Two of the faculty members at SRM University-AP have received research grants from the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
In a statement on Saturday, university authorities said the duo Ranjit Thapa, professor of physics, and Mahesh Kumar Ravva, assistant professor of chemistry, received grants of 28 lakh and 19.92 lakh, respectively, in their first year Projects to work.
Prof. Thapa’s project entitled “Catalysts for CO2 Reduction to C2 Products: Descriptor for Database” deals with the search for the best catalyst to convert CO2 into useful products and thus the problem of climate change due to the large-scale production of CO2 dissolve through various sources.
Prof. Thapa believes that metal nanocatalysts on carrier materials can solve the problem and increase the efficiency of CO2. The task is to find the suitable composition, shape and size of metal nanoparticles (MNP) on a suitable surface for the catalytic reactions.
Mr. Ravva’s project aims to understand the critical factors that affect the performance of organic solar cells. His research group will use the supercomputer to model the electronic process that takes place during solar cell operation. The result of this project will guide experimenters to develop organic solar cells with higher efficiency. Organic solar cells are flexible, lightweight, and inexpensive, and have many exciting uses in portable electronic devices, smart windows, etc.
University Vice Chancellor VS Rao and Pro-Vice Chancellor D. Narayana Rao said the institution will provide the necessary support and facilities to conduct the research.