By using the self-consistent charge density functional tight binding method we studied the electronic structure of ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanowire as a function of both core radius and shell thickness. By studying the band energy alignment, band structure, density of states, and band edge wave functions we envisage the efficacy of this particular nano heterostructure in dye sensitized solar cell. The strong localization of valence band maximum and conduction band minimum in ZnS shell and ZnO core, respectively, irrespective of core radius and shell thickness clearly indicates the spatial charge separation in this system. This spatial charge separation decreases the charge recombination rate thereby increasing the chance of better photovoltaic performance. We also investigated the electronic structure of anthraquinone (AQ) acid dye molecule−ZnO/ZnS nanowire composite system. We demonstrated that whether the composite system will form type I or type II band alignment that very much depends on the thickness of the ZnS shell and the nature of the functional group (electron withdrawing or electron donating) attached to AQ acid molecule.

We have developed a complete set of self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding parameters for ZnX (X = Zn, O, S, Se, Te, Cd, H, C, and N). The transferability of the derived parameters has been tested against Pseudo Potential-Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PP-PBE) calculations and experimental values (whenever available) for corresponding bulk systems (e.g., hexagonal close packing, zinc-blende, and wurtzite(wz)), various kinds of nanostructures (such as nanowires, surfaces, and nanoclusters), and also some small molecular systems. Our results show that the derived parameters reproduce the structural and energetic properties of the above-mentioned systems very well. With the derived parameter set, one can study zinc-chalcogenide nanostructures of relatively large size which was otherwise prohibited by other methods. The Zn-Cd parametrization developed in this article will help in studying large semiconductor hetero-nanostructures of Zn and Cd chalcogenides such as ZnX/CdX core/shell nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires, and nanoalloys.

Due to the potential application of different nanostructure materials in biomedical nanotechnologies, understanding the interaction between the inorganic nanoparticles and biological molecules at the atomic level is of paramount importance. We present here the results of our theoretical investigation of the interaction of different nucleotide bases--adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and uracil (U) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA)--with different ZnO nanoparticles, such as ZnO nanowires (NWs), nanotubes (NTs), surfaces and quantum dots (QDs). As the size of the systems we studied is relatively large, we have used the self-consistent-charge density-functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) method to optimize the complex systems. We have studied in detail the site-specific binding nature and the adsorption strength of these nucleobases with different ZnO nanoparticles. The calculated binding energy order and the interaction strength of nucleobases are very much dependent on the nature of the nanoparticle surfaces and are different for different nanostructures. In most of the cases ZnO prefers to bind either through the top site of the nucleobases or with the ring nitrogen atom having a lone pair relative to other binding sites of the bases.

Thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) have recently become the subject of intense investigation because of their diverse applications ranging from optoelectronic devices to the fabrication of solar cells. To achieve the desired functionalities, one must have clear understanding of the electronic structure of thiol-capped CdTe nanocrystals which is still lacking in the literature. In this paper, we have explored the electronic structure of relatively large thiol-capped CdTe QDs by taking advantage of the efficacy of the SCC−DFTB method. Our emphasis will be on the stability, charge transfer, density of states, and HOMO−LUMO gap of the dot as a function of both size and morphologies. We also studied the electronic structure of CdTeQD−carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposites. The effects of modulation of the band alignment through the variation in size of CdTe QDs on the electron injection rate from CdTe QD to CNT in CdTeQD−CNT nanohybrids have been explored.

We present quantum chemical simulations demonstrating how single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) form, or "nucleate", on the surface of Al2O3 nanoparticles during chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using CH4. SWCNT nucleation proceeds via the formation of extended polyyne chains that only interact with the catalyst surface at one or both ends. Consequently, SWCNT nucleation is not a surface-mediated process. We demonstrate that this unusual nucleation sequence is due to two factors. First, the π interaction between graphitic carbon and Al2O3 is extremely weak, such that graphitic carbon is expected to desorb at typical CVD temperatures. Second, hydrogen present at the catalyst surface actively passivates dangling carbon bonds, preventing a surface-mediated nucleation mechanism. The simulations reveal hydrogen's reactive chemical pathways during SWCNT nucleation and that the manner in which SWCNTs form on Al2O3 is fundamentally different from that observed using "traditional" transition metal catalysts.