New Frontiers for Heterostructured Nanocomposites with Interfacial Functionalities Synthesized via Laser Ablation Synthesis in Solution (LASiS)

Emerging materials and manufacturing technology form the quintessential cornerstones to cater to the rapidly-growing demands in water-food-energy (WEF) nexus due to increasing human population and human-technology interfaces that has severely strained our resources and environment globally. To respond to such demands, twenty-first century science and research in nanomaterials have revolutionized new frontiers for materials engineering and development due to the unique properties and functionalities that emerge at nanoscale. Thus, global market size for metal-based composite nanomaterials is projected to reach US$ 620.4 M by 2027—growing at a CAGR of 4.4% over 2020–2027. However, scalable, facile, and chemically clean synthesis of functional heterostructured nanocompositesHeterostructured nanocomposites (HNCs) with low product variability (<10–15%) and desired functionality is still elusive yet, imperative for technological translation of such materials into US’s engineering sector. Specifically, enabling science and technology that can tailor these HNCs to tune their structure–property relations for desirable interfacial properties are imperative for their use in catalytic, optoelectronic, and electrochemical applications—all of which, bear impacts for the fast-paced sustainable energy and environmental research. To this end, this book chapter reports the development and deployment of a facile, non-equilibrium and yet, “green” synthesis route—called Laser Ablation Synthesis in SolutionLaser ablation synthesis in solution—Galvanic Replacement Reaction (LASiS-GRRLASiS-GRR)—that allows a disruptive merger of high-energy LASiS with chemically reactive GRR in solution-phase for one-pot manufacturing of diverse and complex HNCs comprising metal, metal oxide (M/MOx), and intermetallic nanocomposites (NCs)/nanoalloys (NAs). The chapter will showcase a few of the authors’ formative works in employing LASiS-GRRLASiS-GRR for the synthesis of advanced HNCs comprising: (1) graphiticGraphitic shell coated Al NPs as energetic nanomaterialsEnergetic nanomaterials (ENMs), and (2) PtCo NAs in CoOx matrices as superior bi-functional ORR/OER electrocatalysts. The detailed research and discussions presented here is anticipated to provide a broad overview on the future of hierarchically-designed HNCs synthesized via LASiS-GRRLASiS-GRR route for sustainable electrochemical energy conversion/storage and defense/national security applications. It should be noted here that various sections of this chapter are adopted/reused in part or whole from the principal author, D. Mukherjee’s publications, Appl.Surf. Sci. 473, 156–163 (2019), Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 182, 286–296 (2016), and book chapter in Multifunctional Nanocomposites for Energy & Environmental Applications with copyrights and contents permission via License Nos.: 5283130233336 (Apr 06, 2022), 5287761493623 (Apr. 14, 2022) from Elsevier Publishing Company, and License Nos.: 5340460703005 (July 01, 2022) from John Wiley and Sons respectively.