Energy Materials & Devices

Overview

The increasing demand for maintaining a pollution free environment and an alarming rate of depletion of fossil fuels have intensified the search for clean and efficient power generating systems based on renewable sources of energy and its storage. Realizing this need, a new department, Fuel Cell & Battery (FCB), was formed in CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkata in December 2004. The mandate of the division is to develop viable technologies in different important and upcoming areas in the non-conventional energy sector. The major areas of research in the Division are: solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), lithium-ion battery (LIB) and mixed ionic and electronic conductor (MIEC) based dense ceramic membrane for gas separation. Activities on Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell (SOEC) have also been initiated. Within a short span of time the Division has established a world class laboratory necessary for research in advanced areas as mentioned above. The R&D in the area of SOFC technology, in particular, has led to the successful demonstration for the first time in the country of several 500 W class working SOFC stacks developed under CSIR-NMITLI Projects.

Areas of Research

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)
Lithium-ion Battery (LIB)
Mixed Ionic and Electronic Conductor (MIEC) based Dense Ceramic Membrane for Hydrogen and Oxygen Separation
Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell (SOEC)

Technology Developed

Anode-supported SOFC single cells of dimensions 10 cm x 10 cm x 1.5 mm
Indigenous design and fabrication of metallic bi-polar plates, cell holders and current collectors, associate d gas manifolding systems for SOFC stack
Production of Kg level glass-based sealants for SOFC stack and LSM powder with tailor-made particle size distribution for SOFC cathode application.
Design and Fabrication of SOFC Stack (500 W class) based on planar design
Nano-crystalline ceria-based electrolyte for low temperature SOFC application
Nanomaterials for use as LIB cathodes and anodes
Fabrication/testing of 2032 coin type Lithium-ion cells
Ceramic Separator for Lithium-ion battery

Projects

Ongoing Projects

Sl. No.	Title of the Project	Duration	Source of Funding	Principal Investigator	Co-Investigator (s)
1	Development and Demonstration of 1 kWe SOFC Stack with Reformed Natural Gas and Air	2016-2018	CSIR-NMITLI	Dr. R. N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma, Dr. J. Mukhopadhyay & Dr. B. Karmakar
2	Multifunctional Nanocomposite materials for Low-temperature Ceramic Fuel Cells (NANOMFC)	2012-2017	India(DST)-EU New INDIGO SOFC Project	Dr. R. N. Basu	—
3	Innovative Solutions for Solar Energy Storage	2012-2017	CSIR-TAPSUN	Dr. R. N. Basu	—
4	Development of metal-supported SOFC	2012-2017	CERMESA (12FYP Network Project)	Dr. A. Das Sharma (Nodal Officer: Dr. D. Sanyal)	Dr. R. N. Basu & Dr. J. Mukhopadhyay
5	Development and Demonstration of Dense Ceramic Membrane-based Technology for Separation of Hydrogen and Oxygen Gases	2016-2019	DST-TSDP	Dr. R. N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma
6	Ceramic Separator for Li-ion Battery Application	2016-2018	CSIR-FTT	Dr. R. N. Basu	—
7	Development of high performance solid oxide electrolysis cell using novel electrode composition with tailored microstructure	2017-2020	BRNS (DAE)	Dr. A. Das Sharma	Dr. R.N. Basu

Completed Projects

Sl. No.	Title of the Project	Duration	Source of Funding	Principal Investigator	Co-Investigator (s)
1.	Advancing Biogas Utilization through Fuel Flexible SOFC	2012-2016	DST	Dr. R. N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma Dr. J Mukhopadhyay, Mr. S Nag
2.	Development and Demonstration of 500W SOFC Stack with hydrogen as fuel and testing of short stack with synthetic gas	2011-2014	CSIR-NMITLI	Dr. R. N. Basu	Mr. J Mukhopadhyay, Dr. A Das Sharma
3.	Development of planar SOFC stack using functionally graded anode structure	2011-2014	SERB	Dr. R. N. Basu	Mr. J. Mukhopadhyay, Dr. A. Das Sharma
4.	Upgradation Of Expertise Base of R&D Activity on SOFC Materials at Energy Research Institute,KACST, Soudi Arabia	2010-2014	KACST, Saudi Arabia	Dr. R. N. Basu	Mr. J Mukhopadhyay, Dr. A Das Sharma
5.	Novel membrane materials and methods for separating hydrogen	2008-2011	CSIR (India) and CSIRO (Australia)	Dr. R.N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma, Mr. J. Mukhopadhyay & Mr. S. Nag
6.	Development of MIEC-based dense ceramic membrane for gas separation (Part of SUPRA Institutional Project under CSIR)	2007 -2012	CSIR	Dr. R.N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma, Mr. J. Mukhopadhyay & Mr. S. Nag
7.	Investigation on ceria- and lanthanum gallate-based solid electrolyte materials for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells	2006-2010 (Sept.)	BRNS,DAE	Dr. R.N. Basu	Dr. Atanu Dutta
8.	Developing an expertise base to carry out R&D activity on SOFC Materials at Energy Research Institute, KACST, Saudi Arabia	2008-2010	KACST, Saudi Arabia	Dr. R.N. Basu	Dr. A. Das Sharma, Mr. J. Mukhopadhyay
9.	Investigation on Silicon-based new anode materials for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries	2006-2009	DRDO	Dr. R.N. Basu	Dr. S. Mahanty
10.	Development of high energy density lithium-ion battery technology	2004-2009	DRDO	Dr. H.S. Maiti Dr. RN Basu (PI: from 01-11-2009 till 31-03-2010)	Dr. R.N. Basu
11.	Development of planar anode-supported SOFC technology	2004-2009	CSIR-NMITLI	Dr. R.N. Basu	—

Divisional Facilities

Spray pyrolyser (SM Scientech, Kolkata)		Screen printing machine (Ming-Tai Corporation, Taiwan)

Tape casting machine (EPH ENGG Associates, USA)		SOFC Stack Testing facility (Assembled in-house)

Glove-box (M-BRAUN, Germany)		Twin-screw ceramic extruder (SM Scientech, Kolkata)

Galvanostat potentiostat (Autolab, Eco-Chemie BV, The Netherlands)		16-Channel automatic battery tester (Arbin, USA)

Scientists

Dr. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Principal Scientist and Head

Dr. Prabir Pal, Principal Scientist

Dr. Samar Kumar Medda, Principal Scientist

Dr. Mir Wasim Raja, Senior Scientist

Dr. Srabanti Ghosh, Senior Scientist

Dr. Amarnath R. Allu, Senior Scientist

Dr. Barnasree Chanda, Scientist

Dr. Goutam Kishore Gupta, Scientist

Technical/Support Staff

Name	Designation	Expertise
Debabrata Roy	Senior Technical Officer (2)	Viscous paste preparation and its application on ceramic substrate by screen printing technique for thick film fabrication Operation of Semi-automated Screen Printing machine
Debayan Gupta	Senior Technical Officer (1)	Operation of various sophisticated equipments like Spray Pyrolyser (for Kg-level ceramic powder preparation), Ultrasonic Spray Coating Unit & Gas Chromatograph And other ceramic fabrication for SOFC Stack Components
Nabanita Chakrabarti (Acharya)	Senior Technical Officer (1)	Operation of different types of advanced characterization instruments like Thermal Analyzer, High Temperature Dilatometer & Scanning Electron Microscope (Tabletop)
Sudip Kumar Ghosh	Senior Technical Officer (1)	Operation of various sophisticated equipments, viz. BET-Surface Area Analyzer, Atmosphere Controlled Glove-Box & Coin cell fabrication facilities
Suman Das	Senior Technical Officer (1)	Operation and testing of multiple-cell SOFC stacks using stack test station Operation of electrochemical test set up & gas permeation test set up for SOFC single cells and associated gas handling & manifolding system.
Debabrata Biswas	Technical Officer	Operation of sophisticated instruments and testing of samples using Impedance Analyzer, Surface Contour Tracer, Electro-chemical Test Setups of different dimensions & Electrical Conductivity measurement under controlled atmosphere furnace• Fabrication of thick film coatings on SOFC Stack components
Satyendra Nath Barik	Technician (2)	Maintenance of electrically heated furnaces (both Imported & Indian make), different lab equipments, e.g., semi-automated polishing machine, mounting machine, etc. Technical Assistance for fabrication of SOFC half Cell. Electrical circuit design and assembly for SOFC stack demonstration.
Dr. Pradip Sekhar Das	Technician (2)
Tapas Misra	Technician (1)

Scholars/Students

NAME	DESIGNATION	AREA OF RESEARCH	SUPERVISOR
Dr. Biswajoy Bagchi	Research Associate	Multifunctional Nanocomposite Materials for Low-temperature Ceramic Fuel Cells E-Mail:biswajoyju17@gmail.com	Dr. R.N. Basu
Dr. Quazi Arif Islam	PhD Awarded (Selected as NPDF at IISER- Kolkata)	Ceramic Membranes for gas separation Applications E-Mail:arif.chem007@gmail.com	Dr. R.N. Basu & Dr. Mir Wasim Raja, State Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata
Dr. Debasish Das	PhD Awarded (Selected as NPDF at IIT Kharagpur)	Synthesis of nanoscale SOFC components & thin films by Electrophoretic Deposition E-Mail:debasishcgcri@gmail.com	Dr. R.N. Basu
Koyel Banerjee(Ghosh)	CSIR-SRF Thesis Submitted Joined as PDF in Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel	Nanocrystalline SOFC Composite Cathodes E-Mail:koyelbanerjee2011@gmail.com	Dr. R.N. Basu & Dr. J. Mukhopadhyay
Susmita Bera	DST-INSPIRE JRF	Hydrogen evolution & carbon dioxide capturing E-Mail:sbera876@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Deepra Bhattacharya	Project Assistant (Level – II)	Multiscale modelling of SOFCs E-Mail:deepra.bhattacharya@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Md. Rashid	Project Assistant (Level-II)	Metal supported SOFC E-Mail:ra1991shid@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Monojit Das Bairagya	Project Assistant (Level-ll)	Thin film components for Ceramic/Metal supported SOFCs E-Mail:monojitdasbairagya@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Utkarshita Kaushal	Project Assistant (Level-ll)	Ceramic Membrane for Hydrogen/Oxygen Separation E-Mail:utkarshita@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Abdul Alim	Project Assistant (Level-ll)	Ceramic Membrane for Hydrogen/Oxygen Separation E-Mail:abdul.alimceramic1@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Sayani Hui	Project Assistant (Level-ll)	Up-scaling of Ceramic Separator for Li ion battery E-Mail:sayanihui@gmail.com	Dr R.N. Basu
Shoroshi Dey	Project Assistant (Level-ll) (Under TAPSUN Project till 31.03.2017)	Ceramic separator for Lithium-ion Battery E-Mail:shoroshidey@ymail.com	Dr R.N. Basu