CARBON-BASED NANOCOMPOSITES: PROCESSING, ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

The last two decades have witnessed a large volume of research revolving around structure-property correlation in carbon-based nanocomposites, synthesized by several methods. In the simplest of terms, the electronic properties of these nanomaterials, which form the present context of discussion, vary mainly as a function of three parameters, out of which two are process parameters (viz. (i) the kind of reinforcement and (ii) method of synthesis), and one is a structure-dependent parameter. The structure-dependent parameter is highly influenced by the two process parameters and plays a vital role in determining the ionic and electronic transport phenomenon in these materials. In other words, the interaction between electrons and the equilibrium 0-D (point) defects, along with different types of 2-D interfaces, plays a crucial role in the understanding of electronic properties, apart from physical and chemical properties of these materials. The present chapter provides a brief overview of the state-of-the-art on research along with detailed discussions on some recent developments in understanding electronic properties of some conventional carbon-based nanocomposites (synthesized by different techniques) based on the structure-property correlation in these materials. Finally, some of the significant challenges in this field have been addressed from both industrial and fundamental viewpoints.