Dr. Raj Ganesh S. Pala
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Programme
B. Tech. (Chemical and Electrochemical Engineering), Central ElectroChemical Research Institute, 1996
M.S. (Biophysical Chemistry), Indian Institute of Science, 1999
Ph.D. (Physical Chemistry), University of Utah, 2005
Post Doctoral Fellow (Heterogeneous catalysis), University of California at Santa Barbara(2005-2008)
Phone: +91 512 259 6143
Email: rpala@iitk.ac.in
Web: http://www.iitk.ac.in/che/rp.htm
Research Interests
- ElectroChemical Science, Materials & Engineering
- Plasma and Magneto Electrochemical Systems
- Solid-State Batteries
- Electrocatalysis, Reaction and Reactor Engineering
- ElectroChemical Taste Sensors
- Syntheses and Characterization of Super Energetic Hydrides
Brief Overview
The contemporary requirement of obtaining sustainable amounts of energy in an environmentally acceptable manner provides a unique challenge and hence, a great opportunity for chemical and materials engineers and scientists. The research focus of our group is on the elucidation of physico-chemical principles which aid in the design and fabrication of materials and devices that are useful in converting various forms of energy in an environmentally sustainable manner. Elucidation of these underlying principles often involves a semi-quantitative description of phenomena that span a wide range of length and time scales. In this context, experimental and computational analysis is performed using a wide variety of tools like reactivity trends in electrodynamically intensified-electrochemical reactors, current-voltage characteristics, measurement of electrochemical response to the solar spectrum, characterization by chemical and electrochemical spectroscopy, quantum chemical density functional theory, phase-field modeling, molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo methods, continuum transport equations and data consolidation using machine-learning techniques. Most of research projects involve an integrated experimental and phenomenological analysis as such an approach is often imperative in addressing complex energy conversion and storage systems. The current focus of the group is on 1) Plasma electrochemical systems 2) Magnetoelectrochemical systems 3) Solid-State Batteries 4) Electrocatalytic Process Engineering 5) Electrochemical Taste Sensors