Vibhav K. Saraswat

Microstructure change in poly(ethersulfone) films by swift heavy ions

PES membrane of thickness 25 microm was irradiated by Cl(9+) ions of energy 100 MeV at IUAC, New Delhi. Microstructure changes due to exposure to high-energy ions were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet/visible (UV/vis) absorption spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction technique and by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). A significant loss of crystallinity is observed by the XRD data. Particle size or grain size calculated using Scherrer formula indicates measurable change in particle size of irradiated samples. The polymer chain scissions and structure degradations are expected to occur for irradiated samples. Optical properties of the films were changed due to irradiation that could be clearly seen in the absorption spectra. FTIR does not show the remarkable change in the irradiated samples, but there is some change in the surface roughness observed by AFM.

Synthesis and Crystallization Studies of Thermo-plastic Polyster/Titania Nanocomposites

The present work reports the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of PET- TiO2 nanocomposites. The average particle size of TiO2 nanoparticles, prepared by chemical route, has been calculated 32 nm using Debay-Scherrers formula in XRD peaks. PET-TiO2 nanocomposites have been synthesized using solution casting method. The investigation of non-isothermal crystallization behavior has been conducted by means of Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). The crystallization temperature shift to lower temperature for both PET pristine and PET-TiO2 nanocomposites due to decrease in mobility of chain segments and heterogeneous nucleation. Also, the inclusion of TiO2 nanoparticles may accelerate nucleation rate in nanocomposites that causes the crystallization time and absolute crystallinity fraction. The thermal conductivity of inorganic filler TiO 2 nanoparticles may affect the crystallization temperature.

Growth and Characterization of PbI2 Thin Films by Vacuum Thermal Evaporation

The aim of this study was to investigate the morphology and optical absorption of PbI2 thin films. PbI2 films of different thickness were deposited on glass substrate at ambient temperature by thermal evaporation technique. The deposition rate was optimized at 1-2 nm/s to grow uniform good quality films. The structural analysis of the films was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of so prepared films was studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The absorption spectra were recorded using a UV-Vis fiber optics based spectrophotometer. All the measurements in the present work were carried out at room temperature (~300 K). PbI2 seems to have a very strong affinity for the growth of preferred (001) orientation. The d spacing of (00l) peaks match quite well with ASTM data for 2H polytype of PbI2 which confirms the stoichiometry. A uniform spherical grain size growth is clearly evident from SEM micrographs. Optical absorption analysis indicates that the Lead Iodide is having a direct optical band gap of about 2.45 eV. The variation of band gap with film thickness could be qualitatively understood as due to the quantum confinement effect.

Study of mechanical properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS) polymers and their blends

Presented work is an effort to observe the variation in mechanical properties of two thermoplastic materials PVC, PS and their blends. PVC and PS are taken in the ratio of 100:0, 70:30, 50:50, and 0:100. Mixing of PVC and PS is carried out by solution casting method using tetra hydro furan as solvent. Dynamical mechanical analyzer (DMA) is used to study mechanical properties. The storage modulus, loss modulus and mechanical loss factor (tan δ) are determined with temperature. The pallets of pure PS, PVC and their blends are scanned over a temperature range from room to 140 °C. The variation of modulus, tan δ of pure PVC & pure PS and their blends with temperature were studied. The observed variation in modulus and tan δ could be accounted for their thermal behavior and compositions.

Ab initio studies of structural, electronic, optical, elastic and thermal properties of CuGaTe2

We have performed ab initio calculations for the structural, electronic, optical, elastic and thermal properties of CuGaTe2. In this study, we used an accurate full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method to find the equilibrium structural parameters and to compute the full elastic tensors. We report electronic and optical properties with the recently developed density functional of Tran and Blaha. Furthermore, optical features such as dielectric functions, refractive indices, extinction coefficient, optical reflectivity, absorption coefficients, optical conductivities, were calculated for photon energies up to 30 eV. The thermodynamical properties such as Debye temperature, entropy and Gruneisen parameter, bulk modulus and hardness were calculated employing the quasi-harmonic Debye model at different temperatures (0–1000 K) and pressures (0–8 GPa) and the silent results were interpreted. Most of the investigated parameters are reported for the first time.

Study of Optical Constants of ZnO Dispersed PC/PMMA Blend Nanocomposites

Present research work deals with the optical study of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) dispersed Polycarbonate/Polymethylmethacrylate (PC/PMMA) blend nanocomposites. ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared by simple chemical route and their average size has been confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The average particle size of the nanoparticles has been found to be ~11 nm. Formation of PC/PMMA blend nanocomposites has been confirmed by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Absorption spectra, recorded using UV-Visible spectrophotometer, have been used to determine optical constants such as band gap, extinction coefficient, refractive index and real & imaginary part of dielectric constant. It has been found that band gap decreases as ZnO wt% increases in the blend nanocomposites. Lowest band gap has been found for PC25%/PMMA75% with ZnO 3 wt% blend nanocomposite. Increase in refractive index has also been found with increasing ZnO content. These types of blend nanocomposites have applications in UV-shielding and wave guide technologies.

A Study of Early/Slow VLF Perturbations Observed at Agra, India

We present here the results of sub-ionospheric VLF perturbations observed on NWC (19.8 kHz) transmitter signal propagating in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide, monitored at our low latitude station Agra. During the period of observation (June-December 2011), we found 89 cases of VLF perturbation, while only 73 cases showing early character associated with strong lightning discharges. Out of 73 events, 64 (~84%) of the early VLF perturbations are found to be early/slow in nature; the remaining 9 events are early/fast. The onset duration of these early/slow VLF perturbations is up to ~ 5 s. A total of 54 observed early events show amplitude change lying between ± 3.0 dB, and phase change ± 12 degree, respectively, and found to occur mainly during nighttime. One of the interesting results we found is that the events with larger recovery time lie far away from the VLF propagation path, while events with smaller duration of recovery are within the ± 50–100 km of signal path. The World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) data is analysed to find the location of causative lightning and temporal variation. The lightning discharge and associated processes that lead to early VLF events are discussed.

Synthesis and thermal analysis of bisphenol a polycarbonate- ZnO nanocomposites

The Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (size∼10–15 nm) were synthesized by chemical method. The bandgap of these nanoparticles have been found to be 3.21 eV using UV Vis spectroscopy. ZnO nanoparticles were added in bisphenol a polycarbonate (PC) with 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt %. These nanocomposite films were subjected to the thermal analysis using DSC. DSC thermograms reveal the information about glass transition (Tg), melting (Tm) and crystallization (Tc). Thermal stability of these comopites was also discussed in this work.

Functionalized and engineered nanochannels for gas separation

Abstract In this work, we present the hydrogen selective gas separation properties of the track-etched poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) membranes, which were functionalized with a carboxylic group. Also, Palladium (Pd) nanoparticles of average diameter 5 nm were deposited for a various time on pore walls as well as on the surface of carboxylated membranes. Effect of Pd nanoparticles binding with the increase of deposition time on gas separation and selectivity was studied. For the study of surface morphology of these composite membranes and the confirmation of Pd nanoparticles binding on the surface as well as on pore walls is characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The gas permeability of carboxylated membrane with increasing Pd deposition timing for hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) was examined. From the gas permeability data of H2, CO2 and N2 gasses, it was observed that these membranes have higher permeability for H2 as compared with CO2 and N2. Selectivity of H2/CO2 and H2/N2 improves with the increased Pd nanoparticles deposition time. These membranes have effective application in the field of hydrogen based fuel cell.

Kinetics of glass transition of GeySe94-yIn6 (y = 10, 15 and 20) chalcogenide glasses under non-isothermal condition

ABSTRACT Kinetics of glass transition of GeySe94-yIn6 (y = 10, 15 & 20) glassy alloys has been studied under non-isothermal condition using Differential Scanning Calorimetery (DSC). The glassy alloys have been prepared by rapid quenching of melt technique. For structure characterization, XRD and EDAX techniques have been used. DSC thermograms have been recorded at heating rates 5, 10, 15 and 20 K/min. from room temperature to 823 K. Lasockas empirical relation has been used to study the heating rate dependence of glass transition temperature. Activation energy of glass transition, evaluated from Kissinger Peak shift method, increases with increase of Ge content in GeySe94-yIn6 (y = 10, 15 & 20) glassy series.