Faculty Publications
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Item Synthesis and characterization of reduced- graphene oxide/ nickel oxide/ polyaniline ternary nanocomposites for supercapacitors.(Elsevier Ltd, 2018) Viswanathan, V.; Nityananda Shetty, A.Reduced graphene oxide, polyaniline and nickel oxide ternary nanocomposites were synthesized in series by changing the weight ratio of polyaniline adopting in-situ single step chemical method. Their structural characterization was carried out, employing, powder-XRD, IR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. Thus synthesized composites were tested for their electrode property by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with two electrode system using 6 M KOH as electrolyte at different weight ratio of polyaniline. Of all composites synthesized the one with polyaniline weight of 100 mg rendered the maximum capacitance of about 153.37 F g-1 with corresponding energy and power densities of 13.63 W h kg-1 and 392.54 W Kg-1,respectively. It exhibited 100% retention of its initial capacitance up to 10000 charge - discharge cycles. The obtained performance is superior to the binary combination of constituent materials, namely, reduced graphene oxide, polyaniline and nickel oxide. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd.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 Plant root nodule like nickel-oxide-multi-walled carbon nanotube composites for non-enzymatic glucose sensors(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Prasad, R.; Gorjizadeh, N.; Rajarao, R.; Sahajwalla, V.; Badekai Ramachandra, B.R.Herein, in this work we synthesized plant root nodule like NiO-MWCNT nanocomposites by a simple, rapid and solvent-free method using nickel formate as a precursor. Using a first-principle simulation study the interactions and charge transfer behaviour of the NiO and MWCNT composite is investigated. The as-prepared NiO-MWCNT composite is employed to fabricate a modified non-enzymatic carbon paste electrode (CPE) for glucose sensing. From the electrochemical investigation, the fabricated sensor shows an excellent sensitivity of 6527 ?A mM-1 cm-2 with a detection limit of 19 ?M and a linear response over a range from 0.001 mM to 14 mM of glucose concentrations, at an applied potential of 0.5 V. Importantly the sensor also exhibits greater stability, selectivity and reproducibility. A first principle simulation study shows the differences in charge density and charge transfer behaviour from nanotubes to NiO nanoparticles, which in turn enhances the electro catalytic property of the NiO-MWCNT composite. Hence, these results indicate that the NiO-MWCNT composite is a potential material for non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item Multi-wall carbon nanotube-NiO nanoparticle composite as enzyme-free electrochemical glucose sensor(Elsevier, 2015) Prasad, R.; Badekai Ramachandra, B.R.We report a simple, solvent-free method to decorate multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs). The as prepared NiO-MWCNT composite were characterised by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The enzyme-free modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was fabricated using as-synthesised composite material and investigated for glucose sensing. The 10% NiO-MWCNTs composites sensor showed excellent electro-catalytic activity towards direct glucose oxidation. The sensitivity of this sensor is found to be 1696 ?A mM-1 cm-2 and 122.1 ?A mM-1 cm-2 and the limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 11.04 nM and 31 ?M for the linear response over glucose concentration ranging from 1-200 ?M to 0.5-9.0 mM, respectively. Furthermore, the 10% NiO-MWCNTs sensor also showed excellent anti-interference ability, high stability and good reproducibility. Hence, due to simple method of material preparation, easy sensor fabrication and excellent electro catalytic activity towards glucose oxidation, the 10% NiO-MWCNT/CPE is a potential material for the development of enzyme-free sensor for reliable glucose determination. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Novel Fe-Ni-Graphene composite electrode for hydrogen production(Elsevier Ltd, 2015) Badrayyana, S.; Bhat, D.K.; Shenoy, U.S.; Ullal, Y.; Hegde, A.We have developed a novel, efficient and economical composite electrode for hydrogen production. The electrode has been formed by embedding graphene in the Fe-Ni matrix via room temperature electrodeposition. The obtained active coatings have been tested for their efficiency and performance as electrode surfaces for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 6 M KOH by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry techniques. The coating obtained at 60 mA cm-2 exhibited approximately 3 times higher activity for hydrogen production than that of binary Fe-Ni alloy. Addition of graphene to electrolyte bath resulted in porous 3D projections of nano-sized spheres of Fe-Ni on the surface of graphene, which effectively increased the electrochemically active surface area. XPS analysis results showed the equal distribution of both Ni metal and NiO active sites on the composite. The addition of graphene favoured the deposition of metallic nickel, which accelerated the rate determining proton discharge reaction. All these factors remarkably enhanced the HER activity of Fe-Ni-Graphene (Fe-Ni-G) composite electrode. The Tafel slope analysis showed that the HER follows Volmer-Tafel mechanism. The structure-property relationship of Fe-Ni-G coating has been discussed by interpreting field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results. © 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Item Nickel-oxide multiwall carbon-nanotube/reduced graphene oxide a ternary composite for enzyme-free glucose sensing(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Prasad, R.; Ganesh, V.; Badekai Ramachandra, B.R.We report a solvent-free method of preparation for a NiO-carbon nanotube/graphene ternary composite using nickel formate as a green precursor via a thermal decomposition method. In this ternary composite, NiO with an average particle size of 7 nm is regularly decorated on the surfaces of conductive carbon matrix networks such as MWCNTs and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Here rGO serves as an ideal support for the uniform distribution of NiO nanoparticles and also functions as an efficient transducer material, whereas, MWCNTs act as a spacer between rGO, which enhances the electrical conductivity and accessibility of the active reaction sites for direct glucose oxidation. The electrochemical performances were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and amperometric techniques. Under the optimal conditions, the 20 wt% NiO-MWCNT/rGO/GCE exhibits a sensitivity of 4223.3 ?A cm-2 mM-1 and a detection limit of 0.92 ?M over a linear glucose concentration range up to 19 mM. Furthermore, the constructed sensor is effectively employed to detect glucose in real human blood serum samples with adequate results. The modified 20 wt% NiO-MWCNT/rGO/GCE also shows a high sensitivity, greater selectivity, excellent reproducibility and long-term stability. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item Exploring the application of new carbazole based dyes as effective p-type photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells(Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Naik, P.; Planchat, A.; Pellegrin, Y.; Odobel, F.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.Herein, we report the design and the synthesis of three new D-A type metal-free carbazole based dyes (C1–3) as effective photosensitizers for p-type DSSCs. In this new design, the electron rich carboxy substituted carbazole unit has been attached to three different electron withdrawing species, viz. N,N-dimethyl barbituric acid, N,N-diethyl thiobarbituric acid and N-ethyl rhodanine. They were well-characterized by spectral, photophysical and electrochemical analyses. Further, their optical and electrochemical parameters along with molecular geometries, optimized from DFT have been employed to apprehend the effect of structures of C1–3 on their photovoltaic performances. Further, the photovoltaic performance of C1–3 was determined along with the standard dye P1 and their PCE values were found to be in the order of P1 (0.047%) > C2 (0.040%) > C1 (0.016%) > C3 (0.001%). Interestingly, the NiO based p-type DSSC fabricated with C2 carrying electron withdrawing N,N-diethyl thiobarbituric acid displayed VOC as 59 ± 4 mV and FF as 29 ± 1%, which are higher than that of benchmark reference P1. This is attributed to the highest light harvesting ability, the greatest regeneration driving force and the lowest interfacial charge recombination of C2 among the tested dyes. Conclusively, the results showcase the potential of carbazole based D-A type sensitizers in the development of efficient p-type DSSCs. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd