CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory Faculty

Research Philosophy

It is highly desirable (if we can) to jump onto the catalyst surface (as a probing spectator atom/molecule) and move with the reactant/products to find out what exactly is going on at the molecular level under reaction conditions. Since this is not possible, we require an understanding of the fundamentals that control the catalytic reactions and the related surface chemical events through several experiments by suitable means. Traditional catalyst development was based on hit and try approach and even after hitting a good catalyst, generally, there was no looking back on why a particular catalyst is active/selective and what fundamental properties contribute to that. Partly it is due to the complex catalytic materials involved as well as complex reactions. The goal of research in our laboratory is to understand the fundamentals of surface catalytic reactions on the real-world complex catalytic materials at a molecular level, and to suggest the ways to control the surface catalytic reactions based on the molecular level understanding. The molecular level controlling of the surface reactions would guide the development of highly active and/or selective catalysts, which might help to solve the critical issues of highly selective chemical processes in different catalytic reactions. To achieve the goal, we have been using the sophisticated tools such as Near Ambient Pressure Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAPPES), Molecular Beam Instrument, In Situ IR spectroscopy, Photochemical characterization etc. along with micro and nano-materials into surface chemistry and catalysis.

Current activities

►Titania based new materials and Photcatalytic applications

ACS Omega., (2017) 2, 6768 - 6781

Nature Scientific Reports., (2017) 7, 6515

ACS Catal. (2014) 4, 2844-2853