Functional Materials: A Chemical Approach Towards Functionality

by Dr. Farheen Sayed (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai)

Thursday, September 12, 2013 from 14:30 to 15:30 (Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG-80 )

TIFR, Colaba Mumbai 400005

Description

In narrowing down the present system of classifying the materials, materials are now classified depending upon their functionality. These materials i.e. functional materials are directly or indirectly used for the advancement of the existing technology or development of new technology. The functionality of the material depends largely on its synthesis, composition and also on its structure and chemical bonding. The synthesis of such compounds in the bulk or nano form with the desired properties is indeed a challenging task. Therefore, in addition to the conventional solid-state synthesis, a number of soft-chemical methods have been developed. The soft-chemical routes are low-temperature synthesis techniques, involve easy processing steps and are also known to yield metastable phases with interesting properties. A prudent selection of the preparative techniques and fine-tuning of process parameters is required to obtain these functional materials.

Here, some of such materials will be discussed in terms of their synthesis, characterization and properties. During my doctorate work, a wide variety of materials were synthesized e.g. Rare–earth based fluorides (luminescent materials); complex fluorides (multiferroic properties); pyrochlore based systems (materials with tailored ionic conductivity) and TiO₂ and its composites (catalysts for hydrogen generation). These materials were characterized for their structure and properties using various techniques. A major focus of the talk will be on the synthesis aspects of these functional materials; and their structure property correlation wherever applicable.