Catalysis is one of the oldest branches in Chemistry. This field primarily deals with the speed of chemical reactions and ways of manipulating them. Right from living systems to large-scale production of fine chemicals like pharmaceuticals and plastics, the science and technology of catalysis plays a pivotal role. I will introduce the chemistry aspects of catalysis at a general level and proceed to discuss on the increasing relevance of this science in sustainability. I will draw a few examples from my research as well as others during the discussion.

Abstract

In this talk starting from a pre-defined problem, how certain bottlenecks encountered resulted in the above work – where we demonstrated a low cost method to synthesis a carbon based material – Graphene oxide. The work demonstrated that high quality synthesis of graphene oxide can be achieved without expensive filtration methods for carbonaceous and metallic residues. I will also outline some of the practical applications of this material which we are working on at present.

REMOTE SENSING IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Advances in the synthesis of nearly monodisperse colloidal nanoparticles have made it possible
to fabricate crystalline arrays of nanoparticles (known popularly as Colloidal Nano Crystalline
Arrays (NCAs)) with lattice parameters close to the wavelength of light. Light travelling through
such crystals experiences a period variation of refractive index, analogous to periodic potential
energy of an electron in an atomic crystal. This variation in refractive index in three dimensions

Abstract:

Semiconductor nanocrystals, also called quantum dots, with uninterrupted and bright photoluminescence are expected to bring groundbreaking advancements to luminescent displays, solar cells and biological imaging. Although highly-luminescent quantum dots based on cadmium and lead chalcogenides have been developed, stochastic fluctuation of photoluminescence intensity, also called blinking, continues to be a major challenge in the applications of these tiny crystals to single molecule imaging and single photon devices.

Abstract: Renyi entropy was discovered by the Hungarian mathematician Alfred Renyi in 1961 as a measure of information alternative to Shannon entropy when one desires only a weaker form of additivity as opposed to strong additivity. Relative alpha-entropy  is the Renyi analogue of relative entropy (Kullback-Leibler divergence). In this talk I will discuss four problems, namely Campbell’s source coding problem, Massey-Arikan’s guessing problem, Huieihel et al.’s memoryless guessing problem, and Bunte-Lapidoth’s encoding of tasks problem.

Title: Predictions in Ungauged Basins: An approach for regionalization of hydrological models