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Abhijit RAY

Dr. Abhijit Ray is an Associate Professor at Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU) and currently heading the Department of Solar Energy. Dr. Ray obtained his doctoral degree in the field of experimental condensed matter physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India) in 2003. He was post-doctoral researcher with Department of Atomic Energy (India) during 2003-04 following which he served Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra as Lecturer in Physics before joining PDEU as Assistant Professor in 2007. He has been visiting professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan during 2015-16. His current research is focused on the development of commercially viable materials and devices for photovoltaic and green hydrogen generation. He has been principal investigator of various funded research projects from DRDO, DST and MNRE (Govt. of India); published more than 95 papers in SCI indexed journals and has four Indian patents filed from PDEU.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

 

Ph.D.               Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (2003)

Thesis Title:  Studies on Magnetic and Transport Properties of Cuprates and Manganites: Development of Novel Magnetic Sensors

M.Sc.               Kalyani University (1999)

Major: Physics

B.Sc.(Hons)     Calcutta University (1997)

Major: Physics

 

Professional Experience

 

2017 to present            Associate Professor, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar

2017 to present            Head, Department of Solar Energy, PDPU.

2022 to present            Editorial Board Member, Frontiers in Energy Research (Journal); MDPi Electronics

2007 to 2017               Assistant Professor, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar

2015 to 2016               Visiting Professor, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan

2004 to 2007               Lecturer, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.

2003 to 2004               Post Doctoral Fellow (Materials Sc.), Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, (Department of Atomic Energy), Kolkata

 

Teaching

  • Undergraduate courses: Physics, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Physics labs.

  • Master courses: Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Applied PV, Semiconductor and Optoelectronic Devices, Quantum Mechanics, Photovoltaic Power Plant Enginnering, Energy labs.

  • Graduate courses: New materials for solar cells and energy storage, Non-vacuum processes for solar cells, Solar water splitting, Physics of solar cell materials and devices, Electro-analytical techniques in material characterization.

 

Research

Interests: Thin film photovoltaic materials & devices; Photo- and electro-catalysts for energy and environmental solutions; transparent conducting electrodes; 2D materials for energy conversion & storage

 

Patents:

  1. Thin Film Cupric Oxide Photocathode and Method of Manufacturing The Same. Indian Patent F.N. 961/MUM/2015 dated 23/03/2015. Inventors: Dr. Abhijit Ray, Dr. Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Malkeshkumar Patel. Published on Official Gazette of India dated 07/04/2017 Journal No. 14/2017

  2. A Process for Electro deposition of Silicon Nano- Spheres, Indian Patent F.N.  TEMP/E-1/16748/2017-MUM dated 10/05/2017. Inventors: Dr. Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Ranjan Kumar Pati, Dr. Abhijit Ray, Dr. Nisarg Shah. Published on Official Gazette of India dated 13/4/2018 Journal No. 15/2018. Granted 17/02/2020.

  3. Nanostructured Metal Oxide Particles and Process Thereof, Indian Patent F.N. TEMP/E-1/844/2019-MUM dated 08/01/2019. Inventors: Dr. R.K. Pati, Dr. Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Abhijit Ray.  Published on The Patent Office Journal No. 28/2020 Dated 10/07/2020.

  4. A process for developing Cu2SnS3, Indian Patent F.N. TEMP/E-1/543/2019-MUM dated 08/01/2019. Inventors: Mr. Biren Patel, Dr. R.K. Pati, Dr. Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Abhijit Ray.  Published on The Patent Office Journal No. 28/2020 Dated 10/07/2020. Granted 20/07/2023

  5. A Self-standing Electrode and Process Thereof. Indian Patent F.N. TEMP/E-1/13762/2023-MUM dated 21/02/2023. Inventors: Ms. Naznin Shaikh, Dr. Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Abhijit Ray. Filed.

  6. Process for developing CuFe2O4- Fe2O3 nanocomposite magnetic photocatalytst. Indian Patent F.N.        202321038025 dated 02/06/2023. Inventors: Ms. Devanshi Zala, Dr. Abhijit Ray. Filed.

 

Books:

“Cuprates and Manganites: Application in Magnetic Sensors, Materials, Fabrication and Thermo-physical properties” by Abhijit Ray; Scholars Press, Germany (2013) ISBN: 978-3-639-51817-7

 

Book Chapters:

  1. Electrodeposition of thin films for low cost solar cells by Abhijit Ray Chapter7, pp.145-173, Electroplating of nanostructures, M. Aliofkhazraei (Ed.), Intech Open London, (2015) ISBN 978-953-51-4344-4

  2. Photo-Electrochemical Water Splitting Characteristics of Electrodeposited Cuprous Oxide with Protective Over Layers by P. Marathey et al., Chapter 23, Advances in Energy Research, Vol 1, S. Singh and V. Ramadesigan (Eds.), Springer Singapore, (2020) ISBN: 978-981-15-2666-4 (ebook)/ 978-981-15-2665-7 (hard). DOI. 10.1007/978-981-15-2666-4.

  3. Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage in Copper Oxide and Hydroxide Nanostructures Casted Over Nickel-Foam. by P. Marathey et al.  (2021) In: Bose M., Modi A. (eds) Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Singapore. ISBN: 978-981-15-5954-9 (Print) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5955-6_131

  4. A Systematic Investigation on Evaporation, Condensation and Production of Sustainable Water from Novel-Designed Tubular Solar Still. By Lad, M. et al., (2021)  Bose M., Modi A. (eds) In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5955-6_107

  5. Feasibility Study of Crude Oil Asphaltenes as Light-Harvesting Materials for Organic Photovoltaics: Light Absorption Characteristics of the Thin Films with P3HT. By U.K. Bhui et al., In Macromolecular Characterization of Hydrocarbons for Sustainable Future Applications to Hydrocarbon Value Chain, Uttam Kumar Bhui (Ed.), March (2021), Chapter-10, pp. 129-139. ISBN 978-981-336-132-4.

  6. Transparent Conducting Electrodes for Optoelectronic Devices: State-of-the-art and Perspectives. By A. Ray and R. Narasimman. In Materials for Solar Cell Technologies II. Prof. Inamuddin (Ed.). Materials Research Forum LLC (2021), Chapter-4, vol. 77, pp 77-113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644901410-4.

 

Edited volumes:

  1. Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Evolution - Theory to Design, InTech, Ed. A. Ray, R.K. Pati and I. Mukhopadhyay (December 2018). ISBN: 978-1-78984-813-7

  2. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1961, International Conference on Nanomaterials for Energy, Conversion and Storage Applications, NECSA 2018, Ed. I. Mukhopadhyay, A. Ray and R.K. Pati. Vol. 1961(April2018). ISBN: 978-0-7354-1666-6

 

Total journal publications: 95 (as of May 2022)

Selected publications:

  1. N. Shaikh, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Heterointerfaces of Nickel Sulphides and Selenides on Ni-foam as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst in Acidic Environment, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022) 10, 12733-12746. DOI. 10.1039/D2TA01630C

  2. N. Shaikh, R. Pati, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Electrodeposited Ni-Mo Surface Alloy @ Ni-foam for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation in Acidic and Alkaline Media, Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2022) 169, 056511. DOI. 10.1149/1945-7111/ac6b5b

  3. R. Narasimman, M. Waldiya, K. Jalaj, S. K. Vemuri, I. Mukhopadhyay, A. Ray, Self-Standing, Hybrid Three-Dimensional-Porous MoS2/Ni3S2 Foam Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Medium, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2021) 46, pp. 7759-7771. DOI. 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.12.014

  4. A. Chavda, B. Patel, P. Marathey, I. Mukhopadhyay, A. Ray, Articulating effect of low copper content on structure and optoelectronic properties of spray deposited Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films – From experiment and first-principles investigations, Materials Science and Engineering B (2021) 263, 114912. DOI. 10.1016/j.mseb.2020.114912

  5. H. Chaliyawala, N. Aggarwal, Z. Purohit, R. Patel, G. Gupta, A. Jaffre, S. Le Gall, A. Ray, I. Mukhopadhyay, Role of nanowire length on the performance of self-driven NIR Photodetector based on mono/bi-layer graphene (camphor)/Si-Nanowire Schottky junction, Nanotechnology (2020), 31(22), 225208. DOI. 10.1088/1361-6528/ab767f

  6. D. Raval, M. Jani, H. Chaliyawala, A. Joshi, I. Mukhopadhyay, and A. Ray, Solar to Chemical Energy Conversion using Titania Nanorod Photoanodes Augmented by Size Distribution of Plasmonic Au-nanoparticle, Materials Chemistry and Physics (2019), 231, pp. 322-334. DOI. 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.04.025

  7. R. Narasimman, M. Waldiya, E. Karthik, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Transition Metal Di-chalcogenide Anchored in Three-Dimensional Nickel Framework with Graphene Support for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution, Advanced Sustainable Systems (2019), 1800168 (1-12). DOI: 10.1002/adsu.201800168.

  8. B. Patel, M. Waldiya, and A. Ray, Highly phase-pure spray-pyrolysed Cu2SnS3 thin films prepared by hybrid thermal treatment for photovoltaic applications, J. Alloys & Compounds (2018), 745, pp. 347-354.DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.02.220.

  9. P. Marathey, R.K. Pati, I. Mukhopadhyay, and A. Ray, Effective Photocurrent Enhancement in Nanostructured CuO by Organic Dye Sensitization: Studies on Charge Transfer Kinetics, J. Phys. Chem. C (2018), 122, pp. 3690-3699.DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b10024.

  10. A. Ray, I. Mukhopadhyay, R. K. Pati, Y. Hattori, U. Prakash, Y. Ishii and S. Kawasaki, Optimization of Photoelectrochemical Performance in Chemical Bath Deposited Nanostructured CuO, Journal of Alloys & Compounds (2017), 695, 3655-3665.doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.11.374

  11. M. Patel, R. Pati, P. Marathey, J. Kim, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolysed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion, J. Electrochem. Soc.,(2016), 163, H1195-H1203. doi. 10.1149/2.1081614jes

  12. A. Chavda, M. Patel, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Facile, non-cyanide based etching of spray deposited Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films for secondary phase removal, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., (2016)4, 2302–2308. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.5b01746

  13. M. Patel, A. Chavda, J. Kim, I. Mukhopadhyay and A. Ray, Nanostructured SnS with Inherent Anisotropic Optical Properties for High Photoactivity, Nanoscale (2016)8, 2293-2303.doi: 10.1039/c5nr06731f

  14. M. Patel, I. Mukhopadhyayand A. Ray, Molar optimization of spray pyrolyzed SnS thin films for photoelectrochemical applications, J. Alloys & Comp. (2015) 619, 458–463.doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.08.207

  15. M. Patel and A. Ray, Magnetron sputtered Cu doped sprayed SnS thin film for enhanced photoelectrochemical and heterojunction solar cells, RSC Advances  (2014) 4, 39343.doi: 10.1039/C4RA06219A

 

Awards:

  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India – Senior Research Fellowship (2002)

  2. Department of Science &Technology (DST), Govt. of India- Young Scientist (2007)

  3. VDGOOD International Scientist Awards on Engineering, Science and Medicine (2021)

 

 

PhD supervision:

Dr. Malkesh K. Patel, 2014 (awarded)

Dr. Abhimanyu Yadav, 2015 (awarded)

Dr. Dhyey Raval, 2018, (awarded)

Dr. Margi Jani, 2018, (awarded)

Dr. Priyanka Marathey, 2020, (awarded)

Dr. Arvind Chavda, 2021, (awarded)

Dr. Biren Patel, 2021, (awarded)

Dr. Brijesh Tripathi, 2013 (awarded) as co-supervisor

Dr. Pramila Mahala, 2016 (awarded) as co-supervisor

Dr. Parth Bhatt, 2018 (awarded) as co-supervisor

Dr. Harsh Chaliyawala. 2021 (awarded) as co-supervisor

 

Ms. Naznin Shaikh (ongoing)

Ms. Debanshi Jala (ongoing)

Mr. Rohom Sunil (ongoing)

 

Post-doc members

Dr. Narasimman Rajaram – DST Project RA & DST-National Post Doc Fellow (2016-18)

 

Journal reviews:

Total reviewed 89: Some notable are: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Nano Energy, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Chem. Commun., Green Chem, Journal of Materials Science, Journal of Alloys & Compounds,  Solid State Communications, Applied Surface Science, Spectrochim Acta, Materials Chemistry & Physics D, Materials Express, Journal of Physics D – Appl. Phys., Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, Journal of Materials Research, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, Materials Research Express

Editorial membership:

1. Review Editor, Frontiers in Energy Research (since February 2022)

2. Guest Editor, MDPi Electronics (since April 2022)

 

Research grants:

  1. Defense Research &Development Organization (2011-14) – INR 35,00,000- Completed

  2. Ministry of New &Renewable Energies (2013-16) – INR 80,00,000- Completed

  3. Department of Science & Technology – Solar Energy Research Initiative (2015-18) – INR 59,00,000–Completed

  4. Department of Science & Technology  – Core Research Grant (2019-22) – INR 38,00,000 – Ongoing

 

Memberships:

  • Member, Royal Soc. Chem. (RSC) – Since 05/2022

  • ACS Community Member – Since 04/2022

  • Solar Energy Society of India (SESI) – Life member

  • International Association of Advanced Materials (IIAM) – Member since 2017

  • International Water Association (IWA) – Member since 10/2018

  • International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE), USA – Member since 01/2020

  • VDGOOD Professional Association – Member since 10/2020

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