Ravinder Kumar Kotnala[1][2] known as R.K. Kotnala is an Indian scientist. He is known for his work on technologies like Hydroelectric Cell,[3] Solar Cell, Magnetic Materials & Magnetic Field Measurements and many others. In his 40 years of career as a scientist, Kotnala served in many organizations such as National Physical Laboratory, Department of Atomic Energy, and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Kotnala was selected in the World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University in 2021.

Dr. R.K. Kotnala
Born
Ravinder Kumar Kotnala

October 2, 1957 (1957-10-02) (age 66)
Kotnali village, Uttarakhand, India
NationalityIndian
Education
OccupationScientist
Years active1982–Present
Notable workHydroelectric Cell, Green Hydrogen, Solar Cell, Spintronic Materials, Multiferroics, Ferrites, ISO based Quality System, Environmental Sciences & Biomedical Metrology.
Websitehttps://www.rkkotnala.com/

Through his research & inventions Kotnala Advocates for the use of green energy solutions such as Hydroelectric Cell to combat global warming and climate change. He promotes awareness for science among youth through numerous invited talks and YouTube videos on scientific concepts behind any process.[4]

Kotnala has written several books & published various research articles on Hydroelectric Cell,[5] EMI Shielding,[6] Humidity Sensing,[7] Nano Magnetic Materials,[8] Chalcogenides,[9] Multiferroic & Spintronics,[10] Environmental Sciences & Solar Cell, Super Conductors & Supercapacitors[11] in journals such as Elsevier, American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Wiley, Springer Nature, Arabian Journal of Chemistry[12] and Bulletin of Materials Science[13] published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Indian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Materials Research Society of India and the Indian National Science Academy.etc.

Early life and education

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Ravinder Kumar Kotnala was born 2nd October 1957, in Kotnali village of Uttarakhand.[citation needed] Kotnala completed his schooling at a Delhi government school. He then complated his Bachelor's Degree from Delhi University.[citation needed] Kotnala received his Ph.D. in silicon solar cells from IIT Delhi in 1982.[citation needed]

Career as a scientist

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Kotnala joined the National Physical Laboratory as a Scientist in 1982, and retired as Chief Scientist 2017. In 2018 he started working for Rajaramanna Fellow in wherein, he was Adviser for Magnetic Field Measurements in the INO project in Department of Atomic Energy. in 2020 he was honored the Chairman of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Kotnala Established the first Primary Standards Lab on magnetic measurements in India. He has also served as Chief Scientist and Head, Environmental Sciences & Biomedical Metrology in CSIR-NPL.[14][15]

Scientific Contributions

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Hydroelectric Cell

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Kotnala invented of the hydroelectric cell,[16] which generates green electricity by water splitting at room temperature.[17] The hydroelectric cell doesn’t use any chemical for producing electricity. This cell is a unique invention in the field of green energy. In the reverse mode of the cell, i.e. by applying external power, the cell can be used to generate its by-products hydrogen and zinc hydroxide in large amounts for industrial applications.[18][19]

Research and development in the fields of multiferroics, spintronics, and magnetics.

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Kotnala used his understanding of fof ferrites to work on new areas like multiferroics and spintronics. In multiferroics, ferromagnetism was induced in non-magnetic ferroelectric barium titanate by chromium doping. His research group enhanced magneto-electric coupling, bilayer and trilayer thin films of BiFeO3/BaTiO3 were grown by in-house RF sputtering techniques. The influence of perpendicular magnetic anisotropic Co/Pt bilayer due to weak spin pumping was investigated on ferromagnetic resonance signal for the first time in India. Tri-layer of SFMO/SrTiO3/SFMO structure on STO buffered Si (100) substrate were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique for MTJ. The TMR value ~7% at room temperature was attributed to spin-dependent tunneling across a uniform ultra-thin STO tunnel barrier sandwiched between two identical SFMO electrodes.[citation needed]

Establishment of advanced measurement techniques for magnetic materials.

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Kotnala established the Magnetic Measurement Standards Laboratory at International level in CSIR-NPL in 1998 and on Jan 8, 2012, this laboratory was internationally recognized for 10 magnetic measurements parameters.  Kotnala has been working on ferrites since 1991 and started synthesizing hard ferrite thin films for magneto-optical properties. His experience in ferrites covers hard to almost all soft ferrites. Lithium ferrite, Bismuth ferrite, Barium ferrite etc were designed & developed in his lab for microwave applications. he initiated work in geomagnetism and the establishment of advanced measurement techniques for magnetic materials. [citation needed]

Patents

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  • U.S. patent 10752515B2 (2020): Lithium-substituted magnesium ferrite material-based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof.[20]
  • Indian patent: 792/DEL/2015: Lithium substituted magnesium ferrite material based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof. [21]
  • US20160285121A1: Lithium-substituted magnesium ferrite material based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof.

Awards and honours

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Kotnala has received many awards and honors for his scientific achievements and fellowships from prestigious scientific societies, he is one of the Honorary Professor at Amity Institute of Nanotechnology,[22] Noida. Some more are as below:

Year of award/honor Name of award or honour Awarding organization Ref.
2008 MRSI Medal Award in Material Science (Magnetic Materials) Materials Research Society of India (MRSI) [23]
2013 Academician Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (APAM) [24]
2015 Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (NASI) National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad [25]
2018 Raja Ramanna Fellow Department of Atomic Energy, India
2020 Chairman of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) Quality Council of India [26]
2018-present President Society for Scientific Values (SSV) [27]


Writings & Publications

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Books

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  • Multiferroics: Nanoparticles and Thin Films, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, (2016).[28]
  • Essentials of Solar Cells - R.K. Kotnala, N.P. Singh, Allied Publisher Pvt. Ltd., (1986).[29]
  • Electrical & Mechanical Engineering - N.K. Bansal and R.K. Kotnala, Laxmi Publication, (1989).[30]
  • Basic Physics for I.I.T. - R.K. Kotnala and V.K. Kotnala, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., (1987).[31]
  • Elements of Electronic Instrumentation, Laxmi Publications, (1995).[32]
  • Ethical Issues of Nanotechnology, Chapter in New Nanotechniques, Nova Science Publishers, (2009).
  • Hydroelectric Cell: An Alternative to Solar Cell and Fuel Cell for Masses, Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Comprehensive Energy Systems, Elsevier, (2018).

Selected papers

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More than 550 research articles has published by kotnala[33] in various journals, some of them are:

  • Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene composite. - Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2021.[34]
  • Significantly high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness in polypyrrole synthesized by eco-friendly and cost-effective technique. - Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2020.[35]
  • Green Energy Generation via Water Splitting by Non-Photocatalytic Process based on Gd Doped Magnesium Ferrite Hydroelectric Cell. - Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2024.[36]
  • Morphological Impact on ZnO Material for Designing Hydroelectric Cell - A Way to Harness Green Electricity by Water Splitting. - Energy Materials and Devices: Proceedings of E-MAD 2022, 2024.[37]
  • Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution.- Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Elsevier, Volume 946, Pages 169333, June 2023.[38]
  • Calcination Temperature Induced Structural, Optical and Magnetic Transformations in Titanium Ferrite Nanoparticles.- Reactions 3 (1), 224-232, 2022.[39]
  • Target phase-induced compositional control in liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation produced titanium ferrite nanomaterials.-Bulletin of Materials Science 44 (2), 1-9, 2021.[40]
  • Enhanced multiferroic properties and magnetoelectric coupling in Nd modified 0.7 BiFeO3–0.3 PbTiO3 solid solution. - Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 33 (2021)[41]
  • A review on current status and mechanisms of room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics For device applications.- Journal of Materials Science, 1-28, 2022.[42]
  • Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution.- Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Elsevier, Vol. 946, Pages 169333, 2023.[43]
  • Observation of superparamagnetism in ultra-fine ZnxFe1− xFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by co-precipitation method. - Materials Chemistry and Physics 134 (2-3), 783-788, 2012.[44]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Electricity-from-water scientist seeks commercialisation of invention". The Economic Times. December 20, 2016. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Kotnala, R K (February 24, 2021). "Hydroelectric cell path breaking invention for green electricity production by splitting of water -An alternative to solar cell and fuel cell for masses" (PDF). www.longdom.org. ISSN 2157-7048. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "Indian scientists produce electricity from water without using energy: Know all about it". India Today. October 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  4. ^ archive, From our online (December 17, 2016). "Indian scientists generate electricity from water sans using energy". The New Indian Express. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Dhall, Monika; Khasa, Satish; Hooda, Ashima; Shah, Jyoti; Kotnala, R.K. (May 2024). "Nanocomposite NBT-MFO for eco-friendly power generation: Self sustainable hydroelectric cell". Ceramics International. 50 (10): 17570–17592. doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.02.247.
  6. ^ "Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene com…". ouci.dntb.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  7. ^ Kunchakara, Suhasini; Ratan, Amar; Dutt, Meenakshi; Shah, Jyoti; Kotnala, R. K.; Singh, Vaishali (October 1, 2020). "Impedimetric humidity sensing studies of Ag doped MCM-41 mesoporous silica coated on silver sputtered interdigitated electrodes". Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. 145: 109531. Bibcode:2020JPCS..14509531K. doi:10.1016/j.jpcs.2020.109531. ISSN 0022-3697.
  8. ^ Baloni, Manoj; Sharma, Ram Chhavi; Singh, Hemant; Khan, Bushra; Singh, Manoj K.; Sati, Prakash Chandra; Thakur, Vikas N.; Kotnala, R. K.; Kumar, Ashok (June 15, 2023). "Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 946: 169333. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333. ISSN 0925-8388.
  9. ^ Kang, Jasmeen; Kotnala, R. K.; Tripathi, S. K. (October 1, 2023). "Compositional effects of Ga incorporation on electrical and dielectric parameters in Ge-Se-Sb-Ga thin films". Materials Science and Engineering: B. 296: 116689. doi:10.1016/j.mseb.2023.116689. ISSN 0921-5107.
  10. ^ Verma, K. C.; Goyal, Navdeep; Kotnala, R. K. (February 1, 2019). "Tuning magnetism in 0.25BaTiO3-0.75CoFe2O4 hetero-nanostructure to control ferroelectric polarization". Physica B Condensed Matter. 554: 9–16. Bibcode:2019PhyB..554....9V. doi:10.1016/j.physb.2018.11.009. ISSN 0921-4526.
  11. ^ Baloni, Manoj; Sharma, Ram Chhavi; Singh, Hemant; Khan, Bushra; Singh, Manoj K.; Sati, Prakash Chandra; Thakur, Vikas N.; Kotnala, R. K.; Kumar, Ashok (June 15, 2023). "Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 946: 169333. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333. ISSN 0925-8388.
  12. ^ Dar, M. Abdullah; Majid, Kowsar; Farukh, M.; Dhawan, S. K.; Kotnala, R. K.; Shah, Jyoti (December 1, 2019). "Electromagnetic attributes a dominant factor for the enhanced EMI shielding of PANI/Li0.5Fe2.5−xGdxO4 core shell structured nanomaterial". Arabian Journal of Chemistry. 12 (8): 5111–5119. doi:10.1016/j.arabjc.2016.12.001. ISSN 1878-5352.
  13. ^ "Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences". www.ias.ac.in. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  14. ^ "Print Release". pib.gov.in.
  15. ^ "Press Release Page". pib.gov.in.
  16. ^ "From the lab: Water current". The Indian Express. July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  17. ^ "Generating Electricity From Water: Inventor Urges For Commercialization of Invention". News18. December 20, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Electricity From Water: Scientist Seeks Commercialisation of Invention".
  19. ^ Malewar, Amit (May 18, 2019). "Hydroelectric Cell produces electricity from water without using chemicals". Tech Explorist. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "Lithium-substituted magnesium ferrite material based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof".
  21. ^ https://iprsearch.ipindia.gov.in/PublicSearch/PublicationSearch/PatentDetails
  22. ^ "::: Amity Institute of Nano Technology :::". www.amity.edu. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  23. ^ "Materials Research Society of India". www.mrsi.org.in. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  24. ^ "Academicians----Asia Pacific Academy of Materials". www.apam-mat.net. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  25. ^ "Kotnala, R.K." nasi.org.in.
  26. ^ "Detailed Profile of Prof. R.K. Kotnala" (PDF). nabl-india.org. October 2020.
  27. ^ "Society For Scientific Values - Executive Council". www.scientificvalues.org. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  28. ^ Multiferroics: Nanoparticles and Thin Films. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (published April 22, 2016). 2016. ISBN 978-3659880193.
  29. ^ Kotnala, R. K. (1986). Essentials of Solar Cell. Allied Publishers Private.
  30. ^ https://www.amazon.in/Mechanical-Engineering-T-R-K-Bansal-ebook/dp/B073QNF9D7
  31. ^ Kotnala, R. K. (1987). Basic physics for IIT. Allied.
  32. ^ https://opac.ssn.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=59170&shelfbrowse_itemnumber=59130
  33. ^ "Indian scientists create electricity from water sans energy, chemical". Free Press Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  34. ^ Iqbal, Sajid; Khatoon, Halima; Kotnala, R. K.; Ahmad, Sharif (July 1, 2021). "Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene composite". Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. 32 (14): 19191–19202. doi:10.1007/s10854-021-06441-0. ISSN 1573-482X.
  35. ^ Agrawal, Rekha; Shah, Jyoti; Gupta, Govind; Srivastava, Ritu; Sharma, Chhemendra; Kotnala, Ravinder (December 20, 2020). "Significantly high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness in polypyrrole synthesized by eco-friendly and cost-effective technique". Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 137 (48). doi:10.1002/app.49566. ISSN 0021-8995.
  36. ^ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4623639
  37. ^ Sahoo, Priyambada; Prakash, Chandra; Shah, Jyoti; Dixit, Ambesh; Kotnala, R. K. (2024). "Morphological Impact on ZnO Material for Designing Hydroelectric Cell—A Way to Harness Green Electricity by Water Splitting". In Dixit, Ambesh; Singh, Vijay K.; Ahmad, Shahab (eds.). Energy Materials and Devices. Advances in Sustainability Science and Technology. Singapore: Springer Nature. pp. 313–324. doi:10.1007/978-981-99-9009-2_23. ISBN 978-981-99-9009-2.
  38. ^ Baloni, Manoj; Sharma, Ram Chhavi; Singh, Hemant; Khan, Bushra; Singh, Manoj K.; Sati, Prakash Chandra; Thakur, Vikas N.; Kotnala, R. K.; Kumar, Ashok (June 15, 2023). "Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 946: 169333. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333. ISSN 0925-8388.
  39. ^ Shukla, Abhishek; Singh, Subhash C.; Bhardwaj, Abhishek; Kotnala, Ravindra Kumar; Uttam, Kailash Narayan; Guo, Chunlei; Gopal, Ram (March 2022). "Calcination Temperature Induced Structural, Optical and Magnetic Transformations in Titanium Ferrite Nanoparticles". Reactions. 3 (1): 224–232. doi:10.3390/reactions3010017. ISSN 2624-781X.
  40. ^ Shukla, Abhishek; Singh, Subhash C.; Kotnala, R. K.; Uttam, K. N.; Guo, Chunlei; Gopal, R. (May 24, 2021). "Target phase-induced compositional control in liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation produced titanium ferrite nanomaterials". Bulletin of Materials Science. 44 (2): 152. doi:10.1007/s12034-021-02431-4. ISSN 0973-7669.
  41. ^ Baloni, Manoj; Sharma, Ram Chhavi; Singh, Hemant; Khan, Bushra; Singh, Manoj K.; Sati, Prakash Chandra; Rawat, Meera; Thakur, Vikas N.; Kumar, Ashok; Kotnala, R. K. (July 1, 2022). "Enhanced multiferroic properties and magnetoelectric coupling in Nd modified 0.7BiFeO3–0.3PbTiO3 solid solution". Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. 33 (21): 17161–17173. doi:10.1007/s10854-022-08592-0. ISSN 1573-482X.
  42. ^ Gupta, Rekha; Kotnala, R. K. (July 1, 2022). "A review on current status and mechanisms of room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics for device applications". Journal of Materials Science. 57 (27): 12710–12737. Bibcode:2022JMatS..5712710G. doi:10.1007/s10853-022-07377-4. ISSN 1573-4803.
  43. ^ Baloni, Manoj; Sharma, Ram Chhavi; Singh, Hemant; Khan, Bushra; Singh, Manoj K.; Sati, Prakash Chandra; Thakur, Vikas N.; Kotnala, R. K.; Kumar, Ashok (June 15, 2023). "Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 946: 169333. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333. ISSN 0925-8388.
  44. ^ Kumar, Nitu; Khurana, Geetika; Gaur, Anurag; Kotnala, R. K. (June 15, 2012). "Observation of superparamagnetism in ultra-fine ZnxFe1−xFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by co-precipitation method". Materials Chemistry and Physics. 134 (2): 783–788. doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2012.03.069. ISSN 0254-0584.
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