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- The main theme that underlies the various research problems that my group works on, is to develop an understanding of how microstructure evolves in soft materials, to relate structure to properties; and to use this understanding to engineer application-specific structure. The term “soft materials” encompasses a wide range of technologically important materials, including polymers, colloidal dispersions, surfactants/lipids, liquid crystals and gels, whose structure and functionality are determined by a large number of weak interactions. Equilibrium, metastable and unstable non-equilibrium states of such materials are ubiquitous in our daily experience and we encounter them as plastic bags, toothpaste and shaving foam, the LCs in LCD screens, automotive lubricants, “slimy” biological materials, etc.
- Structure-property relations in polymers; Polymer phase transitions; Colloid-Surfactant interactions; Self assembly; Lipid Phase behaviour; Ice-templating
- Experiments and simulations to investigate polymers, colloids and surfactants
- Technology development and consulting projects with industry – Led projects with General Electric, Procter and Gamble, Exxon-Mobil, Honeywell, Du Pont, General Cable, Kraton, Reliance, Aditya Birla and Indian Oil Corporation (since 2002)