2021

• Anci V. A, Ritu G., Thasleena Panakkal, Aji A. Anappara & Renuka NK, Acetic acid derived carbon dots as efficient pH and bio-molecule sensor, International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry 101 (4), 506-512

2020

• Saju K. John, Aji A. Anappara, Facile synthesis of aqueous-dispersed luminescent nanosheets from non-layered lanthanum hexaboride, RSC Adv. 10, 31788-31793 (2020)

• Nishaina Sahadev, Aji A. Anappara, Photo-to-thermal conversion: effective utilization of futile solid-state Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) for energy harvesting applications, New J. Chem., 10662-10670 (2020)

2019

• Saju K. John, Aji A. Anappara, Aqueous dispersions of highly luminescent boron-rich nanosheets by the exfoliation of polycrystalline titanium diboride, New J. Chem., 43, 9953-9960 (2019)

2018

• Prajith Karadan, Shantanu Aggarwal, Aji A Anappara, Chandrabhas Narayana, Harish C Barshilia, Tailored periodic Si nanopillar based architectures as highly sensitive universal SERS biosensing platform, Sens. Actuators B: Chem., 254, 264-271 (2018)

• Nishaina Sahadev, Aji A. Anappara, Photothermal effect in solid-state MWCNT: Possible signatures of thermal anisotropy, J. Appl. Phys., 124, 145104 (2018)

2017

• Julin Joseph and Aji A. Anappara, Ellagic acid-functionalized fluorescent carbon dots for ultrasensitive and selective detection of mercuric ions via quenching,J. Lumin., 192, 761-766 (2017)

• Saju K. John, Daughty John, Bijoy N., Raghu Chathanathodi and Aji A. Anappara, Magnesium diboride: an effective light-to-heat conversion material in solid-state, Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 033901(2017)

• Julin Joseph and Aji A. Anappara, Cool white, persistent room-temperature phosphorescence in carbon dots embedded in silica gel matrix, Phys. Chem.Chem. Phys., 19, 15137 (2017)
   

• Julin Joseph and Aji A. Anappara, Long Life-time Room Temperature Phosphorescence of Carbon Dots in Aluminium Sulfate, ChemistrySelect., 2, 4058 (2017)

• Julin Joseph and Aji A. Anappara, White-light emitting carbon dots prepared by the electrochemical exfoliation of graphite, Chem.Phys.Chem 18, 292 (2017)

• Simimol A., Aji A. Anappara, Harish C. Barshilia, Influence of defects on electrical properties of electrodeposited co-doped ZnO nanocoatings, Mater. Res. Express 4, 015001 (2017)

2016

• Prajith Karadan, Aji A. Anappara, V.H.S. Moorthy, Chandrabhas Narayana, Harish C. Barshilia, Improved broadband and omni

Nanoscience and nanotechnology refer to the control and manipulation of matter in the nanometer scale (1 - 100 nm range). When material dimensions reach the nanoscale, quantum mechanical and thermodynamic properties that are insignificant on macroscopic scales dominate, causing these nanomaterials to display new and interesting properties. Our research seeks to understand these properties and to harness them for technological applications. The main areas of research we are currently focusing on are mentioned below.

Boron-based nanostructures:

Boron is one of the most intriguing elements owing to its ability to form an enormous number of allotropes. Apart from several bulk three-dimensional (3D) phases, boron can form zero-dimensional (0D) nanoclusters, one-dimensional (1D) nanotubes and nanowires; and two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets. 

Our research focuses on the modification of the thermodynamic, optoelectronic and physicochemical traits of boron-rich nanosheets from their bulk counterparts. The synthesis of the 2D-nanostructures is realized through the manipulation of the interfacial science of layered binary metal borides. The enhanced features of the resulting boron-rich, chemically modified nanosheets are further harnessed for practical applications.

(Ongoing Ph.D. research: Mr. Saju K. John)

Please see the publications for more details

Luminescent carbon quantum dots:

Carbon quantum dots (C-dots or CDs) are sub-10 nm sized, quasi-spherical, high-surface area graphitic carbon, with surface functional groups attached to the graphitic core. They exhibit strong photoluminescence in both solution and the solid-state, with spectral features and emission yield comparable to those of semiconductor-based quantum dots. In contrast to their semiconductor counterparts, CDs show less toxicity and are environmentally friendly. The photoluminescence of CDs are strongly dependent on the surface functional groups. Hence the properties of CDs can be pre-determined or even custom-tailored, to certain extend. 

Our work focuses on the synthesis of CDs, which show white luminescence; as well as phosphorescence under UV excitation. Also we employ the CDs for the detection of heavy-metal ions as well as nitro aromatics, utilizing the selective modifications in the optoelectronic properties in the presence of the analytes.

(Ongoing Ph.D. research: Ms. Anupama M.)

Please see the publications for more details

Low-dimensional carbon nanostructures for energy-related applications:

Graphene is a 2D material (one-atom thick, sp2 hybridized carbon) with exotic mechanical, optical, electronic and thermal attributes. In the optical (visible) range, the absorption of graphene is about 2.3% per mono-layer; determined by the fine structure constant. This absorption is due to the intraband electronic transitions near the K-point (Dirac point) of graphene band structure. The optical absorption of graphene exhibit a continuous increase in the UV region, and maxima correponding the M-point of the Brillouin zone.

Instead of focusing on the optical properties of Dirac fermions in graphene near the K-point, we concentrate on the region near to the M-point. Utili

Aji A. Anappara did his Ph.D. at the NEST (National Enterprise for nanoScience and nanoTechnology) center of Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy, in the group of
Dr. Alessandro Tredicucci. After doctoral studies he was awarded the internationally prestigious fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, to work with
Prof. Dr. Alfred Leitenstorfer and Prof. Dr. Rupert Huber, at the University of Konstanz, Germany. He joined the Department of Physics as a faculty in November 2010. Currently Dr. Aji is a Professor in the Department of Physics.