Thesis and Guide details:
Details of CSIR Fellowship/ Associateship held, if any or from other sources/ agencies.
Significant foreign assignments:
(a) Significant contributions to science and/ or technology development by the nominee
based on the work done in India during most part of last 5 years:
Dr. Rahul Banerjee joined CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India in September 2008. He has
formed a strong research group and had started to carry out independent research in the field of porous
framework structure generation for hydrogen storage and carbon capture, as well as bottom-up synthesis
from inorganic, metal-organic and organic molecules. His work represents an important blend of
fundamental as well as applied research, as these materials might selectively capture and store carbon
dioxide as a reservoir. Dr. Banerjee’s group has developed a methodology of synthesizing porous
covalent organic frameworks with exceptional chemical stability [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 19524 –
19527]. This work is a breakthrough in porous material research, as these materials have the porosity
and crystallinity of MOFs and the exceptional chemical stability of traditional porous zeolites or carbons,
also. Using this novel methodology, his group were able to develop a series of highly porous and
chemically stable COFs which were tested for storage of important industrial gases such as H2, CO2 and
CH4 [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 17853–17861.]. Apart from the gas storage application, his group
was further able to utilize the ordered pores of COFs for gas separation application, by making the first
COF polymer composite membranes [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 13083-13091]. Even though COFs
showed promising applications in the field of gas storage and separation, the tough synthetic process
restricted them only in laboratory scale application. Rahul Banerjee’s group could solve this problem by
discovering a novel solvent-free mechano-chemical synthesis strategy for making COFs [J. Am. Chem.
Soc., 2013, 135, 5328–5331 and J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 1856-1862]. The synthetic process is
straightforward, which only involve simple grinding of precursors in mortar and pestle. Apart from the
applications and reaction methodology development, nominee’s work also involves the basics
understanding of self-assembly process involved in the COF crystallites formation. His group has been
able to successfully investigate the supra-molecular process involved in the evolution of COF hollow
spheres [Nature Commun., 2015, 6, Article No. 6786.] and nanorods [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016,
2016, 55, 7806-7810.]. His group has recently started working on proton conducting porous materials and
aspires to replace the Nafion membrane in fuel cells. Eleven students have received their Ph.D. degree
under Dr. Banerjee’s supervision, and four more have already completed their pre-synopsis and awaiting
thesis submission. Eleven NPDF and CSIR-Nehru postdoctoral fellows have worked under Dr. Banerjee’s
supervision. Dr. Banerjee is currently the leader of a research group with three Ph.D. students at Indian
Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata. He has published over 110 independent
publications and 24 patents applications from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory on various porous
framework materials since 2010. His current h-index is 50
[https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=4ky6cJ0AAAAJ&hl=en]. He has received over 10000 citations
[over 8000, since 2013]. He has published papers in top-notch internationals such as Journal of the
American Chemical Society, Nature Communication, Angewandte Chemie International Edition,
Advanced Materials, Chemistry of Materials, Chemical Science, Chemical Communications, Journal of
Materials Chemistry, Chemistry A European Journal, Nanoscale, Inorganic Chemistry, Crystal Growth
and Design and CrystEngComm. He was holding a position of Sr. Scientist [Scientist E-1] till August
2017.
(b) Impact of the contributions in the field concerned:
Dr. Rahul Banerjee’s group has developed a methodology of synthesizing porous covalent
organic frameworks with exceptional chemical stability [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 19524 –
19527]. This work is a breakthrough in porous material research, as these materials have the porosity
and crystallinity of MOFs and the exceptional chemical stability of traditional porous zeolites or
carbons, also. The scientific community has widely accepted this methodology, and this specific
publication has already received over 270 citations [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/ja308278w].
Dr. Rahul Banerjee, apart from his high number of scientific publications and patents, has recently
engaged with Gas Authority of India Limited [GAIL] on a “Phase-2” project on the topic of methane
(CH4) storage for the onboard vehicular application. This “Phase -2” project is a continuation of the
earlier “Phase-1” project with GAIL where his group has developed two novel porous polymeric
materials with exceptionally high methane (CH4) storage. This “Phase-2” project is, however, a unique
project where an academic institution [IISER-Kolkata], a research institute [CSIR-NCL] and a private
organization [GAIL] have decided to join hands to take these novel materials and develop a
technology out of this. The total sanctioned amount for this project is 200 Lakhs [will be split between
IISER-Kolkata and CSIR-NCL].
Places where work of last 5 years has been referred/ cited in Books, Reviews:
Names of the industries in which the technology (ies) has (have) been used :
The achievements already been recognised by Awards by any learned body:
The Awardee a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy/Indian Academy of Sciences/National
Academy of Sciences/Others:
The Awardee delivered invited lecture(s) in India/abroad and/or chaired any scientific
Internatiional Conference Symposium:
List of Awardee's 10 most significant publications.
List of Awardee's 5 most significant publications during the last 5 years
List of Awardee's 5 most significant publications from out of work done in India
during the last five years:
Complete list of publications in standard refereed journals:
Complete list of publications with foreign collaborators (indicating your status
as author):
List of papers published in Conferences /Symposia/ Seminars, etc:
List of the most outstanding Technical Reports/ Review Articles:
Statement regarding collaboration with scientists abroad:
Total number of patents granted in last five years.
Details of Books published: