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Energy materials and flexible devices:

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1. Activated Carbon for Super-Capacitor Fabrication and Water Purification: 

We are interested in preparing activated carbon and exploiting it for various applications like super-capacitor fabrication and water purification by understanding the role of processing on the pore-structure.

2. Wind Turbine Blades: 

The use of wind energy has been increasing dramatically to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels for sustainability and environmental concerns. The durability and lifetime of wind turbine blades depends on the microstructure and morphology of the material used. Our lab studies the effect of processing and nano-fillers reinforcement on the fracture toughness and fatigue properties of polymer matrix composites.

3. Development of Substrate for Flexible Devices: 

We are interested in devising novel strategies for fabricating substrates to enhance the life of devices under bending.

4. Damage Tolerance of Solar Cells: 

Limited efficiencies are not the only hurdles in the wide spread adoption of solar cells. Lack of reliability and mechanical robustness resulting in premature failure are significant deterrents to the commercialization of most solar cell technologies. We study the effect of composition of the layers, processing and the substrate on the damager tolerance of solar cells under different conditions of loading, temperature and environment.

5. Thermo-mechanical Fatigue of Thermoelectric Materials: 

Our lab is involved in studying the effect of processing and doping on the resistance to fracture and thermo-mechanical fatigue of next generation thermoelectric materials.