ZnO Tetrapods: Basics, Modeling, Synthesis, and Applications (Engineering Materials)

This book highlights recent trends and results based on the focused investigations on zinc oxide tetrapods, a specific morphology of ZnO with intriguing structural and optoelectronic features viable for several novel applications. First, it presents a comprehensive introduction to ZnO tetrapods, explaining the unique characteristics that prompt interest for research and real-time applications. It highlights the facile and reliable preparation techniques and methods to overcome challenges of scalability and reproducibility, followed by interesting optical, electronic, and mechanical properties of this nanostructured material. A special section is devoted to computational modeling, which explains the theoretical concept of energy band structures, defect states and their corresponding functionalities. In addition, it highlights applications across a wide range of fields like optoelectronics, environmental remediation science, biomedicine, and energy technologies, including novel trends, such as hybrid materials and green synthesis pathways. On this interdisciplinary book, both foundational knowledge and forward looking perspectives are presented and discussed in detail, which can function as a vital resource for researchers, academicians, and professionals researching and intending to utilize ZnO tetrapods in various domains of science, engineering, and technology.

Yogendra Kumar Mishra is full professor at Mads Clausen Institute University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, DENMARK. Previously, he was leading a group at Kiel University, Germany where he did Habilitation (2015) in Materials Science. He received Ph.D. (2008) in Physics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. He introduced the flame-process for tetrapod-nanostructuring and their 3D networks which found many applications in different technologies including using them as novel templates to create hybrid and/or new 3D materials. Smart Materials Lab is developing new class of multifunctional hybrid 3D porous materials for advanced technologies to address the upscaling, sustainability, and green transition challenges. He has been prestigious awards like Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Fellowship (from Bonn, Germany) and BHJ Young Investigator (under 40) from Denmark. 

Dr. D. Paul Joseph is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Physics at the National Institute of Technology Warangal (NIT-Warangal). He obtained his Ph.D. in physics-materials science (interdisciplinary) from the Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras, in 2010. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Condensed Matter Sciences (CCMS) at National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. His active research areas are alternative transparent conducting electrodes (both metals and metal oxides in thin film form), proximity effect between superconductors and half-metallic ferromagnets, alternative components for dye-sensitized solar cells, nanostructured materials for batteries, swift heavy ion-beam irradiation effects on materials, and photocatalytic activity for degradation of pollutants. 

Dr. V. Jayalakshmi is currently an associate professor in the Dept. of Physics, NIT-Warangal. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Bangalore. Her research interests are in the areas of synthesis of nematic and chiral nematic emulsions, development of technologies for detecting Alzheimer's biomarkers using liquid crystals and ZnO tetrapods for novel applications. 

Dr. Kuppusamy Thangaraju is currently working as a professor in Dept. of Physics, NIT-Warangal, India. He obtained his Ph.D. from Anna Univ., India. His research area includes organic semiconductors, organic optoelectronic devices such as OLEDs, OPVs, OTFTs, photodetectors, and organic/inorganic hybrid nanostructured thin films and their optoelectronic devices.