Mohit Sharma

• PhD
• Researcher at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Respiratory humidity sensors are essential for monitoring breath conditions in a variety of applications such as respiratory disease diagnosis, sleep apnea screening, and personalized medicine. With the increasing prevalence of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and sleep apnea, they have become esse...

This work quantifies the impact of chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes and carbon fibres on the interfacial shear strength, tensile and interlaminar shear strength properties of additively manufactured nylon composites. The surface chemistry of functionalized carbon materials was evaluated through infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive...

Using hybrids and photon illumination together is an important step toward making high-performance gas sensors. Hybrid materials have their own properties that can improve the way gas sensors work, and photon illumination can make the sensor more sensitive. There is currently a lack of understanding regarding the impact of photoassisted gas sensing...

The Bhimal fiber, derived from agro-waste and found in abundant Himalayan forest is having no commercial utilization and economical contribution to the state yet while it possess superior mechanical properties. This study explores the novel idea of utilizing bhimal fiber, and the interaction of agro-industrial wastes, resulting in will improve the...

Two‐dimensional (2D) tungsten disulphide (WS2) based heterostructures with modified interfaces have huge potential for photocatalytic applications. Integrating WS2 with one‐dimensional (1D) titanium dioxide (TiO2) and 2D molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) structures to form heterostructures, enhances its photocatalytic activity. The enrichment in photoca...

Functionalized chitosan nanocomposites have been studied for wound dressing applications due to their excellent antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. Polysaccharides show excellent antibacterial and drug-release properties and can be utilized for wound healing. In this article, we comprise distinct approaches for chitosan functionalization, suc...

By utilizing nanoreactor-like structures, the immobilization of macromolecules such as calixarenes and cyclodextrins (CD) with bucket-like structures provides new possibilities for engineered surface-molecule systems. The practical use of any molecular system depends on the availability of a universal procedure for immobilizing molecules with torus...

In the quest to create effective sensors that operate at room temperature, consume less power and maintain their stability over time for detecting toxic gases in the environment, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and MoS2-based hybrids have emerged as potent materials. In this context, the current work describes the fabrication of Au-MoS2 hybrid gas sens...

In this study, the strain induced modification in Au-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) coated on silica rich activated sand has been investigated. The coating of BNPs on activated sand modifies the interface as well as induces microstrain in the structure of the BNPs. The detailed investigation of the interfacial interaction of BNPs with silica in...

From the environmental perspective, efficient plastic utilization and its recyclability become significant issues that need to be resolved for deploying urban and sustainable technologies. It is estimated that approximately 400 million tons of plastic are produced each year for different applications. This number will be doubled by 2050, which is a...

2D/1D-MoS2/TiO2 heterostructures have proven to be vigorous for photocatalytic applications. The enhancement in photocatalytic activity of heterostructures may get influenced by the accumulation of strain at the interface that affects the interfacial interaction. Keeping that in view, present paper reports the strain accumulated interfacial modific...

One dimensional nanostructures based hybrids have proven to be potent for photocatalytic applications. The hybrids having modified interface play a vigorous role in enrichment of photocatalytic activity by electronic interaction. Electronic interaction at interface occurs by the formation of electronic barriers (Ohmic/Schottky) that affects the tra...

Increasing awareness toward environment has provided the option of green composites, which ultimately replaced the synthetic fiber composites in most of the areas like automotive, constructions, furniture, naval ships, and biomedical sectors, as biocompatible composites are light in weight and have good strength and stiffness. Biocomposites can be...

One dimensional TiO2 nanorods (TONRs) hybrids have enormous potential for photocatalytic applications. Integrating TONRs with plasmonic Nanoparticles (PNPs) to form hybrid structures enhances its photocatalytic activity by local surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) effect. The Present work reports PNPs decorated TONRs for visible light driven photoca...

Sputter grown copper (Cu) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) based transparent solar heat rejecting film has been developed on glass substrates at room temperature for energy saving smart window applications. The performance of as-deposited ultra-thin TiO2/Cu/TiO2 multilayers was elucidated, wherein the visible transmittance of the multilayer significantl...

Environmental implication is a key concern while utilizing the conventional synthetic polymers for composite applications. Biodegradable/biocompatible/natural polymeric materials can potentially resolve this issue by strategic replacement of traditional polymeric counterparts. Auxiliary to materials selection, the processing techniques has an essen...

Global plastic waste is increasing rapidly. In general, densely populated regions generate tons of plastic waste daily, which is sometimes disposed of on land or diverged to sea. Most of the plastics created in the form of waste have complex degradation behavior and are non-biodegradable by nature. These remain intact in the environment for a long...

Tin dioxide (SnO 2), the most stable oxide of tin, is a metal oxide semiconductor that finds its use in a number of applications due to its interesting energy band gap that is easily tunable by doping with foreign elements or by nanostructured design such as thin film, nanowire or nanoparticle formation, etc., and its excellent thermal, mechanical...

This work reports tuning of the band gap of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles by carbon doping during sol-gel synthesis. Herein, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC), a cationic polymer has been used as the carbon source. The band gap, microstructure and the phase of the synthesized TiO2 can be engineered by controlling the concen...

One-dimensional (1D) titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures have enormous attention for next-generation renewal energy resources. In reference to that, present work reports the effect of different voltages (40 V and 60 V) on the structural and morphological properties of 1D-TiO2 nanotubes (TONTs) and their hybrids by grafting of bimetallic nanopart...

Transparent conductors and charge transport layers play a key role in the design and fabrication of efficient renewable energy and electronic devices. Over the years, Indium tin oxide (ITO), is...

Metal oxide nanostructure hybrid materials have garnered focused attention for next-generation memory-based devices. TiO2 nanostructure hybrids dwell in that league of materials. In reference to that, the present work reports the growth of mixed-phase TiO2 nanostructures (MxPh-TNs) and their hybrids by grafting metal nanoparticles (MNPs). MxPh-TNs...

Energy Saving Coating Materials: Design, Process, Implementation, and Recent Developments provides comprehensive information about recent materials advances, design aspects, and integration for infra-red radiation regulators. Highlighting the future development of zero emission buildings, the book explores the key opportunities and challenges for t...

One dimensional oxide-based hybrid nanostructures have immense potential for next generation energy applications. By considering that, the present work dwells into interfacial interaction in strain induced bimetallic nanoparticles-TiO2 nanohybrids for photo energy harvesting. The hybrid nanostructure system consists of bimetallic nanoparticles (Pd-...

A substantial amount of the energy produced globally is utilized for household utilities, for example to maintain air-conditioning in buildings for personal comfort and essential weathering necessities, in tropical or cold climate geographic regions. The development of innovative functional materials in combination with cutting edge technology is v...

For industrial utilization the selection and implementation of energy efficient materials is essential. Mostly the energy efficient coatings and materials are employed after accomplishment of key manufacturing process for example, energy saving window film coated through lamination process, heat regulating materials are coated in construction indus...

Ultrathin tantalum nitride (TaN) intermediate layers (IL) with thickness from 3 nm to 12 nm have been used to limit the undesirable interfacial reaction between molybdenum (Mo) and copper-zinc-tin-sulphide (CZTS). The morphology, chemical and structural properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman sp...

Potassium sodium niobate (KNN) is a lead free ceramic that can potentially replace PZT (Pb(ZrTi)O3). However, KNN suffers from a few major disadvantages. These include the presence of highly volatile alkaline elements and stoichiometry sensitive properties coupled with severe difficulties in controlling the composition. In this work, La doped sodiu...

This review highlights the development of energy saving transparent heat regulating (THR) materials and coating for energy saving window applications. Current state-of-the-art technologies including transparent heat reflecting mirror (THM), thermo-chromic (TC), transparent solar cells (TSC), and luminescent based materials have been discussed. The...

Fibrous reinforcements are favored for advanced composites applications due to their excellent performance-to-weight ratio. Generally, the inorganic fibers surfaces are inert; hence, it is required to execute surface modification to enhance their wettability towards the matrix system. The weaker fiber–polymer interface caused intrinsically by hydro...

Barium Z-type hexaferrites (Ba3Co2Cr2xFe24-2xO41 with x = 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9) were synthesised using solid state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of single phase Z-type hexaferrite structure. From transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis platelet morphologies were observed in all the studied sampl...

The present case study reports the development of innovative method to reduce coefficient of friction between the conveyor belt systems against the metallic support. The process involves identification of suitable self-lubricating materials – Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nylon in the fibrous form to develop modified conveyor belt with improve...

Oxide-free silicon chemistry has been widely studied using wet chemistry methods, but for emerging applications such as molecular electronics on silicon, nanowires based sensors and biochips, these methods may not be suitable as it can give rise to defects due to surface contamination, residual solvents, which in turn can affect the grafted monolay...

Multilayer coating structure comprising a copper (Cu) layer sandwiched between titanium dioxide (TiO2) were demonstrated as a transparent heat reflecting (THR) coating on glass for energy-saving window application. The main highlight is the utilization of Cu, a low-cost material, in-lieu of silver which is widely used in current commercial heat ref...

For marine and offshore applications, the materials specific strength is vital parameter in improvisation of flexible riser parts for deep sea exploration. Nylon is prospective materials for riser application due to its good degree of flexibility and excellent barrier properties, but with the disadvantage of limited working temperature and low wear...

This paper reports polyamide 11 (PA11)/layered silicate (clay) nanocomposite using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) surfactants. POSS functionalized with amino, ammonium and guanidinium groups were synthesized and used to facilitate the intercalation of polymer chains between silicate layers thereby to improve the dispersion of clay in p...

In the present work, feasibility of achieving enhanced electron field emission properties of stress induced carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and multilayer graphene (MLGs) by ion modification is studied. Micro Raman spectroscopy is used as a potent technique for in-depth investigations of stress induced CNTs and MLGs. It is found that iron used as a catalys...

Structural and electron emission properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and multilayer graphene (MLG) are tailored using high-energy irradiation by controlling the wall thickness and number of layers. Ion irradiation by 100 MeV Ag+ ions at different fluences is used as an effective tool for optimizing defect formation in CNTs and MLGs, as analysed b...

This chapter elaborates on the need for surface tailoring of tribocomposites with solid lubricants rather than their inclusion in the bulk. The first part presents the details of fabrication of surface-engineered composites based on commingled yarns of carbon and polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), which is a novel method to eliminate some existing limi...

An attempt was made to improve the interfacial adhesion strength in carbon fabric/polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) composites using plasma modification of the carbon fiber surfaces. A static press method was used to fabricate CF/PEEK composites using unmodified and plasma modified carbon fibers. The influence of plasma treatment on fiber matrix inter...

Polyetherketone (PEK) is one of the least explored specialty thermoplastic polymers for its tribo-utility. It exhibits continuous operating temperature up to 280 °C and under short-term loads it can function up to 350 °C. In literature, hardly anything is reported on the adhesive wear performance of PEK and its composites. Three composites based on...

Introduction to polymeric tribo-composites Carbon fibers as reinforcement Carbon fabric-reinforced composites Tribo-performance of CFRCs: influential parameters Concluding remarks Bibliography Appendix I: Various techniques for developing CFRCs by compression molding Appendix II: Characterization methods for CFRCs

Carbon fibre/fabric (CF) is a privileged reinforcement for advanced polymer composites in tribological applications where performance is primary criteria rather than the cost due to the combination of distinct properties such as high specific strength, thermo-oxidative resistance, thermal and electrical conductivity along with self-lubricity etc. H...

The new technique to tailor carbon fabric-polyethersulphone (CF-PES) composite surface with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nano particles; to improve wear performance has been reported. Cold remote nitrogen oxygen plasma (CRNOP) treatment was employed to alter the CF surface to promote fiber/matrix adhesion and further; inter laminar shear strength...

Carbon fabric (CF) reinforced polyethersulphone (PES) composites were fabricated using solution impregnation technique. Cold remote nitrogen-oxygen plasma (CRNOP) treatment to the CF was done to enhance the fiber-matrix adhesion. The developed composites based on treated and untreated CF were evaluated for tribological properties in sliding/adhesiv...

Polyethersulfone (PES) composites were developed with carbon fabric (CF). Cold remote nitrogen oxygen plasma (CRNOP) treatment was employed to the CF to incorporate functional groups and promote fiber–matrix adhesion. This study includes the effect of PES melt flow index (MFI) on the wettability of CF and its influence on fretting wear performance....

Powder-prepreg method was used to develop composites with untreated and cold remote nitrogen-oxygen (0.5%) plasma (CRNOP) treated carbon fabric (CF) (67-68 wt%) and poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) followed by the evaluation of physical and mechanical properties. Tribo-evaluation in adhesive wear mode was done by sliding a composite pin against a mil...

Cold remote oxygen nitrogen plasma (CRNOP) treatment was used to enhance reactivity of carbon fabric (CF) towards PEEK. The composite with treated fibers exhibited significantly better mechanical properties due to enhanced fiber-matrix adhesion as evidenced from SEM studies. It was of interest to examine the effect of the treatment on erosive wear...

Carbon fabric (CF) being inert towards the matrix, the quality of its adhesion with the matrix is poor and hence, needs treatment to enhance fibermatrix bonding. In this paper, cold remote nitrogen oxygen plasma (CRNOP) treatment to CF was employed to improve fibermatrix adhesion. Composites were developed using CF with polyethersulphone (PES) and...

The parameters controlling performance of a fiber-reinforced polymer composite are type of matrix and fibers, their amount, aspect ratio, fiber orientation with respect to loading direction, fiber–matrix interface, and processing technique. In the case of carbon fiber reinforcement, fiber–matrix interface has always been a serious concern, because...

The effect of molecular weight (MW) of a polymer on the wettability of fibers and its influence on the performance properties need to be addressed in detail. Specialty polymer, viz. polyethersulphone (PES), with varying MW was selected as a matrix material to develop the composites with carbon fabric (CF). Since carbon fiber is inert towards the ma...

A composite with continuous carbon fibers (CF) (80% by vol.) and high performance thermoplastic polyetherimide (PEI) matrix was developed and evaluated for various mechanical properties as a function of fiber orientation angle (0 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees and 90 degrees). It was observed that Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, toug...

Composites based on polyetherimide (PEI) matrix and carbon fabric (CF) with twill weave with two patterns (2 x 2 and 4 x 4) were developed and evaluated for physical, mechanical and tribological (fretting/low amplitude oscillating wear) performance. Another composite based on 2 x 2 twill weave fabric but treated with cold nitrogen plasma to enhance...

A composite with unidirectional carbon fibers (CF) (≈80 vol.%) and high performance thermoplastic polyetherimide matrix (PEI) was developed and evaluated for various mechanical properties as a function of fiber orientation angle (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75° and 90°) with respect to loading direction. It was observed that in general, these propertie...

Effect of surface tailoring on mechanical and tribological properties of plasma treated carbon fabric (CF), used as reinforcement, to develop composites is reported in this paper. CF being inert does not have good adhesion with matrix. Cold remote nitrogen oxygen plasma (CRNOP) was used for surface treatment to enhance their adhesion with the matri...