Mechano-chemical synthesis has been employed to prepare new light weight complex borohydrides. The precursor complex borohydrides such as NaBH4 and LiBH4 have been used since these materials posses high hydrogen storage capacity of 13.0 and 19.6 wt.%. This advanced materials based technology will meet the US-DOE grand challenge technical targets. The thermal calorimetric and gravimetric analysis of these complex borohydrides exhibits the hydrogen decomposition temperature (Tdec) of 100–150° C with theoretical capacity of ∼8.0-10.0 wt%. The catalysts (e.g. ZnCl2, TiFx3) doping and destabilization of the borohydride by reacting with binary hydride (MgH2) reveals the enhancement of decomposition kinetics and reversible dehydrogenation-rehydrogenation behavior.

Uncooled Infrared detectors with high sensitivity and shorter response times are preferred as through the wall detection device. An alternate approach for making these sensors, being pursued by us is to use the concept of rectenna with tunnel diodes. Successful fabrication of such high frequency switching diodes with antenna as detectors, offer a much faster response time than existing bolometer. This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of thin-film MIM diode for use in rectenna as an Infrared detector. MIM diodes operate on the basis of quantum mechanical phenomenon, i.e., when a sufficiently thin barrier (<5nm) is sandwiched between two electrodes, current can flow between them by means of tunnelling. This tunnelling probability increases with a decrease in the dielectric barrier height and the separation distance. The MIM diodes were fabricated with asymmetric electrodes with 1μm2 contact areas with cut-off frequency ∼0.1THz. The electrodes of the Ni-NiO-Cr MIM diodes have been fabricated through Photolithography, e-beam lithography, followed by conventional lift-off process. The dielectric layer (NiO) was deposited through plasma oxidation to obtain 2nm thin films. The composition and the thickness of the insulator layer are characterized by metrological tools like SEM and Spectroscopic Ellipsometer. The diode characteristics presented in this paper have been found to be stable and reproducible with the established fabrication conditions. Electrical behaviour (I-V) of the MIM junctions were investigated and compared with the theoretical tunnelling characteristics of the Ni-NiO-Cr MIM diodes. For devices with such non-linear electrodes, excellent agreement is obtained between the measured and the calculated result with the forward bias current as 0.8mA at 0.2V and the reverse bias current as −0.2mA at −0.2V.

The wide bandgap semiconductor TiO2 has become the dominant UV-activated photocatalyst in the field of air and water detoxification because of its high stability, low cost, high oxidation potential and chemically favorable properties. The demand for visible-light activated photocatalytic systems is increasing rapidly; however, currently, the efficiency and availability of photocatalysts that can be activated effectively by the solar spectrum and particularly indoor lighting is severely limited. In this paper, a new coprecipitation/hydrolysis synthesis route is used to create a TiO2-ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite that is directed towards extending the photoresponse of TiO2 from UV to visible wavelengths (>400nm). The effect of TiO2's accelerated anatase-rutile phase transformation due to the presence of the coupled ZnFe2O4 narrow bandgap semiconductor is evaluated. The transformation's dependence on pH, calcination temperature, particle size, and ZnFe2O4 concentration has been analyzed using XRD, SEM, and UV-Visible spectrometry. The requirements for retaining the highly photoactive anatase phase present in a ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite are outlined. The visible-light activated photocatalytic activity of the TiO2-ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites have been compared to an Aldrich TiO2 reference catalyst, using a solar-simulated photoreactor for the degradation of phenol.

Light weight hydrogen storage systems are indeed essential for the on-board automotive vehicular applications. Complex chemical hydrides bearing light elements such as Li, Na, Mg etc. and their catalytic doping with transition metal species are presently being investigated. The Li- modified Mg2FeH6 structure have been thermally characterized using DSC and TGA techniques. It is interesting to notice that the reduction in the decomposition temperature of about 100° C has been unambiguously observed for the Li modified Mg2FeH6. Besides, there is an enhancement in sorption kinetics for the Ti- doped Mg2FeH6. The role of Ti- species on the dehydrogenation and rehdyrogenation properties of NaAlH4 have been explored by heat flow measurements using high pressure differential scanning calorimetry. We have also developed the Li-amide/LiH system by sonicated process and studied their PCT characteristics. A new class of hydrogen storage system Zn(BH4)2 with theoretical hydrogen capacity of 8.4 wt.% have been synthesized and we have determined their gravimetric and volumetric characteristics.

Nano-structured colloidal semiconductors with heterogeneous photocatalytic behavior have drawn considerable attention over the past few years. This is due to their large surface area, high redox potential of the photogenerated charge carriers and selective reduction/oxidation of different class of organic compounds. Nano-structured TiO2 is widely used as a photocatalyst for the effective decomposition of organic compounds in air and water under UV radiation. On the other hand, the development of visible light activated photocatalysis, for utilizing the available solar energy remains a challenge and requires low band gap materials as sensitizer. Among the various inorganic sensitizers, bulk CdS with an Eg of 2.5 eV and an energetically high-lying conduction band has been identified as a potential candidate. This can be coupled with a large band gap semiconductor (TiO2 with Eg ∼ 3.2 eV) for visible light photocatalysis and solar energy conversion. In the CdS sensitized TiO2 nano-composite system, charge injection from the conduction band of the semiconductor sensitizer to that of TiO2 can lead to an efficient and longer charge separation by minimizing electron-hole recombination. In the present paper, we have carried out a systematic synthesis of nano-structured CdS/TiO2 via reverse micelle process. The structural and microstructural characterizations of the as-prepared CdS/TiO2 nano-composites are determined using XRD and SEM-EDS techniques. The visible light assisted photocatalytic performance is monitored by means of degradation of phenol in water.

Nanocomposite heterogeneous semiconductors with suitable energy levels (gaps) are exhibiting excellent photocatalytic properties under visible light irradiation. TiO2/ZnFe2O4 has been selected among different alloys because of (i) its low band gap ∼1.9 eV (ii) the nontoxicity of ZnFe2O4 (iii) visible light absorption characteristics of ZnFe2O4 due to its narrow band gap and (iv) not being susceptible to photoanodic corrosion. A mechanochemical synthesis approach using high energy milling is employed to prepare TiO2/ZnFe2O4 under different experimental parameters and conditions. The effects of ball milling and calcination on the photocatalytic behavior of TiO2 and TiO2/ZnFe2O4 have been determined. The as-milled nanocomposite materials are characterized with PXD, SEM and EDS procedures. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites for the photodegradation of phenol under visible light irradiation has been studied systematically by UV-Vis spectrometer. It is interesting to note a red shift of 0.25 eV in the absorption edge of the ball-milled TiO2 sample when compared to the non ball milled TiO2 photocatalyst.

The inclusion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in a conjugated polymer matrix results in extensive alterations in the polymer morphology. When the physical state of a substance is changed, heat is either absorbed or liberated but the temperature remains constant. The flexibility of chain molecules arises from rotation round the saturated chain bond moreover the potential energy barriers hindering this rotation. It is not surprising therefore that the flexibility of polymer chains is an important factor in determining their melting points and stability. If the substitution of carbon nanotube is random the primary effect is a decrease in the degree of crystallinity. These microstructures are governed by the balance of interactions between hydrodynamic forces (both viscous and elastic) and the forces working to retain the integrity of the disperse particles, such as interfacial tension or, in the case of solid filler and their mechanical strength. Carbon materials have long been shown to absorb as much as 60 wt% hydrogen due to their large surface areas as well as their high surface to volume ratios. In the present approach conducting polyaniline was doped with metal oxide, such as SnO2, as well as carbon nanotubes. The resulting carbon nanocomposite was made in both gel- and solid-state to study the effect of physical state on hydrogen adsorption and desorption by weight percentage. The morphology formation process and its impact on the rheological properties of complex polymer systems, i.e. polymer blends and composites are being studied. The materials are also compared with regard to their thermal stability using DSC, and further characterized using various techniques such as FTIR. Further experiments are in progress to better understand the nature of the hydrogen storage mechanism.