Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology

Center of Excellence at AIT

CoEN @ AIT
Motto	There is no sky to limit us at the bottom
Type	Center of Excellence
Endowment	NANOTEC, NSTDA
Director	Prof. Joydeep Dutta
Academic staff	6
Students	23
Postgraduates	23
Doctoral students	11
Location	Klong Luang, Bangkok , Pathum Thani , Thailand
Campus	Suburban
Website	http://www.nano.ait.asia

The Center of Excellence (CoE) in Nanotechnology is located inside the Asian Institute of Technology campus. It is one among the 8 Centers of Excellence in Thailand.

The CoEN at AIT is about applied research and graduate education in the newly emerging field of Nanotechnology. The unifying concept in the center's research activities is to make use of inexpensive wet-chemical methods to fabricate innovative materials and futuristic device components. Current research activities at the CoEN focuses on dye-sensitized solar cells, piezotronic devices, gas sensors, bio-diagnostic tools, specific microbial sensors, heavy metal ion sensors for waste water, environmental mitigation through visible light photocatalysis, self-organisation of nanoparticles, and layer-by layer growth from colloidal particles, among others. Master's degree program in Nanotechnology has been launched in 2009. The center has over 30 members from 10 different countries who are carrying out cutting-edge cross-disciplinary research in Nanotechnology.

Notable international collaborations are with: State University of New York, Buffalo, USA^[1]; S. N. Bose Center for Theoretical Sciences, Kolkata, India; Center of Photoelectrochemical Energy, Korea University, Jochiwon, South Korea^[2]; Center for Nanobioscience, Agharkar Institute, India^[3]; ; Inorganic Materials Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland^[4]; Uppsala University, Sweden^[5]; University of Quebec, Canada^[6]; Leibniz Institute of New Materials, Germany; University of California, Berkley, USA^[7]; and Griffith University, Australia^[8].

The Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology was started in 2006 with an aim to address the creation of knowledge in areas relevant to Thailand, its industries and its people. Activities include joint research with other local and international universities and institutes, education and training personnel in the field of nanotechnology, technology transfer and promotion of public and industrial awareness of nanotechnology. This center provides international platform for academicians and researchers from Thailand, AIT and our partnered universities worldwide to work together in partnership with the industries.

In Thailand, there are currently 8 Centers of Excellence under Thailand National Nanotechnology Center: NANOTEC: CoE Kasetsert University, Bangkok; CoE Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok; CoE King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok; CoE Mahidol University, Bangkok; CoE Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani; CoE Prince of Songkhla University, Phuket; CoE Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen; and CoE Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai.

The Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology at AIT was set up, jointly with the National Nanotechnology Center, Thailand of the NSTDA^[9], at the Asian Institute of Technology campus, Thailand. Under the agreement, AIT and NANOTEC supports the center jointly. A few faculties at AIT joined hands to propose for this center to be established in the institute. The faculties came from all the three schools and the founding members were: Prof. Joydeep Dutta^[10], Prof. W. Kanok-Nukulchai^[11], Dr. Oleg Shipin^[12], Late Dr. N. Coowanitwong^[13], Dr. M. Parnichkun^[14], Dr. Mousa M. Nazhad^[15], Dr. S. Venkatesh^[16] and Dr. P. Herabat^[17]. A few rooms in the Chalarm Prakiat Building in Asian Institute of Technology were allocated for its operation. Initially, due to the lack of sufficient funds the center had a hard time to start performing. Prof. Joydeep Dutta^[10], CoEN Director, recalls, "I used to get glasses and mugs from my house to fulfill the students requirements for glasswares in the lab." Over the years the center got crowded with new equipments coming in and more researchers joining the nano-team. Eventually in September 2009, the center was officially shifted to the Outreach building.

On 8 September 2009, a state of the art facility of the Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology at AIT was jointly inaugurated by Prof. Said Irandoust^[18], AIT President, and Dr. Paritud Bhandhubanyong^[19], Director, National Metal and Materials Technology Center^[20]. The lab had bigger and larger space and was more free for the visitors from outside.

The Asian Institute of Technology governs the administrative activities of the Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology. Prof. Joydeep Dutta^[10], is the director of CoEN.

The facilities provided for the students in AIT is freely available to the researchers and students of the center. With a clean and green campus and sporting facilities such as football grounds, tennis fields, badminton, volleyball, basketball courts, a swimming pool, a golf course etc., the students can find time for recreation and physical workouts within the campus. A two-storied library is accessible to all the members of AIT.

Doctoral research in Nanotechnology was taking place since 2003. But, Master’s degree program in Nanotechnology at AIT was recently launched in August 2009.^[21] It has attracted considerable interest amongst students across Asia. 7 students joined the program in the first semester. The program is open to graduates with Bachelor of engineering (electrical, chemical, mechanical, industrial, telecommunications, computer engineering, electronics, and instrumentation) as well as Bachelor of Science (physics and chemistry).

Essential features of AIT’s Nanotechnology degree program are: programmatic balance; processing nanostructures properties applications (P-N-P-A); interdisciplinarity; science (including biology) and technology; integrated classroom-lab experience; hands-on experiments and use of instrumentations; curriculum linked to applications; balance between theory and practice (industrial needs); and content addressing societal impact: public safety, ethics, and awareness.

The aim of the ‘integrated Master’s Degree programme in Nanotechnology’ is to address the knowledge-based industries of the 21st century that will require continuous development of their workforce in this new field as well as a technically updated management. The Nanotechnology course is designed in such a way that students from different disciplines can get easily acquainted with the subject matter. The current back of students are from different backgrounds such as Material sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Agriculture etc. The Nanotechnology Master’s Degree program is designed to be multidisciplinary covering areas such as:

• The macroscopic and microscopic world
• Physics/electronics
• Chemistry/chemical engg.
• Biotechnology
• Material sciences
• Microsystem Technology
• Instrumentation
• Environment

The list of the courses offered under School or an Institute-Level course: School of engineering and Technology and Area/Field of Study: Nanotechnology in AIT website^[22] is given below:

• Self Assembly and Molecular Manufacturing (January)
• Impact of Nanotechnology on the Society (August)
• Intellectual Property Rights for Technology Development and Management (August)
• Solid State Physics for Nanotechnology (January)
• Fundamentals of Chemistry (August)
• Catalysis (August)
• Nano Thermodynamics (January)
• Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology (January)
• Colloids and Nanoparticles (August)
• Microelectronics Fabrication Technology (August)
• Microelectromechanical and Nanoelectromechanical Systems (January)
• Characterization Tools in Nanotechnology (January)
• Advanced Seminars in Nanotechnology (January)

Application for admissions to Master's degree in Nanotechnology can be made online or by mail by visiting the AIT website^[23]. Application for admission takes only four steps:

• Step 1: Review Requirements and Procedures^[24]

• Step 2: Download Application Forms^[25]

• Step 3: Study Guidelines for Applicants^[26]

• Step 4: Explore Financial Aid^[27]

The Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology has acquired synthesis experience of nanoparticles by reactive precipitation techniques. Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, zinc sulphide, zinc oxide and silica nanoparticles are synthesized regularly at the center for a variety of applications. The platform technology of the center can be discussed as follows:

• Nanoparticles: gold, silver, platinum, paladium, silica, zinc oxide, zinc sulphide
• Nanowires: zinc oxide
• Coating Techniques: sol-gel coating, pyrosol coating, layer by layer organization, Ink-Jet printing, spin coating

The research efforts in AIT center are broadly classified into three groups:

• Environment: photocatalysis, heavy metal ion sensors, bacteria sensing, self-cleaning windows
• Agriculture and Food: E. coli sensors, E. nose, smart pesticides, gas sensors
• Alternate Energy Harvesting: nano-bio solar cells, nano-energy generators

Primary objective of the center is to seek applications of nanoparticles. Research work has extended to nanowires and extensive work is being carried out especially in the environmental application and the energy harvesting side for the application of nanowires on zinc oxide. The competence achieved at the CoEN in AIT has been primarily in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles like gold, silver, platinum and palladium, and zinc compounds namely zinc oxide and zinc sulphide. Some additional work on the development of sol-gel type titanium dioxide has also taken place. Doping of semiconductor nanoparticles and studies on the defect engineering of metal oxides have been another key area of research at the center with an objective to apply the added value obtained from defect engineering into some applications.

The different methods employed to synthesize nanoparticles of gold, silver, zinc sulphide, zinc oxide, silica among other is briefly given below:

Generally, gold nanoparticles in aqueous solutions are synthesized by the reduction of hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (HAuCl4). To prevent the particles so formed from aggregating, often stabilizing agents are added. During the process, tri-sodium citrate reduces the gold salt to metallic gold particles, which acts as seeds for continuous growth.

The silver nanoparticles are synthesized by chemical reduction of silver nitrate. The reducing reagent used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles are similar to the Turkevitch method, i.e. using tri-sodium citrate. After creation of nanoparticle colloid, in order to increase the viscosity for jetting the inks, polymers such as Chitosan, Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) and Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) are added to stabilize the solution.

The organometallic synthesis of ZnS:Mn2+ nanoparticles developed is similar to the method described by Bhargava et al.

ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized in three different solvents and their optical absorptions studied to determine in which solvent the nanoparticles absorb maximum visible light in the optical band ranging between 400nm and 700 nm. The nanoparticles synthesized in different solvents (isopropanol, methanol and ethanol) by the standard methods as explained in the experimental section yielded nanoparticles which are almost comparable in size (5 to 7 nm).

Silica nanoparticles can be synthesized by sol-gel method - Stöber et al published process for synthesize silica particles by hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in ethanol solution - which is catalyzed by ammonia (NH3). Monodispersed silica spheres can be achieved from hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxide silicon by the following methods:

Hydrolysis: to form silanol groups

Si-(OR)4 + H2O    Si- (OH)4 + 4R - OH

Condensation : to form siloxame bridges

2Si-(OH)4 2(Si-O-Si) + 4H2O

ZnO can be synthesized to various novel structures due to loose pack of tetrahedral structures, different ionic radii of Zn2+ (74 pico m) and O2- (140 pico m). This causes large open spaces inside the hexagonal ZnO structure and makes it possible to control the shape of nanostructured particles. The growth of ZnO structures depend on various conditions, for example, pH of solvent, temperature, duration of growth as well as nature of solvent.

Besides concentration effect on particle size, it can also affect particle shape. Study from Masuda et al, synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles from zinc acetate [Zn(CH3COO)2] and ammonia precursors, shows that morphology of ZnO crystals was controlled by ratio of ammonia to zinc acetate [NH3]/[Zn]. This alters the super-saturation point of crystallization. The reaction is demonstrated in Figure .

Zinc acetate [Zn(CH3COO)2] solution is prepared in ethanol under vigorous stirring until zinc acetate is dissolved in ethanol in temperature around 50 C. Then ethanol is added and continuously stirred under temperature around 80 C for half an hour. After that, the solution is cooled under room temperature. NaOH in ethanol solution is prepared by vigorous stirring with 50 C, and then added to prepared Zinc acetate in ethanol at room temperature. After that ZnO seeds are put in hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) solution, commonly called hexamine, for growth process. Hexamine is water soluble chemical and the growth process can be done in the temperature range 55-95 C. After ZnO nanopatilces are grown to desired shape, then the particles will be coated with silica particles by using Stoeber method. The process is carried out in ammonia-catalyzed reaction of TEOS in ethanol-water solution. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) can be added optionally for stabilization purpose. Hydrolysis reaction is initiated to form silica nanoparticles coated on ZnO nanoparticles.

We have been studying hydrothermal growth process of ZnO nanorods for the last few years. A typical process carried out in a sealed chemical bath containing an equimolar solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylene tetramine at a temperature of 95 °C over a period of up to 20 hours (schematically shown in Error! Reference source not found.11). The thickness and length of the nanowires can be controlled by using different concentrations of the starting reactants and growth durations. A 0.5 mM chemical bath yielded nanowires with an average diameter of around 50 nm while a 25 mM bath resulted in wires with a thickness of up to about 1μm. The length of the wires depends both on the concentration of the precursor solution as well as the growth duration, and in 20 hours, nanowires as long as 10 µm can be grown.

This center has considerable experience in the fabrication of ZnO nanorods, nanowires, and nanotubes. ZnO nanoplates that are now being used for specific applications. We have acquired considerable expertise over the last years on the control of the aspect ratio and spacing of ZnO nanorods. Recently we have used ink-jet printing to make arrays of ZnO nanorods.5

The antimicrobial property on Escherichia coli (E. coli) of silver colloid and water-based paint embedding silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were studied. Silver colloid synthesized by method proposed herewith shown the effective inhibition grown of E. coli with the concentration as low as 1ppm could completely stop the growth at concentration above 27ppm. Further, the colloids were blended with the commercial water-based paint, leading to an antimicrobial paint. After adding AgNPs the paints were stable more a month and have no change in color. The paint embedded AgNPs shown the bactericidal effects, similar to silver colloids. The process to add AgNPs into the paint was simple and possible to integrate the current paint production lines.

File:Nano Figure 12.png

Since paint is a mixture of organic compounds, which can alter size and shape of AgNPs, some nanoparticle colliods cannot be compatibly mixed with paints. The important parameter for dispersing nanoparticles in the paint is stability of nanoparticles colloid, i.e. directly the zeta potential of the charge surface of nanoparticles and the pH of paint and colloid. Although the paint recipe was modified by adding AgNPs colloids, the antimicrobial paints were stable for more than a month at the room tempersture. This is because the paint and silver colloid have the comparable pH and the adding volume was small due to the high concentration of the colloid. The pH of paint was more than 10 and the pH of the silver colloid was about 9 to 10 with zeta potential of ~50mV. Then, AgNPs paints were tested on antimicrobial property in order to show that the AgNPs can perform the same or better antimicrobial as in the colloia forn. And it turned out (Figure 12) that AgNPs behaved the antimicrobial property in the same way as in the colloidal form. Moreover, the inhibition of AgNPs contianing paints was higher than the silver colliod due to possibly the inhibition of paints itself. In all experiment, the thickness of paint layer was minimized in order to allow bacterial to access the air. Figure 12 shown the percentage of viable cells reduces as the concentration of AgNPs in paints increases. The number of CFU reduced significantly with increasing the concentration of AgNPs in paint loading 0.5ppm and higher. In Figure 13, the optical image of cultured plates recorded after incubation show that the paints preserved the original color and texture.

File:Nano Figure 14a.png

ZnO nanorods grown via hydrothermal process have been used successfully as photoelectrode materials in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Such one-dimensional nanorods offer a direct conduction pathway for electron transport in the solar cell. Cell performance was evaluated from measurements of open-current voltage (Voc), short-circuit current density (Jsc), fill factor (FF), and quantum efficiency (η) vs. annealing temperature. ZnO nanorods annealed at 350°C showed the best overall performance.

File:Nano Figure 14b.png

Figure 14(a) shows the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) image of highly dense hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods on FTO substrates. The I-V characteristic of the DSSC measured under 100 mW/cm2 solar radiation with ZnO nanorods annealed at various temperatures are shown in figure 14(b). The maximum device performance was obtained at annealing temperature of 350°C.

In figure 15, the variation of the DSSC parameters with annealing temperature are shown.

File:Nano Figure 15.png

The open circuit voltage (Voc) of a DSSC is the difference between the Fermi energy of the semiconductor (ZnO in our case) and redox potential of the electrolyte. The position of the Fermi level changes due to the electron accumulation in the conduction band (CB) of the ZnO. For defective nanorods, the injected electrons from dye to CB of ZnO quickly recombine in the defect sites and hence the electron density in the CB of the ZnO becomes less for defective rods. This results in a low Voc as shown in figure 15(a). As the defect sites are removed by annealing at different temperatures (250°C, 350°C and 450°C), improvement in Voc was observed (figure 15(a)). But at higher annealing temperature of 450°C, due to the removal of sufficient surface defects, a decrease in Voc was observed. Fewer defects in this case lead to less dye adsorption, which resulted in less electron injection to the conduction band (CB) of ZnO and thus lowered electron accumulation. A similar case was observed for the short circuit current density, Jsc (Figure 15(b)). For defective ZnO nanorods, due to electron recombination, lower Jsc were observed. The maximum Jsc was obtained at an annealing temperature of 350°C. At 450°C, there was less dye adsorption, and as a result, lower Jsc was measured. The FF of the DSSC also improved with higher annealing temperature. The maximum conversion efficiency was obtained for ZnO nanorods annealed at 350°C.

File:Nano Figure 19.png

The templated growth of organic, inorganic and hybrid networks involving self-assembly with organogels, using tuned parameters, enables us to develop innovative nanostructures. In this research work, different strategies are employed to fabricate thin films using colloidal nanoparticles of metal and insulator materials, capped with organic polymers to provide stability and electrostatic binding forces to build heterogeneous devices.

File:Nano Figure 16.png

Measurements carried out over various substrates showed repeatable optical characteristics thus demonstrating the uniformity of the deposition process. The average sizes used for the experiments of gold and silica nanoparticles were 20 nm and 100 nm respectively. The wettability of the glass slides was studied using contact angle measurements utilizing the sessile drop method with ultra pure water as shown in figure 17. A drop of DI water (5 μL) was placed onto the glass surface. Mean water contact angle (WCA) of the annealed glass slides were measured to be 11.9° taken through a DinoLite® microscopic camera thus showing that annealing at high temperature helped to increase the hydrophilicity of the glass substrate which can improve the attachment of the first layer of electrolyte solution. SEM was performed and the image in figure 18 shows the thickness of the multilayers being grown. Varying the dip, dry and wash times from 5 minutes to 10 minutes resulted in an increase in the absorbance values of nanoparticles as seen in the optical absorption spectroscopy, figure 19. The peak absorption values for both the Silica NPs and Gold NP s measured at wavelengths of 320 nm and 520 nm confirmed the presence as well as the uniform deposition for the both.

Toxic wastes from industries are ceaselessly polluting the environment and urgent efforts are needed for the removal of harmful contaminants from soil and waste water. Wide band gap metal oxide semiconductors like zinc oxide (ZnO) exhibit photocatalytic properties that have been exploited to degrade harmful organic contaminants into benign fragments like mineral acids. Photocatalysis is a process by which free radicals are generated in the presence of light, through the creation of electron-hole pairs that are capable of breaking up complex organic molecules. Metal oxides show enhanced photocatalytic activity with the increase in surface defects in the crystals as this can alleviate electron hole separation.

File:Nano Figure 21.png

A commonly used method of incorporating defect sites or electron vacancies into the ZnO crystal is through doping using transition metals like manganese, iron, cobalt, etc. However, we have successfully created crystal defects by controlling the crystallization process during the growth of ZnO nanoparticles. This was possible through rapid nucleation and growth of the crystals followed by immediate quenching of the precipitation reaction. ZnO normally absorb electromagnetic waves in the ultra violet region below 370 nm (Eg= 3.37eV), but by introducing defects into its crystal lattice, a shift in the optical absorption towards the visible light band (400nm to 700nm) was observed. An increase in photocatalytic activity was observed due to the creation of intermediate states that inhibits photogenerated electron hole recombination, allowing redox reactions.

One dimensional nanostructures of zinc oxide like nanowires, nanorods, etc. are ideal photocatalysts because of large surface to volume ratio and inherent surface defects. Increasing the surface defects through rapid crystallization increases the optical absorption in the visible region (λ: 400-700nm) and showed improved photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue upon illumination with white light.

Photocatalysis test was performed using a test contaminant, methylene blue [C16H18N3SCl] (MB) which is a heterocyclic aromatic compound, in aqueous solution. Photocatalytic degradation of (MB) results in the formation of colourless leuco methylene blue (LMB) [4]. A 10 μM solution of MB in water was put in cuvettes along with the glass slide containing ZnO nanorods. The cuvettes are placed infront of a halogen light source (500W). 72 klux of light at the sample position was measured by a luxmeter calibrated to 550 nm wavelength. Optical absorption spectra were taken after different time durations using an Ocean Optics spectrophotometer to monitor the rate of decolorization of the test contaminant. The degradation of the dye was estimated in terms of the change in intensity at λmax(~665nm) of MTC. The degradation efficiency is calculated using the expression

where I0 is the initial absorption intensity of MTC at λmax= 665nm and I the intensity after photoirradiation. C0 is the initial concentration of the dye and C is the concentration after photoirradiation. Figure 20 shows the scanning electron micrographs of the ZnO nanorods grown using the conventional method and through microwave irradiation. Structural defects on the polar face are clearly visible for the fast crystallized nanorods. Figure 20(a) shows that ZnO nanorods grown using 10mM growth concentration under microwave irradiation for 5 hours were wider (40%) and longer (36%). Figure 20(b) shows that the ZnO nanorods grown through fast crystallization have higher optical absorption in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum as compared to the conventionally synthesized ones. This higher visible light absorption is indicative of the creation of mid band quasi-stable defect states to which valence band electrons can be excited with energy as low as 2.75eV. The photocatalytic degradation of MB was observed upto 60 minutes light exposure as detailed in the experimental section. In this experiment we fixed all parameters like sample size, effective surface area available for contaminant adsorption (34.27 cm2 for the conventional sample and 33.74cm2 for the fast crystallized one), intensity of irradiated light (72klux) and duration of photonic exposure (60 minutes) almost similar. The comparative results are shown in Figure 2(c). It is interesting to observe that the microwave synthesized nanorods showed better photocatalytic activity as compared to the conventionally synthesized rods. This is attributed to the higher density of electron deficient sites when faster growths of the crystals were imbibed by using microwaves. These sites can trap photogenerated electrons and reduce recombinations thereby improving the photocatalytic activity.

Over the past 6 years, the members of the center has published quite a few number of research papers in different journals. There are few books that were released in 2008 and 2009. A list of books, book chapters, journal papers, conference papers and essays published from 2005 onwards are given below:

• G. Louis Hornyak, Joydeep Dutta, Harry F. Tibbals and Anil K. Rao, 2008, Introduction to NanoScience, CRC Press of Taylor and Francis Group LLC (ISBN 14-2004-8058)

• G. Louis Hornyak, Joydeep Dutta, John J. Moore and Harry F. Tibbals, 2009, Fundamentals of NanoTechnology, CRC Press of Taylor and Francis Group LLC (ISBN 14-2004-8031)

• G. Louis Hornyak, Joydeep Dutta, John J. Moore and Harry F. Tibbals, 2009, Introduction to Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, CRC Press of Taylor and Francis Group LLC (ISBN 14-2004-7795)

• Nanoparticle Applications for Environmental Control and Remediation,S. Baruah, Rungrot Kitsaboonloha, Myo Myint Zar and J. Dutta, Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications Edited by R. S. Chaughule and R. V. Ramanujan, American Scientific Publishers, Valencia, California, USA, (2009), Chapter 12 (22 Pages), in Press

• Nanotechnology for Agriculture, Food Systems and the Environment, S. Baruah, S. L. Ranamukhaarachchi and J. Dutta, The Age of Nanotechnology (2009), ed. Nirmala Rao Khadpekar, The ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, India, in press

• Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion Applications, V. Renugopalakrishnan, A. M. Kannan, S. Srinivasan, V. Thavasi, S. Ramakrishna, P. Li, A. Mershin, S. Filipek, A. Kumar, J. Dutta, A. Jaya, L. Munukutla, S. Velumani, and G. F. Audette, Nanomaterials for Energy Storage Applications, Ed. H. S. Nalwa, American Scientific Publishers, Stevens Ranch, CA, USA, Ch. 5, pages 155-178, 2008

• Pollution Treatment, Remediation, and Sensing, A. Sugunan and J. Dutta, Nanotechnology, Volume 2: Environmental Aspects (2008), Krug, Harald (ed.), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany- ISBN 978-3-527-31735-6, pg. 125-146

• Nanotechnology for Agriculture and Food Systems- A view, H. Warad and J. Dutta, The Age of Nanotechnology (2007), page 206-220, ed. Nirmala Rao Khadpekar, The ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, India (ISBN 81-314-0828-0)

• Metallic nanoparticle shape and size effects on the (multi)simplex amplification profiles of DNA polymerases, Alfredo J. Anceno, Patrick Dabert, Oleg V. Shipin and Joydeep Dutta, NanoLetters (in submission 2010)

• Superhydrophobic surfaces using selected zinc oxide microrod growth on ink-jetted patterns, Myo Tay Z Myint, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, Sunandan Baruah and Joydeep Dutta, Applied Surface Science (in submission 2009)

• Dynamics of Light Harvesting in ZnO Nano-Crystals, Abhinandan Makhal, Soumik Sarkar, Tanujjal Bora, Sunandan Baruah, Joydeep Dutta, A. K. Raychaudhuri and Samir Kumar Pal, Nanotechnology (in submission 2009)

• Photocatalytic inactivation of water borne microbial pathogens. A review, Sunandan Baruah, Mohammed Abbas Mahmood and Joydeep Dutta, Water Research (in submission 2009)

• Nanoparticle Self-assembly via Facile (Bio)chemistry: chitosan mediated gold nanoparticles on microbial templates, Alfredo J. Anceno, Ichinkhorloo Bonduush, Oleg V. Shipin, and Joydeep Dutta, (in submission 2009)

• Nanotechnology applications in Sensing and Pollution Degradation in Agriculture, S. Baruah and J. Dutta, Environmental Chemistry Letters 7 (2009), 191-205

• Photo-reactivity of ZnO nanoparticles in visible light: Effect of surface states on electron transfer reaction, S. Baruah, S. S. Sinha, S. K. Pal, B. Ghosh, A. K. Raychaudhuri and J. Dutta, Journal of Applied Physics 105 (2009), 074308

• Selective growth of zinc oxide nanorods on ink-jet printed seed patterns, R. Kitsomboonloha, S. Baruah, Myo T. Z. Myint, V. Subramanian and J. Dutta, Journal of Crystal Growth 311 (2009) 2352-2358

• Effect of seeded substrates on hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods, S. Baruah and J. Dutta, J. Sol-Gel Science and Technology 50 (2009) 456-464

• pH dependent growth of ZnO nanorods, S. Baruah and J. Dutta, Journal of Crystal Growth 311 (2009) 2549-2554

• Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanostructures, S. Baruah and J. Dutta, Science & Technology of Advanced Materials 10 (2009) 013001

• Growth of gold/zinc sulphide multilayer films using layer-by-layer assembly of colloidal nanoparticles, S. Promnimit, C. Cavelius, S. Mathur and J. Dutta, Physica E 41 (2008), 285-291

• Conduction properties of layer- by- layer self-assembled multilayer nanoparticulate structures, S. Promnimit, S. H. M. Jafri, D. Sweatman and J. Dutta, Journal of Nanoelectronics and Optoelectronics 3 (2008), 184-189

• Direct synthesis of anisotropic metal particles by ink-jet printing technique, R. Kitsomboonloha, T. Bera and J. Dutta, Advanced Materials Research 55-57 (2008), 585-588

• Chitosan clad manganese doped zinc sulphide nanocrystallites for biolabelling, S. Baruah, G.Tumcharern and J. Dutta, Advanced Materials Research 55-57 (2008), 589-592

• Visible light photocatalysis by tailoring crystal defects in zinc oxide nanostructures, S. Baruah, R. F. Rafique and J. Dutta, Nano (2008), 3 (2008) 1–9

• Growth of Zinc oxide nanowires on nonwoven polyethylene fibers, S. Baruah, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Science & Technology of Advanced Materials 9 (2008) 025009

• Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes with Manganese Doped ZnO nanoparticles, Ruh Ullah and J. Dutta, J. Hazardous Materials, 156 (2008) 194–200

• Studies on chitosan stablised ZnS:Mn2+ nanoparticles, S. Baruah, H. C. Warad, A. Chindaduang, G. Tumcharern, and J. Dutta, Journal of BioNanoScience 2 (2008), 42–48

• Nutrition driven colloidal self-assembly: Growing fungi assembles gold nanoparticles as micro-wires, Sugunan, P. Melin, J. Schnürer, J. G. Hilborn and J. Dutta, Advanced Materials, 19 (2007) 77-81

• Current-Voltage Characteristics of Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembled Colloidal Thin Films, S. H. M Jafri, J. Dutta, Denis Sweatman and A. B. Sharma, Applied Physics Letters, 89 (2006) 133123- 133125

• Zinc oxide nanowires in chemical bath on seeded substrates: Role of Hexamine, Sugunan, H. Warad, M. Boman and J. Dutta, J. Sol-Gel Science and Technology, Volume 39, No. 1 (2006) 49-56.

• ZnS:Mn2+ Phosphors Capped with Chitosan, H. Warad A. Sugunan C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Volume 11, Supplement S02, August 2005, pp 1912-1913

• Luminescent nanoparticles of Mn doped ZnS passivated with sodium hexametaphosphate, H. C. Warad, S. C. Ghosh, B. Hemtanon, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 6 (2005) 296-301

• Heavy-Metal ion sensors using Chitosan-capped Gold Nanoparticles, Sugunan, C. Thanachayanont, J. Dutta, and J. G. Hilborn, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 6 (2005) 335-340

• Effects of cosurfactant on ZnS nanoparticle synthesis in microemulsion, T. Charinpanitkul, A. Chanagul, J. Dutta, U. Rungsardthong and W. Tanthapanichakoon, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 6 (2005) 266-271

• Air pollution monitoring and GIS modeling: A new use of nanotechnology based solid state gas sensors, O. Pummakarnchana, N. Tripathi and J. Dutta, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 6 (2005) 251-255

• Growth of zinc oxide nanowires and nanobelts for gas sensing applications, M. K. Hossain, S. C. Ghosh, Y. Boontongkong, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Journal of Metastable and Nanocrystalline Materials 23 (2005) 27-30

• Impact of size and shape of metallic nanoparticles on polymerase chain reaction, Alfredo J. Anceno, Patrick Dabert, Oleg V. SHipin and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 9-10.

• Antimicrobial property of an indoor paint containing silver nanoparticles on escherichia coli, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, Mayuree Jaisai and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 16-17.

• Highly efficient zinc oxide nanorod dye sensitized solar cell: Plasmonic interaction, Tanujjal Bora, Htet Htet Kyaw, Mana Poyai and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 42-43.

• Zinc oxide nanorods dye sensitized solar cell: Effect of annealing temperature, Htet Htet Kyaw, Tanujjal Bora and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 52-53.

• Ultrasonic spray pyrolysis growth of ZNO nanorods for dye sensitized solar cells, Chamaiporn Teerasetsopon, Sivanappan Kumar and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 65-66.

• Self Assembly of citrate stabilized gold with chitosan/PDDA capped silica colloidal nanoparticles, Zaheer Abbas Khan, Rachana Kumar and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 68-69.

• Environmental Safety Application: Integration of solid state gas sensors with GIS based monitoring system, Dwijendra Kumar Das, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Tanujjal Bora, Niti Wiromrat and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 78.

• Photocatalytic inactivation of bacteria with ZnO nanorods, Ajaya Sapkota, Sunandan Baruah, Oleg Shippin and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 104-105.

• Detection of Liquefied petroleum gas with one dimensional nanostructured zinc oxide, Aarthy Sivapunniyam, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Niti Wiromrat and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 106-107.

• Fakir Effect: Zinc oxide microrods patterned array surface, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, Sunandan Baruah and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 108-109.

• Defect engineering of zinc oxide nanorods for visible light, Sunandan Baruah, Mohammad Abbas Mahmood and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 110-111.

• Synthesis of anisotropic zinc oxide nanoparticles, Supaporn Leungsuree and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2009 – Health, Energy and Environment, December 21-22, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, Pages 112-113.

• Visible light photocatalysis for water decontamination using engineered zinc oxide nanoparticles and nanowires, Sunandan Baruah and Joydeep Dutta, International Workshop on Advanced Materials (IWAM 2009), 22-24 February, 2009, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

• A custom made ink-jet printer for patterned growth of zinc oxide nanorods, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Sunandan Baruah, Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 162-163.

• Synthesis of silver nanoparticles for optical and bio-engineering applications, Tanmay Bera, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 250-251.

• Colorimetric sensors for copper ion detection in water, Siriphun Ameritachot, Tanmay Bera and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 64-65.

• Maxwell-Garnett formulation for colloidal multilayer thin films, Dinh Ba Khoung, G. Louis Hornyak and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 189-190.

• Tillage efficiency through tools coated with nanosurfaces, Mohammad Al-Amin Sadek, H. P. W. Jayasuriya and J. Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 330-332.

• ZnO Nanoparticles: Cleaner Environment through Photocatalysis, Sunandan Baruah, Sudarson Sekhar Sinha, Samir Kumar Pal, Barnali Ghosh Saha, Arup Kumar Raychaudhuri & Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 295-296.

• Fluorescence imaging of bacteria by manganese-doped zinc sulfide quantum dots, Cesar Ortinero, Sunandan Baruah, Oleg Shipin & Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 313-315.

• Biomimetic self-assembly of gold nanoparticles by growing fungi, Indrani Dakua & Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 169-171.

• Multilayer thin film devices fabricated by brick-by-brick assembly of nanoparticles, Muhammad Irfan Abid, Sujira Promnimit and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page 322-321.

• Liquid petroleum Gas Sensors using Zinc Oxide nanorods, Niti Wimonrat, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the 1st biannual NanoThailand Symposium (NTS), November 6-8, 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, Page.

• Detection of Heavy Metal ions in water using nanoparticles, Siriphun Ameritachot, Tanmay Bera & Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Electrostatically assembled controlled multilayer films of colloidal nanoparticles, Sujira Promnimit, Mohammed Irfan Abid and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Gold nanoparticle synthesis from chloroauric acid reduction by monosodium glutamate, Indrani Dakua, Abhilash Sugunan and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Enhanced Photocatalysis Using Zinc Oxide Nanowires, Sunandan Baruah and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Ink-jetting for patterned growth of Zinc Oxide nanorods, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, Myo Tay Zar Myint, Sunandan Baruah, and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Synthesis of silver nanoparticles for electronic and bio-engineering applications, Tanmay Bera, Rungrot Kitsomboonloha, and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Zinc oxide nanorod dye sensitized solar cell, Mana Poyai, Wasit Limprasert and Joydeep Dutta, 2nd Thailand Nanotechnology Conference 2008, 13-15 August, Phuket, Thailand

• Nanoparticles for Enhancing the Strength Properties of Old Corrigated Container (OCC), F. Landrea, J. Dutta, K. Hodgson and Mousa M. Nazhad, PAPTAC, 94th Annual Meeting of the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada in Montreal, Quebec, 5-7 February, 2008

• Synthesis and Optical Properties of Transition Metal Doped ZnO Nanoparticles, Ruh Ullah and J. Dutta, IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technology (ICET-2007), 13-14th November 2007, ISBN 1-4244-1494-6/07 IEEE, page 306-311

• DC Analysis of Layer by Layer Devices Fabricated by Nanotechnology, S. H. M. Jafri and J. Dutta, ICEE '07, IEEE International Conference on Electrical Engineering, 11-12 April 2007, DOI 10.1109/ICEE.2007.4287323, pp.1-6

• Pyrosol Generation of ZnO Nanoparticles and Structured Thin Films, Denis Sweatman, Chutima Eamchotchawalit and Joydeep Dutta, Proceedings of the European Radar 2006 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, IEEE Cat. No. 06EX1411C, ISBN 1-4244-0453-3, Library of Congress 2006925599, pp 190-193

• Growth Process of Novel Thin Films by Directed Self Organization of Nanoparticles, S. Promnimit, S. Pratontep, C. Thanachayanont, Jong-ku Park and Joydeep Dutta, Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, 2007. NEMS '07. 2nd IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, pp.347-352, 16-19 Jan. 2007

• Forensic Fingerprint Enhancement using Bioadhesive Chitosan and Gold Nanoparticles, Naveed Ul Islam, Kazi F. Ahmed, Abhilash Sugunan and Joydeep Dutta, Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, 2007. NEMS '07. 2nd IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, pp.411-415, 16-19 Jan. 2007

• Chitosan Clad Manganese Doped Zinc Sulphide Nanoparticles as Biological Labels, Hemant C. Warad, Gamolwan Tumchareen and Joydeep Dutta, Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, 2007. NEMS '07. 2nd IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, pp. 342 - 346, 16-19 Jan. 2007

• Photocatalytic activities of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by wet chemical techniques, IEEE—ICET 2006, 2nd International Conference on Emerging Technologies, Peshawar, Pakistan 13-14 November 2006, pg. 353-356

• Directed Self-Assembly of Multilayer Thin Films of ZnS and Gold Nanoparticles by Modified Polyelectrolyte Deposition Technique, S.H.M. Jafri, A. B. Sharma, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 901E © 2006 Materials Research Society (0901-Rb18-01.1)

• Novel Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Media, Sugunan and J. Dutta, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 901E © 2006 Materials Research Society (0901-Ra16-55-Rb16-55.1)

• Atmospheric Parameters Sensing Using Nanotechnology Based Sensors and Image Processed Real-time Satellite Data, P. Roy, O. Pummakarnchana, B. S. Vaseashta, E. J. Brumfiled, K. T. Tripathi, J. Dutta, and A. Vaseashta, NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Springer Verlag (2006), pp.443 (6).

• Diode fabricated by layer by layer deposition of semiconductor nanoparticles, Hemtanon, J. Dutta, C. Thanachayanont and D. Das, Proceedings of the IEEE TENCON 2005 (Melbourne, Australia, 21-24 November), pg. 469-474

• Nanoparticle diode with Layer-by-layer deposition technique, Hemtanon, H. Warad, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Published in the “2nd ECTI Annual Conference (ECTI-CON 2005)” Proceedings, Pattaya, Thailand, 12-13 May 2005

• Colloidal Synthesis and Characterization of Nanoparticles, Sugunan, H.C. Warad, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Proceedings of the 3rd NRCT-KOSEF Electronic Materials and Device Processing Workshop, Bangkok, Thailand, 15-16 February 2005, page no. 65-70.

• Colloidal Self-Organization for Nanoelectronics, J. Dutta and A. Sugunan, “Colloidal self-organization for nanoelectronics” in B. Y. Majlis, and S. Shaari (Ed.) 2004 IEEE international conference on semiconductor electronics, pp. A6-A11, Kuala Lampur (2004), DOI: 10.1109/SMELEC.2004.1620822

• Novel Thin Film Deposition of Colloidal Nanoparticles, B. Hemtanon, H. C. Warad, A. Sugunan, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart/Intelligent Materials, SmartMat-’04, December 1-3, 2004, Chiang Mai, Thailand, (ISBN 974-656-288-8) pg. 194-196.

• Synthesis of Bio-Compatible Gold Nanoparticles, Sugunan, C. Thanachayanont, J. Dutta, P. Juilland and J. G. Hilborn, Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart/Intelligent Materials, SmartMat-’04, December 1-3, 2004, Chiang Mai, Thailand, (ISBN 974-656-288-8) pg. 191-193.

• Highly Luminescent Manganese Doped ZnS Quantum Dots for Biological Labeling, H. C. Warad, S. C. Ghosh, C. Thanachayanont, J. Dutta and J. G. Hilborn, Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart/Intelligent Materials, SmartMat-’04, December 1-3, 2004, Chiang Mai, Thailand, (ISBN 974-656-288-8) pg. 203-206.

• Zinc oxide nanowires on non-epitaxial substrates from colloidal processing for gas sensing applications , Sugunan, H. Warad, C. Thanachayanont, J. Dutta and H. Hofmann, NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 204, Vaseashta, A.; Dimova-Malinovska, D.; Marshall, J.M. (Eds.) 2005, XI, 425 p. (Springer, ISBN 1-4020-3560-8)

• Colloidal Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanoparticles, H. Warad, A. Suhane, Y. Boontongkong, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, The Third Thailand Materials Science and Technology Conference (MSAT III), Bangkok, 10-11th August, 2004 (Page 16-18)

• Studies on Zinc sulphide nanoparticles for Field Emission Devices, S. C. Ghosh, C. Thanachayanont and J. Dutta, The 1st ECTI Annual Conference (ECTI-CON 2004), Pattaya, Thailand, 13-14 May 2004, page 145-148

• Novel sol-gel route for the growth of ZnO nanoparticles, nanowires and nanobelts, M. K. Hossain, J. Dutta, D. Jadsadapattarakul and C. Thanachayanont, Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Structure, Processing and Properties of Materials, SPPM2004, 25-27 February 2004, Dhaka, Bangladesh, page 75-82.

• Nanotechnology in the Developing World, J. Dutta, Asia Pacific Tech Monitor 22 (2005) 41-50.

• Nanotechnology in environmental protection and pollution, J. Schulte and J. Dutta, J. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 6 (2005) 219-220

• Method for manufacturing an ear device and ear device, Widmer and J. Dutta, J. Acoustical Society of America 117 (2005), 2696

• Nanoparticles for Nanotechnology, Sugunan and J. Dutta, PSI Jilid 4 (2004) No. 1 & 2

After a hard weeks work, the Nano-group members enjoy a little recreation to ease of the stress and tension. With the initiatives of a visiting faculty to CoEN, Prof. Gabor L. Hornyak, Vice President, NanoThread, Inc.^[28], a small band named A little Nano Band was created. With professor himself on Bass or Piano, Bo Tay on rhythm guitar, Tanujjal Bora on Drums, Htet Kyaw on Tambourine and Ajaya Sapkota or Mayuree Jaisai on Vocals, the band plays covers of songs from 1960s classics to the present day pop music. The cultural diversity of the institution facilitates the band to select songs from different languages and play it to a vast group of listeners.

• CoEN at AIT official website
• New Nanolab AIT Youtube Video
• AIT Nanotechnology Facebook group