Faculty Publications
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Item Morphological and structural characterisation of sol-gel electrospun Co3O4 nanofibres and their electro-catalytic behaviour(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) George, G.; Elias, L.; Hegde, A.C.; Anandhan, S.Evolution of hydrogen and oxygen are a crucial part of many renewable energy systems. The replacement of the essential and expensive components in such systems can reduce the capital cost and improve the effectiveness of those systems. In this study, Co3O4 nanofibres were fabricated from sol-gel assisted electrospun poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile)/cobalt acetate tetrahydrate precursor composite fibres. The morphological and compositional features of the Co3O4 nanofibres obtained after calcination of the precursor nanofibers were studied using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results of X-ray diffraction study and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the average grain size of the fibres increased with the calcination temperature. Clear evidence of defects in the fibres was observed in ultraviolet-visible-near infrared and energy dispersive spectroscopic measurements. The electrocatalytic behaviour of Co3O4 nanofibres obtained at different calcination temperatures was studied using them for the water splitting reaction in an alkaline medium. The maximum efficiency in the hydrogen evolution reaction was achieved using the Co3O4 nanofibres obtained at the lowest calcination temperature, which had the highest surface area and the smallest grain size. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.Item A Mechanistic Study on the Structure Formation of NiCo2O4 Nanofibers Decorated with In Situ Formed Graphene-Like Structures(Springer New York LLC barbara.b.bertram@gsk.com, 2018) Kumar, B.; Gudla, V.C.; Ambat, R.; Kalpathy, S.K.; Anandhan, S.Nickel cobaltite (NCO) nanofibers were synthesized using poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) as the polymeric binder through sol–gel assisted electrospinning. Defect-free precursor nanofiber mats were pyrolyzed at 773 K at three different pyrolysis soaking times t = 2, 4, and 6 h. The SAN present in the precursor nanofibers caused morphological changes in the NCO nanofibers during their thermochemical degradation. Consequently, fractal aggregates of NCO nanoparticles were formed along the length of the nanofibers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed both + 2 and + 3 oxidation states for Ni and Co, with spinel crystal defects due to oxygen rich atmosphere. XPS, high-resolution transmission microscopy, and optical analysis showed graphene-like structures embedded within the NCO nanofibers. With increase in pyrolysis soaking time, the morphology of the NCO particles markedly changed from spherical to rod-like. We propose a mechanism for the morphological change of NCO nanoparticles on the basis of crystallite splitting accompanied by particle splitting and reordering. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.Item A new strategy of PVDF based Li-salt polymer electrolyte through electrospinning for lithium battery application(Institute of Physics Publishing helen.craven@iop.org, 2019) Janakiraman, S.; Surendran, A.; Ghosh, S.; Anandhan, S.; Adyam, A.Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafine fibers with different proportions of lithium nitrate (LiNO3) were fabricated by an electrospinning device. The processing parameters are optimized to 19 wt% PVDF to get a bead free structure. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) showed the uniform and interconnected porous structure. With the addition of 2 wt% LiNO3, the fiber diameter of the electrospun membrane decreased from 371 to 222 nm. Furthermore, the addition of LiNO3 into the nanofibrous membrane enhanced the ionic conductivity from 0.97 ×10-3 S cm-1 to 1.61 ×10-3 S cm-1 at room temperature after soaking with 1 M LiPF6 (lithium hexafluoro-phosphate) in ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) in (1:1 wt%). Compared with the conventional Celgard and pristine PVDF membrane, the salt doped PVDF membranes showed higher electrochemical stability window and lower interfacial resistance. The electrospun membrane separators (ES) were assembled into Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) as cathode and lithium metal as an anode. The salt doped membrane showed superior discharge, C-rate and stable cycle performance than the commercial Celgard membrane. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.Item Polymorphism, dielectric and piezoelectric response of organo-modified Ni–Co layered double hydroxide nanosheets dispersed electrospun PVDF nanofabrics(Springer, 2019) Shetty, S.; Ekbote, G.S.; Mahendran, A.; Anandhan, S.Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with excellent flexibility and electroactive properties is a promising material for energy harvesting. In this study, organically modified Ni–Co layered double hydroxide (OLDH) was synthesized and the nanosheets of this OLDH were used as filler in electrospun PVDF nanofabrics. Morphology, crystallinity, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties of the electrospun nanofabrics were characterized. Presence of OLDH in PVDF nanofabrics led to enhancement of polar ?-phase in the latter, which was corroborated from the results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Dielectric constant of the nanofabrics tends to increase with OLDH content, while the corresponding dielectric loss remained low. An indigenously designed nanogenerator from these nanofabrics exhibited a maximum output voltage of 6.9 V and power density of 0.92 ?W/cm2 under human finger tapping mode at 3 wt% loading of OLDH. The synergistic effect of OLDH and electrospinning contributed to the enhancement of the ?-phase content, thereby the piezoelectric response of the composite nanofabrics. The demonstrated nanogenerator could possibly power flexible and portable electronic devices. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.