Showing papers by "Chandran Sudakar published in 2011"

Improved photocatalytic activity of indium doped cadmium sulfide dispersed on zirconia

Abstract: A novel composite photocatalyst of indium doped cadmium sulfide dispersed on zirconium oxide has been synthesized, which shows enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation from water. In this system, cadmium sulfide exists as a separate dispersed phase on the zirconia support. Optical absorption spectra indicate a blue shift of absorption edge for CdS and In doped CdS dispersed on ZrO2 compared to pure CdS and indium doped CdS. Among the supported CdS, In doped CdS exhibits better optical absorption property. Photocatalytic studies for hydrogen generation from water show an enhanced activity for CdS dispersed on ZrO2 and indium doping in CdS enhances the activity further. Fluorescence lifetime studies indicate that, in the supported CdS, the charge carriers have higher lifetime than that in the unsupported CdS. Photocurrent response experiments show a relatively higher current output for the In doped CdS dispersed on ZrO2 support. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of this composite sample is attributed to a combination of factors like enhanced lifetime of the photogenerated charge carriers, increased photoresponse and improved surface area. The present study leads to a new observation that the photocurrent response and photocatalytic activity of CdS and indium doped CdS are enhanced when they are dispersed on a support like ZrO2. These composites with Pd as co-catalyst exhibit a large increase in the photocatalytic activity due to the increased availability of electrons on the metal surface by the interfacial transfer of electrons from CdS to Pd, when irradiated.

Possible weak ferromagnetism in pure and M (Mn, Cu, Co, Fe and Tb) doped NiGa2O4 nanoparticles.

Abstract: We report on the structural and magnetic properties of nanoparticles of NiGa2O4 and 5 at.% M doped (M = Mn2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Fe3+ and Tb3+) at Ga site of NiGa2O4, synthesized by gel-combustion method. The particle size, as investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, could be fine tuned by a controlled annealing process. Weak ferromagnetism becomes significant, when the particles are in the nano regime (5-7 nm). The magnetization becomes insignificant at larger particle size ( 150 nm). Cu2+ and Tb3+ doped NiGa2O4 nanoparticles showed relatively large room temperature ferromagnetism compared to other doped (Fe, Mn and Co) and undoped NiGa2O4 samples. The weak ferromagnetism observed in the nanoparticles of NiGa2O4, which is antiferromagnetic in the bulk, is due to the surface disordered states with uncompensated spins.

Discrepancy between different estimates of the hydrodynamic diameter of polymer-coated iron oxide nanoparticles in solution

Abstract: We have synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles coated with a monolayer of dextran, with molecular weights of the polymer between 5 and 670 kDa. Transmission electron microscopy images confirm that the hard core has a crystalline diameter of approximately 12 nm. The hydrodynamic diameters of these coated nanoparticles in solution measured using dynamical light scattering and estimated from magnetic susceptibility studies vary from near 90 nm for the lightest polymer to 140 nm for the heaviest polymer. Conversely, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy measurements yield a diameter of approximately 55 nm for the 15–20 kDa dextran coated nanoparticles, which is consistent with the expected value estimated from the sum of the hard-core diameter and monolayer dextran coating. We discuss the implications of this discrepancy for applications involving polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles.

Morphology and Magnetic Coupling in ZnO:Co and ZnO:Ni Co-Doped with Li

Abstract: Zn0.95Co0.05O and Zn0.97Ni0.03O nanorods, prepared by a solvothermal method, show intriguing morphology and magnetic properties when co-doped with Li. At low and moderate Li incorporation (below 10 and 3 at.% Li in the Co- and Ni-doped samples, respectively) the rod aspect ratio is increased and room temperature ferromagnetic properties are enhanced, whereas the ferromagnetic coupling in Zn0.97Ni0.03O is decreased for Li concentrations > 3 at.%. First-principles theoretical analyses demonstrate that Li co-doping has primarily two effect 3 in bulk Zn1-xMxO (with M = Co or Ni). First, the Li-on-Zn acceptors increase the local magnetic moment by depopulating the M 3d minority spin-states. The magnetic coupling is Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida-like both without and with Li co-doping. Second, Li-on-Zn prefer to be close to the M atoms to compensate the M-O bonds and to locally depopulate the 3d states, and this will help forming high aspect nanostructures. The observed room temperature ferromagnetism in Li co-doped Zn1-xMxO nanorods can therefore be explained by the better rod morphology in combination with ionizing the magnetic M atoms.

Defect stabilization in ZnO nanorods by Mg2+ doping.

Abstract: Luminescent ZnO and Zn0.95Mg0.05O nanorods with length around 0.5 to 3 microm and diameter 100-150 nm were prepared by a facile solvothermal method. On hydriding at room temperature, a change of morphology from nanorods with aspect ratio 5-10 to particles of sizes 100 nm has been observed in both ZnO and Zn0.95Mg0.05O. While hydrided Zn0.95Mg0.05O showed an enhanced defect related green emission, the same got suppressed in hydrided ZnO. Even though it is observed that zinc vacancies are present in both as prepared ZnO and Zn0.95Mg0.05O, luminescence studies indicate that zinc vacancies get stabilized in Zn0.95Mg0.05O on hydrogenation.

Direct synthesis of partially ordered tetragonally structured FePt nanoparticles by polyol method for biomedical application

Abstract: We report the direct soft chemical synthesis and characterization of a family of face centered cubic (fcc) and partially ordered face centered tetragonal (fct) FePt nanoparticles (NPs) suitable for biomedical applications. Both fcc and partially ordered fct-FePt NPs are synthesized by employing a simple polyol method. By using polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer in various ratios during synthesis, fcc-FePt NPs have been converted into partially ordered fct-FePt NPs at low temperature (300˚C) . The advantages of this process are its simplicity, the short reaction time, easy preparation and dispersibility of the NPs in aqueous media.