Department of Chemistry IITM

Biography

Prof. R. Dhamodharan’s specialization is in the area of polymer chemistry. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry (A. M. Jain College, University of Madras) and master’s in chemistry (IIT Madras). Later, he specialized in the area of polymers through masters in polymer science and technology (IIT Delhi), polymer science and engineering (UMASS, Amherst, USA), and a doctorate in polymer science and engineering (UMASS, Amherst, USA). Subsequent to his post – doctoral stint at the Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University he joined IIT Madras in September 1995. At IIT Madras, he has served in various capacities such as Warden (Tapti), Chairman (RO Plants), Chairman (Council of Wardens and Hostel Management), Warden (Central Supplies Unit), Head (Department of Chemistry) and in several other capacities.

Education

1992 – Ph. D in Polymer Science and Engineering from UMASS, Amherst, USA
1986 – M. S in Polymer Science and Engineering from UMASS, Amherst, USA
1985 – M. Tech in Polymer Science and Technology from IIT Delhi
1983 – M. Sc in Chemistry from IIT Madras

Research Interests

Sustainable separation of chitin/nanochitin from crustacean shell waste; preparation of nanocellulose from agricultural waste; synthesis of biocompatible hydrogels of chitosan; processing of chitin and chitosan; mechanochemistry and mechanoluminescence; engineering organic dyes for dye sensitized solar cell application
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Representative Publications

Ravishankar Kartik, Manigandan Venkatesan, Raj Preeth Desingh, Rajalakshmi Subramanyam, Aparna Mahalingam, Balaji Sadashivam, and R. Dhamodharan. Biocompatible Hydrogels of Chitosan-Alkali Lignin for Potential Wound Healing Applications. Mat. Sci. Engg. C 2019, 102, 447-457. DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.04.038

Kartik Ravishankar, Praneeth Srivanth Ramesh, Balaji Sadhasivam, and Dhamodharan Raghavachari. Wear-Induced Mechanical Degradation of Plastics by Low-Energy Wet-Grinding. Polymer Degradation and Stability. 2018, 158, 212-219. DOI: 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2018.10.026.

Vivek Anand, Balaji Sadhasivam, and Raghavachari Dhamodharan. Facile synthesis of triphenylamine and phenothiazine based Schiff bases for aggregation induced enhanced emission, white light generation, and highly selective and sensitive copper (II) sensing. New J. Chem. 2018, 42, 18979-18990. DOI: 10.1039/C8NJ03316A.

Balaji Sadhasivam, Kartik Ravishankar, Rajpreeth Desingh, Rajalakshmi Subramaniyam, and Raghavachari Dhamodharan. Preparation of Biocompatible and Non-Toxic Films of Chitosan-Poly(EG-ran-PG) Copolymer Blends With Tailored Pore Size. ACS Omega, 2018, 3, 10286-10295.

Phenothiazine based Donor – Acceptor Compounds with Solid-State Emission in the Yellow to NIR Region and their Highly Selective and Sensitive Detection of Cyanide Ion in ppb Level. Ramachandran Elumalai, Anbu Anjugam, V. S., Sivaraman, G., and Raghavachari Dhamodharan. Chem. A. Euro. J. 2018, 24, 11042-11050.