Prof. Neeraj Khare

(i.) Electrical Tuning of Photoelectrochemical Properties of Ferroelectric Nanostructure NaNbO₃ Films

Photoelectrochemical properties of NaNbO₃ nanostructure ferroelectric films are investigated, and it is demonstrated that the efficiency of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting can be tuned (7% to 23%) by electrical polarization of the NaNbO₃ films.

(ii.) Coupling of Piezoelectric, Semiconducting and Photoexcitation Properties in NaNbO₃ Nanostructures for Controlling Electrical Transport: Realizing an Efficient Piezo-Photoanode and Piezo-Photocatalyst

Demonstrate an efficient coupling between piezoelectric, semiconducting and photoexcitation properties in chemically stable NaNbO₃ semiconductor with an aim to enhance the efficiency of PEC water splitting and photocatalytic activities. It can be used as a potential alternative material for piezophototronic applications.

(iii.) Plasmonic nanostructures based on TiO₂/Ag/CNT for photoelectrochemical water splitting applications.

A visible light active plasmonic  photocatalyst, Ag/TiO₂/CNT, was synthesized by loading Ag nanoparticles onto TiO₂/CNT nanocomposite. The ternary Ag/TiO₂/CNT photoanode exhibits a ~4 times higher photocurrent density (0.91 mA/cm²) as compared to the binary TiO₂/CNT photoanode (0.23 mA/cm²). The enhancement in the photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect between Ag nanoparticles and MWCNT, which enhance the charge separation efficiency by Schottky barrier formation at Ag/TiO₂ interface and role of MWCNT as an electron reservoir.

(iv.) Photosensitization of zinc oxide nanorods with polyaniline for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

Polyaniline (PANI) coupled Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite has been synthesized by the chemisorption method. A ~3 fold enhancement in the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency is observed for PANI/ZnO nanocomposite as compared to bare ZnO nanorods. The observed enhancement in the photoelectrochemical activity is attributed to the photosensitization effect of visible light-responsive PANI and the formation of type-II heterojunction between ZnO and PANI, leading to the efficient separation and faster transfer of photoinduced charge carriers at the interface.