In pursuit of developing novel sensors, we have been developing new nanoparticles that include upconversion nanoparticles [1-2], quantum dots [3], nanoporous silica [4], nanoparticles of biological macromolecules [5], and nanoporous alumina [6-8], etc. In the case of upconversion particles, the role of synthesis conditions, as well as post-annealing conditions and doping on the emission properties have been investigated to optimize the particles for deep tissue imaging [1-2]. The quantum dots were explored for sensitive heavy metal detection by exploiting the energy transfer mechanism between the fluorophores [3]. In addition, the control of emission properties of a fluorophore by tailoring the decoration method of plasmonic nanoparticles into mesoporous silica has been demonstrated [4]. Recently, we showed that bio-mass derived activated carbon nanoparticles could be used for the dye removal [5]. In our studies, we investigated the less explored area of controlling the optical properties of nanoporous alumina by controlling the synthesis conditions [5-8]. Such control can find applications in developing tunable photonic bandgap materials as well as biosensors.

1) RSC Advances, 9, 964-9372 (2019)

2) Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 777, 894-901 (2019)

3) Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 20, 232 (2018)

4) Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 244, 171-179 (2017)

5) Chemosphere, 287(2), 132085 (2022)

6) Nano-structures and Nano-objects, 19, 100354 (2019)

7) ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 7(11), R175-R182 (2018)

8) Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 271, 138-145 (2017)