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Recent News

Summer 2022

Separations Research Group member Tony Mathew won the 2022 Graduate Student Research Award of the Distillation and Absorption Area of AIChE Separations Division. Congratulations Tony!

Spring 2022

Solar Energy Research Group member Apurva Pradhan was awarded the 2022 ChE Excellence in Safety award. Congratulations Apurva!

Solar Energy Research Group member Isabel Panicker’s poster received 2nd place in the College of Engineering at Purdue’s 2022 Spring Undergraduate Research Conference. Congratulations Isabel!

Solar Energy Research Group member David Rokke successfully defended his thesis and has accepted a position at Applied Materials. Congratulations David!

Solar Energy Research Group members David Rokke, Essam Alruqobah, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s review article “Extrinsic Doping of Ink-Based Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2-Absorbers for Photovoltaic Applications” was published in Advanced Energy Materials.

Solar Energy Research Group members Swapnil Deshmukh, Caleb Miskin, Apurva Pradhan, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Solution Processed Fabrication of Se-Te Alloy Thin Films for Application in PV Devices” was published in ACS Applied Energy Materials.

Solar Energy Research Group members Swapnil Deshmukh, Kyle Weideman, Ryan Ellis, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Enabling fine-grain free 2-micron thick CISe/CIGSe film fabrication via a non-hydrazine based solution processing route” was published in Materials Advances.

Solar Energy Research Group members Joseph Andler, Xianyi Hu, Scott McClary, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Analysis of enargite thin films synthesized from carbon-containing and novel carbon-free processing methods” was published in Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing.

Fall 2021

Solar Energy Research Group members Ryan Ellis, Swapnil Deshmukh, Jonathan Turnley, Dwi Sutandar, Jacob Fields, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Direct Synthesis of Sulfide-Capped Nanoparticles for Carbon-Free Solution-Processed Photovoltaics” was published in ACS Applied Nano Materials.

Energy System Group Members Zewei Chen, Yiru Li, Wasiu Peter Oladipupo, Edwin Rodriguez, Gary Sawyer, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Alternative ordering of process hierarchy for more efficient and cost-effective valorization of shale resources” was published in Cell Reports Physical Science.

Energy System Group Undergraduate Researcher Arsh Bhatia received OUR scholarship for 2021-2022 academic year. Congratulations Arsh!

Summer 2021

Separations Research Group Members Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco, Zewei Chen, Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty, Prof. Mohit Tawarmalani, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Energy-efficient membrane cascades for industrial separations” was published in Computer Aided Chemical Engineering.

Separations Research Group Members Tony Joseph Mathew, Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty, Prof. Mohit Tawarmalani, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “A Simple Criterion for Feasibility of Heat Integration between Distillation Streams Based on Relative Volatilities” was published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Separations Research Group Members Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco, Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty, Prof. Mohit Tawarmalani, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Optimal design of membrane cascades for gaseous and liquid mixtures via MINLP” was published in Journal of Membrane Science.

Separations Research Group member Tony Joseph Mathew successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations Tony!

Separations Research Group Members Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty, Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Methods to Assess Numerous Distillation Schemes for Binary Mixtures” was published in Chemical Engineering Research and Design.

Spring 2021

Tony Joseph Mathew and Zewei Chen both gave oral presentations at the 2021 AIChE Spring Meeting

Solar Energy Research Group member Swapnil Dattatray Deshmukh received the Outstanding Research Award 2021 from the College of Engineering. Congratulations, Swapnil!

Separations Research Group Member Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco, Prof. Mohit Tawarmalani, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Systematic Analysis Reveals Thermal Separations Are Not Necessarily Most Energy Intensive” was published in Joule.

Fall 2020

Energy Systems Research Group member Zewei Chen received the Bill Murray Fellowship for 2020-21 academic year. Congratulations Zewei!

Separations Research Group members Tony Joseph Mathew, Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty, Prof. Mohit Tawarmalani, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript “Quickly Assess Distillation Columns” was published in Chemical Engineering Progress.

Solar Energy Research Group member Swapnil Deshmukh won the Second Place Award in the 2020 AIChE Graduate Student Award Competition in the Inorganic Chemistry Area. Congratulations Swapnil!

Separations Research Group member Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations Radhakrishna!

Summer 2020

Tony Joseph Mathew received first place for his Oral Presentation in the Energy and Process Intensification & Biotechnology category, and won the Best Overall award, at the 29th Annual Symposium organized by Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Organization. Congratulations, Tony!

David Rokke received first place for his Oral Presentation in the Material Science category at the 29th Annual Symposium organized by Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Organization. Congratulations, David!

Solar Energy Research Group members David Rokke and Swapnil Deshmukh’s submissions to the 2020 Annual AIChE conference are accepted for an oral presentation and two Graduate Student Award Oral Presentations respectively.

Separations Research Group member Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations Adrian!

Prof. Rakesh Agrawal and Separations Research Group Member Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty’s manuscript “Misconceptions about Efficiency and Maturity of Distillation” was published in AIChE Journal.

Separations Research Group member Radhakrishna Tumbalam Gooty is a winner of the 2020 AIChE Separations Division Graduate Student Research Award in the Distillation and Absorption area. Congratulations Radhakrishna!

Solar Energy Research Group member Swapnil Deshmukh is a winner of the best student paper award at the 47th IEEE PVSC. Congratulations Swapnil!

Separations Research Group member Zewei Chen, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript, “Classification and Comparison of Dividing Walls for Distillation Columns” was published in Processes.

Prof. Rakesh Agrawal is interviewed on the Purdue University College of Engineering’s podcast, “Sounds Like the Future” on Episode 08: Advancing Sustainability Across Disciplines. Prof. Agrawal discusses his research and interests centered around sustainability

Solar Energy Research Group members Swapnil Deshmukh, Kyle Weideman, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript, “Analyzing and Tuning the Chalcogen–Amine–Thiol Complexes for Tailoring of Chalcogenide Syntheses” was published in Inorganic Chemistry

Spring 2020

Solar Energy Research Group members Ryan Ellis, Jonathan Turnley, David Rokke, Jacob Fields, Essam Alruqobah, Swapnil Deshmukh, and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript, “Hybrid Ligand Exchange of Cu(In,Ga)S2 Nanopartcles for Carbon Impurity Removal in Solution Processed Photovoltaics” was published in Chemistry of Materials

Solar Energy Research Group member Essam AlRuqobah’s and Prof. Rakesh Agrawal’s manuscript, “Potassium Treatments for Solution-Processed Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 Solar Cells” was published in ACS Applied Energy Materials

Solar Energy Research Group member Joseph Andler successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations Joe!

Solar Energy Research Group members, Ryan Ellis and Swapnil Deshmukh’s submissions to IEEE’s 2020 PVSC conference were both selected for (now virtual) oral presentations

Solar Energy Research Group member, David Rokke, is accepted to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Hands on Photovoltaic Experience (HOPE) 2020 program, a week long on-site educational program with field experts at NREL

Group member Tony Mathew received the 2020 Estus H. and Vashti L. Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching by the College of Engineering for his teaching assistantship of CHE660: Chemical Reaction Engineering during the Spring 2019 semester

Prof. Rakesh Agrawal and alumni Xianyi Hu are co-authors of a newly published book, “Sustainable Photovoltaics,” which is an overview of various research projects that were a part of the SERIIUS funding network

Group members Ryan Ellis, Swapnil Deshmukh, and Zewei Chen all receive $1000 travel grants from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering for conference travel

Solar Energy Research Group members Ryan Ellis and Swapnil Deshmukh’s submissions to the 2020 Spring MRS conference are accepted for oral presentations

Fall 2019

Solar Energy Research Group member Ryan Ellis wins first place in the Electronics and Photonic Materials Graduate Student Awards Session at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting for his oral presentation. Congratulations, Ryan!

Prof. Agrawal is an invited panelist for the Meet the Innovators presentation and panel discussion at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting

Ryan Ellis, Kyle Weideman, Zewei Chen, Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco, Yiru Li, and Peter Oladipupo all give oral presentations at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting

Publications – Energy Systems Modeling

T. Ridha, Y. Li, E. Gencer, J. J. Siirola, J. T. Miller, F. H. Ribeiro, R. Agrawal, Valorization of Shale Gas Condensate to Liquid Hydrocarbons through Catalytic Dehydrogenation and Oligomerization. Processes 2018.6.139. doi:10.3390/pr6090139

E. Gencer, C. Miskin, X. Sun, M.R. Khan, P. Bermel, M. Ashraf Alam, et al., Directing solar photons to sustainably meet food, energy, and water needs, Sci. Rep. 7 (2017) 3133. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-03437-x

E. Gencer, R. Agrawal, Synthesis of efficient solar thermal power cycles for baseload power supply, Energy Convers. Manag. (2017). doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2016.10.068.

E. Gencer, R. Agrawal, Strategy to synthesize integrated solar energy coproduction processes with optimal process intensification. Case study: Efficient solar thermal hydrogen production, Comput. Chem. Eng. (2017). doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2017.01.038.

E. Gencer, R. Agrawal, Synthesis of efficient solar thermal power cycles for baseload power supply, (2016). doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2016.10.068.

E. Gencer, R. Agrawal, A commentary on the US policies for efficient large scale renewable energy storage systems: Focus on carbon storage cycles, Energy Policy. 88 (2016) 477-484. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.11.003 0301-4215/.

E. Gencer, M. Tawarmalani, R. Agrawal, Integrated Solar Thermal Hydrogen and Power Coproduction Process for Continuous Power Supply and Production of Chemicals, Comput. Aided Chem. Eng. 37 (2015) 2291-2296. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63576-1.50076-5.

E.I. Al-Musleh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Efficient electrochemical refrigeration power plant using natural gas with ∼100% CO2 capture, J. Power Sources. 274 (2015) 130-141. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.09.184.

E. Gencer, D.S. Mallapragada, F. Marechal, M. Tawarmalani, R. Agrawal, Round-the-clock power supply and a sustainable economy via synergistic integration of solar thermal power and hydrogen processes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 112 (2015) 201513488. doi:10.1073/pnas.1513488112.

E. Gencer, D. Mallapragada, M. Tawarmalani, R. Agrawal, Synergistic biomass and natural gas conversion to liquid fuel with reduced CO2 emissions, Comput. Aided Chem. Eng. (2014). doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63433-7.50072-9.

E.I. Al-musleh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Continuous baseload renewable power using chemical refrigeration cycles, Comput. Chem. Eng. 71 (2014) 591-601. doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2014.10.002.

E. Gencer, E. Al-musleh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Uninterrupted Renewable Power through Chemical Storage Cycles, Curr. Opin. Chem. Eng. 5 (2014) 29-36. doi:10.1016/j.coche.2014.04.001.

D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Limiting and achievable efficiencies for solar thermal hydrogen production, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 39 (2014) 62-75. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.10.075.

E.I. Al-musleh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Continuous power supply from a baseload renewable power plant, Appl. Energy. 122 (2014) 83-93. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.02.015.

D.S. Mallapragada, G. Duan, R. Agrawal, From shale gas to renewable energy based transportation solutions, Energy Policy. 67 (2014) 499â-507. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.12.056.

D. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, Role of Natural Gas in America’s Energy Future: Focus on Transportation, Glob. Policy Res. Inst. Policy Briefs. 1 (2013).

E.I. Al-musleh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, GWh Level Renewable Energy Storage and Supply using Liquid CO2, in: Comput. Aided Chem. Eng., (2013): pp. 415-420. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63234-0.50070-1.

D.S. Mallapragada, N.R. Singh, V. Curteanu, R. Agrawal, Sun-to-fuel assessment of routes for fixing CO2 as liquid fuel, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 52 (2013) 5136-5144. doi:10.1021/ie301125c.

N.R. Singh, D.S. Mallapragada, R. Agrawal, W.E. Tyner, Economic analysis of novel synergistic biofuel (H2Bioil) processes, Biomass Convers. Biorefinery. 2 (2012) 141-148. doi:10.1007/s13399-012-0043-5.

D.S. Mallapragada, N.R. Singh, R. Agrawal, Energy Systems Analysis for a Renewable Transportation Sector, Elsevier B.V., (2011). doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-54298-4.50156-2.

R. Agrawal, N.R. Singh, Solar Energy to Biofuels, Annu. Rev. Chem. Biomol. Eng. 1 (2010) 343-364. doi:10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-073009-100955.

N.R. Singh, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, R. Agrawal, Estimation of liquid fuel yields from biomass, Environ. Sci. Technol. (2010). doi:10.1021/es100316z.

R. Agrawal, D.S. Mallapragada, Chemical Engineering in a Solar Energy-Drive Sustainable Future, AIChE. 56 (2010) 2762-2768. doi:10.1002/aic.12435.

R. Agrawal, N.R. Singh, Synergistic routes to liquid fuel for a petroleum-deprived future, AIChE J. (2009). doi:10.1002/aic.11785.

R. Agrawal, N.R. Singh, F.H. Ribeiro, W.N. Delgass, D.F. Perkis, W.E. Tyner, Synergy in the hybrid thermochemical-biological processes for liquid fuel production, Comput. Chem. Eng. 33 (2009) 2012-2017. doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2009.06.026.

R. Agrawal, N.R. Singh, F.H. Ribeiro, W.N. Delgass, Sustainable fuel for the transportation sector, PNAS. 104 (2007) 4828-4833. doi:10.1073/pnas.0609921104.