We study magneto-transport properties of several amorphous Indium oxide nanowires of different widths. The wires show superconducting transition at zero magnetic field, but, there exist a finite resistance at the lowest temperature. The $R(T)$ broade
ning was explained by available phase slip models. At low field, and far below the superconducting critical temperature, the wires with diameter equal to or less than 100 nm, show negative magnetoresistance (nMR). The magnitude of nMR and the crossover field are found to be dependent on both temperature and the cross-sectional area. We find that this intriguing behavior originates from the interplay between two field dependent contributions.
The exotic physical properties of graphene have led to intense research activities on the synthesis and characterization of graphene composites during the last decade. In this article the methods developed for preparation of such materials and the di
fferent application areas are reviewed. The composites discussed are of two types, viz; graphene/polymer and inorganic/ graphene. The techniques of ex-situ hybridization and in-situ hybridization have been pointed out. Some of the application areas are batteries and ultracapacitor for energy storage and fuel cell and solar cell for energy generation and some of the possible future directions of research have been discussed.
Nickel nanosheets of thickness 0.6 nm were grown within the nanochannels of Na-4 mica template. The specimens show magnetodielectric effect at room temperature with a change of dielectric constant as a function of magnetic field, the electric field f
requency varying from 100 to 700 kHz. A decrease of 5% in the value of dielectric constant was observed up to a field of 1.2 Tesla. This is explained by an inhomogeneous two-component composite model as theoretically proposed recently. The present approach will open up synthesis of various nanocomposites for sensor applications.
Ferromagnetic behaviour has been observed experimentally for the first time in nanostructured Manganese. Ultrathin ($sim$ 0.6 nm) Manganese nanosheets have been synthesized inside the two dimensional channels of sol-gel derived Na-4 mica. The magneti
c properties of the confined system are measured within 2K-300K temperature range. The confined structure is found to show a ferromagnetic behaviour with a nonzero coercivity value. The coercivity value remains positive throughout the entire temperature range of measurement. The experimental variation of susceptibility as a function of temperature has been satisfactorily explained on the basis of a two dimensional system with a Heisenberg Hamiltonian involving direct exchange interaction.
Nanosheets of nickel with thickness equal to 0.6 nm have been grown within the interlayer spaces of Na-4 mica. The sheets are made up of percolative clusters of nanodisks. Magnetization characteristics indicate a superparamagnetic behavior with a blo
cking temperature of 428 K.The magnetic anisotropy constant as extracted from the coercivity data has been found to be higher than that of bulk nickel by two orders of magnitude. This is ascribed to a large aspect ratio of the nickel nanophase. The Bloch exponent is also found to be considerably different from that of bulk nickel because of a size effect. The Bloch Equation is still found to be valid for the two dimensional structures.
Graphene-Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite films with thickness $120 mu m$ were synthesized by solidification of PVA in a solution with dispersed graphene nanosheets. Electrical conductivity data were explained as arising due to hopping of carrie
rs between localized states formed at the graphene-PVA interface. Dielectric permittivity data as a function of frequency indicated the occurrence of Debye-type relaxation mechanism. The nanocomposites showed a magnetodielectric effect with the dielectric constant changing by 1.8% as the magnetic field was increased to 1 Tesla. The effect was explained as arising due to Maxwell-Wagner polarization as applied to an inhomogeneous two-dimensional,two-component composite model. This type of nanocomposite may be suitable for applications involving nanogenerators.
Graphene/(Poly)vinyl alcohol (PVA) composite film with thickness $60 mu m$ were synthesized by solidification of a PVA solution comprising of dispersed graphene nanosheets. The close proximity of the graphene sheets enables the fluctuation induced tu
nneling of electrons to occur from one sheet to another. The dielectric data show that the present system can be simulated to a parallel resistance-capacitor network. The high frequency exponent of the frequency variation of the ac conductivity indicates that the charge carriers move in a two-dimensional space. The sample preparation technique will be helpful for synthesizing flexible conductors.
