Faculty Profile
Dr. Indu Bala
Assistant Professor
Office: G1-109
School of Chemical Sciences
E-mail: indu@iitmandi.ac.in
Phone: 01905-26XXXX
Personal Information
Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor, IIT Mandi, (2023-present)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Dartmouth College, USA (Advisor: Prof. Ivan Aprahamian) (2021-2023)
Educational Background
- Ph.D: IISER Mohali, Mohali, India, 2015-2021 (Supervisor: Prof. Santanu Kumar Pal)
- M.Sc: (Chemistry) from IISER Mohali, Mohali, India, 2013-2015
- B.Sc: (Chemistry Hons.) from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, 2010-2013
Teaching
- Physical Chemistry Lab CHM411 (at IISER Mohali)
- Organic Chemistry Lab CHM111 (at IISER Mohali)
Awards, Recognition and Membership
- Selected as an Early-Career Investigator Presenter in Liquid Crystal Gordon research Conference (GRC) 2023 at Manchester, New Hampshire, United States
- Awarded Dartmouth College Postdoc Association (DCPDA) Fund to attend Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors Gordon Research Conference (GRC) 2023
- Awarded Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) FY2021 postdoctoral fellowship, at University of Tokyo, Japan (not opted)
- Qualified Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for Junior Research Fellowship (NET-CSIR/JRF-2014), All India Rank-98
- Awarded Excellence of Merit Certificate in the M.S. (Chemistry) for best academic position (2015) at IISER Mohali
- Awarded two-year Fellowship for Post-graduation study by Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India
- Selection in Joint Admission test for Masters (JAM), Indian Institutes of Technology, India (2013)
- Life member of International Liquid Crystal Society
- Life member of Indian Liquid Crystal Society
Research Area
Broad Area
Supramolecular chemistry, Organic synthesis, Physical organic
Specific Areas
- Self-assembled supramolecular materials
- Stimuli responsive materials
- Organic electronics
Research Interests
Our research focuses on the development of self-assembled materials, particularly liquid crystalline materials. These materials enable precise control over macro-molecular self-assembly, a critical factor in the creation of well-aligned, large-scale macroscopic devices. Therefore, these materials exhibit enormous potential to be used in (i) spintronics, (ii) energy storage devices, (iii) organic electronic devices and their applications in these fields remains largely unexplored. Our aim is to unlock the full potential of these materials in these areas, thereby contributing to the advancement of technology and the development of innovative solutions for various real-world challenges.
Representative Publications
- I. Bala, J. De, S. P. Gupta, U. K. Pandey, S. K. Pal* "Enabling efficient ambipolar charge carrier mobility in a H-bonded heptazine–triphenylene system forming segregated donor–acceptor columnar assemblies." J. Mater. Chem. C 2021, 9, 8552-8561.
- I. Bala, J. De, S. P. Gupta, H. Singh, U. K. Pandey, S. K. Pal* "High Hole Mobility in Room Temperature Discotic Liquid Crystalline Tetrathienoanthracenes." Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 5629-5632.
- J. De, I. Bala, S. P. Gupta, U. K. Pandey, S. K. Pal* "High Hole Mobility and Efficient Ambipolar Charge Transport in Heterocoronene-based Ordered Columnar Discotics." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 18799-18805.
- I. Bala, S. P. Gupta, S. Kumar, H. Singh, J. De, N. Sharma, K. Kailasam, S. K. Pal* "Hydrogen-Bond Mediated Columnar Liquid Crystalline Assemblies of C3-Symmetric Heptazine Derivatives at Ambient Temperature." Soft Matter 2018, 14, 6342-6352.
- I. Bala, H. Singh, V. R. Battula, S. P. Gupta, J. De, S. Kumar, K. Kailasam, S. K. Pal* "Heptazine: an Electron‐Deficient Fluorescent Core for Discotic Liquid Crystals." Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 14718-14722.
Recent Publications
- R. De, J. De, S. P. Gupta, I. Bala, Ankita, Tarun, U. K. Pandey, S. K. Pal* "Oxadiazole-adorned Heterocoronene Discotics as Ambipolar Organic Semiconductors." J. Mater. Chem. C 2023, 11, 980-985.
- I. Bala, H. Kaur, M. Maity, R. A. K. Yadav, J. De, S. P. Gupta, J. H. Jou, U. K. Pandey, S. K. Pal* "Electroluminescent Aggregation-Induced Emission-Active Discotic Liquid Crystals Based on Alkoxy Cyanostilbene-Functionalized Benzenetricarboxamide with Ambipolar Charge Transport." ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 2022, 4, 1163-1174.
- I. Bala, J. De, S. K. Pal* "Functional Discotic Liquid Crystals Through Molecular Self-Assembly: Toward Efficient Charge Transport Systems." Molecular Architectonics and Nanoarchitectonics. 2022 Springer, Singapore.
- P. Kumar, I. Bala, R. De, S. K. Pal*, S. Venkataramani* "Light Modulated Reversible “On‐Off” Transformation of Arylazoheteroarene Based Discotics in Nematic Organization." Chem. Eur. J. 2022, e202202876.
- J. De, I. Sarkar, R. A. K. Yadav, I. Bala, S. P. Gupta, I. Siddiqui, J. H. Jou, S. K. Pal* "Luminescent columnar discotics as highly efficient emitters in pure deep-blue OLEDs with an external quantum efficiency of 4.7%." Soft Matter 2022, 18, 922-922.