Particles of nanometer size are neither atomic nor bulk; this intermediate range sized particles have some of the most interesting properties exclusive to them. For example, the properties are strong function of the size (and shape, of course) and only weakly depends on the chemical constitution of the particle. Nanoparticles have varied applications from photovoltaics to catalysts, and when couples to bio-systems, a number of important applications like bio/chemical sensors are shown to be feasible.

Nanotechnology is said to be the technology of this century, with an extremely broad scope touching almost all aspects of science and technology: multimedia systems, communications, computing to medical diagnostics and instruments, forensic sciences, space research, and environment and energy industry. Students with backgrounds in one of the areas like engineering, physics, chemistry, or biology, can graduate in nanotechnology. There are several career opportunities for graduates of this field in academia and industry both in domestic as well as international markets.

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Nano Materials: Synthesis and Characterization

The properties of nanoparticles depend on their size, shape, etc., in addition to the composition. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to synthesize nanostructures of greater complexity in order to create newer properties and features within the nano-regime. This enables new applications and further fundamental studies on such systems. Although, a large body of experimental work on the synthesis of nonmaterials has been reported, the synthesis methodologies are mainly trial-and-error in nature due to the poor knowledge about the mechanism of development of nanosystems. The first step towards the generation of complex shape is to prepare particles of controlled shapes. We are exploring the exact roles of various capping, protecting and scaffolding agents in the control of particle shapes. We are taking a combined experimental and theoretical approach towards the problem. We work with metallic, semiconductor and magnetic particles.

Surface Modification and Generation of Smart Materials: Bio/chemical Sensors

The future of nanotechnology will rely upon the availability of multifunctional nanoplatforms. The development of multi-functional nanosystems not only achieves multi-functionality but also sometimes alleviates the limitations of one of the components. Bio/chemical sensor technology has great potential for applications in various sectors like biomedical field, food industry, security sector, environment preservation, among others. There are great demands for clinically and economically viable, ultra-sensitive sensor systems. Nanotechnology shows great promise in bio/chemical sensing field by facilitating the development of improved, rapid, ultra-sensitive, multiplexed and point-of-care detection systems. Fluorescence quantum dots (QDs), plasmonic and magnetic nanoparticles have been used as bio/chemical sensors. Generation of multifunctional nanoplatforms requires surface modification of one or more nanoparticles components with suitable organic and inorganic reagents. We are exploring various physico-chemical surface modification techniques for inorganic nanoparticles and trying to understand the exact nature of interactions between these nanoparticles and surface modifying reagents. This is essential for the development of newer families of nanomaterials and nanotechnological devices.

Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Solar Cell Applications

Energy security is one of our major goals because of our rapid population and economic growth. Tremendous efforts worldwide are being directed to develop clean, economic, and sustainable alternative energy sources. Among various renewable energy resources, the solar energy is the most abundant. Photovoltaic devices that directly convert solar energy into electricity hold great future for us. Solar cells can be very useful if the amount of solar light harvested can be ennhanced. Plasmonic nanostructures have been reported to enhance the efficiency of some solar cells. We are exploring how the efficiency of some solar cells are affected by various plasmonic nanoparticles.

Nanotube (Carbon & Boron-nitride) and their modification to improve selective permeation of ions/molecules

With increasing scarcity of ground water resources (above and below ground), there is an increasing awareness of (a) water conservation and (b) desalination of seawater at a major (national) scale. Several currently available technologies use reverse osmosis technology; here CNT's have a unique advantage in that they are hydrophobic, so that the charged species are definitely excluded from permeation across small diameter CNT. However, this also proves to be a bottleneck that the water permeation is rather slow (5 water molecules per nanotube per nanosecond which is about 18 ml/sec of pure water from a 1 sq.cm.), and requires energy to pump this water, and hence is only poorly scalable.
Energy generation & storage is another big issue; the rechargeable batteries require a membrane that can selectively bias the conduction of ions; recent experimental research on modified CNT gives us hope of such selectivity. Understanding the mechanism of control will provide crucial inputs into type of modifications required to improve the performance of these CNT embedded membranes.

Nanotechnology: Synthesis, Characterization and Surface Modification of Nanomaterials and Their Applications

Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics

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