B.B. Kale

Effect of particle size variation of Ag nanoparticles in Polyaniline composite on humidity sensing

The results of synthesis of Ag-Polyaniline nanocomposite along with an investigation of optical fiber based humidity sensor using evanescent wave absorption spectroscopy are discussed. The sensor was fabricated using Ag-Polyaniline nanocomposite deposited on an optical fiber clad and tested in the range of 5-95% relative humidity (RH). Optimization of clad length (2-8mm) was done and then particle size (15-30 nm) variation of silver nanoparticles in Polyaniline composite was studied for better performance of sensor. The effect of particle size on sensing humidity was investigated. The reduction of particle size, leads to a dramatic improvement in sensitivity and speed of response. The optimized clad length of 6mm exhibits the better results for 15 nm particle size of Ag nanoparticles dispersed in Polyaniline. The sensor response is fully reversible having almost 1% of standard deviation. Response time of the sensor is 30s with a slow recovery of 90 s.

A novel nanostructured semiconductor photocatalyst for solar hydrogen production

In view of this, we investigated new visible light nanostructured semiconductor photocatalyst especially in the field of composite metal oxide photocatalyst for solar hydrogen production from H2S. For this purpose, two methodologies using a quantum mechanical material design and the microscopic surface analysis on a nanometer scale are adopted. The catalysts are synthesized by our proprietary soft chemical approaches. Also, a demonstrative reaction system for the effective solar hydrogen production is presented.

Magneto-optic evaluation of antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles coated on a quartz substrate

This paper presents a prima facie study of the magneto-optic response of antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles coated on a quartz substrate investigated by MOKE. The concentrations of the iron oxide nanoparticles in the films were varied from 8.6% to 21.5% and showed a linear increase in film thicknesses. As the concentration of the iron oxide nanoparticles were increased, the samples changed from a net-like morphology to a crystalline morphology. Magnetization reversals in the lower concentration samples were asymmetric with the reversals for the ascending and descending branch of the hysteresis loop occurring on the same side. The asymmetry in the magnetization reversal was attributed to the angle between the antiferromagnetic easy axis and the external magnetic field. With increase in concentration, an improvement in the magneto-optic response was observed with the magnetization reversal occurring via coherent rotation for both ascending and descending branches of the hysteresis loop. The changes in the magneto-optic behavior for the samples with higher concentrations is attributed to the strong exchange interactions and changes in the shape of the nanoparticles. Sensitivity studies performed on the samples showed an increased magneto-optic sensitivity to changes in magnetic field for samples of higher concentration. The high sensitivity of these samples could be exploited in magneto-optic sensors. Nanoparticles on a quartz substrate could find applications in bio-medicine due to their bio-compatibility.