DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS

Professor

DR. KOTHANDARAMAN, R.

Biography

Prof Kothandaraman Ramanujam joined the Department of Chemistry-IITM in March 2011 as an assistant professor. He concurrently serves as the adjunct faculty of the National Centre for Catalysis Research (NCCR). He was born in a business town called Komarapalayam (near Bhavani), which is located at the bank of river Cauvery, in 1978. He completed his B.Sc in Chemistry from Sri Vasavi College affiliated to Bharatiyar University. Obtained his M.Sc in Applied Chemistry from Anna University in 2000. He was introduced to the field of Materials Electrochemistry by Prof. Ashok Kumar Shukla at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and obtained his Ph.D. in 2006. After two successful postdoctoral stints at Michigan State University-East Lansing (Mentor: Prof. Scott C. Barton, 2007- 2009) and National Research Council of Canada-Ottawa (Mentors: Dr. Christina Bock and Prof. Barry MacDougall, 2009-2011), he joined the department of Chemistry-IITM. Research Expertise: Dr Kothandaraman’s expertise as a fine electrochemist of the country is focusing and contributing to realize India centric solutions for the ever-growing need of energy storage and conversion. Therefore, his motivation is in the direction of developing new functional materials, redox-active organic molecules and utilization of abundant resources such as sodium and zinc towards developing of newer energy systems. The academic research pursuits under the broad headings of (i) Lithium/Sodium/Zinc/Vanadium based batteries (ii) Organic Dyes for Solar Cells and (iii) Sensors have enabled delivery of “translatable research”. Besides, the photophysical and electronic properties of the redox-active organic functional materials developed by molecular engineering for sodium/lithium/zinc ion batteries and DSSC were explored at the molecular level using the DFT calculations.

Education

  • 2009 - 2011: Postdoctoral fellow at National Research Council of Canada, Canada.
  • 2007 - 2009: Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University, USA.
  • 2000 - 2006: Ph. D from IISc, Bangalore
  • 2000 - M. Sc from Anna University, Chennai

Research Interests

  • Development of organic dyes and hole transporting materials for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and perovskite solar cells.
  • Electrode materials and novel redox couples for flow battery.
  • Electrode materials for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline and acidic medium (Zn-air and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells).
  • Development of high energy density supercapacitor materials.
  • Development of sensors for biologically important molecules.
  • Electroorganic Synthesis.

Representative Publications

R 3D Prussian Blue Decorated Porous Carbon Composite Electrode for Advanced Asymmetric Supercapacitor Applications, Ganapathi Rao Kandregula, R. J. Naik and Kothandaraman, J. Energy Storage, 2022,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2022.105243 

 The combined impact of trimethyloctadecylammonium chloride (TMOAC) and sodium fluoride on cycle life and energy efficiency of soluble lead-acid redox flow battery, Nandini J, Harun Khan, and Kothandaraman R, J. Energy Storage, 54, 2022, 105243, 

On capacity up-gradation and in-situ capacity rebalancing in anthrarufin based alkaline redox flow battery, Chinmaya Mirle and Kothandaraman R, ACS. Appl. Energy Mater., 5, 2022, 9711–9721, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.2c01392

A new 2,3-Dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone redox anolyte for non-aqueous organic static redox battery, V. Priya, R. Kothandaraman and S. Sankararaman, Electrochimica Acta, 407, 139889, 2022, 10.1016/j.electacta.2022.139889

Binder-free thin graphite fiber mat sandwich electrode architectures for energy-efficient vanadium redox flow batteries, M. Raja, Harun Khan, S Sankarasubramanian, D. Sonawat, V. K.  Ramani and R.  Catalysis Today, 370, 181-188, 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2021.02.012

Electrode and conductivity additive compatibility yielding excellent rate capability and long cycle life for sustainable organic aqueous Zn-ion batteries, M. R. Chinmaya, M. Veerababu and R. Kothandaraman, ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 4, 1218, 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.0c02511

Interplay of the functional units of a binder in the oxygen reduction process of zinc-air battery, L. K. Nivedha, M. Raja, R. Kothandaraman,, Catalysis Today, 370, 66-74, 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2020.09.022

DR. KOTHANDARAMAN, R.

Professor      Resume

  • rkraman@iitm.ac.in
  • +91-44-2257-4249
  • CYB 109, Department of Chemistry
  • Indian Institute of Technology Madras
  • Chennai - 600036
  • INDIA

Honors and Recognitions

  • Bronze medal, Chemical Research Society of India, 2023
  • Amararaja award 2021 by The Electrochemical Society of India
  • Elected as a fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Chennai, 2020.
  • Admitted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), 2020.
  • Member of board of studies of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) Bhopal Campus.
  • Member of board of studies of Bannariamma Institute of Technology (BIT), Sathyamangalam.
  • Adjunct faculty at National Center for Catalysis Research, IIT Madras, Chennai.
  • Visiting Scientist at Washington University, St. Louis.

MORE FACULTY      View All

DR. DEBASHIS CHAKRABORTY

Associate Professor

DR. DHAMODHARAN, R.

Professor

DR. DILLIP KUMAR CHAND

Professor