Because of their unique properties (size, shape, and surface functions), functional materials are gaining significant attention in the areas of energy conversion and storage, sensing, electronics, photonics, and biomedicine.  Within the chapters of this book written by well-known researchers, one will find the range of methods that have been developed for preparation and functionalization of organic, inorganic and hybrid structures which are the necessary building blocks for the architecture of various advanced functional materials. The book discusses these innovative methodologies and research strategies, as well as provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the cutting-edge research on the processing, properties and technology developments of advanced functional materials and their applications.

Specifically,Advanced Functional Materials:

Compiles the objectives related to functional materials and provides detailed reviews of fundamentals, novel production methods, and frontiers of functional materials, including metalic oxides, conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes, discotic liquid crystalline dimers, calixarenes, crown ethers, chitosan and graphene.Discusses the production and characterization of these materials, while mentioning recent approaches developed as well as their uses and applications for sensitive chemiresistors, optical and electronic materials, solar hydrogen generation, supercapacitors, display and organic light-emitting diodes, functional adsorbents, and antimicrobial and biocompatible layer formation.

This volume in the Advanced Materials Book Series includes twelve chapters divided into two main areas:Part 1: Functional Metal Oxides: Architecture, Design and Applications andPart 2: Multifunctional Hybrid Materials: Fundamentals and Frontiers

Ashutosh Tiwari is an Associate Professor at the Biosensors and Bioelectronics Centre, Linköping University, Sweden; Editor-in-Chief, Advanced Materials Letters; Secretary General, International Association of Advanced Materials; a materials chemist and also a docent in applied physics at Linköping University, Sweden. He has published more than 350 articles, patents, and conference proceedings in the field of materials science and technology and has edited/authored more than fifteen books on the advanced state-of-the-art of materials science. He is a founding member of the Advanced Materials World Congress and the Indian Materials Congress.

Lokman Uzun is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry Division, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey where he also received his PhD in 2008. He is the author of more than 75 articles in peer-review journals and is the Assistant Editor ofHacettepes Journal of Biology and Chemistry. He recently took up a fellowship with the Biosensors and Bioelectronics Centre, Linköping University, Sweden. His research interest is mainly in materials science, surface modification, affinity interaction, polymer science, especially molecularly imprinted polymers and their applications in biosensors, bioseparation, food safety, and the environmental sciences.

Preface xvPart 1: Functional Metal Oxides: Architecture, Design, and Applications1 Development of Toxic Chemicals Sensitive Chemiresistors Based on Metal Oxides, Conducting Polymers and Nanocomposites Thin Films 3Sadia Ameen, M. Shaheer Akhtar, Hyung-Kee Seo, and Hyung-Shik Shin1.1 Introduction 41.2 Semiconducting Metal Oxide Nanostructures for Chemiresistor 61.3 Conducting Polymers Nanostructures for Chemiresistors 211.4 Semiconducting Nanocomposites for Chemoresistors 441.5 Conclusions and Outlook 48Acknowledgments 49References 492 The Synthetic Strategy for Developing Mesoporous Materials through Nanocasting Route 59Rawesh Kumar and Biswajit Chowdhury2.1 Introduction to Nanocasting 592.2 Steps of Nanocasting 612.3 Porous Silica as Template for Inorganic Compounds 682.4 Porous Silica as Template for Mesoporous Carbon 862.5 Porous Carbon as Template for Inorganic Compound 1042.6 Future Prescriptive  1132.7 Limitation 1142.8 Conclusion 115Acknowledgments 116References 1163 Spray Pyrolysis of Nano-structured Optical and Electronic Materials 127Nurdan Demirci Sankir, Erkan Aydin, Esma Ugur, and Mehmet Sankir3.1 Introduction 1283.2 Spray Pyrolysis Technology 1283.3 Nanoparticles Created via Spray Pyrolysis Method 1343.4 Nanopillars and Nanoporous Structures 1423.5 Nanocrystalline Thin Film Deposition by Spray Pyrolysis 1503.6 Conclusion 167Acknowledgments 168References  1684 Multifunctional Spinel Ferrite Nanoparticles for Biomedical Application 183Noppakun Sanpo, Cuie Wen, Christopher C. Berndt, and James Wang4.1 Introduction 1834.2 Ferrites 1874.3 The Sol Gel Method 1894.4 Chelating Agents 1954.5 Approach and Methodology 1994.6 Experimental Results 2024.7 Concluding Remarks 213Acknowledgements 214References 2145 Heterostructures Based on TiO2 and Silicon for Solar Hydrogen Generation    219Dilip Kumar Behara, Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Gyan Prakash Sharma, B.V. Sai Krishna Kiran, Sri Sivakumar and Raj Ganesh S. Pala5.1 Introduction 2205.2 Overview of Heterostructures 2215.3 TiO2  Heterostructures 2345.4 Silicon Based Heterostructures 2535.5 Some Unaddressed Issues of Heterostructures in Relation to Photocatalysis 2615.6 Summary/Conclusions and Future Outlook 262Acknowledgment 263Notes on Contributors 263References 2646 Studies on Electrochemical Properties of MnO2 and CuO Decorated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as High-Performance Electrode Materials 283Mohan Raja6.1 Introduction 2836.2 Experimental 2856.3 Characterization 2866.4 Results and Discussion 2866.5 Conclusion 292References 293Part 2: Multifunctional Hybrid Materials: Fundamentals and Frontiers7 Discotic Liquid Crystalline Dimers: Chemistry and Applications 297Shilpa Setia, Sandeep Kumar and Santanu Kumar Pal7.1 Introduction 2987.2 Structure-Property Relationship of Discotic Dimers 3007.3 Applications 3577.4 Conclusions and Outlook 3618 Supramolecular Nanoassembly and Its Potential 367Alok Pandya, Heena Goswami, Anand Lodha and Pinkesh Sutariya8.1 Supramolecular Chemistry 3688.2 Nanochemistry 3768.3 Supramolecular Nanoassembly 3848.4 Conclusion and Future Prospects 394References 396Suggested further reading 3979 Carbon/-Based Hybrid Composites as Advanced Electrodes for Supercapacitors 399S.T. Senthilkumar, K. Vijaya Sankar , J. S. Melo, A. Gedanken, and R. Kalai Selvana9.1 Introduction 4009.2 Principle of Supercapacitor 4029.3 Activated Carbon and their Composites 4109.4 Carbon Aerogels and Their Composite Materials 4119.5 Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and their Composite Materials 4159.6 Two-Dimensional Graphene 4179.7 Conclusion and Outlook 424Acknowledgements 42510 Synthesis, Characterization, and Uses of Novel-Architecture Copolymers through Gamma Radiation Technique 433H. Ivin Melendez-Ortiz and Emilio Bucio10.1 Introduction 43410.2 Ionizing Radiation 43510.3 Gamma-Ray Measurements 43810.4 Synthesis of Graft Polymers by Gamma-Rays 44110.5 Different Architecture of Polymers 44910.6 Polymer Characterization 455Acknowledgments 458References 45811 Advanced Composite Adsorbents: Chitosan versus Graphene 463George Z. Kyzas11.1 Introduction  46311.2 Chitosan-Based Materials 46511.3 Graphene-Based Materials 47811.4 Graphene/Chitosan Composite Adsorbents 48311.5 Conclusions 488References 48912 Antimicrobial Biopolymers 493S. Sayed and M.A. Jardine12.1 Introduction 49312.2 Biopolymers 49612.3 Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers 50612.4 Metal Loading 51412.5 Assessment of Antimicrobial/Antifungal Testing Methods 51812.6 Conclusion 525References 52613 Organometal Halide Perovskites for Photovoltaic Applications 535Sai Bai, Yizheng Jin, and Feng Gao13.1 Introduction 53513.2 Fundamentals of Organometal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells 53713.3 Deposition Methods and Crystal Engineering of Organometal Halide Perovskites 54713.4 Commercialization Challenges and Possible Solutions 55813.5 Summary and Conclusion 561Acknowledgements 562References 562Index 567