INUP IIT BOMBAY

Mr. Sumit Kumar, Assistant Professor, ECE Department visited IIT Bombay for twelve days to execute the sanctioned project work from 15 Feb 16 to 26 Feb 16, as a Principle Investigator (PI). The project titled “Design and Development of a Highly Efficient Graphene Based Photovoltaic Device”. The project proposal is shortlisted under INUP Programme of IIT Bombay (Indian Nanoelectronics Users Programme) which is duly funded by DeitY (Department of Electronics & Information Technology), MCIT (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology) Government of India. Indian Nanoelectronics Users Program (INUP) is a unique activity jointly run by the CEN (Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc).

The whole work was progressed in the Organic Electronics Lab & Material Characterization Labs of CEN, IIT Bombay & work was divided into three slots. In first slot, the material was synthesised via chemical route and all the chemicals were procured from Sigma Aldrich which costs around 1 Lakhs. The set up for the different synthesis activities were coordinated with the Post Doc & PhD scholars of IIT Bombay to meet the safety requirements of the institutes. As, the TiO2 Nanoparticles more specifically TiO2 nanorods (NRs) were developed using low temperature hydrolysis method from a rigorous processing of 24 hours and sent for characterization in various characterization labs to find absorbance spectra via UV-Visible Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy i.e. FTIR, X-ray Diffraction i.e. XRD, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope i.e. FESEM to study the following parameters –

1. Phase determination

2. Crystal Structure & Quality

3. Surface Morphology & Determination of Elements

4. Group Determination

5. Bond shifting Property

6. Luminescence Properties, etc.

In the second slot, Graphene Oxide samples were taken and reduced further with the help of L- Glutathione (GSH) in various proportions to obtain few layers of graphene sheet or reduced graphene oxide i.e. rGO to make it more viable for electronic applications. Similar tests were performed on the samples and as it is characterise to obtain the optimised properties of modified material.

In next slot, the nanocomposites of TiO2 with polymer (MEHPPV) were prepared in various proportions and the same were tested for the above mentioned studies. Some serious problems of agglomeration were observed during making the composites and samples which were not prepared accurately which is under consideration & scheduled in next visit and due for the discussion with Scientists & Professors of the field from CSIR, NPL New Delhi, IIT Delhi & ISM Dhanbad.