Background

Our everyday life is surrounded by surfaces. Engineered surfaces are critical for areas like aerospace, electronics, biomedical, space exploration, textile, packaging and many more. But there does not exist a unified technology that can address the requirements of all these sectors. Non-thermal plasmas have found applications in the field of materials processing for much of the last century. One of the major advantages of non-thermal plasma, is the abundance of chemically active species for reaction with different surfaces. Non-thermal plasma processing will provide unique opportunities for low temperature material processing.
Atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) on the other hand are less technically demanding. APPJs can generate a high flux of active species and are a promising alternative to low pressure plasmas for surface treatment. For an APPJ the plasma is not confined within the dimensions of the electrodes and can be directed towards the desired region, suitable for coating on nonconformal objects. My research is aimed at designing novel and low-cost techniques using atmospheric pressure plasmas targeted towards smart coatings, surface engineering & functionalization of nanostructures for a wide range of applications e.g. catalysis, flexible electronics, super- hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces, antimicrobial films.
For all the contributions mentioned above, emphasis must be given on studying the effects of plasma on surfaces. Advanced spectroscopy techniques that are highly surface sensitive and available at synchrotron facilities e.g. X-ray photoelectron/absorption/emission/scattering are critical. Additionally, the techniques associated with atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy are also imperative.