School of Chemistry & Biochemistry - Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology

Dr. Raj Kumar Das

Assistant Professor

Specialization

Photochemistry, Electrochemistry, Adsorption, Energy Conversion and Storage, Removal of Toxic Pollutants

Email

rkdas@thapar.edu

Specialization

Photochemistry, Electrochemistry, Adsorption, Energy Conversion and Storage, Removal of Toxic Pollutants

Email

rkdas@thapar.edu

Education and Training:

September, 2016-July, 2017: Research Associate: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata.
June, 2016-August, 2016: Visiting Scientist: Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar.
May, 2012-February, 2016: Post-doctoral Fellow, Stellenbosch University South Africa.
2006-2012: Ph.D.; Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
2003-2005: M.Sc. (2 Year) Chemistry; Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
2000-2003: B.Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry; University of Calcutta, Kolkata.

Professional Affiliations:

Assistant Professor (July 2018 – Present) :-
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala
Assistant Professor (Contractual) (July 2017 – July 2018) :-
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala
Assistant Professor (August 2017 – May 2018) :-
Department of Chemistry, Akal University, Talwandi Sabo

Teaching Activities:

M.Sc. and Ph.D., SCBC, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology:

DCB001: Selected Topics in Chemistry (January-May 2020)
PCY102: Inorganic Chemistry (July-December 2020)
PCY 325: Inorganic Specteroscopy (January-May 2020, January-May 2021)
PCY 327: Organometallic Chemistry (July-December 2019, July-December 2020)
PBC 442: Biocatalysis (January-May 2019)
PCY 307: Catalysis and Reagents (July-December 2018)

B.E./B.Tech., Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology:

UBM009: Bioengineering Thermodynamics (January-May 2021) Lecture & Tutorial
UCB 008: Applied Chemistry (January-May 2020); Tutorials & Practicals
UCB 008: Applied Chemistry (July-December 2019)Tutorials & Practicals
UCB 008: Applied Chemistry (January-May 2019); Tutorials & Practicals
UCB 008: Applied Chemistry (July-December 2018)Tutorials & Practicals

M.Sc. (Chemistry), Department of Chemistry, Akal University Talwandi Sabo:

CHM04C402: Supramolecular Chemistry (January-May 2018)
CHM04E401: Biochemistry (January-May 2018) (January-May 2018)
CHM04L401: Organic Quantitatiove Estimation Lab (January-May 2018)
CHM04K301: Organometallic Chemistry (August-December 2017)

B.Sc.(Hons.) (Chemistry), Department of Chemistry, Akal University Talwandi Sabo:

CHM05C301: Inorganic Chemistry II: s and p Block Chemistry (August-December 2017)
CHM05C501: Inorganic Chemistry IV: Organometallic Chemistry and Inorganic Reaction Mechanism) (August-December 2017)
CHM05C401: Inorganic Chemistry III: Coordination Chemistry (January-May 2018)

Research Supervision: (Ph.D):

Sr No	Name of Student	Thesis Title	Current Status
1	Pooja Kumari	Bi₂O₃-Layered Double Hydroxide Nanocomposites and Their Adsorption and Photocatalytic Properties	Completed
2	Palak Soni	Photocatalytic Oxidation of Urea by Cyclodextrin and Reduced Grapheme Oxide Modified M-TiO₂ nanocomposites	Ongoing
3	Priti Rohila	Graphitic Carbon and Bimetallic Bismuth Oxide Composites for Superior Adsorptive and Photo-catalytic Removal of Toxic Pollutants	Ongoing
4	Yogesh Kumar	Nanoparticle Modified Electrodes as Voltametric Microbial Biosensorsfor Pesticides and Heavy Metal Ions	Ongoing
5	Kamya	IRB is not done yet	Ongoing

Research Supervision: (Project Fellows):

Sr No	Name of Student	Thesis Title	Current Status
1	Puneet Rani	“Superior photocatalytic urea oxidation by reduced grapheme oxide (RGO) and cyclodextrin loaded core –shell metal oxide nanocomposites	Ongoing

Research Supervision: (M.Sc Dissertation work):

Sr No	Name of Student	Thesis Title	Year	Current Status
1	Tania	Carbon Dot-Lanthanide LDH composites for photocatalytic degradation of Pesticides	2023	Ongoing (Joint student with Dr. B. Maity)
2	Kamya	Photocatalytic Degradation of Reactive Dyes over Ni-Al Layered Double Hydroxide	2022	Completed
3	Priyanka	New Generation Materials for Zinc-air battery	2021	Completed
4	Prabhjot Kaur	Carbon based supercapacitors	2021	Completed
5	Puneet Rani	Halide Perovskite: The Emerging Solar Cell Light Absorber Materials	2020	Completed
6	Aditi Mittal	Metal-Organic Framework Derived Nanostructures for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting	2020	Completed
7	Komal Sharma	ELECTROCHEMICAL WATER SPLITTING BY REDOX ACTIVE METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS	2019	Completed
8	Hemant Kerwal	DESIGNING METAL OXIDE NANOSTRUCTURE FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL WATER SPLITIING	2019	Completed

List of Publications (SCI Journals):

From TIET:

4. Enhanced photocatalytic urea oxidation under neutral medium by reduced graphene oxide coated TiO₂ nanoparticles, P. Soni, B. Pal and R. K. Das, Catal. Commun. 2023, 179, 106690 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2023.106690 (Impact Factor: 3.510)

3. Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of eco-toxic pharmaceutical waste diclofenac sodium by anion loaded Cu-Al LDH·Bi2O3 composites, P. Kumari, R. K. Das and B. Pal, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 2021, 129, 227-236 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2021.07.023 (Impact Factor: 5.477)

2. Superior adsorptive removal of eco-toxic drug diclofenac sodium by Zn–Al LDH⋅ xBi2O3 layer double hydroxide composites, P. Kumari, B. Pal and R. K. Das, Appl. Clay. Sci. 2021, 208, 106119.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2021.106119 (Impact Factor: 5.907)

1. Preparation and characterization of phase pure monoclinic ɑ-Bi2O3 nanoparticles and influence of Ni2+ and Cu2+ impregnation on their photocatalytic properties, P. Kumari, R. K. Das and B. Pal, Mat. Chem. Phys. 2021, 260, 124173.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.124173 (Impact Factor: 4.778)

From Ph.D. and Post-doc:

8. Comprehensive and High-throughput Electrolysis of Water and Urea by 3-5 nm Nickel and Copper Coordination Polymers, A Kumar#, S. Parvin#, R. K. Das, and S. Bhattacharyya, Chem. Asian J., 2021, 16, 3444-3452 (# equal contribution) https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.202100916 (Impact Factor: 4.839)

7. A Five-fold Interpenetrated Metal-organic Framework Showing Large Variation in Thermal Expansion Behaviour Owing to Dramatic Structural Transformation upon Dehydration-rehydration, H. Aggarwal#, R. K. Das#, E. R. Engel and L. J. Barbour, Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 861. (# equal contribution) https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CC07995D (Impact Factor: 6.065)

6. Hydration Dependent Anomalous Thermal Expansion Behaviour in a Coordination Polymer, P. Lama, L. O. Alimi, R. K. Das, L. J. Barbour, Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 3231. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CC00158K (Impact Factor: 6.065)

5. Anomalous Anisotropic Thermal Expansion in a One Dimensional Coordination Polymer Driven by Conformational Flexibility, R. K. Das, H. Aggarwal, L. J. Barbour, Inorg. Chem., 2015, 54, 8171. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01560 (Impact Factor: 5.165)

4. Isolation of a Structural Intermediate During Switching of Degree of Interpenetration in a Metal-Organic Framework, H. Aggarwal, R. K. Das, P. M. Bhatt, L. J. Barbour, Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 4986. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5SC01796C (Impact Factor: 9.969)

3. A Combined Stretching–tilting Mechanism Produces Negative, Zero and Positive Linear Thermal Expansion in a Semi-flexible Cd (II)-MOF, P. Lama, R. K. Das, V. J. Smith, L. J. Barbour, Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 6464. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4CC02634A (Impact Factor: 6.065)

2. Direct Crystallographic Observation of Catalytic Reactions inside the Pores of a Flexible Coordination Polymer, R. K. Das, A. Aijaz, M. K. Sharma, P. Lama and P. K. Bharadwaj, Chem Eur. J, 2012, 18, 6866. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201200046. (Impact Factor: 5.020)

1. Domino Imino-Aldol−Aza-Michael Reaction: One-Pot Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Piperidines, M. K Ghorai, S. Halder and R. K. Das, J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 7061 (Feature Article) https://doi.org/10.1021/jo101680f (Impact Factor: 4.198).

List of Publications (Non-SCI Journals):

List of Publications (in Conferences):

1. Mössbauer and Magnetic Studies of MFe2O4 (M = Co, Ni) Nanoparticles. N. S. Gajbhiye, S. Bhattacharyya, G. Balaji, R. S. Ningthoujam, R. K. Das, S. Basak and J. Weissmüller, Hyperfine Interact. 2005, 165, 153. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49850-6_22

Oral and Poster Presentations:

2020: Oral, 26th ISCB International Conference on Integrating Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Innovation in Healthcare (ISCBC-2020), Nirma University Ahmedabad
2016: Poster; The Eighteenth National Symposium of the Chemical Research Society of India. Feb. 5-7, 2016, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India.
2015: Oral; 1st Porous Molecular Solids (POMOS) Meeting, Apr. 7-10, 2015, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
2012: Poster; INDABA 7 (Insights from Structure) Sept.2-7, 2012, Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa.
2011: Third Asian Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ACCC-3), Oct. 17-20, 2011, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
2011: Poster; The Thirteenth National Symposium of the Chemical Research Society of India. Feb. 4-6, 2011, KIIT University, Bhubaneshwar, India.

Awards/Honours/Fellowships:

2016: UGC DS Kothari Fellowship
2005: Qualified CSIR-JRF+LS in National Eligibility Test (NET) in Chemical Sciences.
2005: Qualified Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering (GATE) in Chemistry with percentile 99.47 and All India Rank 18 out of 3583 candidates.