Aging and Degradation of Polymer Nanocomposites

Dr. Md Amir Sohel is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, in Daejeon, South Korea. His current research interests include physical aging of polymeric materials, degradation and stability of polymeric materials, and polymer nanocomposite separators and electrolytes for energy applications. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Physics, Visva-Bharati, India under the supervision of Prof. Asmita SenGupta. His research included the thermal properties and thermal degradation of high Tg polymeric materials, and the physical aging behaviour of polymeric materials. During his Ph.D. work, he published several works on physical aging, crystallization kinetics and thermal degradation kinetics of high Tg polymeric materials, which includes bulk polymers, polymer blends and polymer nanocomposites. His future research plan is to develop polylactic acid-based hybrid nanocomposites based on carbonaceous nanofillers with enhanced stability against thermal and physical aging for multi-purpose applications. Professor Asmita SenGupta is currently Head of the Department of Physics, at Visva-Bharati, India. She is also full professor in the Department of Physics, Visva-Bharati (a central university of national importance), West Bengal, India. Prof. SenGupta is a renowned researcher in the field of soft matter, polymer physics, biopolymers, polymer nanocomposites, and semiconductor physics and radiation physics. Her works on polymers have been published in several high-reputed international journals including Macromolecules, Polymer, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, Polymer Bulletins, and the Journal of Thermoplastics Composite Materials. Dr. Sabu Thomas (Ph.D.) is the Director of the School of Energy Materials, School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of Mahatma Gandhi University, India. He received his Ph. D. in 1987 in Polymer Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, and a member of the American Chemical Society. He has been ranked no.1 in India about the number of publications (most productive scientists). Prof. Thomas's research group specialized areas of polymers which includes Polymer blends, Fiber filled polymer composites, Particulate-filled polymer composites and their morphological characterization, Ageing and degradation, Pervaporation phenomena, sorption and diffusion, Interpenetrating polymer systems, Recyclability and reuse of waste plastics and rubbers, Elastomer cross-linking, Dual porous nanocomposite scaffolds for tissue engineering, etc. Prof. Thomas's research group has extensive exchange programs with different industries, research, and academic institutions all over the world and is performing world-class collaborative research in various fields. Professors Centre is equipped with various sophisticated instruments and has established state-of-the-art experimental facilities which cater to the needs of researchers within the country and abroad. His H Index- 133, Google Citations- 86424, Number of Publications- 1300, and Books-160.