The development of high receptive photocatalysts for the degradation of dye from water is an implication route to unravel the complications of water contamination. ZnO-MgO nanocomposite was successfully prepared by the egg albumin-assisted route. The crystallinity, morphological, optical characteristics, and photocatalytic performance of the composite were investigated by XRD, FTIR, SEM with EDS, and UV-DRS. The results of the XRD study affirmed that the nanocomposite comprises of hexagonal and cubic stages with a normal crystalline size of 34 nm. FTIR demonstrates the distinctive vibrational frequencies of ZnO-MgO at 454 and 524 cm−1. The SEM micrographs represented nanoparticles with a flower-like structure. The bandgap value (Eg) was found as 4.5 eV for the ZnO-MgO nanocomposite. The photocatalytic efficiency of the ZnO-MgO nanocomposite has been investigated for the photodegradation of Congo red under daylight illumination. The obtained Congo red degradation results showed good performance under solar light irradiation. The antibacterial properties of ZnO-MgO nanocomposite have been assessed versus G+ and G- bacteria. The outcomes of antibacterial performance designated that ZnO-MgO nanocomposite has bacteriostatic behavior versus Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonashydrophila and Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Shigella, Staphylococcustyphi, Staphylococcus epidermis, Vibrio cholera, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, this work (ZnO-MgO nanocomposite) offers significant insights into more efficient environmental and biomedical applications.

Chapter 8 MXene-Reinforced Polymer Composites for Dielectric Applications P. Karuppasamy, P. Karuppasamy Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorM. Sennappan, M. Sennappan Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorB. Hemavathi, B. Hemavathi Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorH. R. Manjunath, H. R. Manjunath Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Technology JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorAnjanpura V. Raghu, Anjanpura V. Raghu Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Technology JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, India Faculty of Science and Technology, BLDE (Deemed-to-be University), Vijayapura, IndiaSearch for more papers by this author P. Karuppasamy, P. Karuppasamy Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorM. Sennappan, M. Sennappan Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorB. Hemavathi, B. Hemavathi Department of Chemistry, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorH. R. Manjunath, H. R. Manjunath Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Technology JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorAnjanpura V. Raghu, Anjanpura V. Raghu Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Technology JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, India Faculty of Science and Technology, BLDE (Deemed-to-be University), Vijayapura, IndiaSearch for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Kalim Deshmukh, Kalim Deshmukh New Technologies-Research Centre, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech RepublicSearch for more papers by this authorMayank Pandey, Mayank Pandey Department of Electronics, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorChaudhery Mustansar Hussain, Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain Department of Chemistry & Environmental Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United StatesSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 January 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119901280.ch8 AboutPDFPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShareShare a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Summary Two-dimensional (2D) materials resemble graphene structure and lead to the discovery of novel 2D materials called MXenes having transition metal carbides/nitrides. Since its inception in 2011, these 2D materials are investigated not only experimentally but also theoretically and receiving great attention recently owing to their exceptional insights into the structural features. However, incorporation of MXene materials with polymer is employed for fabricating hybrid composite materials that paves a way to find novel materials for various applications including electromagnetic interference shielding, sensing/biosensing, energy storage, photo-thermal, and filtration and biomedical fields. MXenes/polymer composites exhibit excellent di-electric properties due to their abundant surface terminations, multi-functionalities, specific surface area, hydrophilic nature, conductivity, and synergistic effects. Even though, these hybrid composites have exquisite properties and applications, but still challenges are there for developing novel MXene/polymer composites with respect to mass production and commercialization. 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Exploration of smart sustainable renewable energy material with the aid of artificial intelligence is gaining momentum as next-generation research. The advantage of high throughput screening of the material is not only increasing the efficiency of the discovery but also can reduce the conventional process. In this review, the machine learning method of investigation of energy material for the application in energy conversion, storage, and energy-efficient materials has been discussed. Various ML tools and closed-loop screening techniques are discussed keeping the emphasis on both material and device optimization. Further, challenges and future prospects of smart automation in the exploration of energy material are elaborated.

Development of new organic synthetic methods fascinating the researchers which facilitating the increasing demands of the modern society, environmental friendly with high efficiency and low cost. The introduction of chromophores in an organic molecules facilitating intersystem crossing (ISC) to harvest both singlet and triplet excitons is also currently demanding field. We report a facile synthesis of symmetrical azines from carbonyl compounds and hydrazine hydrate with carboxylic acid esters as catalyst in methanol. This reaction presents a condensation of primary amino groups in hydrazine hydrate and carbonyl compounds took place simultaneously in a very short refluxing time. The prepared azines 1-10 were structurally analysed by various analytical techniques such as LC-MS1, H NMR13, C NMR, UV-Vis, FTIR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Photoluminescence properties of prepared azines were recorded in CCl4 at 1 x 10-3 M and excitation range from 329 to 362 nm. The photoluminescence analysis results revealed that compounds 1-10 (except 8) were showed delayed fluorescence and 8 was showed fluorescence property. The photophysical properties of compounds 1-10 such as electron density and band gap energies was calculated by density function theory. This results revealed that the intra-molecular charge transfer occurs within the azines. The azine function in the azines enabling intersystem crossing hence, it is showing phosphorescence.

The cost-effective novel Ag-doped (1-7%) (CuO-Cu2O)Cu (C3) heterostructured nanocomposites are successfully synthesized by the facile solution combustion process using the Leucas aspera extract as a green fuel. The structural properties of fabricated nanocomposites were well-characterized by specific spectral techniques for enhanced electrochemical sensor detection, antibacterial activities, and sunlight-driven photocatalytic dye decoloration studies. The existence of Ag+ ions has been confirmed by the appearance of two peaks of Ag 3d5/2 (367.9 eV) and Ag 3d3/2 (373.9 eV), with the chemical binding nature and exchange of the Ag+ state in the nanocomposite lattice as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The energy band gap value of the doped nanocomposite decreases from 2.2 to 1.8 eV, as measured by the UV-visible absorption spectral technique, hindering the recombination of electron-holes pairs by trapping e- and h+. This result supports that the C3Ag5 nanocomposite has a great potential as a sunlight photocatalyst toward the Alizarin Red (AR) dye, for which an excellent degradation activity of 98% at 180 min was achieved compared to that of the host nanocomposite (78% at 180 min). The variation of redox peak potentials of the prepared graphite nanocomposite working electrode is an effective tool for paracetamol sensing activity in 0.1 M KCl using electrochemical spectral studies. In addition, the antibacterial activities of the C3Ag5 nanocomposite against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were successfully studied. The C3Ag5 nanocomposite exhibited a better performance than C3. The increase in activity is attributed to the presence of Ag as a dopant.

Two series of palladium complexes of the type [PdBr2(NHC)2] (4–6) and [PdBr2(NHC)Py] (7–9) bearing coumarin substituted triazole–based NHC ligands have been reported. Complexes have been prepared by in situ deprotonation of 1,2,4-triazolium salts with palladium acetate in DMSO/pyridine, and characterized by spectral and analytical techniques. The complexes displayed a distorted square–planar coordination geometry around the palladium atom, which is evidenced by the single crystal X–ray diffraction analysis of 4–6 and 9. Both the series of complexes have been evaluated for their efficacies in C–C bond formation reactions of various aryl bromides with phenylboronic acid, and C–H activation reactions of thiophene substituted cyanopyridine derivative. Complexes 7–9 outperformed the bis–NHC coordinated derivatives, 4–6, in both the type of catalytic reactions, which is attributed to the presence of a labile pyridine ligand.

A new donor-acceptor polymer poly (3-Cyanopyridine-fluorene) (PCP) was designed, and synthesized by using Suzuki coupling reaction. The synthesized polymer, PCP hybridized TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared from the blends of TiO2/PCP by varying the PCP percentage (0.3–0.6wt%). Presence of polymer (PCP) in small quantity does not affect the morphology of the electron transport layer (ETL) and XRD spectra showed the retention of crystalline characteristics of the ETL after modification. Moreover, the fabricated DSSCs made of these ETL with N719 sensitizer reveals a greater dye adsorption ability caused due to the profound improvement in basicity of TiO2 after modification. Among the various PCP (wt%) doped ETL, DSSC fabricated for 0.5wt% PCP doped ETL showed an optimized device efficiency up to 6.4% which is about 45% more efficient than unmodified ETL. It is evident that the modification of ETL with PCP not only helps for the better dye adsorption but also assist for the improved electron lifetime which resulted in the enhanced efficiency of the device.

New and state of art technology comprising molecular electronics in nanostructured hybrid composites for various electronic applications is plausible for its low cost and versatility. The organic conjugated polymer-based nanohybrids with inorganic metallic nanoparticles and/or nanostructured carbons (e.g., graphene, carbon nanotubes, porous carbons, and carbon quantum dots) have been found to exhibit intriguing multifunctional properties for the various potential application in energy storage (e.g., supercapacitors, batteries), energy conversion (e.g., solar cells), and electrochemical sensors. In this chapter, we discuss the synthesis methodologies of nanostructures of conjugated polymers and their hybrid composites, and the formation mechanism of such nanoscale structures (0D to 3D). Further, we discuss their potential applications as electrochemical supercapacitors and as solar energy materials.

A new 2-methoxy-4,6-bis(4-(4-nitrostyryl)phenyl)nicotinonitrile (W-NO2) has been synthesized and the photovoltaic performances in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are investigated by utilizing it as co-sensitizer dye. From the study, its molar extinction coefficient value is found to be much higher than the N719 and the co-sensitized DSSC device showed a 1.78 times better efficiency than the N719 based devices. Preliminary DSSC results also revealed that the molecular architecture of dye (W-NO2) can be effectively utilized as a co-sensitizer along with the N719 to increase the spectral coverage as well as to achieve improved efficiency.

Two organic D–A–π–A dyes (TPCTh and TPCRh), having 3-cyanopyridine as auxiliary acceptor with triphenylamine donor and cyanoacetic acid/rhodanine-3-acetic acid anchoring group, were synthesized and utilized as sensitizers in the fabrication of DSSC.

New cyanopyridine derivatives bearing different alkoxy substituents were designed and synthesized to study their optical and electrochemical properties. All the synthesized compounds were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques like IR, NMR, and Mass spectrometry. Their optical and electrochemical properties were explored with the aid of UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Further, these compounds exhibited a very good solubility in organic solvents such as toluene, chloroform, ethyl acetate, THE and DMSO. Therefore, these compounds showed absorption band in the region of 274-355 nm and a blue emission band in the region of 412-438 nm. Finally, their cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that the energy band gap of the molecules are lies between 1.37 eV and 2.12 eV. As a whole, the obtained preliminary results suggest that these compounds can be used further as optoelectronic materials.

In this work, we report the synthesis of new pi-conjugated polymer designs through the polycondensation of 2-(octyloxy)-4,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)nicotinonitrile (M1) and 3,6-dibromo-9-octy1-9H-carbazole (2a) or 3,6-dibromo9-hexadecyl-9H-carbazole (2b) via palladium-catalysed direct arylation polymerization (DArP) reaction for solar cell application. The DArP reactions were carried out in three major solvents (i.e. toluene, dimethyformamide (DMF), and dimethylacetamide (DMA) with triphenylphosphine (as ligand), and K2CO3 (as base), respectively. Polymerization reaction conditions were carefully optimized with and without the addition of pivalic acid (PivOH) as additive. Interestingly, the polymer synthesized in PivOH and DMA solvent under the aforementioned reaction conditions yielded the considerably high molecular weight (M-n) of 21.1 kDa and PDI of 1.14 than the rest of polymeric reactions conditions. Thus, DArP reaction under Pd(OAc)(2), PPh3, K2CO3, PivOH and DMA conditions were found to be the ideal reaction conditions for the current monomeric systems. The synthesized polymer was used for photovoltaic studies and with the minimum optimization the obtained power conversion efficiency is reported.

A new class of molecular architecture made of five conjugated rings carrying terminal methyl or variable alkoxy (chain lengths of 4, 6, 8, or 16) substituted at para positions has been synthesized. Among the five rings, two rings are of cyanopyridones utilized as an electron deficient N-heterocycle along with blue luminescent motif, and the rest of them are phenylene motifs. All the compounds produced good yield and ATR-IR, NMR and Mass spectroscopy confirmed their structures. Further, the compounds were stable up to approximate to 200 degrees C and the degradation occurs at higher temperature as evident from the TGA analysis. The mesomorphic study reveals that compound is only having very long terminal n-hexadecyloxy substituents appeared in-layers liquid crystalline organization as confirmed by POM and variable temperature XRD analysis. Further, the compounds showed intense blue fluorescence in both solution as well as solid state and their fluorescence quantum yields are dependent on the length of alkoxy chains. Calculated HOMO/WMO levels by cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that the compounds are ambipolar in nature and cited as an ideal candidates for electroluminescent applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three new fluorescent bent shaped conjugated compounds have been designed and synthesized by linking two 3,4-dialkoxyphenyl units to the para positions of 2-methoxy-4,6-diphenylnicotinonitrile core via olefin bonds. The effect of terminal linear chains (like hexyloxy, octyloxy, and hexadecyloxy chains) on their photophysical (solvatochromism and aggregation induced emission (AIE)) and electrochemical properties were systematically investigated. All the compounds exhibit strong solvatochromism and only the compounds bearing lower alkoxy chains (i.e. hexyloxy and octyloxy chains) shows the AIE behavior. Further, the electrochemical studies shows that the compounds possess a band gap of similar to 2.26 eV with deep-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level at similar to-5.94 eV and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level at similar to-3.70 eV. From the literature, it was noted that the observed frontier energy values of these compounds are encouragingly matching to the frontier energy values of perylene diimide (PDI) and indandione derivative based non-fullerene acceptors, thus, these compounds pave the way for their potential applications in solar cells.

Novel class of metal free organic dyes (CCTh and CCBz) with D-A-pi-A configuration, having carbazole as donor and 3-cyanopyridine as auxiliary acceptor replacing conventional benzannulated heterocycles along with variable pi-linkers were synthesized and used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Both the dyes are having cyanoacrylic acid as the anchoring group with thiophene (CCTh) and phenylene (CCBz) as pi-linkers. The photophysical, electrochemical, theoretical and photovoltaic properties of the dyes were investigated in detail. The absorption spectra of dyes on TiO2 showed broader absorption band for CCTh in comparison to the solution spectra indicating aggregation in solid state. The aggregation studies in varied THF/water fraction indicates J-aggregation for both the dyes. CCTh with thiophene linker showed broader absorption compared to CCBz, and the photovoltaic performance recorded for CCTh directly indicates better light harvesting ability corresponding to the red shifted J-aggregated states. Hence, solar cells fabricated with CCTh gave a power conversion efficiency of 3.39% and CCBz delivered an efficiency of 2.03% under full sun condition. A detailed investigation of device dynamics have been carried out employing charge extraction (CE), intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS) and open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD) measurements.

Two polymers (PCT1 and PCT2) bearing cyanopyridinyl (as acceptor) and phenylene or fluorenyl (as donor) tethered with N,N-dimethylaminopropyl group (as side chain) were synthesized via Heck polymerisation technique. Both the polymers exhibit an excellent solubility in methanol and insolubility in solvents like toluene and dichlorobenzene. This specific solubility of polymers helps to avoid the intermixing of successive layers during solution processing of solar cells. Further, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and photo physical studies confirm that these polymers are having high molecular weight, high thermal stability, low optical band gap and blue light emissive nature. In addition, optical transmittance spectra of polymer thin films coated on ITO substrate disclose the transparency of 90%, which is better compared to that of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) film (80% transparency). Furthermore, hole only mobility of polymers were investigated by c-AFM method and a mobility of 1.1 x 10(-6) and 1.3 x 10(-6) cm(2) V-1 S-1 were obtained for PCT1 and PCT2, respectively. Here, the obtained mobility values are better compared to other PPV polymers which are reported to be in the order of 10(-7) cm(2) V-1 S-1. More importantly, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy studies reveal that the polymers coated on ITO have a very high work function of 5.45-5.50 eV, thereby minimizes the energy level difference between the electrode and photo active organic material (typically 5.7 to 6.3 eV). As a whole, the utilization of these polymers as interfacial layer at the interface of ITO/active layer can reduce the potential energy loss in solar cells.

The reaction between the various hosts with Pisolithus tinctorius shows the broad host range of this fungal species showing different degrees of host compatibility. There is wide variation in both rate and extent of ECM formation by different isolates of Pisolithus tinctorius of different geographical regions within a species. Thus Pisolithus tinctorius displays much intraspecific heterogeneity of host specificity and interspecific compatibility. There are variable degrees of plant-fungal isolate compatibility, implying specificity, and this is an important factor influencing successful ectomycorrhiza formation and development. The molecular data also suggested that the Pisolithus tinctorius isolates analyzed from different geographical regions belong to distinct groups. Further studies are therefore warranted to elucidate the molecular, biochemical and physiological differences between the Pisolithus tinctorius isolates at the fungus-root interface of different plant species.

We present a concise review of conjugated polymers based on benzodithiophenes (BDTs) for high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs).

This data file contains the detailed synthetic procedure for the synthesis of two new cyanopyridine based conjugated polymer P1 and P2 along with the synthesis of its monomers. The synthesised polymers can be used for electroluminescence and photovoltaic (PV) application. The physical data of the polymers are provided in this data file along with the morphological data of the polymer thin films. The data provided here are in association with the research article entitled ‘Cyanopyridine based conjugated polymer-synthesis and characterisation’ (Hemavathi et al., 2015) [3].

Versatile conjugated small molecules bearing cyanopyridone core (CP1–5), composed of various donor/acceptor moieties at position −4 and −6 have been designed, developed and characterized. Their solvatochromic studies were conducted and analyzed using Lippert-Mataga, Kamlet-Taft and Catalan solvent scales and interesting results were obtained. The polarizability/dipolarity of the solvent greatly influenced the spectra. The electrochemical studies were carried out using cyclic voltammetry to calculate the HOMO-LUMO energy levels. The study revealed that the synthesized conjugated small molecules possess low lying HOMO energy levels which can be exploited for application in various fields of optoelectronics.