Dr. Hari Krishna KODURU
Dr. Hari Krishna KODURU was born in a small town called Nellore in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. He obtained his Master of Philosophy (M. Phil)in science degree and PhD from the Department of Physics, Sri venkateswara University, which is a state University in India. During his first PhD, he carried out his research work in field of “Chromogenic Metal oxide thin films, grown by activated reactive evaporation technique, for Electro & Photo-Chromic applications”.
He selected for ‘Bernardino Telesio fellowship’ to do PhD in the Department of Physics, University of Calabria (UNICAL), Cosenza, Italy. During his second PhD, he got the wonderful opportunity to carry out research work in the two advanced research areas: ‘Cold plasma polymerized polymeric thin films for structural applications, which had been carried out under the guidance of Prof. Nicola Scaramuzza, Department of Physics, UNICAL and ‘Fabrication and characterization of Hyperbolic Metamaterials (HMMs) for Enhancement of spontaneous emission applications’, which had been carried out under the guidance of Prof. Giuseppe Strangi, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University (CASE), Ohio, USA.
He succeeded to obtain MIUR Italian fellowship to work in the project entitled ‘An investigation on nanophysics of the solid surface interface’ as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Nicola Scaramuzza, Department of Physics, University of Calabria (UNICAL), Cosenza, Italy. He fabricated ‘polymer/nano-particle’ structures, by employing cold plasma polymerization technique, in which thin layers of ‘Ag/Au nano-particles’ embedded in the matrix polymer thin films’ and investigated the role thin layers of nano-particles on microstructural, optical and dielectric properties. Currently, his research interests are focused on ‘the fabrication and characterization of nanocomposite solid polymer electrolyte membranes for sodium ion and magnesium ion battery applications’.
Research Interests
- Fabrication of Nanocomposite Solid Polymer Electrolyte Membranes by following novel approaches for Na+, Mg+2 – ion conducting applications.
- Chromogenic nano-particles embedded free-standing polymer membranes for chromogenic applications.
- Metal oxide thin films for energy storage device applications.
- Fabrication and testing of efficiencies of ‘mixture of ruthenium dye and natural dye’ based DSSCs.
A brief summary of the project
In view of the outstanding technological achievements in the multidisciplinary engineering fields, polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) have been gaining vital significance in both academic and scientific sectors owing to their unusual properties. In PNCs, the presence of unique ‘polymer/nano-filler’ interfaces can tailor the type of confirmations generally adopt by the polymer molecules and free energies associated with the polymer chains exist at the vicinity of interracial regions. The role of an interface is related to a fundamental length-scale in the order of the radius of gyration of the polymer chains. As a result, the synergetic interaction/confirmations arise in the ‘nanoscopically confined interfacial nanocomposite matrix’ and contribute to the enhancement of the segmental mobility, relaxation behaviour, consequent thermal transitions, optical, electrical and mechanical properties, which are not present in the macroscopic counterpart. Worth to mention that manifestation of different kinds of PNCs for spectrum of industrial applications is prominently depend on the arrangement, spatial ordering, clustering, percolation, heterogeneous distribution and synergy between incorporated nano-fillers in the matrix of polymer. In the nutshell, fabrication of advanced PNCs opens a new window for the possibility of developing a new class of smart materials with exceptional properties. In addition, the fabrication procedures of PNCs do not require any kind of vacuum technologies, high level of experimental set-ups and concisely, economically affordable. Therefore in order to fulfil the technical requirements associated to the future energy conversion & storage devices, the above described state-of-the-art shows impetus scope for the further enhancement in room temperature ionic conductivity; mechanical stability; robustness; cycling capability; and coloration efficiencies of the PNCs based membranes. Worth to mention that the end characteristic properties of PNCs significantly depend on the type adapted fabrication methods and post treatment procedures, which can tailor the host of the PNCs to achieve future challenges.
The present project aims to investigate about:
- Preparation of sodium, magnesium salts (Na+ X–, Mg2+Y2-) doped and nano-fillers (Al2O3, SiO2, GO) incorporated PEO, PVP, PAA nanocomposite solutions and the fabrication of PEO/PVP and PEO/PAA multi-layered nanocomposite polymer membranes (MLNPMs) using Layer – by – Layer deposition technique.
- A detailed investigation on micro-structural properties by means of X-ray diffraction, Micro-Raman, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy characterization techniques.
- Irradiation effect on mechanical and Li-ion conductivity properties of multi-layer structured nanocomposite electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications.
- Fabrication of ‘PAA/WO3 NPs’, ‘PAA/MoO3 NPs’ and ‘PAA/ (WO3+ MoO3) NPs’ structures and investigation of optical, Li-ion intercalation studies and cyclic voltammetry studies for electrochromic device application.