Curriculum Vitae
Name:
Dr.(Ms.) Neena Susan John
Designation: Scientist C
Office Address
Scientist
Centre for Soft Matter Research
PB No. 1329, Prof. U. R. Rao Road
Jalahalli, Bangalore-560013
.
Contact:
E-mail: jsneena@csmr.res.in, jsneena@gmail.com
Ph: off: 080 23084268 Mob: +91-9916149237
Personal Details
Date of Birth: 4th May 1977
Gender:
Female
Marital Status: married
Nationality: Indian
Educational Record
Ph.D: (2001-2006), Thesis Title: Investigations of Metal and Metal-Organic Bilayer
Nanostructures Employing Atomic Force Microscopy and Related Techniques. Degree
awarded by Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore in
2007.
M.Sc in Applied Chemistry from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi,
Kerala, India (1998-2000).
(Passed with 1st rank, 82.2%).
M.Sc Project Title: Reduction of sodium sulfate to sulfide with lignite, done at Dept. of chemical
Engineering, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India.
B.Sc in Chemistry (main) and Physics, Mathematics as subsidiary subjects from Mahatma
Gandhi University, Kerala, India (1995-1998).
(Passed with 2nd rank, 97.5%).
Secondary School: English and Physics, Chemistry, Maths as science subjects (11th and 12th
year), passed with 87.3%
All general subjects till 10th year, passed with 92.5% marks
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Professional Positions
Scientist at Centre for Soft Matter Research, Bangalore from October 2010.
Fellow at National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore from June 2010.
Postdoctoral Research Associate at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from 2009- May 2010.
Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester, U.K. from 2007-2009.
Broad Area of Research: Physical Chemistry/Materials
Research Experience
Ongoing Research:
 Simple synthesis routes for producing large area, chemically modified graphene (CMG) and their
hybrids with metal, semiconductor and magnetic nanoparticles utilizing aqueous/air and
liquid/liquid interface and applications.
 Investigations of electrical characteristics of CMG-metal nanoparticle hybrids employing atomic
force microscopy and bulk methods.
 Investigations of electroactive molecules by scanning probe microscopy
Postdoctoral work experience:
 Piezoresponse force microscopy on ferroelectric thin films of lead magnesium niobate-lead
zirconate and bismuth ferrite.
 Synthesis of various high silica zeolites using various organic templates. Zeolites are extensively
used as molecular sieves, detergents and also as catalysts. Co-templating method was approached to
study the effect of templates on the crystal growth. Morphology and surface topography of the
resultant zeolites were inspected to gain understanding in terms of crystal structure.
Doctoral work:
 Synthesis of lamellar organic-inorganic hybrids of palladium and nickel alkanethiolates, their
structural investigations using powder XRD, infrared spectroscopy and scanning tunneling
microscopy and studies of electrical and magnetic properties
 Optimization of Conducting AFM technique and employing it for electron transport studies of Au
nanoparticle films.
 Preparation of metal cups of femto-litre capacity on substrates employing pulsed laser ablation
and understanding the formation in terms of fluid flow-hydraulic jump, further transformation of
them to oxides and filling them with other molecules using AFM.
 Dip pen nanolithography – patterning of various aqueous colloids on different substrates, and also
self-assembling molecules and other materials.
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Selected Publications
1. Hybrid films of reduced graphene oxide with noble metal nanoparticles generated at a
liquid/liquid interface for applications in catalysis, K. Bramhaiah, Neena S. John, RSC Adv.
2013, 3, 7765.
2. Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide films at the air–water interface and in situ
loading of noble metal nanoparticles, K.Bramhaiah, Neena S John, Adv. Nat. Sci.: Nanosci.
Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 045002.
3. Effect of oxygen pressure on the domain structure of 0.85PMN-0.15PT relaxor thin films
studied by scanning probe microscopy, Neena S. John, D. Saranya, J. Parui, and S. B.
Krupanidhi, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 2011, 44, 415401-415410.
4. Cellular Network Formation of Hydrophobic Alkanethiol Capped Gold nanoparticles on
Mica Surface Mediated by Water islands, Neena S. John, G. Raina, A. Sharma and G. U.
Kulkarni, J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 133, 094704.
5. Evolution of Surface Morphology in Faulted Zeolites, Neena S. John, S.M. Stevens, O.
Terasaki, M. W. Anderson, Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16, 2220.
6. Observation of Single Layer Growth in Metal-Organic Framework Crystals Supported on
Self-assembled Monolayers by Atomic Force Microscopy, Neena S. John, C. Scherb, M.
Shoaee, M. W. Anderson, M. P. Attfield and T. Bein, Chem. Commun. 2009, 6294.
7. Morphology-dependent zeolite intergrowth structures leading to distinct internal and
outer-surface molecular diffusion barriers, L. Karwacki, M. H. F. Kox, D. A. M. deWinter,
Martyn R. Drury, J. D. Meeldijk, E. Stavitski, W. Schmidt, M. Mertens, P. Cubillas, Neena
John, A. Chan, N. Kahn, S. R. Bare, M. Anderson, J. Kornatowski, B. M.Weckhuysen, Nature
Mater. 2009, 8, 959.
8. A Conducting-AFM Study of Electronic Transport in Bilayer Assemblies of Palladium
Alkanethiolates, Neena Susan John, S. K. Pati and G. U. Kulkarni, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2008, 92,
013120.
9. Gravity-Free Hydraulic Jumps and Femtoliter Metal Cups, Manikandan Mathur, Ratul
Dasgupta, N. R. Selvi, Neena Susan John, G. U. Kulkarni and Rama Govindarajan, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 2007, 98, 164502.
10. Magnetic Interactions in Layered Nickel Alkanethiolates, Neena Susan John, G. U. Kulkarni,
A. Datta, S. K. Pati, F. Komori, C. Narayana, G. Kavitha and M. K. Sanyal , J. Phys. Chem. C
2007, 111, 1868.
11. A Facile Method for the Production of Femtoliter Metal Cups by Pulsed Laser Ablation,
Neena Susan John, N. R. Selvi, R. Govindarajan and G. U. Kulkarni, J. Phys. Chem. B 2006,
110, 22975.
12. Dip-pen Nanolithography Using Colloidal Inks, Neena Susan John, G. Gundiah, P. John
Thomas, G. U. Kulkarni and S. Heun, Int. J. Nanosci. 2005, 4, 921.
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13. Formation of a Rectifier with Gold Nanoclusters: X-ray Rreflectivity and Atomic force
Microscopy Measurements, S. Pal, M. K. Sanyal, Neena S. John, G. U. Kulkarni, Phys. Rev. B
2005, 71, 121404(R).
14. Self-Assembled Hybrid Bilayers of Palladium Alkanethiolates, Neena Susan John, P. John
Thomas, and G. U. Kulkarni, J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 11376.
Presentations in Conferences
Oral presentation: Facile synthesis of free standing metal nanoparticle-reduced graphene oxide
composites at an air-water interface’ at the International Conference for Young Researchers on
Advanced Materials held at Singapore from July 1-6, 2012.
Poster presentation: Ultra-thin films of chemically modified graphene sheets and their hybrids with
noble metal nanoparticles at the Indo-Taiwan Workshop on Nanodevices held at JNCASR,
Bangalore on 26-27 November 2012.
Awards and Achievements
 Qualified in UGC-CSIR (India) eligibility test for Ph.D fellowship and lectureship.
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