Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute

About: Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Microstructure & Sintering. The organization has 1123 authors who have published 2904 publications receiving 51519 citations.

Polyaniline-Layered Rutile TiO2 Nanorods as Alternative Photoanode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract: In this paper, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performance of the less explored polymorph of TiO2, rutile, has been explored, and its performance has been modified with polyaniline (PANI) wrapping on the surface. For this purpose, highly crystalline rutile nanorods have been synthesized without any growth-directing substrates, employing a hydrothermal treatment. Further, to understand the phase composition and morphology, the synthesized nanorods and PANI-layered nanorods have been characterized through various physicochemical methods. The synthesized rods were implemented as photoanode material for DSSCs which exhibited a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.28% with a high open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.84 V which is highly superior to DSSC with Degussa P25 (PCE = 3.95%) TiO2 nanoparticles. The resultant PCE of the nanorods was further enhanced to 6.23% on in situ deposition of PANI which acts as an electron-transporting layer. Introduction of conducting PANI over the rutile rod was explored...

Modified clad optical fibre coated with pva/tio2 nano composite for humidity sensing application

Abstract: Synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticle through hydrolysis method is presented followed by TiO2nanoparticle doped polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite by solution process. FTIR, XRD, DSC-TGA, FESEM, TEM analysis are used to identify the nature of synthesized nanoparticle and loading uniformity of developed composite material. A simple modified clad based optical fibre sensor is developed to measure relative humidity. Coated modified clad optical fibre exhibits excellent relative humidity sensing performance with improved thermal stability of coating material in wide range of 9-95 % RH with good process repeatability. Sensor response is also observed to be very fast and highly reversible. Advantage of our developed composite material become evident when it exhibits wider range of moisture sensitivity compare to pure PVA or pure TiO2 material found in literature. Performance of PVA-TiO2 nanocomposite thick film is also evaluated by capacitance method and result found to agree with coated modified clad optical fibre.

Influences of fabrication techniques and doping on hydrogen sensitivity of zinc oxide sensors

Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an important semiconducting oxide for gas sensing applications. ZnO sensors have been fabricated in various forms, such as bulk single crystals and sintered pellets [1,2], thick films prepared from an organic binder based paste [3], thin films [4, 5] as well as heterojunctions [6]. ZnObased sensors have been used to detect a wide variety of toxic and combustible gases, such as hydrogen (H2), ammonia (NH9), carbon monoxide (CO), methane and other hydrocarbons [1-6]. Few comparative studies on gas sensing characteristics of ZnO sensors in different physical forms and fabricated via different synthesis routes, are available in the literature [1]. In this paper, we report the comparison of electrical properties and hydrogen gas sensing characteristics of undoped and 1 wt% alumina (A1203) doped sintered ZnO pellets, undoped sintered tape cast ZnO sheets and undoped, chemically deposited thin ZnO films. The undoped and 1 wt % A1203 doped ZnO pellets were prepared from commercially available powders (E. Merck, India) of 99% purity following a conventional ceramic technique and a sintering schedule of 1 h at 900 °C [1, 2]. Final dimensions of the sintered pellets were ~ 0.9 cm diameter and 0.3 cm thickness. The tape cast undoped ZnO sheets were prepared from the same commercial powder as used for the pellets, by the conventional doctor blade technique [7]. The sheets were sintered following the same schedule as that for bulk pellets, but with lower heating and cooling rates of ~ 0.5 °Cmin -1 to avoid warpage at the edges. Sintered dimensions of the square sheets were ~ 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm × 0.08 cm. The undoped ZnO thin films were prepared following a chemical deposition technique [9] from a 0.125 M sodium zincate bath and boiling water. Commercially available microscope glass sides were used as substrates following chromic acid etching and ultrasonic cleaning. A post-deposition air anneal at 150 °C converted the traces of zinc hydroxide [Zn(OH)2] present in the as-deposited film and ensured formation of single-phase ZnO films [10] of ~ 5pro thickness and area 2.4cm × 3.1cm. Phase purity of all samples was checked by an Xray diffraction (XRD) technique. Prior to gas sensing experiments, all samples were palladium (Pd) treated by a proprietory wet chemical technique [8]. The variation of electrical resistance as a function

Sol–gel synthesis of transition-metal ion conjugated alumina-rich mullite nanocomposites with potential mechanical, dielectric and photoluminescence properties

Abstract: Nanocrystalline mullite have been synthesized from non-stoichiometric alkoxide precursors via sol–gel route with Co2+, Ni2+ and Cu2+ as dopant metal ions. Transition-metal aluminate spinel phases, formed from the reaction between dopant metal ions and dissolved alumina species, introduced prominent colors to the composites after sintering. Interesting colors combined with suitable densification lead these composites to have potential use as ceramic pigments. A comparative Vickers and Knoop hardness have been evaluated in terms of dislocation movement along grain boundaries with highest hardness and Young’s modulus values of ∼8.7 GPa and ∼207 GPa for copper and cobalt incorporated mullite, respectively. Greater porosity of pure mullite results in an unconventionally high dielectric constant of ∼91 whereas larger interfacial polarization is responsible for the varying dielectric response of transition-metal incorporated mullite composites. Formation of oxygen like defects in the composites cause prominent PL bands with highest PL intensity for dopant cobalt ions in mullite matrix.