School Of Basic And Applied Sciences

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    Does Water Play a Crucial Role in the Growth of ZnO Nanoclusters in ZnO/Cu Catalyst?
    (American Chemical Society, 2023-05-04T00:00:00) Dastider, Saptarshi Ghosh; Panigrahi, Abhishek Ramachandra; Banerjee, Arup; Haldar, Krishna Kanta; Fortunelli, Alessandro; Mondal, Krishnakanta
    The catalytically active configuration of ZnO/Cu in the commercial ZnO/Cu/Al2O3 catalyst for methanol synthesis from CO2 is still not clear. In this study, we employ density functional theory based methods to shed light on the structure and stoichiometry of ZnO clusters both free in the gas phase and also deposited on the Cu(111) surface under methanol synthesis conditions. Specifically, we investigate the structural evolution of ZnO clusters in the presence of hydrogen and water. We find that the stability of ZnO clusters increases with the concentration of water until the ratio of Zn and OH in the clusters reaches 1:2, with a morphological transition from planar to 3D configurations for clusters containing more than 4 Zn atoms. These clusters exhibit weak interaction with CO2, and water is predicted to block the active center. The Cu(111) surface plays an important role in enhancing the adsorption of CO2 on the ZnO/Cu(111) systems. We infer that ZnO nanostructures covered with OH species may be the morphology of the ZnO during the methanol synthesis from the hydrogenation of CO2 on the industrial catalyst. � 2023 American Chemical Society.
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    Interfacial Engineering of CuCo2S4/g-C3N4Hybrid Nanorods for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction
    (American Chemical Society, 2021-07-29T00:00:00) Biswas, Rathindranath; Thakur, Pooja; Kaur, Gagandeep; Som, Shubham; Saha, Monochura; Jhajhria, Vandna; Singh, Harjinder; Ahmed, Imtiaz; Banerjee, Biplab; Chopra, Deepak; Sen, Tapasi; Haldar, Krishna Kanta
    Altering the morphology of electrochemically active nanostructured materials could fundamentally influence their subsequent catalytic as well as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. Enhanced OER activity for mixed-metal spinel-type sulfide (CuCo2S4) nanorods is generally done by blending the material that has high conductive supports together with those having a high surface volume ratio, for example, graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4). Here, we report a noble-metal-free CuCo2S4 nanorod-based electrocatalyst appropriate for basic OER and neutral media, through a simple one-step thermal decomposition approach from its molecular precursors pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate-copper(II), Cu[PDTC]2, and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate-cobalt(II), Co[PDTC]2 complexes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns suggest that as-synthesized CuCo2S4 nanorods are highly crystalline in nature and are connected on the g-C3N4 support. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy studies affirm the successful formation of bonds that bridge (Co-N/S-C) at the interface of CuCo2S4 nanorods and g-C3N4. The kinetics of the reaction are expedited, as these bridging bonds function as an electron transport chain, empowering OER electrocatalytically under a low overpotential (242 mV) of a current density at 10 mA cm-2 under basic conditions, resulting in very high durability. Moreover, CuCo2S4/g-C3N4 composite nanorods exhibit a high catalytic activity of OER under a neutral medium at an overpotential of 406 mV and a current density of 10 mA cm-2. � 2021 American Chemical Society.
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    Green Approach for the Fabrication of Au/ZnO Nanoflowers: A Catalytic Aspect
    (American Chemical Society, 2021-03-19T00:00:00) Biswas, Rathindranath; Banerjee, Biplab; Saha, Monochura; Ahmed, Imtiaz; Mete, Shouvik; Patil, Ranjit A.; Ma, Yuan-Ron; Haldar, Krishna Kanta
    An easy, environmentally benign, and biomimetic approach employing Azadirachta indica (neem) leaf extract as a reducing as well as capping agent was used for the fabrication of gold (Au)/zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid nanoflowers in one pot without utilizing any hazardous chemicals. The different phytoconstituents, for example, nimbolide, azadirachtin, ascorbate, etc., present in A. indica (neem) leaf extract synergistically reduce gold(III) ions to gold(0), which later on acts as an active surface for the growth of zinc oxide (ZnO) via thermal decomposition of sodium zincate [Na2Zn(OH)4]. The development of Au/ZnO hybrid nanoflowers was observed by estimating the absorption maxima at various time intervals in the wake of adding a Au precursor to the aqueous extract. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigation unambiguously confirm the formation of highly crystalline Au/ZnO composed of Au(0) and ZnO. The as-synthesized Au/ZnO hybrid nanoflowers were analyzed utilizing different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly show that the synthesized hybrid Au/ZnO nanoflowers are monodisperse and uniform. The fabricated Au/ZnO nanoflowers were used as a catalyst for the efficient reduction of various aromatic nitro compounds to corresponding amino compounds with excellent yield (76-94%) in the presence of reducing agent sodium borohydride. The superior catalytic properties were credited to the extraordinary nanoflower morphology and the synergistic impact of the typified Au nanoparticles. � 2021 American Chemical Society.