Ajay Karakoti

Biography

Associate Professor – School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Division of Biological and Life Science - School of Arts and Science, Ahmedabad University, India Mentor – Venture Studio, Ahmedabad University, India Education: Dr. Ajay Karakoti has an interdisciplinary educational background with B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Chemistry (Delhi University) and M.Tech (IIT Bombay) and Ph.D in Materials Science. Ajay received his PhD (2010) from University Central Florida (UCF), Orlando, USA in the area of nanoscale science and technology. Publications and Projects: Dr. Karakoti has co-authored 60 publications including review articles in international peer reviewed journals and has been granted 3 patents and has applied for 2 patents. Currently he has over 4500 citations and an H-index of 30. He has worked on a variety of industrial and academic projects such as sustained inorganic nanomaterials based anti-cancerous compounds, controlled drug release, targeted drug delivery, thermal conversion of methanol to hydrogen, electrochemical conversion of alcohols to energy, gas and chemical sensors, inorganic antioxidants, hydrophobic coatings, photocatalytic decomposition of organic contaminants, antireflective sol-gel coatings and hybrid solar cells. Work Experience: Prior to joining Ahmedabad University, Dr. Karakoti worked as a Principal Scientist at Battelle Science and Technology Pvt Ltd from September 2012 to October 2014 where he worked on developing platform nanomaterials based technologies for wide range of applications in automotive, energy, environment and healthcare applications. Dr. Karakoti also worked at the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Research Associate following his Ph.D where he was a part of various projects in the areas of hybrid solar cells, nanomaterials for drug delivery, assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials and development of nanoparticles based chemical sensors for detection of peroxides. Current Research: At Ahmeadabad University Dr. Karakoti’s research is focused on development of novel redox active nanomaterials for treatment of diseases caused by reactive oxygen species and development of sensing platform for diagnosis of various communicable and non-communicable diseases. In addition his interests span across materials science and nanomaterials in the areas of development of advanced functional coatings and catalytic materials for applications in engineering industries, water treatment and conversion of waste to value.

Research Interest

Nano-biotechnology – Detection of cardiac marker (Troponin I) for detection of myocardial infarction, Etching based control of polarity in nano silica surfaces for drug delivery applications, development of colorimetric glucose detection, development of micro HPLC based assay for HbA1c detection, exploring the antibacterial properties of cerium oxide nanoparticles Ligand-Surface Interaction – Surface functionalization of cerium oxide nanoparticles with carboxylic acids and studying the antioxidant properties modified surfaces, Understanding the effect of environmental conditions on the oxidation state and biological activity of cerium oxide nanoparticles in mitigation of oxidative stress related disorders Microfluidic systems for low cost diagnostics – Development of laser based low cost microfluidic diagnostic devices for HbA1c and glucose detection, direct synthesis of liposomes and drug encapsulated liposomes using microfluidics Applied Nanotechnology – Catalytic nanoparticles for reduction in NOx and COx emission from fire retardant grade polyurethanes, thin film anti-stain and easy clean coatings, gold-ceria core shell NPs for catalytic applications