Research Projects

Assembling nanostructures on the basal plane of two-dimensional (2D) materials is of great interest in the development of nanodevices, and nanocomposite materials for various applications in the field of catalysis, energy conversion, and storage etc. The ability of the nanostructures to align themselves along the crystal plane of the 2D template substrate is challenging but might lead to exceptional properties for directionally aligned nanostructures. The directional crystal formation from the absorbed atoms on a basal plane of 2D materials depends upon various parameters such as competition between atom-atom and atom-substrate interactions. In contrast, a physical mixture of the ‘active materials’ (material which is allowed to grow on 2D template) with 2D material, or simultaneous deposition over 2D materials which leads to the synthesis of non-directional growth, had been studied in uncountable research works. For such composite, the basic understanding of the originated enhanced electrochemical property is not very clear except for the usual term “synergistic effect” and theoretical support which count only on crystal structure and not the crystal interaction-direction between active materials and template. Thus, the proposed proposal originates to find the growth order of active materials on the 2D templates and understand the origin of electrochemical properties of directional composites. In the present scenario, the use of 2D materials as directional growth of inorganic/organic materials and the basic understanding of the properties of grown materials is still in their infancy stage. The majority of the research have been followed the strategy of physical mixing of 2D materials, mixing precursors with 2D materials, optimizing the reaction conditions and weight ratio of the 2D materials etc. The resulting deposition of active material on the 2D basal plane or growth of supported active material by reducing its ionic precursors is mainly achieved using the solvothermal technique. The obtained experimental properties were supported by theoretical studies.

2D material, Directional growth, Electrochemical properties, Template