Ravi Chand Singh

Internal heating effect during electrochemical etching of lexan polycarbonate

An internal heating effect has been observed during electrochemical etching of Lexan polycarbonate even at low frequencies (< kHz). There is a correlation between the registration efficiency or detector response and the heating rate in Lexan and the two maxima occur at the same a.c. field frequency. The detector response also depends upon temperature, and at higher temperatures the maxima shifts towards higher frequencies. The study reveals that dielectric polarization exhibits a resonance type phenomenon with applied a.c. field.

Deposition, characterization and gas sensors application of RF magnetron-sputtered terbium-doped ZnO films

Influence of terbium (Tb) doping on structural, optical and morphological properties of radio frequency magnetron-sputtered ZnO films has been investigated using various characterization techniques. Investigations revealed the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO with preferential c-axis orientation, presence of oxygen vacancies, modification of surface morphology and surface roughness, and confirmation of oxidation states of elements present in ZnO and Tb-doped ZnO films. Subsequently, films deposited with varied Tb concentrations have been tested for ethanol vapor sensing. Doped films exhibited reduction in optimum operable temperature, enhancement in ethanol sensing response and improvement in response/recovery time in comparison with pristine ZnO. The observed improvement in doped samples has been attributed to modifications in surface properties such as morphology, surface roughness, basicity, structural disorder and oxygen vacancies introduced due to dopant incorporation.

Managing the degree of exfoliation and number of graphene layers using probe sonication approach

ABSTRACT We have demonstrated a fast, versatile, and scalable approach to synthesize high-quality few layer graphene sheets with low defect ratio and high crystallinity produced from exfoliation of graphite flakes in DMF by using probe sonication. The effect of sonication time on degree of exfoliation and number of graphene layers has been fully investigated. The degree of exfoliation of graphene sheets as a function of sonication time has been successfully analyzed by XRD, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, and BET studies. The morphological changes at different sonication times have also been observed by SEM. A structural and defect characterization of graphene sheets has been discussed in detail by Raman spectroscopic technique. The shift in position of 2D Raman band and its de-convolution provided information about formation of multi to few layer graphene sheets with sonication. Moreover, Raman results are highly consistent with TEM studies as per number of graphene layers is concerned.

Sensitive and selective ethanol sensor based on Zn-doped SnO2 nanostructures

Influence of Zn doping on the structural, optical and gas sensing properties of SnO2 nanoparticles has been examined in this work. Formation of tetragonal rutile structure of synthesized samples of undoped and Zn-doped SnO2 has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman results. Decrease in particle size with increase in dopant concentration has been observed from transmission electron microscope and XRD analysis. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed presence of dopant in doped nanoparticles. It has been observed that doping also induced increase in specific surface area. Photoluminescence results indicated large number of oxygen vacancies in Zn-doped SnO2 nanoparticles. The sensor based on Zn-doped SnO2 displayed an enhanced sensing performance towards ethanol which is attributed to large surface area and huge number of oxygen vacancies. In addition, fabricated sensor showed good selectivity towards ethanol and exhibited reproducibility as well.

Room temperature synthesis of wurtzite phase nanostructured ZnS and accompanied enhancement in dielectric constant

We report the room temperature synthesis of ZnS in the wurtzite phase by using ethylenediamine, which acts as a template as well as a capping agent. With the addition of ethylenediamine, structural transformation in ZnS from cubic to wurtzite phase is observed. This is accompanied by an increase in the real permittivity by an order of 2, and reduction in dielectric loss by a factor of 6 as compared to a sample without ethylenediamine. Thus, suggesting that ethylenediamine capped wurtzite ZnS is more suitable for miniaturied capactive devices.

Effect of Cr doping on structural and magnetic properties of ZnS nanoparticles

The structural, optical and magnetic properties of pure and Cr doped ZnS nanoparticles were studied at room temperature. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the absence of any mixed phase and the cubic structure of ZnS in pure and Cr doped ZnS nanoparticles. Fourier transfer infrared spectra confirmed the Zn-S stretching bond at 664 cm−1 of ZnS in all prepared nanoparticles. The UV-Visible absorption spectra showed blue shift which became even more pronounced in Cr doped ZnS nanoparticles. However, at relatively higher Cr concentrations a slower red shift was shown by the doped nanoparticles. This phenomenon is attributed to sp-d exchange interaction that becomes prevalent at higher doping concentrations. Further, magnetic hysteresis measurements showed that Cr doped ZnS nanoparticles exhibited ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature.

Electrochemical etching of fission fragment tracks in cellulose triacetate

Abstract Fission fragment tracks of 252 Cf fission fragments in cellulose triacetate (CIA) have been subjected to ECE. The detector response has been studied by changing various parameters such as the electric field strength, the frequency of applied alternating voltage and concentration of the etchant.

Gas sensing behaviour of Cr2O3 and W6+: Cr2O3 nanoparticles towards acetone

This paper reports the acetone gas sensing properties of Cr2O3 and 2% W6+ doped Cr2O3 nanoparticles. The simple cost-effective hydrolysis assisted co-precipitation method was adopted. Synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. XRD revealed that synthesized nanoparticles have corundum structure. The lattice parameters have been calculated by Rietveld refinement; and strain and crystallite size have been calculated by using the Williamson-Hall plots. For acetone gas sensing properties, the nanoparticles were applied as thick film onto alumina substrate and tested at different operating temperatures. The results showed that the optimum operating temperature of both the gas sensors is 250°C. At optimum operating temperature, the response of Cr2O3 and 2% W6+ doped Cr2O3 gas sensor towards 100 ppm acetone was found to be 25.5 and 35.6 respectively. The investigations revealed that the addition of W6+ as a dopant enhanced ...

Applications of Nanostructured Materials as Gas Sensors

Gas detection instruments are increasingly needed for industrial health and safety, environmental monitoring, and process control. To meet this demand, considerable research into new sensors is underway, including efforts to enhance the performance of traditional devices, such as resistive metal oxide sensors, through nanoengineering. The resistance of semiconductors is affected by the gaseous ambient. The semiconducting metal oxides based gas sensors exploit this phenomenon. Physical chemistry of solid metal surfaces plays a dominant role in controlling the gas sensing characteristics. Metal oxide sensors have been utilized for several decades for low-cost detection of combustible and toxic gases. Recent advances in nanomaterials provide the opportunity to dramatically increase the response of these materials, as their performance is directly related to exposed surface volume. Proper control of grain size remains a key challenge for high sensor performance. Nanoparticles of SnO2 have been synthesized through chemical route at 5, 25 and 50°C. The synthesized particles were sintered at 400, 600 and 800°C and their structural and morphological analysis was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reaction temperature is found to be playing a critical role in controlling nanostructure sizes as well as agglomeration. It has been observed that particle synthesized at 5 and 50°C are smaller and less agglomerated as compared to the particles prepared at 25°C. The studies revealed that particle size and agglomeration increases with increase in sintering temperature. Thick films gas sensors were fabricated using synthesized tin dioxide powder and sensing response of all the sensors to ethanol vapors was investigated at different temperatures and concentrations. The investigations revealed that sensing response of SnO2 nanoparticles is size dependent and smaller particles display higher sensitivity. Table of Contents

Optical studies of reduced graphene oxide thin films

We report here a simple and efficient method for fabrication of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) thin films. Graphite oxide can be completely exfoliated to produce aqueous colloidal suspensions of graphene oxide (GO) sheets by simple ultra-sonication. Graphene oxide thin films were reduced towards graphene by exposure to hydrazine vapor, ammonia vapor and microwaves. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis).