Research at the SemiNanoCat Lab Group

Our work comprises of interdisciplinary research in material chemistry and electrochemistry. The research involves designing different strategies for the High Temperature and Low Temperature Colloidal Synthesis of Stable Perovskite Nanocrystals, Quantum Dots and Studying their Optoelectronic Properties and Finding its Applications. The aim of this work is to synthesize stable perovskites with high carrier mobility and high Photoluminescence Quantum Yield. The work around Electrochemistry extensively involves Synthesizing different materials from Non-Platinum Group Metals and their applications in Electro-catalysis, Pollutant Degradation and Electrochemical Sensing.

Perovskite Nanocrystals -Synthesis, Ligand Engineering, Photophysics, and Photocatalysis

The optical properties of lead halide perovskites are of critical importance as nearly all applications revolve around these properties like large absorption coefficients, intense photoluminescence, low exciton binding energies, long exciton diffusion lengths, high dielectric constants, and intrinsic ferroelectric polarization. Due to the inherent ionic nature of all the  lead halide perovskites, the resistance to moisture, oxygen, light, degradation the perovskite with time  and high temperatures remains a significant challenge, and the perovskite structure is destroyed when exposed to polar solvents or water, which reduces its photocatalytic activity, Photo Luminescence Quantum Yield (PLQY) and limits practical application.  The work of our group focuses on improving the poor stability of the Lead Halide Perovskites by understanding the mechanism for the Synthesis of Lead Halide Perovskite and its degradation with the help of methods such as anion exchange, surface ligand modification, Ligand Passivation and encapsulation to  improve the stability of the lead halide perovskites while maintaining high photocatalytic activity. Also, we are looking for its various optical applications, CO2 Reduction etc.

Electrocatalysis – Sustainable Energy Applications

The field of chemistry known as “electrochemistry” studies phenomena brought on by the interaction of chemical and electrical forces. An electrocatalyst is a catalyst that engages in electrochemical processes. Electrocatalysts are a kind of catalyst that operates on electrode surfaces or is the electrode surface itself in some situations that enables the transfer of electrons between an electrode and the reactants and produces a chemical reaction characterized by a half-cell reaction. The overall process is known as Electrocatalysis. Platinum group metals (PGMs)—are the benchmark electrocatalysts due to high activity but face critical bottlenecks for widespread use. The primary problems are extreme scarcity and high cost, limited long-term durability in corrosive acidic environments. Non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) electrocatalysts, such as Fe, Ni etc. struggle to replace PGMs primarily due to lower catalytic activity for reactions like oxygen reduction (ORR), poor long-term durability in acidic environments, and high activation overpotentials. They suffer from active site leaching and sintering during operation, leading to faster performance degradation. Our aim is to develop methods to synthesize Electrocatalysts that not only uses non-PG Metals but also has High activity, High surface area, Good electrical conductivity, Long term stability along with reducing the overpotential for the half-cell reaction.

Graded Alloy Giant Quantum Dots - Photophysics & Catalytic Applications

Instead of a simple core-shell giant quantum dot (GQD), graded-alloy GQDs minimise lattice-mismatch-induced strain. Currently, we are working on how strain engineering can manipulate the photophysics of GQDs and their photocatalytic activity, also, how these effects will impact photophysics in the single-particle regime.