Multifunctional mesoporous nanocomposites

Abstract

Multifunctional behaviour viz., ferroelectric, ferromagnetic and magnetodielectric coupling has been reported in a number of nanocomposites. The latter were synthesized by growing nanoparticles of different kinds within a suitable matrix. Different morphologies of the particles were introduced. Both natural as well as synthetic mesoporous materials were used to prepare nanocomposite systems. Mesoporous structures with large surface areas and pore volumes were found to be effective in developing most efficient drug delivery systems. For identical reasons such structures were suitable as catalysts in various industrially important reaction processes, as humidity and gas sensors, as magnetic sensors. Mesoporous carbon based nanocomposites used as electrodes were found to improve the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries. Nanocomposites using mesoporous carbon and carbon nanotubes were shown to improve the performance of dye sensitized solar cells. In this article, the above mentioned developments are reviewed and discussed.