Research Interest
- Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials and Devices
- Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles
- Solid State Chemsitry, Materials Science, Electrochemistry
- Sustainable Carbon & Graphite Materials, Metal Oxide Materials,
- Material chemistry, Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology
- Li/ Na-ion Batteries, Supercapacitors, Hybrid Capacitors, Li/Na Sulphur Batteries
- Prototype Device Fabrication, Characterization and Validation
Academic Background
- Ph. D in Chemistry: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- M.Sc in Chemistry: Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India
- B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry: Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Brindavan Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Professional Experience
- 2023 - Present: Assistant Professor at Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India
- 2022 - 2023: Senior Manager - Principal Engineer at OLA Electric Technologies Pvt Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
- 2021 - 2022: Scientist C at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- 2018 - 2020: Project Scientist B at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Awards:
- Awarded Prof Werner Prize for the best Ph. D thesis in Chemistry during the 57th convocation of IIT Madras
- Qualified in a global competition among young scientists worldwide to participate in the 71st Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting at Lindau, Germany, June-July 2022
- Recipient of DST-DFG award from Government of India to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting 2022
- Selected with Institute Research Award for Excellence in research work by IIT Madras
- Recipient of Young Scientist award in Chemistry for the year 2019 from Dr. K.V. Rao Scientific Society, Hyderabad, India
- Recipient of Travel grant from TRC-Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India to attend the 235th ECS Meeting at Dallas, USA, May-June 2019
- Award for Best Poster presentation at “Battery Technologies & Electric Mobility” conference, organized by HP Green R & D Centre, Bangalore, March 2018
- Award for Best Oral presentation at “National Conference on Carbon Materials 2015” conference, organized by NPL Delhi & Indian Carbon Society at New Delhi, November 2015
- Awarded Senior Research Fellowship,, Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India
- Qualified Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)
- Qualified CSIR-JRF, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Sponsored Projects
- Synthesis and Application of Sustainable Carbon Materials for High Energy Lithium-ion Capacitor, SEED-Scheme for Young Scientists & Technologists, sponsored by DST, Project duration : 2024-2026, Project cost : Rs 34.5 lakhs, Role : Principal Investigator
- Development of novel & low-cost porous carbon materials for high performance super capacitor and their application for e-mobility, sponsored by HPCL Bangalore, Project duration : 2018-2021, Project cost : Rs 98.5 lakhs, Role : Co-Principal Investigator
- Supercapacitor powered Hybrid E-Rickshaw, B1 project of DST sponsored TRC project, Project duration : 2017-2022, Project cost : Rs 780 lakhs, Role : Core Team member
Patents & Publications
Patents
- Metals-embedded resorcinol-formaldehyde xerogel-based carbon cathode for high-performance batteries and a method of preparation thereof, Sony K. Cherian, Chandra S. Sharma, K. Nanaji, B V Sarada, and Tata N Rao, Indian patent application number, 202341042659 filed on 26th June 2023
- A biomass-derived porous carbon as sulfur host for energy storage device and a method of preparing thereof, Sony K. Cherian, K. Nanaji, B V Sarada, Tata N Rao and Chandra S. Sharma, Indian patent application number, 202341033390 filed on 11th May 2023
- A dry process of preparation of a composite electrode material, K. Nanaji, Rajesh Mekkat, K Ramesha, Aditya R, Nagur baba, Vishal S, Sachin shet, Patent application number, 202341018316, filed on 17th March 2023
- Fabrication of tab-less and high power cylindrical LFP-LTO cell for fast charging lithium-ion battery application, S. Anandan, K. Nanaji, R. Vijay, Tata N. Rao”, Indian patent application number, 202341004527, dated 23rd January 2023
- Method of producing nanoporous graphene sheet-like structured high and low surface area carbon sheets from petroleum coke, K. Nanaji, V. Pavan Srinivas, S. Anandan, T. Narasinga Rao, K. Narayanan, B. Ramachandra Rao and M. Pramanik, Patent Appln. No. 202011007399 dated 20th Feb.2020
- Method of producing graphene like structured nanoporous carbon material from Jute stick based bio-waste for Energy Storage applications and the product Thereof, K. Nanaji, S. Anandan, Tata N. Rao, Indian Patent Appl. No. E-2/276//2018/DEL, 16th February 2018. Patent Granted on 7th April 2022 with Patent No. of 394477
Selected Publications
- K. Nanaji*, and Tata N. Rao, “A High-Performance Dual-Carbon Na-Ion Capacitor Fabricated from a Single Biowaste Precursor” Energy Technology , 2023,10,2300493
- K. Nanaji*, N. Aamani, P.V. Srinivas, S. Anandan, R. Vijay, R. Bathe, M. Pramanik, K. Narayanan, R. Balasubramaniam, Tata N. Rao, “Translational Materials Research - From Laboratory to Product: A 1200 F Cylindrical Supercapacitor from Petroleum Coke derived Activated Carbon Sheets” Journal of Energy Storage, 2022, 55, 105650
- K. Nanaji* , P. Samhita, S. Anandan, Tata N. Rao, “A High-energy density Li-ion hybrid capacitor fabricated from bio-waste derived carbon nanosheets cathode and graphite anode” Global Challenges, 2022,6,2200082, 1-9
- K. Nanaji# , E. Hari Mohan#, B.V. Appa Rao, Tata N. Rao “A facile one step synthesis of bio-inspired porous graphitic carbon sheets for Improved Li-S battery performance” International Journal of Energy Research , 2022,46, 4339-4351. (# Equal contribution)
- K. Nanaji, B.V. Sarada, Tata N. Rao, U. V. Varadaraju, S. Anandan, “A novel approach to synthesize porous graphene sheets by exploring KOH as pore inducing agent as well as a catalyst for supercapacitors with ultra-fast rate capability” Renewable Energy, 2021, 172, 502-513
- K. Nanaji#, P.V. Srinivas#, S. Anandan, M. Pramanik, K. Narayanan, R. Balasubramaniam, Tata N. Rao “Petroleum coke as an efficient single carbon source for high energy and high-power Lithium-ion capacitors” Energy & Fuels , 2021,35, 9010-9016 (# Equal contribution)
- K. Nanaji, Tata N. Rao, Varadaraju U.V, S. Anandan, “Jute sticks derived novel graphitic porous carbon nanosheets as anode material for lithium-ion battery with superior electrochemical properties” International Journal of Energy Research, 2020, 44, 2289-2297
- Usha Rani, K. Nanaji , Tata N. Rao, A. S. Deshpande, “Corn husk derived activated carbon with enhanced electrochemical performance for high-voltage supercapacitors” Journal of Power Sources, 2020, 471, 228387
- P. Samhita, K. Nanaji , M. Sreekanth, Tata N. Rao, S. K. Martha, B. V. Sarada “Cost-effective Synthesis of Electrodeposited NiCo2O4 Nanosheets with Induced Oxygen Vacancies: A Highly Efficient Electrode Material for Hybrid Supercapacitors” Batteries & Supercaps, 2020, 3, 1209-1219
- E. Hari Mohan, K. Nanaji , S. Anandan, B.V. Appa Rao, Tata N. Rao “Porous Graphitic Carbon Sheets with High Sulfur Loading and Dual Confinement of Polysulfide Species for Enhanced Performance of Li-S Batteries” Journal of Materials Science , 2020, 55, 16659-16673
- K. Nanaji, Varadaraju U.V, Tata N. Rao, S. Anandan “Robust, Environmentally Benign Synthesis of Nanoporous Graphene Sheets from Bio-waste for Ultrafast Supercapacitor Application” ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering , 2019, 7, 2516-2529
- K. Nanaji , Varadaraju U.V, Tata N. Rao, S. Anandan "Pore size engineered three dimensional ordered mesoporous carbons with improved electrochemical performance for supercapacitor and lithium-ion battery applications" Chemistry Select, 2019, 4, 10104 -10112
- S. Ghosh, R. Santhosh, S. Jeniffer, V. Raghavan, K. Nanaji, P. Kollu, S K Jeong and A Grace, “Natural biomass derived hard carbon and activated carbons as electrochemical supercapacitor electrodes” Scientific Reports, 2019, 9, 16315
- K. Nanaji , Hari Mohan. E, Sarada V. B, Varadaraju U.V, N. Rao Tata, Anandan. S, “One step synthesized hierarchical spherical porous carbon as an efficient electrode material for lithium-ion battery” Materials Letters, 2019, 237, 156-160
- T. Mitravinda, K. Nanaji , S. Anandan, A. Jyothirmayi, Ch. Sai Kiran, Tata N Rao, Chandra Sharma, “Facile synthesis of corn silk derived nanoporous carbon for an improved supercapacitor performance” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2018, 165 (14), A3369-A3379
- K. Nanaji, A. Jyothirmayi, U.V. Varadaraju, T. N. Rao, S. Anandam “Facile synthesis of mesoporous carbon from furfuryl alcohol-butanol system by EISA process for supercapacitors with enhanced rate capability” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2017, 723, 488-497
Book Chapters
- K. Nanaji, Vijayakumar M, Sankar A.B, Karthik M, “Highly Functionalized Nanostructured Titanium Oxide-Based Photocatalysts for Direct Photocatalytic Decomposition of NOx/VOCs” Nanostructured Materials for Environmental Applications . Springer, Cham, 2021, 521-544
- P. Samhita,Tata N Rao, B. V. Sarada and K. Nanaji* "Introduction to Green Supercapacitors: Fundamentals, Design, Challenges, and Future Prospects” Low-Carbon Supercapacitors: Towards sustainability in energy storage devices , Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023, vol.2, ch.1, pp.1-33
Google Scholar, Linkedin, Irins Profile, ResearchGate, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9420-9531, Scopus Author ID: 57194634387, IIT Madras Alumni
Related Chemistry
Navigation