Since July, Dr. Ravichandar Babarao, research scientist at CSIRO Manufacturing Flagship, Australia, is searching for novel smart porous materials in the group of Prof. Stefan Kaskel (Institute of Inorganic Chemistry) at TU Dresden. Dr. Babarao received the 2015 ProsPer.Net-Scopus Young Scientist Award in Sustainable Development in the Energy Category. The award includes a prize of US$ 1.000 and a prestigious fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which he is now assuming at the TU Dresden and the University Leipzig (headed by Prof Thomas Heine) for up to 18 months.

Dr. Babarao’s main aim of research is to accelerate the discovery of novel smart porous materials targeting global scientific challenges using state of the art computational techniques in tandem with experimental collaboration. Porous metal-organic frameworks (MOF) hold a key position in the development of innovative, environmentally-friendly technologies. Possible applications can be found in wastewater treatment, energy storage or the efficient use of resources. So far, millions of hypothetical MOFs can be made in principle, although experimentally synthesising and characterising each material is extremely difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. To this end, Dr. Babarao tries to identify optimal materials in silico based on a fundamental understanding and virtual testing under industrial environments. In this way, he is laying the foundations for the successful manufacturing of robust porous materials with enhanced efficiency.

Media inquiries:
Prof. Dr. Stefan Kaskel
Tel.: +49 (0)351 463-34885