RAMANUJAN FELLOWS
BHOJE GOWD
Senior Scientist
Materials Science and Technology Division
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST)
Industrial Estate (P.O.) Pappanamcode
Thiruvananthapuram-695 019, Kerala
bhojegowd@yahoo.com, bhojegowd@niist.res.in
Bhoje Gowd received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Tech) in Polymer Science and Technology from Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur,
Andhra Pradesh and his Ph.D. from University of Pune, Pune (work carried out at National Chemical Laboratory under the guidance of
Dr. C. Ramesh). He worked as a post-doctoral fellow in Prof. Kohji Tashiro's group at Toyota Technological Institute, Nagoya, Japan and
as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Prof. Manfred Stamm's group at Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research, Dresden, Germany.
After a short stay at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a Centenary post-doctoral fellow in Prof. S. Ramakrishnan's group, he
joined CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Trivandrum as a DST Ramanujan Fellow. In
2011, he accepted the senior scientist position at CSIR-NIIST. His research interests are in the areas of polymer self-assembly,
nanostructured materials, polymorphic phase transitions in semicrystalline polymers, polymer/inorganic hybrid nanocomposites,
polymer-solvent complexes and molecular blending and biodegradable polymers.
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
Polymer-based Nanostructures
Our research focuses on nanostructured polymers with the aim of opening up new areas of applications and to
clarify the relevant science in the field. For many practical applications of these nanostructures, it is necessary to
know the conditions that lead to the formation of a certain structure in the nanometre range. We are interested in
block copolymer based nanoscopic structures formed by self-assembly/supramolecular assembly, study of their
morphology formation, the influence of changing conditions on the formation of the microstructure and the ability
to control these processes. We also focus on the polymer-mediated nanoparticle assemblies using two different
approaches (inorganic nanorod and metallic nanoparticle organization using block copolymer thin films/templates
and co-assembly process of nanoparticles and block copolymers).
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RAMANUJAN FELLOWS
Structure and Morphology of Semicrystalline Polymers
Polymers offer a great potential to meet the requirements from the market better than other materials since their
physical and chemical properties can be easily tailored by their structures at different scales. The chemical structure
at molecular scale and the morphology at multiscales (see Figure) of the polymers determine the mechanical and
physical properties of the polymers. Our group mainly focuses on control of structure and morphology of
semicrystalline polymers, and therefore the physical and mechanical properties, by understanding the
crystallization behavior of polymers under different environments and conditions. Our study specially focuses on
the intimate correlation between the chain conformation, crystal structure and the morphological change of stacked
lamellae during the phase transition in various semicrystalline polymers.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Raj Kumar Roy, E. Bhoje Gowd and S. Ramakrishnan* - Periodically grafted amphiphilic copolymers - Nonionic analogues of ionenes. Macromolecules 45,
3063 - 3069 (2012)
E. Bhoje Gowd* and Kohji Tashiro* - Effect of chain-length of n-alkane on solvent induced crystallization and solvent exchange phenomenon in
syndiotactic polystyrene. Polymer 52, 822-829 (2011)
B. Kuila,* E. Bhoje Gowd*, M. Stamm* - Supramolecular assembly of poly(styrene)-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) and 1-pyrenebutyric acid in thin film and
their use for nanofabrication. Macromolecules 43, 7713 - 7721 (2010)
E. Bhoje Gowd,* B. Nandan, N.C. Bigall, A. Eychmüller, P. Formanek and M. Stamm - Hexagonally ordered arrays of metallic nanodots from thin films of
functional block copolymers. Polymer, 51, 2661-2667 (2010)
E. Bhoje Gowd,* B. Nandan, M.K. Vyas, N.C. Bigall, A. Eychmüller, H. Schlörb and M. Stamm - Highly ordered palladium nanodots and nanowires from
switchable block copolymer thin films. Nanotechnology 20, 415302 (2009)
B. Nandan,* E. Bhoje Gowd,* N.C. Bigall, A. Eychmüller, P. Formanek, P. Simon and M. Stamm - Arrays of inorganic nanodots and nanowires using
nanotemplates based on switchable block copolymer supramolecular assemblies. Advanced Functional Materials 19, 2805 - 2811 (2009)
E. Bhoje Gowd, C. Ramesh and Kohji Tashiro* - Structural phase transitions of syndiotactic polystyrene. Progress in Polymer Science 34, 280 - 315 (2009).
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