Faculty Profile
Prof. Venkata Krishnan
Professor
Office: A3-208
School of Chemical Sciences
E-mail: vkn@iitmandi.ac.in
Phone: +91-1905-26-7065
Personal Information
Professional Experience
- Professor (Chemistry), IIT Mandi (Feb. 2023 – present)
- Associate Professor (Chemistry), IIT Mandi (Oct. 2017 – Feb. 2023)
- Assistant Professor (Chemistry), IIT Mandi (Apr. 2012 – Sep. 2017)
- Research Associate, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, JAPAN (Jun. 2010 – Mar. 2012)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, USA (Oct. 2006 – May 2010)
Educational Background
- Ph.D: (Physical Chemistry), University of Stuttgart, GERMANY (2006) – Summa Cum Laude
- M.Sc: (Materials Science), Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, INDIA (2002) – First Class with Distinction
- B.Sc: (Applied Sciences), Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, INDIA (2000) – First Class with Distinction
Teaching
- CY507 – Chemistry of Main Group Elements
- CY511P – Physical Chemistry Laboratory
- IC130 – Applied Chemistry for Engineers
- IC130P – Applied Chemistry Laboratory
- DP301P – Interactive Socio-Technical Practicum
Awards, Recognition and Membership
- Publons Peer Review Awards 2019 – Top 1% of Reviewers in Chemistry, Materials Science and Cross Fields
- Publons Peer Review Awards 2018 – Top 1% of Reviewers in Chemistry
- IIT Mandi Foundation Day Award for Exemplary Contributions to ISTP Course - 2016
- IIT Mandi Foundation Day Award for Excellence in Teaching - 2013
- DST INSPIRE Faculty Award - 2011
- MANA (Materials Nanoarchitectonics) research fellowship – 2010 to 2012
- DOE (Department of Energy) postdoctoral fellowship – 2006 to 2010
- DAAD fellowship in the framework of VIGONI program – 2005
- DFG (German Research Council) doctoral fellowship – 2002 to 2005
Research Area
Broad Area
Green Chemistry, Renewable Energy, Clean Environment and Heterogeneous Catalysis
Specific Areas
- Biomass Conversion
- Carbon Dioxide Reduction
- Organic Transformation
- Hydrogen Evolution
- Pollutants Degradation
- Nitrogen Fixation
Research Interests
The major research activities under the Green Chemistry and Catalysis group are the development of heterogeneous catalysts for energy and environmental applications. The main design constraints involved in the rational design and development of heterogeneous catalysts include:
- Use of earth-abundant elements
- Use of non-toxic and non-polluting materials and processes
- Use of relatively low temperature (mostly room temperature) in the entire process
- Use of atmospheric pressure for the catalytic reactions
- Adherence to the Green Chemistry principles
Our work caters to the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), mainly: SDG 06 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 07 (Affordable and Clean energy), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
Representative Publications
- T. Chhabra, P. Dwivedi and V. Krishnan, "Acid Functionalized Hydrochar as Heterogeneous Catalysts for Solventless Synthesis of Biofuel Precursors," Green Chem. 2022, 24, 898-910.
- P. Choudhary, A. Kumar and V. Krishnan, "Nanoarchitectonics of Phosphorylated Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Sustainable, Selective and Metal-free Synthesis of Primary Amides," Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 431, 133695.
- A. Kumar, M. Kumar, V. N. Rao, M. V. Shankar, S. Bhattacharya and V. Krishnan, "Unraveling the Structural and Morphological Stability of Oxygen Vacancy Engineered Leaf-Templated CaTiO3 towards Photocatalytic H2 Evolution and N2 Fixation Reactions," J. Mater. Chem. A 2021, 9, 17006-17018.
- A. Kumar and V. Krishnan, "Vacancy Engineering in Semiconductor Photocatalysts: Implications in Hydrogen Evolution and Nitrogen Fixation Applications," Adv. Func. Mater. 2021, 31, 2009807.
- A. Kumar, A. Kumar and V. Krishnan, "Perovskite Oxide Based Materials for Energy and Environment-Oriented Photocatalysis," ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 10253–10315.
Recent Publications
- A. Kumar, P. Choudhary, A. Kumar, P. H. C. Camargo and V. Krishnan, "Recent Advances in Plasmonic Photocatalysis based on TiO2 and Noble Metal Nanoparticles for Energy Conversion, Environmental Remediation and Organic Synthesis," Small 2022.
- N. Kumari, T. Chhabra, S. Kumar and V. Krishnan, "Nanoarchitectonics of sulfonated biochar from pine needles as catalyst for conversion of biomass derived chemicals to value added products," Catal. Commun. 2022, 168, 106467.
- H. Chand, M. Sharma and V. Krishnan, "Nanoarchitectonics of vanadium carbide MXenes for separation and catalytic degradation of contaminants," Sep. Pur. Tech. 2022, 292, 121032.
- H. Kaur, S. S. Chandel, A. Karmakar, S. Sinha-Ray, V. Krishnan and R. R. Koner, "Mercapto-decorated Zn-based metal-organic framework embedded nanofibrous membrane for oxo-anions treatment in aqueous solution," Chem. Eng. J. 2022, 443, 136212.
- M. Sharma, A. Kumar and V. Krishnan, "Influence of oxygen vacancy defects on Aurivillius phase layered perovskite oxides of bismuth towards photocatalytic environmental remediation," Nanotechnology 2022, 33, 275702.