Bio-imaging and drug carriers for delivery have created a huge demand for crystals. Crystals are fascinating materials that have been grown for a long time but obtaining biocompatible fluorescent crystals is a challenging task. We report on the growth of fluorescent crystals using a carbon dot (C-dot) solution by a hydrothermal process. The crystallization pattern of these C-dots exhibited a unique dendritic structure having a feather-like morphology. The growth temperature and pressure were maintained at 60°C and 200 mmHg, respectively, for crystal growth. A green fluorescence (under UV light) that was observed in the C-dot solution was retained in the crystals formed from the solution. Cytotoxicity studies on Vero cells revealed the crystals to be extremely biocompatible. These fluorescent crystals are extremely well suited for biomedical and optoelectronic applications.

The synthesis of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) by a chemical vapor deposition method using three different plant oils as precursors is presented. Because there are four param-eters involved in the synthesis of CNM (i.e., the precursor, reaction temperature of the furnace, catalysts, and the carrier gas), each having three variables, it was decided to use the Taguchi optimization method with the ‘the larger the better’ concept. The best parameter regarding the yield of carbon varied for each type of precursor oil. It was a temperature of 900°C + Ni as a catalyst for neem oil; 700°C + Co for karanja oil and 500°C + Zn as a catalyst for castor oil. The morphology of the nanocarbon produced was also impacted by different parameters. Neem oil and castor oil produced carbon nanotube (CNT) at 900°C; at lower temperatures, sphere-like structures developed. In contrast, karanja oil produced CNTs at all the assessed temperatures. X-ray diffraction and Raman diffraction analyses confirmedthat the nanocarbon (both carbon nano beads and CNTs) produced were graphitic in nature.

Carbon materials were synthesized by pyrolysis from fibers of Corn-straw (Zea mays), Rice-straw (Oryza sativa), Jute-straw (Corchorus capsularis) Bamboo (Bombax bambusa), Bagass (Saccharum officinarum), Cotton (Bombax malabaricum), and Coconut (Cocos nucifera); these materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectra. All carbon materials are micro sized with large pores or channel like morphology. The unique complex spongy, porous and channel like structure of Carbon shows a lot of similarity with the original anatomy of the plant fibers used as precursor. Waxy contents like tyloses and pits present on fiber tracheids that were seen in the inherent anatomy disappear after pyrolysis and only the carbon skeleton remained; XRD analysis shows that carbon shows the development of a (002) plane, with the exception of carbon obtained from bamboo, which shows a very crystalline character. Raman studies of all carbon materials showed the presence of G- and D-bands of almost equal intensities, suggesting the presence of graphitic carbon as well as a disordered graphitic structure. Carbon materials possessing lesser density, larger surface area, more graphitic with less of an sp3 carbon contribution, and having pore sizes around 10μm favor hydrogen adsorption. Carbon materials synthesized from bagass meet these requirements most effectively, followed by cotton fiber, which was more effective than the carbon synthesized from the other plant fibers.

Synthesis of carbon fibers from cotton fiber by pyrolysis process has been described. Synthesis parameters are optimized using Taguchi optimization technique. Synthesized carbon fibers are used for studying hydrogen adsorption capacity using Seivert's apparatus. Transmission electron microscopy analysis and X-ray diffraction of carbon fiber from cotton suggested it to be very transparent type material possessing graphitic nature. Carbon synthesized from cotton fibers under the conditions predicted by Taguchi optimization methodology (no treatment of cotton fiber prior to pyrolysis, temperature of pyrolysis 800℃, Argon as carrier gas and paralyzing time for 2 h) exhibited 7.32 wt% hydrogen adsorption capacity.

Porous carbon materials synthesized from various plant derived precursors i.e. seeds of [Castor (Ricinus communis), Soap nut (Sapindus sp.), Cashew-nut (Semecarpus anacardium), Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), Ambadi (Crotolaria juncea), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Bitter Almond (Prunus amygdalus), Sesamum (Sisamum indicum), Date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera),Canola (Brassica napus), Sunflower (Helianthus annulus)] and fibrous materials from [Corn stem- (Zea mays), Rice straw (Oryza sativa), Bamboo (Bombax bambusa) and Coconut fibers (Cocos nucifera)] were screened to make supercapacitor in 5M KOH solution. Carbon material obtained from Jack fruit seeds (92.0 F/g), Rice straw (83.0 F/g), Soap nut seeds (54.0 F/g), Castor seeds (44.34 F/g) and Bamboo (40.0 F/g) gave high capacitance value as compared to others. The magnitude of capacitance value was found to be inversely proportional to the scan rate of measurement. It is suggested that carbon material should possess large surface area and small pore size to get better value of capacitor. Moreover, the structure of carbon materials should be such that majority of pores are in the plane parallel to the plane of electrode and surface is fluffy like cotton ball.

A carbon nanotube (CNT) of diameter ~20 nm has been synthesized by spray pyrolysis of turpentine oil using Ni/Fe catalyst. Pellet of CNTs has been used as a target to produce semiconducting carbon thin film of band gap 1.4 eV. Presence of oxygen pressure in the pulse laser deposition (PLD) chamber helped to control the sp3/sp2 ratio to achieve the desired band gap. Results are discussed with the help of Raman spectra, SEM TEM micrographs and optical measurements suggest that semiconducting carbon thin film deposited by PLD technique has retained its nanotubes structure except that its diameter has increased from 20 nm to 150 nm.

Carbon materials of various morphologies were synthesized by pyrolysis of Soap-nut seeds (Sapindus mukorossi), Jack Fruit seeds (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Date-seeds (Phoenix dactylifera), Neem seeds (Azadirachta indica), Tea leaves (Ehretia microphylla), Bamboo stem (Bambusa bambus) and Coconut fiber (Cocos nucifera), without using any catalyst. Carbon materials thus formed were characterized by SEM XRD and Raman. Carbon thus synthesized varied in size (in μm) but all showed highly porous morphology. These carbon materials were utilized as the anode in Lithium secondary battery. Amongst the various precursors, carbon fibers obtained from Soap-nut seeds (Sapindus mukorossi) and Bamboo stem (Bambusa bambus), even after 100th cycles, showed the highest capacity of 130.29 mAh/g and 92.74 mAh/g respectively. Morphology, surface areas and porosity of carbon materials obtained from these precursors were analyzed to provide interpretation for their capacity to intercalate lithium. From the Raman studies it is concluded that graphitic nature of carbon materials assist in the intercalation of lithium. Size of cavity (or pore size of channels type structure) present in carbon materials were found to facilitate the intercalation of lithium.

Thin films of carbon-nano materials (CNMs) of different morphology have been successfully deposited on ceramic substrate by CVD at temperatures 800℃, 850℃ and 900℃ using plant based oils in the presence of transition metal catalysts (Ni, Co and Ni/Co alloys). Based on the return and insertion loss, microwave absorption properties of thin film of nanocarbon material are measured using passive micro-Strip line components. The result indicates that amongst CNMs synthesized from oil of natural precursors (mustered oil - Brassica napus, Karanja oil - Pongamia glabra, Cotton oil - Gossipium hirsuta and Neem oil - Azadirachta indica) carbon nano fibers obtained from neem's seed oil showed better microwave absorption (~20dB) in the range of 8.0 GHz to 17.90 GHz.