Nanostructured materials have potential technological applications due to their characteristic dimensions. The material performance will depend on the atomic structure, and composition of these materials. This thesis focuses on proposing a reliable method for fabricating nanoporous alumina and palladium nanoparticles inside the templates.Palladium nanoparticles were synthesized in commercial porous alumina templates using electrodeposition. Pores within these nanoporous membranes act as templates for the synthesis of nanostructures of the desired material. Electrodeposition is achieved using a three-terminal set-up and a potentiostat. Different types of deposition techniques were investigated to improve the distribution of the deposit. The nanoparticles were characterized by SEM/EDX for composition. The commercial templates have high aspect ratio, but are not hexagonally ordered. Hence porous alumina was fabricated in the laboratory by anodization of aluminum.

ABSTRACT A study is carried out on the production of aluminum foams via powder processing. The study deals mainly with the effect of TiH2 particle size on the process of foaming. Mainly two TiH2 particle sizes were used / namely 27,5 &amp / #61549 / m and 8,5 &amp / #61549 / m. Foaming experiments were carried out at temperatures between 675oC &ndash / 840oC. The viscosity of the system is adjusted by controlled addition of Al2O3. The study shows that choice of foaming agent size is influential in the foaming process. With the use of fine foaming agent, temperatures in excess of 800oC would be required for successful foaming. The study further showed that the relation between foaming and viscosity was also dependent on the particle size. Viscosity of 2.3 mPa.s was found to be a limiting value for successful foaming with fine foaming agent. This value appears to increase with increasing particle size. An analysis is presented with regard to temperature dependence of foaming which takes into account the effect of particle size.