Faculty Publications
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Item Synthesis and characterisation of nickel oxide nanofibre webs with alcohol sensing characteristics(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this study, nickel oxide (NiO) nanofibres were obtained by a sol-gel electrospinning process followed by calcination from an aqueous sol of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)/nickel acetate tetrahydrate. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the degradation temperature of the composite fibres, so as to get nickel oxide nanofibres. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies revealed the complete elimination of the organic phase from NiO fibres during calcination. The change in grain size with calcination temperature was determined by X-ray diffraction. The defects in fibres resulted in the modification of their Raman spectra as compared with that of a single crystal. The magnetic properties of the fibres were reduced as the calcination temperature was increased; this is due to the presence of non-stoichiometric defects. As the calcination temperature was increased, the amount of defects was reduced, which induced a difference in the band gap energy of the fibres. Sensitivity of the NiO fibres towards five different alcohols was studied, and the sensitivity towards ethanol was the highest. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2014.Item Glass fiber-supported NiO nanofiber webs for reduction of CO and hydrocarbon emissions from diesel engine exhaust(Cambridge University Press, 2014) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this study, nickel acetate tetrahydrate (NACTH)/poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) sol was used for the fabrication of nanocrystalline NiO nanofibers. An indigenous setup was developed to use these nanofibers for the oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) from diesel engine exhaust. The morphological, compositional, and crystalline properties of the NiO nanofibers obtained after calcination were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Clear evidence of defects in the fibers was observed in ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectra, Raman spectra, and magnetic property measurements. The NiO nanofiber mats supported by glass fiber mats were efficient in oxidizing CO and HC from diesel engine exhaust, and the maximum efficiency was achieved by using NiO nanofibers with the maximum amount of defects. © © Materials Research Society 2014.Item Glass fiber-supported NiO nanofiber webs for reduction of CO and hydrocarbon emissions from diesel engine exhaust(Cambridge University Press, 2014) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this study, nickel acetate tetrahydrate (NACTH)/poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) sol was used for the fabrication of nanocrystalline NiO nanofibers. An indigenous setup was developed to use these nanofibers for the oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) from diesel engine exhaust. The morphological, compositional, and crystalline properties of the NiO nanofibers obtained after calcination were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Clear evidence of defects in the fibers was observed in ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectra, Raman spectra, and magnetic property measurements. The NiO nanofiber mats supported by glass fiber mats were efficient in oxidizing CO and HC from diesel engine exhaust, and the maximum efficiency was achieved by using NiO nanofibers with the maximum amount of defects. © © Materials Research Society 2014.Item Comparison of structural, spectral and magnetic properties of NiO nanofibers obtained by sol-gel electrospinning from two different polymeric binders(Elsevier Ltd, 2015) George, G.; Anandhan, S.NiO is a p-type semiconductor with wide band gap energy. In this study, nickel oxide nanofibers were fabricated by sol-gel electrospinning followed by high temperature calcination, using two sacrificial polymeric binders. Poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) in water and styrene-acrylonitrile random copolymer (SAN) in N,N- dimethylformamide (DMF) along with nickel (II) acetate tetrahydrate (NATH), as metal oxide precursor, were the two distinct polymeric systems used in this study. The morphological and structural properties of NiO fibers obtained from the aforementioned systems were compared with each other. The degradation behavior of the sacrificial polymeric binder imparted a significant effect on the properties of the obtained NiO fibers. The grain sizes and the activation energies for grain growth of NiO fibers from two systems were different. The non-stoichiometric NiO fibers obtained from the SAN/NATH system had a better ferromagnetic behavior as compared with that produced from the PEtOx/NATH system. This non-stoichiometry made a difference also in the optical band gap energies of the NiO nanofibers. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.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 comparative study on the physico-chemical properties of sol-gel electrospun cobalt oxide nanofibres from two different polymeric binders(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this study, two different sacrificial polymeric binders, namely poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) along with cobalt acetate tetrahydrate (CATH), as the metal oxide precursor, were used for the fabrication of Co3O4 nanofibres through sol-gel electrospinning. It was observed that the degradation behaviour and physical properties of SAN and PEtOx influenced the structure, morphology and spectral properties of Co3O4 nanofibres, as the properties of the nanofibres obtained from the aforementioned systems were compared with each other. The grain size, shape and the activation energies for grain growth of Co3O4 nanofibres obtained from these two polymeric systems were different. This difference in grain size and shape caused a difference in the optical band gap energies and the magnetic properties of the Co3O4 nanofibres. This study reveals that one can tailor the characteristics of cobalt oxide nanofibres by an appropriate selection of polymeric binders for sol-gel electrospinning. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item Tuning characteristics of Co3O4 nanofiber mats developed for electrochemical sensing of glucose and H2O2(Elsevier B.V., 2016) George, G.; Anandhan, S.Nano-crystalline Co3O4 nanofibrous mats were fabricated by calcining the precursor nanofibers obtained by electrospinning of a sol comprising of a unique polymeric binder poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and cobalt acetate tetrahydrate in water. The influence of the calcination temperature used for the synthesis of the oxide nanofibers from the xerogel fibers on various physico-chemical properties of the former was studied. The Co3O4 nanofibers obtained at 400 °C had the highest electrochemical sensitivity towards glucose and H2O2. Further, the results prove that Co3O4 nanofibers can be used for the detection of glucose and H2O2 concurrently as the response times taken by these moieties are different. Therefore, one can differentiate the concentration of glucose and H2O2 by analyzing the signals obtained after the respective response time and this multiple sensitivity of Co3O4 can be applied in the field of biosensors. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.Item Some new observations on the structural and phase evolution of nickel titanate nanofibers(Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Kumar, B.S.; Shanmugharaj, A.M.; Kalpathy, S.K.; Anandhan, S.In this study, we report for the first time the synthesis of nickel titanate (NTO) nanofibers containing a mixture of ilmenite and spinel phases of NTO, at an atypical low temperature. Precursor nanofibers produced by sol-gel electrospinning were calcined at three different temperatures to produce the NTO nanofibers. Thermal analysis along with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of non-crystalline stable phases of TiN and Ti-O-N that restrained the formation of ilmenite NTO, and the Ni-rich environment pushed the Ti atoms to tetrahedral sites to form a defective spinel structure. The crystallite size of spinel NTO was observed to increase as a function of the calcination temperature above 700 °C, as the activation energy for coalescence and growth of spinel NTO was favorable. NTO nanofibers obtained above the calcination temperature of 700 °C exhibited new band gap energy around 2.5 eV in Tauc plot. Oxygen vacancies in these ceramic nanofibers decreased as the calcination temperature was increased. A hypsochromic shift of 20 nm in the photoluminescence spectra suggested that the material had a Ni2+ rich NTO (spinel). © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.Item Polymorph nickel titanate nanofibers as bifunctional electrocatalysts towards hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019) Kumar, B.; Tarafder, K.; Shetty, A.R.; Hegde, A.C.; Gudla, V.C.; Ambat, R.; Kalpathy, S.K.; Anandhan, S.Producing pure H2 and O2 to sustain the renewable energy sources with minimal environmental damage is a key objective of photo/electrochemical water-splitting research. Metallic Ni-based electrocatalysts are expensive and eco-hazardous. This has rendered the replacement or reduction of Ni content in Ni-based electrocatalysts a decisive criterion in the development of bifunctional electrocatalytic materials. In the current study, spinel/ilmenite composite nickel titanate (NTO) nanofibers were synthesised using sol-gel assisted electrospinning followed by pyrolysis at different soaking temperatures (viz., 773, 973, and 1173 K). The presence of a defective spinel NTO phase (SNTO) distributed uniformly along the nanofibers was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy. The electron micrographs revealed the morphological change of NTO nanofibers from a mosaic to bamboo structure with an increase in pyrolysis soaking temperature. The electrocatalytic activity of NTO nanofibers obtained at different pyrolysis soaking temperatures for alkaline water-splitting was studied. The highly defective SNTO manifests properties similar to metallic Ni and favours H2 evolution through the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by adsorbing more H+ ions on active sites. In contrast, the ilmenite NTO favours O2 discharge. These results are explained based on the morphology of the NTO nanofibers. The mosaic structure which has higher porosity and greater SNTO content shows excellent HER performance. In contrast, the large bamboo structured NTO nanofibers which have lesser porosity and SNTO content cage the bigger (OH)ads ions at their catalytic sites to facilitate OER performance. 2019 © The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item Sol-gel electrospun ZnMn2O4 nanofibers as bifunctional electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions(Institute of Physics Publishing helen.craven@iop.org, 2019) Shamitha, C.; Shetty, A.R.; Hegde, A.C.; Anandhan, S.Electrochemical water-splitting has gained significant attention for the development of next generation fuels. The present work is an investigation on the electrocatalytic activity towards both Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) of ZnMn2O4 (ZMO) nanofabrics synthesized by sol-gel electrospinning followed by calcination (at 500, 600 and 700 °C). Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) was used as the polymeric binder for the production of nanofabrics. The morphological features of ZMO nanofabrics were studied by scanning electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The electrocatalytic behavior of ZMO nanofabrics obtained at different calcination temperatures was evaluated using chrono-potentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, and linear sweep voltammetry in an alkaline medium (1 M KOH). The ZMO nanofabrics calcined at 500 °C exhibited the maximum electrocatalytic activity towards HER. This can be ascribed to their superior specific surface area (79.5 m2 g-1). The nanofabrics calcined at 700 °C displayed the least potential for O2 evolution and hence they are considered to be effective for OER. The results prove that ZMO nanofabrics are promising candidates as bifunctional electrocatalysts for water-splitting applications. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.