• Energy Research

Ionic liquids (ILs) are molten salts that are entirely composed of ions and have melting temperatures below 100 °C. When immobilized in polymeric matrices by sol–gel or chemical polymerization, they generate gels known as ion gels, ionogels, ionic gels, and so on, which may be used for a variety of electrochemical applications. One of the most significant research domains for IL-based gels is the energy industry, notably for energy storage and conversion devices, due to rising demand for clean, sustainable, and greener energy. Due to characteristics such as nonvolatility, high thermal stability, and strong ionic conductivity, IL-based gels appear to meet the stringent demands/criteria of these diverse application domains. This article focuses on the synthesis pathways of IL-based gel polymer electrolytes/organic gel electrolytes and their applications in batteries (Li-ion and beyond), fuel cells, and supercapacitors. Furthermore, the limitations and future possibilities of IL-based gels in the aforementioned application domains are discussed to support the speedy evolution of these materials in the appropriate applicable sectors.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without and with adsorbed silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), are used to detect acetone vapour. MWCNTs are grown on SiO2/Si substrates and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) are deposited onto some of these MWCNTs using electron beam evaporation method. The sensitivity of CNT based sensors (with and without NPs) increases with the concentration of acetone vapour (50 ppm to 800 ppm) while a substantial rise in sensitivity is obtained from MWCNTs with Ag NPs. Band diagrams of the MWCNTs, with and without NPs, are analyzed to understand the gas molecules adsorption phenomena. This study is the first to establish that such sensors can operate at 27 °C rather than the 180 °C–450 °C used elsewhere, thus offering significant advantages over existing methods. To investigate the sensors’ dependability, they’re exposed to three cycles of 50 ppm acetone gas. These tests show that the devices’ responses remain unchanged, indicating their reliability. The effects of humidity upon MWCNT acetone sensors within 100 ppm of acetone vapour are also studied and improved performance towards stability and response/recovery is observed for the sensors with Ag-NPs. Furthermore, higher selectivity is observed for the Ag-coated sensors for acetone against various target gases (acetone, ethanol, NO2, ammonia, and acetone with water).

The aim of developing a multi-material 3D printer is to print an object with a different kind of soft and hard material in a single run. It is expected that the combination of printing soft and hard material will be a new kind of 3D printer. The main printing material for this printer is the conductive based soft filament made by our laboratory “Soft & Wet Matter Engineering Laboratory”, along with other different soft filament and hard plastic filament to create a fully functional, multi-material printer to print objects in a single printing run with greater diversity and lower cost than any other single material printer. The biggest challenge for making this printer is to develop a soft material’s extruder because in 3D printer most of the materials are used is hard filament. So, to overcome this we are developing a special type of screw-based Extruder, where a huge range of polymer material can be processed in an application of 3D printer objects. This type of extruder is not so common in 3D printing field. Instead of the filament, we will use the conductive material as pellet or powder for this screw-based extruder. It is assumed that this type of screw-based extruder can solve the problem of combination of printing soft and hard material in a single run. Such type of screw base extruder will be a new era of the 3D printer and it could be a good STEM tool in Sensor and Robotics. Moreover, it is expected that it will be a new addition to the additive manufacturing process.