Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati identifies research priorities

GUWAHATI: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Researchers have identified key action steps and research priorities to contribute towards Green Growth and Sustainable Development. The rapid depletion of fossil fuels, anthropogenic emissions and ever-increasing energy consumption have triggered an increasing interest in the future energy system based on renewable resources. The use of abundant and readily-available feedstock and energy storage that do not contribute to carbon footprint are two global challenges that have caught the attention of researchers worldwide.

Aligning with the priorities of the G20 Summit being hosted by India in 2023, IIT Guwahati is working towards developing affordable, high-performance and environment-friendly energy storage and production systems that are also sustainable. This will be the institute's major contribution to building a sustainable future.

Highlighting the need for research on sustainability, Prof Parameswar K Iyer, Officiating Director, IIT-Guwahati said, "The development of inexpensive, high-performance, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly energy storage and production systems is of utmost importance in the current scenario where energy demand is ever-increasing."

In this context, multiple efforts are underway at IIT-Guwahati towards achieving the Sustainable Goals of Green Hydrogen Generation and Carbon Dioxide Sequestration.

These include:

o Development of Perovskite Oxide-based Catalysts for the generation of Green Hydrogen

Prof. Mohammad Qureshi, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati, and his research team are working on developing Perovskite Oxide-based Catalysts to generate Green Hydrogen.

Elaborating on how this research will help in Green Growth and Sustainable Development, Dr Akshai Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati, said, "Though renewable energy sources, based on wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass have garnered considerable attention as alternatives to fossil fuels, most of these are naturally intermittent and fluctuating. Towards this end, our group has accomplished the development of efficient liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) systems based on abundantly available Biomass for efficient hydrogen storage and transport applications."

o Development of photocatalysts to convert solar energy to Green Hydrogen

Dr Nageswara Rao Peela, Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati, along with his research team has developed photocatalysts that can convert solar energy to Hydrogen by using an artificial photosynthetic system (by mimicking nature).

o Development of inexpensive, less toxic and efficient catalysts to mimic Artificial Photosynthesis

Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer, Officiating Director, and Faculty, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati, and his research team have developed Photo and Electrocatalysts for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reaction (CRR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Along with this, IIT Guwahati has also established a Chem Dist Centre of Excellence for Industrial Nanotech Innovations (CD-CoE) with an aim to develop and commercialize new-generation technologies and products related to ethanol manufacturing from agro-based feedstock apart from the development of efficient protocols for conversion of Ammonia into green Hydrogen. Elaborating on the impact of the collaboration with IITG, Dr Sunil Dhole, Director, ChemDist Group of Companies said, "Altogether, in addition to taking the India and world to the carbon neutral phase, the innovative technologies developed at IITG are targeted to generate a huge business revenue along with sizeable employment generation."

In addition to this, aligning with the Government of India's vision to reduce the country's carbon emissions by 50% by 2050. Chemist Group Pune in collaboration with IIT Guwahati (Nano Centre) has started developing various carbon capture technologies which are low on operational cost and affordable that leading to Nano-Fertilizers.

Elaborating on the status of the various technologies developed at IIT Guwahati, Tushar Wagh, Director, ChemDist Group of Companies said, "Most of these patented technologies are at TRL 6-7 stages and will take around 1-2 years to come to the commercial stage," a press release.

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