Electrospinning for Advanced Energy Storage Applications

Neethu T. M. Balakrishnan is currently a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. thesis with Prof. Raghavan at Material Science and NanoEngineering Laboratory, Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), India. She completed her Master’s degree in Polymer Science from the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, after obtaining her B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Calicut. She has research experience in different fields viz, polymer engineering, materials science, and energy storage devices. Before joining CUSAT, she worked at the Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association (IRMRA), Mumbai. Currently, she is working in the field of energy storage devices with more focus on the development of electrospun based polymer gel electrolytes and electrodes for high performance lithium ion batteries in collaboration with Gyeongsang National University, Republic of Korea. She has 25 peer-reviewed publications on lithium ion batteries and several international conference publications to her credits. Her current area of interest includes electrospinning of polymers, carbon nanomaterials, ceramics, metal oxides, and green synthesis of ionic liquids from renewable resources for flexible and bendable energy storage solutions.

Dr. Prasanth Raghavan is currently Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), the leader of Materials Science and NanoEngineering Laboratory, CUSAT, and Visiting Professor at School of Materials Science and Energy Conversions, Gyenongsang National University, Republic of Korea. He pursued his Ph.D. from Geyongsang National University, Korea in 2009 under the prestigious Brain Korea (BK21) Fellowship. The focus of his doctorate degree was on the fabrication and investigation of nanoscale fibrous electrolytes for high performanceenergy storage devices from. He completed his B.Tech. and M.Tech. from CUSAT, India. Dr. Raghavan has been awarded with several fellowships such as Brain Korea Fellowship (2007), SAGE Research Foundation Fellowship, Brazil (2009), Estonian Science Foundation Fellowship, European Science Foundation Fellowship (2010), etc. He has developed many products such as high performance breaking parachute, flex wheels for space shuttles, high performance lithium ion batteries for leading portable electronic device and automobile industries. He has a general research interest in polymer synthesis and processing, nanomaterials, green/nanocomposites, and electrospinning. His current research is focused on nanoscale materials and polymer composites for printed and light weight charge storage solutions including high temperature supercapacitors and batteries.