Soubantika Palchoudhury

I am a chemical engineer with a research focus on realizing new materials through nanochemistry for synergistic applications in photovoltaics and light emitting diodes, drug delivery, and precision agriculture. I am passionate about designing new materials for energy, environmental, and biomedical applications, keeping nanochemistry at the core. I have taught several chemical engineering laboratory and lecture courses and enjoy applying active learning in my classroom teaching. I earned my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Alabama and have completed postdoctoral trainings from Yale, University of South Carolina, and The University of Alabama. Prior to joining University of Dayton as an Assistant Professor, I have served as a Visiting and Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee Chattanooga. I have won an NSF-REU project, several state and university-wide grants, and collaborative projects with local industries. I have published over 45 research articles in the form of journal articles, book chapters, and books during my career (H-index: 20). My research has been highlighted in Nature and journal cover arts and has featured as Themed Collections in the journals of RSC Advances and Nanoscale Advances. I have led multiple journal Special Issues as Guest Editor and serve as a reviewer for 16 nanotechnology journals. I am a dedicated enthusiast of research training and applied research experience for graduate and undergraduate students. My mentees have received several prestigious national awards including the NSF graduate research fellowship, best poster award at NanoBio Summit, and the Barry C. Goldwater Scholarship.  I have won the Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Service awards for teaching chemical engineering laboratory and lecture courses, developing new online graduate courses, serving as graduate coordinator and faculty advisor of SWE during my career. I have founded S&J NanoChemicals, an agri-tech start-up producing sustainable nanofertilizers.

Please contact me at spalchoudhury1@udayton.edu

Journal Articles

• Tareq, S., Boutchuen, A., Roy, S., Bathi, J. R., & Palchoudhury, S. (2021). A dynamic light scattering approach for detection of nanomaterials in Tennessee River water resources research. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020WR028687?ai=1gvoi&mi=3ricys&af=R
• Palchoudhury, S., & Palchoudhury, S. (2021). Bionanomaterials for diagnosis and therapy of SARS-CoV-2. In Bionanotechnology: Emerging applications of bionanomaterials, Elsevier.
• Palchoudhury, S., Ramasamy, K., & Gupta, A. (2020). Multinary copper-based chalcogenide nanocrystal systems from the perspective of device applications. Nanoscale Advances. Nanoscale 2021
• Boutchuen, A., Zimmerman, D., Arabshahi, A., Melnyczuk, J., & Palchoudhury, S. (2020). Understanding nanoparticle flow with a new in vitro experimental and computational approach using hydrogel. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. BJ Nano 2020
• Li, H., He, Z., Ouyang, Z., Palchoudhury, S., Ingram, C.W., Harruna, I.I., & Li, D. (2020). Modifying electrical and magnetic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes by decorating with iron oxide nanoparticles. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Nanosci. Nanotech. 2020
• Boutchuen, A., Zimmerman, D., Aich, N., Masood, A., Arabshahi, A., & Palchoudhury, S. (2019). Increased plant growth with hematite nanoparticle fertilizer drop and determining nanoparticle uptake in plants using multimodal approach. Journal of Nanomaterials. J. Nanomat. 2019
• Palchoudhury, S., Aich, N., & Zhou, Z. (2019). Advances in smart nanomaterials: Environmental perspective editorial. Journal of Nanomaterials. J. Nanomat. 2019
• Gayen, B., Palchoudhury, S., & Chowdhury, J. (2019). Carbon dots: A mystic star in the world of nanoscience. Journal of Nanomaterials. J. Nanomat. 2019
• Palchoudhury, S., Arabshahi, A., Gharge, U., Albattah, A., George, O., & Foster, Y. (2019). Integrated experimental and computational approach for nanoparticle flow analysis. Physics Letters A. Phys. Lett. A 2019
• Palchoudhury, S., Ramasamy, K., Gupta, R., & Gupta, A. (2019). Flexible supercapacitors: A materials perspective. Frontiers in Materials. Front. Mater. 2019
• Palchoudhury, S., Jungjohann, K., Weerasena, L., Arabshahi, A., Gharge, U., Albattah, A., Miller, J., Patel, K., & Holler, R. (2018). Enhanced legume root growth with pre-soaking in α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle fertilizer. RSC Advances. RSC Adv. 2018

Book

• Palchoudhury, S., (Ed.). (2018). Strategic applications of measurement technologies and instrumentation. IGI Global Publishing.

Patent

• Palchoudhury, S. A new seed pre-soak technology with a drop of hematite nanoparticle fertilizer for increased plant growth, United States patent application, submitted 2021.

Presentations

• Palchoudhury, S. (2021, Oct.-Dec.). HemaX nanofertilizer. AgLaunch Row Crop Challenge.
• Palchoudhury, S., Allen, T., Boutchuen, A., Denton, O., & Bey, S. (2020, Nov.). A materials view of a new family of penternary copper chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals and thin films. Materials Research Society Virtual Conference.
• Zimmerman, D., Boutchuen, A., & Palchoudhury, S. (2019, Sep.). Synthesis and characterization of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels. NanoBio Summit, poster, 1st prize.
• Palchoudhury, S. (2012, Dec.). Synthesis and characterization of nanostructures for biomedical applications. Sammilani College, India, invited talk.

• Outstanding Teaching Award, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Tennessee Chattanooga (2020)
• University wide Outstanding Service Award, University of Tennessee Chattanooga (2020)
• Outstanding Service Award, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Tennessee Chattanooga (2019)
• Associate Member of Royal Society of Chemistry
• Outstanding Paper Award at MINT Review Meeting (2011)
• The American Institute of Chemists Graduate Student Award (2011)

Courses at UD

• CME 324, Transport Phenomena I
• CME 365, Separation Techniques
• MAT 595, Special Topics, Graduate Research

Courses taught at other institutions

• Chemical Thermodynamics
• Fractional Distillation Separation Processes
• Chemical Processes Laboratory
• Unit Operations Laboratory
• Control Systems Laboratory
• Mass Transfer Operations, graduate course
• Transport of Nanomaterials, graduate course
• Scanning Electron Microscopy, graduate course
• Undergraduate Research
• Thesis and Doctoral Research

• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, The University of Alabama, 2012
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, The University of Alabama, 2010
• B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India, 2008

• E.I.T., NCEES

• Member, departmental committee for developing a research minor program, 2021
• Reviewer, Department of Energy’s Science, Mathematics, and Research
• Transformation (SMART) 2022 scholarship program
• Safety Judge, AIChE Chem-E-Car Regional and National Competition, 2020
• Editor, Special Issue Biohybrid Nanostructures: Design, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications, Nanomaterials, MDPI, In progress
• Editor, Special Issue Advances in Smart Nanomaterials: Environmental Perspective of the Journal of Nanomaterials, Hindawi
• Editor, Strategic Applications of Measurement Technologies and Instrumentation, IGI Global, 2018
• Editorial board member, International Journal of Measurement Technologies and Instrumentation Engineering, IGI Global
• Reviewer, 16 high-impact journals in nanotechnology, inorganic chemistry, and engineering such as: Dalton Transactions, Inorganic Chemistry, Nanoscale, Environmental Science & Technology, Langmuir, Journal of Applied Physics, Applied Physics Materials, Nanomaterials, Journal of Energy Storage, Dovepress, MDPI journals, International Journal of Nanotechnology, and Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine
• Reviewer, Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, K. Dahm and D. Visco, Cengage.
• Graduate coordinator, Chemical Engineering, University of Tennessee Chattanooga

My research lies at the rich intersection of biomedical devices, drug delivery, next-generation quantum dot light emitting diodes, nano-enabled precision agriculture and nanotoxicology. I use experimental nanochemistry approaches to engineer new bio-inspired materials for applications in bioelectronics, point-of-care diagnostics, risk assessment, sustainable energy and nanoagriculture. My group also focuses on theoretical investigation of key nanoscale material properties through our computational projects. I have established research collaborations with the National Theory Institute of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for ab initio electronic band gap determination and the University of Tennessee SimCenter on computational fluid dynamics modeling for drug delivery and have personally gained expertise in these areas. I envision creation of a niche area in bioelectronic devices and detection bioassays for viral diseases and monitoring patient health through the use of nanochemistry. These nanoengineered bioelectronic devices can re-shape a better future for patients as well as healthy individuals through innovative medical technology. My group has pioneered a new micronutrient-based nanofertilizer technology that can enhance growth, yield and longevity of a variety of agricultural and bio-energy crops at a single drop without the need of being added to the soil. I have recently filed a U.S. patent on this invention and have founded a start-up, S&J NanoChemicals Inc., for production, distribution, and use of this new scientific technology.