Professor Srinivasan Madapusi

Srini’s research expertise includes nano-scale engineering for energy and environment, molecular assembly, polymer composites and hybrids, dense gas/hydrothermal processing, and surface functionalization and immobilization. Specifically, areas of interest are in processing and application of nano-structured materials encompassing semiconductor oxides, and organic/polymeric nano-hybrids with preference towards environmentally benign methods of processing. His group has demonstrated applications of these materials in organic/molecular electronics, tribology, non-volatile memory devices, chemical sensing, photocatalysis, and adsorbents for remediation and energy storage. In addition to contributing to over 150 publications, Srini holds patents in materials processing, conversion, and applications in molecular electronics and remediation.

After completing his undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at AC College of Technology, University of Madras, India, Srini obtained his Master’s and PhD degrees at the University of California, Davis, USA. He returned to academia to the University of Texas at El Paso after a stint with CTC Technologies, Inc., in California. Prior to joining RMIT in August 2015, he was a faculty member at the National University of Singapore.

Recent research grants

• An environmentally benign process for organic modification and preservation of oxide-free silicon surface. Funding Agency: Academic Research Fund (Ministry of Education, Singapore). SGD $63,000. 2012-14.
• Molecular engineering of membrane materials and fabrication for the separation of Acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) broths produced from non-food biomass. Funding agency: ASTAR SERC, Singapore. SGD $945,069. 2009-12. (co-PI)
• Development and Application of Hydrothermal Oxidation Technology for Waste to Energy Conversion. Funding agency: NEA (National Environment Agency), Singapore. SGD $1,097,000. 2010-13. (co-PI).

Research mentorship

• 9 M Eng and 18 PhD students graduated.

Representative publications

• Hydrothermal conversion of biomass waste to activated carbon with high porosity: A review. A. Jain et al., Chemical Engineering Journal (accepted).
• Application of organophosphic acids by one-Step supercritical CO2 on 1D and 2D semiconductors: Towards enhanced electrical and sensing performances. B. Bhartia et al., ACS Advanced Materials and Interfaces (in press).
• Supercritical fluid immobilization of horseradish peroxidase on high surface area mesoporous activated carbon. A. Jain et al., Journal of Supercritical Fluids (in press).
• Deposition of zwitterionic polymer brushes in a dense gas medium. S.R. Puniredd et al., J. Colloid and Interface Science, 448 (2015) 156-162.
• Photocatalysis in a packed bed: degradation of organic dyes by immobilized silver nanoparticles. R. Zhou and M.P. Srinivasan, J. Env. Chem. Engg, 3 (2015) 609-616.
• Tuning hydrochar properties for enhanced mesopore development in activated carbon by hydrothermal carbonization. A. Jain et al., Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 203 (2015) 178-185.
• Enhanced luminescence and charge separation in polythiophene-grafted, gold nanoparticle-decorated, 1-D ZnO nanorods. S. Jayaraman et al., RSC Advances, 4 (2014) 11288-11294.
• Activated carbons derived from coconut shells as high energy density cathode material for Li-ion capacitors. A. Jain et al., Nature - Scientific Reports, 3:3002 (2013).
• Hierarchically build hetero superstructure arrays with structurally controlled material compositions. V. Suresh et al., ACS Nano, 7 (2013) 7513-7523. 

Recent patent disclosures 

• Process for high surface area mesoporous activated carbons from waste biomass. SG PRV #10201407219Q.
• Anti-poisoning catalytic system fabricated by nanoparticles and ultrathin films. US PA #62/124,678.
• Stable organic monolyaers on oxide and oxide-free Si/Ge in supercritical medium: a new route to molecular electronics. US PA #62/117,744. 

Professional coordinates

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• Ph.D. (1989) - Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
  Minors: Materials Science, Solid-State Electronics
  Thesis Title: On-Line Diagnostics in Langmuir-Blodgett Film Deposition
• M.S. (1985) - Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis.
  Thesis Title: Drop Break-up in Double Emulsion Systems
• B.Tech. (1983) - Chemical Engineering, University of Madras, Madras, India.
  Specialization: Environmental Engineering

• 2015-present: Professor of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
• 1993-2015: Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore.
• 2000-2001: Visiting Scientist, CPIMA (Center for Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies), University of California at Davis and Stanford University, USA
• 1998, 2001: Visiting Scientist, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Japan, with JSPS Fellowship (Japan Society for Promotion of Science)
• 1991-93: Research Scientist, Materials Research Institute, University of Texas, El Paso, Texas, USA
• Areas of research: thin films, molecular assembly, molecular optics and photochromic materials 
• 1989-91: Manager, West Coast, CTC Technologies, Inc., California/Arizona, USA.