© 2019 JETIR March 2019, Volume 6, Issue 3 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR1903437 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 227 In-situ growth of Iron doped Cerium Zirconium nanoparticles onto PMMA nanosheet to form colored nanocomposites with enhanced performance under visible light irradiation George Giable * Post Graduate Department of Chemistry, St. George’s College, Aruvithura (Affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University), Kottayam, Kerala, India. Summary High near-infrared (N-IR) reflecting nanopigments (Ce1− xMxZrO3.5; where M = Fe 3+ and x ranges from 0 to 0.4) based on cerium zirconium doped with Fe 3+ were synthesized by epoxide assisted sol–gel process. The derived nanopigments were further encapsulated in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) by in-situ radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) initiated using 2,2’-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The pigment and nanocomposite samples were characterized by means of TG-DTA, FTIR, XRD, TEM, UV– Vis–NIR spectrophotometer and CIE L * a * b * color measurement. The analysis showed that the pigments crystallized completely even at 800°C with particle size less than 50 nm. The substitution of Fe 3+ for Ce 3+ in CeZrO3.5 induced the absorption in the visible region (450-590 nm) which imparts change in the pigments color from white to reddish brown. The versatility of the process demonstrated by developing nanocomposite transparent coatings using the N-IR reflective ‘cool pigments’. The obtained transparent nanocomposite films were also characterized. Keywords: Environmental friendly pigments, Cool pigments, Epoxide assisted sol–gel process, Gelation agent, NIR Reflectance, Nanocomposites. 1. Introduction The ceramic pigments with particle size in the nano-scale have a massive potential market, because of their high surface area, which assures higher surface coverage, higher number of reflectance points and hence improved scattering. Over the last few years, one of the interesting applications of these inorganic pigments