Dr. Shende’s Research Interests

1.   Sustainable Energy- Energy is the most essential part of our life and it is the most important challenge that the whole world is facing today. Harnessing solar energy is attractive approach to meet global energy needs because sun is giving us 120000 TW of energy, which is approx. ten thousands times higher than the world’s current rate of energy consumption. Our mission is to promote understanding of the sustainable energy resources and execute fundamental and applied research in energy conversion technologies. Currently our research is focused on converting solar energy into electrical energy. Specifically, our research goal is to understand the fundamentals of energy conversion processes and fabricate – 1) dye sensitized solar cells, 2) thin-film solar cells, 3) flexible photovoltaic devices, 4) nanocrystal solar cells, and 5) organic photovoltaics.

Molecular photovoltaic (MPV) cells are currently being used to tap the solar energy and in future, these will play major role in the area of sustainable energy systems. Although conventional photovoltaics (PV) are p-n junction Si-based, there is major thrust being directed on developing the molecular photovoltaic devices; for instance, the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). One of the issues in this type of cells is the low efficiency (about 10%) as compared with the Si-based PV devices (approx. 28%). To further improve the efficiency of DSSC devices, our research efforts are focused on— 1) synthesizing the ordered mesoporous catalytic thin-films, 2) investigating the charge transport, 3) understanding the interaction between  photosensitizers and a mesoporous catalytic films, 4) developing science for the interfacial engineering, and 5) microfabricating the devices.

2.  Alternative Fuels- World oil and other fossil reserves are rather quickly depleting due to growing demands from industrialized and developing countries. Therefore, future energy demands must be fulfilled by sustainable energy resources. Hydrogen is one of the most promising fuels of the future.  This fuel can be generated by various technologies, among them thermochemical water-splitting utilizing solar radiation is very promising.  This process involves hydrogen generation and regeneration steps, which currently require significantly different temperatures. Therefore, successful implementation of this process is still at trade-off with other technologies. Our research objective is to synthesize novel redox materials capable of splitting water and investigate their effectiveness towards hydrogen generation. These materials will be synthesized by sol-gel approach and self-propagation high temperature synthesis coupled with microwave technology.

The combustion of fossil fuels has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. These gases allow solar energy to enter the Earth's atmosphere, but reduce the amount of energy radiating back into the atmosphere, thus, trapping energy and causing global warming. The energy obtained from the biomass, however, does not contribute to global warming. The proposed research will explore the use of subcritical and supercritical technologies and newer bacterial strains for efficient biomass conversion into fuels. Reaction kinetics, design of a bioreactor, and scale-up of biofuel production process will be investigated in detail.

3. Nanostructured Materials– Fe nanoparticles have several important applications in catalysis, MRI, magnetic data storage, coatings, nanotube synthesis, ordered nanostructures for field emission devices etc. Our research thrust is to investigate pyrophoric behavior of Fe and other metal nanoparticles and tune their pyrophoric behavior for defense applications. Research work is also undertaken for microfabricating devices that utilize pyrophoric nanoparticles. The other studies are focused on synthesizing the novel nanostructured materials with controlled reactivity and higher energy density. One of the key objectives is to develop chemical engineering science for the reactions involving nanostructured materials. 

      Nanostructured materials can find potential applications in selective removal of toxic gases.  For instance, aircrafts and space life-supporting systems require effective removal of metabolic carbondioxide. Currently used metal hydroxides or oxide sorbents are based on the pressure-swing adsorption processes. Although, these materials are capable of removing CO₂ selectively, they need frequent regeneration or replacement. Our research is focused on developing nanomaterials with core-shell structure that will be capable of removing the unwanted gases more efficiently.

4. Thin-Films and MEMS– Thin film and microfabrication technology are necessary to fabricate the MEMS devices. There are several applications that are based on MEMS technology such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, nano- and pico-satellites, biosensors, polymerase chain reaction microsystems, scanning tunneling microscopes, MEMS switches, on-chip power generation, communication circuits etc.

      Our research objective is to develop MEMS capability and integrate it with nanotechnology for possible defense, energy, and medical applications. Specifically, we will develop nanostructured thin-film deposition methods for metals, metal oxides, nanocarbon, nanodiamond, nitrides etc.  Thin films and MEMS technology will be used to  fabricate a solid fuel micro-propulsion system based on novel energetic materials. These micropropulsion systems will find applications in defense and commercial devices such as nano and micro satellites, communication satellites, micro-gas generators etc. Another research objective is to utilize MEMS technology and fabricate microdevices for controlled energy and medical applications.

5. Sensors and Therapeutics– Rapid detection of microbial strains has significant importance in the areas of clinical diagnostics and monitoring pathogens to the detection of biological warfare agents. On-chip sensing technology is a suitable option, which provides an easy, fast, and sensitive biosensing of bacteria or environmental toxins. Our goal is to identify toxins, microbial strains, and disease markers, and develop understanding of the antigen-antibody reactions on a chip. Research efforts will be extended to modify antibodies with suitable fluorescent markers and employ these antibodies for fabricating the biosensors. The major thrust of our work is to investigate and develop novel chemical sensing concepts using nanostructured materials.

      Significant interest being gained in the recent past for improving the sustained drug release formulations. Such formulations are capable of releasing the drug over a period of days, weeks, months or even years after injecting the drug. Nanomaterials find important applications in drug development for oncology, endocrinology, and cardiology. Research will be focused on identifying a suitable drug for cancer or angiogenesis inhibitors, synthesis of nanoparticles/nanospheres, protein or DNA binding with nanoparticles, complexing drug, and studying the drug release rate (kinetics) in controlled environment. Furthermore, it is planned to investigate possible response of the immune system under the influence of the controlled drug release formulations.  As cancer cells initiate angiogenesis,  our research will also investigate inhibition of angiogenesis under the influence of controlled drug release formulations.

 

 

 

 #Room 215, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering,

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology,

501 East St Joseph Street, Rapid City, SD 57701

(605) 394-1231 (O), (605) 545-2861 (C), Rajesh.Shende@sdsmt.edu