Nanostructured materials and nanocomposites for advanced applications

Of late, research on nanostructured materials has received considerable attention owing to their size and shape dependent properties that can be tailored for myriad applications in the fields of catalysis, medicine, optics and electronics. In particular, nanosized metal chalcogenides and metal oxides, as well as, their nanocomposites with diverse   and unusual morphologies have aroused tremendous interest in view of their light driven catalytic functionalities. The cubic spinel structures of CdIn₂S₄, ZnIn₂S₄, CdLa₂S₄ have been synthesized by hydrothermal technique.  Different morphologies have been architectured by tuning reaction conditions. Structural characterization of the as prepared nanopowder and nanocomposites was carried out using XRD, whereas the morphological characterization was performed using FESEM and TEM.  Suitability of the nanopowders for hydrogen generation was revealed by UV-DRS studies. All the nanopowders showed excellent hydrogen generation activity when irradiated with visible light or natural sunlight. Considering the significance of the hydrogen as a future fuel the production of cheap hydrogen is only possible through photocatalysis and hence there is an utmost need to investigate highly stable and efficient photocatalyst. The advanced nanocomposites ( glass/polymers) have also been synthesized for advanced applications. The quantum dot-glass nanocomposites have shown good potentials in electronics as well in photonics. The glass nanocomposites developed shows excellent X-ray absorption.  Some of the quantum dots-glass systems also show excellent magneto-optical properties.