Faculty

The research in Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory focuses on the investigation of geochemical factors controlling inorganic contaminant fate and transport in soil and groundwater.  Specifictargets include chromium pollution in sub-urban areas near Kanpur and fluoride pollution in groundwaters of North India.  The methodology involves identification of the fundamental physical and chemical processes such as sorption, precipitation, and reduction-oxidation by which contaminant species interact with minerals at the micron scale, and the useof this information to predict contaminant fate and transport at the macroscopic scalethrough surface complexation and flow-through reactor modeling. Such approaches are eventually geared towards devising in-situ and ex-situ remediation strategies.

1. ‘Fate of hexavalent chromium upon interaction with biochar under acidic conditions: Mechanistic insights and application.’B.Choudhary, D.Paul, A.Singh, and T. Gupta, Environmental Science and Pollution Research,2017, 24(20), 16786-16797.
2. ‘Environmental status of groundwater affected by Chromite Ore Processing Residue (COPR) dumpsites during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons.’ K.Matern, H. Weigand, A. Singh, and T. Mansfeldt, Environmental Science and Pollution Research,2017, 24(4), 3582-3592.
3. ’Molecular-scale structure of uranium(VI) immobilized with goethite and phosphate.’ A. Singh, J.G. Catalano, K.-U. Ulrich, and D.E. Giammar, Environmental Science & Technology, 2012, 46(12), 6594-6603.
4. ‘Impact of phosphate on U(VI) immobilization in the presence of goethite.’ A. Singh, K.-U. Ulrich, and D.E. Giammar, GeochimicaetCosmochimicaActa,2010, 74(22), 6324-6343.
5. ‘Dissolution of biogenic and synthetic UO2 under varied reducing conditions.’ K.-U.Ulrich, A. Singh,E.J.Schofield, J.R.Bargar, H.Veeramani, J.Sharp, R.Bernier-Latmani, and D.E.Giammar, Environmental Science & Technology, 2008, 42(15), 5600-5606.

 

Fields of Research: Metastable Structures (Nanomaterials, Quasicrystals, Amorphous Materials, Interfaces in Materials). Hydrogen storage systems.
Specific Research Accomplishments (recent):

• Given a paradigm shift in hydrogen storage philosophy via multi-mode hydrogen storage in nanocontainers. Discovered entrapped states of molecular hydrogen between nanoparticles.
• Demonstrated Poisson Effect Driven Anomalous Lattice Expansion in Metal Nanoshells. Discovered lattice expansion due to purely surface stress effects in a metallic system.
• Discovered new kind of mechanical stability of an edge dislocation in a semi-infinite body with surface tension. Introduced the concept of surface tension induced torque on edge dislocations.
• Developed a new two-scale technique for the simulation of surface stress, giving life to Shuttleworth's classic idea from 1949 (which lay dormant for more than 60 years).
• Discovered the concept of Orientational High Entropy Alloys.
• Proposed a new Geometrical Parameter for the Formation of Disordered Solid Solutions.
• Simulated the stress state of an entire multilayer epitaxial device for the first time, taking into account stresses originating from thermal, epitaxial, low angle grain boundaries (threading dislocations) and interfacial misfit edge dislocations.
• Discovered material-structures with extended regimes of negative, zero and positive stiffness. Showed that there can exist metastable states of negative stiffness, along with unstable states of positive stiffness. (these concepts have been considered impossible traditionally).

1. "Multi-mode Hydrogen Storage in Nanocontainers"
   Suboohi Shervani, Puspal Mukherjee, Anshul Gupta, Gargi Mishra, Kavya Illath,  T.G. Ajithkumar, Sri Sivakumar, Pratik Sen, Kantesh Balani and Anandh Subramaniam
   International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42, p.24256, 2017.
2. "Liquid like nucleation in free-standing nanoscale films"
   Pooja Rani, Arun Kumar, B. Vishwanadh, Kawsar Ali, A. Arya, R. Tewari and Anandh Subramaniam,
   Nanoscale (Communication) 9, p.12283, 2017.
3. "Poisson effect driven anomalous lattice expansion in metal nanoshells"
   Ganesh Iyer, Suboohi Shervani, Gargi Mishra, Deb De, Arun Kumar, Sri Sivakumar, Kantesh Balani, Raj Pala and Anandh Subramaniam,
   Applied Physics Letters 110, p.131603, 2017.
4. "Nickel nanoparticle-doped and steam-modified multiscale structure of carbon micro-nanofibers for hydrogen storage: Effects of metal, surface texture and operating conditions",
   Ashish Yadav, Mohammad Faisal, Anandh Subramaniam, Nishith Verma,
   International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42, p.6104, 2017.
5. "Structural Characteristics and Electrical Conductivity of Spark Plasma Sintered Yb2O3 Co-doped Sc3O3 Stabilized Zr2O3",
   Vandana Shukla, Ashutosh Kumar, L.B. Ishamol, Kantesh Balani, Anandh Subramaniam and Shobit Omar,
   Journal of American Ceramic Society, 100, p.204, 2017.

We are working at the interface of surface sciences and soft material like gels and adhesives to solve environmentally relevant problems. Our current focus is on making reusable surfaces with desired topographical and chemical characters suitable for variety of applications. Here is a brief description of our work.

Reusable Paper: Paper is one of the most widely used writing material, but its production and usage both impact our environment. Papers can be recycled but the cost of recycling in terms of time, energy and resources is not small and the quality of recycled paper may not be same as that of the original paper. We are working on addressing this problem by developing paper materials which will allow rewriting, re-printing and cleaning it over many cycles.

Reusable sticky adhesive surfaces: Natural adhesives present at the feet of many animals, e.g. insects, geckos and frogs are used over many cycles in the lifetime of these animals, allows strong adhesion yet easy release, remains clean and free of particulate matters irrespective of being used on surfaces laden with dust and adhere to almost all surfaces implying that the adhesion mechanism is primarily physical in origin. Taking inspiration from these adhesives we are making hierarchically patterned surfaces which will allow reuse over and over again. In particular the adhesive surface will get dirty by particulate matters with loss of ability to adhere but can also be completely washed off to recover the stickiness. These adhesive surfaces can be used as variety of home and office applications, sticky door mats in laboratory and hospitals and will also be useful as dust catcher in air filter applications.

1. Mondal, S., Phukan, M. and Ghatak, A., Estimation of solid-liquid interfacial tension using curved surface of a soft solid. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2015, Vol 112(41), pp 12563-12568.

2. Sengupta Ghatak, A. and Ghatak, A. Precipitant-less Crystallization of Protein Molecules Induced by High Surface Potential, Journal of Crystal Growth and Design, 2016, Vol 16(9), pp 5323-5329.

3. Roy, A. C., Yadav, M., Khanna, A. and Ghatak, A., Bi-convex aspheric optical lenses, Applied Physics Letters, 2017, Vol 110(10), 103701.

4. Roy, A. C., Yadav, M., Arul, E. P., Khanna, A. and Ghatak, A. Generation of aspherical optical lenses via arrested spreading and pinching of a crosslinkable liquid, Langmuir, 2016, Vol 32, pp 5356-5364.

 

We seek to gain information on factors influencing air quality in varying microenvironments so that pollutant sources can be identified and mitigation measures can be developed and implemented. We are well experienced in air monitoring in both indoor and ambient microenvironments. Recent efforts are directed towards characterization of major sources of air pollution in indoor microenvironments and development of emission factors of particles from vehicle exhaust (as part of NCAP, MOEFCC). Characterization of emissions from incense burning through chamber measurements and real time air quality monitoring in schools, kitchens, and temples, is being conducted. A recent study focused on examining chemical properties of aerosols collected on campus under varying meteorological and climatic conditions has found biomass burning to be a major contributor of HULIS detected. As a doctoral researcher handling a multiyear monitoring project at US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a collaborative project with Uni. of Maryland, College Par, USA, Dr. Goel gained firsthand knowledge on pesticide behavior in environment and insight into applications of environmental chemistry. Research towards examining impact of agricultural activities on climate change is also being conducted. This knowledge will aid in promoting implementation of newer technologies leading towards sustainable agriculture.

1. ‘Compositional and surface characterization of HULIS by UV-Vis, FTIR, NMR and XPS: wintertime study in Northern India.’ Kumar, V., Goel, A., & Rajput, P. (2017). Atmospheric Environment, 164, 468-475.
2. ‘Characteristics of exposure to particles due to incense burning inside temples in Kanpur, India. ‘ Goel, A., Wathore, R., Chakraborty, T., & Agrawal, M. (2017). Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 17(2), 608-615.
3.  ‘Annual trends in occurrence of submicron particles in ambient air and health risk posed by particle bound metals.’ Izhar, S., Goel, A., Chakraborty, A., & Gupta, T. (2016). Chemosphere, 146, 582-590.
4. ‘Analysis of size-segregated winter season aerosol data from New Delhi, India.’ Pant, P., Baker, S. J., Goel, R., Guttikunda, S., Goel, A., Shukla, A., & Harrison, R. M. (2016). Atmospheric Pollution Research, 7(1), 100-109.
5. ‘Particle Bound Metals at Major Intersections in an Urban Location and Source Identification Through Use of Metal Markers.’ Srivastava, D., Goel, A., & Agrawal, M. (2016). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section A: Physical Sciences, 86(2), 209-220.
6.  ‘Spray irrigation of treated municipal wastewater as a potential source of atmospheric PBDEs.’ Goel, A., McConnell, L. L., Torrents, A., Scudlark, J. R., & Simonich, S. (2006). Environmental science & technology, 40(7), 2142-2148.

Our team works on environmental health applications with major research focus in the areas including remediation of pollutants, filtration of water and air, blood purification and high throughput toxicity analysis. Polymeric materials are devised using cryogelation technology for application as filters, adsorbents and separation matrices. The practical implications include improvement in quality of drinking water, active/passive smoke evacuation, leukocyte depletion from leukemic blood and for blood transfusion (technology transferred to Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL) Life care) and screening and remediation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and endocrine disruptors. Currently, we are developing a community based integrated cost effective water filter system by integrating conventional filtration strategies with novel cryogel filters for potable water; the working model of the same was selected for technology award by ICMR for exhibition in Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, 2016. We are also engrossed in employing oleophilic waste products of India such as corncobs, coconut coir, sawdust, etc. along with other hydrophobic polymers for fabrication of oil adsorption materials.

1. Supermacroporous Hybrid Polymerics for Efficient Removal of Metallic Contaminants and Microbes from Water. S. M. Andrabi, J. Tiwari, S. Singh, J. Sarkar, N. Verma, and A. Kumar. Int. Poly Mat and Poly Biomat, 2016, 65(12), 636-645.
2. High throughput analysis and capture of benzo[a]pyrene using supermacroporous poly(4-vinyl pyridine-co-divinyl benzene) cryogel matrix. A. Gupta, J. Sarkar, and A. Kumar. J Chromatography A, 2013, 1278, 16-21.
3. Enhanced Hepatic Functions of Genetically Modified Mouse Hepatoma Cells by Spheroid Culture for Drug Toxicity Screening. J. Sarkar, J. Kumari, JM Tonello, M. Kamihira and A. Kumar. Biotechnol J. 2017 Oct;12(10). doi: 10.1002/biot.201700274. 
4. Ashok Kumar, Haider Sami, Akshay Srivastava, Animangsu Ghatak. Cryotropic hydrogels and their use as filters. PCT/SE2010/050285; (US20120160254, CA2758056A1, CN102740946A, EP2411113A1, EP2411113A4, US20140113786, WO2010107375A1).
5. Ashok Kumar. A biodegradable smoke filter material. IPA No. 884/DEL/2013.

My research interest lies in soil pollution and remediation, using isotopes as tracers for determining pollutant sources,

aerosol geochemistry and source apportionment using stable carbon isotope composition. We have worked on stabilization of hazardous wastes like sludge from tanneries waste water treatment plant using biochar, application of biomass in recovery of precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium from real samples using unmodified and modified bio-sorbents.

1. Choudhary, B.C., D. Paul, A.U. Borse, D. J. Garole, 2017. Surface functionalized biomass for adsorption and recovery of gold from electronic scrap and refinery wastewater. Accepted in Journal of Separation and Purification Technology.
2. Awasthi, N., E. Ray, D. Paul, 2017. Sr and Nd isotope compositions of alluvial sediments from the Ganga Basin and their use as potential proxies for source identification and apportionment. Chemical Geology, DOI: /10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.029.
3. Singh, A., K.J. Thomsen, R. Sinha, J-P. Buylaert, A. Carter, D.F. Mark, P.J. Mason, A.L. Densmore, A.S. Murray, M. Jain, D. Paul, S. Gupta, 2017. Counter-intuitive influence of Himalayan river morphodynamics on Indus Civilisation urban settlements. Nature Communications, 8: 1617, DOI:10.1038/s41467-017-01643-9.
4. Choudhary, B.C., D. Paul, T. Gupta, S.R. Tetgure, V.J. Garole, A.U. Borse, D. J. Garole, 2017. Photocatalytic reduction of organic pollutant under visible light by green route synthesized gold nanoparticles. J. of Environmental Sciences, 55, 236?246.
5. Paul, D., B.C. Choudhary, T. Gupta, M. T. Jose, 2015. Spatial distribution and the extent of heavy metal and hexavalent chromium pollution in agricultural soils from Jajmau, India. Environmental Earth Science, 73:3565-3577. DOI 10.1007/s12665-014-3642-6.

We focus on elemental and isotopic composition of water, rock-sediment-soil, as well as airborne particulate matters to better understand the chemical and physical interactions between Earth's surface system processes. We also study the anthropogenic impacts on natural environments, in particular, the source and sink of heavy metals in various surficial reservoirs and their biogeochemical cycling.

More details about our research interest can be found on this given link - http://www.iitk.ac.in/geochemistry/research

1. 2017: Sen, I. S., Boral, S*., Ranjan, S*., Tandon, S. K., Small But Important – The Role of Small Floodplain Tributaries to River Nutrient Budgets. Earth and Space Chemistry, 2017, DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.7b00112
2. 2017: Mitra, A.* and Sen, I. S., Anthrobiogeochemical Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium Cycles of Earth: Emerging Environmental Contamination. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 216, 417-432.  DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2017.08.025 
3. 2016: Sen, I. S., Bizimis, M.Tripathi, S.N., Paul, D., Lead isotope fingerprinting of aerosols to characterize the sources of atmospheric lead in an industrial city of India. Atmospheric Environment 129, 27-33.
4. 2016: Sen, I. S., Mitra, A.,* Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B., Rothenberg, S., Tripathi, S.N.,. Bizimis, M., Emerging airborne contaminants in India: Platinum Group Elements from catalytic converters in motor vehicles. Applied Geochemistry, 2016, 75, 100-106
5. 2013: Sen, I. S. Platinum Group Element Pollution is a Growing Concern in Countries with Developing Economy. Environmental Science & Technology, 2013, 47, 13903-13904.
6. 2013: Sen, I. S., Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B. & Geboy, N. Complex Anthropogenic Sources of Platinum Group Elements in Aerosols on Cape Cod, USA. Environmental Science & Technology, 47, 10188-10196.
7. 2012: Sen, I. S. & Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B. Anthropogenic Disturbance of Element Cycles at the Earth's Surface. Environmental Science & Technology, 47, 10188-10196.

We have initiated a green chemistry program to address energy, environmental and sustainability aspects of chemical synthesis. Organometallic catalysts are designed and developed for converting cheap and abundant molecules to value-added chemicals. Challenging substrates such as water, alcohol, hydrogen and amine are activated and utilized in chemical transformations. Recent efforts are directed toward using water as source for nitrile hydration, olefin oxygenation and direct conversions of primary alcohols to corresponding carboxylic acids. Further, hydrogenation and dehydrogenation catalysts are constructed based on cooperating proton acceptor unit embedded on the ligand scaffold. An integrative approach is employed in our group to address fundamental challenges in bond activation chemistry. We seek to gain mechanistic insight of catalytic processes using various tools and techniques, and use that knowledge to develop sustainable chemical processes and products.

1. ‘Hemilability Driven Water Activation: A Ni(II) Catalyst for Base-Free Hydration of Nitriles to Amides’ K. Singh, A. Sarbajna, I. Dutta, P. Pandey and J. K. Bera, Chem. Eur. J., 2017, 23, 7761-7771.
2. ‘Catalytic Conversion of Alcohols to Carboxylic Acid Salts and Hydrogen with Alkaline Water’ A. Sarbajna, I. Dutta, P. Daw, S. Dinda, S. M. W. Rahaman, A. Sarkar and J. K. Bera, ACS Catal., 2017, 7, 2786-2790.
3. ’Olefin Oxygenation by Water on an Iridium Center’ T. Ghatak, M.Sarkar, S. Dinda, I. Dutta, S. M. W. Rahaman, and J. K. Bera, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137, 6168-617.
4. ‘A Highly Efficient Catalyst For Selective Oxidative Scission of Olefins to Aldehydes: Abnormal-NHC-Ru(II) Complex Oxidation Chemistry’ P. Daw, R. Petakamsetty, A. Sarbajna, S. Laha , R. Ramapanicker, and J. K. Bera, J. Am. Chem.Soc., 2014, 136, 13987-13990.
5. ‘Metal-Ligand Cooperation on A Diruthenium Platform: Selective Imine Formation via Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols with Amines’ B. Saha, S. M. W. Rahaman, P. Daw, G. Sengupta, and J. K. Bera, Chem. Eur. J., 2014, 20, 6542-6551.

Air Quality Modelling and Management, Characterization of PM2.5; Formation of Secondary Particles, Source Apportion Study; Exposure Assessment; Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, Environmental Fate Processes and Modelling, Air Quality Index; Emission Monitoring, GHG Emissions Assessment and Mitigation, nanotechnology-based VOC Control , Removal of mercury and SO2 from flue gas

1. Nagar PK, Singh D,  Sharma M, Kumar A, Aneja VP P, George MP, Agarwal N, and Shukla SP. 2017. Characterization of PM2.5 in Delhi: role and impact of secondary aerosol, burning of biomass, and municipal solid waste and crustal matter. Environ Science &Pollution Research. 24:25179-25189, DOI 10.1007/s11356-017-0171-3
2. Paliwal U., Sharma M. Burkhart, J. 2016. Monthly and Spatially Resolved Black Carbon Emission Inventory of India: Uncertainty Analyses. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics; An International Journal of European Geosciences Union. Volume: 16   Issue: 19, 12457-12476 
3. Dhada, I., Sharma M., Nagar P.K. 2016. Quantification and human health risk assessment of by-products of photo catalytic oxidation of ethylbenzene, xylene and toluene in indoor air of analytical laboratories. Journal of Hazardous Materials Volume 316, 5 October 2016, 1–10
4. Balasubramanyam K. and Sharma M. 2015. Investigations into thiol-impregnated CaCO3-based adsorbent for mercury removal: A full factorial design approach Royal Society of Chemistry Advances, 2015, 5, 73868 - 73874
5. Dhada, I., Nagar,P.K. and Sharma M. 2015. Challenges of TiO2-Based Photooxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds: Designing, Coating, and Regenerating Catalyst. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, 54 (20), pp 5381–5387 American Chemical Society

We continue to work on the development of novel materials to address energy, environmental and health problems. In particular, our research themes center around the development of carbon-based materials, especially carbon nanofibers and carbon nanoparticles in the adsorption and catalytic reaction applications. Specifically, the focus is on the synthesis and characterization of the adsorbents and metal catalysts for the removal of common atmospheric air pollutants such as CO2, NOx, and SOx by adsorption and/or catalytic oxidation and that of solutes such as arsenic, fluoride, heavy metals, and organics from wastewater by adsorption. We have also undertaken studies on the development of carbon molecular sieves for the sequestration of CO2. We have carried out experimental studies on the development of novel liquid-solid contactors to remove dissolved solutes from wastewater. On the theoretical side, a number of mathematical models based on lattice Boltzmann method have been developed to predict the breakthrough curves in the narrow tubular packed bed adsorber. The recent focus is on the development of lattice Boltzmann models for multi-phase flow.

1. "Process for the treatment of wastewater" (Indian patent no: 201641017964, filed, May 2016; Inventors: Nishith Verma (IIT Kanpur); Kaushik Basak and Arin Von Mourik (Shell International Research Maatschappiz BV, The Netherlands).
2. "Preparation of graphitic carbon micro-nanofiber-based electrodes, asymmetrically dispersed with bimetal nanoparticles, and applications thereof in energy devices" (Indian patent No. 654/DEL/2015, filed, February 2015; Inventors: Nishith Verma; Shiv Singh).
3. “Laser-facilitated synthesis of metal nanoparticles and carbon nanofibers-dispersed PVA-based microchannels for water remediation” (US patent application no: IN-867185, Filed 2014; Inventors: Nishith VERMA; Prateek KHARE; Janakarajan RAMKUMAR).
4. Modi, A., Singh, S.,Verma, N. "In situ nitrogen-doping of nickel nanoparticle-dispersed carbon nanofiber-based
   electrodes: Its positive effects on the performance of a microbial fuel cell" (2016) Electrochimica Acta 190, pp. 620-627.
5. Bhaduri B., Verma, N., “Carbon bead-supported Nitrogen-enriched and Cu-doped carbon nanofibers for the
   abatement of NO emissions by reduction” (2015) Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 457, pp 62-71.
   
6. Bommer, S., Scholl, H., Seemann, R., Kanhaiya, K., M, V., Verma, N.,“Depinning of drops on inclined smooth and
   topographic surfaces: Experimental and lattice Boltzmann model study” (2014) Langmuir, 30 (37), pp. 11086 -11095.

Structure and dynamics control chemistry and our interest is to gain the physical insight of this control in small molecules (Ultrafast-Spectroscopy) to complex biosystems (Biophysical- Chemistry) and solution (Solution-Chemistry), using established spectroscopic tools and new methodologies (Methodology-Development) as needed.
Recently we become interested in water analysis and purification technology and looking forward to contributing to this field.

1. Dynamics of Anthracene Excimer Formation within a Water-Soluble Nanocavity at Room Temperature
   Aritra Das, Ashwini Danao, Shubhojit Banerjee, A. Mohan Raj, Gaurav Sharma, Rajeev Prabhakar, Varadharajan Srinivasan*, V. Ramamurthy*, and Pratik Sen*
   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 2025–2036.
2. Potassium-Induced Passivation of Deep Traps in Bismuth-Doped Hybrid Lead Bromide Perovskite Nanocrystals: Massive Amplification of Photoluminescence Quantum Yield Shovon Chatterjee, Mainak Ghosal, Khushubo Tiwari, and Pratik Sen*
   J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 12, 546-551.
3. Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy as a Tool to Investigate the Directionality of Proteolysis
   Bhaswati Sengupta, Nilimesh Das, Virender Singh, Ashwani K. Thakur and Pratik Sen*
   Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 2020, 164, 2524–2534.
4. Shape-Dependent Macromolecular Crowding on the Thermodynamics and Microsecond Conformational Dynamics of Protein Unfolding Revealed at the Single-Molecule Level
   Nilimesh Das and Pratik Sen*
   J. Phys. Chem. B 2020, 124, 5858–5871.
5. Structural, Functional, and Dynamical Responses of a Protein in a Restricted Environment Imposed by Macromolecular Crowding
   Nilimesh Das, Pratik Sen*
   Biochemistry 2018, 57, 6078–6089.
6. Dual Relaxation Channel in Thioflavin-T: An Ultrafast Spectroscopic Study
   Puspal Mukherjee, Shahnawaz Rafiq and Pratik Sen*
   J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chemistry, 2016, 328, 136.
7. Real Time Quantification of Ultrafast Photo-induced Bi-molecular Electron Transfer Rate: Direct Probing of the Transient Intermediate
   Puspal Mukherjee, Somnath Biswas, and Pratik Sen*
   J. Phys. Chem. B 2015, 119, 11253.
8. Conformational Fluctuation Dynamics of Domain I of Human Serum Albumin in the Course of Chemically and Thermally Induced Unfolding Using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy
   Rajeev Yadav, Bhaswati Sengupta, and Pratik Sen*
   J. Phys. Chem. B 2014, 118, 5428.
9. Spectroscopic evidence of the presence of an activation barrier in the otherwise barrierless excited state potential energy surface of auramine-O: A femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion study
   Shahnawaz Rafiq and Pratik Sen*
   J. Chem. Phys. 2013, 139, 124302.
10. Origin of Strong Synergism in Weakly Perturbed Binary Solvent System: A Case Study of Primary Alcohols and Chlorinated Methanes
    Shradhey Gupta, Shahnawaz Rafiq, Mainak Kundu and Pratik Sen*
    J. Phys. Chem. B 2012, 116, 1345.

We have carried out considerable work in the area of sustainable materials, green synthesis and nanostructured photocatalysts for wastewater treatment applications. In the past, our group has fabricated TiO2 nanofibers using electrospinning technique and further enhanced their photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic compounds through sensitization with quantum dots, doping with transition metals and functionalization with core-shell metal nanoparticles. Enhancement in visible light absorption as well as in charge separation at the interface was obtained through these modifications to TiO2 nanofibers. We have also developed various carbon nanostructures from different types of biomass wastes such as almond husk and lemon peel. The synthesized water soluble fluorescent carbon nanostructures are non-toxic in nature. Such carbon nanostructures as well as their metal oxide composites were used as adsorbents/photocatalysts for waste water treatment applications. Our current research interests include surface chemistry, green synthesis of nanomaterials, high dielectric constant materials, hybrid perovskite solar cells, electrospinning of functional polymers and nanocomposites for environmental and energy applications.

1. M. Misra, N. Singh and R. K. Gupta, “Enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of Au@Ag core-shell bimetallic nanoparticles immobilized on electrospun TiO2 nanofibers for degradation of organic compounds” Catalysis Science & Technology, 7, 570-580, 2017 (Front Inside Cover).         
2. N. Singh, J. Prakash, M. Misra, A. Sharma and R. K. Gupta, “Dual functional Ta doped electrospun TiO2 nanofibers with enhanced photocatalysis and SERS detection for organic compounds” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9 (34), 28495–28507, 2017.
3. N. Singh, R. Chakraborty and R. K. Gupta, “Mutton bone derived hydroxyapatite supported TiO2 nanoparticles for sustainable photocatalytic applications” Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2017.12.027
4. N. Singh, J. Prakash and R. K. Gupta, “Design and engineering of high performance photocatalytic systems based on metal oxide-graphene-noble metal nanocomposites” Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, 2, 422-439, 2017.                
5. A. Tyagi, K. M. Tripathi, N. Singh, S. Choudhary and R. K. Gupta, “Green synthesis of carbon quantum dots from lemon peel waste: Applications in sensing and photocatalysis” RSC Advances, 6, 72423-72432, 2016.
6. N. Singh, K. Mondal, M. Misra, A. Sharma and R. K. Gupta, “Quantum dot sensitized electrospun mesoporous titanium dioxide hollow nanofibers for photocatalytic applications” RSC Advances, 6, 48109 - 48119, 2016.    

Our research focuses on the use of modified and functionalized amino acids to generate functional peptides. Unusual amino acids are designed and synthesized using asymmetric organic synthesis. These are then incorporated onto oligopeptides to get peptides having novel structure and function. The designed peptides are used for the detection of environmental pollutants such as pesticides in water. We are also involved in developing molecules that can activate enzymes, which are inhibited by such pollutants.

1. Diastereoselective synthesis of furanose and pyranose substituted glycine and alanine derivatives via proline-catalyzed asymmetric a-amination of aldehydes. R. Petakamsetty, A. Ansari and R. Ramapanicker, Carbohydrate Res., 2016, 435, 37–49.
2. Diastereoselective synthesis of D-threo-sphinganine, L-erythro-sphinganine and (-)-spisulosine through asymmetric a-hydroxylation of a higher homologue of Garner's aldehyde. V. K. Jain and R. Ramapanicker, Tetrahedron, 2017, 73, 1568–1575.
3. Controlling growth to one dimension in nanoislands of ferrocene-sugar derivatives. P. Saha, K. Yadav, S. Chacko, A. T. Philip, R. Ramapanicker and T. G. Gopakumar. J. Phys. Chem. C, 2016,120, 9223–9228.
4. Synthesis of 1-deoxy-8,8a–di–epi–castanospermine,1-deoxy-6,7,8a–tri–epi–castanospermine and formal synthesis of pumilotoxin 251D. S. Chacko and R. Ramapanicker, ChemistrySelect, 2016, 1, 4458–4462.
5. Synthesis of stable C-linked ferrocenyl amino acids and their use in solution-phase peptide synthesis. A. T. Philip, S. Chacko and R. Ramapanicker, J. Pept. Sci., 2015, 21, 887-892.

Our research program deals with certain aspects of bionanotechnology related to environmental concerns. In one research vertical, interaction of heavy metals with nucleic acid fragments is being addressed to ascertain how such metal ions stabilize rare tautomeric forms of purine nucleobases, alter hydrogen bonding patterns and affect nucleic acid structure. In particular, modified adenine derivatives and their interaction with biologically/environmentally relevant metal ions has been addressed in the recent past. Another vertical of our work concerns with the release of NOx gases in neurons through assisted delivery methods and their overall effect on neuronal growth and related protein expression events. This work is highly relevant to the understanding of biological effect of NOx gases and neuronal interaction, which hassignificant bearing on brain function and effects on peripheral organs. Our research is financially supported by SERB, DST and DBT.

1. Directed Adenine Functionalization for Creating Complex Architectures for Material and Biological Applications. Chem. Commun.2017, 53, 4748.
2. Self-Assembling Soft Structures for Intracellular NO Release and Promotion of Neurite Outgrowth. Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 6171.
3. Coordination-Controlled One-Dimensional Molecular Chains in Hexapodal Adenine–Silver Ultrathin Films. Inorg. Chem., 2017, 56, 3976.
4. Metal-Mediated Assembly of 1,N6-Ethenoadenine: From Surfaces to DNA Duplexes. Inorg. Chem., 2016, 55, 7041.
5. Luminescent silver-purine double helicate: Synthesis, self-assembly and antibacterial applications. ChemPlusChem2016, 81, 1266-1271.

We work on source identification and mitigation of air pollution and its impacts on climate change and human health using observations, laboratory and modeling studies. We use hybrid approach by combining real-time and offline sampling combined with large network of low –cost sensors to track sources. At this time, the influences of air pollution on human health are not well understood given an overall lack of knowledge of air pollutant concentrations across the country. We are developing a new system which can collect this information sustainably nation-wide, at low-cost, and will allow data-driven control and preventive mechanisms. Long-term observations illustrate significant changes in rainfall patterns at urban core and climatological downwind regions compared to the upwind regions in India. We examine role of coupling of aerosol and land use forcing using numerical models such as WRF/Chem in influencing changes in rainfall.

1. Loss of crop yields in India due to surface ozone: An estimation based on a network of observations’ Lal, S., Sethuraman Venkataramani, Manish Naja, Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal, Tuhin Kumar Mandal, Pradip Kumar Bhuyan, Kandikonda Maharaj Kumari, S.N. Tripathi, Ujjaini Sarkar, Trupti Das, Yerramsetti Venkata Swamy, Kotalo Rama Gopal, Harish Gadhavi and M.K.S. Kumar, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 2017, DOI 10.1007/s11356-017-9729-3.
2. ‘Temporal characteristics of brown carbon over the central Indo-Gangetic Plain’ R. Satish, P.M. Shamjad, Thamban Navaneeth, S.N. Tripathi and N. Rastogi, ?Environ. Sci. Technol. , 2017, 51(12), 6765–6772.
3. “Traffic intervention” policy fails to mitigate air pollution in megacity Delhi’ S. Chowdhury, S. Dey, S.N. Tripathi, Gufran Beig, Amit Kumar Mishra and Sumit Sharma, Environ. Sci. and Policy, 2017, 74, 8-13.
4. ‘Absorbing refractive index and direct radiative forcing of atmospheric brown carbon over Gangetic Plain’ P.M. Shamjad, R.V. Satish, Navaneeth M. Thamban, N. Rastogi and S.N. Tripathi, ACS Earth and Space Chem.,2017,  DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem. 7b00074.
5. ‘Municipal solid waste and dung cake burning: Discoloring the Taj Mahal and human health impacts in Agra’ R. Lal, A. Nagpure, L. Luo, S.N. Tripathi, Anu Ramaswami, Michael H Bergin and Armistead G Russell, Environ. Res. Letts., 2016, 11(10), doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/104009.
6. ‘Investigation of aerosol-cloud-rainfall association over Indian Summer Monsoon region’ C. Sarangi, S.N. Tripathi, Vijay P. Kanawade, Ilan Koren and D. Sivanand Pai, Atmos. Chem. and Phy., 2017, 17, 5185–5204.

Welcome to the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory located in the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering in IIT Kanpur. The research focus of our laboratory is to harness the potential of the metabolic machinery of microbes in environment and health management. Our research microorganisms range from Ustilago maydis (Radiation resistant fungi) to bacteriophages to bacteria, including Bacillus, Enterobacteria, Mycobacteria and Rhizobacteria.

Research activities include identification of microorganisms with the capability of degrading xenobiotics, heavy metals, pesticides and organic wastes. Further, we are interested in screening soil and water resources for discovering novel therapeutic agents against MTB and other infectious diseases.

1. Sellamuthu Karthi, Rajeswari Mohan, Franscisco, K Thangaraj, Matheshwaran Saravanan, Perumal Varalakshmi and Balasubramaniem Ashokkumar. 3'-UTR polymorphism rs2229611 in the human G6PC1 gene affects mRNA stability and its expression and confers risk for GSD-Ia (2017) Clinica Chimica Acta (In Press)
2. Shakambari G , Anand kumar B , Angelaa Lincy M.J , Rai SK, Ahamed TQ, Ashokkumar B, Saravanan M, Mahesh A and Varalakshmi P. Glutaminase free L-asparaginase from a marine isolate Bacillus tequilensis PV9W: production, purification, characterization and its biological applications (2016) RSC Adv.6, 25943-25951.
3. Trivedi U, Kaushik S, Kunjadia P, Saravanan M, Nagaraja V, Archana G, Nareshkumar G. Functional expression and purification of Anabaena PCC 7120 XisA protein. (2015) Protein Expr Purif. 118:64-9.
4. Saravanan M, Wuerges J, Bose D, Cook N, Zhang X and Wigley DB. Interactions between the nucleosome histone core and Arp8 in the INO80 Chromatin Remodelling Complex. (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 109:20883-20888.
5. Vasu K, Saravanan M and Nagaraja V. Endonuclease Active Site Plasticity Allows DNA Cleavage with Diverse Alkaline Earth and Transition Metal Ions. (2013) ACS Chem Biol, 6: 934-942
6. Saravanan M, Vasu K and Nagaraja V. Evolution of sequence specificity in a restriction endonuclease. (2008) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 105:10344-10347.
7. Saravanan M, Bujnicki J.M, Cymerman I.A, Rao D.N. and Nagaraja V. (2004) Type II restriction endonuclease R.KpnI is a member of the HNH nuclease superfamily. Nucleic Acids Res. 32: 6129-6135.

Our research focuses on the development of various nanomaterials for various applications in particular drug delivery, bioimaging, solar hydrogen generation, catalytic reactions, and solid state lightings. We also investigate growth and stabilization mechanism which will be useful to design the material with multifunctional properties.

Our research interest are

1. Lanthanide-doped nanodevices
2. Multifunctional nanomaterials for drug delivery and bioimaging applications
3. Nanocatalysts
4. Nanomaterials for solar hydrogen generation
5. Photonic crystals

	1. Stabilization and growth mechanism of nanoparticles: Our research focuses on understanding the growth phenomena at the onset of nucleation as well as the factors responsible for stabilizing the nanoparticles. By controlling reaction parameters it is possible to stabilize non-native structures of the material. These structures which have different physico-chemical property with respect to native structures are key to future applications. Understanding these parameters will help us to make better materials with tailor-made properties.
	2. Nanocatalyst: We are looking forward to preparing catalysts for different potential fields including HDS (hydro-desulfurization) of petroleum products, fuel cell applications and oxidation reactions.
	3. Nanocontrast agents and drug delivery vehicles Our goal is to synthesize various multifunctional nanoparticles (e.g. polymer capsule, lanthanide based NP's e.g.) for bio-imaging and drug delivery applications. We are exploring the in-vitro and in-vivo response of the system and tuning the desired properties to establish the system for biological imaging applications.
	4. Solid state lighting application: The research devoted to the development of lanthanide-doped luminescent materials for general lightning applications. The doping aspects of lanthanide ions have been studied in various inorganic matrices including conditions where both charge and size mismatch occur. Further the research focuses on incorporation of different type of lanthanide ions for the development of white light emitting phosphors. The research is extended to the NIR emissions studies of doped materials for telecommunication applications.
	5. Hydrogen production by splitting water using photo-electrochemical cell:   Our research focus is to make stable photo-electrodes for sustainable solar hydrogen production. This involves electrochemical, photo-electrochemical and photocatalytic analysis of PEC electrodes. Finally a facile, flexible photo-reactor is designed and fabricated for testing of these electrodes for efficient separation of hydrogen and oxygen from water using abundant sunlight source from nature.
	6. Photonic Crystal: Our focus is to develop photonic crystals for various applications such as low threshold lasers, optical filters, multi frequency optical Bragg filter, record resonator quality factors and electrodes in solar cells.

2016-2017

	1. Meenakshi Gupta, Himanshu Pandey, Sri Sivakumar “Intracellular Delivery of ß-Galactosidase Enzyme Using Arginase-Responsive Dextran Sulfate/Poly-l-arginine Capsule for Lysosomal Storage Disorder" , JACS Omega 2 (12), 9002-9012 (2017) .
	2. Vishnu Prasad Shrivastava, Jitendra Kumar, and Sri Sivakumar “On the controlled isotropic shrinkage induced fine-tuning of photo-luminescence in terbium ions embedded silica inverse opal films " , AIP Advances 7, 125027 (2017) .
	3. S Sahana, G Mishra, S Sivakumar, PK Bharadwaj “Rhodamine–Cyclohexane diamine based “turn-on” fluorescence chemosensor for Cr 3+: Photophysical & confocal cell imaging studies " , Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 351, 42-49 (2017) .
	4. P Srivastava, K Singh, M Verma, S Sivakumar, AK Patra “ Photoactive platinum (II) complexes of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen: Interaction with biological targets, antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity " , European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2017) .
	5. Sunanda Sahanaa, Gargi Mishra, Sri Sivakumar, Parimal K.Bharadwaja “2-(2'-Hydroxyphenyl)-benzothiazole (HBT)-terpyridine conjugate: A highly specific ICT based fluorescent probe for Zn2+ ions and its application in confocal cell imaging", Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry .  (2017)
	6. S. Saha, M. Gyanprakash, R. Khan, S. Sivakumar, and R. G. S. Pala “Engineering Semiconductor Interfaces Via Non-Native Nanostructures to Facilitate Electron-Hole Separation ", ECS Transactions .  77 (6) 85-94 (2017)
	7. Ganesh Iyer, Suboohi Shervani, Gargi Mishra, Deb De, Arun Kumar, Sri Sivakumar, Kantesh Balani, Raj Pala, and Anandh Subramaniam,“Poisson effect driven anomalous lattice expansion in metal nanoshells " , Applied Physics Letters .
	8. Venkata Sudheendra Buddhiraju,Rudra Kumar,Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, and Dr. Sri Sivakumar “Structurally stable hollow mesoporous graphitized carbon nanofibers embedded with NiMoO4 nanoparticles for high performance asymmetric supercapacitors" , Electrochimica Acta .  (2017) 238, 337-348.
	9. Jaishree Jeyaraman, Anna Malecka, Poonam Billimoria, Akansha Shukla, Barsha Marandi, Poulam M. Patel, Andrew M. Jackson, Sri Sivakumar “ Immuno-silent polymer capsules encapsulating nanoparticles for bioimaging applications " , Journal of Materials Chemistry B: Materials for Biology and Medicine .  (2017), 5(26), 5251-5258.
	10. Pratibha, Swati Singh, Sri Sivakumar, Verma, Sandeep “ Purine-Based “Fluorescent Sensors for Imaging Zinc Ions in HeLa Cells’; (2017), 2017(36), 4202-4209 " , European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry .  2017(36), 4202-4209
	11. Gargi Mishra, Souryadeep Bhattacharyya, Vipul Bhatia, Bushra Ateeq, Ashutosh Sharma, and Sri Sivakumar “ Direct Intra-nuclear Anticancer Drug Delivery via Polydimethylsiloxane Nanoparticles: In Vitro and In Vivo Xenograft Studies " , ACS: Applied Materials and Interfaces .  (2017) 9(40), 34625-34633
	12. Venkata Sudheendra Buddhiraju,Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, and Dr. Sri Sivakumar “ Structurally stable mesoporous hierarchical NiMoO4 hollow nanofibers for asymmetric supercapacitors with enhanced capacity and improved cycling stability" , ChemELECTROChem .  (2017) 4,1–10.
	13. Ganesh Iyer, Suboohi Shervani, Gargi Mishra, Deb De, Arun Kumar, Sri Sivakumar, Kantesh Balani, Raj Pala, Anandh Subramaniam, “Poisson effect driven anomalous lattice expansion in metal nanoshells " , Electrochimica Acta .  (2017) 110(13), 131603/1-131603/4.
	14. Suboohi Shervani, Puspal Mukherjee, Anshul Gupta, Gargi Mishra, Kavya Illath, T. G. Ajithkumar, Sri Sivakumar, Pratik Sen, Kantesh Balani, Anandh Subramaniam “ Multi-mode hydrogen storage in nano-containers" , International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), 42(38), 24256-24262. .
	15. Chandresh Kumar Rastogi† , Shilendra Kumar Sharma†,Akshay Patel‡, G. Parthasarathy*§, Raj Ganesh S. Pala*†‡, Jitendra Kumar*†, and Sri Sivakumar*†‡?# “ Dopant Induced Stabilization of Metastable Zircon-Type Tetragonal LaVO4" , Journal of Physical Chemistry, ACS Publications .  pp 16501–16512 (2017)
	16. Sunanda Sahana, Gargi Mishra, Sri Sivakumar, Parimal K. Bharadwaj “Highly sensitive and selective “turn-on” chemodosimeter based on Cu2+- promoted hydrolysis for nanomolar detection of Cu2+ and its application in confocal cell imaging" , Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry .  47–54 (2017)
	17. Khushbu Singh Swati Singh Payal Srivastava Sri Sivakumar and Ashis K. Patra , “ Lanthanoplatins: emissive Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes staining nucleoli targeted through Pt–DNA crosslinking" , Chemical Communications .  6144-6147 (2017)
	18. Srikanth Dasari, Swati Singh, Sri Sivakumar, Ashis K. Patra, "A highly selective and sensitive “Dual-Sensitized Luminescent Europium(III) and Terbium(III) Complexes as Bioimaging and Light-Responsive Therapeutic Agent" , Chemistry An European Journal 22 (48).  17387–17396 (2016)
	19. Nabanita Chatterjee, Binapani Mahaling, Sri Sivakumar, Parimal K. Bharadwaj, "A highly selective and sensitive “Turn-On” fluorescence chemosensor for the Cu2+ ion in aqueous ethanolic medium and its application in live cell imaging" , Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 330 .  110–116 (2016)
	20. Koshal Kishor, Sulay Saha, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala "Enhanced water oxidation activity of Co3O4 electrocatalyst on earth abundant metal interlayered hybrid porous carbon support" , ChemElectroChem 3 (11) .  1899–1907 (2016)
	21. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Dilip Kumar Behara, Gyan Prakash Sharma, Maurya Gyanprakash, Raj Ganesh S Pala, Sri Sivakumar "Fabricating Appropriate Band-Edge-Staggered Hetero-Semiconductors with Optically Activated Au Nanoparticles via Click Chemistry for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting" , ACS Sustainable Chem. & Engg. 4 (9).  4511–4520(2016)
	22. Jaishree Jeyaraman, Akansha Shukla, Sri Sivakumar "Targeted Stealth Polymer Capsules Encapsulating Ln3+-Doped LaVO4 Nanoparticles for Bioimaging Applications" , ACS Biomaterials Sci. & Engg.2 (6).  1330–1340 (2016)
	23. Dilip Kumar Behara, Gyan Prakash Sharma, Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Maurya Gyanprakash, Raj Ganesh S Pala, Sri Sivakumar "Synchronization of charge carrier separation by tailoring the interface of Si-Au-TiO2 heterostructures via click chemistry for PEC water splitting" ,Chemical Engg Science 154 .  150–169 (2016)
	24. C. R. Dhanya, Jaishree Jeyaraman, P. A. Janeesh, Akansha Shukla, Sri Sivakumar and Annie Abraham "Bio-distribution and in vivo/in vitro toxicity profile of PEGylated polymer capsules encapsulating LaVO4:Tb3+ nanoparticles for bioimaging applications " , RSc Adv. , 6, 55125-55134. (2016)
	25. Arun Prakash Upadhyay , Chandresh Kumar Rastogi, Raj Ganesh S Pala and Sri Sivakumar "Desorption Retarded Optically Complemented Multiple Dye-Sensitized Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting System with Enhanced Performance" , International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 41 (25), 10727–10736 (2016).
	26. Rupesh Singh, Deepak Kunzru and Sri Sivakumar "Co-promoted MoO3 nanoclusters for hydrodesulfurization" , Catal. Sci & Technol. 6 5949-5960 (2016).
	27. Dilip Kumar Behara, Ashok Kumar Ummireddi, Vidyasagar Aragonda, Prashant Kumar Gupta, Raj Ganesh S Pala and Sri Sivakumar "Coupled optical absorption, charge carrier separation, and surface electrochemistry in surface disordered/hydrogenated TiO2 for enhanced PEC water splitting reaction " , Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18 8364-8377 (2016) .
	28. Shilpi Saxena, Rupesh Singh, Raj Ganesh S Pala and Sri Sivakumar "Sinter-resistant gold nanoparticles encapsulated by zeolite nanoshell for oxidation of cyclohexane " , RSC Adv. 6 (10), 8015-8020 (2016).
	29. Rupesh Singh, Deepak Kunzru and Sri Sivakumar "Monodispersed Ultrasmall NiMo Metal oxide Nanoclusters as Hydrodesulfurization Catalyst" , Applied Catalysis B : Environmental, 185 , 163–173 (2016).
	30. Amritha Rammohan, Gargi Mishra, Binapani Mahaling, Lokesh Tayal, Ahana Mukhopadhyay, Sanjay Gambhir, Ashutosh Sharma, and Sri Sivakumar "PEGylated Carbon Nanocapsule: A Universal Reactor and Carrier for In Vivo Delivery of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Nanoparticles" , ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 8 (1), 350–362.
	31. Anirban Chandra, Khushbu Singh, Swati Singh, Sri Sivakumar and Ashis K. Patra "A luminescent europium(III)–platinum(II) heterometallic complex as a theranostic agent: a proof-of-concept study" , Dalton Transaction, 45 , 494-497 (2016).
	2011-2015
	32. Sunanda Sahana, Gargi Mishra, Sri Sivakumar and Parimal K. Bharadwaj "2-(2’-Hydroxyphenyl)-benzothiazole (HBT)-quinoline conjugate: Highly specific fluorescent probe for Hg2+ based on ESIPT and its application in bioimaging", Dalton Transaction, 44 , 20139-20146 (2015).
	33. Koshal Kishor, Sulay Saha, Manish Gupta, Anshumaan Bajpai, Moitrayee Chatterjee, Sri Sivakumar, and Raj Ganesh S. Pala "Roughened Zn-Doped Ru–Ti Oxide Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts by Blending Active and Activated Passive Components" , ChemElectroChem, 2 (11) , 1839-1846 (2015).
	34. Vishnu Prasad Shrivastava, Sri Sivakumar, and Jitendra Kumar "Green Colour Purification in Tb3+ Ions through Silica Inverse Opal Heterostructure" , ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 7 (22), 11890-11899 (2015).
	35. Gagandeep Kaur, Akansha Shukla, Sri Sivakumar and Sandeep Verma "Soft structure formation and cancer cell transport mechanisms of a folic acid–dipeptide conjugate" , Journal of Peptide Science, 21 (3), 248–255 (2015).
	36. Prasenjit Bag, Chandresh Kumar Rastogi,Sourav Biswas, Sivakumar Sri Valeriu Mereacre and Vadapalli Chandrasekhar "Homodinuclear Lanthanide {Ln2} (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy, Eu) Complexes Prepared from a o-Vanillin based Ligand: Luminescence and Single-Molecule Magnetism Behavior" , Dalton Transactions, 44, 4328-4340 (2015).
	37. Chandresh Kumar Rastogi, Sulay Saha, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala and Jitendra Kumar "Kinetically stabilized aliovalent europium-doped magnesium oxide as a UV sensitized phosphor" , Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 17, 4600-4608 (2015).
	38. Anisha Thomas, Akansha Shukla,Sri Sivakumar and Sandeep Verma "Assembly, postsynthetic modification and hepatocyte targeting by multiantennary, galactosylated soft structures" , Chem. Comm., 50 ,15752-15755 (2014).
	39. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Prasenjit Sadhukhan, Sudeshna Roy, Raj Ganesh S Pala and Sri Sivakumar, "Brownian Motion Retarded Polymer-Encapsulated Liquid Crystal Droplets Anchored over Patterned Substrate via Click Chemistry" , RSC Adv., 4 ,27135-27139 (2014).
	40. P.A Janeesh, Haider Sami, C.R Dhanya, Sri Sivakumar and Annie Abraham "Immunocompatibility and Toxicity Studies of Poly-L-Lysine Nanocapsules in Sprague Dawely Rats for Drug Delivery Applications" , Chemical Biology & Drug Design, 84(3), 292-299 (2014).
	41. P.A Janeesh, Haider Sami, C.R Dhanya, Sri Sivakumar and Annie Abraham, "Biocompatibility and genotoxicity studies of polyallylamine hydrochloride nanocapsules in rats", RSC Adv., 4 ,24484-24497 (2014).
	42. V Venkatesh, Akansha Shukla, Sri Sivakumar, and Sandeep Verma, "Purine-Stabilized Green Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters for Cell Nuclei Imaging Applications" , ACS Applied Material & Interfaces, 6 (3),2185–2191 (2014).
	43. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Dilip Kumar Behara, Gyan Prakash Sharma, Anshumaan Bajpai, Nicholas Sharac, Regina Ragan, Raj Ganesh S Pala, and Sri Sivakumar, "Generic Process for Highly Stable Metallic Nanoparticle-Semiconductor Heterostructures via “Click” Chemistry for Electro/Photocatalytic Applications" , ACS Applied Material & Interfaces, 5 (19), 9554–9562 (2013).
	44. P. Gangwar, M. Pandey, S. Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala and G. Parthasarathy, "Increased Loading of Eu3+ Ions in Monazite LaVO4 Nanocrystals via Pressure-Driven Phase Transitions , Crystal Growth and Design. 13 (6), 2344–2349 (2013).
	45. Amritha Rammohan, Lokesh Tayal, Ashok Kumar, Sri Sivakumar and Ashutosh Sharma, " Fabrication of polymer-modified monodisperse mesoporous carbon particles by template-based approach for drug delivery , RSC Adv., 3, 2008-2016, (2013).
	46. Saurabh Singh , Anurodh Tripathi , Chandresh Kumar Rastogi and Sri Sivakumar , "White light from dispersible lanthanide-doped LaVO4 core–shell nanoparticles" RSC Adv., ,2, 12231-12236 (2012)
	47. Haider Sami, Auhin Maparu, Ashok Kumar and Sri Sivakumar, "Generic Delivery of Payload of Nanoparticles Intracellularly via Hybrid Polymer Capsules for Bioimaging Applications" PLos one  ,7, 1 , 1-12 (2012).
	48. Debadrita Bhattacharyya, Chanchal Hazra, Pooja Gangwar, Venkataramanan Mahalingam and Sri Sivakumar, "Microstructural, Optical and Cytotoxicity Studies of Eu3+-Doped Y2O3 Nanoparticles Prepared by Simple Control of the Chain Length of Cross-Linkers via Pechini Method " Science of Adv. Mater., 4 (5-6) , 656-662, (2012).
	2005-2010
	49. Sri Sivakumar, Kim L. Wark, Jugal K. Gupta, Nicholas L. Abbott and Frank Caruso, "Liquid Crystal Emulsions as the Basis of Biological Sensors for the Optical Detection of Bacteria and Viruses" Adv. Func. Mater., 19 (14), 2260–2265, (2009).
	50. Sri Sivakumar, Vipul Bansal,Christina Cortez, Siow-Feng Chong, Alexander N. Zelikin, Frank Caruso, "Degradable, Surfactant-Free, Monodisperse Polymer-Encapsulated Emulsions as Anticancer Drug Carriers" Adv. Mater. , 21, (18), 1820–1824 (2009).
	51. Sri Sivakumar, J.-C. Boyer, E. Bovero, and F.C.J.M. van Veggel, "Up-conversion of 980 nm light into white light from sol-gel derived thin film made with new combinations of LaF3:Ln3+ nanoparticles", J. Mater. Chem., 19, 2392-2399, (2009).
	52. J. K. Gupta, Sri Sivakumar, Frank Caruso and Nicholas L. Abbott, "Size-Dependent Ordering of Liquid Crystals Observed in Polymeric Capsules with Micrometer and Smaller Diameters", Anqew. Chem. Int. Ed., 48, 1652-1655 (2009).
	53. Sri Sivakumar, Jugal K. Gupta, Nicholas L. Abbott and Frank Caruso, "Monodisperse Emulsions through Templating Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Capsules", Chem. Mater., 20 (6), 2063–2065 (2008).
	54. Sri Sivakumar, F.C.J.M. van Veggel, M. Raudsepp, "Sensitized emission from lanthanide-doped (Er3+, Nd3+, and Eu3+ nanoparticles embedded in a semiconductor sol-gel thin film, ChemPhysChem , 8(11),1677-1683 (2007).
	55. Sri Sivakumar , Frank C. J. M van Veggel and P. Stanley May, "Near-Infrared (NIR) to Red and Green Up-Conversion Emission from Silica Sol-Gel Thin Films Made with La0.45Yb0.5Er0.05F3 Nanoparticles, Hetero-Looping-Enhanced Energy Transfer (Hetero-LEET): A New Up-Conversion Process" J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 129 (3),  620-625 (2007).(This paper has been featured in Biophotonics)
	56. Sri Sivakumar, F.C.J.M van Veggel, "Red, Green, and Blue Light Through Co-operative Up-conversion in Sol-gel Thin Films made with Yb0.8La0.15Tb0.05F3 and Yb0.8La0.15Eu0.05F3 Nanoparticles",J. Display Technology, 3, 176-183 (2007).
	57. A.Y.H. Lo, V. Sudarsan, Sri Sivakumar, F. van Veggel, R.W. Schurko, "Multinuclear Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Doped Lanthanum Fluoride Nanoparticles", J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 129, 4687-4700 (2007).
	58. M. Aloshyna, Sri Sivakumar, M. Venkataramanan, A.G. Brolo, F.C.J.M. van Veggel; "Significant Suppression of Spontaneous Emission in SiO2 Photonic Crystals made with Tb3+-doped LaF3 Nanoparticles", J. Phys. Chem. C , 111, 4047-4051 (2007)
	59. Sri Sivakumar, P.R. Diamente, and F.C.J.M. van Veggel, "Silica-coated Ln3+-doped LaF3 nanoparticles as new robust down- and up-converting biolabels", Chem. Eur. J. 12, 5878-5884 (2006).
	60. Sri Sivakumar, F.C.J.M. van Veggel, M. Raudsepp, "Bright white light through up-conversion of a single NIR source from sol-gel derived thin film made with Ln3+ doped LaF3 nanoparticles" J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 127, 12464-12465 (2005)( Featured in Photonics Spectra 2005, Oct issue, p121 and materials@nature.com-nanozone.)
	61. V. Sudarsan, Sri Sivakumar, F.C.J.M van Veggel, M. Raudsepp, "A general and convenient method for making highly luminescent sol-gel derived silica and alumina films by using LaF3 nanoparticles doped with lanthanide ions ( Er3+, Nd3+, and Ho3+)",Chem. Mater., 17, 4736-4742 (2005).
	Book Chapters.
	1. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Dilip Kumar Behara, Gyan Prakash Sharma, Raj Ganesh S. Pala and Sri Sivakumar, "Self-Directed Assembly of Nanoparticles: A Review on Various Approaches " , Advanced Theranostic Materials, Wiley-Scrivener, 297-335 (2015).
	2. Dilip K. Behara, Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Gyan P Sharma, B.V. Saikrishna Kiran, Sri Sivakumar and Raj Ganesh S. Pala, "Heterostructures Based on TiO2 and Silicon for Solar Hydrogen Generation " , Advanced Functional Materials, Wiley-Scrivener, 219 (2015).
	3. H Sami, J. Jaishree, Ashok Kumar, S. Sivakumar, "Multifunctional Nano/Micro Polymer Capsules as Potential Drug Delivery and Imaging Agents, Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery and Therapeutics" , edited by A. K. Mishra, Wiley-Scrivener, 229-283 (2012).
	Patents.
	1. Rupesh Singh, Deepak Kunzru, Sri Sivakumar , "Process for Synthesis Of A Catalyst For Hydrodesulfurization ", Indian Patent No. 1590/DEL/2014.
	2. Rupesh Singh, Shilpi Saxena, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala , "Core -Shell Sinter Resistant Nanosphere ", Indian Patent No. 1440/DEL/2014.
	3. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Dilip Kumar Behara, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala , "A Click chemistry based approach to improve the photostability of dyes for long term stability dye sensitized photoelectrochemical water splitting ", Indian Patent filed.
	4. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Prasenjit Sadhukhan, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala , "A Immobilaztion of liquid crystal droplets on glass surface via click chemistry for bio-sensing application ", Indian Patent No. 1128/DEL/2014.
	5. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala, Regina Ragan , "A Directed assembly of tailored multilayers of nanoparticle using click chemistry ", Indian Patent No. 2169/DEL/2013.
	6. Arun Prakash Upadhyay, Sri Sivakumar, Raj Ganesh S Pala, Regina Ragan , "A Surfaces having nanoparticulate layers and assemby and use thereof", US Application No: 14/474, 035.
	7. Sri Sivakumar, Ashok Kumar, Haider Sami, , " A generic approach to prepare nanoparticles-loaded polymer capsules for biomedical applications/Nanoparticles loaded polymer capsules, process for Synthesis and application thereof", Indian Patent pending.
	8. van Veggel F. C. J. M., Sudarsan V., Sri Sivakumar, "Production of light from sol-gel thin films made with lanthanide-doped nanoparticles and preparation thereof", US Patent, International publication number, WO 2006/113998.
	9. Abbott, N. A., Gupta, J., Sri Sivakumar, Caruso, F.  "Monodisperse emulsions through templating polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules", US patent pending.

Development of instruments for aerosol measurement and control, formation of secondary organic aerosol, personal exposure assessment and health effects of inhaled particles, source apportionment of air pollution, formation and control of engine exhaust emissions, and human risk assessment. He has pioneered real-time personal exposure study for a panel of IITK students to various toxic pollutants present in both indoor and outdoor microenvironments using a suite of real-time instruments coupled to time-activity recordings. In addition, changes in the lung parameters for each subject were compared with the changes in the fine and coarse fractions of PM10 and co-pollutant gases for two different seasons. His published work relating changes in critical lung function parameters to acute air pollution episodes (summer dust storms) is a first of its kind for Indian population. He has recently also looked at the relationship between the bioaerosol load, ambient air quality and respiratory illness within a closely monitored academic campus community using an in-house developed 2-stage bioaerosol sampler. He is working towards enhancing the indigenous capabilities within the country to develop inexpensive, potable and readily deployable aerosol measuring instruments including inertial impaction based portable air samplers to accurately collect size-resolved fine and submicron aerosol, customized 2-stage bioaerosol sampler, and a non-selective membrane based single annular tube diffusion denuder employed to separate co-pollutant gases from the aerosol of interest. An invaluable PM1 sampler developed by him is commercially available as APM577.

1. Dicarboxylic acids and levoglucosan in aerosols from Indo-Gangetic Plain: Inferences from day night variability during wintertime. Fena Sorathia, Prashant Rajput, Tarun Gupta, Science of The Total Environment, DOI10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.124, 624:451-460, 2018.
2. Environmental Contaminants: Measurement, Modelling and Control. Book edited by Tarun Gupta, Avinash Agarwal, Rashmi Agarwal, Nitin Labhsetwar, 431pg, Springer, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-7332-8, 2018.
3. Chemical composition and source-apportionment of sub-micron particles during wintertime over Northern India: New insights on influence of fog-processing. Prashant Rajput, Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Amit Kumar Singh, Tarun Gupta, Environmental Pollution, DOI 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.10.036, 233:81-91, 2018.
4. Water soluble organic aerosols in Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP): Insights from aerosol mass spectrometry. Abhishek Chakraborty, Pradhi Rajeev, Prashant Rajput, Tarun Gupta, Science of The Total Environment, DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.142, 599-600:1573-1582, 2017.
5. One year record of bioaerosols and particles concentration in Indo-Gangetic Plain: Implications of biomass burning emissions to high-level of endotoxin exposure. Prashant Rajput, Manzar Hussain Anjum, Tarun Gupta, Environmental Pollution, DOI 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.01.045, 224:98-106, 2017.

We have developed a new class of agarose based biodegradable substratesfor packaging and electronic industries. These substrates were optimized for its mechanical properties like tensile strength, bending ability and elongation to perform satisfactorily in the abovementioned applications.Chemical modifications like crosslinking of agarose was used to control swelling and improve the mechanical strength of the substrates. Additionally, the developed substrate was also explored for its possible application as biodegradable wound dressing patch for localized drug delivery. We are also developing cellulose based natural adsorbent mats coated with polyaniline for removal of heavy metal carcinogens like Cr (VI) present in domestic drinking water.These carcinogens usually come as industrial wastes from leather and textile industries which are found in abundance in districts surrounding Kanpur. The developed adsorbent mats can be used both at industrial and domestic levels for removal of these impurities.

1. ‘Synthesis and characterization of agarose–bacterial cellulose biodegradable composites’K, A.  Awadhiya, D. Kumar, K. Rathore, B. Fatma, V. Verma,Polymer Bulletin,2017, 74, 2887–2903.
2. ‘Crosslinking of agarose bioplastic using citric acid’ A. Awadhiya, D. Kumar, V. Verma,Carbohydrate polymers, 2016, 151, 60-67.
3. ‘Agarose bioplastic-based drug delivery system for surgical and wound dressings’ A. Awadhiya, S. Tyeb, K. Rathore, V. Verma,Engineering in Life Sciences, 2017, 17, 204-214
4. Environment friendly transparent agarose substrates for versatile flexible electronics applications(Patent filed:TEMP/E-1/28500/2017-DEL)