Functional Materials & Devices

Overview

The advent of smart materials, structures and systems on the one hand and the fear of burgeoning terrorism across the globe on the other hand have led to an extensive demand of sensors and actuators having tailor-made properties. Amongst different sensors, gas and vapour sensors are increasingly needed for safety, environmental monitoring and process control and find applications in diverse areas, e.g. monitoring of toxic gases like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, combustible gases like methane, LPG, CNG, hydrogen, automobile exhaust pollutants like SOx, NOx, hydrocarbons and measuring and controlling humidity for industrial, nuclear and domestic sectors. Also gas sensors in the form of array or e-nose are of paramount importance for detection of explosives, nerve gas, freshness of fruits and fish, monitoring tea aroma and in medical diagnostics like breath alcohol analyzer, diabetes detection etc. Presently our activity includes development of solid state sensors for detection of methane, LPG, CNG, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, trace moisture, alcohol (breathalyzer) and acetone(biomarker of diabetes in breath).

Basically, a smart structure consists of sensors, actuators and control circuit. An actuator is a transducer capable of transducing an input energy into mechanical energy (displacement/force). Piezoelectric materials are currently used in a variety of applications as sensors and actuators and they play a pivotal role in the arena of smart materials and structures. Ultrasonic structural health monitoring (SHM) is an area where piezoelectric materials in the form of wafers/patches can act as both actuators and sensors. Our present activities include development of multilayer piezoelectric actuators, piezoelectric wafers, and lead-free piezoelectric materials. We have also initiated work on energy harvesting devices using piezoelectric materials.

Recently, to boost collaboration so as to get a tangible outcome, “Sensor Hub” has been formed at CGCRI under the patronage of DST and CSIR. Presently, in the Hub, along with CGCRI, other Institutes in and around kolkata, who have been involved in sensor and related activities for a long time, viz., Jadavpur University, Calcutta University, Bengal Engg. & Science University and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kolkata have joined hands to develop, fabricate and test electronic nose for tea aroma, MEMS-based battery operated methane and carbon monoxide sensors and arsenic detection kits. The Hub will provide pilot production and testing facilities of sensor and sensor array modules for food, agriculture and environmental applications so that the developed technologies can be transferred directly to the interested parties.

Areas of Research

Sensors for detection of toxic and combustibles gases like methane, carbon monoxide and LPG.
Sensors for tea aroma electronic nose
Semiconductor sensor based breath analyzer for noninvasive monitoring of diabetes
Humidity sensors for high temperature nuclear applications
Trace moisture sensors for different applications
Piezoelectric wafers for NDE of structures
Non-lead based piezoelectric materials and multiferroic materials
High block-force packaged multilayer piezoelectric actuators for aerospace applications
Energy harvesting devices using piezoelectric materials

Technology Developed

LPG leakage alarm
Trace moisture sensors
Piezoelectric wafers for NDE of structures
Packaged multilayer piezoelectric actuators ( Under Development )

List of Patents

Patent granted /filled/Technology developed /transferered

Sl No.	Patent Name & Number	Inventor	Filling date	Country
1.	A process for preparation of thin film moisture sensor for determination of trace moisture in gaseous phase. Number: 0154NF2019.	P.Sujatha Devi, Sagnik Das, Debdulal Saha	October,2019	India
2.	A green process for fabricating low cost alumina tubes as substrates for various sensor development. Number: 0231NF2019	P.Sujatha Devi, Sagnik Das, Debdulal Saha	December, 2019	India
3	A Novel Metal Oxide-Polymer Nano Composite for Ammonia Sensing at Temperatures below ambient including Sub-Zero Temperatures”, Number.: 202111015506	Swastik Mondal, Nirman Chakraborty	31.03.2021	India
4	A Novel Metal Oxide-Polymer Nano Composite for Ammonia Sensing at Temperatures below ambient including Sub-Zero Temperatures”. PCT/IN2022/050309	Swastik Mondal, Nirman Chakraborty	26.03.2022
5	A Smartphone-interfaced Point-of-Care Sensor Device for Rapid and Label-Free Detection of Biomolecules”	Somenath Roy, Siddhartha Shankar Bhunia, Preetam Guha Ray	Under process

Projects

List of Ongoing National Projects

Sl. No.	Name of the project	Role	Sponsored Agency	Tenure	Budget
01.	Development of Flexible Piezo – Sensor Platforms for Engineering Critical Application.	P.I Dr. Shrabanee Sen Co P.I Sayantani Lala	CSIR	2020- 2023	94.70L
02.	Structural Health & Condition Monitoring of Metallic airframe.	P.I. Dr. Shrabanee Sen Co PI Dr. Somenath Roy	CSIR	2022- 2025	107L
03.	Development of low ppm moisture sensor and digital meters for online measurement of moisture present in transformer oil (SSP-0314).	P.I Dr. Debdulal Saha Co PI Dr. Sagnik Das	NTPC	01/09/2018- 30/11 2021 Waiting for extension up to30 September, 2022.	47.02L +18% GST
04.	Development of Graphene-Metal Oxide Nanocomposite Sensor-based Hand-Held Electronic Nose for the Detection of Formalin Adulteration in Fish (GAP 0375).	P.I Dr. Debdulal Saha Co PI Dr. Sagnik Das	ASEAN-India, SERB	16/08/2021- 15/08/ 2023	21.82L
05.	Development of nanocomposite moisture transmitter for monitoring ppm moisture in transformer oil through wireless communication system.	P.I Dr. Debdulal Saha Co PI Dr. Sagnik Das	CPRI, Ministry of Power	Approved. Waiting for MOU sign.	36.58L
06.	Development and performance characterization of crosslinked b- cyclodextrin polymer based thin-film composite nanofiltration ceramic membrane.	P.I Dr. Arnab Mukherjee Co-PI: Dr. Ganesh C. Sahoo Dr. Priyanka Mondal, DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellow	DST-SERB, Govt. of India	2021-2024	~35 Lakhs
07.	Novel boron-rich B-C, B-O and B-P phases for sensing applications in harsh environment: establishing correlation between charge-density distribution and sensing property.	PI: Dr. Swastik Mondal Co PI: Dr. Mrinal Pal	DST-SERB	2020-2023	Rs. 21.86 lakh
08.	Advancing Technological Leads for Assuring Safety of Food (ATLAS): W.P. 1.2: Solid-solid phase change materials (SS-PCMs) for applications in cold storage for efficient food preservation.	PI: Dr. Swastik Mondal Co PI: Dr. Ambarish Sanyal	CSIR-MISSION	2021-2023	Rs. 130.7 lakh
09.	Development of WO₃/Graphene nanocomposite thin films for electrochromic display (HCP0030 (W.P.1.1)	P.I Dr. Susmita Kundu Co-P.I Dr. Arnab Mukherjee	CSIR Mission	2020-2023	73.7 Lakhs
10.	Development of IoT enabled Point – of- Care Sensors for Non-invasive detection of Neurotransmitters.	P.I Dr. Somenath Roy Co-P.I Dr. Arnab Mukherjee	SERB, Govt, of India	2022-2025	~47.02 Lakhs

Divisional Facilities

Dew point Meter & Chilled Mirror Hygrometer [Shaw Moisture Meter, England & Edge Tech, USA]	Ceramic Multilayer Actuator Test Bench [aixACCT Systems GmbH, Germany]
Wire bonder [West Bond Inc. USA	Lamination Press [Washbash Indiana, USA]
Wire bonding station [Developed at CGCRI]	Screen Printer [Skyhill, Taiwan]
Tape Caster [Haiku Tech Inc, USA]	Zeta Acoustic Particle Sizer [Matec Instrument Companies, Inc, USA]

Scientists

Dr. Mrinal Pal, Chief Scientist and Head
Dr. Swastik Mondal, Senior Principal Scientist
Dr. Somenath Roy, Principal Scientist
Dr. Shrabanee Sen, Principal Scientist
Dr. Susmita Kundu, Principal Scientist
Dr. Debdulal Saha, Principal Scientist
Mr. Anshuman Seal, Senior Scientist
Dr. Arnab Mukherjee, Principal Senior Scientist
Dr. Subhajit Das, Scientist

Technical/Support Staff

Name	Designation	Expertise
Mr. Shankar Biswas	Senior Technical Officer (3)	Electrical Engineering, Maintenance of electrical equipments, Clean room etc
Dr. Sagnik Das	Senior Technical Officer (1)	Material preparation, sensor coating, sensor characterization.
Md. Jalaluddin Mondal	Senior Technician(2)	Operation & maintenance of sophisticated instruments and maintenance of gas measurement set up
Sk. Md. Mursalin	Technician (2)	Synthesis of sensor materials, processing of sensors & actuators, chemical stock maintenance.
Mr. Raju Manna	Technician (1)	Instrumentation (Maintenance & handling of sophisticated instruments ) and fabrication of sensor platform.

Scholars/Students

Sl. No.	Student Name	Designation	Area	Tenure
01.	Subhajit Mojumder Supervisor: Dr. Mrinal Pal	INSPIRE-SRF	“Gas sensor for breath analysis”	October, 2019-October, 2024
02.	Sanjib Dash Supervisor: Dr. Mrinal Pal	INSPIRE-JRF	“Photocatalytic activity of nanostructured materials”	January, 2022-January, 2026
03.	Epsita Kar Supervisor: Dr. Shrabanee Sen	CSIR-RA	Electronic Skin	September, 2021-September, 2024
04.	Shewli Pratihar Supervisor: Dr. Shrabanee Sen	INSPIRE-SRF	Nanogenerators	June, 2017-June, 2022
05.	Puja Ghosh Supervisor: Dr. Shrabanee Sen	INSPIRE-SRF	Gas Sensors	May, 2017-May, 2022
06.	Sourav Maity Supervisor: Dr. Shrabanee Sen	INSPIRE-SRF	Nanogenerators	April, 2019-April, 2024
07.	Pounomi Bera Supervisor: Dr. Shrabanee Sen	INSPIRE-JRF (Provisional)	Self powered Gas Sensors	February, 2022-February, 2027
08.	Tania Chatterjee Supervisor: Dr. Arnab Mukherjee	INSPIRE-SRF	BiFeO₃and graphene based multiferroic systems	July, 2017- July, 2022
09.	Shaibal Sahoo Supervisor: Dr. Arnab Mukherjee	INSPIRE-JRF	Optical fiber based Hydrogen sensing	Dec, 2020- Dec, 2025
10.	Debal Ghosh Supervisor: Dr. Arnab Mukherjee	SERB Project Fellow	Development of Ceramic -polymer composite membrane for removal of organic micropollutants.	Sept., 2021- Dec., 2023
11	Nirman Chakraborty Supervisor: Dr. Swastik Mondal	INSPIRE –SRF	Investigations on the effects of surface structures on pollutant sensing properties of metal oxide sensors	Till February, 2023
12	Pratyasha Rudra Supervisor: Dr. Swastik Mondal	INSPIRE –SRF	Structure-property correlation in functional materials with sensing applications	Till February, 2024
13	Anagha Ghosh Supervisor: Dr. Swastik Mondal	INSPIRE –JRF	Synthesis, characterization and development of solid-solid phase change materials for efficient thermal energy storage	Till October, 2026
14	Soumik Kar Supervisor: Dr. Swastik Mondal	Project Associate I (HCP0031)	Solid-solid phase change materials (SS-PCMs) for applications in cold storage for efficient food preservation	Till March, 2023
15	Mamunoor Rahaman Supervisor: Dr. Swastik Mondal	JRF (GAP0374)	Novel boron-rich B-C, B-O and B-P phases for sensing applications in harsh environment: establishing correlation between charge-density distribution and sensing property	Till February, 2023
16	Sovandeb Sen Supervisor: Dr. Susmita Kundu	Inspire-SRF	Gas Sensor	2019-2024
17	Saheli Bhattacharya Supervisor: Dr. Susmita Kundu	Project Associate-II	Electrochromic Coating	2021-2023
18	Ankita Dutta Chowdhury Supervisor: Dr. Somenath Roy	SERB Project Fellow	Development of IoT-enabled Sensors for Detection of Neurotransmitters	April 2022-March 2025

Contact

Dr. Mrinal Pal,
Chief Scientist & Head
Phone: (033) 24838083
Fax: +91-33-24730957
E-mail: palm@cgcri.res.in

सीएसआईआर-केंद्रीय काँच एवं सिरामिक अनुसंधान संस्थान

CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute

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