(6hh) Materials and Systems Engineering for Healthcare and Energy Applications – from Discovery to Design

My research is focused on developing mathematical,
computational, and experimental tools for i) discovery of crystalline forms of pharmaceutical
drugs and energy-conversion materials, and ii) identification and control of
systems for the synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs and renewable fuels.

Research Area 1: Discovery and Growth of
Crystalline Materials

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 (or crystal
structure) are determined in the early stage of crystallization process whereas
the morphologies depend on growth, dissolution, and milling conditions. Figure
1 shows my research scheme to probe 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 of
applications such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, catalysts, and
specialized materials.

Figure 1: Research Plan
for Discovery and Growth 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 and Doraiswami Ramkrishna, ?A Comprehensive Approach to Predicting
Crystal Morphology Distributions with Population Balances,? Crystal Growth
& Design, 13 (4), 1397 ? 1411, 2013.

3.      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.

4.      Doraiswami
Ramkrishna and Meenesh R. Singh, ?Population Balance Modeling. Current Status
and Future Prospects,? Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
5 (1), 2014

5.     
Meenesh R. Singh, Nandkishor Nere, Hsien-Hsin Tung, Samrat Mukherjee,
Shailendra Bordawekar, and Doraiswami Ramkrishna, ?Measurement of Polar Plots
of Crystal Dissolution Rates using Hot-Stage Microscopy. Some Further Insights
on Dissolution Morphologies,? Crystal Growth & Design, 14 (11), 5647 ?
5661, 2014.

Research Area 2: Production of Renewable
Fuels and Fertilizers

Description: Harnessing solar energy to produce transportation fuels is
a promising route to support future energy demands. The solar fuel generators
such as photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) and PV-Electrolyzers involve a
two-step conversion of sunlight to fuels 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 systems to
develop an efficient, robust, cheap and durable solar-fuel generator for
water-splitting, carbon dioxide reduction and nitrogen fixation.

Figure 2: Research Plan
for the Production of Renewable Fuels and Fertilizers

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,? Energy & Environmental Science, 7
(10), 3371-3380, 2014.

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 Diffusion through Hydrophilic Channels and Matrix,? Macromolecules,
2015.

4.     
Meenesh R. Singh, Ezra L. Clark, and Alexis T. Bell, ?Effects of
Electrolyte, Catalyst, and Membrane Composition and Operating Conditions on the
Performance of Solar-Driven Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide,? under
review

5.     
Meenesh R. Singh, and Alexis T. Bell, ?Thermodynamic and Achievable
Efficiencies of Solar-Driven Electrochemical Conversion of Water and Carbon
Dioxide to Transportation Fuels,? submitted