Research Department:
I am born in temple town of Tamilnadu, Kancheepuram, India, I received my B.Sc (Chemistry) degree and M.Sc Physical Chemistry degree from University of Madras, India. I am first rank holder and gold medalist in MSc (Physical Chemistry). I did my PhD at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, in the year 2003. My Ph.D. thesis was focused on “Thermodynamic Analysis of electron transfer processes and two dimensional condensation at electrode/electrolyte interface”. I received prestigious “Indian National Science Academy Award for young Scientist” at the age of 27 years in the year 2004. I then joined Theoretical electrochemistry group under Prof. Wolfgang Schmickler, Universtiy of Ulm, Germany as Postdoctoral Fellow funded by European Union Grant. My second Postdoctoral work was at Tennessee Technological University (TTU), Cookville, USA, in the group of Prof. Venkat Subramaniam. My work at TTU resulted in papers in various high impact factor journals including Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of power sources etc. My work at TTU is on Monte Carlo simulations for the performance of Lithium Ion Batteries and electrodeposition of Copper interconnects in Integrated Circuits. From Jan 2008 to Nov 2008, I held a position as Scientist IV at Laird Technologies India Pvt Ltd., where I was responsible for the establishment of Inherently conducting polymers like Polyaniline, Polypyrrole as EMI sheiding materials in electronic devices. From Dec 2008 till Aug 2009 I held a position as Research Scienctist at General Motors (india Science Lab) and worked on the performance evaluation of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles both theoretically and experimentally. From April 2010 to April 2014, I woked as Assistant Professor in Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. In the year 2013 I was awarded with “SERB women excellence award” for my contribution in the field of electrochemistry by DST-SERB. I joined SRM Research Institute as Research Assistant Professor in Oct 2014. I established electrochemical Systems Lab in SRM Research Institute. In the year 2015, I was bestowed with “Women Acheiver’s Award” by SDNB Vaishnav College Management, Chennai. Some of my key research contributions/highlights are as follows:
1) Prototype of Microbial Fuel cell: Prototyping of Microbial fuel cell for power generation is a consultancy project funded by Panasonic R&D India Pvt. Ltd. In this project, our group developed microbial fuel cells from fruit and kitchen waste along with cow dung as innoculum. Mixed culture bacteria grown on the graphite electrode sustained for 180 days and generated power of 5 W in a volume capacity of 100ml to 1 liter. Later, scaling upto 5 liters with novel 5 electrode in single chamber design had been done with power density of 450mWm-2 and lifetime greater than 240 days. Future perspective is to utilize this MFC for sewage water purification and building upto 1kWh capacity power generation for real time application at koyambedu market complex, chennai. This work is applied for Patent and the electrochemical characterization of the microbial fuel cells developed is to be published.
Microbial fuel cells from waste: cost effective electricity generation-3508/CHE/2015 patent filed
2) High Temperature Solar Selective Coatings: As a part of Jawaharlal Nehru Solar mission 2020, IIT Jodhpur is declared as the nodal center for “Center of solar Energy Technologies” by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In this project, as a Co-PI for materials development, our group developed thermally stable and corrosion resistant black chrome – nanoparticles composite coatings on SS, Cu, Al via electrodeposition. This work is filed for Indian and US patent.
High temperature and corrosion stable black chrome-graphite encapsulated FeCo nanoparticles composite coating for solar thermal applications – 1433/DEL/2013, PAT 1128 (US patent filed, US2014/0326917 A1)
3)Aqueous Lithium ion batteries: SERB women Excellence award for the year 2013 had contributed Rs. 18 lacs to pursue research in aqueous lithium ion batteries and prototype of the same is under development.
4) Cost effective coating on flexible substrates for solar cooling and batteries applications: In this work our group developed a novel method for ink preparation of materials like MWCNTs, lithium ion battery cathode material (lithium manganese oxide), inorganic salts like CaCl2, SrCl2 etc. Ink preparation is done using the above mentioned materials in organic solvents like isoamyl acetate or binary solvent like isoamyl acetate-water mixture and binder as ethyl cellulose. Various compositions of the solvent, binder had been analysed to achieve the right proportion. Ink prepared is coated on substrates like stainless steel, flexible polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate by spin and spray coating technique. This work paves way for applications such as flexible photovoltaics, flexible lithium ion batteries, flexible conducting electrodes for electronic devices, transparent conducting electrodes to improve efficiency of photovoltaics, electronic devices, EMI shielding filters applications, paper phototvoltaics etc. In addition this current methodology is highly cost effective in comparison to existing inkjet or roll-to-roll printing techniques. In addition our group is concentrating on the development of prototype of flexible aqueous lithium ion batteries via ink printing using microplotter.
Cost effective coating on flexible substrates for solar cooling and batteries applications – 1293/DEL/2013, PAT 1060 (US patent filed)
5) Kesterite based solar cells: As it is established by researchers that vacuum based techniques are difficult to handle and results in less efficiency of the devices fabricated employing vacuum based techniques. Hence the processes involved in the present invention are based on non – vacuum and low or mid range temperature process techniques. Patent filing in process.
Processes involved in Precursor synthesis
- Microwave assisted hydrothermal process
- Wet solution chemistry based synthesis
- Melting of metals and alloying
- Electrospinning to acheive mesoporous fibers of kesterite
- Electrodeposition of metallic multilayers
- Sol-gel and spin coated sulphides as precursors
Processes involved in coating the precursors on substrates
- Paste or slurry formation with suger based binders and polymer additives
- Dilution of the paste to required viscosity employing alcohols ranging from methanol to terpineol to isoamyl alcohol
- Paint brush based coatings on metal and alloy surfaces
- Inkjet based printing on metals, metal alloys, plastics, polyimides, highly porosous substrates of ceramic, metallic and insulator origin
- Usage of Muffle furnace that can operate upto 16000C
- Sintering done at excess sulphur atmosphere (excess sulphur potential to maintain the equilibrium and capacity of S as oxygen getter and sulfization)
- Sintering temperature between 3500C to 6000C depending upon the substrate employed
- Soaking time for the sintering temperature being 3hrs to 5hrs depending on the substrate employed
Synthesis and characterization of CZTS (Wurtzite to kesterite)
- Thiourea based sulphur source for synthesis of CZTS (multiple lattice structure such as Wurtzite and kesterite, polycrystalline and with Cu2SnS3 phases)
- Melting and alloying of Cu, Sn and Zn from output compositions ranging from
- A. Cu0.8Zn0.1Sn0.1, B. Cu0.7Zn0.15Sn0.15, C. Cu0.5Zn0.25Sn0.25, D. Cu0.4Zn0.3Sn0.3, E. Cu0.3Zn0.3Sn0.4, F. Cu0.25Zn0.25Sn0.5, G. Cu0.15Zn0.25Sn0.6, H. Cu0.1Zn0.1Sn0.8. The master alloy composition is always taken to be 20% excess of the alloy made, inorder to ensure the output.
- Microwave assisted hydrothermal process was followed to acheive precursors of CuS, SnS and ZnS
- characterization of the synthesized CZTS is carried out employing XRD, SEM and EDS
6) Favored adsorption of L-Alanine over D-Alanine from racemic mixture on the polycrystalline metal surface had been achieved in the presence of 1M LiClO4 and applied electric field. The formation of oligomers and byproducts had also been observed and supported by 1H NMR studies. From the calibration curve of Circular Dichroism studies, an enantiomeric excess of 6.2% and 6.4% for D-Alanine had been calculated on polycrystalline silver and nickel surfaces respectively. Although the enantiomeric excess can be considered negligible according to the standards of existing enantiomeric separation methodology, these studies imply the possibility of enantiomeric separation from racemic mixture upon optimizing the process and rendering it economically viable and less chemical intensive.
A system and a method for electrochemical separation of enantiomers, typically, of alanine - 201641006824
7) Environmentally benign noncyanide process for gold extraction – patent filing in process
My current research is focused on,
- Microbial Fuel Cells
- Thermocells
- CZTS – Hydrothermal synthesis
- Aqueous Lithium ion batteries
- Monte Carlo Simulations
- Non Cyanide gold electroforming
- Hydrogen evolution and Oxygen reduction reactions
- Solar Thermal Applications – Solar Cooling
- Microbial Fuel Cells – waste to bioelectricity
- Thermocells – low grade waste heat to useful energy
- CZTS – Hydrothermal synthesis (efficiency at cell level greater than 12%)
- Aqueous Lithium ion batteries – for low power electronic devices
- Monte Carlo Simulations – for electrochemical and energy systems
- Non Cyanide gold electroforming – abide with Pollution Control Board Regulations
- Hydrogen evolution and Oxygen reduction reactions – Thermodynamic and experimental evaluations
- Solar Thermal Applications – Solar Cooling based on dessicant cooling systems
My electrochemical systems lab Research Group comprises of the following members:
Group leader- Dr. S. Harinipriya
Ph.D students
- M. Sindhuja
Email:sindhuja.m@res.srmuniv.ac.in
Research focus: Microbial Fuel Cells for bioremediation and bioelectricity generation
- S. Padmapriya
Email:padmapriya.s@res.srmuniv.ac.in
Research focus: Inherently conducting polymer modified electrodes as catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Reduction Reaction
- E. Indubala
Email: indubala.e@res.srmuniv.ac.in
Research focus: High efficiency Keseterite (CZTS) based solar cells by non vacuum based solution process
- S. Shanmugapriya
Email: shanmugapriya.s@ktr.srmuniv.ac.in
Research focus: Non cyanide based electroforming of Gold
- Ms. Jositta Sherine (Part-time candidate)
Email: jositta.j@ktr.srmuniv.ac.in
Research focus: ZnO nanoraods for energy and biomedical applications
M. Tech students
- Jaidev (completed project)
M. Sc Students
- Harita (ongoing project)
- Tanmay (ongoing project)
B. Tech students
- Saravana Kumar (completed project)
- Cholavelan (completed project)
- Lohit (completed project)
- Manjunath (completed project)
- Aparna (ongoing project)
- Sai Prasanth (ongoing project)
- Sarvesh (third year, ongoing project)
- Aamir (third year, ongoing project)
- Ayisha (third year, ongoing project)
- Sanju (third year, ongoing project)
- Karthik Deva (second year, ongoing project)
- Sweta (second year, ongoing project)
- S. Harinipriya, Belal Usmani, “Structural and Optical behaviour of electrodeposited black chrome-graphite encapsulated FeCo nanoparticles composite coatings” International Journal of Energy Research, In press.
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya, M.V.Sagaranarayanan, “Grand Canonical Monte Carlo Coupled Multiscale Simulation for Electrochemical and Solvent parameters of Silver halide systems in water”, Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, 68, 140–146, 2016.
- M. Sindhuja, N. Saravanakumar, V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya, “Equivalent Circuit Modeling of Microbial Fuel Cells Using Impedance Spectroscopy”, Journal of Energy Storage 7 (2016) 136–146.
- S. Harinipriya, Aarat Kalra, Amit.K.Mishra, “Physiochemical Characterization of tubulin from Arachis hypogaea” Syn. Metals, 220, 86–94, 2016.
- Deepak Kumar, Samanwita Pal,MeenuChhabra, S. Harinipriya, " Separation of enantiomers of alanine from racemic mixture by polycrystalline metal surfaces – A spectroelectrochemical approach" ECS Transactions, 66, 33-43, 2015.
- Aarat Kalra, S. Harinipriya, Amit K Mishra, “Physiochemical Characterization of tubulin from Arachis hypogaea, Multiwalled carbon nanotubes and Graphite encapsulated FeCo Nanoparticles” Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 9, 31-38, 2014.
- Pallavi Kar, S. Harinipriya, “Modeling of Lithium Ion Batteries Employing Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and Multiscale Simulation”, J. Electrochem. Soc.,161, A726-A735, 2014.
- Belal Usmani, S. Harinipriya, Narendra Kumar and Vatsana Gupta, “Solar selective coatings with enhanced thermal and corrosion stability: Electrochemically deposited black chrome on stainless steel in the presence of graphite encapsulated FeCo Nanoparticles”, Advanced Materials Research, Vols. 875-877, 388-393, 2014.
- S. Harinipriya, V. Sudha, M.V.Sangaranarayanan, E.J.Padma Malar, “Adsorption of Enantiomers on Metal surfaces: Application to D- and L-Alanine on Cu, Ni and Zn Electrodes” Journal of Electrochemical Society, 60, G102-G110, 2013.
- Swathi Manda, Annu Saini, Salman Khaleeq, Ritesh Patil, Belal Usmani, Harinipriya, Barun Pratiher, Bimal Roy, “Thermocells of carbon material electrodes and its performance characteristics”, Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2013, 2, 165–181.
- Belal Usmani, S. Harinipriya, “Characterization of black chrome films in the presence and absence of graphite encapsulated FeCo nanoparticles prepared by electrodeposition technique for solar thermal applications”, Electrochemical Society Transactions, 53 (19) 47-61 (2013).
- S. Harinipriya, Sreejith V., “Electrically conducting Nylon6,6/PANI composite short fibers by solvent coagulation method” Synthetic metals, 2012, 162, 2027 – 2032.
- S. Harinipriya, Sreejith V., “Polyaniline and Multiwalled Carbon nanotube composites on PC,PC/ABS and Nylon matrix for EMI shielding applications”, Nanotechnology and Nanoscience, 1, 31 - 37, 2011.
- S. Harinipriya, B. Usmani, D. J. Rogers , V. E. Sandana, F. Hosseini Teherani, A. Lusson, P. Bove, H. -J. Drouhin and M. Razeghi, “ZnO Nanorod Electrodes for Hydrogen Evolution & Storage”,Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 8263, 2010, pp82631Y-10
- S. Harinipriya, Vinten D. Diwakar and Venkat R. Subramanian, “A Novel Monte Carlo Strategy to characterize different cathode materials for Lithium-ion batteries", J. Electrochem. Soc., 155, (2008) A875.
- Vijayasekaran Boovaragavan, S. Harinipriya, Venkat R. Subramanian, Towards real – time (milliseconds) parameter estimation of lithium – ion batteries using reformulated physics based models, Journal of power sources, 183, 361-366, 2008.
- S. Harinipriya and Venkat R. Subramanian, Monte Carlo Simulation of electrodeposition of copper – A multistep Free energy calculation, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 112, 4036-4041, 2008.
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranaryanan, Estimation of de- deuteriation energies of lanthanum and uraniumtrihalides in heavy water, Journal of Molecular Structure-Theochem, 765, 71-77, 2006.
- S. Harinipriya, and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, Analysis of Electron Transfer Processes across Liquid/Liquid Interfaces-Estimation of Free energy of Activation using Diffuse Boundary Model, Langmuir, 22, 1347-1355, 2006.
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranaryanan, Dehydration energies of alkaline earth metal halides – A Novel simulation methodology, Chemical Physics, 310, 59-65, 2005
- S. Harinipriya and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, Reply to the comment on stability of scanning tunneling microscopy tip-induced bimetallic nanoclusters: Influence of hardness and composition on the cohesive energies, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 109, 46-51, 2005
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranaryanan, Analysis of hydration of thaliumhalides involving thermodynamic and simulation considerations, Journal of Molecular Structure, 683, 159-164, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, Stability of STM tip induced bi-metallic nanoclusters –Influence of hardness and composition on the cohesive energies, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 108, 13944-13951, 2004.
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, A simple simulation methodology for estimation of dehydration energies and surface potentials of concentrated NaCl solutions, Journal of Colloid and Interfacial Science, 280, 139-144, 2004.
- V. Sudha, S. Harinipriya and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, Hydration energies of trihalides of lanthanide and actinide series – A novel simulation methodology, Journal of Molecular Structure-Theochem, 683, 159-164, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya, V. Sudha and M. V. Sangaranaryanan, Dehydration energies of alkali metal halides – A new simulation methodology involving mean nearest neighbor distances and thermodynamic forces, Langmuir, 20, 1871-1876, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Analysis of electron transfer processes across liquid/liquid interfaces – Estimation of the equilibrium free energy of activation, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 108, 1660-1667, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Estimation of exchange current density for ferric/ferrous reaction at electrode surfaces-Influence of ionic desolvation and dipolar adsorption, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 273, 247-252, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya and M . V . Sangaranarayanan, Estimation of the activation energies for heterogeneous catalytic processes from thermodynamic and structural considerations, Journal of Molecular Catalysis A, 207, 105-112, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya and M . V . Sangaranarayanan, Estimation of the electron affinities of nucleobases using thermochemical data and structural considerations, Journal of Molecular Structure, 644, 133-139, 2003.
- S. Harinipriya and M.V. Sangaranarayanan, Two - dimensional phase transitionsof water dipoles at mercury / aqueous solution interfaces , Indian Journal of Chemistry, 42A, 965-967, 2003.
- S.Harinipriya and M.V.Sangaranarayanan, Hardness of metals from electron transfer reactions at electrode surfaces, Journal of Chemical Physics, 117, 8959-8964, 2002.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on electrodes: Influence of work function, dipolar adsorption and desolvation energies, Journal of Physical Chemistry B,106, 8681-8687, 2002.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Influence of the work function on electron transfer processes at metals: Application to the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, Langmuir, 18, 5572-5576, 2002.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Condensation of nucleobases at mercury/aqueous solution interface – A structural perspective using hydrogen bonding considerations, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 250, 201-207, 2002.
- S.Harinipriya and M.V.Sangaranarayanan, Ferric/ferrous Electron transfer reactions at metals-Evaluation of the exchange current density, Proceedings of Seventh International Symposium on Advances in Electrochemical Science and Technology , Advances in Electrochemcial Science and Technology, B67-B70, 2002.
- Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Electron transfer reactions at metal electrodes: Influence of work function on free energy of activation and exchange current density, Journal of Chemical Physics, 115, 6173-6179, 2001.
Books/Chapters
1. High Temperature Solar Selective Coating by Belal Usmani, S. Harinipriya, NSC 2013, chapter 16 by Springer India
2. Performance Analysis of IOCL Rawara Photovoltaic Plant and Interpretation by Anurag, Piyush Kapoor, Belal Usmani, S. Harinipriya, NSC 2013, Chapter 17 by Springer India
3. A review of continuum electrochemical engineering models and a novel Monte Carlo approach to understand electrochemical behavior of Lithium ion batteries, by Vinten D. Diwakar, S. Harinipriya and Venkat R. Subramanian, Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry Volume 50, Chapter 8 , published by Springer - Verlag (2010)
List of papers published in Conferences /Symposia/ Seminars, etc.:
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Thermodynamic behaviour of nucleobases at electrochemical interfaces, National Conference on Recent Advances in Thermodynamics of Chemical and Biological Systems, held at Amritsar, May 7–9, 2001.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Analysis of work function dependence of the standard exchange current density, The 200th meeting of the Electrochemical Society held at San Francisco, USA, Sep 2–7, 2001.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Ferric / Ferrous electron transfer reactions at metals–Evaluation of the exchange current density, 7th International Conference on Advances in Electrochemical Science and Technology, held at Madras, Nov 27–29, 2002.
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Estimation of Cohesive energy of bimetallic nanoclusters, Chemistry symposium at Sri venkateshwara University, Tirupati, 2004
- S. Harinipriya and M. V. Sangaranarayanan, Free energy for step wise processes involved in catalytic formation of Ammonia, decomposition of formic acid and hydrogenation of acetylene via phenomenological thermodynamic analysis, Symposium on Chemistry held at IIT Kanpur, 2004
- S. Harinipriya and M.V.Sangaranarayanan, Electron transfer at liquid/liquid interface, Workshop on Theoretical Electrochemistry, held at Santorini, Greece, 2004.
- S. Harinipriya, Copper electrodeposition and its step wise energetic – novel Monte Carlo Simultion, poster presentation on “Research Day” at Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, USA on April 4, 2007.
- S. Harinipriya and Venkat Subramanian, Free energy of electrodeposition of Copper - Monte Carlo Simulation”, 207th meeting of the Electrochemical Society held at Washington DC, USA, Sep 2007.
- S. Harinipriya and Sreejith V, “ Novel synthetic route for PANI – Carbon particles composites” poster presentation at Corporate Research Laboratory, Laird Technologies India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
- S. Harinipriya and Sreejith V, “ Novel synthetic route for highly electrically conducting PANI – Carbon particles composites for electronic devices” Internal Report at Corporate Research Laboratory, Laird Technologies India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
List of the most outstanding Technical Reports/ Review Articles:
- A review of continuum electrochemical engineering models and a novel Monte Carlo approach to understand electrochemical behavior of Lithium ion batteries, by Vinten D. Diwakar, S. Harinipriya and Venkat R. Subramanian, Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry Volume 50, Chapter 8 , published by Springer - Verlag (2010)
- Comment on "stability of scanning tunneling microscopy tip-induced bimetallic nanoclusters: Influence of hardness and composition on the cohesive energies"Qi, W.H. Wang, M.P. Harinipriya, S. Sangaranarayanan, M.V. (2005) Journal of Physical Chemistry B
2015 Odd semester
- NT1009 Synthesis and Characterisation of Nanoparticles
2015 Even semester
- NT1004 Nanochemistry
2016 Odd semester
- NT0012 Nanotechnology for Energy Systems
2016 Even semester
- NT202 Nanoscale Chemistry
Postdoctoral positions
- None at this time
Ph.DStudents
- None at this time
M.Sc/M. Tech and B. Tech students
- open
For Contact:
Dr. S. Harinipriya
Asst. Professor (Research)
Research Institute
R-38, 13th floor, Central Library building
SRM University, Kattankulathur- 603203
Email: harinipriya.s@res.srmuniv.ac.in
Phone: 04427417921