Rahul Banerjee

Rahul Banerjee

Physical and Materials Chemistry Division

About Me

In our group, we focus on the use of various functionalized organic links including fluorinated, non-fluorinated and chiral carboxylic acids with a wide range of metal ions including d-, f-block and main group metal ions for designing MOFs for improved gas uptake property. To achieve Synthetic control over the creation of functional nanostructures, nanoscale morphology with their physical properties, we focus on synthesizing various nano MOFs, thin films of nano MOFs, metal oxide nano particles via different synthetic modes for various separation, catalysis and proton conductivity applications. We are also deeply involved in exploration of metallogels and their catalytic, and materials based applications. We are synthesizing various types POM based hybrid materials for catalysis and gas storage applications.

Professional Experience

  • 2008- Current- Scientist, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India
  • 2006-2008 Research Associate, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles (with Prof. Omar M. Yaghi).
  • 2006 Ph.D Crystal Engineering and Supramolecular Chemistry University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India (with Prof. G. R. Desiraju)

Selected Publications

  • Shouvik Mitra, Sharath Kandambeth, Bishnu P. Biswal, Abdul Khayum M., Chandan Kumar Choudhury, Mihir Mehta, Gagandeep Kaur, Subhrashis Banerjee, Asmita A. Prabhune, Sandeep Verma, Sudip Roy, Ulhas K. Kharul And Rahul Banerjee, Self-Exfoliated Guanidniium-Based Ionic Covalent Organic Nanosheets (iCONs), J. Am. Chem. Soc., 138, 2823 - 2828 (2016), DOI:10.1021/jacs.5b13533.
    Highlighted in C&EN News Selected for Spotlights on Recent JACS Publications
  • Arjun Halder, Sharath Kandambeth, Bishnu P. Biswal, Gagandeep Kaur, Neha Chaki Roy, Matthew Addicoat, Jagadish K. Salunke, Subhrashis Banerjee, Kumar Vanka, Thomas Heine, Sandeep Verma And Rahul Banerjee, Decoding the Morphological Diversity in Two Dimensional Crystalline Porous Polymers by Core Planarity Modulation, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., , (2016).
  • Sharath Kandambeth, V. Venkatesh, Digambar B. Shinde, Sushma Kumari, Arjun Halder, Sandeep Verma And Rahul Banerjee, Self-templated chemically stable hollow spherical covalent organic framework, Nature Commun., 6, 6786 (2015), DOI:10.1038/ncomms7786.
  • Suman Chandra, Tanay Kundu, Sharath Kandambeth, Ravichandar BabaRao, Yogesh Marathe, Shrikant M. Kunjir And Rahul Banerjee, Phosphoric acid Loaded Azo (-N=N-) based Covalent Organic Framework for Proton Conduction, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 136, 6570 - 6573 (2014), DOI:10.1021/ja502212v.
  • Subhadeep Saha, Gobinda Das, Jayshri Thote And Rahul Banerjee, Photocatalytic Metal-Organic Framework from CdS Quantum Dot Incubated Luminescent Metallohydrogel, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 136, 14845 - 14851 (2014), DOI:10.1021/ja509019k.
  • Bishnu P. Biswal,  Suman Chandra,  Sharath Kandambeth,  Binit Lukose, Thomas Heine And Rahul Banerjee, Mechanochemical Synthesis of Chemically Stable Isoreticular Covalent Organic Frameworks, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135, 5328 - 5331 (2013), DOI:10.1021/ja4017842.
  • Sharath Kandambeth, Digambar Balaji Shinde, Manas K. Panda, Binit Lukose, Thomas Heine And Rahul Banerjee, Enhancement of Chemical Stability and Crystallinity in Porphyrin Containing Covalent Organic Frameworks using Intra-molecular Hydrogen Bonding, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 52, 13052 - 13056 (2013), DOI:10.1002/anie.201306775.
  • Arijit Mallick, Bikash Garai, David Díaz Díaz And Rahul Banerjee, Hydrolytic Conversion of a Metal-Organic Polyhedron into a Metal-Organic Framework, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 52, 13755 - 13759 (2013), DOI:10.1002/anie.201307486.
  • Suman Chandra, Sharath Kandambeth, Bishnu P. Biswal, Binit Lukose, Shrikant M. Kunjir, Minakshi Chaudhary, Ravichandar Babarao, Thomas Heine And Rahul Banerjee, Chemically Stable Multi-layered Covalent Organic Nanosheets from Covalent Organic Frameworks via Mechanical Delamination, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135, 17853 - 17861 (2013), DOI:10.1021/ja408121p.
  • Tanay Kundu, Subash Chandra Sahoo And Rahul Banerjee, Variable Water Adsorption in Amino Acid Derivative Based Homochiral Metal Organic Frameworks, Cryst. Growth & Des., 12, 4633 - 4640 (2012), DOI:10.1021/cg3008443.
    Published as part of the Crystal Growth & Design virtual special issue In Honor of Prof. G. R. Desiraju
  • Arijit Mallick, Tanay Kundu And Rahul Banerjee, Correlation between Coordinated Water Content and Proton Conductivity in Ca-BTC-based Metal-Organic Frameworks, Chem. Commun., 48, 8829 - 8831 (2012), DOI:10.1039/C2CC34006B.
  • Pradip Pachfule,  Beena K. Balan,  Sreekumar Kurungot And  Rahul Banerjee, One-dimensional confinement of a nanosized metal organic framework in carbon nanofibers for  improved gas adsorption, Chem Commum., 48, 2009 - 2012 (2012), DOI:10.1039/C2CC16877D.
  • Sharath Kandambeth, Arijit Mallick, Binit Lukose, Manoj V. Mane, Thomas Heine And Rahul Banerjee, Construction of Crystalline 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks with Remarkable Chemical (Acid/Base) Stability via a Combined Reversible and Irreversible Route, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134, 19524 - 19527 (2012), DOI:10.1021/ja308278w.
    This work is dedicated to Professor Gautam R. Desiraju on the occasion of his 60th birthday
  • Tamas Panda, Pradip Pachfule, Yifei Chen, Jianwen Jiang And Rahul Banerjee, Amino Functionalized Zeolitic Tetrazolate Framework (ZTF) with High Capacity for Storage of Carbon Dioxide, Chem. Commun., 47, 2011 - 2013 (2011), DOI:10.1039/C0CC04169F.
  • Subash Chandra Sahoo, Tanay Kundu And Rahul Banerjee, Helical Water Chain Mediated Proton Conductivity in Homochiral Metal-Organic Frameworks with Unprecedented Zeolitic (unh) Topology, J. Am. Chem.Soc., 133, 17950 - 17958 (2011), DOI:10.1021/ja2078637.
  • Rahul Banerjee, Anh Phan, Bo Wang, Carolyn Knobler, Hiroyasu Furukawa, Michael O’Keeffe And Omar M. Yaghi, High-Throughput Discovery and Synthesis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks and their Applications to Carbon Dioxide Capture, Science., 319, 939 - 943 (2008), DOI:10.1126/science.1152516.
    This paper has been highlighted in UCLA News Edits, Chemical and Engineering News, MIT technology Review, CBC News(Canada),Chemistry World (UK), WIRED news, The Los Angeles Times

Research Interest

  • Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for Reversible Gas Storage
  • Supramolecular co-ordination polymeric Gel Materials
  • Synthesis of Polyoxometalate Based Hybrid Materials
  • Chiral MOFs for Separation of Chiral Organic Molecules
  • Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) for Functional Applications

Contact Details

Dr. Rahul Banerjee


Office: D-105, Polymer and Advanced Materials Laboratory
National Chemical Laboratory
Dr. Homi Bhabha Road
Pune 411008, India
Phone  +91 20 2590 2535
Fax +91 20 2590 2636
E-mail: r.banerjee@ncl.res.in