Optical and electrochemical studies of selenium based nanocomposites.

Abstract

Development of novel nanomaterials through facile and hassle-free synthesis routes have been an intriguing genre of material research. This thesis primarily focuses on the synthesis and characterizations of selenium (Se) nanocrystallites in two different hosts-silica and polyaniline. Additionally, the ability of Se to form variety of allotropic phases is investigated and their morphological, crystalline, microstructural and spectroscopic properties are studied in detail. Cubic and amorphous forms of Se are synthesized in silica matrix via sol-gel route followed by thermal annealing. On the other hand, trigonal and monoclinic Se nanocrystallites are synthesized in silica matrix via a combination of sol-gel assisted solvothermal route. Se was incorporated into cellulose-polyaniline nanocomposite via a one-pot room temperature mediated polymerization technique. The trigonal Se-SiO2 nanocomposite is used for the inner filter effect based optical sensing of curcumin. The Se/cellulose/polyaniline ternary nanocomposite was studied for electrochemical energy storage application.