Synthesis, Characterization, and Properties of Nanomaterials

Dear Colleagues,

Nanomaterials have remarkably different physical and chemical properties from their bulk counterparts with the same constituents and have potential applications in many different fields, including coatings, catalysts, sensors, magnetic data storage, solar energy devices, ferrofluids, cell labeling, and special drug delivery systems. Many different techniques have been employed to synthesize nanomaterials, including chemical vapor deposition, thermal decomposition, induction plasma synthesis, pulsed laser ablation, the template technique, the gas phase method, the sol–gel method, the combustion method, solvothermal synthesis, and hydrothermal synthesis. One-dimensional (1D) semiconductor nanowires and nanorods have received increasing attention in recent years in hopes of demonstrating practical optoelectronic nanodevices at room temperature. Moreover, monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS₂, WS₂, and WSe₂, have attracted the attention of the scientific community as two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor crystals with direct gaps in the visible spectrum; in bulk form, these systems have an indirect band gap. Several characterization techniques have been employed to investigate the properties of nanomaterials, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP–MS), dark field microscopy, aerodynamic particle sizer (APS), scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Besides the aforementioned characterization techniques, advanced optical spectroscopic methods have been used to investigate different semiconductor structures in order to make them suitable for optoelectronic device applications. The most efficient and effective optical spectroscopic experimental techniques are time-integrated photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL), femtosecond pump–probe spectroscopy, micro-PL and Raman spectroscopy, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and cathodoluminescence.

This Special Issue aims to present a collection of reviews of the most recent research outcomes and original research papers in the field of nanomaterials. Potential research topics are not strictly limited to those in the aforementioned research fields and can be from any other research field relevant to the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials.

Dr. Antaryami Mohanta
Guest Editor

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