Maheskumar Velusamy

Northwest University · Department of Physics

Electrocatalytic urea oxidation reaction (UOR) has emerged as a promising alternative to the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water electrolysis. However, UOR faces challenges like slow kinetics, high energy barriers, and a complex mechanism, necessitating the development of efficient electrocatalysts. Herein, a rapid method is proposed fo...

The photoelectric conversion efficiency of CsSnBr3 solar cells only reaches 3.04% due to the insufficient separation of photogenerated charge and the short carriers lifetime. Herein, interfacial electronic properties and photovoltaic...

The design and implementation of affordable high-performance electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea electrooxidation reaction (UOR) are critical for clean and environmentally friendly energy conversion. Herein, we constructed a novel heterostructure interface engineering of double perovskite La2Ni0.5Co0.5MnO6 (LNCM) nanop...

The design of high-performance non-noble-metal-based electrocatalysts for electrooxidation reactions involving splitting of water molecule for energy and environmental applications is the need of the hour. In this study, we report the electrocatalytic performance of a nanocomposite catalyst of FeNi2S4 nanoparticles/CoFe nanowires supported on nicke...

In this study, we successfully designed a novel Ti3C2 MXene quantum dots (MQDs)-modified In2S3/MQDs/SmFeO3 (IMS) Z-scheme heterojunction. We then investigated the crystal phases, chemical states, morphologies, and band structures of the Z-scheme catalysts in detail. The as-prepared IMS heterojunctions greatly facilitated the photocatalytic degradat...

Chemical doping of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) oxide has been a major trend as photocatalyst and electrocatalyst owing to large number of active sites they bring in. In the present work ternary copper iron sulphide (Cu5FeS4) has been successfully synthesized using hydrothermal method and incorporated with rGO, N/rGO and B/rGO. The structural, morp...

A simple hydrothermal synthesis approach for rGO decorated copper nickel tin sulfide (CNTS-rGO) micro flowers is devised in this research. Due to the depletion of fossil resources in the environment, the demand for energy has recently increased tremendously. Here we report the preparation of CNTS with various concentration of GO (Graphene Oxide) (1...

In the recent years, perovskite oxides are gaining an increasing amount of attention owing to their unique traits such as tunable electronic structures, flexible composition, and environmentally friendly properties. In contrast, their catalytic performance is not satisfactory, which hinders real wastewater remediation. To overcome this shortcoming,...

Fabricating a Z-scheme heterostructure is an effective strategy for the highly efficient photocatalyst. However, the conscious modulation of Z-scheme charge transfer is still a great challenge. Herein, Mo, N (co) doped ZnIn2S4/g-C3N4 nanosheets are successfully synthesized by a sol-gel method. The systematic investigations show that the heterostruc...

A novel two-dimensional 2D/2D Bi2WO6@g-C3N5 ([email protected]) step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction was designed and fabricated via simple wet chemical approach. The crystal structure, morphology, composition, and optical properties were systematically investigated by multiple techniques. Apparently, [email protected] heterojunction when compared...

Energy is an extremely important strategic material basis for socio-economic development. Here, we have investigated the structural, electronic, optical, charge transfer and photocatalytic mechanism of red phosphorus RP/CH3NH3PbI3 heterostructure under hydrostatic pressure by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Ab initio molecular dynamic...

Graphene oxide–rhodamine B hydrazide (GO-RhB) nanocomposite was prepared by a simple chemical method and characterized by various spectroscopic and analytical techniques. GO-RhB nanocomposite potentially detects Cr³⁺ ion (excitation/emission = 550 nm/572 nm) via fluorescence turn “on–off” approach. This composite showed high binding affinity (10⁶ M...

The pH of BiVO4 sample synthesized using facile sonication method is varied. The impact of pH variation on structure, morphology, visible light photocatalytic activity of BiVO4 is discussed, an ideal pH which yields better catalytic efficiency is figured out. The crystal structure and phases of the samples were analyzed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD...

In this paper, we have reported as a comparative study a theoretical and experimental approach to photocatalytic efficiency of S-doped BiVO4 at bulk and surface {0 10} and {1 10} crystal facets on BiVO4. It is observed that the well-defined BiVO4 crystal with unique configurations of {010} and {011} has enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to...

Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation was used to conduct a systematic theoretical study on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of pure, Ag-doped, Cu-doped, and (Ag, Cu) co-doped BiVO4. The simulated electronic structure showed that the synergistic effect of Ag/Cu co-doping can induce new energy states due to hybridization in t...

In this work, Ag- or/and Cu-doped BiVO4 samples have been prepared successfully via hydrothermal and photoreduction method. Ag/Cu co-doped BiVO4 exhibited high photocatalytic degradation efficiency in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and displayed a significantly superior property compared to pure BiVO4, as well as only Ag- or Cu-doped BiVO4...

In this work, Ag or/and Cu doped BiVO 4 samples has been prepared successfully via hydrothermal and photoreduction method. Ag/Cu co-doped BiVO 4 exhibited high photocatalytic degradation efficiency in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and displayed a significantly superior property compared to pure BiVO 4, as well as only Ag or Cu doped BiVO 4...

Our theoretical research indicate that the electric field are generated in the direction of (C doped) TiO2 (101) surface to (B-doped) g-C3N4 monolayer for the pristine, C and B doped g-C3N4/TiO2, and higher band-edge potential on the (C doped) TiO2 (101) surface are observed compared to (B-doped) g-C3N4 monolayer. Thus, the pristine (2.591 eV), C-d...

A visible light-driven Cu3SnS4/rGO (CTS/rGO) composite photocatalyst was prepared using ball milling (B) and solvothermal (S) method. CTS prepared by both the methods was preferentially oriented along the (1 1 2) plane exhibiting a tetragonal structure. The SEM image indicates an irregular structure and flower-like appearance in the morphology of C...

A systematic theoretical research on the geometrical, electronic, optical, charge transfer, and photocatalytic mechanisms of pure, Cr-doped, B-doped, and (Cr, B) codoped g-C3N4/BiVO4 heterostructures using a hybrid density functional approach has been carried out. The face-to-face g-C3N4/BiVO4 composed of two-dimensional materials of g-C3N4 and BiV...

CXTS [X = Zn, Co, Mn &Ni] has gained increasing interest owing to its application in photovoltaic devices, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis due to its favorable electrical and optical properties. In this work, CXTS has been prepared by hydro-thermal technique and explored as an electrocatalyst and photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction an...

In the present work, ZnO nanorods and ZnO/GO/CNT nanocomposite have been prepared by microwave assisted method using various time of incorporation of GO/CNT. The structural and optical characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV-Visible spectrometer (UV-Vis) and Photoluminescence (PL). The XRD...

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) was prepared by ultrasonic assisted coprecipitation method. The photocatalytic activity of BiVO4 was tested under visible light irradiation for the degradation of MB. The properties of BiVO4 prepared by coprecipitation is compared with samples prepared using ultrasonic assisted coprecipiation and an optimal ultrasonic power...

In the present work photocatalytic and electrocatalytic activity of CTS-GO and CTS-rGO composites synthesized by ball milling method has been studied. The as synthesized composites were characterized for their structural, morphological and optical properties. Compared to as prepared (Cu 3 SnS 4) CTS; (Cu 3 SnS 4-Graphene Oxide) CTS-GO and (Cu 3 SnS...

Cu3SnS4 (CTS) with various morphologies have been synthesized via solvothethermal method. The influence of different solvents such as deionized water (CTS-DI), N,N-dimethylformamide (CTS-DMF) and poly ethylene glycol (CTS-PEG) has been investigated. XRD patterns of all the prepared samples exhibit tetragonal structure with preferential orientation...

BiVO4 has been successfully synthesised using facile sonication method by varying the ultrasonic output power. The crystal structure, morphology and catalytic efficiency of the samples prepared using sonication technique with different power output has been compared with the sample prepared by normal magnetic stirring. An ideal output power which y...

Copper tin sulphide (CTS) a prominent absorber layer in photovoltaics has been explored for its electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by splitting of water. Here we report the preparation of CTS by two different methods such as ball milling (CTS (B)) and solvothermal (CTS (S)). Subsequently, due to the morphological differe...

The development of non-precious metal based electrocatalysts is essential for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) from the splitting of water. Recently copper tin sulphide (CTS) has gained attention due to its favourable properties in photovoltaic devices and photocatalysis. In this work, CTS has been explored as an electrocatalyst in HER. Cu2SnS3 (C...

Visible light induced photocatalyst BiVO4 with monoclinic scheelite structure has been synthesised via sol gel method assisted by ultrasonication. The prepared samples were characterised using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV–Vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) techniques. The photocatalytic efficiency was eva...

Ternary copper tin sulphide (Cu3SnS4) has been successfully prepared by two different methods via ball milling (CTS (B)) and solvothermal method (CTS (S)). The crystal structure, composition, surface morphology and optical properties of the prepared samples has been characterized. The SEM and TEM image indicate that the flower-like CTS (S) consist...

Cu3SnS4 has been synthesized by mechano-chemical process and the structural and optical characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), high resolution TEM, photoluminescence (PL), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and emission spectroscopy. The XRD data showed that the mos...

SnS has been successfully synthesized by ball milling method. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared sample were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Photocatalytic activity by photo degradation of methylene blue (MB) has been investigated under visible-light irradiation. The results indica...