Research Projects

The research proposal aims to understand the origin of reentrant disorder behavior and catalytic properties of two specific classes of transition metal oxides: Pyrochlores-O7 and Spinels-O4. These nanostructures exhibit remarkable magnetic features at low temperatures and catalytic activity, which are useful for future applications in quantum technology and renewable energy. The focus will be on studying the role of site-specific substitution on the magnetic and electronic structure of molybdenum and titanium-based O7-Pyrochlore compounds and antiferromagnetic spinels with corner-sharing tetrahedra with 2-D Triangular/Kagomé lattice. The study will use dynamical susceptibility measurements and empirical scaling laws to identify the appropriate relaxation mechanism to judge reentrant disorder characteristics. Surface and finite-size effects will also be investigated on the overall magnetization dynamics, field-induced magneto structural changes, and exchange bias effect in the proposed frustrated systems. The project also emphasizes the need to adopt cleaner alternatives to non-renewable fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal, due to environmental constraints and limited availability. One promising option is hydrogen, derived from biomass-based resources like ethanol, as an energy carrier. The research project will focus on the catalytic behavior of the proposed nanostructures for potential steam reforming of bio-ethanol, leading to the production of hydrogen fuel.