Advancing Materials Science to Address Global Challenges
The three major global challenges of the twenty-first century are energy, water, and air. Reliable energy is essential for a reasonable standard of living, access to clean water is vital for human survival, and clean air is fundamental to healthy human life. In parallel, key priorities for developing nations include economic growth, safety, and resource conservation.
Many of these challenges are directly linked to the corrosion and embrittlement of metallic materials, which directly impact infrastructure reliability, operational safety, and sustainability. Ensuring the durability and longevity of materials is therefore critical to their effective deployment.
Our research focuses on minimizing corrosion and embrittlement in metallic materials under aggressive environments through innovative materials protection strategies, contributing to sustainable and safe engineering solutions.
The global trend to replace fossil fuels with cleaner and renewable alternatives is boosting the development of hydrogen-based energy sources. In this context, the use of fossil fuels in the automobile industry is going to be totally replaced by renewable energy resources (such as hydrogen-based energy).
Hydrogen atoms adsorbed on the metal surface, diffuse into the material and accumulate at microstructural defects, leading to hydrogen embrittlement. This process degrades mechanical properties such as ductility, impact toughness, and fatigue resistance, and can accelerate fatigue crack propagation.
Our research aims to design and develop advanced application-specific coatings for electrolyzers, pipelines, and storage systems that act as effective hydrogen barriers. By optimizing coating composition, microstructure, and adhesion, the objective is to mitigate hydrogen ingress, preserve mechanical integrity, and enhance the long-term performance of metallic components in hydrogen-rich environments.
Environmental-Benign & Superhydrophobic
Conventional protective coatings often rely on environmentally hazardous chemicals and lose their water-repellent properties when mechanically damaged or exposed to harsh environments. This leads to increased corrosion, fouling, maintenance costs, and reduced service life of materials, while raising environmental and regulatory concerns.
To develop an intelligent, environmentally benign, self-healing superhydrophobic coating with enhanced thermal stability and long-term corrosion resistance for metallic surfaces operating in harsh environments. The research is aimed at applications across critical sectors such as marine, automotive, energy, and construction.
A key focus is the development of a green epoxy resin matrix derived from bio-based or low-toxicity precursors. Conventional bisphenol-based systems are deliberately avoided to ensure environmental sustainability and compliance with health and regulatory requirements.
In the oil and gas industry, critical infrastructure such as pipelines, storage tanks, and offshore platforms is continuously exposed to aggressive corrosive environments, including water, H₂S, CO₂, and saline media. These conditions accelerate corrosion processes, leading to material degradation, leaks, equipment failure, safety hazards, and substantial economic losses.
To develop environmentally benign and highly effective corrosion inhibitors specifically tailored for oil and gas operating conditions, enabling reliable corrosion mitigation, extended asset life, and improved operational safety.
Exploring how the structure, properties, and reactivity of organic molecules influence corrosion inhibition property in adverse medium using both experimental and theoretical calculations.
Engineering Durable Surfaces
Industries struggle with maintaining stable passivation layers that can withstand harsh operational and environmental conditions.
Understanding and engineering surface passivation to extend the life of metallic materials through intelligent corrosion inhibition. Our work utilizes advanced anodization techniques to create uniform, adherent, and protective oxide layers on various metal surfaces, providing enhanced corrosion resistance for both structural and functional applications.