up to 2.0 V in 1.5 M Li2SO4 solution.