Dr Priyanka Bhattacharya

Nano-Biophysics and Soft Matter Laboratory

PH: 1 (864) 6346117
Email: [email protected]
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Major Qualifications

Priyanka Bhattacharya graduated with a Ph.D. in Physics from Clemson University in August, 2012. Her research work at Clemson in Dr. Pu Chun Ke’s Nano-Biophysics and Soft Matter Laboratory focused on studying the environmental implications and applications of nanomaterials. Her research interests includes studying the physicochemical properties of dendritic and hyperbranched polymer systems with an endpoint on their applications and implications for energy and environmental science and engineering. She is joining the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow from October, 2012, where she will be investigating the applications of these polymers in the fields of sustainable energy in the Applied Materials Science group of the Energy and Environment Directorate.

Priyanka was educated at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology before joining the Ke lab in August 2008. Her first paper on describing a physical phenomenon associated with metallic nanowires upon wetting was published in Nanotechnology and highlighted by Nature Asia, under the title of “Hydrophobic nanowires: Raindrops keep falling off my head.” Priyanka’s Ph.D. research was centered on her great passions and purpose of life: physics, the environment, and human welfare. Her research uniquely combined the principles and methodologies of physics, analytical and environmental chemistry, polymer science, and nanomaterials to serve the purposes of environmental remediation and water purification, two of the grand challenges facing the humanity today.

In May 2009 Priyanka won, as one of the four students at Clemson University, an inaugural graduate fellowship from the Center of Optical Materials Science and Engineering (COMSET). In Oct. 2010 Priyanka won a presentation award at the 37th Annual Conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies. In April 2011 Priyanka’s research proposal was selected for a prestigious Sigma Xi Grant-In-Aid which enabled her to carry out a neutron scattering experiment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In June 2011 Priyanka won a presentation award at the international conference Sustainable Remediation 2011.

One of the key areas she plans to explore at PNNL is the use of dendritic polymers in Li batteries. It is through her Ph.D. training that she has come to the realization that her future career resides in the truly interdisciplinary and exciting fields of water treatment and energy applications.

Major Publications

• “Universal, Geometry-driven Hydrophobic Behavior of Bare Metal Nanowire Clusters”, P. Bhattacharya, S. Gohil, J. Mazher, S. Ghosh, and P. Ayyub. Nanotechnology 19 (2008), 075709 (Highlighted by Nature Asia.com, July 14, 2008) (Times cited – 14)
• “Effects of Quantum Dots Adsorption on Algal Photosynthesis”, S. Lin, P. Bhattacharya, D.E. Brune, N. Rajapakse, and P.C. Ke. J. Phys. Chem. C 113 (2009), 10962 (Highlighted by Science News, April 11, 2009) (Times cited – 10)
• “Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer between Phenanthrene and PAMAM Dendrimers”, M. Lard, S.H. Kim, S. Lin, P. Bhattacharya, P.C. Ke, and M.H. Lamm. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12 (2010), 9285 (Highlighted by Council on Undergraduate Research, ,Jan. 31, 2011) (Times cited – 8)