Synthesis of various organic inorganic powder and inorganicinorganic thin film nanocomposites their biosensing and energy related applications

Abstract

The main objective of this thesis is the development of some organic-inorganic and inorganic-inorganic semiconductor nanocomposites (SCNComps), which can have extended applications in the field of renewable energy, biosensing for biomedical applications and sustainableenvironmental growth. In particular, the main focus has been on the strategic synthesis andexploration of unique physicochemical properties of metallic oxides containing carbonaceous organic counterpart with SPR active noble metals likeAg or Cu and binary metal oxides hybrid heterostructure modified with Pd. To validate the potential applicability of the as-synthesizedmaterials in the field of thin film solar cells, H2O electrolysis, ORR/OER for batteries, photoluminescence sensing of toxic metal ions and electrochemicaldetection of mammalian bio-ingredients,rigorous physical,optical, electrochemical, PEC(photoelectrochemical)experimentations have been performed. In this study, significant influence of the band edgeengineering and surface engineering were explored for the nanocomposites. These havesubsequent impacts on theelectrochemical and optical propertiesandconsiderableenhancementinenergy harvesting and biosensing ability of thehost nanocrystalswere observed,supporting the theory of metal/SC heterojunction.Additionally, this research targets the inspection of extensive optical properties of Cu based coreshell NC (g-C3N4/ZnWO4) to corroborate its utility in solar energy conversion. Observing the changes in shape, morphology and crystal structure of a particular binary metal chalcogenide NC by simply modifying with rGO in presence of TETA(tri-ethylene tetrammine) or by decorating the metal oxide MoOxwith Pd nanoparticles were some of the key targets of this research and consequently,these variationshavebeen successfully correlated with their distinctive electrochemical responses toward differentelectrochemical activity (ORR, OER and HER).