A Review on Synthesis Methods of Materials Science and Nanotechnology

Abstract

Materials science is a fast developing field of research in which a lot of advancements have been reported in few decades. The progress in materials science is essential due to its wide range of applications in solid state fuel cells, display materials, solar cells, energy storage devices, automotive sectors, electronics and environment, mechanical, medical & aerospace industries. Doping and substitutions in host materials are excellent ways of changing the properties of any materials. There are two main forms of materials, thin film and bulk, which are used in research. These two forms of materials are synthesized by two basic approaches, named as top-down and bottom-up. Bottom-up and top-down approaches are comprised of several synthesis methods, e.g., solid state reaction method, hydrothermal method, co-precipitation method, sol gel method, auto-combustion method, melt quench method, evaporation method, sputtering method, pulse laser deposition method, spin coating method and spray pyrolysis method. Each synthesis method has its unique procedure as well as merits and demerits. The solid state reaction route is one of the simplest synthesis method, which requires heating of the materials which were grounded for homogeneous mixing of the various oxide ingredients. The bulk and thin films at low reaction temperatures were prepared by sol-gel synthesis route which provides the high purity products. Co-precipitation method provides homogenous particle size which is a very energy efficient method. Thus, the synthesis method is an essential factor for materials science and nanotechnology research. The present article is an attempt to review the synthesis methods and their merits or demerits.