SKG Lab @ IISER-Pune

Major Research Areas

Development of advanced functional porous materials like Metal-organic Frameworks (MOF), Metal-organic gel (MOG), Porous organic polymers (POPs), Metal-organic polyhedra (MOP), Supramolecular-organic Frameworks (SOF), Hydrogen-bonded Organic Frameworks (HOF), Porous composite materials (CM), etc.

Functional studies: Chemical sensors, Industrially relevent hydrocarons separation, Pollutants capture for safe drinking water, Radionuclide Separation, Clean Energy materials, Heterogeneous catalysis etc.

Advanced functional porous materials for Safe Drinking Water, Clean Energy and Industrially relevent Chemicals Separations.

We seek to correlate structural features with physical properties and to design synthetic strategies to prepare functional materials and to tune their structures and properties. We use synthetic methods from both inorganic and organic chemistry to prepare novel types of material and then use a wide variety of techniques to study their structure and properties. Using suitable organic ligands (predesigned by organic synthetic methods or commercially available ligands) we synthesis new self-assembled materials. Once the structure of new compound is determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction, the obtained bulk materials are characterized by different physical techniques that include powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, vibrational spectroscopy (IR), sorption, etc. The synthesized materials are used for functional studies like chemical separation, gas storage, magnetism, heterogeneous catalysis, conductivity, sensor etc.

Representative Publications and further reading:

Coord. Chem. Rev. 2019, 395, 146-192 (Web Link)
Coord. Chem. Rev. 2016, 307, 313-341 (Web Link)
Accounts of Chemical Research 2017, 50, 2457-2469. (Web Link)
Chem. Soc. Rev. 2017, 46, 3242-3285. (Web Link)
Coord. Chem. Rev. 2018, 367, 82-126. (Web Link)

Representative Publications based on Different types of Porous Materials:

1. Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs):

Selective capture of toxic oxoanions of Se (VI) and As (V) with a rare crystallographic insight by a water stable ionic MOF

Shivani Sharma, Aamod V. Desai, Biplab Joarder, and Sujit K. Ghosh

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 7788. Web Link

2. Porous-organic Polymers (POPs):

Chemically Stable Ionic Viologen-Organic Network: An Efficient Scavenger of Toxic Oxo-anions from Water

Partha Samanta, Priyanshu Chandra, Subhajit Dutta, Aamod V. Desai and Sujit K. Ghosh

Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 7874–7881.Web Link

3. Metal-organic Polyhedra (MOPs):

Hydrophobic Shielding of Outer Surface: Enhancing the ChemicalStability of Metal–Organic Polyhedra

Samraj Mollick, Dr. Soumya Mukherjee, Dongwook Kim, Zhiwei Qiao, Aamod V. Desai, Rajat Saha, Yogeshwar D. More, Jianwen Jiang, Myoung Soo Lah and Sujit K. Ghosh

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 1041–1045. Web Link

4. Hydrogen-bonded Organic Frameworks (HOFs):

Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks: A New Class of Porous Crystalline Proton Conducting Materials

Avishek Karmakar, Rajith Illathvalappil, Bihag Anothumakkool, Arunabha Sen, Partha Samanta, Aamod V. Desai, Sreekumar Kurungot and Sujit K. Ghosh

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 10667-10671. Web Link

5. Porous Hybrid Composite Materials:

a) MOF@MOF Hybrid Composite Macroporous Materials:

Benchmark uranium extraction from seawater by an ionic macroporous metal-organic framework

Samraj Mollick, Satyam Saurabh, Yogeshwar D. More, Sahel Fajal, Mandar M. Shirolkar, Writakshi Mandal, Sujit K. Ghosh

Energy & Environmental Science 2022, Web Link

b) MOP@COF Hybrid Composite Materials:

Nanotrap Grafted Anion Exchangeable Hybrid Materials for Efficient Removal of Toxic Oxoanions from Water

Samraj Mollick, Sahel Fajal, Satyam Saurabh, Debanjan Mahato and Sujit K. Ghosh

ACS Cent. Sci.,2020, 6, 9, 1534–1541. Web Link

c) MOP@Gel Hybrid Composite Materials:

Trap Inlaid Cationic Hybrid Composite Material for Efficient Segregation of Toxic Chemicals from Water

Sahel Fajal, Writakshi Mandal, Samraj Mollick, Yogeshwer D. More, Arun Torris, Satyam Saurabh, Mandar M. Shirolkar, and Sujit K. Ghosh

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202203385. Web Link

d) Other Hybrid Composite Nanomaterials:

Hybrid blue perovskite@metal-organic gel (MOG) nanocomposite: simultaneous improvement of luminescence property and stability

Samraj Mollick, Tarak Nath Mandal, Atanu Jana, Sahel Fajal and Sujit K. Ghosh

Chemical Science, 2019, 10, 10524–10530. Web Link

Representative Publications based on different functional studies of Porous Materials

Advanced Functional Porous Materials for Safe Drinking Water:

1. Luminescent MOFs for molecular recognition/sensing.

MOF as a chemical sensor has been employed for multiple applications like explosive detection, in vivo neurotransmitter sensing and ion recognition. Chemically stable Zr(IV) and carboxylate based porous fluorescent MOF with free Lewis basic functional groups (like amine, pyridyl ) has been developed for highly selective nitro explosive detection in aqueous phase. A bio-compatible Zr(IV) and carboxylate based MOF based turn-on probe for detection of gasotransmitter H2S in live cells has also been established in our lab. Several other fluorphore-based MOF probes are being studied for diverse sensing and detection purposes, accompanied with high selectivity and sensitivity.

Representative Publications and further reading:

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2022, 11, 8633. Web Link
Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 6864-6869. (Web Link)
Chem. Commun. 2015, 51, 6111-6114 (Web Link)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 2881-2885 (Web Link)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 998-1002. (Web Link)

Nat. Rev. Chem., 2021, 5, 600–601. (NEWS & VIEWS) Web Link
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2019, 7, 7456-7478 Web Link
Chem. Asian J. 2019, 14,4506- 4519. Web Link (Cover Page)
Accounts of Chemical Research 2017, 50, 2457-2469. Web Link
Chem. Soc. Rev. 2017, 46, 3242-3285. (Web Link)

2. Sequestration of Environmentally Toxic (including radionuclides) Pollutants from Contaminated Water

A number of new cationic MOFs are being synthesized from N-donor based neutral linkers, which via intermediacy of anion exchange and fluorescence/IR based detection techniques, are being employed for selective anion recognition and detection phenomena. Interesting anion-responsive tunable luminescent properties have been the signature attributes for this class of compounds. These compounds have also been sought for the capture of toxic oxyanions in aqueous medium.

Representative Publications and further reading:

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202203385. (Hot paper) (Front Cover) (Web Link)
ACS Cent. Sci.,2020, 6, 9, 1534–1541. Web Link (First Reactions Link)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 7788 (Web Link)
Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 7874–7881 Web Link
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 7811-7815 (Web Link)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 998-1002 (Web Link)

Porous Material for Indutrially Relevent Gas/Solvent Separations:

Industrially Relevant Hydrocarbons and CO2 Separation:

Separation of hydrocarbon species holds great importance in industrial applications. From the application-perspective, the separation of light hydrocarbons, especially those having related physical properties and similar molecular sizes is highly challenging for industrial applications. Adsorption-based separation seems the best alternative against the expensive and energy-intensive azeotropic and extractive distillation methods for achieving such separation. In our lab, functional MOFs are being designed and developed for the separation of industrially relevent hydrocarcons sepations including Benzene/cylohexane, o/m/p-xylenes, C2H2/CO2, C2H2/C2H4, C2H4/C2H6, C3H4/C3H6, and C3H6/C3H8 etc.

Representative Publications and further reading:

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202114132. Web Link
Chem. Mater., 2021, 33, 14, 5800–5808. Web Link
Coord. Chem. Rev. 2021, 437, 213852. Web Link
Accounts of Chemical Research 2017, 50, 2457. Web Link
Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 8215-8218 Web Link
Cryst. Growth Des., 2017, 17, 3581-3587. Web Link
Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1981-1986 Web Link
Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 572-576. Web Link

Material for Clean Energy:

Uranium extraction from seawater (UES) : Source of clean and renewable energy

Benchmark uranium extraction from seawater by an ionic macroporous metal-organic framework

Samraj Mollick, Satyam Saurabh, Yogeshwar D. More, Sahel Fajal, Mandar M. Shirolkar, Writakshi Mandal, Sujit K. Ghosh

Energy & Environmental Science 2022,15, 3462-3469. Web Link

Media Coverages: India Today, Nature India For More: Click here.

Small 2023, 2302014. Web Link

Fuel Cell Membrane Materials

Fuel cells have shown great potential to produce energy in higher efficiencies with no environmental pollution. H+ and OH-conduction properties of MOFs evolved as an outcome of some design-principle, coupled with those subsequent to post-synthetic modification (PSM) are currently being studied for intriguing revelation of high proton conductivity and chemical stability features in both anhydrous and humidified conditions.

Representative Publications and further reading:

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 10667-10671 (Web Link)
Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 8459-8462 ( Web Link)
Inorg. Chem. 2015, 54, 5366-5371 (Web Link)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 2638-2642 (Web Link)

Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs)

Representative Publications:

Highly Stable and End-Group Tuneable Metal-organic Framework / polymer composite for Superior Triboelectric Nanogenerator Application

Yogeshwar D. More, Satyam Saurabh, Samraj Mollick, Sachin Kumar Singh, Subhajit Dutta, Sahel Fajal, Anil Prathamshetti, Mandar M. Shirolkar, Suresh Panchal, Minal Wable, Satishchandra Ogale and Sujit K. Ghosh

Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 2201713. Web Link

Heterogeneous catalysis:

Heterogeneous catalysis based on functional advanced porous materials.

Representative Publications:

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2024, XXXX Web Link

J. Org. Chem. 2022, 87, 24, 16655–16664 Web Link

ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 2019, 2, 1333-1340 Web Link.

Magnetic Materials

Single molecule magnets (SMMs) and Single chain magnets (SCMs) have been regarded as important classes of compounds, derived from coordination chemistry-aided apposite design principles. Stemming from chelating ligands, mostly oxygen-donors as well as, mixed (N- and O- donating) schiff base linkers, coupled with oxophilic lanthanide ions having large unquenched orbital angular momentum, an overall increase in the magnetic anisotropy values for the concerned Ln(III) homometallic/ 3d-4f heterometallic complexes are manifested. These lead to slow magnetic relaxation guided SMM behaviours of these complexes. Also we are currently pursuing the development of materials which can respond to magnetic stimulus. Such compounds exhibiting spin transitions on application of external fields are promising candidates for several important applications.

Representative Publications and further reading:

Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 11283−11298 (Web Link)
Inorg. Chem. Front. 2015, 2, 854-859 (Web Link)
Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 7554-7560 (Web Link)
Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 9159-9161 (Web Link)
Dalton Trans. 2012, 41, 7695-7699 (Web Link)

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