Catalysis Division

Welcome address

“Chemistry without catalysis, would be a sword without a handle, a light without brilliance, a bell without sound” –Alwin Mittasch

Catalysis Division of CSIR-NCL work at developing novel heterogeneous catalytic materials for variety of applications including Energy, Environment and Healthcare. We also undertake fundamental surface science studies under in-situ or operando conditions to arrive at molecular level details of bond making and breaking process on a catalyst surface.

A strong emphasize on converting the performance of the materials to processes with pilot plant facility makes our division unique among others.

Materials for Hydrogen Generation, Biomass Utilization, Photocatalysis, Surface Science etc are some of the areas that are currently being actively pursued.

The students can expect to carry out material synthesis, characterization and their catalysis. They will be trained to operate different types of reactors, high end instruments for catalyst characterization and will enjoy the freedom to cut across divisions to acquire cross disipilnary knowledge.

News, Events and Highlights

Recent Publications view all>>

Enhanced mid-visible light absorption

* Chinnakonda S. Gopinath, Avishek Saha, Kranti N. Salgaonkar,Vikas Kumar Jha, E. Siva Subramaniam Iyer, Enhanced mid-visible light absorption and long-lived charge carriers in an electronically and structurally integrated BiVO4–TiO2 photoanode for efficient artificial photosynthesis applications, Nanoscale., 17, 12738 - 12750 (2025), DOI:DOI: 10.1039/D5NR00723B.

Oxidase-Like Nanozyme Activity of

Vellaichamy Ganesan, Aviru Kumar Basu, Sonu Sarraf, Devesh Kumar Singh, Deepika Sharma,Ajit Kumar Singh, Avishek Saha,* Arindam Indra, Oxidase-Like Nanozyme Activity of Ultrathin Copper Metal–Organic Framework Nanosheets With High Specificity for Catechol Oxidation, ChemCatChem., 17, e202401029 (2025), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202401029.

Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Glycerol Oxidation

Mukta Kulkarni-Sambhare, Kranti N Salgaonkar, Avishek Saha, Chinnakonda S Gopinath, Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Glycerol Oxidation to Value-Added and Highly Selective Glyceric/Lactic Acid, ChemCatChem., , (2025), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202500641.

Continuous FlowHydrodeoxygenation of Lignin-Derived

Dheerendra Singh,Shunottara M. Jogdand,R. Nandini Devi,and Paresh L. Dhepe, Continuous FlowHydrodeoxygenation of Lignin-Derived Guaiacol toCyclohexanol over DurableAl2O3 HollowFiber SupportedCoCatalyst, ChemCatChem., , (2025), DOI:doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202500656.

C C Insertion over

Sakya S. Sen*, Debasis Koley*, Pratiksha B. Ghanwat, Nripen Khilari,V. S. Ajithkumar, C=C Insertion over N=C=O of Allyl Isocyanate into the Ge-Si Bond of a Germylene, Eur J. Inorg. Chem., , (2025), DOI:ejic.202500305.

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