Faculty Publications
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Item Magnetically retrievable nickel hydroxide functionalised AFe2O4 (A = Mn, Ni) spinel nanocatalyst for alcohol oxidation(Springer Nature, 2016) Bhat, P.B.; Badekai Ramachandra, B.R.Ultrasmall nickel hydroxide functionalised AFe2O4 (A = Mn, Ni) nanocatalyst was synthesized by traditional co-precipitation method and was examined for oxidation of aromatic alcohols to carbonyls using hydrogen peroxide as terminal oxidant. A very high surface area of 104.55 m2 g?1 was achieved for ferromagnetic MnFe2O4 and 100.50 m2 g?1 for superparamagnetic NiFe2O4, respectively. Efficient oxidation was observed due to the synergized effect of nickel hydroxide (bronsted base) on Lewis center (Fe) of the nanocatalyst. Catalyst recycling experiments revealed that the ultrasmall nanocatalyst can be easily recovered by external magnet and applied for nearly complete oxidation of alcohols for at least five successive cycles. Furthermore, the nickel hydroxide functionalised ultrasmall nanocatalyst exhibited higher efficiency for benzyl alcohol oxidation compared to Ni(OH)2, bare MnFe2O4 and NiFe2O4. Higher conversion rate was observed for nickel hydroxide functionalised NiFe2O4 compared to MnFe2O4. Ultrasmall magnetic nickel hydroxide functionalised nanocatalyst showed environmental friendly, greener route for the oxidation of alcohols without significant loss in activity and selectivity within successive runs. © 2015, The Author(s).Item Record-low sintering-temperature (600 °c) of solid-oxide fuel cell electrolyte(Elsevier Ltd, 2016) Prasad Dasari, H.P.; Ahn, K.; Park, S.-Y.; Hong, J.; Kim, H.; Yoon, K.J.; Son, J.-W.; Kim, B.-K.; Lee, H.-W.; Lee, J.-H.One of the major problems arising with Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) electrolyte is conventional sintering which requires a very high temperature (>1300 °C) to fully densify the electrolyte material. In the present study, the sintering temperature of SOFC electrolyte is drastically decreased down to 600 °C. Combinational effects of particle size reduction, liquid-phase sintering mechanism and microwave sintering resulted in achieving full density in such a record-low sintering temperature. Gadolinium doped Ceria (GDC) nano-particles are synthesized by co-precipitation method, Lithium (Li), as an additional dopant, is used as liquid-phase sintering aid. Microwave sintering of this electrolyte material resulted in decreasing the sintering temperature to 600 °C. Micrographs obtained from Scanning/Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM/TEM) clearly pointed a drastic growth in grain-size of Li-GDC sample (?150 nm) than compared to GDC sample (<30 nm) showing the significance of Li addition. The sintered Li-GDC samples displayed an ionic conductivity of ?1.00 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 600 °C in air and from the conductivity plots the activation energy is found to be 0.53 eV. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Dilatometer studies of praseodymium doped ceria: Effect of synthesis methods on sintering behaviour(Elsevier Ltd, 2020) Shajahan, I.; Prasad Dasari, H.P.; Govardhan, P.Praseodymium-doped ceria (Ce0.9Pr0.1O2, PDC), as an electrolyte material for IT-SOFCs, is investigated with respect to the effect of synthesis method and a detailed analysis was carried out to understand the effect on crystallite size, morphology, specific surface area and sintering behaviour. The various synthesis routes such as microwave assisted co-precipitation method, room temperature co-precipitation method and EDTA-citrate complexing method was adopted for the synthesis of praseodymium doped ceria-based nano-materials. XRD pattern confirms the fluorite-type crystal structure of ceria and Raman spectroscopy analysis confirms the structure with the presence of oxygen vacancies. PDC synthesised by microwave assisted co-precipitation method using isopropyl alcohol as solvent exhibited better sintering activity, reduced the sintering temperature and promoted the densification rate when compared to other synthesis methods with uni-model shrinkage behaviour with shrinkage maxima at 765 °C. Based on two sintering models (CHR/Dorn method), the initial stage sintering mechanism was investigated in the present study and confirmed that the grain boundary diffusion (m = 2) as the dominant mechanism and the activation energy was found to be 116 kJ/mol (CHR model) and 176 kJ/mol (Dorn Method) for initial stages of sintering for PDC material synthesised by microwave assisted co-precipitation method using isopropyl alcohol as solvent. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.Item Effect of sintering aids on sintering kinetic behavior of praseodymium doped ceria based electrolyte material for solid oxide cells(Elsevier Ltd, 2020) Shajahan, I.; Prasad Dasari, H.P.; Saidutta, M.B.The present study investigates the effect of sintering additives (Li, Co, Fe, and Mg) on the sintering kinetic behavior of the praseodymium-doped-ceria (PDC) electrolyte of solid oxide electrolyzer cell. 3Li-PDC, 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC, and 3 Mg-PDC pellets were obtained from the synthesis of PDC nano-powder by microwave-assisted co-precipitation method using isopropyl alcohol as a solvent and followed by sintering additive wetness impregnation method. Linear shrinkage and shrinkage rate data suggest a positive sintering effect for 3Li-PDC and 3Co-PDC pellets and a negative sintering effect for 3 Mg-PDC and 3Fe-PDC pellets than compared to PDC pellets alone. The addition of lithium as a sintering additive (3Li-PDC) had reduced the sintering temperature of PDC from 1100 °C to 850 °C. For PDC, 3Li-PDC, 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC and 3 Mg-PDC pellets sintered at 1100 °C, 850 °C, 1000 °C, 1200 °C, 1100 °C for 2 h resulted in a relative density of 93.6 ± 0.25, 95.8 ± 0.45, 95.0 ± 0.20, 92.7 ± 0.10, and 94.5 ± 0.10%, respectively. The XRD patterns of the sintered PDC pellets suggested a secondary phase formation (PrO2) in 3Co-PDC, 3Fe-PDC, and 3 Mg-PDC pellets indicating that the addition of these sintering aids results in poor solubility limit of Pr in CeO2. On the other hand, XRD patterns of PDC and Li-PDC sintered pellets displayed no secondary peak indicating good solid-solution formation. The activation energy of the 3Li-PDC pellet is obtained from CHR and Dorn methods and was found to be 182 kJ/mol and 196 kJ/mol. From the CHR method, for the 3Li-PDC pellet, the initial sintering behavior is by the grain boundary diffusion mechanism (m = ~2). © 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLCItem Influence of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles on AC Conductivity of Polyvinyl Alcohol-Polyaniline Polymer Blends(Springer, 2022) Kanavi, P.S.; Meti, S.; Fattepur, R.H.; Patil, V.B.Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple co-precipitation method. CuO doped (0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 1%) polyaniline (PANI)—polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting techniques. The crystalline monoclinic phase of CuO was identified by XRD analysis. The peak widths in XRD spectra of PANI-PVA-CuO (PPC) become intense and sharp with the increase in loading of CuO, which implies the crystalline character of PPC that results in higher ionic diffusivity and conductivity. The CuO nanocrystal morphology, surface topography and thickness of the PPC films were recorded by scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The chemical natures of the bonds were studied by the FTIR technique. The absorption spectra of CuO nanocrystals and PPC films were recorded using UV–visible spectroscopy. TGA and DSC techniques were used to examine the thermal stability of the PPC films. The prepared samples were kept to study electrical properties in the frequency range of 10 to 105 Hz in the temperature range of 30°C to 150°C. It was shown that as the applied frequency and temperature increased, the corresponding electrical conductivity increased abruptly. © 2022, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.Item Ag2Cu2O3 Nanorods as Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Production and Overall Water Splitting(American Chemical Society, 2025) Kumar, A.; Hegde, A.P.; Puttur, M.; Gangadharappa, L.S.; Hosakoppa, N.S.In this research, a series of Ag2Cu2O3 nanorods as electrocatalysts were prepared with three different drying temperatures (namely, W - 50, W - 80, and W - 120), utilizing a regular coprecipitation approach. These nanorods’ surface morphology and structural attributes were thoroughly characterized using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, while X-ray diffraction provided insight into their crystal structures. The compositional analysis was accomplished via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The W - 50 catalyst exhibited the most promising electrochemical response among the synthesized samples. In the solution of 1 M KOH, at a current density of 10 mA cm-2, it demonstrated modest overpotential values and Tafel slopes of 81 and 97 mV dec-1 for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), whereas 409 and 140 mV dec-1 for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). When tested with a two-electrode electrolyzer, W - 50 serving as together the anode and cathode, a trivial cell voltage of 1.9842 V was required to accomplish a current density of 100 mA cm-2, with surprising stability over 50 h of continuous operation at 200 mA cm-2 for overall water splitting. Additionally, W - 50 displayed excellent performance for HER; it necessitated an overpotential of 337 mV to accomplish an extreme current density of 800 mA cm-2. This inquiry provides precious perceptions into the importance of confined spaces within transition metal oxide-based catalysts, advancing their application in electrocatalysis. © 2025 American Chemical Society.Item Novel Ag2Cu2O3 nanorods as stable anode material for lithium-ion battery(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Kumar, A.; Sagar G, L.; P, M.; Hegde, A.P.; Nagaraja, H.S.In this research novel Ag2Cu2O3 nanorods was prepared, for lithium-ion battery as anode, using facile co-precipitation method with four different stirring time and correspondingly Ag2Cu2O3 named ACO – 30 M, ACO – 12 H, ACO – 24 H, and ACO – 36 H. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) analyze surface and morphology, while X-ray Diffraction (XRD) examines structural properties. Compositional analysis is carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The electrochemical analysis is evaluated by cyclic stability, rate capability, discharge/charge capacity, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The ACO – 24 H nanomaterial demonstrates an initial discharge capacity of 943 mAh g?1 at a current density of 50 mA g?1. Among the four materials tested, ACO – 24 H shows superior cycling performance, with a discharge capacity of 174 mAh g?1 at 200 mA g?1 after 1003 cycles. In comparison, ACO – 30 M, ACO – 12 H, and ACO – 36 H exhibit capacities of 134 mAh g?1, 91 mAh g?1, and 43 mAh g?1, respectively, under the same conditions. This study suggests that ACO – 24 H is a promising anode material for lithium-ion battery applications. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.Item Effective separation of agrochemicals and textile dyes from polluted aqueous solution employing ternary ZnCoFe layered double hydroxide incorporated polyethersulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Pallot, H.; Isloor, A.M.; A.F., A.F.The rapid urbanization and industrialization has increased the contamination of water bodies with agrochemical residues and textile dyes, which poses a severe threat to environmental and human health, necessitating the need of an efficient water purification strategies. Membrane-based filtration techniques has grown significantly due to the demand for sustainable and effective water treatment. For the first time, ternary ZnCoFe layered double hydroxides (LDH) modified polyethersulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane was developed for enhancing hydrophilicity and separation efficiency of dyes and agrochemicals. The widespread use and long-term persistence in the water bodies of Reactive Orange 16, Crystal Violet, chlorpyrifos and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) highlight the critical need for the effective removal of these pollutants. ZnCoFe LDH was developed by the co-precipitation method with a 2:2:1 M ratio of nitrates of Zn, Co, and Fe transition metals. The membranes were fabricated with different composition of LDH. The influence of LDH in the membranes was assessed through FESEM, AFM, zeta potential, contact angle, water uptake capacity, porosity, water permeability, and molecular weight cut-off. The incorporation of ZnCoFe-LDH into the PES membrane resulted in an improved pure water flux, rising from 91.03 Lm?2 h?1 for the pristine (MLZ-0) membrane to 143.25 Lm?2 h?1 for the optimized (MLZ-2). The optimized membrane exhibits a good antifouling property with flux recovery ratio improved from 52.13 to 64.18%. The rejection of Reactive Orange 16 and Crystal Violet was found to be 74.9% and 79.8% for MLZ-0 whereas for MLZ-2 the values were 83.2% and 99.1% respectively. MLZ-2 also exhibited 47.1% and 90.9% for 2,4-D and chlorpyrifos rejection respectively while pristine membrane showed 22.7% and 78.8%. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.