Micro- and Nanostructured Epoxy Thermosetting Polymer Blends and their Nanocomposites

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.

Professor Oluwafemi is a fully-fledged academic that is involved in Teaching & Learning, Research, Community Engagement, staff and student mentorship among many other activities. His research interest is in the synthesis of binary, ternary and quaternary semiconductor nanomaterial and nanostructures such as quantum dots, metal nanomaterials, core-shells, doped nanostructures and polymer nanocomposites for different applications which includes biological, (basically for cancer treatment ie imaging, labelling, drug delivery photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy), optical (development of optical devices), environmental (sensing and determination of environmental pollutants), nanotoxicology and water treatment. He is also involved in the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) for value added chain using different South African medicinal plants. This involves isolation, extraction, biological activity testing, and synthesis of nanomaterial using the plant extract and packaging for pharmaceutical purposes. VR Remya is a Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Chemical Sciences, Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She has successfully completed a three-year DRDO, India-sponsored project, on nanostructured polymer blends at the International and Inter-university Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India. She has published several articles in international and national journals and has presented her work at various international conferences. Her research interests include nanostructured polymer blends and composites, toughening of epoxy resins, synthesis and applications of quantum dots and nanoparticles, fabrication of super-tough and fluorescent material for nanotechnology industrial applications, nanostructured smart materials, and much more. Dr. Jince Thomas is the Chief Minister's Nava Kerala Post-Doctoral Fellow at the International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala, India. Previously, he worked as an Assistant Professor on contract at the same institution. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University in 2022 under the guidance of Prof. Sabu Thomas. During 2016-2017, he worked as a project assistant on an Indo-Malaysian project in collaboration with University Technology Mara, Malaysia. Additionally, he was a visiting student at Ariel University in Israel and the University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA. Dr. Jince has contributed to numerous publications, book chapters, and edited books, with his research interests focused on polymeric membranes, electrolytes, polymer nanocomposites, and electrochemistry.