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Nanoclays (layered silicates) have been applied as effective reinforcements for range of natural and synthetic polymeric matrices. Recent research has turned toward design and exploration of green nanocomposites using green polymers and nanoclay nanofillers. This state-of-the-art comprehensive overview debates design and performance prospects of green nanoclay nanocomposites. In this regard, numerous green polymers like poly(lactic acid), poly(vinyl alcohol), natural rubber, cellulose, starch, etc. have been considered. The effectiveness of green nanoclay nanocomposites has been analyzed through microscopic, electrical, mechanical, thermal, adsorption, and biomedical properties and wide span of applications such as packaging, dye removal, and biomedical sectors. Packaging based on cellulose/montmorillonite had very low water vapor transmission rate of 43 g/m2.day, whereas poly(lactic acid)/cellulose/montmorillonite packaging performed better with high water vapor transmission rate of 512–1861 g/m2.day. Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Cloisite Na possess optimum water vapor transmission rate of 533 g/m2.day. Nanocellulose/nanoclay packagings have also been found ideal due to low water vapor permeability (6.3–13.3 g.μm/m2.day.kPa) and oxygen permeability (0.07 cm3μm/m2.day.kPa) values. In dye removal applications, poly(ethylene glycol)/montmorillonite revealed optimum dye adsorption capacities of 190–237 mg/g, where chitosan/montmorillonite had high dye adsorption capacity of 446.43 mg/g. Poly(lactic acid)/modified Cloisite 20 A systems also own high dye adsorption efficiency of 97%. Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) and poly(vinyl alcohol) systems with montmorillonite nanoclay have effective drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing applications. Furthermore, dielectric, mechanical, non-flammability, and self-extinguishing features of cellulose/montmorillonite nanocomposite systems have been reported. Future of these nanomaterials definitely relies on innovative design, facile fabrication strategies, and overcoming related challenges.

Nanoporous graphene own high surface area and unique structural and physical properties due to nano-sized pores in graphene nanosheet. Nanoporous graphene has been modified by the introduction of surface functional groups, doping, or nanoparticle modification and applied for nanocomposites. The overview basically highlights design, properties, and potential of functionalized nanoporous graphene derived nanocomposites in advanced membranes (desalination/gas/oil separation), thermal management, electrocatalysts, and micro-supercapacitors. According to literature, pore size of neat nanoporous graphene is 3–11 Å and hydroxyl functional nanoporous graphene also had nanopore size of

Exceptional category of alloys comprising five or more alloying metals in structures are referred as high entropy alloys. Uniqueness of these alloys have been observed due to the combination of superior mechanical, thermal, conducting, anticorrosion, and other physical properties. Unlike traditional metallic alloys (two metals), the varying elemental compositions led to limitless potential possibilities. Recent research has unveiled an important opportunity for high entropy alloys based nanostructures like nanoparticles and nanocomposites. This state-of-the-art review is basically intended to highlight the design and essential structure, property, and applied aspects of essential high entropy alloy based nanostructures. Consequently, various notable nanoparticles and combinations of high entropy alloys with carbon nanoparticles (graphene, carbon nanotube) and inorganic nanoparticles have been surveyed. In this context, several nanocomposite designs have been reported using the efficient techniques like thermal shock, flame spray pyrolysis, plasma spark sintering, mechanical milling, alloying, electrochemical, and solution to name a few. The resulting high entropy alloy derived nanomaterials have been researched for microstructure, nanocrystalline structure, different mechanical features (microhardness, modulus, stress–strain, compression properties), wear, electrochemical, thermal, and range of other physical properties. Consequently, research on high entropy alloy nanostructures has pointed towards the applied fields of energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors), radiation shielding, corrosion/wear coatings, and biomedical uses.

In this article, a series of considerably fast response visible light photodetectors-based CdS nanostructure were fabricated via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Further, a detailed relation between the utilized laser energy during the nanostructured CdS deposition along with the photo-responsive characteristics of the projected devices was established. Particularly, higher laser energy resulted in augmented figure of merit wherein the photo-responsivity (R) increased from 32 to 54.8 mA/W upon increasing the applied laser energy from 140 to 220 mJ, respectively. The linear dynamic range (LDR) of the fabricated devices exhibited a pronounced laser energy linear dependency with maximum value of 20 dB at 220 mJ. In contrast, the optical power profile revealed an inverse correlation with the attained R, descending values from 68.5 mA/W at 6 mW/cm2 to 34.7 mA/W at 26 mW/cm2. Of the fabricated devices, photodetector attained using laser energy of 220 mJ resulted in response/recovery time of 179 and 161 ms, respectively. Despite the consistency and robustness of the proposed geometry, it represents a rapid framework for eco-friendly optoelectronic design.

The presence of Methyl Orange, a hazardous organic compound typically found in industrial wastewater, presents a significant environmental challenge, necessitating the development of effective strategies for its removal to mitigate adverse impacts on aquatic ecosystems and human health. In this work, we utilized 60-watt continuous-wave (CW) and high-power CO2 laser with 10.6 μm wavelength to synthesize Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) doped with 1% Cerium (Ce) as photocatalyst at standard laboratory conditions through Laser-Assisted Chemical Bath Synthesis (LACBS) technique. The synthesized nanostructures were thoroughly characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Subsequently, their efficiency in degrading Methyl Orange (MO) dye was evaluated under UV and sunlight irradiation. The findings revealed that the 1% Ce-doped ZnO sample exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency under both UV and sunlight irradiation, as well as active adsorption capabilities in the absence of light. Notably, the most effective photodegradation performance was achieved under solar radiation, with an impressive 95% of MO dye degradation observed after just 90 min of exposure.

The purpose of the presented study is to examine the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the spectrum features of poly [2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV). The characteristics of the MDMO-PPV and doped ZnO NPS samples were assessed using several techniques. A set of solutions of MDMO-PPV in toluene that were doped with different ratio percentages of ZnO NPs was prepared to obtain thin films. Pristine and composite solutions were spin-coated on glass substrates. It was observed that MDMO-PPV had two distinct absorbance bands at 310 and 500 nm in its absorption spectrum. The UV-Vis spectrum was dramatically changed when 5% of ZnO NPs were added. The result showed a significant reduction in absorption of the band 500 nm, while 310 nm absorption increased rapidly and became more pronounced. Upon adding (10%) ZnONPs to the sample, no noticeable change was observed in the 500 nm band. However, the 310 nm band shifted towards the blue region. There is a dominant peak in the PL spectrum of MDMO-PPV in its pristine form around 575 nm and a smaller hump around 600 nm of the spectrum. The spectral profile at 600 nm and the intensity of both bands are improved by raising the ZnO NP concentration. These bands feature two vibronic transitions identified as (0-0) and (0-1). When the dopant concentration increased to the maximum dopant percentage (10%), the energy band gap values increased by 0.21 eV compared to the pristine MDMO-PPV. In addition, the refractive index (n) decreased to its lowest value of 2.30 with the presence of concentrations of ZnO NPs.

Polyurethane is a multipurpose polymer with indispensable physical characteristics and technical uses, such as films/coatings, fibers, and foams. The inclusion of nanoparticles in the polyurethane matrix has further enhanced the properties and potential of this important polymer. Research in this field has led to the design and exploration of polyurethane foams and polyurethane nanocomposite foams. This review article reflects vital aspects related to the fabrication, features, and applications of polyurethane nanocomposite foams. High-performance nanocellular polyurethanes have been produced using carbon nanoparticles such as graphene and carbon nanotubes. Enhancing the amounts of nanofillers led to overall improved nanocomposite foam features and performances. Subsequently, polyurethane nanocomposite foams showed exceptional morphology, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, thermal stability, and other physical properties. Consequently, multifunctional applications of polyurethane nanocomposite foams have been observed in shape memory, electromagnetic interference shielding, and biomedical applications.

Among nanocomposite materials, multifunctional polymer nanocomposites have prompted important innovations in the field of sensing technology. Polymer-based nanocomposites have been successfully utilized to design high-tech sensors. Thus, conductive, thermoplast, or elastomeric, as well as natural polymers have been applied. Carbon nanoparticles as well as inorganic nanoparticles, such as metal nanoparticles or metal oxides, have reinforced polymer matrices for sensor fabrication. The sensing features and performances rely on the interactions between the nanocomposites and analytes like gases, ions, chemicals, biological species, and others. The multifunctional nanocomposite-derived sensors possess superior durability, electrical conductivity, sensitivity, selectivity, and responsiveness, compared with neat polymers and other nanomaterials. Due to the importance of polymeric nanocomposite for sensors, this novel overview has been expanded, focusing on nanocomposites based on conductive/non-conductive polymers filled with the nanocarbon/inorganic nanofillers. To the best of our knowledge, this article is innovative in its framework and the literature covered regarding the design, features, physical properties, and the sensing potential of multifunctional nanomaterials. Explicitly, the nanocomposites have been assessed for their strain-sensing, gas-sensing, bio-sensing, and chemical-sensing applications. Here, analyte recognition by nanocomposite sensors have been found to rely on factors such as nanocomposite design, polymer type, nanofiller type, nanofiller content, matrix–nanofiller interactions, interface effects, and processing method used. In addition, the interactions between a nanocomposite and analyte molecules are defined by high sensitivity, selectivity, and response time, as well as the sensing mechanism of the sensors. All these factors have led to the high-tech sensing applications of advanced nanocomposite-based sensors. In the future, comprehensive attempts regarding the innovative design, sensing mechanism, and the performance of progressive multifunctional nanocomposites may lead to better the strain-sensing, gas/ion-sensing, and chemical-sensing of analyte species for technical purposes.

This study reports a simple new technique for the preparation of novel hexagonal-shaped mixed metal oxides (MMO) nanorods using Zn/Al-layered double hydroxide (LDH) as a precursor for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application. The effect of the Zn to Al molar ratio demonstrated a sound correlation between the obtained nanorods’ diameter and the fabricated DSSCs efficiency. Additionally, the optical behavior of the fabricated MMO film as well as the absorption enhancement due to the utilized dye are also demonstrated; a cut-off phenomenon at around 376 nm corresponds to the attained hexagonal nanorods. The open-circuit voltage augmented noticeably from 0.6 to 0.64 V alongside an increase in the diameter of nanorods from 64 to 80 nm. The results indicated that an increment in the diameter of the nanorods is desirable due to the enhanced surface area through which a higher amount of dye N719 was loaded (0.35 mM/cm2). This, in turn, expedited the transport of electrons within the MMO matrix resulting in an advanced short-circuit current. Of the devices fabricated, ZA-8 exhibited the highest fill factor and efficiency of 0.37% and 0.69%, respectively, because of its boosted short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage.

In this article, an in-depth optical investigation of Zn(Al)O-mixed metal oxide (MMO) film using Zn/Al-layered double hydroxide (LDH) was elucidated through co-precipitation and spin coating techniques. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis revealed the occurrence of a vertically aligned sheet-like structure with a thickness of 60 nm for pristine LDH, which further reduced to 45 nm after calcination at 300 °C. Additionally, pristine LDH showed multiple optical bandgaps of 5.18, 3.6, and 3.2 eV. Moreover, a good agreement of the obtained optical bandgaps was attained between both utilized methods, ultraviolet-visible light (UV-Vis), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The optical bandgap decreased at higher calcination temperatures, which indicates the active role of the applied post-fabrication process on the optical profile of the deposited MMO film/s. The demonstrated transmittance spectra of the deposited MMO films exhibited a transparency between 85% and 95%; this indicates the usefulness and consistency of the proposed film for transparent conductive oxide (TCO) based optoelectronic applications.