Field emission is the emission of electrons from a solid under an intense electric field, of the order of 109 V/m. Emission occurs by the quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons through a potential barrier to vacuum. Field emission sources offer several attractive features such as instantaneous response to field variation, resistance to temperature fluctuation and radiation, a high degree of focusing ability in electron optics, good on/off ratio, ballistic transport, and a nonlinear current-voltage relationship. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are potential candidates as field emitters since they possess high aspect ratio and are chemically inert to poisoning, and physically inert to sputtering during field emission. They can carry a very high current density and do not suffer field-induced tip sharpening like metallic tips. In addition, the CNT field emitters have the advantage of charge transport through 1D channels and electron emission at the sharp tips due to large enhancement. But the injection of electrons from the back contact remains a technical challenge which requires binding of CNT emitters to metallic substrate. Also, detachment of the CNT from the substrate tends to occur with time. The electrically conducting mixtures of CNTs and polymer can provide an alternative route to address these issues in the field emission of CNTs. The composites can be casted on any substrate in desired shape and the polymer matrix provides necessary support. The research work reported in this thesis includes the preparation of high quality multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), MWCNT-polystyrene (PS) composites, and experimental investigation on field emission properties of MWCNT¬PS composites in two different configurations. Electrical conductivity and percolation threshold of the MWCNT-PS composites are also investigated to ensure their high quality prior to the field emission studies. The study has been further extended to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated on polymer substrate. The main results obtained in present work are briefly summarized below. This thesis contains eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of basics of field emission, and the potential of CNT and CNT-polymer composites as field emitters. Chapter 2 deals with the concise introduction of various structural characterization tools and experimental techniques employed in this study. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of MWCNTs and characterization by using electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. MWCNTs are synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of toluene [(C6H5) CH3] and ferrocene [(C5H5)2 Fe] mixture at 980 °C. Here toluene acts as carbon source material and ferrocene provides catalytic iron (Fe) particles. The MWCNT formation is based on the thermal decomposition of the precursor mixture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization shows that the MWCNTs are closely packed and quite aligned in one direction. The average length of MWCNTs is about 200 μm and outer diameter lies in the range of 50-80 nm. The high quality of as-prepared MWCNT sample is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. The as-grown MWCNTs are encapsulated with catalytic Fe nanoparticles, revealed by transmission electron microscopy. The Fe nanoparticles trapped within the MWCNT serve as fantastic system for studying the magnetic properties. Three types of MWCNT samples filled with Fe nanoparticles of different aspect ratio (~10, 5 and 2) are synthesized by varying the amount of ferrocene in the precursor material, and their magnetic properties are investigated. Enhanced values of coercivity (Hc) are observed for all samples, Hc being maximum (~2.6 kOe) at 10 K. The enhancement in Hc values is attributed to the strong shape anisotropy of Fe nanoparticles and significant dipolar interactions between Fe nanoparticles. Chapter 4 deals with the field emission studies of MWCNT-PS composites in the parallel configuration. By incorporating as-prepared MWCNTs in PS matrix in a specific ratio, composites with varying loading from 0.01-0.45 weight (wt.) fraction are prepared using solution mixing and casting. High degree of dispersion of MWCNTs in PS matrix without employing any surfactant is achieved by ultrasonication. Low percolation threshold (~0.0025 wt. fraction) in the MWCNT-PS composites ensures the good connectivity of filler in the fabricated samples. Field emission of MWCNT¬PS composites is studied in two different configurations: along the top surface of the film (parallel configuration) and along the cross section of the sample (perpendicular configuration). In this chapter field emission results of the MWCNT-PS composites in parallel configuration are presented. The effect of charge transport in limiting the field emission of MWCNT-PS composite is discussed. Field emission results of MWCNT-PS composites in parallel configuration indicate that the emission performance can be maximized at moderate wt. fraction of MWCNT (0.15). The obtained current densities are ~10 µA/cm2 in the parallel configuration. Chapter 5 presents the study of field emission characteristics of MWCNT¬PS composites of various wt. fractions in the perpendicular configuration. Till date most studies using nanotube composites tend to have the nanotubes lying in two dimensional plane, perpendicular to the applied electric field. In the perpendicular configuration, the nanotubes are nearly aligned parallel to the direction of the applied electric field which results in high field enhancement, and electron emission at lower applied fields. SEM micrographs in cross-sectional view reveal that MWCNTs are homogeneously distributed across the thickness and the density of protruding tubes can be scaled with wt. fraction of the composite film. Field emission from composites has been observed to vary considerably with density of MWCNTs in the polymer matrix. High emission current density of 100 mA/cm2 is achieved at a field of 2.2 V/µm for 0.15 wt. fraction. The field emission is observed to follow the Fowler– Nordheim tunneling mechanism, however, electrostatic screening plays a role in limiting the current density at higher wt. fractions. Chapter 6 highlights the field emission response of rGO coated on a flexible PS film. Field emission of rGO coated PS film along the cross section of the sample is studied in addition to the top film surface of the film. The effect of geometry on the improved field emission efficiency of rGO coated polymer film is demonstrated. The emission characteristics are analyzed by Fowler–Nordheim tunneling for field emission. Low turn-on field (~0.6 V/µm) and high emission current (~200 mA/cm2) in the perpendicular configuration ensure that rGO can be a potential field emitter. Furthermore, stability and repeatability of the field emission characteristics are also presented. Chapter 7 deals with the synthesis, characterization, and field emission of two different kinds of hybrid materials: (1) MWCNT coated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (2) ZnO/graphitic carbon (g-C) core-shell nanowires. The field emission from the bucky paper is improved by anchoring ZnO nanoparticles on the surface of MWCNT. A shift in turn on field from 3.5 V/µm (bucky paper) to 1.0 V/µm is observed by increasing the ZnO nanoparticle loading on the surface of MWCNT with an increase in enhancement factor from 1921 to 4894. Field emission properties of a new type of field emitter ZnO/g-C core-shell nanowires are also presented in this chapter. ZnO/g-C core/shell nanowires are synthesized by CVD of zinc acetate at 1300 °C. Overcoming the problems of ZnO nanowire field emitters, which in general possess high turn on fields and low current densities, the core-shell nanowires exhibit excellent field emission performance with low turn on field of 2.75 V/µm and high current density of 1 mA/cm2. Chapter 8 presents a brief summary of the important results and future perspectives of the work reported in the thesis.

The present thesis entitled “Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Nanomaterials” is divided into five chapters, staring with a general introduction. The remaining chapters focus on four different areas/projects that I have worked on. Chapter 1: Introduction to nanomaterials This chapter reviews the basic concepts of nanomaterials and their fabrication methods. Nanomaterials are defined as materials whose dimensions (at least one) are below 100 nm. One of the most exciting aspects of nanomaterials is that their properties may differ significantly from those of the corresponding bulk materials. Nanomaterials fabrication methods can be broadly classified according to whether the assembly follows either i) the bottom-up approach or ii) the top-down approach. These methods have been discussed with various examples including the self-assembly of proteins, peptides and small molecules. In the top-down approach synthetic procedures for Graphene Oxide and its application are discussed. All characterization techniques that are used for characterizing the nanomaterials are also described briefly. Chapter 2 Section A: Self-assembly of 1-Hydroxy benzotriazole (HOBT) in water The studies presented in Chapter 2 identifies HOBT as the smallest non-peptide building block that spontaneously self-assembles into hollow micro tubular structures upon evaporation of water. The tubes form under ambient conditions by rolling over of crystalline sheets of HOBT. The packing of HOBT in the tubes seem to be predominantly driven by intermolecular π-stacking interactions between the aromatic rings of HOBT. These structural and packing patterns are similar to those found in nanotubes formed by the self-assembly of peptides and other larger molecules. The cavities of these thermolabile microtubes act as molds for casting gold nanoparticles for the synthesis of gold microrods with monodisperse dimensions. The non-reacting inner surfaces of the cavities have been used to uniquely synthesize R6G-functionalized gold microrods. With these features, HOBT is an important novel non-peptide building block for accessing micro and nanometric materials for their applications in medicine, biology and molecular biotechnology. Section B: Controlling the orientation of self-assembly of HOBT microtubes The studies presented in this chapter address the self-assembly of HOBT into microtubular structures in different solvents of varying polarities (H2O and DCM:MeOH) to understand the role of solvent volatility and its direction on the orientation of the HOBT microtubes. HOBT self-assembles from DCM:MeOH mixtures in its bipolar canonical form and is coordinated with its water of hydration, similar to its crystals obtained from water. FTIR and TGA data shows that MeOH is also integrated with the microtubes. We observe for the first time that the orientation of microtubular self-assembly is controlled in the direction of evaporation of the solvent. We demonstrate further this feature by controlling the orientation of HOBT self-assembly in exclusively vertical direction through controlled vertical evaporation of the solvent mixture DCM:MeOH (9:1). Additionally, the unique transition between vertical and horizontal orientations for self-assembled HOBT microtubes is achieved by simple change of solvation between aqueous and organic solvents. These results reveal a dynamic relationship between the rate of evaporation of solvent and the rates of formation of different self-assembled morphologies. The rate of evaporation of the solvent primarily governs the rate of formation of the tubes, rather than their orientations in three dimensions. Chapter 3: Chemical origins of debris in Graphene Oxide (GO) This chapter is focused on the investigation of the carbonyl rich fragments arising from GO and provides an understanding of its formation. The fragments are expelled from GO due to an uncontrolled nucleophile driven reaction in aqueous medium leaving the holes on the sheet. These fragments are carbonyl rich small (5 ± 2 nm) nonaromatic molecules that form as by-products of oxidative chemical reactions that occur at the sp3 clusters on the basal surface of GO sheets when they are treated with nucleophilic bases under aqueous conditions. The structure and size of the debris, and hence that of the hole, depend on the size of the sp3 cluster on the sheet. These debris fall out of the GO sheet surface, leading to formation of nanometer sized holes. Formation of debris and hence the holes can be avoided by using anhydrous polar solvents. This work sheds new light on the fundamental structure of GO and the prevention of debris from it during redox reactions enabling better control over functionalization of the GO surface. Chapter 4: Measurement of mechanical properties of polypeptide fragment from Insulin like growth factor binding protein nanotubes by the Peak Force QNM method This chapter describes the discovery of Polypeptide fragment from an IGFBP-2. This fragment self-assembles spontaneously and reversibly into nanotubular structures under oxidizing conditions. These nanotubes were characterized by using Transmission electron microscopy. Notably as compared to the monomer, an increase in intrinsic fluorescence upon self-assembly. The thermal stability of these nanotubes is realized form the fluorescence studies. Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping method of AFM was used to measure the Young’s modulus of the nanotubes. These nanotubes were found to have Young’s modulus value of ~10 Gpa, which is comparable to those of bones presumably due to intermolecular disulphide bonds. These nanotubes will have potential applications in tissue engineering. Chapter 5: Probing the pathways of n→π* interaction in peptides This chapter deals with the theoretical study of n→π* interaction in designed peptidomimetics. The n→π* interaction involves the delocalization of the lone pair of the donor group into the antibonding orbital (π*) of a carbonyl group. However despite beeing extensively studied there exists a debate over the validation of these n→π* interaction which is reminiscent to Bürgi and Dunitz trajectory. This chapter present our findings that peptidomimetics containing the 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-oxazine (Oxa) and 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine (Thi) functional groups at the C-terminus of Pro selectively stabilizes the cis conformer by reverse n→πi-1* interaction. These systems have been used to study the n→πi1* interaction using Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) method. Our study reveals that the energetically most favorable trajectory of a nucleophile for a favorable n→π* interaction presumably to facilitate the overlap between the lonepair of the nucleophile and the antibonding orbital of the carbonyl group. The geometrical requirements for the optimum n→π* interaction depends on the relative orientations of the orbitals that are involved. This study has implications for more accurately identifying long distant n→π* interaction.

Synopsis of thesis entitled “Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Investigations of Co, Mn and Ir-based Catalysts for Water Splitting” by Ahamed Irshad M (SR No: 02-01-02-10-11-11-1-08823) under the supervision of Prof. N. Munichandraiah, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (India), for the Ph.D. degree of the Institute under the Faculty of Science. Hydrogen is considered as the fuel for future owing to its high gravimetric energy density and eco-friendly use. In addition, H2 is an important feedstock in Haber process for ammonia synthesis and petroleum refining. Although, it is the most abundant element in the universe, elemental hydrogen is not available in large quantities on the planet. Consequently, H2 must be produced from its various chemical compounds available on earth. Currently, H2 is produced in large scale from methane by a process called steam-methane reforming (SMR). This process releases huge amount of CO2 into atmosphere as the by-product causing serious environmental issues. The development of alternate clean methods to generate H2 is a key challenge for the realization of hydrogen economy. Production of H2 gas by water splitting using electricity or sunlight is known. Low cost, high natural abundance and carbon neutrality make water as the best source of hydrogen. Thermodynamically, splitting of H2O needs 237 kJ mol-1 of energy, which corresponds to 1.23 V according to the equation, ΔG = -nFE. However, commercial electrolyzers usually operate between 1.8 to 2.1 V, due to the need of large overvoltage. The high overvoltage and subsequent energy losses are mainly associated with the sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at the cathode. The overvoltage can be considerably reduced using suitable catalysts. Hence, the design and development of stable, robust and highly active catalysts for OER and HER are essential to make water splitting efficient and economical. Attempts in the direction of preparing several novel OER and HER catalysts, physicochemical characterizations and their electrochemical or photoelectrochemical activity are described in the thesis. A comprehensive review of the literature on various types of catalysts, thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanisms of catalysis are provided in the Chapter 1 of the thesis. Chapter 2 furnishes a brief description on various experimental techniques and procedures adopted at different stages of the present studies. Chapter 3 explains the results of the studies on kinetics of deposition and stability of Nocera’s Co-phosphate (Co-Pi) catalyst using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The in-situ mass measurements during CV experiments on Au electrode confirm the deposition of Co-Pi at potential above 0.87 V vs. Ag/AgCl, 3 M KCl (Fig.1a and b). The catalyst is found to deposit via a nucleus mediated process at a rate of 1.8 ng s-1 from 0.5 mM Co2+ in 0.1 M neural phosphate solution at 1.0 V. Further studies on the potential and electrolyte dependent stability of the Co-Pi suggest that the catalyst undergoes severe corrosion at high overpotential and in non-buffer electrolytes. Current/ Fig.1 (a) Cyclic voltammograms and (b) mass variations vs. potential of Au-coated quartz crystal in 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0) containing 0.5 mM Co(NO3)2 Chapter 4 deals with the electrochemical deposition of a novel OER catalyst, namely, Co-acetate (Co-Ac) from a neutral acetate electrolyte containing Co2+ ions. Use of acetate solution instead of phosphate avoids the solubility limitations and helps to get thick layer of the catalyst in a short time from concentrated Co2+ solutions. In addition, the Co-Ac is found to be catalytically superior to Co-Pi (Fig. 2a). It is also observed that the Co-Ac catalyst undergoes ion exchange with electrolyte species during electrolysis in phosphate buffer solution, which results in the formation of a hybrid Co-Ac-Pi catalyst (Fig. 2b). The presence of both acetate and phosphate ions in the catalyst and their synergistic catalytic effect enhance the OER activity. Fig.2. (a) Linear sweep voltammograms of Co-Ac in (i) phosphate and (ii) acetate electrolytes, and that of Co-Pi in (iii) acetate and (iv) phosphate electrolytes. (b) SEM image showing the formation of two layers of the catalysts after electrolysis in phosphate solution. In Chapter 5, high OER activity of an electrodeposited amorphous Ir-phosphate (Ir-Pi) is investigated. The catalyst is prepared by the anodic polarization of a carbon paper electrode in neutral phosphate solution containing Ir3+ ions (Fig. 3). The Ir-Pi film deposited on the electrode has Ir and P in an approximate ratio of 1:2 with Ir in an oxidation state higher than +4. Phosphate ions play a major role for both the electrochemical deposition process and its catalytic activity towards OER. The Ir-Pi catalyst is superior to similarly deposited IrO2 and Co-Pi catalysts both in terms of onset potential and current density at any potential in the OER region. Tafel measurements and pH dependence studies identify the formation of a high energy intermediate during oxygen evolution. Fig.3. (a) Cyclic voltammograms during the Ir-Pi deposition and (b) SEM image of Ir-Pi on C. Chapter 6 is on the preparation of a composite of Mn-phosphate (MnOx-Pi) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and its utilization as an OER catalyst. The composite is prepared by the simultaneous electrochemical reduction of KMnO4 and graphene oxide (GO) in a phosphate solution (pH 7.0). Various analytical techniques such as TEM, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, etc. confirm the formation of a composite (Fig. 4) and electrochemical studies indicate the favourable role of rGO towards OER. Under identical conditions, MnOx-Pi-rGO gives 6.2 mA cm-2 at 2.05 V vs. RHE whereas it is only 2.9 mA cm-2 for MnOx-Pi alone. However, the catalyst is not very stable during OER which is ascribed to slow oxidation of Mn3+ in the catalyst. Fig.4. (a) Raman spectrum and (b) TEM image of MnOx-Pi-rGO. In Chapter 7, an amorphous Ni-Co-S film is prepared by a potentiodynamic deposition method using thiourea as the sulphur source. The electrodeposit is used as a catalyst for the HER in neutral phosphate solution. The composition of the catalyst and the HER activity are tuned by varying the ratio of concentrations of Ni2+ and Co2+. The bimetallic Ni-Co-S catalyst exhibits better HER activity than both Ni-S and Co-S (Fig. 5a). Under optimized deposition conditions, Ni-Co-S requires just 150 mV for the onset of HER and 10 mA cm-2 is obtained for 280 mV overpotential. The Ni-Co-S shows two different Tafel slopes, indicating two different potential dependent HER mechanisms (Fig. 5b). Presence of two different catalytic sites which contribute selectively in different potential regions is proposed. Fig.5. (a) Linear sweep voltammograms of HER at 1 mV s-1 in 1 M phosphate solutions (pH 7.4) using (i) Ni-S, (ii) Co-S and (c) Ni-Co-S. (b) Tafel plot of Ni-Co-S showing two Tafel slopes. Photoelectrochemical OER using ZnO photoanode and Co-acetate (Co-Ac) cocatalyst is studied in Chapter 8 of the thesis. Randomly oriented crystalline ZnO nanorods are prepared by the electrochemical deposition of Zn(OH)2 followed by heat treatment at 350 ºC in air. Co-Ac is then photochemically deposited onto ZnO nanorods by UV illumination in the presence of neutral acetate buffer solution containing Co2+ ions. The hybrid Co-Ac-ZnO shows higher photoactivity in comparison with bare ZnO towards PEC water oxidation (Fig. 6). Co-Ac acts as a cocatalyst and reduces the charge carrier recombination at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Fig.6. (a) Linear sweep voltammograms of ZnO under (i) dark and (ii) light conditions, and that of Co-Ac-ZnO in (iii) dark and (iv) light in 0.1 M phosphate (pH 7.0) electrolyte. Chapter 9 deals with PEC water oxidation using α-Fe2O3 photoanode and Ir-phosphate (Ir-Pi) cocatalyst. α-Fe2O3 is prepared by direct heating of Fe film in air which in turn is deposited by the electrochemical reduction of Fe2+. Thickness of the film as well as calcination temperature is carefully optimized. In order to further enhance the OER kinetics, Ir-Pi is electrochemically deposited onto α-Fe2O3. Under optimized conditions, Ir-Pi deposited α-Fe2O3 shows around 3 times higher photocurrent than that of bare α-Fe2O3 at 1.23 V vs. RHE (Fig. 7). Ir-Pi acts as a cocatalyst for OER and reduces the photogenerated charge carrier recombination. Fig.7. Photocurrent variation of α-Fe2O3 electrode at 1.23 V vs. RHE for (i) front and (ii) back side illuminations, against Ir-Pi deposition time. The thesis ends with a short summary and future prospectus of studies described in the thesis. The research work presented in the thesis is carried out by the candidate as the part of Ph.D. program. Some of the results have already been published in the literature and some manuscripts are under preparation. A list of publications is included at the end of the thesis. It is anticipated that the studies reported in the thesis will constitute a worthwhile contribution.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / In this study multilayer graphene nanosheets was synthesize by oxidizing graphite to graphene oxide using H2SO4 and KMnO4 followed by reduction of graphene oxide to graphene using NaBH4. The graphene nanosheets were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). HRTEM images showed that the multilayer graphene were obtained. The graphene was immobilized directly onto a glassy carbon electrode using the drop coating technique followed by the in situ deposition of mercury, bismuth or antimony thin films to afford graphene modified glassy carbon metal film electrodes (Gr-GC-MEs). The experimental parameters (deposition potential, deposition time, rotation speed, frequency and amplitude) were optimized, and the applicability of the modified electrode was investigated towards the individual and simultaneous determination of Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ at the low concentration levels (μg L-1) in 0.1 M acetate buffer (pH 4.6) using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The detection limits values for the Gr-GC-HgE was 0.08, 0.05 and 0.14 μg L-1 for Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+, respectively. The Gr-GC-BiE the detection limits for was 0.12, 0.22 and 0.28 μg L-1 for Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ while the detection limits for the Gr-GC-SbE was 0.1, 0.3 and 0.3 μg L-1 for Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+, respectively. A Gr-GCE prepared without any binding agents or metal film had detection limits for Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ of 3.9, 0.8 and 0.2 μg L-1 for Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+. Real sample analysis of which was laboratory tap water was performed using the Gr-GCMEs. Only Gr-GC-HgE was sensitive enough to detect metal ions in the tap water samples at the 3ppb level whereas, the GC-BiE and GC-SbE detected the metal ions at the 10 μg L-1 to 30 μg L-1 level.

In this paper, we propose strain-sensitive thin films based on chemically reduced graphene oxide (GO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without adding any further surfactants. In spite of the insulating properties of the thin-film-based GO due to the presence functional groups such as hydroxyl, epoxy, and carbonyl groups in its atomic structure, a significant enhancement of the film conductivity was reached by chemical reduction with hydro-iodic acid. By optimizing the MWCNT content, a significant improvement of electrical and mechanical thin film sensitivity is realized. The optical properties and the morphology of the prepared thin films were studied using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The UV-Vis spectra showed the ability to tune the band gap of the GO by changing the MWCNT content, whereas the SEM indicated that the MWCNTs were well dissolved and coated by the GO. Investigations of the piezoresistive properties of the hybrid nanocomposite material under mechanical load show a linear trend between the electrical resistance and the applied strain. A relatively high gauge factor of 8.5 is reached compared to the commercial metallic strain gauges. The self-assembled hybrid films exhibit outstanding properties in electric conductivity, mechanical strength, and strain sensitivity, which provide a high potential for use in strain-sensing applications.

No description available.