Nanomaterials in Energy Generation and Storage
There is a tremendous opportunity today in the development of new materials for applications in energy. We are working on integrating nanomaterials in several key areas of energy technologies. Engineered architectures based on carbon nanotubes, nanowires and nanocomposites are being looked at in our laboratory for the development of new designs of supercapacitors, battery and their hybrids. Similarly electrodic applications of nanostructures are being pursued in the energy generation (e.g. hydrogen) area. In addition, energy management is also of interest, in particular thermal management using nanomaterials and development of new catalyst and support materials for fuel cells.

Multifunctional  Composites, Nano-enabled bio-mimetic Systems
Lightweight multifunctional materials are critical for the continued development of next generation structural materials. This is especially the case where loading conditions and harsh environments require smart material solutions capable of addressing needs such as payload, damping/vibration control, EMI and lightning shielding, thermal management, and health-monitoring. Our approaches will look at engineering and integration of nanostructures into composites and hybrid materials in intelligent and scalable ways that mimic biological systems and have applications in a variety of areas in materials science and bio-technology. Some bio-mimetic concepts (membranes, dry adhesive tapes etc.) are also being pursued to build novel and smart material systems.

Nanoelectronics, Nanosensors, Active Nanosystems
The revolutionary nanotechnology will follow breakthroughs in electronics and sensors. We have been looking at the role of nanomaterials in electronics, as devices and interconnects. We focus on carbon nanotubes, graphene, hybrid nanowires and molecular materials for developing the new generation of integrated electronic components. Materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene seem to have big advantages over conventional silicon based devices and copper based interconnects. The challenges in large scale assembly, junctions and contacts between nanodevices and integration into existing technologies are topics of interest. In addition we are also pursuing various approaches to build sensor devices and sensor network systems using nanostructures and their assemblies. Finally our ultimate goal is to build active, smart assemblies of nanostructures that can be controllably manipulated.

Prof. M. Terrones, Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA
Prof. Angel Rubio, San Sebastian, Spain
Prof. Zhengjun Zhang, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Prof. Yung Joon Jung, Northeastern University, Boston, USA
Prof. Saikat Talapatra, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA   
Dr. Luis Balicas, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, USA
Prof. Jonghwan Suhr,  Univesity of Nevada, Reno, USA      
Prof. Zoltan Konya, University of Szeged, Hungary
Dr. Krisztian Kordas, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Prof. O. N. Srivastava, Banaras Hindu University, India
Prof. Ralph M. Krupke, INT, Germany
Prof. N. Koratkar, Mechanical and Aerospace, RPI, USA
Prof. Saroj Nayak, Physics, RPI, USA
Prof. George John, City College of New York, USA
Dr. Madan Dubey, Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, USA
Dr. Shashi Karna, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD, USA
Dr. Ajit K. Roy, Air Force Research Laboratory, WPAFB, OH, USA
Dr. Mark Bundy, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, USA
Dr. Avetik Harutyunyan, Honda Research Institute USA
Prof. Glaura Silva, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil
Prof. Prabir Patra, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT, USA   

National Science Foundation

Army Research Office (2D MURI)

Army Research Laboratory

DOE Basic Energy Sciences

Office of Naval Research (Graphene MURI)

AFOSR (3D MURI)

National Institute of Health

Nanoholdings

Advanced Energy Consortium

NASA Graduate Fellowship

U.S. – Israel Binational Science Foundation

Honda Research Institute USA, Inc.