National Conference

on

Nanomaterials: Synthesis & Applications

Feb. 6, 2009: DAV College Jalandhar under the aegis of Post-Graduate Department of Chemistry organized 2-days UGC, DST, CSIR sponsored National Conference on Nanomaterials: Synthesis & Applications. The conference was inaugurated by Principal R S Sharma, Hon’ble General Secretary, DAV Colleges Managing Committee, New Delhi. Principal extend heartiest welcome to the Chief-Guest, Delegates, Resource Persons and participants, who have come from all parts of the country. He said Nano-science is one of the newest and most significant developments in the present scientific world with its wide-ranging applications in medicine and engineering. A few decades ago, the discovery of semi-conductors brought a technological revolution. A similar revolution seems to be on the anvil with the development of nano-technology. He congratulated the Department of Chemistry which is already a DST-FIST sponsored Department for this brave initiative.

The Chief Guest Principal R S Sharma, Hon’ble General Secretary, DAV Colleges Managing Committee, New Delhi congratulated the Principal, Member of Chemistry Department, Organising committee for this great events. He said that this conference is an effort to the introduction and the awareness of the Nano-technology and its possible impact on present and future technological and other challenges. He said, Such Conferences, also provide a platform for young inquisitive minds to interact, to brainstorm and to learn. It is also a platform to know and be known.

Key-note Address: Dr. C S Sundar, Head, Material Science Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam presented his key-note address. Speaking on the topics Nanomaterials Research - Opportunities & Challenges, he said that We are all riding a “Nano Wave” today, with enormous excitement and considerable expectations of applications in several domains. In his talk he traced, the rapid evolution of this nascent field, that is a confluence of several streams of activities in physics, chemistry, biology, Materials Science and Engineering. Research in nanomaterials is largely driven by applications, and hence is highly context dependent.

Dr. B C Ranu (Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, Kolkata presented his paper on Metal Nanoparticles as Efficient Catalysts. He said that the last decade has witnessed a tremendous growth in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The easy accessibility to nanoparticles has prompted investigations on their applications in catalysis. The recent reports showed amazing level of their performance as catalysts in terms of selectivity, reactivity and improved yields of products. He further said that an investigation to explore the potential of palladium and copper nanoparticles in organic reactions, particularly the functionalization of molecules.

Dr. L M Bhardwaj, CSIO, Chandigarh presented his paper on Bionano Materials & Devises. He said that the convergence of nanotechnology with information technology, modern biology and social sciences will reinvigorate discoveries and innovation in almost all sectors of the economy. Both science and the economy in the 21st century will require technological breakthroughs in the control of nanometer scale structure and functions, where the top-down approach of electronics manufacture converges with the bottom-up assembly of biology. At this moment, the scientific questions are being formulated, the required tools are being developed, and the possible applications of nanotechnologies could be revolutionary.

Nano-Biotechnology takes advantage of interfacing functional biomolecules with available devices for development of devices with higher performance in terms of selectivity, sensitivity and economics. The life processes and materials have been perfected by nature in billions of years. The nature has created large variety of molecular devices which are working in living system ranging from micro-organism to human beings. Nature creates these devices by self-assembly process and does not requires billions of dollar lithography based fabrication facilities used in VLSI devices.

Dr. A. K. Ganguli, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi presented his paper on Control of size and shape of nanostructures using the microemulsion method. He stressed that Nanoparticle synthesis is a challenging and interesting area of research especially for obtaining sensors and catalysts based on nanomaterials having useful properties (dielectric, magnetic, and optical).

Dr. R K Khandal, Shri Ram Institute of Industrial Research, New Delhi presented his paper on Nanoscience to Nanotechnolgoy: Scope, Challenges & Opportunities. He said that converting concepts of nanoscience into the know-how of nanotechnology has always been a challenging task, which everyone seems to be pre-occupied with, thanks to the opportunities that exist for such efforts. Inspite of the fact that the fundamental concepts behind nanoscience are quite well understood and appreciated, making nanomaterials based on these concepts have several hurdles to cross. The complexities involved in producing nanomaterials and desired products based on them are immense; to resolve them, one needs to apply interdisciplinary approaches involving multi-phase systems. The extraordinary properties exhibited by nanomaterials drive us to develop almost all devices based on nanomaterials, but this is easier said than done.

The first and foremost step in this process is to define the scope in terms of its degrees and dimensions. Then, the challenges involved at different stages of making the nanomaterials be identified and listed based on the technicalities involved. For each challenge, a path forward using the expertise and experience is determined to develop materials of desired quality. The process of development of nanomaterials, thus, be carried out in such a manner that the outcome is based on science and it is no longer considered as an art!

Similarly the other Scholars Dr. A Banerjee, Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, Kolkata presented his paper on Nanotechnology : A New horizon of Technology, Dr. Sanyog Jain, NIPER, Mohali, presented his paper on Novel Nanocolloidal Carrier Systems for Targeted Drug and Vaccine Delivery, and Dr. G S Chauhan, HPU Shimla traced the different aspects of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology. Nearly 400 delegates from all parts of the country participated in the conference.

Day 2 - Feb. 7, 2009

Dr. Rajamani Nagrajan, University of Delhi, Delhi presented his paper on Designing new materials through Critical Thinking Approach. He said that scientific problems can be solved logically with the use of critical thinking. In his talk, he discussed that by taking an example of critical thinking scheme for the design of a new material including nanomaterials to solve some current problems/needs to be pursued by researchers.

Dr. M L Singla, CSIO, Chandigarh presented his paper on Synthesis & Characterization of Metals, Semiconductor and Insulator Nano-materials. He said that The field of nanoscience and technology has undergone explosive growth during the last decades both in terms of new materials & engineering application as materials in nanometer scale exhibit physical properties distinctively different from that of bulk. Challenges in nanotechnology include the integration of nanostructures and nanomaterials with macroscopic system that can interface with people. Due to vast surface area, all nanostructured materials possess huge surface energy and thus thermodynamically unstable or metastable. During fabrication and processing of nanomaterials is to overcome surface energy and prevent the nanomaterials from growth in size. The size distribution of nanoparticle is dependent on growth process of nuclei which involves generation of growth species, diffusion of the growth from bulk to growth surface, adsorption of the growth species onto the growth surface and surface growth through irreversible process onto the solid surface.

Dr. R Thangaraj, GNDU, Amritsar presented his paper on Nanoelectronics. He said that Nature behaves quite differently at the nanoscale, so the extrapolation of our knowledge of the macroscopic world to the nanoworld is not possible. The nanoelectronic devices may not replace the existing silicon technology but will certainly be complementary to it. Molecular electronic devices based on single molecules are becoming very attractive, for example, some organic molecules can be engineered to interact with their environment, thus acting as switches or sensors. This offers a new possibility to make new devices that are not possible with silicon. Another area of nanoelectronics is ‘spin electronics’ or spintronics in short. Apart from charge, the electron has an intrinsic magnetic property which is referred to ‘spin’. In spintronic devices the electron spin is employed rather than the charge, and in this way new device concepts are possible. This concept has already found its way in industry. The ‘read heads’ used for reading computer hard disks use this concept. Another area where nanodevices have found their way is the use of two dimensional electron gas in, for example, MODFET devices. These devices are similar to MOSFETs but have higher gain and can be used in the microwave frequencies. They are high electron mobility devices. Higher electron mobility is obtained by eliminating the charged dopants in the active region. These transistors are already used in mobiles. The concept of ‘quantum wells’ and ‘quantum dots’ have given the possibility of new lasers for single frequency operation, new detectors etc. widening the optical communication capacity. The quantum barriers have made interesting ‘negative differential conductance’ devices, for example resonant tunnelling devices (RTDs) possible.

Dr. Mahavir Singh, HPU Shimla presented his paper on Nano Multiferroic Materials: Perspective and Approach. He said that Nano Multiferroic materials have attracted enormous research interest in recent years because of coexistence of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric phase. These materials show the concurrence among elasticity, charge and spin degree of freedoms and are vital for various potential applications such as non-volatile memories, multiple state memories, magnetic field sensors etc. Apart from numerous prospective applications, these nano materials are rich source of fundamental physics point of view. In the first part of this talk the alternative routes such as Sol Gel, Reverse Micelle and solution combustion techniques to approach the multiferroicity in a single phase with the examples will be addressed. In the second part synthesis and characterization of substituted multiferroic BiFeO₃ nano systems will be discussed. Structural analysis includes XRD , TEM to confirmed the size, structure and morphology of the nano systems. Electrical studied includes dc Resistivity, dielectric constant and dielectric loss measurements. Magnetic studies include Magnetization, Initial permeability and Magnetic loss measurements. The role Hyperfine interactions at nano level also be discussed through Mössbauer Spectroscopic analysis. Role of dopant to enhance ferromagnetic and ferroelectric character discussed in detail.

Exhibition : On this occasion an exhibition concerning Nano-technology, Nanomaterials was also organized. Nearly 100 posters were made on theme showing the different aspects of Nanomaterial and its impact on the life of individual.

Valedictory - Lt. Col. Manmohan Singh, Deputy Director District Sainik Welfare Board, Jalandhar was the Chief guest of the function. He congratulated the Principal, Members of Chemistry Department, Organising committee for this great event. He said, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnolgoy is new dimension in science. It will certainly affect the life style of all of us. Such Conferences provide a platform for young inquisitive minds to interact, to brainstorm and to learn. It is also a platform to know and be known. On this occasion, the delegates, experts, scientists who have come from all parts of country were honoured.