This project explores methane pyrolysis as a route to produce clean hydrogen, with solid carbon as a valuable co-product. You will work on developing advanced catalysts with high activity and resistance to deactivation, along with designing and operating reactors for high-temperature conversion. The project combines catalyst development, reaction kinetics, and reactor engineering, including studies on carbon formation and process optimization. It offers opportunities to work on both experiments and scale-up strategies for continuous, low-carbon hydrogen production.

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is often wasted through flaring. This project explores how it can be directly converted into more valuable fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity. You will work with non-thermal plasma and catalysis to enable methane conversion at low temperatures, addressing key challenges like energy efficiency and product selectivity. The project combines catalyst development, reactor design, and process modeling.

This work envisages integration of stability and estimation in context of PINNs. 

We look at dynamics of capillary-bridge-bound solid particles under external flow. The aim is to investigate kinetic states of these particles as bridges break and reform and their effect on rheological properties. The project involves the development of robust and accurate numerical models based on the lattice Boltzmann method, together with their implementation through scientific computing.

The aim is to understand the molecular elasticity of biopolymers with potential engineering applications. The first example is Spider Dragline Silk, which may be several times stronger than steel (after normalizing the density). The work involves experimental, computational and theoretical analyses of the molecular structure of the biopolymer system. We will also take recourse to applying mathemtical and conceptual principles of Polymer Physics.

The project aims at establishing a unified framework, currently lacking in the literature, to bridge the fragmented understanding of interfacial rheology in particle-stabilized emulsions and foams—spanning both introduced colloidal systems (such as silica and polystyrene) and in situ crystallizing species (such as monoglycerides and proteins).

The project aims at developing innovative, energy-efficient methodologies—currently lacking in optimized pipeline management—for the electrohydrodynamic remediation and prevention of wax blockages in crude oil transport. Building on fundamental research demonstrating that electric fields can break down wax networks into low-viscosity fluids to restore flowability, the candidate will investigate the precise mechanisms governing electric field interactions with paraffinic microstructures.

The net-zero transition requires carbon capture followed by sequestration or utilization (also known as CCUS).  The transition must be carefully planned, considering the future carbon emission trends as well as the potential improvements in the capture, sequestration, and utilization technologies. Moreover, the net greenhouse gas reduction benefits will depend on the simultaneous changes in the energy production technologies (such as power plants) and the associated systems.

In this project, the interest is in understanding how active ingredients (whether a drug or a nutraceutical molecule) can be loaded in a gel-like capsule or in some similar platform (like a bead or a tablet), in a controlled manner. 

The objective is to achieve controlled release of the active molecule from the capsule and from other substrates of interest, so as to maximize their concentration in the body.

Spiral air jet mills are widely used for grinding particles to a product size of 5-10 microns. The mill comprises a short cylindrical geometry with tangential air jets. Material is continuously fed to the mill and exits from a central opening. The grinding is done by high speed jets (larger than 100 m/s), and the mill has no moving parts. Further, the centrifugal motion in the mill results in simultaneous grinding and classification, with fine particles flowing out of the system once they become smaller than the cut size.