Spectroscopic Methods for Nanomaterials Characterization, Volume 2

Professor Thomas is currently Pro-Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and the Founder Director and Professor of the International and Interuniversity Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He is also a full professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemical Sciences of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Prof. Thomas is an outstanding leader with sustained international acclaims for his work in Nanoscience, Polymer Science and Engineering, Polymer Nanocomposites, Elastomers, Polymer Blends, Interpenetrating Polymer Networks, Polymer Membranes, Green Composites and Nanocomposites, Nanomedicine and Green Nanotechnology. Dr. Thomas’s ground-breaking inventions in polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, green bionanotechnological and nano-biomedical sciences, have made transformative differences in the development of new materials for automotive, space, housing and biomedical fields. In collaboration with India’s premier tyre company, Apollo Tyres, Professor Thomas’s group invented new high performance barrier rubber nanocomposite membranes for inner tubes and inner liners for tyres. Professor Thomas has received a number of national and international awards which include: Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London FRSC, Distinguished Professorship from Josef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, MRSI medal, Nano Tech Medal, CRSI medal, Distinguished Faculty Award, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Award for Scientific Excellence – 2016, Mahatma Gandhi University- Award for Outstanding Contribution –Nov. 2016, Lifetime Achievement Award of the Malaysian Polymer Group, Indian Nano Biologists award 2017and Sukumar Maithy Award for the best polymer researcher in the country. He is in the list of most productive researchers in India and holds a position of No.5. Recently, because of the outstanding contributions to the field of Nanoscience and Polymer Science and Engineering, Prof. Thomas has been conferred Honoris Causa (DSc) Doctorate by the University of South Brittany, Lorient, France and University of Lorraine, Nancy, France. Very recently, Prof. Thomas has been awarded Senior Fulbright Fellowship to visit 20 Universities in the US and most productive faculty award in the domain Materials Sciences. Professor Thomas has published over 800 peer reviewed research papers, reviews and book chapters. He has co-edited 80 books published by different publishers. He is the inventor of 6 patents and has delivered over 300 Plenary/Inaugural and Invited lectures in national/international meetings over 30 countries. He has established a state of the art laboratory at Mahatma Gandhi University in the area of Polymer Science and Engineering and Nanoscience and Nanotechnology through external funding from DST, CSIR, TWAS, UGC, DBT, DRDO, AICTE, ISRO, DIT, TWAS, KSCSTE, BRNS, UGC-DAE, Du Pont, USA, General Cables, USA, Surface Treat Czech Republic, MRF Tyres and Apollo Tyres.

Prof (Dr). Raju Thomas is currently Vice Chancellor of Middle East University FZE, P.O. BOX 37173, Al Hamara, Ras Al Khaimah, and United Arab Emirates. Dr. Thomas started Professorship from Research and Postgraduate Department of Chemistry, Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla-3, Kerala, India. Dr. Thomas procured Ph.D degree under the supervision of Prof. (Dr). Sabu Thomas, Director of International and Interuniversity Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He has extensive research experience in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He has twelve years of research experience in the Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry laboratories of the School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He has also worked in the laboratory of Applied Rheology and Polymer processing of Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium and in the laboratory at Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany. He has widely studied the kinetics of curing, morphology developments and structural characteristics of in-situ cured nanocomposites based on epoxy resin and reactive rubbers. His research is reflected in his six published research articles in international journals and additional articles which are currently under review. In addition, many articles are published in popular journals. He has co-authored many chapters and co-editor of a book entitled “Micro and Nanostructured Epoxy/Rubber Blends” which was recently published by Wiley and Sons. He has attended many national and international seminars/ conferences and presented many research papers. He is an approved research guide in Chemistry of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India and has availed projects from University Grants Commission (UGC), Department of Science and Technology- Science and Engineering Research Board (DST-SERB) and Kerala Science Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE).

Prof. Ajesh K. Zachariah is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla. He had done Doctoral Research in Polymer Chemistry at School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He has ten years’ research experience in nanomaterials and characterization. Expert in sophisticated analytical techniques such as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X ray diffraction Technique (XRD), Gas Permeability Tester, Dynamic Mechanical Analyser (DMA), Rubber Process Analyser (RPA)and Oscillating Disc Rheometer (ODR). Published nine internationally cited articles, two international books and applied one Indian patent. He presented articles in different national and international conferences. He bagged Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Award 2013, the meritorious research scholar award from UGC, India in 2009 and young researcher award in Nanosat-2010. His research areas are nanomaterial, naocomposites, elastomer-elastomer blend systems, sensors, membranes, computational chemistry and environmental chemistry.

Raghvendra Kumar Mishra is currently working as Senior Research Fellow at the International and Interuniversity Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. He has received India's most prestigious Visvesvaraya Research Fellowship, and he is currently serving as Visvesvaraya Fellow. He has widely studied the processing of blends, in situ generation micro- and nanofibrillar composites, electromagnetic shielding effect of nanocomposites, decorating and alignment of carbon nanotubes, and thermal, dynamic mechanical, and structural relationships in polymer blends and nanocomposites. He has won several awards from different organizations and technology events. He is serving as reviewer in many international journals, for example, Environmental Chemistry Letters (Springer). He has research experience in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Technology, and Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. His areas of research are multidisciplinary, which include thermodynamics, heat transfer, refrigeration and air-conditioning, fluid mechanics, machine design, solid mechanics, machine theory, power plant engineering, metal and ceramic processing. In addition, he specializes in polymers, which include polymer recycling, polymer blends, fiber-filled polymer composites, particulate-filled polymer composites and their morphological characterization, aging and degradation, nanomaterials e.g., metallic, metallic oxide, carbon nanotubes, graphene, conducting polymer blends, composites and nanocomposites, biodegradable polymer blends and composites. He has expertise in sophisticated characterization techniques such as dynamic mechanical analyzer, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, spectroscopy, vector network analyzer, scanning electron microcopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM).