(6dq) Materials and Systems Design for Healthcare and Energy Applications | AIChE

(6dq) Materials and Systems Design for Healthcare and Energy Applications

Authors 

Singh, M. R. - Presenter, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Ramkrishna, D., Purdue University
Lynd, N. A., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Segalman, R. A., University of California at Berkeley
Bell, A. T., University of California, Berkeley
Lewis, N. S., California Institute of Technology


My research is focused
on developing mathematical, computational, and experimental methods for rapid
materials screening and systems design for pharmaceutical and solar fuels
applications. My research plan in these two different areas is described as
follows.

 

Research
Area 1
: Designer Crystals for
Healthcare Applications

Current Collaborators: Prof. Doraiswami Ramkrishna (Purdue U.) and Dr.
Hsien-Hsin Tung (AbbVie Inc.)

Description: The crystal structure and morphology are two
critical determinants of the physicochemical properties such as solubility,
hardness, cleavage, optoelectronic properties, electrical and heat
conductivities, and piezoelectric effect of crystalline materials. The
polymorphs (crystal structure) are determined in the early stage of
crystallization process whereas the morphologies depend on growth, dissolution,
and milling conditions. Figure 1 shows a scheme that probes processes at different
length scales using a combination of experimental and mathematical tools to
control crystal structure, shape, and size by tuning various environmental
conditions. The proposed research is fundamental to crystal growth in different
areas (e.g. the semiconductor industry, catalytic applications, and the
pharmaceutical industry).

Figure 1: Research Plan for Identification of Structure-Property Relationships and Directed
Synthesis of Crystalline Materials

Selected Publications:

  1. Meenesh R. Singh, Jayanta
    Chakraborty, Nandkishor Nere, Hsien-Hsin Tung, Shailendra Bordawekar and
    Doraiswami Ramkrishna, ?Image-Analysis-Based Method for Measurement of 3D
    Crystal Morphology and Polymorph Identification using Confocal
    Microscopy,? Crystal Growth & Design, 12 (7), 3735-3748, 2012
  2. Meenesh R. Singh, Parul Verma,
    Hsien-Hsin Tung, Shailendra Bordawekar and Doraiswami Ramkrishna,
    ?Screening Crystal Morphologies from Crystal Structure,? Crystal Growth
    & Design, 13 (4), 1390-1396, 2013.
  3. Meenesh R. Singh and Doraiswami
    Ramkrishna, ?A Comprehensive Approach to Predicting Crystal Morphology
    Distributions with Population Balances,? Crystal Growth & Design,
    13 (4), 1397 ? 1411, 2013.
  4. Meenesh R. Singh and Doraiswami
    Ramkrishna, ?Dispersions in Crystal Nucleation and Growth Rates:
    Implications of Fluctuation in Supersaturation,? Chemical Engineering
    Science, 107 (7), 102-113, 2014.
  5. Doraiswami Ramkrishna and Meenesh
    R. Singh
    , ?Population Balance Modeling. Current Status and Future
    Prospects,? Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 5 (1),
    2014

 

 

Research
Area 2
: Artificial Photosynthesis for
Solar Fuels

Current Collaborators: Dr. Nathaniel Lynd (LBNL), Prof. Rachel A. Segalman
(UC Berkeley), Prof. Alexis T. Bell (UC Berkeley) and Prof. Nathan S. Lewis
(Caltech)

Description: Harnessing
solar energy to produce liquid fuels is a promising route to support future
energy demands. One possible route is to
first produce hydrogen, which can be generated by photoelectrochemically
splitting water. The solar fuel generators such as photoelectrochemical cells
(PECs) involve a two-step conversion of sunlight to hydrogen using a
photovoltaic (PV) cell directly (wireless) or indirectly (wired) connected to an
electrochemical cell. My research in this area is focused on identifying
materials and methods to develop an efficient, robust, cheap and durable PECs
for water-splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. One of the design objectives here
is to minimize the potential losses in the device using interface and systems
engineering approaches.

 

Figure 2: Research Plan for the Design of Cheap, Efficient, and Durable Solar Fuel Generators

Selected Publications:

1.       Meenesh R. Singh, John C. Stevens, and Adam Z. Weber,
?Design of Membrane-Encapsulated Wireless Photoelectrochemical Cells for
Hydrogen Production?, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 161 (8),
2014

2.       Jian Jin, Karl Walczak, Meenesh R. Singh, Chris Karp,
Nathan S. Lewis, and Chengxiang Xiang, ?Experimental and Modeling/Simulation
Evaluation of the Efficiency and Operational Performance of an Integrated,
Membrane-Free, neutral pH solar-Driven Water-Splitting System,? submitted

3.       Christopher M. Evans, Meenesh R. Singh, Nathaniel A.
Lynd, and Rachel A. Segalman, ?Improving the Gas Barrier Properties of Nafion
via Thermal Annealing: Evidence for Dual-Mode Diffusion,? submitted to
Macromolecules
.