Faculty

Our Faculty

The Chemistry Department takes its pride in having a proficient team of faculties and excellent student-Instructor relationships. The strength of the department lies in the motivation, dedication and expertise of the faculty members.

	Name: Prof. G Sundar Position: Senior Professor & Director Ph.D.: Cornell University, USA. Area of research: Theoretical Chemistry, Thermodynamics. Email: sundar[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. D Ramaiah Position: Shri BK Birla and Shrimati Sarala Birla Chair Professor Ph.D: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur (1988) Areas of Interest: Chemistry-Materials and Chemistry-Biology Interface (Functional materials for light harvesting, molecular probes and sensitizers for photodynamic therapeutical applications) E-Mail: rama@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in or d.ramaiah@gmail.com Phone: +91 40 66303745 (Office) & +91 9435499986 (Mobile)
	Name: Prof. B. M. Reddy Position: Senior Professor Emeritus Ph.D: CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad Areas of Interest: catalysis, physical chemistry, organic chemistry, and materials science. E-Mail: bmreddy@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in Phone: +91 40 66303794
	Name: Prof. N.Rajesh Position: Senior Professor Ph.D.: IIT Madras. Area of research: Environmental Remediation, Materials, Analytical Chemistry. Email: nrajesh[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Subit Kumar Saha Position: Professor Ph.D.: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Area of research: Fluorescence spectroscopy, Soft matter, Gemini surfactants, Protein-surfactant and DNA-surfactant interactions, Protein unfolding and refolding, Nanotubes of cyclodextrins and interactions with surfactants, Solvation dynamics. Email: sksaha[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. K. Sumithra Position: Professor Ph.D.: Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala Area of research: Computational Chemistry; Low dimensional vdW heterostructures Email:sumithra[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. K V G Chandra Sekhar Position: Professor Ph.D.: BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus Area of research: Medicinal and Synthetic Organic Chemistry Email: kvgc[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in; kvgcsekhar[at]gmail.com
	Name: Prof. Manab Chakravarty Position: Professor Ph.D.: School of Chemistry, Hyderabad Area of research: Synthesis of organic functional materials for solid-state fluorescence and biological applications, Organophosphonates/phosphates Email manab[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani
	Name: Prof. Anupam Bhattacharya Position: Professor Ph.D.: University of Delhi Area of research: Synthesis of fused heterocycles and their applications Email: anupam[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. Jayanty Subbalakshmi Position: Professor Ph.D.: University of Hyderabad Area of research: Design, Synthesis, Characterisation and study of new Molecular Materials for Optical, Conducting and Biological applications Email: jslakshmi[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. G Ramakrishnan Position: Professor Ph.D.: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea. Area of research: Lithography (photo, e-beam, nanoimprint etc), Functional Materials, Materials Design & Synthesis; Photo(catalysis); Biosensing & Biomaterials. Email: ram.ganesan[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. Amit Nag Position: Professor Ph.D.: IIT Kanpur. Area of research: Fluorescence and Laser Spectroscopy, Plasmonics, Drug delivery Email: amitnag[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. Sounak Roy Position: Professor (HOD) Ph.D.: IISc, Bangalore Area of research: Catalysis for alternate energy and environment, nano materials, solid state chemistry Email: sounak.roy[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. R. Krishnan Position: Associate Professor Ph.D.: IIT, Madras. Area of research: Inorganic Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Nano-materials, Catalysis and Solar Energy Conversion. Email: rkrishnan[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. Balaji Gopalan. Position: Associate Professor Ph.D.: IIT, Kanpur. Area of research: Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Nanoparticles. Structural and Property Correlations in Magnetic Nanomaterials and Applications of Nanomaterials in Chemical and Bio-sensing. Email: gbalaji[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Prof. Durba Roy Position: Associate Professor Ph.D.: IACS, Kolkata. Area of research: Computation Chemistry, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Peptide Toxins, Polysaccharides, Clays etc. Email: durbaroy[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee Position: Assistant Professor Ph.D.: Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Area of research: Visible-light-induced Organic Transformations, Development of Green Synthetic Methodologies, Fluoroalkylation Reactions, Synthesis of New Drug Molecules. Email: tanmay[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal Position: Assistant Professor Ph.D.: Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Area of research: Metal-Organic Frameworks, Gas Adsorption, Crystallography, Thermal Expansion, Sensing, Humidity Control and Covalent Organic Frameworks. Email: himanshu.aggarwal[at] hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Chanchal Chakraborty Position: Assistant Professor PhD: IACS Kolkata Area of research: Metallopolymers, Electrochrmic smart windows, Electro-catalysis, Fuel cells, Fluorescent polymers Email: chanchal[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Nilanjan Dey Position: Assistant Professor PhD: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Area of research: Molecular Recognition, Responsive Softmaterials, Surfactant Assemblies, Photophysical Processes, Nanoparticle Research, Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials Email: nilanjan[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Arijit Mukherjee Position: Assistant Professor Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Area of Research: Crystal engineering, crystallization, crystallography Email: arijit.mukherjee[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr Satya Narayan Guin Position: Assistant Professor Ph.D: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India Area of Research: Solid-state inorganic chemistry, Topological materials for electrical and thermal transport, Thermoelectric energy conversion. Email: satyanarayan.g[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in
	Name: Dr. Sourav Bag Position: Assistant Professor Ph.D: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. Area of Research: Materials electrochemistry, Electrochemical energy conversion and storage, Batteries, Fuel cell, Electrolyzers. Email: sourav.bag[at]hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in

Recent Publications

Publications (Jan 2022 - March 2022)
Kindly refer to the individual faculty profile pages for complete publication details.

1.Monosaccharide Induced Temporal Delay in Cholesterol Self-Aggregation Rituparna Hazra and Durba Roy*
Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics (2022, Accepted) DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2048076

2.Pyrrole-pyridine chelating motif on the β-carboline skeleton: Selective Zn2+ sensing via inhibition of ESIPT Adarash Kumar Shukla, Rituparna Hazra, Pravesh Sharma, Subit Kumar Saha, Durba Roy, Onkar Prakash Kulkarni, Anupam Bhattacharya*
Dyes and Pigments, 2022, 202, 110238.

3.Photophysical, electrochemical properties and flexible organic solar cell application of 7,7-bis(1-cyclopropyl carbonyl piperazino)-8,8 dicyanoquinodimethane. Anwarhussaini, SD, Renuka H, Anuradha,M, Raghavaiah, P Mahadev Sai Karthik, C, Sanket, G., Subbalakshmi, J.* Materials Advances, 2022, 3, 3151-3164. DOI: 10.1039/D1MA00778E.

4.Unprecedented transformation from cyclized zwitterionic oxazolidine derivatives to corresponding non-zwitterionic aromatic amides via Vilsmeier reagent in a one-pot reaction: Optical property and Crystallography. Anwarhussaini SD, Anuradha, M, Subbalakshmi J.* New Journal of Chemistry, 2022, DOI: 10.1039/D2NJ00591C.

5.Design, Synthesis and Anti-Mycobacterial Evaluation of Imidazo-[1,2-a]-pyridine Analogues. Yogesh Mahadu Khetmalis, Surendar Chitti, Anjani Umarani Wunnava, Banoth Karankumar, Muthyala Murali Krishna Kumar, Murugesan Sankaranarayanan and Kondapalli Venkata Gowri Chandra Sekhar,* RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 2022, 13, 327-342.

6.Search for structurally diverse heterocyclic analogs as dual-acting antimalarial and antileishmanial agents: An overview. Faheem, Sanchita Dey, Samridhi Johri, M. Abirami, Banoth Karan Kuma, Donatella Taramelli, Nicoletta Basilico, Rafael Balana-Fouce, Kondapalli Venkata Gowri Chandra Sekhar, Sankaranarayanan Murugesan. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Reports, 2022, 4, 100031.

7.Transformation of an Aqueous Micellar Phase to a Bilayer of Gemini Surfactants on Gold Nanoparticles: A Steady-State and Time-Resolved Fluorescence and Fluorescence Anisotropy Study by Tuning the Precise Locations of Probes, Rishika Aggrawal, Sayantan Halder, Balaji Gopalan, Swati Biswas, Subit Kumar Saha*, J. Phys. Chem. C (In Press) (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c09892

8.Concentration-dependent β-cyclodextrin-promoted refolding of gold nanoparticles-conjugated bovine serum albumin complexed with gemini surfactants of different spacer group, Sayantan Halder, Rishika Aggrawal, Subit Kumar Saha*, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects (In Press) (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2022.128862

9.Insight of solvent effect on CeO2 catalyzed oxidation of styrene with tert-butyl hydroperoxide: A combined experimental and theoretical approach J. Halder, T. Roy, S. Satpati, S. Ghosal, D. Mukherjee, B.M. Reddy Catalysis Communications 164 (2022) 106413.

10.Electrochromic and Photochromic Behaviour in a Single Metal-Organic Framework Containing Redox-Active Linker. G. Radha, S. Roy, C. Chakraborty, H. Aggarwal*, Chemical Communications, 2022, 58, 4024.

11.MOF sensors for food safety: ultralow detection of putrescine and cadaverine in protein rich foods. T. Leelasree, H. Aggarwal*, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 2121

12.The Photo and Electro-Catalytic Reduction of CO2 over Metal-Organic Frameworks and Derived Oxides: A correlation of reaction mechanism with electronic structure S. Payra, S. Ray, R. Sharma, K. Tarafder, P. Mohanty, Sounak Roy, Inorganic Chemistry 61 (2022) 2476–2489.

13.The role of synthesis vis-à-vis oxygen vacancies of Co3O4 in oxygen evolution reaction S. Roy, N. Devaraj, K. Tarafder, C. Chakraborty, Sounak Roy, New Journal of Chemistry, XX (2022) XXXXX - YYYYY. DOI: 10.1039/D2NJ00219A.

14.Unprecedented Electroreduction of CO2 over Metal Organic Framework Derived Intermetallic Nano-alloy Cu0.85Ni0.15/C S. Payra, N. Devaraj, K. Tarafder, Sounak Roy, ACS Applied Energy Materials, XX (2022) XXXXX - YYYYY. 10.1021/acsaem.2c00330.

15.Edible acid-base complexes of caffeic acid with histidine and arginine exhibit enhanced antimicrobial and antioxidant characteristics. Hemanjali Mude, Anindita Thakur, Aniket Balapure, Ramakrishnan Ganesan and Jayati Ray Dutta, ACS Food Science & Technology, 2, 368-377, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.1c00472.

16.Enhanced antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer activity of caffeic acid by simple acid-base complexation with spermine/spermidine. Hemanjali Mude, Aniket Balapure, Anindita Thakur, Ramakrishnan Ganesan and Jayati Ray Dutta, Natural Product Research, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2022.2038597.

17.Structural, Electronic and Thermoelectric Properties of Bi2Se3 Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering. S. Gautam, Ajay Kumar Verma, Aniket Balapure, B. Singh, Ramakrishnan Ganesan, M. Senthil Kumar, V. N. Singh, Bhasker Gahtori & S. S. Kushvaha. J. Electron. Mater. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-09498-7.

18.Sahithi, A., Sumithra, K. (2022). Adsorption of Ammonia on p-doped Graphene Bilayer Surface; Energetics and Electronic Structure. In: Srinivas, R., Kumar, R., Dutta, M. (eds) Advances in Computational Modeling and Simulation. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7857-8_1

19.A. Nag, S. Pawar, D. P. Damera, Book Chapter: “Carbon dots as smart optical sensors” in the edited book “Carbon Dots in Analytical Chemistry”, Published by Elsevier, 2022 (in press).

Faculty Achievements

10. Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal has been selected for the 2021 SMC Bronze Medal.

9. Prof. B.M. Reddy has been selected for the 2021 SMC Gold Medal.

8. Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee received the "Best Researcher Award" in the International Scientist Awards on Engineering, Science and Medicine, held on 12th November, 2021 at Chennai, India, organized by VDGOOD Professional Association.

7. Acs best presenter award (25-26th August ACs-Fall ‘2021, Georgia Atlanta) for the presentation entitled “Conformationally twisted phosphonates in generating mechanofluorochromic materials for multicolor ink-free writing” by Dr. Manab Chakravarty.

6. Prof. Manab Chakravarty’s recent work on mechanochromic cocrystal got highlighted in the Chemistry view magazine (online science news magazine of Chemistry Europe)] (published in February 2021)

https://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/11284939/Mechanofluorochromic_Cocrystals.html

5. Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal received the international RSC Research Fund Award in Jan 2021.

4. Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal’s recent collaborative work on using MOF material as a breath sensor got highlighted in Times of India newspaper.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/this-sensor-smartphone-app-detects-sleep-apnea/articleshow/81143285.cms

3. The joint work of Prof. Ramakrishnan Ganesan and Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta was highlighted in ‘The Hindu’ newspaper. ‘BITS-Pilani Hyderabad develops cheap kit to detect Hepatitis C virus’. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/bits-pilani-hyderabad-develops-cheap-kit-to-detect-hepatitis-c-virus/article34055910.ece

2. Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee received the best presentation award for presenting a research paper titled “Visible-light-induced Sustainable Synthesis of Carbazoles’ in an international conference on “Green Technologies for Sustainable Development” (GTSD-2021) from 9th March, 2021 to 11th March, 2021 organized by Dharmsinh Desai University (DDU).

1. Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee awarded with the CSIR-EMR grant in March, 2021.

Chemistry Association

Alchemy

Chemistry Association facilitated the following events:

Freshmen orientation for 2020 chemistry students: 4th December, 2020..

An interview session was held with Dr. Ruchi Jain Dey, Department of Biological Sciences on various virus-related diseases, corona family and Covid-19.

E-Magazine: ELIXIR '20

BITS Pilani