• Development of Fibre Bragg Gating based device
  (inscribable in a standard optical fibre)to measure conductor temperature & sag-tension in the critical spans of existing high voltage transmission lines in order to enhance power flow capacity in power grids of hilly/coastal region in India.
• Better surveillance of the mechanical and thermal loads on power lines would contribute to a more efficient utilization of the transmission capacity enhancing the reliability and providing better knowledge of the condition of the power lines and their remaining life span.
• Development of strain and temperature sensitive Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) device useful in stress/strain measurement in electrical transmission lines and civil structures of commercial importance.

• Preparation of nano sized sol suitable for applying a coating of crack free top layers over clay-alumina supports with controlled pore size in the range of 1-100 nm for development of UF and NF membranes.
• Investigation on aspects of pore structures and microstructure to study the role of impurities in controlling the pore size of the nanoporous membrane layers.
• To study the correlation between surface charge of membrane layer and rejection of different ionic solutes for projecting the membrane performance during water treatment application.
• Exploratory work for development of ceramic UF and NF membranes over clay-alumina support tubes (300/400 mm length) for drinking water and waste water treatment.

• Synthesis of metal and /or metal oxide nanoparticles in thin film hosts (dielectric oxide and hybrids) also doped with rare earth ions by using sol-gel processing and /or ion implantation.
  The main objectives are :
  1. Synthesis of core-shell or alloy-type binary metal nanoparticles in oxide films as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials.
  2. Synthesis of metal nanoparticles - metal oxide doped porous inorganic or inorganic-organic hybrid polymer films for optical sensors.
  3. Synthesis of metal nanoparticles coupled with rare-earth ions in porous silica films for optical amplifiers.
• The core-shell or alloy nanostructures having quantum dimensions embedded in a suitable thin film are likely to show good NLO responses.
• Development of new nanomaterials in thin film host suitable for optical switching, optical sensors and optical amplifiers for telecommunication having important industrial applications.

• The objectives of the project are :
1. Design and development of intrinsically flat gain banded Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier (EDFA) with a specific radial index profile for C -band (1530-1565 nm), and for the L-band (1570-1610 nm).
2. Design and development of Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier (EDFA) with a specific profile and doping for C+ -band (1530-1570 nm) .and
3. Design and development of doped microstructured amplifier for C-,C+ - and L-bands.
   

• The ultimate development would help the DWDM technology in future telecom network.

1. Prof. Khor Khiam Aik
   School of Mechanical & Production Engg.
   Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.


2. Dr. Azmi Idris, Senior General Manager,
   Advanced Materials Research Centre,
   SIRIM Berhad Lot 34, Malayasia

1. Dr. G Sundarajan, Director, IARC, Hyderabad – Project Coordinator
2. Dr. S V Joshi, ARCI, Hyderabad – Lead Scientist,
3. Dr. D Basu – CGCRI, Kolkata

Project Administration :

TIFAC, DST , New Delhi, India.
Nodal Coordinator : ARCI

• Development of two specific types of thermally sprayed ceramic coatings, viz.
  1. thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) based on zirconia for application in aero-engine and industrial gas turbine components and
  2. bio- compatible coatings for human body implants based on hydroxyapatite (HAp).
• Comparison of different surface modification processes, viz. air plasma, R.F. plasma, HVOF & D-Gun spraying for HAp coatings; air plasma & EB-PVD for thermal barrier coatings involving different coating materials(with MCrAlY as bond-coat compositions).
• Optimization and identification of suitable process to deposit high quality TBCs and HAp coatings through extensive characterization and trial performance of the coated materials.
• In-vivo testing of coated HAp components.
• The study will lead to creation of a comprehensive data base to enable deposition of high performance thermal barrier and HAp coatings for industrial and medical applications.

• Study of magneto-optical properties, especially non-linear Kerr effect in transition metal ion-doped indium tin oxide (ITO) films.
• Optical manipulation and detection of coherent spin states in wide band-gap magnetic oxide semiconductor systems with ferromagnetism beyond room temperature could lead to many novel magneto-optical or electro-magneto-optical phenomena and applications.
• The possible applications include spin valve, quantum computer, spin-LED, spin-RTD ( resonant tunneling devices), optical switches, encoders, manipulators, decoders, quantum communication systems, etc.

• Development of porous scaffold of calcium phosphate based bioactive and resorbable material with variation in porosity, composition and dopant concentration and evaluation of their physicochemical, mechanical and biological properties.
• In-vitro characterization of the scaffolds for physico-chemical, mechanical, morphological and cytotoxical properties.
• Osteoblast cell harvested from animal subjects or discarded human bones after orthopaedic surgery would be cultured on these scaffold for different time durations. The cell-scaffold interface developed would be studied along with their in-growth kinetics.
• In-vivo implantation of most suitable scaffold in New Zealand rabbits and evaluation of the bone-implant bond-strength after sacrifice.
• Standardization of process parameters for development of the most suitable implants and publication of papers/ patents with Slovenian counterparts.

• Development of various sol-gel based low-e thin films with wide variation of dopant (Sn, Sb, Cd, Al, etc.) concentration in parent oxides ( SnO₂, In₂O₃, CdO, ZnO, etc.) by dip- or spin coating techniques on glass and metal substrates and their structural characterization by IR spectroscopy.
  
• The product would be:
1. Exhibit lowering of inherent emissivity in the thermal and near infrared spectral regions ( low-e films),
2. Would have weak absorption in the thermal spectral region, so that it does not obscure the reflectivity of the metal surface onto which the films are deposited ( thin film/ metal tandem stack with low-e properties ) and
3. Posses high ion-storage properties to enable their use as a counter-electrodes in electrochromic devices ( films that combine inherent low-e properties with ion-storage capacity).
• Publication of patent/ paper with Slovenian Counterpart.