Ag-Doped TiO2: Synthesis, Characterization and Photodegradation of 4BS Dye

Ag doped TiO2 nanoparticles with different metallic content (0.0, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 wt.%) were prepared by using EDTA-Glycol method. For the sake of comparison blank TiO2 sample is also prepared using same method. All the samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction technique revealed that Ag-doped TiO2 has anatase structure and as the concentration of Ag increases the particle size will get decreases. The morphologies of TiO2 samples are influenced by doping Ag as shown by SEM images. The present work is mainly focused on the enhancement of photocatalytic reactivity of as synthesized samples by the photodegradation of 4BS under visible light irradiation using a LED lamp of (15 W) as a light source. A 96.3% of photodegradation of 4BS dye was achieved by utilizing 1 g/L of Ag-doped TiO2 at pH 6 for 100 min.

Annealing Effect on Nanocrystalline SnO2 Thin Films Prepared by Spray Pyrolysis Technique

In recent years, a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) SnO2 semiconductor have gained considerable attention due to their potential application in gas sensors. More number of studies on TCO oxide have focused on the semiconducting metal oxides in which an intensive argument is that the transparent semiconductors. The SnO2 thin films were deposited at 400 °C and then annealed at 500 °C and 600 °C and its structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized. The doping stoichiometric ratio was maintained as 4% and the resulting solution was sprayed on glass substrate which was kept at nozzle distance of 25 cm and the spray rate was 10 mL/min. The prepared pure SnO2 thin films have been characterized by different methods such as XRD, FESEM, UV-Vis NIR and EDAX analyses. It was found that the nanocrystalline SnO2 grains possesses structural features of the tetragonal rutile structure. Hence the prepared thin films are justified to be nanocrystalline and also the mean crystalline size decreased with respect to annealing temperature.

Synthesis, Characterization and Electrical Properties of ZnFe2O4 Nanoparticles

Zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) nanoparticles were prepared by combustion method. The FT-IR, XRD and SEM with EDS were used to characterize the prepared sample. The characterization results confirm the successful synthesis of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with the particle size range of 24 – 30 nm. The temperature dependent DC conductivity of the sample has been studied in the temperature range 30-175 °C and AC conductivity was investigated between the frequencies of 10 Hz and 10 MHz. DC conductivity of the sample was increased while increasing temperature and AC conductivity was increased as the frequency increased.

Studies on Synthesis, Characterization and Transport Properties of Ta2O5 Doped Polyaniline Composites

Polyaniline (PANI) and PANI/Ta2O5 composite samples were prepared using chemical oxidative polymerization technique in the presence of hydrochloric acid (HCl) at room temperature. The effect of Ta2O5 on surface morphology and structural changes have been investigated and evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The XRD pattern of the PANI and PANI/Ta2O5 confirm the formation of PANI and its composite. The average crystallite size of the PANI is 2.86 nm which is increased to 46.80 nm when Ta2O5 was doped in the PANI matrix. SEM micrographs of the composite confirm the morphological changes in the composite materials. In the electrical conductivity studies, ac conductivity was carried as function of frequency and dc conductivity was studied as a function of temperature. Further to describe the dielectric properties of the PANI and composite, dielectric constant and dielectric loss was studied as a function of frequency.

Nanocomposites: A New Tendency of Structure in Nanotechnology and Material Science

Nanoscience has become a diverse and unique field of scientific and technical activity. Over the last few years, the research interest in nanomaterials/nanoparticles and their various applications in various electronic devices, effective optoelectronic devices, bio-sensors, photodetectors, solar cells, nanodevices and plasmonic structures have been increasing tremendously. The reasons are-the unique properties of nanostructures and the outstanding performance of nanoscale devices. At the nanoscale, a material’s property can change dramatically, with unique design possibilities and properties; they attract the attention of researchers worldwide. Nano-composites are those materials with a Nano-scale structure which improves the microscopic property of the products. Composite materials have combinations of two or several nanocomponents, which acquire new and unique characteristic properties that the individual constituents, by themselves, cannot obtain. There are number of various methods to synthesis various Nano-composites. Based on the literature survey, this review article explains a brief introduction of nanocomposites and their types, preparation methods and different diverse properties. It also describes the benefits and limitations of it and new challenges/future scope of the nanocomposites for the better future applications in different sectors.

Effect of Pre-Blending and Phase-Mixing Methods on Properties of Natural Rubber and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber Blends Filled with Nano Silica Extracted from Rice Husk Ash

Properties of natural rubber (NR) and acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) blends are varied due to blending method. The literature is evident that the pre-blending and phase-mixing methods affect the properties of blends while opposite arguments are also available. Hence, that fact was interested to study using NR/NBR blends filled with rice husk ash nano silica (RHANS) having an average particle size of 50 nm - 100 nm with some micro-scale agglomerates. The structure of RHANS was proved using X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometric analyses. Blends were prepared following both blending methods by varying NR to NBR ratio as 0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20, and 100:0 while filling 25 parts per hundred parts of rubber of RHANS. The control was the ASTM formulation for oil seals. Vulcanization properties of blends showed acceptable levels with extended scorch and cure times and high torque properties. Blends indicated less tensile and tear strength compared to the control while showing acceptable hardness, compression set, and swelling properties. Overall, there is a possibility to use RHANS in NR/NBR blends and it was found that the blending method does not affect the properties of the NR/NBR blends.

Studies on Electrical and Optical Property of Polyaniline/ZnO Nanocomposites

The conducting polymer polyaniline and PANI/ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized by in-situ polymerization method at 0-5 °C temperature with ammonium persulphate as an oxidising agent. The optical band gap of PANI/ZnO nanocomposites have been studied at different weight percentage such as 10%, 30% and 50%, at room temperature. The XRD pattern confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the ZnO product. The particle size was calculated by using the Debye-Scherrer relation and it was found to be in the range of 20-50 nm. The obtained absorption spectra at 385 nm is the charectestic peak of ZnO and observed for all weight percentages of nanocomposites. The peaks occured at 300 nm and 470 nm confirms the formation of polyaniline in the nanocomposites. Further the dielectric properties such as dielectric constant, dielectric loss and AC conductivity for the PANI with PANI/ZnO composites at different weight percentages are studied as a function of frequency in the range 5 Hz–35 MHz at room temperature.

Carbon Dot-Lanthanide Composite Based Smart Luminescent Anticounterfeiting Material

In this emerging technology world, the counterfeit of products are increasing due to raising the economy of industry. Counterfeiting is as old as the human desire to create objects of value. There are number of products, which can be easily duplicated by simple processes and the product is accurate and precise. Counterfeit is a problem of product security, the rise and affects every product category from consumer goods to medicines and spare parts. Products can furthermore contain non-active or even toxic- ingredients. So, luminescent materials are useful to detect different counterfeit products at different wavelength. The carbon dots-lanthanide composite based gel formulation is used to coat on different subtract and according to the process their different characterization part for the prevention of counterfeit problems. Carbon dots-lanthanide composites are basically easy to synthesis and they have fluorescent property, which can help to make product unique and diverse. With help of UV chamber, the carbon dots-lanthanide composites are easily detected at some particular wavelength. So by using this property, the gel formulation can be fabricated to coat on different subtract and characterize different surface morphology for the future precepts. UV-Vis- spectrophotometer was utilized to differentiate optical properties and fluorospectrometer was exploited to differentiate fluorescent properties of carbon dots, carbon dots-lanthanide composite and CDs-lanthanide based fluorescent ink. FT-IR and viscometer were used characterized other properties of carbon dots-lanthanide based fluorescent ink. This research article is the revised article of one step synthesis of carbon dots based smart fluorescent security ink.

Effect of Nitrogen Doping on Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2

Nitrogen doped TiO2 nanoparticles (N-doped TiO2) in different mol percentage (2-6 mol%) of nitrogen with anatase phase, have been prepared by using EDTA-glycol method. Samples were characterized by various physico-chemical techniques. Physico-chemical characterization revealed that crystallite size, surface hydroxylation, and tuning of optical band gap towards visible region of catalyst increases with increase in dopant concentration upto 4.0 mol% in TiO2 host lattice. Thereafter, the samples were used to photocatalytic degradation of the organic dye methylene blue (MB) under sunlight irradiation directly. The progress of photodegradation reaction was monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy. During photocatalytic reaction, the effect of calcination temperature, amount of catalyst, initial concentration of dye and the effect of pH on the rate of degradation reaction was also studied. It is clearly shown that N doping in TiO2 results in the enhancement of the degradation ability of MB in UV-visible light.

Synthesis of Metal Doped TiO2 Nano-Composites by Sol-Gel Method and Their Structural Properties

Metal oxide nano-composites plays a very important role in many areas of chemistry, physics and material science. This paper explains the synthesis and comparison of zinc and zirconium doped TiO2 metal oxide nano-composites and their different properties. Here the sol-gel method is used to synthesis both the nano-composites. Nano-composites have been characterized with XRD, AFM, Zetasizer & potential and FT-IR studies. XRD study revealed good crystallinity with the size range of 30 nm – 45 nm for both nano-composites. AFM studies also revealed the same. FTIR study reports the characteristics peaks of synthesised nano-composites.