Research

Process Engineering for Functional Nanomaterials

The main stimuli for pursuing research projects in an engineering environment are the existence of a creative idea and an economic incentive, derived from its perceived uses.

The underlying theme of research activities in my group at IISc is the development of a process engineering ‘toolkit’ comprising cost-effective and environmentally-benign processes that will enable the use of nanostructured as building blocks for sensing and energy conversion applications.

The Laboratory for Functional Nanostructures at IISc focuses on various projects, including the development of platinum overlayers on nanostructured electrodes for electrocatalysis, flexible metasurface antennas for mobile applications, and leak detection tapes for hydrogen pipelines. Other projects involve nanostructured thin films for sensing and energy conversion, hydrogen gas sensors on flexible substrates, and nanowire array-based dye-sensitized solar cells. The lab also works on nanoparticle engineering for strain sensors and creating functional nanoscale architectures for various technological applications.