Research Topic

“Morphosynthesis of Nanopigments, Extenders

and Polymer Nanocomposites and Design and
Development of Hygienic and Functional Systems”

Prof. Dr. Ravindra D. Kulkarni

Research Summary
This research investigations was conducted, with the aim of development of simple and techno-commercially feasible
set up for the size stabilized and polymorph selective synthesis of nanomaterials, the impinging solution spray reactor
were designed, fabricated, installed and utilized. The experimental investigations on synthesis of nano PbCrO4/
CaCO3/ ZnO/ SiO2/ BiVO4/ Iron oxide/ Ag/ AgVO3 materials were conducted with an objective to develop the
surfactant (Sucrose ester/ Tween-80/ SDS/ SDBS/ CTAB/ SLES) mediated protocols in solution spray reactor. The
design of solution spray reactor was based on the concept of contact of atomized reactants in impinging falling film for
enhancement of micro mixing and better control of precipitation reaction through segregation that governs the size,
polymorph, phase and morphologies of nanocrystals and the associated analysis of these protocols based on reaction
engineering principles. The morphology, crystal habit and size distribution of nanomaterials were observed using
FESEM, TEM and Particle size analysis while X-ray diffractograms were used to indicate their phase and crystallinity.
The confirmation of presence of surfactants as adsorbed envelope and the kind of interactions between surfactant and
nanoparticles were determined on the basis of FTIR analysis. The optical characteristics of lead chromate nanocrystals
in UV and visible region were determined. The color matching analysis was performed to observe the change in shade,
color intensity and depth of BiVO4 nanopigment after calcination. The FESEM micrographs were used to understand
the homogeneity of dispersion of nanoCaCO3, ZnO and SiO2 respectively into the acrylic copolymer latex.
The high performance eco-friendly functional systems such as durable architectural coatings, industrial OEM coatings,
transparent wood finish and hygienic coatings based on combinations of acrylic copolymer latex and
CaCO3/ZnO/SiO2/BiVO4/Iron oxide/Ag/AgVO3 were also formulated and evaluated under present experimental
investigations for the augmentation of coating characteristics.

2
 Fabrication and installation of solution spray reactor laboratory setup

Indian Patent
No. 235186

3
 Surfactant
offered
micro-heterogen
eous system
(a) (b)

(a) Inter-multilayer reactant (b) Inter-micelle reactant

exchange mechanism of exchange mechanism of
surfactant for the formation surfactant for the formation
of lead chromate of lead chromate
nanocrystals nanocrystals

(c)
(c) Dipole induced dipole/ ion-ion interaction and electrical double layer
mechanism of surfactant for the formation of lead chromate nanocrystals

4
 Nanomaterials
&
Applications

Silver

Bismuth Vanadate Silver Vanadate

Zinc Oxide

Iron Oxide Silica

Calcium Carbonate

5
Research Findings
The micro-heterogeneous system offered by Sucrose ester/Tween 80/SDS/SDBS/CTAB/SLES
surfactants for reactive events and nucleation, the thin film spray reaction zone promoting faster
precipitation and instantaneous dilution facilitating segregation at reactor base were primarily responsible
for stabilization of nano size and specific crystal morphology of inorganic nanomaterials. The milder,
simple experimental conditions and novel way of contacting the reactants entailed in solution spray
reactor offers better quality nano size crystals for applications in diverse field including architectural
coatings, wood finishes, OEM coatings and hygienic paints. The method and reactor design is amenable
for commercially viable manufacture of nanomaterials of specific size, polymorph and phase. The
mathematical modelling will promote quantification of reproducible synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles.
It is expected that the work on acrylic latex nanocomposites based on use of nano pigments such as
CaCO3/ZnO/SiO2/BiVO4/Iron oxide/Ag/AgVO3 will favor the understanding of influence of the
dispersion behavior and nature of nanoparticles on the properties of the latex nanocomposite coatings and
provide a new approach for the enhancement of performance of latex binders for utilization in industrial
and special purpose coatings.

6
 Publications
1. Virendra J. Patil, Ujwal D. Patil, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, Nippon Ghosh, ‘Synthesis of nano CaCO3/acrylic co-polymer latex
composites for interior decorative paints’, Polymer Composite Journal, 2016 (online) [IF: 1.63]
2. Virendra J. Patil, Yogesh E. Bhoge, Ujwal D. Patil, Tushar D. Deshpande, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, ‘Room temperature Solution
spray synthesis of Bismuth vanadate nanopigment and its utilization in formulation of industrial OEM coatings’, Vaccum, 127,
2016, pp. 17-21. [IF: 1.85]
3. Yogesh E. Bhoge, Virendra J. Patil, Tushar D. Deshpande, Ujwal D. Patil, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, Synthesis of Mica Doped
Calcium Carbonate Filler for Partial Replacement of TiO2 in Decorative Paint, International Journal of Engineering Trends and
Technology, Special Issue, 2016, pp. 279-282 [SJIF: 1.7]
4. Priya R. Kulkarni, Virendra J. Patil, Ujwal D. Patil, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, Pramod P. Mahulikar, ‘Interfacial analysis and
reaction engineering of sucrose ester mediated solution spray synthesis of lead chromate nanorods’, Chemical Engineering and
Processing: Process Intensification, 95, 2015, pp. 309-402 [IF: 2.07].
5. Ujwal D. Patil, Virendra J. Patil, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, ‘Solution Spray Controlled Polymorph Selective Synthesis of Lead
Chrome Nanocrystals’, Advance Material Research, Trans tech. publication, Vol. 1110, 2015, pp. 263-266.
6. Virendra J. Patil, Ujwal D. Patil , Ravindra D. Kulkarni, A ‘Simple Solution Spray Reactor System for Directed Synthesis of
Lead Chromate Nanorods’, Int. Conf. on Advances in Chemical Engineering and Technology, ICACE TKMCE, 2014, pp. 68-71.
Elsevier publication (ISBN 9789351072843)
7. Virendra J. Patil, Ujwal D. Patil, Yogesh E. Bhoge and Ravindra D. Kulkarni, ‘Facile Synthesis of Calcium Carbonate
Nanoparticles using Solution Spray Reactor System’, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, (9)10 (2014) pp.
1261-1270. ISSN 0973-4562 [IF: 0.015].
8. Yogesh E. Bhoge, Tushar D. Deshpande, Virendra J. Patil, Nilesh P. Badgujar, Rajashri A. Chaudhari, Ravindra D. Kulkarni,
‘Synthesis of Copper Phthalocyanine Blue Pigment: Comparative Evaluations of Fusion, Solvent and Microwave Techniques’,
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, (9)10 (2014) pp. 1271-1278. ISSN 0973-4562 [IF: 0.015].
9. Virendra J. Patil, Vinod M. Hatkar, Jitendra S. Narkhede, Ujwal D. Patil, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, ‘Solution spray synthesis and
surface modification of SiO2 nanoparticle for development of UV curable concrete coatings, Vacuum 147 (2018) 158-162. [IF:
1.5]
10. Virendra J. Patil, Yogesh E. Bhoge, Ujwal D. Patil, Tushar D. Deshpande, Ravindra D. Kulkarni, Synthesis and anticorrosive
performance evaluation of zinc vanadate pigment, Vacuum, 145 (2017) 290-294. [IF: 1.5]