Polymer-Based Advanced Functional Materials for Energy and Environmental Applications

Dr. Nithin Kundachira Subramani is currently associated with National Institute of Engineering, Mysuru, India and holds an academic position as Assistant Professor and coordinator, NIE- Center for Research and Development. He has authored more than 50 research articles with journals of national and international repute. He has filed 2 Indian and 1 US patent, authored 9 book chapters, edited 2 books, 4 editorials and 1 monograph. He is also the recipient of 2 Project of the Year Award and Certificate of Commendation from Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, India, IXth National Award for Technology Innovation from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, Young Scientist Award - 2020 from ISEES, India. He is also an honorary external R&D advisor for rural science and engineering institutes, and Life Member of Indian Nuclear Society. Dr. S.K. Nataraj is currently working as Professor at Centre for Nano and Material Sciences (CNMS), Jain University, India. He obtained his Ph.D. on ‘Membrane Based Separation Processes for Industrial Effluent Treatment’ in 2008 from Centre of Excellence in Polymer Science (CEPS), Karnatak University, India. He pursued his postdoctoral assignment at Alan G MacDiarmid Energy Research Institute (AMERI), Chonnam National University, South Korea on Energy Materials. He was also a postdoctoral scholar at Institute of Atomic Molecular Sciences (IAMS), Academia Sinica, Taiwan to develop ion-exchange membranes for fuel cell applications. Further, he worked as Qatar University visiting fellow at Cambridge University (2010-11) and continued as full time Postdoctoral Research Associate (2011-2013) at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK. Later, he moved to India to work as DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellow (2013-2015) at CSIR-CSMCRI, Bhavnagar. He has been admitted to the prestigious Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK. He teaches courses in separation and purification technologies, battery-fuel cells and solid-state materials at postgraduate level. He has Published  over 90 research articles, 14 US/PCT patents, 15 book chapters, among others. Dr. Sachhidananda S is a CSIR-Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Engineering, India. His primary research interest is in the area of advanced functional materials which embraces search for polymer based composite materials for solar energy conversion and storage, mechanically flexible spectral manipulators for UV protection and sensing, and electro-active smart materials for pressure sensing. He is the recipient of IXth National Award for Technology Innovation from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India. He has filed 1 Indian and 1 US patent, and has 32 research papers in reputed international journals, and6 book chapters to his credit.Dr. Chetankumar Patel is currently working as an associate professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Sitarambhai Naranji Patel Institute of Technology and Research Centre, India. He pursued his Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 2016. He was at PRISME Laboratory, University of Orleans, France as a Postdoctoral fellow (2018-19). He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from L.D. College of Engineering, India in 2002 and 2007 respectively. His primary areas of research include microscopic and macroscopic spray investigations, in-cylinder spray and combustion visualization, in-cylinder combustion investigations, emissions, noise and vibrations investigations, biofuels, composite materials, manufacturing science and engineering. He has 16 peer-reviewed publication in high impact SCI journals and 6 peer-reviewed international conference publications. He also authored three book chapters.

• Sustainable polymer based membrane for energy and environmental applications.- Advanced polymer aerogels for energy storage and water purification applications.- Advanced polymeric material in membrane and hybrid techniques for water and energy sustainability.- Inorganic nanofillers for polymer nanocomposites of energy and environmental interest.- Polyurethane composites for energy and environmental applications.- Polymer-based membranes for vanadium redox batteries.