Faculty Publications
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Item Possible Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in Self-Assembled Ensembles of Paramagnetic and Diamagnetic Molecular Semiconductors(American Chemical Society service@acs.org, 2016) Dhara, B.; Tarafder, K.; Jha, P.K.; Panja, S.N.; Nair, S.; Oppeneer, P.M.; Ballav, N.Owing to long spin-relaxation time and chemically customizable physical properties, molecule-based semiconductor materials like metal-phthalocyanines offer promising alternatives to conventional dilute magnetic semiconductors/oxides (DMSs/DMOs) to achieve room-temperature (RT) ferromagnetism. However, air-stable molecule-based materials exhibiting both semiconductivity and magnetic-order at RT have so far remained elusive. We present here the concept of supramolecular arrangement to accomplish possibly RT ferromagnetism. Specifically, we observe a clear hysteresis-loop (Hc ? 120 Oe) at 300 K in the magnetization versus field (M-H) plot of the self-assembled ensembles of diamagnetic Zn-phthalocyanine having peripheral F atoms (ZnFPc; S = 0) and paramagnetic Fe-phthalocyanine having peripehral H atoms (FePc; S = 1). Tauc plot of the self-assembled FePc···ZnFPc ensembles showed an optical band gap of ?1.05 eV and temperature-dependent current-voltage (I-V) studies suggest semiconducting characteristics in the material. Using DFT+U quantum-chemical calculations, we reveal the origin of such unusual ferromagnetic exchange-interaction in the supramolecular FePc···ZnFPc system. © 2016 American Chemical Society.Item Route to achieving enhanced quantum capacitance in functionalized graphene based supercapacitor electrodes(Institute of Physics Publishing helen.craven@iop.org, 2019) Sruthi, T.; Tarafder, K.We have investigated the quantum capacitance (CQ) in functionalized graphene modified with ad-atoms from different groups in the periodic table. Changes in the electronic band structure of graphene upon functionalization and subsequently the CQ of the modified graphene were systematically analyzed using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We observed that the CQ can be enhanced significantly by means of controlled doping of N, Cl and P ad-atoms in the pristine graphene surface. These ad-atoms are behaving as magnetic impurities in the system, generating a localized density of states near the Fermi energy which, in turn, increases charge (electron/hole) carrier density in the system. As a result, a very high quantum capacitance was observed. Finally, the temperature dependent study of CQ for Cl and N functionalized graphene shows that the CQ remains very high in a wide range of temperatures near room temperature. © 2019 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.Item Temperature-dependent in situ Cd substitution at Zn sites in Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films via sol–gel method: Experimental and DFT insights(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Chennangod, S.; Ray, S.; P, A.S.; Tarafder, K.; Bhat, T.N.We report a systematic study of in situ cadmium (Cd) substitution at Zinc (Zn) sites in Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films synthesized via a scalable sol–gel route, with sulfurization carried out at 300 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy demonstrate that higher sulfurization temperatures along with increased Cd content progressively suppress the secondary Cu2SnS3 phase, while field-emission SEM and atomic force microscopy reveal enhanced grain growth and a smoother granular surface. UV–Vis absorption measurements show a continuous band-gap reduction from 1.43 eV in undoped CZTS to 1.20 eV at the highest Cd level, corroborated by a red shift in photoluminescence emission. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory (GGA-PBE and HSE06) with orbital-projected density of states (p-DOS) analyses attribute this narrowing to localized Cd-induced states near the conduction band minimum and lattice expansion effects. Additionally, preliminary photovoltaic characterization demonstrated improved device performance for the Cd:CZTS solar cell compared to the pristine CZTS cell, exhibiting higher photocurrent density and enhanced external quantum efficiency. These results confirm that precise control of sulfurization temperature and Cd incorporation not only tailors the electronic structure and band gap but also suppresses undesirable secondary phases, offering a promising route to optimize kesterite thin films for high-efficiency photovoltaic applications. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.