Faculty Publications

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    A review on transport properties and performance of commercial and novel membranes for anion exchange membrane water electrolyser
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Naik, V.V.; Koorata, P.K.; Nuggehalli Sampathkumar, S.N.; Van herle, J.
    The growing demand for renewable-powered hydrogen drives interest in water electrolysis, making anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) an emerging technology. The anion exchange membrane (AEM) integrates the benefits of both the proton exchange membrane (PEMs) and alkaline water electrolysis (AWEs), enabling the use of cost-efficient transition metal catalysts instead of precious metals and operating in distilled water or low-concentration KOH electrolytes, thereby reducing corrosion issues. Like PEMWE, AEMWE offers high-purity hydrogen, broader material compatibility, and reduced system costs. Moreover, it offers a low-temperature alternative to solid oxide electrolysis (SOECs), simplifying system integration. Despite these benefits, large-scale adoption is limited by several challenges, including limited alkaline stability of membranes, trade-offs between ionic conductivity and durability, insufficient long-term stability of PGM-free catalysts, and elevated interfacial resistance at membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and porous transfer layer (PTL) junctions. These constraints are reflected in conventional AEMs, which typically exhibit limited conductivities of ∼100 mS/cm at 60–80 °C with lifetimes of under 1000 h. In contrast, commercial membranes demonstrate higher conductivities of ∼150 mS/cm, enabling improved performance, delivering current densities of 0.8–1.2 A/cm2 at voltages of 1.8–2.0 V. Recent developments in novel AEMs have further enhanced both current density and stability by 20–30 %, achieving >1.6 A/cm2 and >1500 h under optimised conditions. However, the long-term durability of PGM-free catalysts remains a critical limitation. In addition to technical performance, AEMWE also presents economic advantages over other electrolysis technologies. This review systematically evaluates commercial membranes, including Tokuyama, Fumatech, Orion, Aemion, Sustainion, and Piperion, alongside emerging alternatives. Key aspects such as chemical structures, ion transport properties, electrochemical performance, cost analysis of commercial membranes, degradation mechanisms, and advances in MEAs are examined. The role of PGM and PGM-free catalysts in improving efficiency and reducing costs is also highlighted. Several novel membranes demonstrate performance comparable to or exceeding commercial standards, indicating strong potential for future commercialisation. Finally, the review identifies critical research gaps, including the need for alkaline-stable polymers, durable PGM-free catalysts, optimised MEA/PTL architectures to mitigate interfacial resistance, and standardised long-term testing protocols, which are essential for transitioning AEMWE from laboratory studies to scalable, cost-effective hydrogen production systems. © 2025 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC
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    Corrosion behavior of composition modulated multilayer Zn-Co electrodeposits produced using a single-bath technique
    (2009) Thangaraj, V.; Eliaz, N.; Hegde, A.
    Composition modulated alloy (CMA) electrodeposits of Zn-Co were produced from acid chloride baths by the single-bath technique. Their corrosion behavior was evaluated as a function of the switched cathode current densities and the number of layers. The process was optimized with respect to the highest corrosion resistance. Enhanced corrosion resistance was obtained when the outer layer was slightly richer with cobalt. At the optimum switched current densities 40/55 mA cm-2, a coating with 600 layers showed ~6 times higher corrosion resistance than monolithic Zn-Co electrodeposit having the same thickness. The CMA coating exhibited red rust only after 1,130 h in a salt-spray test. The increased corrosion resistance of the multilayer alloys was related to their inherent barrier properties, as revealed by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance was explained in terms of n-type semiconductor films at the interface as supported by Mott-Schottky plots. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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    LiClO4-doped plasticized chitosan as biodegradable polymer gel electrolyte for supercapacitors
    (2009) Muthu, M.S.; Bhat, D.K.
    Studies on redox supercapacitors using electronically conducting polymers are of great importance for hybrid power sources and pulse power applications. In this study, electrochemical properties of a chitosan-based biodegradable polymer gel electrolyte (PGE) and a p/p polypyrrole supercapacitor fabricated using this electrolyte have been investigated. The variation of conductivity and dielectric properties of the electrolyte film with temperature has also been measured. The PGE film chosen for the study exhibited a specific conductivity of 5.5 × 10-3 S cm~. The electric modulus of the electrolyte film exhibits a long tail feature indicative of good capacitance. The fabricated supercapacitor showed a fairly good specific capacitance of 120 F g-1 and a time constant of 1 s. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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    Electrochemical and optical properties of a new donor-acceptor type conjugated polymer derived from 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene
    (Indian Academy of Sciences, 2010) Hegde, P.K.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.; Manjunatha, M.G.
    In this communication, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new donor-acceptor type conjugated polymer carrying alternate 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene and (1,3,4-oxadiazol-yl)pyridine moieties and evaluation of its optical and electrochemical properties. The polymer was synthesized through precursor polyhydrazide route. It has well defined structure, stability and it shows good solubility in common organic solvents. Optical and electrochemical properties were studied by UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetric studies, respectively. It displays bluish-green fluorescence both in solution and in film state. Cyclic voltammetric studies showed that the polymer P1 possesses a HOMO energy level of -6-01 and LUMO energy level of -3-34 eV. The preliminary studies clearly reveal that the new polymer can have potential application in the fabrication of light emitting diodes. The studies on its device application are in progress. © Indian Academy of Sciences.
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    Electrical and magnetic properties of chitosan-magnetite nanocomposites
    (2010) Bhatt, A.S.; Bhat, D.K.; Santosh, M.S.
    Magnetite powders in nanometer size have been synthesized by the hydrothermal process. Various magnetic films of chitosan and the synthesized magnetite nanopowders containing different concentrations of the latter were prepared by ultrasonication route. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the synthesized magnetite particles had 80 nm dimensions. The band gap of the composites was evaluated using the UV-visible Spectroscopy. The influence of magnetite content on the magnetic properties of the composite showed a decrease in the saturation magnetization with the decrease in the magnetic content. The effect of magnetite content on the dielectric properties of the polymer film at different frequencies from 0.01 to 105 Hz was studied using an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The possible mechanism for the observed electrical properties of the composite films was discussed. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    Nano ZnO-activated carbon composite electrodes for supercapacitors
    (2010) Muthu, M.S.; Bhat, D.K.; Aggarwal, A.; Prahladh Iyer, S.; Sravani, G.
    A symmetrical (p/p) supercapacitor has been fabricated by making use of nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO)-activated carbon (AC) composite electrodes for the first time. The composites have been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Electrochemical properties of the prepared nanocomposite electrodes and the supercapacitor have been studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and AC impedance spectroscopy in 0.1 M Na2SO4 as electrolyte. The ZnO-AC nanocomposite electrode showed a specific capacitance of 160 F/g for 1:1 composition. The specific capacitance of the electrodes decreased with increase in zinc oxide content. Galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements have been done at various current densities, namely 2, 4, 6 and 7 mA/cm2. It has been found that the cells have excellent electrochemical reversibility and capacitive characteristics in 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. It has also been observed that the specific capacitance is constant up to 500 cycles at all current densities. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    Synthesis and characterization of a new NLO-active donor-acceptor-type conjugated polymer derived from 3,4-diphenylthiophene
    (2010) Manjunatha, M.G.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.; Hegde, P.K.; Suchand Sandeep, C.S.; Philip, R.
    A new donor-acceptor-type conjugated polymer (P1) carrying 3,4-diphenylthiophene, 2,5-dihexyloxybenzene, and 1,3,4-oxadiazole units was synthesized through multistep reactions. The polymer was prepared using a polyhydrazide precursor route. The polymer has a well-defined structure and exhibits good thermal stability, with a decomposition onset temperature in nitrogen of 300 °C. Cyclic voltammetry experiments revealed that the polymer has low-lying LUMO (-3.68 eV) and high-lying HOMO (-5.78 eV) energy levels. The electrochemical band gap was found to be 2.10 eV. The UV-visible absorption spectrum of the polymer presented a maximum at 373 nm, and it displayed bluish-green fluorescence in dilute chloroform solution. The nonlinear optical properties of the new polymer were investigated at 532 nm using the Z-scan technique with nanosecond laser pulses. The polymer exhibited strong optical limiting behavior due to excited state absorption, which was phenomenologically similar to a three-photon absorption (3PA) process. The 3PA coefficient ? was found to be 7×10-22 m3/W2. The studies show that the new polymer (P1) is a promising material for developing efficient photonic devices.
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    A new donor-acceptor type conjugative poly{2-[4-(1-cyanoethenyl)phenyl]-3- (3,4-didodecyloxythiophen-2-yl)prop-2-enenitrile}: Synthesis and NLO studies
    (2010) Hegde, P.K.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.; Manjunatha, M.G.; Suchand Sandeep, C.S.; Philip, R.
    This research article describes a technique to synthesize a new donor-acceptor type conjugated polymer carrying cyanophenylenevinylene and 3,4-didodecyloxy thiophene moieties, as an effective optical limiting material. It also includes the evaluation of its linear and nonlinear optical properties and electrochemical studies. The new polymer, viz., poly{2-[4-(1-cyanoethenyl) phenyl]-3-(3,4-didodecyloxythiophen-2-yl)prop-2-enenitrile} (P1) has been synthesized starting from 2,2?-sulfanediyldiacetic acid and diethyl ethanedioate through multistep reactions. In the final step, the polymerization was brought about by Knovenagel condensation. The newly synthesized intermediate, monomer and the polymer (P1) have been characterized by different spectroscopic techniques followed by elemental analysis. Its optical and electrochemical properties are investigated by UV-vis, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetric studies, respectively. The red colored polymer has a well defined structure, good thermal stability and a band gap of 1.78 eV. It emits green fluorescence both in solution and in film state. The third-order nonlinear optical property (NLO) of the polymer was studied by the Z-scan technique. The measurements were performed at 532 nm with 5 ns laser pulses using samples in solution form. An absorptive nonlinearity of the optical limiting type was found in this polymer, which is due to the combined action of saturable absorption and excited state absorption processes. These studies revealed that polymer P1 is a promising material for optical limiting applications. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
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    Electrolytic preparation of cyclic multilayer Zn-Ni alloy coating using switching cathode current densities
    (2010) Venkatakrishna, K.; Hegde, A.C.
    Cyclic multilayer alloy (CMA) coating of Zn-Ni was developed on mild steel using single bath technique, by proper manipulation of cathode current densities. The thickness and composition of the individual layers were altered precisely and conveniently by cyclic modulation of cathode current densities. Multilayer coatings, having sharp change in compositions were developed using square current pulses. Gelatin and sulphanilic acid (SA) acid were used as additives. Laminar deposits with different configurations were produced, and their corrosion behaviors were studied, in 5% NaCl solution by electrochemical methods. It was observed that the corrosion resistance of CMA coating increased progressively with number of layers (up to certain optimal numbers) and then decreased. Cyclic voltammetry study demonstrated the role of gelatin and SA in multilayer coating. The coating configuration has been optimized for the peak performance against corrosion. The substantial decrease of corrosion rate, in the case of multilayer coatings was attributed to the changed intrinsic electric properties, evidenced by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) study. The surface morphology and its roughness were examined by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The surface and cross-sectional view of coatings were examined, using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) study was carried out for surface analysis. The relative performance of pure Zn, monolithic and CMA coatings were compared and discussed. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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    Electrochemical properties of chitosan-Co3O4 nanocomposite films
    (Elsevier B.V., 2011) Bhatt, A.S.; Bhat, D.K.; Santosh, M.S.
    Chitosan-Co3O4 composite films have been prepared by solution casting method. The obtained films have been characterised by XRD and FESEM. The electrical properties of the films are examined by impedance spectroscopy in the temperature range 303-343 K. The impedance plot of the films pronounces the role of temperature in charge-transfer resistance of the composite. Frequency as well as temperature dependencies of dielectric constant and dielectric loss exhibit the general trend followed by carrier dominated dielectrics. Electric modulus parameters give an insight on the ionic conductivity and relaxation phenomena of the composite films. The dielectric parameters along with modulus data have been exploited to discuss the conduction mechanism in the material. The minimum activation energy of 3.9 kJ mol -1 and maximum room temperature conductivity of 1.94 × 10 -2 S cm-1 were found for composite film with 8% Co 3O4 content. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.