CSIR Central

Swollen hexagonal liquid crystals as smart nanoreactors: implementation in materials chemistry for energy applications

IR@CGCRI: CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Swollen hexagonal liquid crystals as smart nanoreactors: implementation in materials chemistry for energy applications
 
Creator Ghosh, Srabanti
Ramos, Laurence
Remita, Hynd
 
Subject Engineering Materials
 
Description Materials are the key roadblocks for the commercialization of energy conversion devices in fuel cells and solar cells. Significant research has focused on tuning the intrinsic properties of materials at the nanometer scale. The soft template mediated controlled fabrication of advanced nanostructured materials is attracting considerable interest due to the promising applications of these materials in catalysis and electrocatalysis. Swollen hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystals (SLCs) consist of oil-swollen surfactant-stabilized 1D, 2D or 3D nanometric assemblies regularly arranged in an aqueous solvent. Interestingly, the characteristic size of the SLCs can be controlled by adjusting the volume ratio of oil to water. The non-polar and/or polar compartments of the SLCs can be doped with guest molecules and used as nanoreactors for the synthesis of various metals (Pt, Pd, Au, etc.), conducting polymers and composite nanostructures with controlled size and shape. 1D, 2D and 3D mono- and bimetallic nanostructures of controlled composition and porosity can also be fabricated. These materials have demonstrated impressive enhancements of their electrochemical properties as compared to their bulk counterparts and have been identified as promising for further implementation in energy harvesting applications. In this review article, recent research materials are described regarding the development of functional materials with much improved performances for catalysis applications. This review addresses a brief overview of swollen hexagonal mesophases as nanoreactors, describes examples of nanostructured materials synthesized in these nanoreactors, shows several examples of the energy conversion applications in solar light harvesting, fuel cells etc. and also summarizes the associated reaction mechanisms developed in the recent literature for enhanced catalytic activity.
 
Publisher Royal Soc Chemistry
 
Date 2018-04
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://cgcri.csircentral.net/4297/1/Ghosh.pdf
Ghosh, Srabanti and Ramos, Laurence and Remita, Hynd (2018) Swollen hexagonal liquid crystals as smart nanoreactors: implementation in materials chemistry for energy applications. Nanoscale, 10 (13). pp. 5793-5819. ISSN 2040-3364
 
Relation http://cgcri.csircentral.net/4297/