Synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials for electrocatalytic and biomedical applications

Abstract

The objective of present thesis work involves the synthesis and characterization of metal nanoparticles and to study their role in electrocatalytic and biomedical applications Three types of supporting materials like conductive polymers carbon nanotubes and conductive polymer carbon nanotube composite materials along with nanocatalysts were developed and used towards the oxidation of various industrially important fuels like methanol ethylene glycol formic acid and formaldehyde Two types of conductive polymers viz polypyrrole and polythiophene were used as the catalyst support for nanometer sized platinum and Pt Pd bimetallic particles and these polymers are electro synthesized on ITO glass plates by cyclic voltammetry utilizing chemically synthesized Pt 0 and Pt Pd 0 nanoparticles The conventionally synthesized mono Pt 0 and bimetallic Pt Pd 0 nanoparticles were characterized by UV Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy The surface morphologies of monometallic Pt and bimetallic Pt Pd nanoparticles dispersed in conductive matrixes were characterized by scanning electron microscopic and atomic force microscopic analysis Energy dispersive X ray analysis was used to characterize the composition of metals present in the nanoparticle modified electrodes